As an animal communication and Reiki teacher, I am committed to encouraging people to develop a personal spiritual practice.
A consistent, dedicated practice of stillness, quiet, and/or meditation has multiple benefits for our mental, physical, and spiritual well-being, a fact that is now well-documented by multiple studies.
In addition, developing this kind of practice directly supports our ability to regain our natural, innate ability to communicate telepathically with animals and all life.
However, there are some kinds of “practices” that I have found to be counterproductive to developing the ability to become a good, clear, and accurate animal communicator, and can actually be detrimental to cultivating an authentic, deep, rich spiritual connection with ourselves and all life.
Here are two types of practices that can be misused and that can interfere with good, clear animal communication, and two alternative practices that can be used instead.
Blank Mind/Thought-Stopping
Some types of practices support the idea that the mind must be “blank”–without thoughts. Rather than noticing thoughts as they flow by naturally, and then making a choice about where to place our attention in relationship to the thoughts, “blank mind” is the misperception that we can or should control or stop our thoughts completely.
This is actually impossible to achieve, except possibly in small moments, and it is not necessary in order to engage in clear and accurate communication with an animal. It can also create a sense of disconnection from the present moment, and a fierce sense of struggle with “monkey mind” that can leave people feeling defeated and frustrated.
Additionally, the idea of a blank mind sometimes involves practices of thought-stopping, which can be a practice of coercive mind control easily manipulated by high-demand groups and organizations (for more information, see the Freedom of Mind Resource Center, a very useful resource for understanding all kinds of cultic and coercive control by organizations and individuals.)
Alternative Practice to Support Animal Communication:
Rather than struggling to suppress or stop thoughts, focus instead on a gentle, kind awareness of them. You might imagine that they are like clouds floating by in the sky, here one moment and gone the next, or like waves in the ocean viewed from a perspective below the water. The waves are moving above, but whatever is happening below the surface is where the attention rests.
This kind of practice is kind, gentle, and avoids a sense of struggle with the thinking mind. Rather, we acknowledge and notice the thoughts, and then learn to keep our attention where we want to focus: being present with ourselves and other beings. The thoughts will come and go; meanwhile, we allow our attention to remain with what is more juicy, real, and alive: our animal friend, the tree, or our own sensations and awareness.
Up and Out, Rather Than Down and In
This misperception about spiritual or meditative practice is often found in certain in new age or metaphysical circles, as well as some traditional religious practices. The idea is that we have to transcend or leave the body, taking our awareness up and out, away from the “earthly plane.”
This kind of practice often leads to dissociation (our awareness becoming separated from our physical experience), usually with a sense of disconnection, detachment, or floating. For people who are already prone to dissociation as a result of trauma, it can be especially problematic, creating a thin, fragmented, ungrounded, floating-above kind of sensation.
These kinds of practices may actually create more symptoms of post-traumatic stress in the long term, and are also not useful for regaining our ability to communicate directly and openly with all life. They often lead to “communications” that are inaccurate, disconnected, and filled with fantasy, mental ideas, and human projections.
Animal and interspecies communication is earthy, grounded, and embodied. We need to be grounded and solidly resourced in our bodies in order to communicate fluently and accurately. Animals teach us by their very presence what it is to be in harmony with our bodies, connected to the Earth and all she holds.
Other-than-human beings of all species teach us that we can expand our consciousness and our awareness beyond our physical form and experience, but that we don’t need to leave our awareness of our bodies and our physical experience in order to do so.
Alternative Practice to Support Animal Communication:
Bring your awareness to your body and the present moment by feeling the sensations of your feet touching the Earth, and feeling the back of the body, anchored, grounded, and settled.
Bring a gentle attention and awareness to your breath as it enters and exits your body, without trying to manipulate or control it. Allow the breath to become an anchor to the present moment and to your awareness of your physical body, and your ability to sense and feel energy beyond the boundaries of your physical form, without leaving your awareness of it.
You may like to imagine that you are like a tree: roots anchored firmly into the earth, branches/crown opening fully and with awareness to the sun, to the universal energy of the cosmos, anchored, centered, and grounded in form.
Spiritual practices that cultivate stillness, quiet awareness, and openness are supportive of a clear flow of sending and receiving communication from animals and all life. These practices are simple, uncomplicated, and don’t require a lot of training and protocols–because they are accessing our natural state of being and awareness which is always present in us beneath the noise of our human cultures.
A simple walk through the woods, or spending time observing a plant or animal in your garden, will cultivate this state of awareness and presence. As we practice this way of being in our daily lives, we are able to access the unseen, unheard worlds of animals, trees, plants, and all life.
