Episode #77 Elaine McCarty's Transformative Journey: From Corporate Life to Animal Reiki Mastery – Embracing Skepticism, Holistic Healing, and Compassionate Care for Pets

What if the key to a deeper bond with your pet lies in an ancient practice of energy healing? On this episode of Ready Set Reiki, we welcome Elaine McCarty, also known as the Animal Reiki Lady, who shares her transformative journey from corporate professional to a passionate animal Reiki master and animal chaplain. Discover how her initial skepticism towards Reiki gave way to a heartfelt commitment, inspired by the need to support a family member with multiple sclerosis.

Elaine enlightens us on misconceptions surrounding Reiki, especially in the realm of animal care, and explains its growing acceptance as a holistic practice thanks to influencers like Dr. Oz and platforms like TikTok. She dives into her role as an animal chaplain, offering interspecies faith and spirituality, and supporting pets and their families through end-of-life care. Elaine also provides valuable advice for selecting a compassionate and skilled Reiki practitioner, sharing personal stories of her work with senior and special needs pets.

Thinking about starting an animal Reiki business? Elaine shares invaluable insights on building a social media presence, volunteering at local animal shelters, and gradually transitioning to professional sessions. Learn about her "Peaceful Crossings" course, designed to train practitioners to support pets and their owners during the poignant end-of-life stages. Don't miss this heartwarming and informative discussion that offers a roadmap for both aspiring Reiki practitioners and pet lovers seeking holistic care for their furry companions.

Affectionately known as the Animal Reiki Lady, Elaine McCarty is dedicated to fostering profound connections between humans and animals. As an Animal Reiki Master and Animal Chaplain, she embodies a reverence for all living things, striving to enhance the well-being of all species.

Through her on-demand, virtual, and in-person courses, Elaine empowers others to deepen their understanding of the human-animal bond through the transformative practice of Reiki. She is also the author of several digital publications, offering unique insights into the profound healing potential of Animal Reiki.

In her private practice, Elaine focuses on providing compassionate end-of-life care for beloved animal companions, offering comfort and support to both pets and their families. You can also join Elaine on her weekly YouTube livestream, where she shares messages of hope and healing for those navigating the journey of pet loss. 

Facebook: facebook.com/theanimalreikilady

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_animal_reiki_lady/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheAnimalReikiLady

Website: animalreikilady.com

Email: elaine@animalreikilady.com

Reach out to Ready Set Reiki 
A podcast for the curious beginner to the Seasoned Master Teacher . 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Thank you very much.

Speaker 2: 0:31

This is Ready Set Reiki a podcast about Reiki, the universal energy life force, from the curious beginner to the seasoned master teacher, welcoming all systems, all lineages and all levels. Reiki is a journey and not a destination, and on this Ready Set Reiki journey, we refer to ourselves as guides rather than hosts, as we two are traveling, supporting each other and learning on this Reiki journey as well. And with that said, I am your first guide, tracy Seawright.

Speaker 2: 0:58

And I am your second guide, karina Berkabin, and today we have a wonderful guest here, and that is Elaine McCarty, affectionately known as the animal Reiki lady, she is dedicated to fostering profound connections between humans and animals. As an animal Reiki master and animal chaplain, she embodies a reverence of all living things, striving to enhance the well-being of all species. Through her on-demand virtual and in-person courses, Elaine empowers others to deepen their understanding of the human-animal bond through the transformation practice of Reiki. She is also the author of several digital publications offering unique insights into the profound healing potential of animal Reiki. In her private practice, her focus lies in providing compassion, end-of-life care for beloved animal companions, offering comfort and support to both pets and their family. You can also join her on her weekly YouTube live stream, where she shares messages of hope and healing for those navigating the journey of loss. Elaine, welcome to Ready Set Reiki. Hello, Thank you for having me Wonderful, so let's dive right in. So tell us a little bit about yourself.

Speaker 4: 2:15

Okay, I'm not sure how far back you want to go, but I'll just give you like a little brief. I'm originally from Philadelphia, I spent 20 years in Wisconsin and I now reside in the beautiful state of Colorado myself, my husband and, at the moment, just one special needs dog, a beautiful dog named Gypsy. At any point in time, though, I usually have two, three or more beautiful animals sharing our home. I'm a self-described corporate dropout. Before it became popular, before it became the in thing to do with the great resignation, I walked away from my corporate job. I knew that I had to find a way to work with animals, and so I went from being the HR lady to the animal Reiki lady, and that's why I say affectionately the animal Reiki lady. It was one of my co-workers who dubbed that name, and then, at the same time that I left my job, I also I went all in. I sold my house, we bought an RV and we became full-time RVers for almost four years.

Speaker 2: 3:14

Oh, wonderful, wonderful. I love that Wonderful. So when did healing, when did the Reiki, the energy work come into your life? Would you say that you?

Speaker 4: 3:25

found Reiki, or Reiki found you. Oh, reiki absolutely found me. I had never heard of it before and it wasn't until I was, and revealing some of my age. But it was about a dozen years ago. I was in my fifties and I had a family member who was diagnosed with MS and I wanted to find a way to help her. And I just happened to be talking about it to someone who said you should look into Reiki. It's a wonderful way to share some energy healing with a person with chronic illness, and I'll tell you right then, as soon as the words energy healing came out of her mouth, I internally rolled my eyes. I was the total skeptic. But after the first session I understood the power behind energy healing, and behind Reiki specifically, and then I knew I had to share it with animals.

Speaker 2: 4:12

Beautiful. I love that. So our next question is you had mentioned in your bio that you are an animal chaplain. Well, tell us what that's about. What does an animal chaplain do?

Speaker 4: 4:23

That's a great question because most people have not heard. Does an animal chaplain do? That's a great question because most people have not heard of an animal chaplain before. And if I can give you a little bit of context and you being from the Reiki background and any of our other Reiki practitioners listening, when I first began to practice Reiki and I wanted to teach it and practice it, I was doing it in different states and I happened to be in Florida and someone advised me that in the state of Florida we are not welcome to touch another person unless we are licensed massage therapists or ordained ministers. So I was not a licensed massage therapist, I wasn't licensed in any particular practice and I went about the process of becoming an ordained minister.

Speaker 4: 5:05

And for many of you who may know this, you might have heard it from friends or family who decide that they want to lead a officiate a wedding ceremony or a baptism or a funeral, and that's the route that they go. But I decided to go all in and I wanted to actually say that I was a minister. And then I discovered through and someone whose book I'll recommend if we have that opportunity during the podcast is Sarah Bowen, who is also an animal chaplain and introduced me to that whole world, and really what we do is practice I guess I would call it interspecies, faith and spirituality and we recognize that every living thing has a soul, including Mother Earth. For me personally, I use my animal chaplainship to support people and their animal companions as they're approaching end of life, Whether it's just helping them make difficult decisions or navigating the anticipation of the loss and then comfort after their pet has crossed.

Speaker 2: 6:09

Right Very good and it's interesting you know, the landscape of Reiki is changing, where we're having states that are requiring that now and you just found a different way if you know, massage doesn't resonate with you to go that way as a chaplain. So that's some good advice for our curious beginners who are beginning this journey that this may be things to come. So just be aware you know out there if legislation comes up. So reikiorg does a very good job at keeping ahead of you know that information that comes out as states are bringing things up for legislation and regarding Reiki. So, yeah, thank you for walking us through that process. So when did you feel called to be an animal healer?

Speaker 4: 6:49

Almost right away. I knew all my life that I the only way I know to phrase it is I wanted to work with animals. I knew all my life and I was going to go to school for zoology or marine biology or oceanography and I was talked out of it. I let myself be talked out of it and even my guidance counselor, when I suggested that I wanted to be a veterinarian, advised me that I probably wasn't smart enough to get into veterinary school. Now, this was back in the 70s, so it's all good, I found a way to overcome it.

Speaker 4: 7:25

It took me 50 years but I did. But I knew as soon as I began practicing Reiki my first session with traditional Reiki and humans I knew that there had to be a way to share it with animals and I went about finding a teacher because I thought I asked my own animal Reiki. I asked my Reiki master how would I go about practicing with animals? And she said to me you just do it. Reiki is Reiki. And I agree. I couldn't agree more. Reiki is this beautiful, loving, universal healing energy and everybody has access to it.

Speaker 4: 7:58

But when I tried and I share the story of a puppy my very first animal client was a puppy maybe 12 weeks old, who had a small deformity, and his human asked if I would work with a puppy. And here's me trying to hold a squirming puppy in my lap, thinking that I had to use hand positions, thinking that I had to do all of the things that I was taught for a human, and it just didn't work. I even tried putting a little puppy in a playpen. I thought maybe that would work and it didn't. So I went about finding a teacher who could show me some techniques for working with animals and I just let it go from there. I began practicing, taking every course I could possibly get my hands on, and now I practice with pets and wildlife and at zoos animals who've experienced trauma. It's beautiful.

Speaker 2: 8:50

Right, right, and I always explain it to people. As you know, you're going to medical school, but then you want a specialty, you want to specialize in pediatrics or oncology, and so that's how they're able to frame it a little bit better. So, karina and I, our background is elementary teachers, but I frame it as you know what I want to teach high school Do I want to be a professor in college, so you want to get that specialty. So, like I taught preschool right, kindergarten, you know first grade versus the older, you know students. So I tell people, if you really want to go in deep with it, get the specialty. Take that animal because it is different. You know you would do Reiki zones or Reiki bubble or Reiki trails, different techniques, so that you know the animal has that freedom.

Speaker 4: 9:34

And that's exactly the way that I frame it as well. I use it a little bit different example. I did use a medical example, but 100% you know you're not, you're not going to go to a dermatologist to learn how to deliver a baby. But 100%.

Speaker 2: 9:45

You know you're not. You're not going to go to a dermatologist to learn how to deliver a baby. Right, Very good, Right, All right. So what is one thing working as an animal Reiki master, healer, teacher, animal chaplain taught you?

Speaker 4: 9:58

Oh, okay, so that would be well that we humans have nothing on animals. That would be, my outright answer Animals are sentient beings, they are on their own journey, with their own preferences and their own choices and their own lives, and that all animals have souls. That they have souls and they're amazing teachers and amazing healers and they have taught me everything I know. Oh.

Speaker 2: 10:26

I love that. I love that. Yes, amazing. They are what a gift. They are what a gift.

Speaker 4: 10:32

Yes.

Speaker 2: 10:33

So what is a common misconception about your work?

Speaker 4: 10:37

Common misconception about my work About Reiki in general, I guess.

Speaker 2: 10:42

It can be anything in your experience. This is all of you that you incorporate what has your journey in rather healing as well, you know, with the reiki animals.

Speaker 4: 10:52

Well, I'll start out by saying, as I kind of mentioned earlier, I was the original skeptic. I did not. I just didn't understand how powerful it was to be able to connect with our own souls and our own energies and be able to offer this kind of healing modality. So I think the thing that comes through the most from other people about misconceptions is that it's not real, that Reiki is mumbo jumbo, hippy dippy I call it hairy fairy because I work with animals and I think that's the biggest misconception is that it's not real and it's not until people see it in action that they recognize there's power behind it.

Speaker 4: 11:31

But I do think and you can tell me if you agree or not, I think that more and more people are becoming open to this as people are turning to holistic care for their overall health, like places like the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic and there used to be just a little short list of hospitals that incorporated holistic modalities into their recovery and into their integrated health systems, but now there are so many of them that we could have pages of lists of hospitals like that. So as people are turning towards holistic care, they're beginning to understand that we should be offering that to our animals as well, that our pets are experiencing the same kinds of things that we are, so we should be offering them holistic care, and I've gotten off the topic of misconceptions, I'm sorry.

Speaker 2: 12:20

You're right there. It's more open to it now. I mean thanks to TikTok. Tiktok has opened the doors on it, where my kids know exactly what Reiki is, and there's even a dog on there who pulls tarot cards. He's blind and his mom.

Speaker 2: 12:36

I got all my cards yeah, he's got he. His mom puts the cards out and he sniffs the card. And it's Horace, yeah, he and he does out and he sniffs the card. And it's Horace, yeah, he and he does. She reads the cards for him because he's blind. So this is normalizing something that was kind of hidden years ago, made it mainstream, and you know, dr Oz, with his wife, is a Reiki master and so he would bring her in during surgery, so that kind of started getting it out there as well.

Speaker 4: 13:03

So, yeah, Now if we could just break through the barriers and I know that it's going to happen little by little. With traditional veterinary medicine, there's still some pushback, which I understand, and I believe that Reiki for animals is truly part of holistic care, that we need our medical care, we need professionals who understand how to care for the physical and medical needs of our animal companions, but that there's also a spiritual and energetic need that is not being fulfilled.

Speaker 2: 13:36

Sure, sure and even caregiver fatigue. To give animal Reiki for that, for those caregivers, those zookeepers, the veterinarians. I mean, my daughter works at a zoo in Pittsburgh and you know dealing with animals it's tiring. You know she is so empathic and passionate and loves the animals and you know getting worn out by the time she comes home. You know to give her that energy as well. So it's beautiful.

Speaker 4: 14:03

Absolutely yeah. Yeah, so did I answer the question well enough about misconceptions? You did you absolutely did.

Speaker 2: 14:09

So what is something you wish your younger self knew about your current profession?

Speaker 4: 14:15

Oh, about my current profession. Oh well, I could probably say this for not just my profession but for my life, not just my profession but for my life Not to wait, not to wait and not to let anybody get in my way. Like I would go back and tell my younger self that there's nothing to be afraid of, there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of, and you should not let anyone stand in the way of your dreams. I would tell her that you have your dreams for a reason you were dreams. I would tell her that you have your dreams for a reason you were. You have this feeling that you want to work with animals. You need to honor that. You need to go for it and don't let anybody stand in your way. Go after your dreams. And um and I think that probably is not just to my younger self, but to anybody's younger self out there who wants to hear that there's nothing to be afraid of and don't let anybody stand in the way of your dreams practitioner, energy healer or worker.

Speaker 2: 15:23

When your cup needs full, what do you look for? And if you do not get any treatments, on yourself what qualities do you strive for in your practice?

Speaker 4: 15:29

Okay, that's another great question. If I am looking for myself, or even I have gone to other practitioners to care for my own animal companions. There is sometimes something there, when you have such a close relationship with the animals that you share your home with 24-7, that sometimes I liked having somebody else come in to offer Reiki sessions to my dogs. And what I looked for specifically is someone who was going to let's see what's the best way to phrase this honor them as individuals. Who is going to, um, see what's the best way to phrase this? Honor them as individual, who is going to respect them for who they are?

Speaker 4: 16:06

Because I I at the time I had three special needs to three seniors One of them was actually special needs and I want a Reiki practitioner who is going to meet them on their terms, who will understand that Winston was deaf, to meet them on their terms, who will understand that Winston was deaf, that he didn't like to have his feet touched. That would just simply understand them as individuals and everybody, I think everybody just wants to be seen, heard and accepted for who they are, and our animal companions are that way as well. And let's see. I'll use one more example, if that's okay, I have one more story I would like to share about Jake.

Speaker 2: 16:38

This helps it when people, when you give examples, that's, that's great. Yep, okay.

Speaker 4: 16:43

Got it. The example is of Jake, so what? One of the things that I do is medical fostering is what I call it for people who are whose animal companions have some type of surgery or illness for which they are not capable. It's usually senior citizens, but they're not capable of offering the rehabilitation care. So I've had dogs with strokes.

Speaker 4: 17:02

Jake happens to be an example of one who was an amputation and he was a senior dog, 13 years old, and had his right shoulder amputated, had his leg amputated from the right shoulder down, and when he came to me that was the same day of the surgery. It was a. He had the surgery and came right to my home and, interestingly enough, it is the same day that my husband had an amputation surgery and to see the two of them together. But what the reason that I that I mentioned? That is because my husband, who is now fully functional, demands that people see him for who he is. He does not want to be seen as someone who had an amputation.

Speaker 4: 17:42

And I felt that same thing from Jake that Jake did not know he had an amputation. Jake did not know that he now had any ability that was not as normal as any other animal. He had no concept of that. That's a very human thing that we understand. No concept of that. That's a very human thing that we understand. So he wanted to be treated as if he were himself, for who he was, whether or not he had the amputation. And that is one of the qualities that I would look for when we approach animals to approach them on their terms and see everything as perfect, all as well. Everything is perfect, and I am simply sharing with you beautiful, loving, healing energy of Reiki to use for your highest good, however fits your needs.

Speaker 2: 18:27

Beautiful. Yeah, thank you for sharing that. That was a great example. So what advice would you give someone who was just entering this profession, who is going to be specializing with animal Reiki?

Speaker 4: 18:40

Okay, and we started to talk about this already and that is the fact that you would want to find a teacher who specializes in animal Reiki. We mentioned the fact that Reiki is Reiki, which I kind of get that pushback every once in a while that why are you practicing animal Reiki? Reiki is Reiki and it is Reiki is beautiful, loving, healing energy accessible to everyone. But we are animals. All have different needs. They have much different needs. It's a true specialty because we are not going to place our hands on a lion. We are not going to place our hands on a wild horse who's been wrangled by the BLM and is now so scared and unsure of anything in their life. We're not going to place our hands on a pit bull who's been used as bait.

Speaker 4: 19:30

So animals who've been traumatized, animals in the wild, animals at zoos, they're not animals where we are going to use traditional Reiki techniques. We're going to use very special techniques and it's going to be unique, not just for themselves as individuals. It could be for their species and it could be for their situation. So we want to be able to access a whole different toolkit when we start to work with those animals. And again, that's where I was going to use my little physical medicine thing. We're not going to go to a dermatologist to learn how to deliver a baby. We really want to become specialized at it. And then the other thing I would add is practice, practice and more practice. The more you work with different animal clients of all different species in all different situations, the more you're going to be able to craft what you need to do to work with all kinds of animals.

Speaker 2: 20:24

Right, right, right, yeah. Just keep practicing, and also remember that consent too.

Speaker 4: 20:29

So give them the opportunity, yeah absolutely, and that is a foundation of Reiki, and it's one of the questions that I also get asked a lot is how do you ask permission of an animal? And in my mind, I invite them. When I sit down to practice, whether it's in person or distance, I invite them to join me in the space and they will generally give you a sign that they're accepting or not accepting. They'll either walk away or they will be. They'll give you very obvious signs that they've accepted and are willing to have a session with you.

Speaker 2: 21:02

Right, right and always kind of give them a choice. That's why, like the-.

Speaker 4: 21:05

Always a choice.

Speaker 2: 21:07

The zones or the bubble, someplace where they can, they come to you. I always say the animal's the boss.

Speaker 4: 21:13

Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 21:14

The animal's the boss in the session.

Speaker 4: 21:16

Yep, I let them guide me always.

Speaker 4: 21:18

Absolutely so what books do you recommend? I have a couple books that I am very fond of, specifically for animal Reiki. I will recommend the book from my animal Reiki teacher and her name is Kathleen Prasad and the book is Everything Animal Reiki. Now she's got a number of publications, but of all of them, that's the one I would recommend the most Everything Animal Reiki publications. But of all of them, that's the one I would recommend the most Everything animal Reiki.

Speaker 4: 21:47

And it does a really nice job, a really thorough job, of introducing the fact that animals are meant to guide us, that they are sentient beings, that they've got preferences, that they are teachers, that they're healers and that one of the best ways that we can connect with them is through that quiet meditation space. And as soon as I use the word meditation, so many people get they kind of sometimes internally, a lot of times externally, roll their eyes at the thought of meditating with an animal. And I don't mean that you have to sit on a pillow and chant and put your fingers in it. It's just simply accessing a space where you let all of your external things go. Nothing else matters right now. When I sit with an animal, the only thing that matters is them. This is a time that I devote to them, and when you can quiet your mind like that and open your heart, they walk right through the door and they love to share that space. So that's one of the first books I would recommend. Everything Animal Reiki.

Speaker 2: 22:39

Wonderful wonderful.

Speaker 4: 22:42

The next book I would recommend is a book called Sacred Sendoffs, and the author of that book is Sarah Bowen, and she's also an animal chaplain. She's the first person who I was ever introduced to who described themselves as an animal chaplain, who describe themselves as an animal chaplain. That's when the light bulb went off in my mind that what I do when I work with animals at end of life is chaplaincy. It's that pastoral care. So she does a lovely job of talking about all species in all situations, from animals who are in factory farms to animals that are in zoos, to wildlife, to everyone.

Speaker 4: 23:21

And Sacred Sendoffs is about how we honor animals who are transitioning from this life to the next. And then one more book that I would recommend is the Bright Haven Guide to Animal Hospice. That is a book by Gail Pope, who ran a I think that she has retired now formerly retired but she ran a hospice sanctuary for animals where it was all about hospice care right up to the end of life and there was no assistance at end of life. It was how to nurture an animal naturally through their end of life, and she has some beautiful insights, not just and it's not saying one way or the other, as an animal approaches end of life. That one way is better than another, but she offers some beautiful insights for animals and what they experience as they are transitioning.

Speaker 2: 24:08

Beautiful. Thank you for that. Thank you, sure. And you also are an author of several digital publications, are you not? Yes, yes, I am.

Speaker 4: 24:18

Yep, I love to write. In fact, if I could spend all day long, if there were like two days to every day, I would spend it with the animals, and I would also be writing about them too.

Speaker 2: 24:26

Sure. So where can our listeners find your digital publications?

Speaker 4: 24:33

They are all digital and I don't have them on any, so they're not going to be found on sites like Amazon, but on my website I have links to them all. There's a link for one of the digital publications is take the stress out of visiting the vet. So that's for your average person who wants some help, who wants some assistance when they, from the moment that they pick up the phone and their dog, realizes that they have just made a veterinary appointment to the, to the cat, that you have to put into the carrier to actually get to the vet. So how do you navigate through all that? But anyway. So my website is the best place to get access to all the publications. Beautiful beautiful.

Speaker 2: 25:08

My two Cavalier King Charles have a vet appointment today, so I'm going to have to put that up. Oh, definitely yeah.

Speaker 4: 25:16

Well, you know, my Winston was a King Charles. He was the special needs dog and he actually loved going to the vet.

Speaker 2: 25:25

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think they're okay. I've talked them through it. I let them know as soon as I made the appointment. Yeah, so it's interesting that you said as soon as they hear the appointment made. So I said hey, boys, we're going, we're going on Thursday. So they know, they absolutely know, absolutely know. So what other modalities do you offer? Do you offer classes, events, trainings?

Speaker 4: 25:46

Yep, so I have a couple things. The first one if people would like to find me on YouTube, everything is under the Animal Reiki Lady, so it's animalreikiladycom as my website. All my tags on social media and on YouTube are AnimalReikiLady and Reiki. We spell R-E-I-K-I. That comes up frequently that it gets misspelled. My YouTube channel is devoted to people who are navigating pet loss, so we primarily talk about how to anticipatory grief, how we manage through that when we receive the bad news that there's a terminal health condition or even if our dogs or cats or other animals that live with us are seniors. So that's the YouTube channel where I do a series of videos and we meet every Monday live. It's live stream on YouTube so that we can all talk and share stories. The other place is all over social media. Oh, what other services, right? I'm sorry.

Speaker 2: 26:39

I lost track of the question. You got it. It's all part of it. Keep going, I got it.

Speaker 4: 26:43

I offer on demand, so there are classes that you can just take at your own pace if that's what you'd like to do. Reiki, I find, is much it's easier to learn, either online or in person, when you have someone that you can ask questions to and talk to, and then you can go out and practice and then come back. So my I have online virtual classes that we do via zoom, and then I also do in-person classes and I offer them at sanctuaries here in Colorado and also one in Florida, and I offer them all year long. So my website again is the best place to go to get the most recent access to different classes, whether you want to attend an event, a live event, at one of the sanctuaries In Colorado it's the Mini Misfits Animal Sanctuary and in Florida it's the Three Sevenths Animal Sanctuary and I'm there at least at each of those sanctuaries at least two or three times every year holding classes.

Speaker 2: 27:35

Wonderful. Well, thank you, elaine, the Animal Reiki lady, so much for coming on this journey with me. This ends our part of the journey together and I'm going to pass you over to my co guide, karina. She also has two special guests with her, comet and Ozzy. So they're going to ask you three social media questions. So I get questions from listeners and I narrow it down to three questions media questions. So I get questions from listeners and I narrow it down to three questions, and she has them just for you. So Okay, hi Karina and hi Cosmo. Hi. Ozzie.

Speaker 3: 28:09

We're so excited to talk with you. We've learned so much today and thank you so much for all that you're doing for the animals. Thank you so much. I had so many. I was so close to tears so many times in all of your stories. They were just so touching. So a question of mine is like how did you establish a social media presence? Like, what did that look like for you whenever you started? Okay, it was.

Speaker 4: 28:37

I will tell you and this is for anybody who wants to do this I will offer this advice Just start doing it. When I go back and look at my very first videos it was videos on Facebook. That's how I started I just shake my head and cringe because there, but I had to at least start somewhere. And then it gets easier and easier the more you do it. So I would pick one, one modality. So whatever you like if you like Twitter, if you like Instagram, if you like Facebook just pick one and then start putting yourself out there and start just talking about it. And that is how it started and it evolved. It naturally evolved.

Speaker 4: 29:14

I didn't do anything special, I didn't take any special classes. I just let it evolve until I was so comfortable with video like this, let it evolve until I was so comfortable with video like this is here that I was able to start the YouTube channel and then reach more people. I remember thinking to myself that if I want to reach more animals than just my little hometown, I've got to get out there and start talking about it, and that's what I did.

Speaker 3: 29:36

Wow, that's amazing. That's amazing. Thank you so much for that. I love that.

Speaker 4: 29:41

Just start just start, press the little button that says record and pick a topic that you want to talk about and think about it, your favorite animal, or tell a little story. And there I read a statistic and I can't remember where it is that in the average in the US, about 78% of all households in the US have pets and that it's like almost it's over double what people how many people have children in their homes. The point is that more people have pets than children in their homes.

Speaker 3: 30:16

Wow, my gosh, that's insane. I had no idea.

Speaker 4: 30:19

It's a crazy number like that.

Speaker 3: 30:24

Wow, okay, so my biggest. I'm actually right now I'm transitioning from full-time teacher of 24 years into this wellness space, so I am, I'm seeing challenges. So my question to you is, at the beginning, like when you left that really great, secure bread and butter job and then you started into this, like I'm just going to start, you know cause, like my husband's, like oh, you're just going to give people and animals Reiki, okay, like that's going to pay the bills. What challenges did you have to come going to?

Speaker 4: 30:59

pay the bills. What challenges did you have to face? Same challenge my entire family, from my parents to my sisters, to my husband, to my kids, went you're going to do what?

Speaker 3: 31:07

That's right, so please tell us how you overcame that.

Speaker 4: 31:11

Okay. So I won't lie, I'm going to tell you it's going to take a little bit of hard work and you're going to have to work at it every single day. But the first thing to do would be start to establish a social media presence so that you get some authority behind you. You become an authority because you're speaking about it. You're talking about it. People start to know who you are and the way the universe works is I call it the universe's algorithm. More and more people and animals who are aligned with you will be drawn to you. So that's the spiritual component of starting your business.

Speaker 4: 31:45

From a practical perspective, what I would recommend doing is going right to your local animal shelter I have yet to hear of an animal shelter that says no to someone who asks if they can practice Reiki with the animals and then you start practicing there regularly. You just go there as a volunteer. You start to share Reiki. The energy starts to shift, and then what I did when I first worked with a humane society was we would offer a complimentary Reiki session as part of the adoption package. So we would offer the Reiki session as part of the adoption package, so that the would um.

Speaker 4: 32:19

We would offer the Reiki session as part of the adoption package and so that the animal could adjust. It's going to take a period of adjustment up to six months from the time that an animal is adopted from a shelter to the home. And then, as we established those relationships, then more and more um complimentary sessions became paid sessions and then it becomes word of mouth. I barely needed to do any type of self-promotion because it became word of mouth. People would start to spread the word and then it evolved from there and then, of course, if you want to teach, then that you can. You can put that out there as well.

Speaker 3: 32:56

Right, I want to do it all. I want to teach too. I definitely want to teach too, are you? Yeah, so thank you so much. I love this. This is so amazing. My next question is like you are full of amazing ideas and gifts and light. I can see that and I can feel that. What are you working on now? What can we expect from you in the next year or two?

Speaker 4: 33:20

Okay. So what I'm working on now is actually just going to start now. I know that at the, at there's any point in time, people may be drawn to this video, so it could be five years from now. Even so, hopefully by then this will be a well established program.

Speaker 4: 33:32

But as an animal chaplain and as an animal Reiki master, my practice seemed to naturally evolve. It was not intentional, but it naturally seemed to evolve to be working with animals who were approaching end of life and I. During that time period I also I took a part time job. I initially called it a bridge job, so, going back to the part of offering this as a becoming this, making this a part of my vocation, I called it a bridge job, that I was going to need a little part-time job to help ends meet. And I took a job working at a pet funeral home and it became the best experience of my life because what I realized was that, working with people at their most vulnerable moments, I had the emotional capacity to do so. I had the spiritual, emotional capacity and then Reiki behind me. I was able to help people and their animal companions and my practice began to focus solely on animals reaching end of life, and what also evolved was a network, a network of mobile veterinarians, a network of pet afterlife care, a network of social workers who worked with grief and I'm now able to. I put together a course for Reiki practitioners in particular, but it can be.

Speaker 4: 34:51

You don't have to be a Reiki practitioner for becoming an end of life doula for animals so you would, from you can. It starts with just offering support after receiving a terminal diagnosis or, if your animal companions is aging and a senior and approaching end of life, to offering everything. So I teach where do you build a network? How do you build a network? How can you become a resource for all the people in your local community to help them be the support that their animal companion needs as they approach end of life?

Speaker 4: 35:25

So it's called Peaceful Crossings and it doesn't now. This is putting a time thing on it, but the very first course is being offered. This month starts for Peaceful Crossings and we'll see where it goes from there, because I really think that there's nobody out there offering this type of support to people as their animals approach end of life. I know that my parents, my in-laws and my parents both planned for their end of life, but nobody thinks about it for their pets. And then all of a sudden, they're faced at a at a time when they're so emotionally vulnerable to having to make the most difficult decisions. Sorry, that was long.

Speaker 3: 36:04

Absolutely beautiful. Oh my gosh, that is amazing. Wow, Thank you for sharing. I'm so excited for you and I love that also that I picked up that bridge, the bridge job, that like something that might work for my husband, like just to give him that, like hey, while I'm building this business, I'm also going to be doing this little thing, but it has to be like for me, like I want to find it in a either either as a receptionist at a vet clinic or whatever it can be.

Speaker 4: 36:35

Anything. Even even animal shelters have paid positions that are part-time.

Speaker 3: 36:39

Oh, I love this. I am so grateful to meet you and thank you so much for all that you've shared today. Do you have anything else that you'd like to share with us that our listeners would appreciate learning about, hearing about?

Speaker 4: 36:53

I am going to offer one more thing that I thought we might talk about at some point during the conversation, but I think that it's a question that comes up from people a lot, and that's a question like how do you know what kind of what? Like how many sessions would you offer an animal? How do you know when an animal needs a Reiki session? How do you figure all that thing, all those things out? And it came to me over time and I think that it may be a question that comes up from people, even from Reiki practitioners who want to work with animals, like just how do you know how many sessions to give, or how do you know how long a session is supposed to last with an animal? These are like practical questions that might come up. Is that okay for me to?

Speaker 3: 37:31

I'd love to know, yeah.

Speaker 4: 37:33

Okay, I'm gonna say that it does depend on the animals but over. I've been doing this now solely practicing with animals, for seven years as a as my primary focus, and what I have learned I've been able to create like a general guide that I offer to my students. That has for general things. Here's the number of sessions if there's a surgery. Here's the number of sessions I would do if they are moving into a new. Here's the number of sessions if there's a surgery. Here's the number of sessions I would do if they are moving into a new home. Here's the number of sessions I would do if they're going through anxiety or grief. But it's all in general. So I'll give you a general example. And as you begin to practice, more and more people will recognize this with the more animals that they work with. But, for example, will recognize this with the more animals that they work with. But, for example, after a surgery or before a surgery, I might offer six Reiki sessions and I would do one before the surgery, one during the surgery and then four back to back, so four days right in a row after surgery. So it assists an animal to be prepared, because they don't understand Humans. We can say you're going to have a surgery, we're going to give you a shot. You're going to feel drowsy. You're going to animals, to them, that it's. It's just a state of confusion. They don't understand what's about to happen. So, a Reiki session before to keep them calm and stress-free, a Reiki session during in which I just focus on sharing beautiful healing energy for whatever needs to be healed. And then the four right after are meant to help the recovery, meant to help them recover quicker, easier, with a little bit less pain. So it is going to depend on each situation, but then some of them are such common sense like one session is all you're going to need during fireworks, if it's the 4th of July, I sit down, I become the woman where everybody brings their dogs and they all sit with me and we all share Reiki for the evening and that's all we need to do. And then, for example, like an end of life which has become my practice as often as those beautiful souls desire, there is no limit, there is no right or wrong, you're not going to get it wrong, you're not going to do it too much, you're not going to offer too many sessions and your intuition is going to start to guide you with that.

Speaker 4: 39:39

Most sessions themselves last 10 to 30 minutes. And animals. They're not going to be like people. They're not going to lay on a massage table and listen to the soft music and listen to the bells gong in the background as you place your hands on them. They need to be able to move freely in their environment, to sit down and lay down and sleep if that's what they want, to come into your lap if that's what they want. But I found that cats are the shortest. They seem to be Reiki masters all on their own, and 10 minutes, about 10 minutes, is all you can expect for a cat to be patient enough. And then they're going to say I got this, but thank you, and then dogs, dogs could go on forever. They don't seem to know the at the end. So I usually end a session after about 30 minutes with dogs. But I wanted to get that in there just in case, because people may wonder what do you do Like? How do you even know how long you're supposed to share Reiki?

Speaker 3: 40:30

Right, that is so amazing. I love it, I love it, I love it. I could talk to you all day, tracy, back to you, what would you like to ask? And yes, I love it. Thank you so much.

Speaker 2: 40:46

Love everything. Thank you so much. One more question I'd like to ask is why do you feel it's important to offer animal Reiki in the animal's home or location?

Speaker 4: 41:01

Okay, that actually is a. That's a question we should follow up with because we want to be able to let them be comfortable. We can and I still am working on a way to start offering Reiki at veterinary clinics, but it's the same thing. They are just as stressed out as they get when you put them in the car, when you put them in a crate. It's a stressful situation. So it's much easier to offer on their terms, in their location, where they're comfortable, they can lay down and, if they choose not to, if they choose to decline which is their choice that they have a space that they can get up and walk away. That you're not forcing them to stay in an enclosed room for something that they're not open to receive.

Speaker 2: 41:40

Very good, thank you. Thank you, elaine, so much for joining us on this journey. It has been wonderful and so informative, so thank you again. So I want to thank our listeners and if you are interested in having your question featured on the show, reach out at wwwreadysetreikicom. And if you are interested in having your question featured on the show, reach out at wwwreadysetreikicom. And if you're interested, check out Feather Sister Wellness, where there is an offering of a variety of yoga classes, yoga trainings, reiki and Reiki trainings. So I'm Tracy C Wright and this has been Ready Set Reiki. Thank you.