Just Be With Your Pet: A Heart-Connecting Exercise
My feline friend Franklin (say that 5 times fast), or as others may know her, my cat familiar/friend/companion Franklin, aka Little Storm Cloud, is not the type of cat to enjoy being held unless it's a specific way. Even so, she doesn't find the most comfort being held.
She'd much rather lay near me or on my legs and enjoy getting pets and ear petal rubs.
When she's hungry, she will stand and “gargoyle” very near to wherever I am and will immediately respond to the phrase, “Are you hungry?” before following me to go eat.
I notice that her closeness to me is often determined by what I am experiencing or how much support she thinks I need, which I find so sweet!
Our animals really do know what's up with us!
She gives me so much support that I make a point to return that support through a couple of different ways.
I love thinking of ways we can connect with our animals in the present moment.
The present moment is a chance to find center and calm. We can recalibrate ourselves, find our breath, and adjust our energy.
In those moments, animals are right there with us.
When our pets ask for our attention, they're giving us an opportunity to put everything else down for a minute and actually be with them.
So the exercise I'm sharing with you today is a simple way to intentionally create that moment with your pet.
You can use it to say thank you or to deepen your connection.
You can also definitely use it as a little reset for yourself, too.
Let's get started!
Heart Connecting Exercise
1. Find your center and breathe.
Start by getting comfortable and focus on your breathing. Breathe at your regular pace before settling into a breath that's a little deeper and more conscious.
Give yourself a moment to settle into the present moment.
You don't need to be anywhere else or accomplish anything else right now.
Just be here.
2. Create a heart connection with your pet through intention.
Then either close your eyes and picture your pet or gaze at them with your eyes open.
If they are sitting in front of you, just observe them.
If they are in the next room or not in eyesight, focus on their name in your head or picture them in your mind.
Imagine or ask your heart to open and offer a stream of connection to them.
Then set the intention to offer this heart connection with your pet.
It only takes an intention or thought to establish a connection.
Don't make it hard and overthink it!
3. Send everything you feel for your pet — the love, appreciation, and gratitude — down that heart connection to them.
Then when you feel them or their awareness, if you feel their heart connection, if your energy shifts, even if you have no clue if you are connected (trust), go ahead and think of and FEEL all of the things you admire about them and how they make you feel.
Feel how much you appreciate them.
Feel how much you love them.
Think of the silly things they do to make you laugh.
If you are a visual person, picture the times when they are the cutest!
Picture what they look like when they are sleeping or relaxed and imagine what their fur feels like when you pet them and hug them.
You can also think in your mind what you would tell them and imagine you are broadcasting this to them.
Feel free to try saying these things out loud if that helps too.
Then take all of these feelings, all of these thoughts, and imagine sending them to your pet through the connection between your heart centers that you have established.
Letting all of this good stuff flow to them.
4. Trust that they have received.
This is a really important part.
You don't have to know how they received it or see something happen. There's no required obvious response.
Just trust that what you intended to share has been shared.
~ Bonus Step ~
5. Ask your pet if they'd like to reciprocate. Receive through your end of the heart connection.
If you'd like to take this a step further, you may also ask them to reciprocate and share with you how they feel.
Ask them to send their thoughts and emotions through the connection like you have, and allow yourself to observe the thoughts, energy, and body sensations that you feel.
If you can have your energies sending and receiving, it creates a very powerful exchange!
6. Trust and limit doubt.
Trust that what you experience is true.
Doubt lowers the volume on our intuition and can downplay how powerful we are.
Practice trusting what you experience and remember that you don't need to force an experience to happen.
Being present enough to notice what is happening is a huge part of the practice.
7. And finally… thank them for participating and then release the connection.
Remember to thank them for the connection and for participating with you.
It's also always a good practice to end with the intention to release their energy from your own and to call back your own energy so we are practicing good energetic hygiene and we aren't just flinging ourselves around.
You could also imagine everyone's energy that is involved in this connection exercise getting renewed and returning better than before.
And then take a moment to simply be with your pet.
Notice them, talk to them, pet them. Play or rest, do what they lead you to do.
You don't have to turn it into another exercise. Just be present with them.
Often our animals aren't asking us to do anything.
They're just asking us to be with them.
Heart Connecting Exercise: Quick Recap
Find your center and breathe.
Create a heart connection with your pet through intention.
Send everything you feel for your pet — the love, appreciation, and gratitude — down the heart connection to them.
Trust that they have received this from you.
~ Bonus Step ~
- Ask your pet if they'd like to reciprocate. Receive through your end of the heart connection.
~ Finish With ~
- Trust and limit doubt :)
- Thank them for participating, release their energy from your own, and call back your own energy. All fresh and renewed.
Then, if you can, give them a little bit of your undivided attention.
See what happens when you meet them in the present moment.
Want to go a little deeper?
In an animal communication session, we can focus on what exact support and practices would be best for your beloved pet, and Reiki can also be incorporated if your animal would benefit from some extra energetic support.
Just ask during your session. No extra charge.