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<h2>Celebration of Love, Life &amp; Death, &nbsp; </h2>I've been sitting with this truth a lot lately. Reflecting upon each of the beautiful souls that have shared my life and each of whom I deeply loved and cherished each, special relationship, their quirky personality, likes and dislikes. Savouring sacred memories, and the deep grief endured afterwards dealing with loss, the impact mentally, emotionally, and more.It started quietly — memories of my own beloved Tippy, a gentle death and assisted transition two years ago, and my darling Geisha, my soul animal whose presence still walks beside me every single day. And then there was Bailey. &nbsp; Bailey came to me as an end-of-life foster — a palliative care placement, the kind where you know the goodbye is already written into the hello. But Bailey wasn't the sort of dog who let a timeline define him. &nbsp; When he found his way to me, Bailey had found himself surrendered to the shelter because of his mast cell tumours. Sadly expensive veterinary treatment meant his elder pensioner owners had to make the heart-breaking decision to surrender their companion to the shelter.When he arrived, he found an instant mate in Tippy. The two of them just clicked — no introduction period, no warming up. Just recognition. Soul friends, the kind you don't question. We carefully tended him as he recovered post-surgery, and Tippy comforted him and helped him heal with shared presence and often snuggled together.While fundraising for veterinary treatment which would enhance and possibly extend his quality of life. And so we created a 'Bucket-List for Bailey'. Not a sad one — a joyful, purposeful one. We chased moments that mattered. We didn't count days; we made the days count. Every car ride with the window down, every sun patch on the grass, every stolen treat and belly rub was deliberate. Presence, not prognosis. Living, not waiting. Our backgate opened onto 5 acres of parkland, and connected to a local creek path, which we often walked slowly stopping for Bailey to check his pee-mail upon every tree and bush along the way.Various events were suggested and offered to the rescue for Bailey to raise funds and publicity. A local police officer volunteered to drive him around as an honourary Police K-9 dog for an hour — a brief but memorable stint — and he also served as a firehouse dog for a day, a local radio weather-forecaster interview, where he helped read the weather.He was gifted a Pawty-party at a doggy-day-care centre, played in a ball-pit, and even ate doggy-ice cream and a Pup-Cake. Bailey even made the local newspaper and was on the News, raising funds for rescue and bringing awareness to the animals who needed a second chance. He rode on a Harley motorcycle. The photo went viral and became a meme! Bailey lived life fully. No half measures. No waiting around.&nbsp; And when the time came — when Bailey needed assistance to the vet for his final crossing — it was mt beloved Tippy who felt it deepest. I've never seen grief like that in an animal. Destitute. Lost. The bond they'd built in such a short time had been complete.&nbsp; &nbsp; That's when Reiki stepped in. A&nbsp; volunteer from the shelter reminded me of her Reiki practice, and offered her support. Not to fix anything — grief isn't something you fix. But to hold us. All of us. The Reiki treatments, gentle energy to support Tippy through her devastation, supported me through my own, and filled the space Bailey had left with something gentle. Something that said, this much love deserves this much care.Ritual, meditation and ceremony was essential to my process through grief. Reiki, spiritual prayer, sacredness honouring not only our emotional connection but an intense connection formed which needed to be honoured. &nbsp; Then there were Lilith and Athena. A champagne and cream, and black and white, 2 tiny rodents full of personality, sass and love. Born with respiratory issues, they carried the fragility that many rats do. Eighteen months to three years — that's the span they're given, and it never feels like enough. They lived full-lives, both loved to sit on my shoulders and groom my hair as we watched tv, and daily allowed free range to safely enjoy exploring, and cheekily heading to the pantry, tapping on the door often asking for their favourite food. &nbsp; Lilith grew sick first. Despite so much veterinary treatment, we reached the point where the kindest thing was pain relief and home. We brought her back to her bonded sister, and something extraordinary unfolded. We gathered on a mattress together — and all our animals, cats and dogs alike, sat vigil with us. The whole household held love around her. I placed my hands on her, Reiki flowing, and simply stayed present as she transitioned. Her sister sat beside her, grooming her with compassion and care, snuggling. I was devastated as she took her last breaths cradled gently in my hands. Athena sat there for a few moments, sniffed her one last time, and then turned away from her sister and back towards her food. My partner and I made a small coffin for her, and planned a private ceremony to farewell in style, honour and ritual complete. &nbsp; Just months later, Athena began nearing her time too. This time, the vet gently told us the most compassionate path was to assist her crossing, to alleviate suffering rather than prolong it. Making that choice broke my heart all over again. &nbsp; Their lives were so short. But oh, how they lived. The way they eagerly played together, sharing food and toys with such delight. Lilith, the cheeky one, forever trying to steal the shiny silver earrings right out of my ears. Athena, my little groomer, perched on my shoulder tending to me as if I were her own. Both of them pushing their tiny heads into my cupped hands for ear scratches, eyes closing in pure bliss. Their favourite fresh peas and corn kernels. My fat little ratties. Rest in peace, beautiful girls. &nbsp; The deep emotional bond we share with our sentient animal companions doesn't come with an instruction manual for letting go. What do we do with all that love when the physical body is no longer here to receive it? Whether they were with us for fifteen years, eighteen months, or just the sweet stolen season of a palliative foster — the size of the grief matches the size of the love. Full stop. &nbsp; This is the question that keeps finding me. &nbsp; I've spent years as a Reiki practitioner, sitting at the bedside of people managing chronic illness, walking alongside those in life-altering health journeys. I've held space for animals in rescue, decompressing from trauma, learning to trust again. I understand the body. I understand energy. But more than anything, I understand that the love between a human and their animal companion is sacred — and that sacred things deserve to be honoured, especially at the threshold. &nbsp; Ceremony matters. Pausing matters. Gathering the fragments of a breaking heart and holding them with reverence matters. The vigil my animals kept for Lilith — that was ceremony. The bucket list we made for Bailey — that was ceremony. The Reiki hands on Tippy as she grieved her soul friend — that was sacred space, unplanned and instinctive and real. &nbsp; I think about Tippy. I think about Geisha. I think about how alone I felt in those early days of grief, and how much I wished someone had simply sat with me and said, "This love you're feeling — it hasn't gone anywhere. Let's honour it together." &nbsp; That's the space I find myself moving toward now. Not explaining it fully yet. Just naming that it's here, this quiet pull, this deepening. &nbsp; The animals have always been my greatest teachers. They've taught me that presence is the most powerful medicine, that permission is everything, and that love doesn't ask for credentials — it asks for courage. &nbsp; To anyone reading this who is walking alongside an aging companion, or carrying the fresh weight of loss, or preparing for a transition you can already feel on the horizon: you are not alone. What you're feeling isn't too much. It's exactly the right size for the size of the love. &nbsp; Make the bucket list. Chase the sun patches. Sit vigil with the whole household, human and animal alike. And when the grief comes — yours or your remaining animals' — let Reiki, let presence, let love hold you. &nbsp; Sometimes, the bravest thing we can do is simply be present for the mystery of it all — one breath, one heartbeat, one sacred moment at a time. &nbsp; I see you. I understand. And soon, I hope to walk beside you in a new way. &nbsp; — Lainey ❤️<figure id="figure-z5bbz89a1amqxvoxgg"><img id="z5bbz89a1amqxvoxgg" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/fjhuQ2scJL5zUamyE2t0ZJJ8S7GJb2k9vu2iTA0nREsfZ5roxTXSXOKRNjbG2r2w.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: 75% 25%;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="3:2" data-caption="" data-positionx="75%" data-positiony="25%" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/fjhuQ2scJL5zUamyE2t0ZJJ8S7GJb2k9vu2iTA0nREsfZ5roxTXSXOKRNjbG2r2w.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: 75% 25%;"></figure> &nbsp;

When Love Doesn't End: Holding Space at the Threshold

Practitioner performing energy healing with rescued horse in peaceful golden-lit paddock surrounded by natural landscape

<figure id="figure-ej3n5idrwdmqxwfzd6"><img id="ej3n5idrwdmqxwfzd6" src="https://rjdavx8ozyznxeyh.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/production/websites/infinite-images/59c37d2e-c5ee-4042-afac-f30d5a2fc6d2-t3NOOviBSiepAaJFmc8XmSg7fRxGsQ.png" alt="Handler carefully examining a young miniature horse foal's face in a bright barn with natural light" title="Handler carefully examining a young miniature horse foal's face in a bright barn with natural light" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://rjdavx8ozyznxeyh.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/production/websites/infinite-images/59c37d2e-c5ee-4042-afac-f30d5a2fc6d2-t3NOOviBSiepAaJFmc8XmSg7fRxGsQ.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h2>A Horse's Prayer:</h2><h2>What I Wish My Human Knew. From my heart to yours.</h2> I remember every trailer. Every new smell. Every new voice saying my name like they already knew me.I do not count the homes the way you might. I count the goodbyes.&nbsp;And I count the moments a human looked at me — truly looked — and I felt seen.&nbsp;Not assessed. Not evaluated. Not labelled. Seen.I am a sentient being. I have emotions, feelings, thoughts, and needs.&nbsp;I am not a vehicle for your frustration. I am not a problem to be managed.&nbsp;I am a sovereign soul standing in this paddock, waiting for someone to notice that I am here — not as a tree stump, not as something to rug up and turn out and barely glance at week after week — but as a living, feeling, hoping being who wants to connect with you.We horses live in the now. We read your energy from ten metres away.&nbsp;Before you open the gate, we already know what you are carrying.&nbsp;Whether you are grounded or scattered. Whether you are present or pretending.&nbsp;Whether you have come with an open heart or a to-do list.You cannot fool us. And truly, we do not wish you to try.&nbsp;Your energy speaks before you arrive, we feel it in the wind. Allow us to remind you of your essence, your soul, your spirit, your cconnection to the earth, you are nature.Come be present in the moment, Let's breathe together. Allow my heartbeat, the energy of my heart's magnetic field, to envelop you, and with each breath cycle, inhale, pause, exhale, we intentionally synchronise our heart beats.<figure id="figure-sna1gbp62mqxwmk2j" class=""><img id="sna1gbp62mqxwmk2j" src="https://rjdavx8ozyznxeyh.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/production/websites/infinite-images/fcc28d7e-5d67-48fa-9b0a-3dcf04d07c97-VVYEOquT1BCOXTrvAO1dBL8BhW81cM.png" alt="Professional handler presenting a miniature horse in pastoral pasture with multiple grazing horses and traditional barn in background" title="Professional handler presenting a miniature horse in pastoral pasture with multiple grazing horses and traditional barn in background" class="object-cover bg-gray-100" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://rjdavx8ozyznxeyh.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/production/websites/infinite-images/fcc28d7e-5d67-48fa-9b0a-3dcf04d07c97-VVYEOquT1BCOXTrvAO1dBL8BhW81cM.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3> We Are Not Broken: A Quiet Truth from Rescues, Fosters, and Shelter Souls</h3>This is not only a horse's prayer. It is the prayer of every foster animal who has watched a door close. Every rescue who has flinched at a raised hand. Every shelter soul who has waited behind bars for someone to stop and truly see them. Your friend's rescue dog. The cat you fostered last winter. The surrendered rabbit. The pony saved from a neglect case. The senior horse who outlived their usefulness in someone else's eyes.We are not broken.We are capable of love — deep, unwavering, soul-level love. But we need you to take your time. Build trust slowly. Honour our behaviour — not as disobedience, but as communication. We are telling you something with every sideways glance, every hesitation, every step back.Understand this: the invitation is important. The option to participate is everything. And when we don't automatically acquiesce — when we don't immediately come when called or lower our head for the halter — this is not defiance. This is a being who has learned that compliance did not keep them safe. So when you pause, when you wait, when you allow us to choose, you are demonstrating something we may never have experienced: that our choices are valued. That we are seen as a sovereign being. For the first time in a long time.Speak to us gently. With love. See us as perfectly imperfect. Whisper to us, even inwardly: All is well. Just for today, you are safe. You are allowed space to decompress and explore at your own pace. This is home. You are loved. You are honoured. You are respected.Begin to teach us — slowly, patiently — that some humans are kind. That some humans are grace and compassion and gentleness. Keep your movements slow and graceful. Remember that human hands are often scary. For small animals, hands that picked them up roughly, or worse. For horses, the inhumane breaking methods that very few humans even recognise as violence. So few practice Freedom. Liberty. Equus. Sovereignty. So few understand that trust is not demanded — it is earned, one gentle moment at a time.Establish trust. Allow time to decompress. And then simply hold space for us. Listen. Respect our interactions. Do not force. Do not rush. This is imperative.Often our chakras are out of balance — our safety has been threatened so many times, our brachial chakra stagnant, our heart centre guarded, our ability to create deep, loving, trusting partnerships with humans wounded but not destroyed. What you are offering is an opportunity for a new connection. A new beginning.Sovereign and serene. One breath at a time.<h3>What I Wish My Humans Understood</h3>Let me speak plainly now. Too often, humans judge our behaviour without ever taking responsibility for the energy they bring to our space. And then they call us the problem.I have seen the teenager, mouthy at their parent, storm across the yard carrying all that unspent frustration. And who bears it? I do. The bit yanked hard. The reins pulled tight until my chin is on my chest and I cannot lift my head. Kicking heels. Conflicting messages all at once — go, stop, turn, faster, slow down — and I am supposed to make sense of chaos while my mouth hurts and my neck aches and my heart closes a little more.This is not horsemanship. This is not partnership.We are not here simply to do a job. We are not machines. We are sentient beings who want to be in relationship with you — but relationship requires you to learn our language, not just demand we understand yours.Do you know what we wish for? Gentle meet and greets. Walk with me through the paddock — let's explore together. Let me sniff the new buckets and the strange thing that appeared in my arena. Sit with me. Bring a cuppa and simply chat. Let me hear the soft rhythm of your voice with no pressure behind it.Play with me. Not in the arena with demands, but in the field with lightness. Let me be curious. Let me choose.Most of all, see me. Really see me. Look into my eyes and ask yourself honestly: what do you see? Do you see a tool for your sport? Or do you see a soul peering back at you, hoping this time the human will stay?&nbsp; The Big Sigh. The Softening. The Choice. Something sacred happens when a human stops trying to fix us and simply stays with us instead.Maybe you have seen it: the moment a horse finally lowers their head and lets out a long, trembling exhale. The tension in the neck softening. The jaw loosening. The eyes — those windows to the soul — shifting from guarded to curious. To open.This is not a small thing. This is a release. A letting go of years of bracing, of waiting for the next rough hand, the next conflicting signal, the next human who does not see.And sometimes, alongside this release, something even more profound occurs: the animal realises they have a choice. A liberty choice. For perhaps the first time, they are not being asked to perform or comply. They are being invited. And they get to decide whether to step closer or stay still. Whether to engage with healing on their own terms.This is the heart of what I do. Not fixing. Not training. Holding space — steady, warm, sacred space — where an animal can finally choose.<h3>&nbsp; The Energy Centres of Trust: Brachial Chakra and the Heart</h3> When an animal has been passed from home to home, from shelter to foster to uncertain future, the energetic body holds that story as deeply as memory does. The chakras — our subtle energy centres — are intimately connected to the organs and systems of the physical body. Imbalances in these centres do not stay contained; they ripple outward, affecting health, behaviour, and the ability to feel safe.Two energy centres are especially tender in animals who have known too many goodbyes, too many harsh hands, too many moments where safety was stolen.The brachial chakra, located along the spine between the shoulder blades, governs the ability to connect, to receive love, and to feel safe in relationship. When this centre is wounded — from rough handling, from inhumane treatment, from years of being treated as a thing rather than a being — an animal may withdraw. Brace. Struggle to let a human near. The brachial chakra becomes stagnant, blocked, unable to flow freely. This is not defiance. This is protection. The brachial chakra is the doorway to trust, and it cannot be forced open. It must be invited.The heart centre holds the deepest questions: Am I loved? Am I truly seen? Am I safe to love in return? An animal whose heart centre has closed is not cold or difficult. They are guarding something sacred. They are waiting — sometimes for years — for a human who will not rush them.These centres heal not through pressure, but through presence. Through compassionate connection. Through quiet space together, without agenda. Through a human who takes time to slowly allow connection to unfold through heart-soul breath — shared sacred presence that asks nothing and offers everything.<h3>&nbsp; The Breath: Your Body's Ancient Key to Healing Let's breathe together.</h3>Your body has a built-in reset button — and it is activated by the simplest thing you do every moment of your life. Your breath. When you breathe deeply, with intention — a slow inhale, a pause, a longer exhale, another pause — you are doing something scientifically proven and anciently understood. You are downgrading your nervous system from the high-alert states of fight, flight, freeze, and fawn, down into rest and digest state. This is not a metaphor. This is biology. The sympathetic nervous system — your body's accelerator, always scanning for threat — begins to quiet. The parasympathetic nervous system — your body's brake, the calm that restores and repairs — comes back online. This is the reset of the vagus nerve: the great bidirectional highway between brain and body, between your nervous system and your animal's felt sense of you.This is the very reason Eastern cultures have practised meditation, mindfulness, and conscious breathwork for thousands of years. They knew what science now confirms: the breath is the key to activating your self-healing ability. When you breathe deeply and consciously, you increase the flow of Ki — life force energy — through your body. The same energy is known as Chi in Chinese tradition, Prana in yogic philosophy. It moves. It restores. It heals.And here is what makes this so powerful for you and your animal: you do this together. You breathe. They feel it. Your regulated nervous system speaks directly to theirs. No words. No commands. Just presence. Just breath. Just the quiet invitation to come down from high alert and to regulate and rest.<figure id="figure-n6r6wpcbilmqxwj5ul"><img id="n6r6wpcbilmqxwj5ul" src="https://rjdavx8ozyznxeyh.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/production/websites/infinite-images/2f6fb8b4-2c76-4cdb-a4de-83785d32184f-QNFuiHpC6j6QIZSjAqOj2r0phn2SBI.png" alt="Veterinarian in scrubs examining a horse's leg in a sunlit barn with natural light and straw bedding visible" title="Veterinarian in scrubs examining a horse's leg in a sunlit barn with natural light and straw bedding visible" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://rjdavx8ozyznxeyh.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/production/websites/infinite-images/2f6fb8b4-2c76-4cdb-a4de-83785d32184f-QNFuiHpC6j6QIZSjAqOj2r0phn2SBI.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure>

A Horse's Prayer: What I Wish My Human Knew Let me speak now. From my heart to yours.

<h2> </h2> <blockquote>Energy Is Everything Let's begin here. Because everything begins here. Thoughts. Feelings. Emotions. All of it is energy — vibrating at different frequencies, travelling beyond the boundaries of your body, rippling out into the world around you. Your frustration is energy. Your love is energy. The words you mutter under your breath as you walk toward the paddock — she's so headstrong, he's having a PMS day, this one is untrainable, so feisty today — every single one of those thoughts carries energy. And every single one of those energies is released into the universe.Your animals feel it. They have always felt it. The psychic connection between animals and humans is not a new idea. It has been understood for centuries by cultures around the world who connect deeply with animals, who honour the power animal guide, who know that the animal who walks beside you through life is not random. There is a reason. A purpose. A shared path unfolding. So let me ask you gently: when you think about your horse — your dog, your cat, your rescue — what energy are you sending? What words are you carrying? And are you ready — truly ready — to begin the deep work of self-reflection, to release the conditioning that tells you your animal is a problem to be managed, and to start connecting from a place of healing, of presence, of intentional love? Because here is the truth that changes everything: the energy you bring to the connection is a direct ripple of the energy you carried through your day. The stress. The rush. The argument. The to-do list. All of it walks with you through the gate and into your sanctuary at home — the one place that should be refuge for both of you. This is why spiritual energy hygiene is not a luxury. It is essential. Especially when working with animals.Your Horse Is Your Mirror Horses are mirrors. They reflect back to us the energy we bring — not to judge us, but to teach us. When your horse is restless, ask yourself: am I restless? When your horse withdraws, ask: have I been fully present? When your horse resists, ask: am I arriving with openness, or with a predetermined agenda I have not even examined?You cannot pretend. From ten metres away, your horse has already read every frequency you are broadcasting. The tension in your shoulders. The scattered quality of your breath. The weight of the day still clinging to your field. They know. So before you enter their space, pause. Breathe. Ground yourself. Clear your energy. Not as a ritual to perfect, but as a moment of returning — to yourself, to stillness, to presence. Arrive without agenda. Arrive with the perspective of entering into an equal partnership. You are not here to do something to this being. You are here to be with this being. And that changes everything. Spend time learning to listen to the energy of the horse. Not their behaviour. Not what they are doing. What they are. The quality of their stillness. The weight of their gaze. The subtle shift of weight from one hoof to another. This is their language. And it has been waiting for you to quiet yourself enough to hear it. &nbsp; Sometimes the Universe Chooses for You Here is something I want you to consider: sometimes you did not choose your animal. Not in the way you think.The universe has a way of orchestrating things — of placing a particular animal in a particular paddock, at a particular moment, in front of a particular human — that is far too precise to be coincidence. Maybe you came looking for one horse and left with another. Maybe a friend called about a rescue needing a home. Maybe a photo caught your eye and something stirred in your chest you could not name. A gut feeling. A quiet knowing. A pull you could not explain. And there they were. I believe animals choose us as much as we choose them. I believe souls recognise each other across lifetimes. I believe your chosen animal — whether orchestrated by the universe or felt in the deepest part of your gut — arrived with reason and purpose. Your work together is not accidental. It is sacred. The question is not whether you chose them. The question is: are you ready to begin?Where These Words Come From Before we go further, I want you to know something. What follows is not theory. It is not something I read in a book and decided sounded beautiful. These words are a gathering of voices — horses who have spoken to me across years of work and life and love. Some spoke during my Equine Reiki training, when I was learning to quiet myself enough to hear. Others spoke decades ago, when I was young and working as a trail ride instructor, long before I understood what I was receiving. Some were horses saved by friends from the sale yards and auctions — horses who had seen the worst of what humans can be and still, somehow, chose to trust again.&nbsp; Others were rescued brumbies, wild and wary, teaching me that trust is not won in a day but in a thousand small, patient moments. Some were horses in foster-evidence cases, held in limbo while the world decided their fate — horses who had been evidence, not beings, and who taught me about grace under the most heartbreaking circumstances. And then there are the ones who suffered at the hands of their trainers, handlers, and owners. Especially the ex-racers.I have worked with ex-racehorses who should never have been ridden before the age of four — their bones simply not yet formed, their bodies pushed too hard too young — because they were treated not as sentient beings but as machines.&nbsp; I have seen what happens when a horse is sent away for training in the pretence of ethical horsemanship, only to return in far worse shape than when they left. I think of one ex-racer, recently, whose owner discovered — too late — that a trainer had used an electric prod on her horse. The owner did not know. She had trusted. And her horse came back wounded in ways that will take years to unravel. Please. If you are considering sending your horse away to be trained, pause. Work together. Have faith in your own abilities. Grab a training book from the library.&nbsp; Contact a vet who encourages liberty training. Some of the most talented trainers I know work purely from Liberty, heart-centred Equus — where they encourage a bonded partnership, where the horse is given a choice to participate, to work, to train. And you know what? Some horses love the work. Given the choice, they show up. They offer themselves freely. And that is a gift no amount of force can ever replicate. I will never forget watching a horse begin his dressage routine to the music playing in my car before I had even driven up the driveway. How he heard the beat, I do not know.&nbsp; He moved to the beat — his entire routine, flowing from memory, from joy, from partnership. But he moved perfectly insync to the tempo of the music. Watching a horse perform his full dressage routine to Eminem's Lose Yourself was a moment I will carry forever.&nbsp; And when he finished the routine, he turned to look directly at me, making energetic connection, confirmation of happiness and joy. He turned away, and as he cantered away towards the gate, he did a tiny buck and skip, pure joy in his movement, uninhibited. Truth be told, I wish my dash cam was angled to record it. &nbsp;I almost expected him to click his hooves in a flourish: if he did, I would not have been surprised one bit!&nbsp; Not because he was commanded. Because he wanted to.This is what is possible. Trusting partnership. Equals. This is what the horses have been trying to tell us.<figure id="figure-tve8ocx724mqxw6j3i"><img id="tve8ocx724mqxw6j3i" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/5Bh5SlFsyWU1DjBB5nAkPn0I8OIg65z3aEDImKFLmW3VNzGLzodZQ1GqjVodL5eH.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/5Bh5SlFsyWU1DjBB5nAkPn0I8OIg65z3aEDImKFLmW3VNzGLzodZQ1GqjVodL5eH.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure></blockquote>

When the Trailer Door Opens Again: What I Wish My Human Knew - Horse wisdom

a horse grazing in a field with other horses in the background

<h2>The Road Through the Forest —&nbsp; A Reiki Guided Synchronicity&nbsp;</h2> By Elaine (Lainey) Bowler — Reiki Master Teacher, Ballarat, Victoria &nbsp; There are experiences that defy neat explanations. Moments where the sequence of events is so precisely, so tenderly arranged, that the only honest response is stillness — and gratitude.This is one of those moments. And it began, as so many meaningful things do, with a winding road and a willingness to trust.<h3>&nbsp; Guided From the Start</h3> It started with a family emergency in 2024— a flight to the UK, unplanned and heavy. And yet even in that weight, I carried what I always carry: Reiki. I grounded myself, set my intentions, and asked the energy to flow for the highest good.It was during that period abroad that I found myself attending an equine Reiki immersion training with Equine Reiki, Scotland, UK —at the Medicine Pony Tribe — a soul-nourishing experience that aligned beautifully with my work in animal healing and rescue.&nbsp;While researching that booking, a name caught my eye: Path of the Horse. I bookmarked it. Life moved on. The name settled quietly inside me, and I forgot.Or so I believed.<h3>&nbsp; The Nudge</h3> Late last year, unprompted and unexplained, that name rose to the surface again. After further research, I found myself writing an email to Dean Mighell — Psychotherapist, Equine Assisted Psychotherapy practitioner, and founder of Path of the Horse — simply asking about his work, following a pull I couldn't fully articulate. In Reiki, we learn to honour the nudge.Dean replied immediately. He invited me to visit — just days later.&nbsp;<h3> Into the Forest</h3> I prepared as I always do. I placed a Reiki energy bubble around myself and my car, set my intentions clearly — safe travel, timely arrival, for the highest good — and downloaded offline maps. I breathed into the journey with an open and trusting heart.And then the GPS had other plans entirely.Somewhere between Trentham and Ballarat, my navigation pulled me off the sealed road and drew me deeper and deeper into the Wombat State Forest. The bitumen gave way to gravel. The gravel narrowed further still, until I found myself travelling along a forest management track — a thin, rutted fire trail barely wide enough for my car — winding through dense bush with no signage, no reception, and no clear way forward.Several minutes passed before the full reality of my situation landed. I was lost. Properly, completely lost. Deep in a state forest, on a track entirely unsuitable for my vehicle, with no phone signal and no idea how far I had come from the main road.I felt the panic begin to rise — that cold, contracting feeling that wants to take over and make everything worse. And in that moment, I did the only thing I know to do when the ground shifts beneath me.I stopped. I breathed. I returned to Reiki.Slow, deliberate Reiki breath. In through the nose, softening the belly, letting the exhale carry the panic with it. I placed my hands on my heart and I asked — quietly, sincerely — for Reiki to flow. To the situation. To the car. To me. For the highest good, whatever that looked like from here.And then, steadied, I began to carefully reverse my way back along the narrow track — slowly, patiently, one careful metre at a time — back through the trees, back toward what I hoped was the main road.<h3>&nbsp; A Quiet Miracle — The Winery&nbsp;</h3>I cannot tell you exactly how long it took. Time moves differently when you are navigating by breath rather than by GPS. But eventually — finally — the track widened, the trees thinned, and I found myself back on a sealed road.And there, almost immediately, was a winery.Glowing quietly in the afternoon light, entirely unassuming, entirely perfect. I pulled in, and the moment I did — one bar of mobile reception flickered to life on my phone.Before I called Dean, I paused. I sent Reiki ahead — to the situation, to Dean, to whatever conversation was about to happen. I asked that it flow for the highest good, that any awkwardness or frustration be softened, that what needed to happen next would find its own ease.And then I called him. Over an hour late. Apologetic, flustered, quietly laughing at the absurdity of it all — lost in a forest on the way to visit a healing sanctuary, sacred land — and genuinely uncertain whether he would still be waiting.He was unhurried. He was kind. He didn't miss a beat."Don't worry at all," he said. "Where are you? I'll come and find you."He came to meet me — and when he did, I discovered I had been mere minutes away from his gate the entire time. The forest track I had wandered down had taken me in an almost complete circle around the very property I was trying to reach. I had been so close. And yet without that winery, without that bar of reception, without Reiki steadying my hands enough to reverse out of a track I had no business being on — I might not have found my way at all.I cannot help but wonder, even now, whether something was gently ensuring I arrived ready rather than simply on time. Whether the detour was, in some quiet way, the point.Seven minutes behind Dean's ute along a dirt track, we crested a long driveway — and the world opened up.<h3>&nbsp; A Place That Knows You</h3> Twenty-nine acres of hilly acreage, held within the arms of the Wombat State Forest. Rolling hills. Ancient bush. A silence so alive it almost breathes. The moment I stepped out of the car, I felt it — not merely the beauty of the place, but something older and deeper. A resonance my body recognised before my mind had words for it.This is a healing place. A powerful and sacred sanctuary.I was drawn instinctively toward one particular area of the property. I didn't understand why. I simply followed it — the way you follow an impression in a Reiki session that you cannot yet name but know to honour.<h3>&nbsp; The Name on the Wall</h3>Dean spoke of his work as a Psychotherapist and Equine Assisted Psychotherapy practitioner — his dedication to veterans navigating complex PTSD, to the horses as healers and mirrors, to a vision rooted in compassion and presence. I listened, moved and inspired.And then I saw it — a beautifully framed poem, a blessing of the land. And beneath it, a small, simple plaque bearing a name that stopped me completely.I knew that name. I couldn't explain how. Her name was Klaudia Hochhuth.<h3>The Sacred Thread</h3> And it is with great reverence, respect and tender compassion that I share the following information with you.I was overcome with emotion upon arrival, and needed several moments to compose myself and my energy. And now with much reflection, I realise the profound immense importance of that moment.&nbsp;It is a deeply spiritual place, surrounded by the Womabt State forest, standing atop the hill, as the magnificent ambience, scenery, connection to Mother Earth washed over me. I felt the sacredness of this space, the profound healing energy, and the beautiful vision which appeared before me. I immediately felt a a sensation, and was guided to take a moment, to be fully present and appreciate the connection to Country, to Earth, to All that IS, to SourceFor those within the Australian Reiki community, that name carries profound weight.Klaudia Hochhuth was a Reiki Master initiated by Phyllis Lei Furumoto — the granddaughter of the beloved Hawayo Takata, who brought Usui Reiki from Japan to the Western world, and who became the lineage bearer of the Usui System of Natural Healing after her grandmother's passing.&nbsp;Klaudia's initiation placed her in direct sacred lineage with the very source of our tradition. She was among the first Reiki Masters in Australia, and in 1991 — when Reiki was barely a whisper in this country — she organised Australia's very first conference for Usui Reiki Masters. She initiated countless practitioners whose lineage flows through the hands of current Reiki Australia members to this day.She had supported and encouraged Dean to follow his soul calling, and to build his vision. She had believed in Path of the Horse before it fully existed. Somehow Reiki guided me to Path of the Horse, to see first hand the powerful energy of this sacred space, and the powerful energy which is supportive, nurturing and a deep reconnection to the land, spirit, the horses and profound healing.I had not planned this. No one could have. In that moment I returned to my heart-space and to hold sacred space in the moment.<h3>&nbsp; What Reiki Knows</h3> Standing there, in the quiet of that extraordinary place, I thought back to the forest track. To the panic. To the breath. At that moment I sent Reiki ahead before picking up the phone — doubting myself completely, over an hour late, wondering whether I had somehow missed the moment entirely.And I thought: what if I hadn't been late at all?What if the winding, the getting lost, the reversing slowly out of a fire track in the Wombat State Forest — what if all of it was simply the long way around to arriving exactly when I was meant to? Humbled. Softened. Quiet enough, finally, to feel what that land wanted me to feel the moment I stepped out of the car.I do not believe I found Path of the Horse by accident. And I do not believe I was alone in that forest, uncertain and an hour behind, wondering whether to give up and turn home.I believe, with great gentleness and without any need to prove it, that Klaudia was there. That something of her — her warmth, her humour, her deep and abiding love for that land and for Reiki — steadied me when the doubt crept in. Guided me back from the forest track to the main road, to the winery. Kept Dean patient and unhurried on the other end of the phone. And drew me, without my knowing, toward the very place on that ridge where her ashes were scattered, a tranquil place where her soul found a deep peace.Reiki does not operate on our schedule. It does not care for tidy arrivals or downloaded maps. It cares for alignment. It cares for the moment when the right people are in the right place, open enough to receive what has long been waiting.I didn't go looking for her. But I believe, with my whole heart, that she helped me find my way.&nbsp;And I am so deeply grateful that I followed the nudge. I believe I was guided to Path of the Horse for a reason, and to share their message to the wider community. Reiki guided me to the Path of the Horse, to meet Dean, and to find out more about Gestalt therapies, the importance of Equine-Assisted Therapy, and the profound healing that is possible within the heart, spirit, mind, soul and the body when we surrender to being fully present in the moment, present in our bodies, regulated, calm and connected.If Dean's work resonates with you, I warmly invite you to visit and offer your support.&nbsp;Join The Badger Coffee Club - a small recurring donation of $5 per week to Path of the Horse — a simple, accessible gesture framed around community care and Klaudia's legacy. Less than a coffee and makes a lasting impact. To support the amazing work they do as a charity check out their website at <a data-mce-href="https://www.pathofthehorse.com.au" href="https://www.pathofthehorse.com.au">Path of the Horse</a> website. Donate now at <a href="http://www.pathofthehorse.com.au/donate" data-mce-href="http://www.pathofthehorse.com.au/donate">www.pathofthehorse.com.au/donate</a>Lainey Bowler is a Reiki Master Teacher and certified Equine &amp; Animal Reiki practitioner based in Ballarat, Victoria, offering onsite and remote sessions for animals and their human companions. Edited Blog, June 21, 2026.&nbsp;With respect, love, compassion, kindness and grace. Reiki love, Lainey x 📧 ElaineBowlerReiki@outlook.com | 📞 0425 778 292

The Road Through the Forest —  A Reiki Guided Synchronicity to the Path of the Horse

<h2>You and Your Animal: More Connected Than You Know</h2><ul><li> By Lainey Bowler | Reiki Master Teacher | Equine &amp; Animal Reiki Practitioner | Director, Reiki Australia &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The Bond That Runs Both Ways There is a reason you reach for your dog when you are anxious. A reason your cat appears from nowhere and drapes across your lap precisely when you are at your lowest. A reason experienced horse handlers know that no matter how well you think you have hidden your stress before entering the stable — your horse already knows. &nbsp; Animals do not read our words. They read our energy, our breath, our nervous system state, and the electromagnetic field of our hearts. They are, in the truest sense, our mirrors — reflecting back to us, with complete and unsentimental honesty, exactly what we are carrying. &nbsp; And what science is now confirming is something that animal lovers have always known in their bones: the health of a person and the health of their animal are not separate things. They are intertwined — biologically, energetically, and emotionally — in ways that matter deeply for both. &nbsp; &nbsp;<figure id="figure-1mb9q4dehlmnfjm49p"><img id="1mb9q4dehlmnfjm49p" src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1723909117179-6af1d264a27e?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wyNjI5NjF8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw4fHxob3JzZSUyMG1hc3NhZ2V8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzc1MDE3Njg5fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" alt="A woman standing next to a brown horse" title="A woman standing next to a brown horse" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-lg md:rounded-xl lg:rounded-2xl" style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: 50% 85%;" data-corners="medium" data-aspect="3:2" data-caption="" data-positionx="50%" data-positiony="85%" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1723909117179-6af1d264a27e?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wyNjI5NjF8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw4fHxob3JzZSUyMG1hc3NhZ2V8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzc1MDE3Njg5fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: 50% 85%;"></figure> &nbsp; What Science Tells Us About the Human-Animal Bond The research on human-animal connection is some of the most compelling in integrative health. Interaction with a beloved companion animal has been shown to: &nbsp; </li><li>Lower cortisol levels — the primary stress hormone — within minutes of contactReduce blood pressure and heart rate, with effects comparable to some antihypertensive medications </li><li>Regulate heart rate variability (HRV) — a key marker of nervous system resilience and cardiovascular health — through the simple act of stroking, holding, or sitting quietly with an animal </li><li>Stimulate the release of oxytocin — the bonding hormone — in both the human and the animal simultaneously, creating a shared physiological state of calm, connection, and trust </li><li>Reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and PTSD, with particularly strong evidence in elderly populations and those living with chronic illness &nbsp; The heart-to-heart connection between a person and their companion animal is not metaphor.</li><li>The HeartMath Institute has documented that the electromagnetic field generated by the human heart extends up to several feet beyond the body — and that animals, whose own heart fields are similarly expansive, synchronise with our cardiac rhythms when in close proximity. When we are calm, they calm. When we are dysregulated, they feel it. &nbsp; This synchrony is the foundation of why animal-assisted therapy works. And it is the foundation of why, in my practice, I believe so strongly in supporting both members of this bond. &nbsp; &nbsp;<figure id="figure-h35ru7c3rcmnfjs1rv"><img id="h35ru7c3rcmnfjs1rv" src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1722251517797-97723b773dd7?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wyNjI5NjF8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw1fHxBbmltYWwlMjBSZWlraSUyMGFuZCUyMEVuZXJneSUyMEhlYWxpbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzczOTk1Mzk1fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" alt="A close up of a person petting a dog" title="A close up of a person petting a dog" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-lg md:rounded-xl lg:rounded-2xl" style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: undefined undefined;" data-corners="medium" data-aspect="3:2" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1722251517797-97723b773dd7?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wyNjI5NjF8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw1fHxBbmltYWwlMjBSZWlraSUyMGFuZCUyMEVuZXJneSUyMEhlYWxpbmd8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzczOTk1Mzk1fDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: undefined undefined;"></figure> &nbsp; Animals as Mirrors: When Their Stress Is Our Stress If you have ever noticed that your dog becomes anxious when your household is under pressure, that your horse resists or becomes reactive when you are overwhelmed, or that your cat develops physical symptoms during periods of family tension — you are not imagining it. &nbsp; Animals are extraordinarily sensitive to the energetic and emotional states of the humans they are bonded to. They absorb our stress. They carry our unprocessed emotion. They develop behavioural and physical presentations that often mirror, almost precisely, what their human companion is experiencing internally. &nbsp; A dog with chronic digestive issues whose owner is navigating unresolved anxiety. A horse with tension through the topline whose rider is carrying unprocessed grief. A cat with over-grooming behaviours in a household where a family member is under significant work stress. These patterns are not coincidental. They are the living evidence of the bond. &nbsp; Which means that sometimes, the most important thing I can do for an animal client is to work with their person. And the most important thing I can do for a person is to acknowledge that their animal's well-being is part of theirs. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Calm, Breath, and Mindfulness: The Shared Practice The good news is that the very practices that support human well-being — conscious breathwork, mindfulness, meditation, and Reiki — also create the conditions in which companion animals thrive. &nbsp; When you slow your breath, your heart rate variability improves. Your nervous system shifts from sympathetic overdrive into parasympathetic calm. Your body's electromagnetic field changes — and your animal feels it. The dog at your feet relaxes their jaw. The cat beside you deepens their breath. The horse in the paddock lowers their head. &nbsp; You are not just practising for yourself. You are practising for them. &nbsp; This is why I encourage every client I work with — human or animal — to understand that calm is not a luxury. It is medicine. And it is contagious, in the very best way. Teaching people the correct breathwork, guiding them into mindfulness, and facilitating the deep nervous system reset that Reiki provides doesn't just change how they feel. It changes the entire energy field of the home they share with their beloved animal companion. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sentient Beings Deserve Healing Too Our companion animals give us so much. They offer unconditional presence, loyalty, and love that asks nothing of us but to show up. They sit with us through illness, grief, loneliness, and fear. They make us laugh when nothing else can. They anchor us to the present moment simply by being alive beside us. &nbsp; They are sentient beings with their own emotional lives, their own capacity for joy and suffering, their own need for care. And they deserve to receive healing — not just as an afterthought, but as a priority. &nbsp; In my practice, treating the human-animal bond as a whole — rather than in isolation — is not just a philosophical position. It is a practical one. When both members of the bond receive support, the results for each are more sustained, more profound, and more lasting. &nbsp; Whether your animal is a rescue carrying the weight of an early history, a senior pet slowing down and needing comfort, a horse navigating performance anxiety, or simply a beloved companion living alongside a human who is going through something hard — Reiki can meet them there. &nbsp; And it can meet you there too.<figure id="figure-o15sl2pbcmnfjtvqc"><img id="o15sl2pbcmnfjtvqc" src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1555019685-686f4f67aa19?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wyNjI5NjF8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMjB8fGhvcnNlJTIwbWVkaXRhdGlvbnxlbnwwfHx8fDE3NzUwMTgyNjB8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" alt="woman's face next to horse" title="woman's face next to horse" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-lg md:rounded-xl lg:rounded-2xl" style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: center center;" data-corners="medium" data-aspect="3:2" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1555019685-686f4f67aa19?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wyNjI5NjF8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMjB8fGhvcnNlJTIwbWVkaXRhdGlvbnxlbnwwfHx8fDE3NzUwMTgyNjB8MA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: center center;"></figure></li></ul>Our companion animals often extend an invitation to pause. To share a moment, to pause and take a long, slow breath. To be still with in silence. To synchronise with connected compassionate breath.&nbsp;In a that moment, an invisible soul-bond connection tethers between 2 hearts and one soul. Kokoro.Lainey Bowler is an Usui Reiki Practitioner, Equine and Animal Reiki practitioner, and Reiki teacher, specialising in supporting rescued animals, horses and their humans to connected deeply through mindful meditation and reiki. Providing Home-visits and an Online service to clients within the City of Ballarat, Golden Plains, &amp; surrounding areas.&nbsp;

Kokoro- Heart Soul Spiritual connections

a building with two windows and a sign that says hospital hospital

<h2>From Ancient Wisdom to the Modern Ward: Reiki, Palliative Care, and the Case for Healthcare Integration</h2> By Lainey Bowler | Usui Shiki Ryoho — 4th Degree&nbsp;Shinpiden Shihan | Reiki Master Teacher &amp; Accredited Reiki Treatment Practitioner (ARTP) | Director, Reiki Australia Board of Directors &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Rooted in History, Proven in Practice Reiki is not a new idea. It is not a wellness trend. It is a healing system with deep historical roots, a lineage of medical minds, and a growing body of clinical evidence — and it is time it was recognised as such within the Australian healthcare system. &nbsp; To understand where Reiki is going, it helps to understand where it came from. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The Origins: Usui, Hayashi, and the Medical Mind Behind the Method Reiki was developed in Japan in the early 1920s by Mikao Usui (1865–1926) — a scholar, spiritual practitioner, and lifelong seeker who spent decades studying medicine, psychology, theology, and ancient healing traditions across Japan, China, and Europe. A lay Tendai Buddhist trained in Buddhist monasticism from childhood, Usui also studied kiko (the Japanese form of Chi Kung) and reached master level in Yagyu Ryu martial arts — disciplines that deepened his understanding of the relationship between breath, energy, and the body long before his healing system took form. &nbsp; His breakthrough came in 1922 following an intensive 21-day period of fasting and meditation on Mount Kurama — a sacred site near Kyoto where Buddhism and Shinto tradition converge — where he received the energetic awakening that became the foundation of modern Reiki practice. He named the system Usui Reiki Ryo-Ho — the Usui Reiki Treatment Method for the Improvement of Mind and Body — establishing healing clinics in Tokyo and becoming widely known throughout Japan. After the devastating 1923 Kanto earthquake, Usui and his practitioners treated thousands of injured and traumatised survivors, and in recognition of his extraordinary contribution the Japanese Government awarded him the Kun San — an imperial honour for distinguished service to others. &nbsp; Before his death in 1926, Usui had trained more than 2,000 students and initiated 20 Reiki teachers — among them one whose contribution to clinical Reiki would prove particularly significant. &nbsp; Dr. Chujiro Hayashi (1880–1940) was a medical doctor, naval physician, and retired naval captain — a man of science, discipline, and extraordinary compassion — who became one of Usui's most prominent students in the early 1920s. Graduating from the Japan Naval Academy in 1902, Hayashi served in the Russo-Japanese War and rose to become Director of Ominato Port Defence Station before retiring from military service and turning his full attention to Reiki. He became a Shihan (master teacher) under Usui in 1925 — possibly the last person to receive that transmission before Usui's death in 1926. &nbsp; After Usui's passing, Hayashi established the Hayashi Reiki Kenkyukai — the Hayashi Reiki Research Institute — in Tokyo, where he employed 20 practitioners working in pairs at ten treatment tables. He brought a clinician's discipline to the work: meticulously documenting every patient, every condition, every hand position, and every treatment response. From this systematic clinical observation, he developed the Reiki Ryoho Shinshin — the Guidelines for Reiki Healing Method — a codified treatment manual that revolutionised how Reiki could be taught, standardised, and applied across different medical presentations. &nbsp; It was Hayashi who trained Hawayo Takata, a Japanese-American woman who came to his Tokyo clinic seriously ill and left in full health — and who would go on to bring Reiki to Hawaii, the United States, and ultimately the world. Her grand daughter Phyllis Lei Furumoto would continue to share the legacy of Reiki, a ripple effect outwards, world-wide. &nbsp; This is not incidental history. It is the foundation of everything. From its earliest clinical development, Reiki was shaped by a medical professional who understood that healing the body required far more than physical intervention alone — and who believed that a systematised, documented, teachable healing practice belonged in the hands of as many people as possible. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ki, Breath, and the Japanese Understanding of Preventative Health In Japanese culture and traditional medicine, the concept of ki — the vital life force energy that flows through all living things — is not a metaphysical abstraction. It is a foundational understanding of health that has shaped Japanese medicine, martial arts, spiritual practice, and daily life for centuries. &nbsp; The word Reiki itself translates as rei (universal, spiritual consciousness) and ki (life force energy) — and the cultivation, balance, and free flow of ki has long been understood as central to physical and emotional well-being. This understanding is embedded in the Japanese language itself: genki (health, vitality) literally means "original ki"; byoki (illness) translates as "sick ki." Disruption or stagnation of ki — whether through chronic stress, emotional suppression, trauma, or physical illness — is understood to precede and perpetuate disease. &nbsp; Breathwork (kokyu in Japanese) is a cornerstone of this understanding. Conscious, intentional breathing is not an add-on to Japanese health and spiritual practice — it is woven into its very foundations. From Zen meditation to martial arts to traditional healing, the breath is the bridge between the conscious mind and the body's innate capacity for self-regulation, repair, and restoration. The practice of kokyu-ho — breath energy work — is integral to both Reiki and many of Japan's ancient wellness traditions, activating the parasympathetic nervous system, calming the mind, and drawing the practitioner and recipient into a shared state of healing presence. &nbsp; In this context, Reiki is not alternative medicine. It is an expression of one of the world's oldest and most sophisticated preventative health traditions — one that Western medicine is only now beginning to confirm through neuroscience, psychoneuroimmunology, and stress-response research. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; My Qualifications: What Professional Reiki Actually Looks Like Reiki is not merely something that I do, it is a deeply spiritual practice, woven with intention, carried upon each breath, every single day. I returned to study reiki, and in 2023 completed training to be initiated into 4th Degree level of Usui Shiki Ryoho — Shinpiden Shihan — the Master Teacher level. This is the highest level of Reiki practice and teaching within the Usui tradition, representing not only technical proficiency but a responsibility to uphold and transmit the integrity of the system with precision, ethics, and humility. With direct unbroken lineage directly traceable to Mikao Usui himself.&nbsp; &nbsp; Current professional membership with Reiki Australia — the peak national body for Reiki in Australia — is held at the Combined Reiki Master Teacher and Accredited Reiki Treatment Practitioner (ARTP) membership level. This combined category recognises both my teaching and my clinical treatment practice, and it is not easily obtained. To hold ARTP status, I am required to meet and maintain the following standards: &nbsp; <ul style="list-style-type: square;" data-mce-style="list-style-type: square;"><li>Current First Aid certification and current CPR certification — ensuring I am equipped to respond to any health event in a treatment setting</li><li>Current Professional Indemnity Insurance — providing protection for both clients and practitioner </li><li>Minimum of 10 documented treatment logs submitted in the first year — demonstrating active, accountable clinical practice from the outset</li><li>Completion of Unit 1 of the Reiki Australia Professional Development for Reiki Treatment — a structured course addressing knowledge and professional responsibilities aligned with health care worker standards </li><li>Ongoing continuing professional development — because ethical practice is not a destination but a commitment renewed every year </li><li>Full adherence to the Reiki Australia Code of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct </li><li>Full compliance with the National Code of Conduct for Non-Registered Health Care Workers — the statutory framework agreed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Health Council, setting minimum standards of safe, ethical, and accountable practice for all unregistered health practitioners across Australia &nbsp; This last point deserves particular emphasis. The National Code of Conduct is a legal requirement in most Australian states and territories for all non-registered health care workers — including Reiki practitioners. It mandates that practitioners provide safe and ethical healthcare, obtain informed consent, protect client privacy, minimise harm, maintain appropriate records, carry current insurance and First Aid qualifications, and never mislead clients about their qualifications or make false claims about curing serious illness. &nbsp; These are not aspirational guidelines. They are the professional floor — and they are the standards I hold myself to in every single treatment, whether I am working at a hospital bedside, visiting a client at home, working with an animal, or sitting with someone across the country via distance Reiki. &nbsp; This is what professional Reiki practice looks like. And it is the standard Reiki Australia is working to establish and protect across the entire profession. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Reiki in Palliative and Hospice Care: Where It Matters Most Of all the settings in which Reiki can make a difference, perhaps none is more profound — or more necessary — than palliative and hospice care. &nbsp; When curative medicine reaches its limit, the human being does not stop needing care. If anything, the need deepens. People facing the end of life need more than symptom management. They need to feel safe. To feel seen. To have their fear met with compassion rather than clinical distance. To be held, gently and completely, as whole persons — not as diagnoses. &nbsp; This is precisely what Reiki offers. &nbsp; My three months volunteering at the BRICC Wellness Centre at Grampians Health Ballarat in 2023 — providing weekly Reiki treatments to oncology patients — gave me a front-row view of what ethical, professionally delivered Reiki looks like within a hospital setting, and what it gives patients that nothing else quite can. Clients arrived exhausted from treatment, frightened, sometimes in significant pain, carrying the emotional weight of a diagnosis that had changed everything. Within a single session, I watched their breathing slow, their shoulders drop, their faces soften. The fear did not disappear — but it became manageable. The pain did not vanish — but it eased. And in that ease, something opened: conversations about meaning, fear, family, and the approach of death that might not have happened anywhere else. &nbsp; Inspired by those experiences, a number of BRICC clients sought me out for continuing Reiki treatment in my private practice. What unfolded in those sessions has shaped my deepest understanding of what Reiki is capable of at the intersection of serious illness, spiritual need, and the approach of death. With their permission, I share two of those stories in my longer blog piece, Reiki as Integrative Self-Care — a man in palliative care who found spiritual peace and preparation for his passing through regular Reiki sessions, and a woman who moved from a terminal breast cancer diagnosis into remission, crediting Reiki as part of the profound inner shift that made that possible. &nbsp; These stories are shared with profound respect and gratitude. And they are the reason I show up to this work every day. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; A Vision for Healthcare: Reiki as Allied Health, and Every Nurse Who Could Change a Life Here is my vision, stated plainly: I want every nurse, every doctor, and every healthcare worker in Australia to have access to Reiki training, and for Reiki to be formally recognised within the allied health framework. &nbsp; This is not idealism. It is a logical next step that leading health systems overseas have already taken.</li><li>&nbsp;In the United Kingdom, hospices have trained staff nurses as Reiki practitioners so that Reiki can be available at the point of need — day or night — without requiring a separate appointment.</li><li>Research published in BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care documented a UK hospice programme in which nurses trained to Reiki Level II were able to integrate Reiki directly into routine ward care, reaching an additional 70 patients, carers, and staff in just two months.</li><li>The Footprints Day Centre at St John of God Murdoch Community Hospice — which just received Australia's inaugural Professor Con Michael Clinical Excellence Award for Patient Experience in March 2026 — runs a model built on exactly this philosophy: that complementary therapies, including Reiki, belong within the care team, not outside it.&nbsp; </li><li>Imagine a future where an Australian nurse, completing a Reiki training programme supported by their own health service, pauses at the bedside of a frightened patient and offers five minutes of gentle Reiki before their next procedure.</li><li>Where a palliative care practitioner is equipped not only to manage pain medication but to sit in healing presence with a patient who is afraid of dying, and help them find peace.</li><li>Where Reiki is not a referral to an external provider — but a living skill within the ward, offered freely at the point of need. &nbsp; That future requires that Reiki be taken seriously as a professional discipline — with rigorous training, documented practice, clear ethical standards, legal accountability, and formal recognition within the health system. That is precisely what Reiki Australia's ARTP framework, the National Code of Conduct, and the broader integrative medicine movement are building towards. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The Standard We Are Working Towards Dr. Chujiro Hayashi — the naval physician who brought a scientist's discipline to Usui's spiritual system nearly a century ago — understood something that still holds true today: Reiki's greatest contribution is made not in isolation, but in partnership with medical care. He documented. He standardised. He trained. He built the foundations for a healing system to be taken seriously as a clinical discipline. &nbsp; That is exactly what we are doing now — in Australia, within Reiki Australia, and within every clinical relationship I hold as a practitioner. The work of legitimisation is ongoing. The standards are being built, session by session, clinical placement by clinical placement, research paper by research paper, and patient story by patient story. &nbsp; And one day — perhaps sooner than we think — an Australian nurse will complete their Reiki training through a programme supported by their own health service, walk into a palliative care room, and offer a patient something that no medication can: the quiet, certain knowledge that they are not alone, and that healing — in all its forms — is still available to them. &nbsp; That is the future I am working towards. I hope you will join me. </li><li>Lainey Bowler - Elaine Bowler Reiki &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; About Lainey Bowler</li><li>Certificate IV Pathology Collection - 17 Yrs experience in the medical &amp; healthcare industry as a qualified Phlebotomist.</li><li>serves as a Director with Reiki Australia --Board of Directors</li><li> Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki Practitioner — Shinpiden &amp; Shihan</li><li>Reiki Master Teacher and Accredited Reiki Treatment Practitioner (ARTP) combined membership with Reiki Australia</li><li>ETAA certified Equine &amp; Animal Reiki Practitioner</li><li>IICT, International Institute of Complementary Therapists.</li><li>Shelter Animal Reiki Association - Community Supporter</li><li>Elaine Bowler Reiki&nbsp; offers home-visits, and distance Reiki sessions for people and animals across the City of Ballarat and surrounding regions, and regular monthly Reiki Meditation &amp; Well-Being workshops &nbsp; Contact: ElaineBowlerReiki@outlook.com | 0425 778 292 &nbsp; &nbsp;<figure id="figure-z4bgb5nplrmneld6x1"><img id="z4bgb5nplrmneld6x1" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/1G4ERQiN6FCbz3lJhnqNIzUzEYgoeGahoZ3xc2RxZRNcFkl7KIlhIE7qzQrWzO46.png" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/1G4ERQiN6FCbz3lJhnqNIzUzEYgoeGahoZ3xc2RxZRNcFkl7KIlhIE7qzQrWzO46.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure> &nbsp; Key references: &nbsp; </li><li>Usui, M. (1922). Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai. Tokyo. Historical records and memorial. </li><li>Streich, M. (2009). The Story of Dr. Chujiro Hayashi. Reiki News Magazine, Fall 2009. reiki.org </li><li>Reiki Australia. Accredited Reiki Treatment Practitioner (ARTP) Membership Requirements. reikiaustralia.com.au/accredited-reiki-treatment-practice/ </li><li>Reiki Australia. Reiki Precepts and the National Code of Conduct. reikiaustralia.com.au </li><li>Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Health Council (2015). National Code of Conduct for Health Care Workers. </li><li>BMJ Supportive &amp; Palliative Care (2018). Reiki Trained Nurses: Integrating Energy Therapy into Palliative Care. Eden Valley Hospice, Cumbria, UK. </li><li>St John of God Health Care (March 2026). Murdoch Team Recognised for Outstanding Patient Experience. sjog.org.au </li><li>BMC Palliative Care (2024). Therapeutic Effects of Reiki on Interventions for Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis. Vol. 23, Article 147. </li><li>Systematic Reviews / Springer Nature (2025). Effects of Reiki Therapy on Quality of Life: A Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials. Vol. 14, Article 72.</li></ul>

Reiki, Palliative Care, and the Case for Healthcare Integration

Elaine Bowler Reiki

I am an expereinced intuitive energy healer, certified Equine and Animal Reiki Practitioner, Reiki Master teacher specialising in supporting horses, animals and their humans to release stress, relax and bond deeply through holistic well-being practices, personalised bespoke healing sessions. gentle nourishing energy healing sessions incorportating JApanese Usui Reiki treatments, intuitive animal communication, and also End-of-Life Practitioenr supporting you and cherished companion through chronic and life-limiting illness,. 'Sovereignty and Serenity' gentle transitions.

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