What is healing? According to Wikipedia, Healing means “to make whole”; it is the process of restoration of health, from an unbalanced, diseased or damaged organism.
One can heal by conventional medicine, but when people say: Healing, they really mean a complementary system.
Healing is being accepted as a holistic complement to official medicine; praying, Reiki, Arcturian healing, Shamanism, are just few of the kinds of healing learned by humans. In 2001, writer and researcher Lynne McTaggart wrote: “The Field”, when trying to find a scientific explanation to homeopathy and spiritual healing. In her following book:” The intention Experiment”, Lynne describes all the researches done on the power of healing of humans. Significant results proved that we, too, we have the power to heal.
Rupert Sheldrake, known animal researcher, has a database with more than 600 animals that comfort and heal. He mentions other independent studies about animal healing, always with a control group of people with no animals. There is, for instance, a study carried out in the Philadelphia area, with two groups of elderly people: one with adopted cats and the other group, without. Within a year, there were differences between the two groups. The cats had an effect of reducing blood pressure in people and less need of medication. The subjects also felt better.
As an animal communicator, we know that some animals come to our life for a reason. Sometimes, this reason can be healing. The compassionate and giving personality of our animal companions is a gift to us. Their uninterested help is always welcome.
Humans suffer from all kinds of ailments: physical and psychological and animals can feel that.. They know when a person is sick or they can feel the emotions and mood a person is in. They can even predict when a diabetic person needs insulin or when an epileptic is about to have a seizure. I have watched animals communicate with each other through telepathy, the same ” sensitivity” they use to “read” us and understand our mood and our health.
I have communications with animals who recognized ailments in persons of the household and did advise their humans on what to eat to help their situation. My own cat, Kostakis, warns me of situations to avoid, for my own sake. They help us because animals have the capacity of infinite love and compassion; something that we, humans, must still learn.
“Mutual help is an essential aspect in social life in many animal species”
Rupert Sheldrake
Dogs
Nowadays, service-dogs play a vital role in the lives of thousands of people. They can help: deaf-people, wheelchair-bound, blind and specially get through people that cannot communicate with the outside world (Autism). Asperger syndrome is a disorder characterized by difficulties in social interaction and non-verbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interest; it is an umbrella diagnosis of Autism specter disorder (ASD).
Danielle Jacobs, who had Asperger disease, made the disorder more known to the public, when someone filmed the moment she had a meltdown and was comforted by her service dog; the video went viral on YouTube and the value of service dogs was proved. Unfortunately, the police force of Arizona did not have the same sensitivity as her dog and shot her some years ago, when she was having another crisis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHRT9QyNTW8&list=PLIYPY5zizGRU0R5_4swlBHhTzQZmcyRLM
Animals show an incredible sensitivity for humans with Autism. An autism service dog is a service dog trained to assist an autistic person to help them gain independence and the ability to perform activities similar to anyone else. For the most part, these dogs are trained to perform tasks similar to those of service dogs for other sensory processing disorders . Mostly of the times, they also act like therapy dogs, being there for the child/adult in need. Their presence and energy calms the person as we can see in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW-neVrBiRU&index=2&list=PLIYPY5zizGRU0R5_4swlBHhTzQZmcyRLM
Dogs are also known for guiding blind people. They have the compassion and patience to help them through their path of life. Interestingly, when animals do have problems, they seem to cope with their diseases much better than we cope with ours. Smiley is a blind dog who became a blind therapy dog; he is now working with all kinds of people and showing that there is a way to surpass deficiency.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJkEgc7LPo&list=PLIYPY5zizGRU0R5_4swlBHhTzQZmcyRLM&index=3
Dogs can help people with Alzheimer’s disease, too. Cake, the rescued dog, now helps her rescuer, Tony, cope better with his disease and gives him a sense of purpose, taking her for a walk. Although Alzheimer’s disease makes people forget many words, losing their meaning, the relationship with an animal does not require spoken words or memory, just love and compassion, so the pressure is taken off the person to remember and he feels better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkGPTdAJ_JE&list=PLIYPY5zizGRU0R5_4swlBHhTzQZmcyRLM&index=16
Animals healing trauma
Humans can be born with their ailments or acquire them during their lives. Trauma caused by war is well known to war veterans. What they go through, at the front, cannot be understood by civilians. Working with animals is known to heal war-caused trauma. Lockwood Animal rescue center (Ventura County) has been using veterans as volunteers in their center. Mathew Simmons, the co-founder of the center, a veteran himself, started as a volunteer and noticed the effect that working with wild animals had in other volunteers, making them see the world, in a different way, at the same time that they are helping the animals, in a win-win situation. Van Zan Frater, US Navy veteran states: “It is already been proven that animal therapy is good for people, period.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV23m2UiFiM&index=5&list=PLIYPY5zizGRU0R5_4swlBHhTzQZmcyRLM
Birds
Dogs are not the only ones who can heal humans; birds are also known to help and heal humans. Sometimes, confirming an Animal Communication information, they appear in people’s life exactly when the person needs them the most. In Australia, a mother who was paralyzed, during a holiday, was helped by a Magpie, that her family named Penguin, to get back from a depression. As a very sporty woman, Sam Bloom would traveled around the world, with her family, when a terrible accident in Thailand left her paraplegic. The accident was horrific and the trauma hit the whole family. Being told that she was never going to walk again. Sam wanted to die but suddenly a broken bird came into their lives. Rescued as a baby by one of the children, Penguin, the magpie, brought to Sam a purpose in life. Penguin brought happiness to the family and “something to look after” says Sam’s son. Penguin is now, free, but does fly back to the Bloom’s family home, to visit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV7t28Ufc5w
Cats
Cats are used, worldwide, as therapy animals mainly because their energy is extremely calming to people. Black Moggy Radamenes was a cat that was found struggling against death, in Poland. After being nursed back to health, he, now, helps other animals giving them healing and company, bringing them back to health.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUeLFuuwsA4&index=8&list=PLIYPY5zizGRU0R5_4swlBHhTzQZmcyRLM
Equines
Equine assisted therapy encompasses a range of treatments that involves activities with horses and other equines to promote human health. Horses have been utilized as a therapeutic aid since the ancient Greeks used them for those people who had incurable diseases. It earliest recorded mention is in the writings of Hippocrates who discussed the therapeutic value of riding. Nowadays, therapeutic riding is very well known. Not only riding, but horses can do psychotherapy, too. Founded in 1999, the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA), incorporate horses to address mental health and personal development needs. In Greece, Hippolysis represents the work of EAGALA, helping Greeks with many issues. The connection of people and horses is equally magical as with any other animal. Various movies have been made, and “The Horse Boy” might be one of the most emotional ones, based on a true story of an autistic child and his connection to horses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxWMVE2ijBE&index=9&list=PLIYPY5zizGRU0R5_4swlBHhTzQZmcyRLM
Also donkeys have been used for healing.They have been serving humans since the beginning of civilization. Unfortunately, they are mistreated and used in an indiscriminate way. In Santorini, in Greece, donkeys and mules work the whole day, under the scorching sun, without a shadow nor water to drink, carrying tourists from the port till the main town on stone steps; at night, they are used to carry bags full of garbage or furniture. Lately, animal protection societies (like Ippothesis) have tried to install new laws (with the help of Eurogroup for Animals) and finally the Greek government was obliged to implement EU laws requiring identification of all equines. We only hope that this law will have better luck than the older ones requiring refuges installed by each city, for stray animals (although the money was given, no refuges were built).
Donkeys have been rescued all over the world. I, myself, have worked with rescue donkeys. They are sweet and forgive all that humans impose on them. In this video, we can see a rescue donkey: Shocks, helping to heal a little girl who could not talk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUYBG9gaZIU&list=PLIYPY5zizGRU0R5_4swlBHhTzQZmcyRLM&index=12
Sometimes we do ask ourselves who is the “superior race” as humans like to call themselves. Although humans can heal, not all humans have the same sensitivity and capacity; or they might have it, but are not able to “tune-in” into it, being too attached to materialism. We must thank our friends, their animals , for their healing and infinite love.
Bibliography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healing
“The Intention Experiment” Lynne McTaggart
“Dogs that know when their owners are coming home” Rupert Sheldrake
“The Domestic Cat “Dennis C. Turner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_service_dog
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equine-assisted_therapy
