How many times in our interactions with animals do we forget to invite them to be part of the equation, doing things to them, and not with them? A shift in perspective can change the animals feelings of being powerless to those of being empowered by remembering to include them as an active partner. This change can manifest many positive results.

For many years prior to the age of present day medicine and its accessability to the mass population, we relied more on ourselves for our healing. Over time we came to believe that through traditional medicine, the doctor or veterinarian was all powerful in making us or our animal well. The age of addressing the symptom, and not the cause, became the norm. A prescription was written and off we went with the belief that our healing was in the hands of someone else.

Many years ago my horse became very ill from a tick born disease and endured procedures to save her life. At the time I just held her in my heart and attempted to console her. Fear,submission, and loss had found a home, replacing self trust.

I was very grateful to all the wonderful people who helped her. Yet a key component to healing remained illusive to me. It wasn't until some time later that the answer became apparent. This Morgan had lost belief in her self. It took time for me to understand what was missing. I needed to change my perspective.

Our animals respond to all the vibrations of the body. Man in his evolution narrowed to believe that the vibration of the vocal chords was the primary means of communication, animals never embraced this concept. They never veered from using the whole of their being to give and receive information.

In modern day veterinary practice most often a diagnosis is made and the care giver embraces it. After many weeks of my horse being ill, I was told her days of being ridden were over. She had sustained permanent damage to some of her organs and was not expected to recover further, this was now her life. Traditional Medicine could do no more. The Mighty Morgan's return to health is a story of its own, but after including her in her own healing, she went on to take second place in three 25 mile endurance rides.

When a dire prognosis is given, we feel sadness and brace against what is believed to be the inevitable. Our animals may not interpret speech as we do, but they hear and feel the vibration of hopelessness. After hearing a diagnosis of cancer for my canine companion I began to add that information to what I thought and felt about her. I now gave off a vibration she began to embrace. In my quest to find what was missing I found a holistic veterinarian who said, "stop thinking of your dog as having cancer, she is more than that, and besides you're shortening her days.That moment brought me a revelation. As a healer I was caught up in doing the healing, or so I thought. After his statement it became apparent to me that if I opened to shifting how I viewed her cancer I was no longer giving off a "good bye it's all over" energy. When I began to be only half the equation in her healing that was the first of many shifts for both of us. Moxie began to improve and we went on living together and loving each other for four more years.

Expanding the way in which we feel and understand what is going on for our animals can greatly influence the thoughts we hold to support them in their life. When we include the knowledge that the body knows how to be a part of healing itself, we take back a component of our power. When we offer that understanding to our animal, we place awareness in a supportive role.

Self empowerement and perspective are key parts in healing of the self.