Welcome Back to the 30 Day Reiki Challenge! Are you all set for Day 13? Since today is Friday and it’s Day 13, does that make it Friday the 13th? Luckily I’m not superstitious (he says semi-convincingly as he draws the first Reiki symbol in each corner of the room… three times).

In case you haven’t noticed (and I’m using you in regard to people in general, not necessarily those taking the Challenge… you guys are obviously not included) we are not alone. Man shares the earth with plants and animals and various other life forms, and unfortunately, the word share doesn’t seem to be that well understood by the you I was referring to above, as is evidenced by the way the Earth and its inhabitants are being treated (or mis-treated as the case may be). I’m not gonna start naming names or pointing fingers, but some people are really coloring outside the lines and if I wasn’t doing my dangdest (hmmm… spellchecker not going anywhere near that one) to live by the Reiki principles my feathers might be quite ruffled right about now.

Fortunately, there is something we, as Reiki practitioners, can do about this injustice, which brings us to today’s topic of healing plants and animals (and other assorted lifeforms) with Reiki.

My Reiki Plant Story

My interest in this particular aspect of Reiki came one day several years ago while I was doing my daily (although recently not as daily as it should be) walk around the neighborhood. At the time I was heavily into studying auras and was spending quite a bit of time practicing seeing them. I hadn’t gotten to the point where I could see the more subtle hues, but I could see the more prominent ones with no problem.

As I walked past this one particular house, one of the plants in front caught my attention. I looked again and there was nothing special about it and it wasn’t until I checked the plants next to it that the thing that had caught my attention was its aura.

I had never really considered seeing plant auras before, and never really even though it was possible, and looking around I noticed I could see them everywhere.�Some were quite similar to human auras in the way they pulsated and “burned” but mostly they just hugged the shape of their host and were just rather fuzzy (for lack of a better descriptor).

Back to the one that caught my eye in the first place, I noticed (or rather sensed) that it was hurting. Physically it looked fine, but energetically it was definitely in pain. Of course, my gut reaction was to give the plant some Reiki, but I didn’t really want to stand there on the street doing so at the time… people give me enough strange looks at is (being a foreigner in a blatantly xenophobic country).

So I continued on my saunter, this time fully connected to Reiki and directing as much of it as I could into the plastic water bottle I held in my hands. I did a full lap around that particular block, filling the water with Reiki,�and then emptied the Reiki Water onto that plant.

I repeated this every day for the next week or so and indeed the plant started showing signs of recovery. But more than that, I had the strongest impression that it was thanking me. It was such a strong sensation that I couldn’t help but nod at the plant as if it had actually verbally thanked me.

After that I’ve always kept an eye on my little friend and often thought about it. The thought that lingered the strongest was that that plant really wanted to get better. It was asking for help. It thanked me for doing so. Why would that be? Why would a plant care one way or another if it lived or died unless it was conscious of the process. That is… unless it was conscious.

This idea that plants actually care what happens to them put them in a whole new light as there is a whole slew of stuff <technical term> that goes along with being conscious (thoughts, emotions, spirituality, etc.).

That slew of stuff extends to animals as well. The more we learn about the universe, the more theories related to quantum physics and a unified field theory (not to mention the theory of complementarity) that are unraveled, the closer we get to an understanding that matter itself has consciousness, and therefore anything made of matter is in the truest sense of the word, conscious.

Healing Plants and Animals

The healing of plants and animals is basically the same as the healing of people when it comes right down to it. Reiki is concerned with healing imbalances in specific energy systems and plants and animals have physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energy fields that are peculiar to their species. Generally, people react to physical problems in plants and animals, that is, blocks or disruptions in the natural physical energy system and so Reiki is used to correct those imbalances, blocks or disruption and tend to only treat them.

For the physical healing of another species it is most effective if you have some knowledge about the physical structure involved. For example, when healing dogs or horses, a knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of dogs and horses is most helpful. Do you know where your cat’s heart is located? Do you know where your hamster’s chakras are located? If you are serious about helping them, this information (and the correct utilization of it) can be most helpful.

Plants and animals also have thoughts and emotions, and imbalances in those energy systems can be the cause of many physical manifestations of dis-ease that they may be experiencing. Some Reiki styles teach that hands-on contact is used for physical problems (where possible) while the mental and emotional fields are like the layers of an aura, and as your hands move further away from the body they are accessing different energy systems, and this may be a good thing to check into for healing plants and animals.

Thus, the same things we’ve discussed in regard to mental and emotional healing are also true with regard to plants and animals. Of course their psychology is different (but for more domesticated animals it is not really all that different) and so many of the techniques work equally well with them. Again, the more you know, the more directed your Reiki will be and hence the more effective.

Being conscious, plants and animals also have a spiritual aspect. Is your pet iguana enlightened? Don’t laugh, according to certain branches of Toltec Shamanism, lizards have an extremely acute sense of their higher selves and are ritually used to access those realms. Again, the things we’ve discussed in regard to spirituality also hold true for plants and animals which, according to certain Buddhists, are all actively seeking enlightenment.

Your challenge for Day Thirteen of the 30 Day Reiki Challenge is to perform a healing on the plant or animal (or other lifeform of your choice). It could be a houseplant or a giant redwood. It could be your dog or your neighbors pet ferret. It can be done in person or at a distance. The choice is yours. As you do so, the challenge is to pay attention to the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of the healing. Access your higher self for assistance and see if you can tune in to any of these aspects as you proceed. And just a quick reminder…. YES!!! We do have forums… they would be quite active if even just 10% of the 500+ people reading this every day participated!!! Nudge nudge… wink wink…

That’s all for today and we look forward to reading your comments both here and in the forums and we?ll see you tomorrow!!

Recommended Reading

Here are a few more articles that are recommended for making sure you get the most out of today?s challenge.

Reiki in Nature

Reiki and Auras

Reiki and Chakras

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!