By HOLLY KELSEY-HENRY, FREELANCER Ask Rebekah Hintzman who’s leading the way for her new nonprofit, Pawsitism, and she’ll tell you that Isa the Goldendoodle and Finne the English Golden Retriever are “two smart puppies paving the way for an amazing organization.” Located at 1229 Erie Avenue in Sheboygan, Wis., Pawsitism trains service dogs to become […]
BY PAMELA STACE, FREELANCER When we think about 4-H, what usually comes to mind are images of kids raising and showing farm animals. Yes, that is part of it, but 4-H is so much more! Today’s 4-H is a comprehensive, hands-on, educational program for rural, suburban and urban youth in every state. According to their […]
BY EMILY HESSE, FREELANCER Year after year, animals of all kinds are being transported to veterinary clinics to deal with nightmare situations that leave pet owners scratching their heads. Sometimes, nothing is more troublesome or frustrating than when our canine friends get a little mischievous and curious and end up getting themselves into unhealthy situations. […]
By STACY KRAFCZYK
Animals come to us for healing and teaching just as much as we come to them, however it’s on a much deeper scale than we know or can imagine. These animals are able to reach us at a depth that most humans are unable to access. Why? Because we feel safe with animals—safe to love them and safe to be loved back. This is an unconditional love that is very challenging to find and keep between human beings. That’s why when we lose our animal friends it is such a devastating loss and can be even more painful than losing a human family member.
Many of us have closed off our hearts due to hurt or betrayal caused by another. Sometimes even a devastating loss of a beloved animal or family member can cause us to “shut down” and deter us from wanting to love again.
However, when a new fur friend comes to us or we go out seeking one again, we slowly begin to open ourselves up. And depending on the demands of our new furry friend, we may need to stop what we’re doing and squat, sit, lay down or figure out what they’re trying to tell us. That’s when the magic begins to happen.
Not only do they look at us in our eyes, but also into the depths of our soul. No matter if you think you’re intuitive or not, it doesn’t matter because anyone who shares their life with an animal companion is already communicating with their animals subconsciously. It’s the energy you feel when you look into their eyes and your heart overflows with love. It’s the animal’s smirk that makes you laugh. That’s the magic.
First, make yourself open and ready to receive the message. Our animal friends are constantly trying to help us and heal us simultaneously. Other times, we are doing that for them. For instance, if they’re sick or not feeling well, we try to cater and baby them back to health. If they’re mad at us, and we all know when they’re mad at us, we try to sweet talk them by promising extra walks, treats, etc. The connection is so deep and so important to us that we don’t always realize what exactly we’re doing for them, but if we slowly begin to observe how we’re responding and/or behaving towards our fur babies, that opens up the door allowing the magic to seep in.
When it’s our animal friends’ turn to heal their humans, they turn on the healing magic when they lay by us while we’re sick or happily greeting us at the door if we’ve had a bad day. For example, a cat may lay on someone’s chest purring away day after day until their human is up and moving. Or a dog may lay by their person’s feet on the bed until they feel better. Some animals may lick the tears rolling down their humans face. Animals just know how their humans are feeling, physically and emotionally, so it’s no secret. They always know!
And we usually always feel better once we see, hug and kiss our fur friends. That’s more magic! Every little instance and interaction has a touch of magic for you both. You may not even see it at the time. Even when they chew up your shoes or get into the garbage, they’re trying to speak to you. So just sit down, breathe, close your eyes and take a second to pull yourself together so you may calmly figure it out. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it will help you to observe, reflect and possibly understand the animal’s message in the good and or uncomfortable situations that may arise.
Secondly, accept the message. Animals are great at pushing us to change. If you’re a hermit and don’t like to socialize but then get a very active and social pup, the pup is helping you to get out and mingle. Or if you’re an uptight person and you get a funny, comical and humorous animal that makes you laugh a lot, it’s for your own good. Maybe you have sworn off all animals and even people, but this little critter shows up at your door and slowly weasels its way into your heart forcing you to open it up again. Our journey here on the earth is to love and be loved, and our animal companions are able to assist us with that.
Keep in mind that if you have multiple animals around you, each one will have a different lesson it’s teaching you or will be helping you to heal differently. Most of the time, it’s going back to heal your heart and soul on many different layers. Take a few moments to observe, not judge, your animal friends, and begin to think of what that particular animal companion has taught you or helped you with.
You may know immediately their purpose on why they came to you, and with other animals it may take a few days to reveal itself, especially if you have intense and nervous critters. So be patient and allow the universe to bring you and your furry friends together in time. There may be a lot to learn and much to heal.
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BY STACY KRAFCYZK
Animals are very sentient beings, like little psychic sponges, they are very sensitive and in tune with their environment and their people. It is very common for animals to pick up and take on their human’s emotions, the energy of their environment and begin to take on physical ailments that are not their own, whether intentional or unintentional.
A lot of times people will contact me because their animal companion is acting out or acting strange and they want to figure out what’s going on. While I am communicating with the animals, they quickly turn it back to their human companion and help guide them to what’s going on within or around them that is the true issue or cause of the animal’s behavior.
For example imagine they are like a child. Negative attention to them is attention, and they need it for the next step of their growth and healing (so do the humans in the house).
If their human companion has health issues, their animals can “mirror” that. If the owner gets cancer, the animal gets cancer. If the owner has diabetes, the cat gets diabetes. Their human friend has an injury; the animal has an injury similar to their owner. Sometimes the human and animal have the same disease, but the animal eventually succumbs to it whereas the owner lives. The animal took on its human’s illness to save them so their human companion can live out their purpose. “Mirroring” the energy or emotion of the human or environment is how the animal communicates what needs attention and this happens very frequently in the animal communication sessions.
Witnessing this as an animal communicator, it’s very common that the dog will mirror emotional issues such as fear, abandonment issues, distrust, anxiety, worry and other common negative emotions. Animals are brought into our life for healing and teaching us as much as we are for them. So they are capable of highlighting an issue and mirroring back to us what needs to be healed. As their humans, it’s important it begin to correct and heal that pattern. Sometimes we need professional help to change that pattern or just need to become more mindful of it while beginning to make necessary changes.
It’s not a reflection of us being “bad humans or companions” to the animal but more of an awakening that the animal is able to give us, whereas if another human brought it up to our attention it’s less likely to make as big of an impact on us. We’ve all come to this planet to help each other heal, grow and evolve. Animals tend to reach places in our heart and soul that we would not allow other some people access to. They’re helping us to wake up and point out what is not working right now. It may be a little uncomfortable to hear at first, but then after that it becomes a very empowering experience and deepens our bond to our animal friend.
Another important note is that therapy dogs are very in tune and sensitive to the people and the environment they will be visiting, including in-home therapy dogs. Whether it’s for hospice care, veterans, any type of rehab, visiting children, all that energy adds up and takes a toll. Over time it can weigh on them physically and energetically almost like they’re depressed. The glint in their eyes disappears, and they no longer want to jump in the car to go. They dig their paws into to the ground as if you can only drag or carry them into the facility, or they hide under desks.
If we can learn to clear their energy field before and after the therapy session, the dogs keep their energy clear and light and then are able to be a dog and let their work go.
One client’s therapy dog said it no longer wanted to work in hospice and now wanted to work with children. The dog said it’s happier energy and lighter and the dog felt more in alignment on its purpose. Death and dying was too hard for the dog. It was too heavy and sad.
How we process and release energy is by going for a walk, a drive, calling a friend, yelling, crying, screaming, breaking things, etc. Animals don’t have as many options. They’ll process and release their energy or frustration by being destructive, excessively licking, chewing, running and eating things they normally don’t. With animals it tends to build and build until they ultimately do something very destructive or have a health crisis. That’s why it’s important to clear your own energy, the animal’s energy field, their environment and your vehicle (if they go to work with you).
This comes up a lot in animal communication sessions on a regular basis. Your cars, home and work environment all need to be energetically kept clean so that your animal friend doesn’t have to take that on, whether it’s by choice or not. You should communicate to the animal exactly what is going on because they know but would like details.
Examples of When to Clear
After doggy day care, the dog park, the vet, a death in the house, a dog fight, a job change, a move, a divorce, adding on to the human or animal family, health crisis and the list goes on. Anything that feels like there is a lot of negative energy or chaos needs to be cleared. A chaotic environment can make for a chaotic animal.
How to Clear & Shield the Animal’s Energy Field
There are many ways, but here are a few tips. You can use a spray bottle with an essential oil to mist over and around them, in the car and at home. Some animals don’t like the misters so you can spray it on your hands, rub your palms together and gently stroke down their body with the intention of clearing their energy field. Play a cleansing CD at home and in the car by Mitchell Gibson from iTunes or Amazon.
Play soft and soothing music for your animals and visualize a protective bubble of light around them from nose to tail, from tips of ears to the bottom of their paws. State the intent, “only love and light may penetrate this bubble” and use prayer while burning sage.
Cleansing all of those on regular basis is very important for a healthy and balanced animal. Depending on what’s going on for the human or animals it may be needed more frequently until things begin to calm down. It may seem silly, but clearing energy for the animals will make a big difference. It helps both the humans and animals.
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