Tashi Receives Crystal Healing
by Karen Ryan

To show you a few easy crystal healing set-ups for animals, I asked Tashi, my Mother-Dog of two litters to pose for a few photos. These photos will show various crystal layouts to promote healing and wellness. Tashi is a 10-year-old pure-bred Lhasa Apso who has Seborrhoea, a skin complaint. I hold an orange Carnelian crystal over her skin for a few minutes to help heal superficial lesions. Tashi also has a weakened leg from surgery last year to repair a torn ligament (chasing squirrels). So we’ll address this leg complaint now and some crystal layouts that will be helpful to her.

You will see from the first photo, I am using a large natural clear quartz crystal and have placed it near Tashi to relax her. You might like to put some relaxing music on as well. The crystal is placed a few inches away at her belly for about 2 minutes to help regulate her general system.

Clear Quartz is a crystal that can be used for healing any part of the body. The tip of the crystal is pointing in towards Tashi’s body to direct white light for healing and to create an electro-magnetic field for harmonic resonance.

You can also use a crystal on each side of the body for greater intensity. Here, one side has Clear Quartz and the other is Amethyst, used to help with healing arthritic conditions and to alleviate pain. A list of crystals that can be used for various healing is available from my web site.

Tashi stretched and opened her body to receive more energy. Notice the change in paw and tail position. Animals display various signs of contentment with crystal work, such as gnashing their jaws and licking the air, or yawns and stretching when they are receiving energy. If the energy is too much, they will appear agitated and want to move away. So watch out for tell-tale signs and stop when they’ve had enough.

When I felt Tashi was at rest after about 4-5 minutes, I proceeded to place additional crystals around her to intensify the energy for healing. Clear quartz are gentle regulators of energy and can be used anywhere around the body. Pointing the crystals tips towards the body directs energy into the body. Pointing the crystals tips away from the body redirects energy away.

Here, a large Bloodstone crystal (seen in the foreground to the left) is placed near Tashi. Bloodstone is a crystal used for cleansing the liver, blood, kidneys and other organs. Bloodstone is can be very intense and feel uncomfortable during its purging so its positioned within Tashi’s energy field rather than directly against the liver. Notice the quartz crystals pulling energy away from Tashi’s tummy to help with the cleansing of unwanted energy.

Here I am holding the Bloodstone closer to Tashi’s tummy for a few minutes for more intense healing. By moving the crystal around very slowly over an area for healing, the body will pick up the vibrations form the crystal and begin to resonate at a level for healing.

Tashi is demonstrating a semi-circle of crystals around her back end. The quartz crystal tips are pointing in to generate healing energy at her hips and pelvis. If there was inflammation or swelling, the points would be placed pointing away from her body to draw the unwanted energy out.

Here I am using a modified crystal wand. Tashi is clearly enjoying the crystal session and was quite content with the healing experience. A focused session using crystals for 5-10 minutes every day on her recovering leg meant that after two weeks, she experienced a faster recovery than expected and was back to her old self with strength to trot and manage stairs easily.

Using the crystals everyday will help to promote healing and to prevent recurring and new issues. I have recommended crystals for many animals and found that horses respond very quickly. There is an equestrian group in Spain using them under my recommendations for their prized jumping team. If you are new to crystals, learn how to cleanse and charge them before using them for healing.

Case Study: Gus the cat

Gus is a 5 year old domestic shorthair feline. He was rescued as a kitten and cared for at a veterinary clinic following an abusive incident. The story, told to Gus’s owner, Aileen, was that he was thrown against a car. This act shattered the growth plates near his left shoulder joint. As a result, surgery was required to remove a portion of his front left leg, leaving it half the length of his right front.

Imagine what his gait is like. As he uses all four limbs, he has to crouch to the ground to use his shorter leg for support. Subsequently, his left front leg hits the floor with harder impact than normal, and his right front leg circles around as if he’s doing a dog paddle swim stroke. Imagine yourself as a four-legged creature doing this for most of your life – every step you take. How will it affect the rest of your body? Sprinkle in some arthritic pain and how do you feel?

Overall, Gus seemed fine during his first year in Aileen’s care and made the necessary adjustments to the surgery. Then she noticed troubles with his mobility and increasing swelling in all joints. She consulted with a doctor at Hope Veterinary Clinic. DIAGNOSIS: Severe osteoarthritis, naturally occurring arthrodesis, osteophytes, cartilaginous erosion, etc. bilaterally. She was referred to me for massage.

Gus’s first massage was on March 10, 2006. For 2 months, our appointments were weekly. As Gus got back on his paws and showed signs of improved mobility, we met every 2 weeks for a couple months. As he continued to get better, our sessions became monthly. These days we get together approximately every 5 to 6 weeks. In the rare occurrence that he starts to have some difficulty, we increase the frequency of the sessions, but usually for only a couple sessions as he recovers quickly.

What happens at each session? I arrive at the Brownstone dwelling and ring Aileen’s doorbell. 90% of the time, Gus reacts to the doorbell and is hiding under the bed by the time we enter the apartment. I’m getting into massage position while Aileen is cat fishing under the bed.

Sometimes Gus is an easy catch. Sometimes not. Aileen extricates Gus and sets him down in front of me on his bed. He plays games of struggle with Aileen as she does this (claws grasping the sweater is a favorite), but as soon as I place my hands on him, it’s as if a switch goes on in his head, his body goes limp and his eyes seem to say, “Oh, yes. This. I’m ready now.” The kittie masseur begins his work. This scene has been performed for 4 years.

Gus gets a full body massage using Swedish massage techniques that are incorporated into the method taught at Bancroft. I give special consideration to his left front leg and shoulder. To help keep his joints flexible, especially those in his front legs, I will put him through some passive range of motion exercises; passive because I, the helper, am creating the motion while Gus remains passive.

After my graduation from the Tallgrass program, stimulation of appropriate acupressure points was incorporated into the sessions. I used these points to focus primarily on keeping Gus’s arthritis at bay. (FYI, I highly recommend the Bancroft and Tallgrass programs to anyone interested in entering this field.)

I occasionally try new techniques or use standard techniques in new ways, always observing to see if he responds favorably. (I first test these out on my two domestic shorthair brothers and they give me their approval ratings.)

How is Gus now? Gus improved quickly. Positive updates were reported by Aileen regularly, even after our first session. His progress continued and his condition never regressed to the severity of its early days. He quickly gained strength in his right front leg and was able to support himself more easily. There were also behavioral improvements. Gus had been somewhat timid and tense and became more relaxed and sure of himself, especially when jumping to the window to watch his favorite bird.

What contributes to the success of this case is Gus’s cooperation during our sessions. He really grooves on his massages. He’s relaxed. He’s receptive to what I’m doing. From my observations, animals who maintain this non-resistant state during the bodywork have an increased capacity to recover and improve with greater ease and speed. If I’m on the massage table, I will have a much more healing experience if I’m not squirming around and struggling with the massage therapist who is working on my body.

Also, Gus lives in a happy environment with his 2 female and 3 male feline companions. They all come from different backgrounds and they are all best of friends. That alone is going to make for more stress-free, happy, healthy kitties.

I can say with certainty that if we were not having these sessions for the last 4 years, Gus would have a VERY different quality of life today. No, I have not grown the leg back to normal length through my bodywork. (I tried. Growing Limbs wasn’t taught at Bancroft.) He has exhibited the textbook benefits of massage that you can find listed in any training manual or on hundreds of websites: improved circulation, alleviation of pain, reduced stress and decreased anxiety, enhanced immunity, greater joint flexibility, relief of muscle stiffness and tension, reduction of muscle spasms, etc.

My overall intention with this work is to make our animal friends as COMFORTABLE as possible. We may not be able to grow limbs, but we can support their natural capacity to adjust to their circumstances and make the best of them. As Walt Whitman said about animals in Leaves of Grass, 1855, “They do not sweat and whine about their condition.”

I’ll reveal a hidden agenda for choosing a cat for this case study. In the 6 or 7 years that this field has burgeoned, I find a greater interest among massage and related practitioners to work on dogs and horses, and cats are too often considered unappreciators of massage. They are too aloof or too fidgety to work on. My experience indicates the opposite. Cats benefit from massage as much as dogs or horses and can be very accepting of this work. Maybe it helps that I am a cat enthusiast and find it easy to relate to them.

Testimonial from Gus’s owner, Aileen:
“Lon has done amazing work with Gus and has given him a life he would not have otherwise had. The arthritis was making it nearly impossible for Gus to walk or jump and his condition was deteriorating rapidly prior to Lon’s treatment. Gus is now without any signs of illness and a very happy—and determined—cat.”