How Reiki for Animals Differs from Reiki for People

Learning about a few key differences will help ensure animals have the best experience possible when receiving Reiki.

Practicing Reiki at home with my dog Lucy.

Reiki is a beautiful healing art and spiritual practice that just about anyone can benefit from—including our animal companions. It can be a gentle and safe complement to medical care and can give holistic support to animals through illness, transitions, or difficult times.

If you practice Reiki with your own animal companions, it can help deepen your connection and communication with each other and help you become more present in their lives. It can also help you co-regulate your nervous systems and create a more peaceful, balanced environment.

But Reiki for animals can differ a bit from Reiki for people. Understanding some of these differences can be helpful not only to practitioners who want to gain more confidence in practicing Reiki with animals but also to people whose animals may receive Reiki sessions.

3 Key Differences Between Reiki for People and Animals

Many Reiki practitioners don’t learn much about practicing Reiki with animals in their regular Reiki classes, simply because it’s not usually included in traditional training. So when I started practicing Reiki with animals, I wasn’t sure if I should be doing anything differently than when I practiced with humans.

But my dogs Milo and Lucy, and the animals at the shelters I volunteered at, quickly set me straight and taught me so much of what I now use in my professional sessions.

Here are the main differences that I’ve learned over my years of practicing Reiki with animals:

1. Animals may respond a bit differently to Reiki.

Some animals will make noises, get up and walk around, or even turn their back to the practitioner during a Reiki session. People tend to take these responses as a sign that the animal doesn’t like Reiki, but in reality, it’s usually just their way of adjusting to the energy.

Understanding common ways animals respond to Reiki, as well as how they may give and withdraw consent, can help you overcome any confusion.

2. Animals often need a more flexible approach.

The hand positions and techniques taught in regular Reiki classes don’t necessarily apply to more-than-human animals. In fact, many animals prefer not to be touched at all when starting an in-person Reiki session with them. And if they do want touch, it’s usually best to let them take the lead and show you where.

Many animals respond very well to remote Reiki sessions, where the practitioner channels the Reiki energy from a different location. These sessions are especially helpful for animals who usually experience anxiety around new people.

3. Animals sometimes need shorter sessions.

Because animals are so energetically sensitive, Reiki sessions with them generally don’t need to be more than 30 minutes. Sometimes, they’ll even let you know they’re done with a session after only a few minutes. If that happens, it’s usually not because they don’t like it, but because they’ve gotten what they needed from it and are ready to move on.

I’ve seen only 5-10 minutes of Reiki do wonders for some animals, and I’ve seen other animals want a full hour of Reiki. (The average tends to be 20-30 minutes.)

Of course, there are going to be exceptions with all of these guidelines, and we can always leave room for the both/and, as well as an individual animal’s needs and wants. But in general, keeping these differences in mind can help animal Reiki sessions go more smoothly.

If in doubt, you can always learn from or hire a professional who has deep experience practicing Reiki with animals.