Background
Oliver is age eleven and entire. He lives with his person, Caroline. I had not met him before our sessions together. He has never had any form of healing bodywork before.
His personality, in general, is very chilled, although he can be territorial at home and barks a lot when he hears the front door. He gets lots of walks in the New Forest and likes people and people watching. He is intelligent and sensitive.
There are two issues that Caroline hopes could improve for Oliver from our sessions together.
The first is that he can be anxious when out for walks and is very happy to stay on the lead. This is due to having been attacked on three previous occasions. He was bitten on two of these, one of which was very deep and caused an infection, which required surgery.
The second issue is that Oliver has osteoarthritis in both his front paws and his right elbow, which he doesn’t like having touched, along with his rear end. Caroline would like for him to suffer with less pain if at all possible.
Oliver can also get fungal infections in his feet in the autumn from the forest. This is treated with an anti-fungal cream so having his front paws less uncomfortable would be useful.
At the age of eighteen months, Oliver had a lump removed from his right lower ribs. Five years ago, he had to have his jaw operated on after biting on a stone, as it had become fractured. More recently, he has had four teeth removed.
Session 1
I arrived for the first session, and interestingly, Oliver did not bark at all, even though I rang the bell and knocked as well (his hearing is fine), and as I mentioned before, he and I had not previously met.
Oliver greeted me politely and sat close up against the side of my leg whilst I took down details from Caroline and completed my intake form. He was very happy to be stroked and talked to.
As I began to work with Oliver, he moved himself onto his bed, a couple of feet away, and stayed there for the duration of the session.
As always when I work, I asked Oliver for permission to connect with him. This came immediately and was very much from the heart. I gently explained that I may be able to help him with any areas of discomfort he might have.
Initially, Oliver took my attention to the 3rd toe of his front right paw. The specificity of his request took me by surprise, but I quickly became aware of energy beginning to soften and move, releasing from not only the toe and paw but also his whole lower leg. Oliver then moved my attention upwards to his right elbow, from where I could again sense energy shifting.
The session slowly continued in the same vein and our next port of call was the 2nd toe of the left front paw, again very specific, followed by the brachial plexus area in Oliver’s right armpit and then his left hip joint. There were significant energetic shifts from all these areas, each followed by a quiet period of integration before my senses were shifted to the next area of the body that Oliver deemed required my attention.
During the pauses between his requests, I was able to sense out into the wider field and noticed shifts and changes happening in Oliver’s endocrine system. The adrenals, part of this system, play a significant part where shock and pain are concerned by excreting cortisol and adrenalin and can upset the balance of the nervous system if they remain out of sync with the body. There was a strong sense of rebalancing here.
As I sensed that the session was coming to a close, there was a beautiful calm energy around Oliver. I checked there was nothing else he would like from me before thanking him and disconnecting. He had stayed on his bed for the duration, just a couple of feet away from me.
Session 2
Caroline was not able to report any significant change in Oliver’s movement since our first session. Having said that, he was pleased to see me and wagged his tail madly whilst bringing me his favourite toy. Again, there was no barking as I arrived, and Oliver settled on his bed again as I sat close to him.
After asking permission to work with him today, as I began, Oliver chose to rest both his jaw and sacrum on my hands. I was shown a sense of lengthening through the whole of his body and an energetic release. Oliver looked up at me as this was happening, and I was aware that I was being told that the energy was from a while ago, not recently. He put his head back down and went back to sleep.
Knowing his issues when out walking, I thought this might be an opportune moment to ask Oliver if I could be of any help to him in this matter. I sensed anxiety and asked where in his body he would like help in relation to this. He showed me his heart and adrenals so I held the intention of supporting these two areas. When I mentioned meeting friendly dogs on his walks, Oliver showed me excitement and expansion. With the mention of unfamiliar
dogs, there was a sense of contraction.
We noted that he was always with people who made him feel brave, strong and safe when out walking. Oliver showed me that he could feel brave and strong in his chest and safe in his heart. At this point, there was a considerable release of energy from around the heart centre.
I asked Oliver if there were any other emotions or anything else he would like to release, and he showed me his heart again. He had been missing Carolin,e who had been away for the past week and had only returned yesterday. This time, I could sense that the energy Oliver was releasing from his heart was from the present moment.
Then, towards the end of the session, when holding the intention for balance throughout his nervous system, Oliver showed me lengthening throughout the whole of his body. As we drew to an end, he was on his feet, wagging and wiggly with his toy in his mouth, whereas during the time we worked together, when not sleeping, he was always staring straight at me.
Caroline reported that she had found my presence and energy to be very calming during the session. She had been able to focus deeply on her work, as well as on Oliver, and had been very aware of the energy shifts. At one point, she had had a sense of Oliver levitating.
She also noted that Oliver is very respectful towards me and sits quietly by my side, whereas he usually jumps up at people.
Session 3
Oliver was very pleased to see me and wanted to show off his new haircut. Initially, he sat right in front of me, staring up, and when I made a fuss of him, he began to ‘purr’!
After the usual permissions had been obtained, I allowed Oliver to show me where he would like my awareness to go. He took my attention along the whole length of his body, all the way from his right sacroiliac area diagonally across to the left side of his jaw. At this point, as I held both places and intention for balance, he moved to sit on my foot. I noticed some significant energy shifts and a sense of relief from Oliver.
Next, Oliver took my attention to his groin area, particularly his right side, where I experienced a sense of opening and release. At this point, he got off my foot and began to move about.
As we continued towards the end of the session, I was very aware of a sense of letting go and reorganisation throughout Oliver’s thoracic area. I was yawning. Oliver was moving about, and there was a further sense of opening and release.
By the time we finish, Oliver is asleep on his bed.
To conclude, Oliver has been amazing to work with. He showed me that he is very aware of how his emotions can become trapped in the tissue of his body and how much he appreciated the opportunity to rebalance himself.
This case history provides an example of my healing work with pets and animals.
The Ytene Healing® approach offers Somatic Experiencing®, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, Osteodouce, Reiki and Animal Reiki to both human and animal clients, either in combination or independently. All the therapies offered are gentle due to their nature but can elicit profound healing.
Animal Healing sessions are intended to complement, not replace, the relationship you have with your veterinary practitioner. If you suspect your animal has a health problem, please see your Vet.
