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How a Let Animals Lead® session works

Nancy Crowe 1 Comment

If you are considering Let Animals Lead® to support a beloved animal’s well-being, it may help to know more about what happens during a typical session. Let Animals Lead® is a meditation-based form of Reiki, a stress relief modality that also promotes healing.

Getting there

For in-person appointments in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area, which last about an hour, I come to your home, barn, or clinic. When I arrive, we can get acquainted and talk about whatever concerns you may have. Then I’ll find a comfortable place to sit or stand near the animal. After I say a silent prayer and gain the animal’s permission to share energy, I will enter a peaceful, meditative state. The animal is free to lie still, stand, move around, eat, get a drink of water, go out for a pit stop, etc. The energy, which means the force that animates all living things, will go to work wherever it is needed.

Why it works

It works for two reasons. First, the energy comes not from me but from a higher power: God, the Universe, All That Is. There are many names. I’m the conduit, not the source. Reiki is not affiliated with any particular religious tradition, but at the same time, it is based on the notion that the energy comes from a safe, loving place where all living beings are connected.

Second, I am sharing the energy with the animals rather than doing something to them. During a session, cats or dogs will often come closer, curl up next to me, or settle in my lap, but they sometimes prefer to be a few feet away or even leave the room. That’s OK; I won’t chase after them. However they want to participate in a Let Animals Lead® session, or not, is up to them. It’s really not the same model of the Reiki client lying on the table and the practitioner moving around him or her using the hand positions.

That’s why it works. More often than not, we don’t know how, and that can be hard to get our heads around. I’m a skeptical journalist who never expected to be doing anything like this, and I wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t see the benefits.

Peaceful presence

A Let Animals Lead® session is not about fixing the animal or getting rid of what’s wrong. It’s about creating and sharing a peaceful space that promotes whatever healing needs to happen. The animals usually have a better sense of that than we do, which is all the more reason to let them lead.

You and any other humans or animals present are welcome to participate and may also benefit from the session, but I generally keep conversation to a minimum during the meditation. After about 30 minutes, I will gently bring the meditation to a close and we can talk about any feelings, questions, or impressions that arose. Most animals (and humans) feel relaxed and rejuvenated after a Reiki session.

We can then discuss and/or make an appointment for further sessions. The benefits are cumulative and it helps the animal to get to know me over multiple visits, so I generally recommend a series of three sessions over 10 days to three weeks, depending on the animal’s circumstances and needs. Then I’ll be on my way, and you are encouraged to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Let Animals Lead® and animal communication

I sometimes send distant Reiki energy as part of an animal communication session. However, a Reiki session is a time of meditation and quiet healing, and an animal communication session is about gathering information and insight. So, while there is some overlap between the two, the objectives are different enough that I handle them separately. Please see my animal communication page for more information.

Get the most from your animal communication session

Nancy Crowe

Your animal companion, like my Dusty here, is ready to offer up her opinions. You are ready to arrange an animal communication session. How do you get the most from it in order to help your animal and build a better relationship?

Based on my experience as an animal communicator, here are a few tips:

Choose a communicator who’s right for you.

There’s no substitute for a personal referral when you’re looking to hire an animal communicator. However, not everyone is able to get that. Even if you do have a name from a trusted friend, spend some time looking at their website and social media. Look for whether the practitioner subscribes to or mentions a code of ethics. Do you feel more confident and hopeful, or more anxious? Trust your research, but also trust your gut.

Read the instructions.

Just about any practitioner will have a form to fill out or information you need to include to arrange a session. You may be asked to acknowledge your understanding of the session; for example, that it is not a substitute for veterinary care. We all struggle with information overload. However, it saves your time and the animal communicator’s time if you read all of this and understand how the process works before reaching out.

Decide what’s most important.

What do you most want to find out from your animal during this communication session? If you have several questions, can you narrow it down to, say, two? Animals have limited attention spans just like we do.

Be ready to hear and follow through in good faith.

You probably already are; otherwise you wouldn’t have read this far. Animals may bring up concerns or express needs or preferences. They may tell me something you’re doing isn’t working well for them and ask if you can try another method. We owe it to our fellow beings of whatever species to listen to one another and give change (such as more play time, a cleaner litter box or being fed separately from the other dog) a chance.

Anxious dog on suitcase

Ease anxiety of travel without your pet

Nancy Crowe 1 Comment
Anxious dog lying on top of suitcase
Where do you think you’re going? Use simple animal communication techniques to relay important details to your pets.

Friends of mine used to check their rescue cockapoo, Holly, into the kennel a day or two early so she wouldn’t see them packing. Holly, of course, knew they were going away long before the suitcases came out.

I have fought back tears when pulling out of the driveway or dropping somebody off for boarding. Even when you trust those caring for your precious family member, when the moment comes, there may be pleading looks, trembling, and whining. The animal may not take it well, either.

One of the things I do as an animal communicator is prepare animals for change, whether it’s a trip to the trainer’s or a new home. Here are a few basic techniques you can use to make travel more tolerable:

Give it to ’em straight. With pictures.

Tell the animal what you’re going to do, who will care for him or her and where, and when you will be back. As you speak, calmly hold the corresponding images in your mind, because these — just as much as or more than your words — will get the message across.

For example, you could tell your dog: “We are going to visit Grandma next week, and Susan is going to come stay here and take care of you. Remember how much fun you had last time she was here? We’ll be back in four days.”

While you’re saying these things, picture Grandma … then Susan … then the dog playing with Susan last time … then the sun rising and setting four times … and finally, you coming back in the door with your suitcases.

Acknowledge any challenges.

“I know you got upset the last time you went to the kennel, and that was hard for me, too. We’re going to try it again. I’ll try to be braver and hope you will, too.” Again, picture it.

This respects both of you and sets the intention for a better outcome. It also affirms you as the decision maker. Again, get in charge of your own state of mind first; if you are angry or anxious, that will drown out whatever you’re trying to communicate.

Check in while you’re away.

While you’re gone, you can call and have someone hold the phone out to Fluffy while you talk to her. Then you can listen as the human comes back on the line and tells you Fluffy twitched her ear and stalked off. Or you can skip this potential awkwardness and touch base telepathically. Yes, you can; there’s a reason some dogs (and cats, and birds, and horses, etc.) know when their people are on their way.

Find a (relatively) quiet moment, bring your animal companion to mind, and just say hello. Tell her you’re thinking of her, that you love her, and remind her when you will be home. You can leave it at that, or you can ask a question and listen for a response. Either way, she will appreciate you checking in.

Try one or more of these next time you travel, and please be safe. For more help communicating with your animal friend, or for supporting both of you with a Let Animals Lead® session, visit me at www.njcrowe.com.