It's extremely difficult to watch our pets suffer or struggle, and even more so when the allopathic remedies we try don't alleviate the problems. Because of this, I'm an eager advocate of energy healing for pets, no matter what type of pet you have—mammal, rodent, arthropod, amphibian, aquatic, or reptile.

I should know the benefits of energy healing for pets. At one point, I was a single mom with five animals and three children. One day, every single one of my dear pets required assistance, and it wasn’t the sort that could be handled by a veterinarian. The guinea pig was chattering incessantly, while chewing frantically on his carrots. The brown Lab was moping about and the Golden Retriever was throwing up. The usually gregarious bunny was scurrying away from contact and the cat wouldn't leave his perch on the hutch, hissing when anyone neared. I was only able to help all five pets because I could draw on my knowledge of—and practices related to—energy healing, having been practicing over twenty years in the energy medicine field by that time. For each pet, I employed one of three basic approaches afforded to subtle energy practitioners to soothe and mend our pets. These are easy methods, and are (along with others) showcased in my new book, Energy Wellness for Your Pet. They are as follows:

• Fixing the disturbed chakra
• Releasing negativity
• Working on our own issues

Using my lovely pet family as examples, I'll reveal how I used these techniques to help my five pet friends regain their balance on that fateful day, years ago.

Fixing a Chakra
Chakras are subtle energy centers present in all living organisms, including pets. Each chakra manages a specific set of physical, psychological, and spiritual concerns.

The latter means that when our pet is exhibiting a problem, whether the warning signs involve illness, strange behaviors, or emotional disarray, we can assist them by tracking the symptoms to a related chakra. After that, a pet-friendly companion can problem-solve for practical resolutions and also direct subtle energies to that chakra. And then—voila! We boost our pet's wellbeing.

For pets, I work with the twelve-chakra system that I use for humans. In pets, chakras serve the same functions as they do in their people companions, although there are differences between the locations, as well as depth and breadth, of certain chakras. There are also variations as to the tasks performed by a chakra, depending on the type of pet. So you can assist your pet with chakra magic, I'm including the following outline about pet chakras. Included is the name of the chakra, its overall job, and its typical location. What will be unique about pet versus human chakras? For example, pets have "bud chakras," energy centers that are part of the tenth chakra. The tenth chakra is located underneath the feet and bonds a pet with its environment. Because pets are closer to Nature than are humans, the bud chakras add another layer of interdependency on their earthly surroundings, enabling them to pick up on climactic changes and more.

In terms of making an assessment, I recommend matching a pet's major symptoms to the related chakra. One way to accomplish this is to track an imbalance to a bodily area. For instance, my chit-chatting, compulsively chawing guinea pig, Max, was obviously stressed in the mouth area, which relates to the fifth chakra. Yet another method is to follow the trajectory to a chakra based on the type of distress. Max's problems also matched the issues governed by the fifth chakra.

Once we settle on a distressed chakra, we can then decide how to best clear and heal that chakra, and therefore, decide how to alleviate our pet’s concern. As discussed in Energy Wellness for Your Pet, you can support a pet's chakra physically, psychologically, or spiritually.

For Max, I started with practical research and discovered that while guinea pigs can eat carrots, there is too much sugar in them. I decided he needed a more varied diet and pledged to provide him a more colorful array of fruits and vegetables, in addition to his guinea food.

I then examined his behavior through a psychological lens. What was Max trying to say? All I did was think this question and he stopped yakking and stared at me. He was sending me a message, which I discovered had a spiritual bent.

When we're working psychologically, we're examining a pet for an emotional imbalance. When we're digging spiritually, we're entering realm of the soul. I meditated deeply and asked Max's spiritual guides to better let me understand his communique.

I saw a number of psychic images that reflected the problems being experienced by the other four pets. I understood. Max's ultimate purpose was to tend to my little community. His own emotions were in turmoil because the other pets required assistance. Speaking aloud, and also holding the quality of reassurance in my heart, I promised Max I'd figure out the other pet's problems.

To complete Max's healing, I asked Spirit, the name I use for my Higher Power, to send Max healing energies. Holding my hand over his neck area, I could sense the higher qualities of peace and calm make their way into his fifth chakra. He immediately went to sleep.

I next interacted with the brown Lab, Coco. It was easy enough to assist her. She was exhibiting physical symptoms, the universe of the first chakra, and so, I assumed she was laying around for a physical reason. Wouldn't you know it, the pathways she used to walk around in the back yard were blocked. Coco was deaf and blind, and so, obstructions posed a significant problem for her. I cleared out her walkways. Once she was able to move around again, she perked right up.

For the other three pets, I employed different techniques, which I'll describe next.

Releasing Negativity
Sometimes we have to help a pet "release negativity," a code phrase for getting rid of dark entities or forces.

I frequently assist my human clients with this endeavor, having discovered that many problems stem from entity attachments. Entities are invisible but very real beings that connect to the living for one of two reasons; they either want to steal life energy or grab the living being's spiritual light. Pets are just as vulnerable to these sneaky forces as are people.

How do you know if a pet is impacted by a negative force, especially if you don't have a Max in your household to clue you in? The following are a few intuitive indications:

• Empathy: In the presence of a negative entity, you might feel off, sickly, or very cold or hot. Then again, you could simply sense that there is something not good connected to your pet. Another clue? If you think your pet isn't acting like itself, it might be getting acted upon by something else.
• Visual Cues: Take a few deep breaths and ask to see what's impacting your pet. An image might arise in your mind's eye or even via your everyday eyes. A negative entity will look like a nasty creature and is usually connected by a cord or a linkage to your pet.
• Verbal Cues: Ask the Spirit if a dark force is impacting your pet and to give a verbal response. You might hear an answer pop in your mind or think about a poem, story, or song convincing you that this is the case.

To help heal a negative attachment for a pet, simply request that the pet's spiritual guidance or the Spirit send the energies necessary to release any unhealthy binding or attachment. This same energy will also heal your pet or anything or anyone else involved in the damaging association.

In terms of my pet household, I discovered that Johnny the Cat had an interfering entity connected to him. He had only recently joined the family and had been in a humane shelter before then. Most likely, he had also been previously abused. Harmful entities frequently attack animals who have been mistreated, as it's relatively easy for those dark spirits to steal energy when an animal is in a weakened condition. Asking for Johnny to be released immediately brought him down from the hutch and returned him to his friendly ways. I believe he had been hissing at the entity, actually.

Working On Our Own Issues
In esoteric circles, it's a well-known fact that pets mirror our issues. Sometimes their behavior reflects what we're doing and should stop, or conversely, shows what actions we ought to take. Other times, pets absorb energies that are disturbing us, as they like to act like our healers.

Both Honey the Golden Retriever, who was throwing up, and Bunny the bunny, who was frightened, were sponging up my imbalanced energies.

As per Honey, a few days earlier, I had come down with a stomach bug. It had seemed to clear up. I tuned into Honey and received a psychic image of a red ball of energy in Honey's stomach. I knew immediately that Honey had taken my solar plexus issues into himself.

The question was, what did I need to work on to heal him and myself?

When I attuned to my own digestive area, I started to feel rage. Then I remembered that I had been angry at a friend right before my gastrointestinal upset. I hadn't dealt with the emotions and so the energy had started causing a physical pain, which Honey had taken on. After spending time deciding how to deal with my own emotions, my own anger and Honey's illness ceased.

I also discovered that Bunny was reflecting the same issue, although in a different way than was Honey. Growing up, I wasn't allowed to get angry, and consequently, felt scared of the emotion. Bunny was acting out my fear. After deciding that I could now release my fear of anger, Bunny jumped into my lap.

As these examples show, pets can be very responsive to subtle energy work. One of the best reasons for using these processes, however, isn't only how handy and powerful they are. We employ them because we love our pet.

As Roger Caras once said, "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." Substitute the word "pet" for "dog," and you have the reason for using energy healing processes on your pet.