Reiki Training
Looking back at 2005 made me realise what an exciting and busy year it was! In April I became a Usui Reiki Master and in June I became a Karuna Reiki Master. Both courses were magical and during the training we all learned so much from working with the Reiki energy, from the wisdom of the Reiki Masters, and also from sharing information and experiences with each other. I also worked with Kathleen via email and on the phone during the year. The knowledge and enthusiasm that she shared with me has proved to be invaluable for both treating and training. It just goes to show that distance is no barrier to increasing your knowledge!

My First Reiki 1 Course
At the end of November 2005 I took the plunge and taught my first Reiki 1 course. There were three students, all of whom I had met via their guinea pigs! At the beginning of the day, all three were apprehensive that they wouldn’t be able to “do Reiki”. By the end of the day everyone went home knowing that the energy was there for them to use whenever they wanted. We shared an exciting day learning about Reiki, doing a Chakra Meditation and doing practical sessions on each other and of course the guinea pigs. Three “willing little volunteers” were offered Reiki. They soon started getting used to the energy and showed signs of total relaxation. Feedback from the course was excellent, and I am looking forward to offering more courses this year.

Major Operations
The last few months of 2005 were very stressful as two of my guineas needed major surgery. We are lucky enough to have a fantastic guinea pig vet who is also a brilliant surgeon, but nevertheless, time seems to stop when you are waiting for the phone call to say that everything is OK.

In August, Marbles had a bladder stone removed. He went to the vets with his friend Florence to keep him company, as well as being sent Reiki by 5 Reiki Masters! A little over the top maybe, but Marbles sailed through the operation and 5 minutes after coming round from the operation he was happily eating cucumber! The vet had never seen a pig recover so quickly from the anaesthetic, and when I went to collect Marbles, apart from a shaved tummy and a small incision, you would not know that he’d had a major operation. His recovery was swift with the help of daily Reiki, but unfortunately he grew another bladder stone just 6 weeks after the original operation. He had a second operation which was a total success, but this time his recovery was much slower due to the fact that his little body was only just getting over the first operation and anaesthetic. When he came home he was in a bad way and I spent most of the evening giving him Reiki. After a couple of days he turned the corner and soon started to put on the weight he had lost. At the time of writing Marbles is fit, well and has made it to 20 weeks with no reoccurrence of stones.

In November, Gucci the gorgeous golden guinea had a major problem with is right eye. Literally overnight it had swelled up and the conjunctiva was completely outside the eye. He was whisked to the emergency vet and received anti-inflammatory pain relief, antibiotics and eye drops. The next day the eye looked even worse, so we went to see our normal vet and unfortunately the eye needed to be removed. Gucci sailed through the operation with a little help from 4 Reiki Masters and made a swift recovery. The cause of the problem turned out to be an abscess behind the eye, so no amount of antibiotics or eye drops would have helped. Within a week he was all healed up and getting on with his life. Animals just don’t seem to have the same hang-ups about “disability” as us humans.

Never Give Up Hope
At the beginning of December, Mr Nosey was diagnosed as having a tumour. He is just 3 and I had only adopted him a year before, so it was a bit of a shock. Guinea pigs with tumours generally don’t last very long, but just because veterinary medicine only had pain relief on offer didn’t mean that I was about to give up on this precious pig! After a good few hours of research on the Internet, I formulated a plan to try and help his little body to start healing itself. Mr Nosey gets 30 minutes of Reiki a day as well as some extra vitamins, herbs and Colloidal Silver. I also set up a Reiki Crystal Grid for him, and give him water with various crystals (charged with Reiki) in it. He has also been attuned him to Reiki as it seemed to be the right thing to do to help him to heal himself. I picked 1st January 2006 for the attunement as it was the beginning of a new year and also a Full Moon. Mr Nosey’s lowest point was in the middle of December when he was sleeping a lot, down to 2 lbs 4 oz (from 2 lbs 12 oz) and looking hunched up and miserable. Day by day he started to improve. At the time of writing he weighs 2 lbs 8 oz, has much more energy and is a happy boy again. Whilst I wouldn’t like to claim that he is “cured”, there is certainly a healing process going on, and Reiki has played a big part in this.

My life would definitely be incomplete without Reiki and the unconditional love of my guinea pigs. It is wonderful to know about the healing power of Reiki and to have regular reminders that it really does work.

About the Author: Chrissie Slade lives in Reading, England with her 10 Gorgeous Guineas and partner Sam. She came into contact with Kathleen after discovering her wonderful website. In the UK there is not nearly as much information about Animal Reiki as Chrissie would like, so she has just started putting together her new website: www.animal-reiki.com The focus of her work will continue to be with animals, but she always acknowledges that humans enjoy Reiki too.