Connecting with Krishna: Day 13, One More Time!

When I entered Krishna's apartment today, he was meowing a lot. I think he was sensing the excitement and energy of his people people coming back.

He did calm down after eating, and then we settled into our usual routine, as he drank some water from the bathtub faucet, then we went to play (incorporating some TTouch and Reiki too).

Today, as I have done recently, I distracted him a bit by shining the flashlight on the floor, keeping it pretty much in one place for a while. While he was looking at the light on the floor, wondering where it would go next, I did a little TTouch on his head using a paintbrush, then worked my hand down the paintbrush, TTouching his head with my fingers. I did this keeping the handle of the paintbrush so that I was holding it out of his line of sight, behind his head, so my hand wasn't scaring him by being in front of his face.

I also tried doing some TTouch using a couple of long feathers, but he tended to want to play with the feathers more than being touched by them, so I went back to TTouching him with the paintbrush.

After a while, he had tired of playing and went under the bed, which is a place where he sometimes goes to feel safe, also a place he feels comfortable resting. I sent him Reiki as I sat on the floor right next to the bed, sending the energy to him from there. I felt a strong connection and a lot of energy flowing out of me.

I reassured him again that the people would be coming back later that day. I will seeing him, I've gotten used to seeing him every day :)

Rebecca texted me when they arrived back at the apartment, and said it was the first time they had arrived back from being away that they found Krishna to be relaxed, affectionate and not angry at them. Below is a picture of him, blissing out the morning after Rebecca and Tim returned :)

Connecting With Krishna, Day 12: Balancing Play and Relaxation

I was happy to be able to tell Krishna today that his people are coming back tomorrow. I can tell he misses them, and he's probably starting to feel the energy of them getting ready to come back soon. Today when I arrived, he started rubbing his head on their shoes!


Each day I am trying to balance the energy work and the playtime with him, so he can feel the different types of connection that are possible, and I am trying to really stay in the moment and not push him too hard, to really listen to what he is ready for. I do feel him more comfortable and getting closer each day with me, though of course I know that it is all somewhat complicated by the factor of him missing his people who he loves so much.



Today, he became intrigued with the little sparkly ball pictured here, and as it is very light, I discovered he likes to play catch with it, so we did that for a while. I'd throw it to him, and he'd either catch it and throw it back or just hit it back to me.



I also played with him using the flashlight and again, while I held the light still, he calmed and was comfortable with me doing some TTouches with the paintbrush and a bit with my hand, mostly on his head. I just do a few TTouches at a time with him, the "less is more" approach which most often works best with cats who tend to be fearful. Again, at certain points he came right up to me and sniffed me. I so wanted to touch him at those moments but just stayed very still, so as not to startle him.


OK Krishna, one more meeting tomorrow and your people will be back! xo

Connecting with Krishna, Day 11: More Contact

Hi folks, I have been cat-sitting for Krishna while his human mom and dad have been away on their honeymoon. He usually will not allow anyone other than them touch him, and often bit the legs or feet of previous cat sitters. I can tell that he misses his people a lot, but am pleased that he has felt comfortable connecting with me through Reiki, TTouch, and play, particularly when it comes to his new favorite game, chasing the light from the flashlight. Ever since I started using this with him, if I set it on the floor near me, he will come up to it, touch it with his nose and yesterday he pushed it towards me til it was touching my hands.



Today, again we played with the flashlight, and got in some Reiki energy work. I also discovered something new with him. If I shone the light on the floor and held it still, Krishna was pretty mesmerized in watching it, and in this state he was receptive to being stroked and TTouched with a paintbrush. After a while, I was also able to sneak my hand down the paintbrush and do some TTouches and strokes on his head and even on his back today.

Then, intermittently I would move the light and he would play with it, then I'd hold it still and he would settle again.

At one point he actually came right up to me, sniffing my hand, then my arms, and my hair, which was a complete surprise. He surprised himself I think! After he sniffed my arm, he let out a little hiss and meow, then backed away for a minute, then settled down again.

Thank you Krishna, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Connecting with Krishna, Day 10: More Play

Krishna is teaching me more every day! Today I noticed he had knocked a few things off of shelves, so it said to me that he needs more playtime, so he can get more of his energy out while I am there :)

Above you see him in the bathtub. He loves to drink water from the bathtub, but he is not always so comfortable walking past me to go into the tub, so today I lured him there a bit with the flashlight. Once he was near the bathtub, he saw the water running and so hopped over the edge to drink from the faucet. I get a very thin stream of water going, so he can drink directly from the stream if he wants to.

After he ate and drank, we went into the living room and I did some Reiki with him for a while. I had the flashlight on the floor next to me. He moved closer and closer to me, then walked over to sniff the flashlight.
I didn't pick up the flashlight yet, so he took his paw and moved the flashlight closer and closer and closer to me . . . . til it was touching my hand.
It was clear what he wanted me to do! so I picked up the flashlight and shone the light on the floor, playing with him as he chased the light around. What I like about this too is that it gets him used to being in close proximity to me without concern.

Today I also did some TTouches on him using the paintbrush as he played with the light. He seemed to be pretty comfortable with this.
After we were done, he went under the bed, which is a place he seems to go to take a break and feel safe, and is also a place he seems to like to rest.
I offered him Reiki from a short distance away while he was under teh bed. Little by little he moved closer and closer to me, receiving the energy. I continued to praise him in a very slow, soft voice.
As always, I reassured him that his people would be coming back, and told him how many times it would get dark before they returned. I also reassured him that I would come there every day to take care of him until they returned. At whatever level the animals receive this, they do seem to be reassured by this.

Thank you Krishna - much love to you and look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Connecting with Krishna: Day 9, Keeping Calm and Casual

Today I went again see Krishna, who I am cat sitting. I have also been offering him Reiki, giving him some playtime and generally doing what I can to make him feel at ease while his people are away.

We have a bit of a routine going now. I enter the apartment, he comes from wherever he is resting (usually on the bed, on the cound or sometimes under the bed) and as I send Reiki energy to him, he generally sits down near where his food bowls are, waiting for me to wash them and put new food and water in. Then, after he eats some wet food, either we go into the bathroom or I lure him with the flashlight into the bathroom, where I run a trickle of water and he goes into the bathtub to drink the water coming from the faucet. While he does this, I scoop the litter in the litter box. Then when he's finished, we go into the living room.

Today we played using the flashlight again, he loves to chase the light! I vary the speed and direction of how the light moves. He is very fast!

After we had played a bit, I realized I had a message on my phone (I mute my phone when working with animals, as the sound often scares them), so I had to make a quick call. He seemed to be calmed by just hearing me talking to someone (I was trying, too, to keep my voice on the low-key end!).

After I hung up, he came up to the flashlight and nudged it in order to get me to play with him again, which I did. After that, I sent him Reiki from a short distance away. He seemed to be still a little stimulated from running around, so I didn't touch him with my hand today, but maybe we'll try that tomorrow! I think it does help him to keep a casual attitude about how much direct contact is made. Slow and steady!

Reiki and TTouch with Jinx: A Circle of Connection

Jinx is a very handsome, dear cat belonging to my good friend Jordyn Thiessen. I ran into her yesterday and she asked me to come and work with him, as he is losing mobility in his hind legs, most likely due to either a tumor or disc damage. Above is a photo of me working with him a couple of years ago, and below you will see pix of me during our session today.

We took him into a neighbor's apartment to work, so it would be more quiet without the two other dogs and cat. Jinx decided after a few TTouches that he wanted to go under the bed, so I spoke with Jordyn and continued sending Jinx Reiki energy from where I was sitting. I felt quite a strong flow of energy coming from my hands.

At one point he came out for a few more TTouches, then went back underneath the bed. All the while I was continuing to let Reiki flow, and the atmostphere was becoming quite calm. Jordyn is familiar with a lot of the TTouches, and I explained to her how she can do some connected TTouches going down each side of Jinx's spine, and some zigzag TTouches going from the front of his body and front legs, wrapping around his body and then going down his hind legs. This will help to activate the neural pathways and help body awareness and connection from front to back. I later shared with her that it will also be helpful to do some raccoon TTouches (with the tip of the finger) down his legs and all around his feet and paw pads, if he is comfortable with that.

Then we had one of those beautiful surprises that truly touch my heart.

Jinx came back out and sat on a chair near me, and he settled in and laid down.

I began to send him Reiki with one of my hands around his pelvis area, about 8 inches away, and the other hand was in front of his front paws, again about 6-8 inches away from his body.

Then he extended one of his front paws and touched my hand, and kept his paw there, so I was feeling a circuit of connection with him. He stayed there for quite a while. I was feeling energy coming to me from his paw, and I was feeling energy coming out of both of my hands: energy going to his paw from my left hand and energy going to his body around his pelvic area from my right hand. His eyes got sleepy and he seemed very calm and serene.

Another surprise, Jordyn was able to stand up, leave the room and retrieve her camera to catch the moment. I thought that he would probably move when she moved, but he didn't move a muscle!

I always tell the animals that they can take as much or as little of the energy that they want and need. So, when he had enough, he very calmly got up and walked away.

Thank you so much Jinx! I feel honored for you to feel comfortable enough to connect with me in this way, and look forward to seeing you again soon.

Connecting with Krishna, Day 8: Reiki and Play

When I went to feed Krishna today, the poor boy initially seemed more stressed than he has been. I think it was a combination of missing his people, and me getting there a bit later than usual and so he was hungry. This is the longest they have been away from him, and I'm sure it is hard for him.
Anyway, there were some angry MEOWs when I first entered. I started sending him Reiki energy right away, and he started to calm, and of course after I got some food out for him he started to chill a bit more.

Once again, as I have been doing every day, I reassured him that his people will be coming back, and told him how many times it will get dark before they return. I think this does help them.

He likes to drink from the bathtub faucet and he seemed hesitant to go in there, when I realized that he wanted me to pull the curtain from the end of the tub away from the faucet instead of near the faucet, as he wanted to jump in there. So sure enough, once I pulled it there, in he went to drink his water.
Then we went into the living room, where I sat with him and offered him Reiki from a distance. First he was sitting with his tail switching, but little by little he came closer and closer to me and his tail stopped twitching. Again I had brought a flashlight with me, as he loves to play with the light from it. I had set it on the floor near me. I was trying to decide whether to play with him today or just keep calming him w/Reiki, when he let me know what he wanted to do by coming near the flashlight, as you see, and he touched his nose against it and rubbed against it. So I turned it on and he started chasing the light around. It is so interesting that he seems to realize it is all a game, that the light does emanate from the flashlight, as opposed to it being something alive all on its own. He is so smart!!
When we were done, I gave him his mouse to play with, thanked him and gave him his dry food, which he loves, so it is always a great way to end my time with him. Love you Krishna, and thanks for all you are teaching me!