As a practicing animal communicator, recognising when another animal is connecting and passing on messages has become much clearer for me over time thanks to the continued guidance and patience they so freely give.

The first step in understanding is recognising when our companion is requesting our attention to receive the message s/he has for us. 

A previous article, Mirror, mirror., goes into more detail about one of the methods our companions effectively utilise to get our attention.

A phrase often shared with me is “I know s/he is trying to tell me something, I just don’t know what it is”.  The message may eventually come through to that person themselves or they may ask for my assistance to translate.  How the message is deciphered is not of importance, taking the time to accept, respectfully acknowledge and act on the message is the priority.  We owe it to those messengers to at least try to understand what they are telling us.

It is comparable to another human attempting to communicate with us in a different language.  We would find alternative methods to come to an understanding and that is how we should be treating our interspecies messengers.

There are many messages going untranslated, lessons unlearned and opportunities for us to heal that are being missed or misunderstood.  

One particular bond between a man and his dog as they travel Australia on their own campaign of awareness, Trigger’s Big Trek, has inspired me to introduce a project raising more awareness and understanding of the messages emerging within our relationships with our animal friends.  The project is an opportunity for us all to be able to recognise the initial moment of connection, translate the message, understand it and then learn from the communication.

Numerous conversations and sessions with many knowledgeable animals over the years has brought me so much learning, although there is one particular lesson that I would like to share as my contribution to this project.

My lesson began earlier this year when one of my companions, Xena, became unwell.  Her health deteriorated rapidly and it took a few days of medical assistance to stabilise her condition.  Xena was diagnosed with an infection of her digestive system and she returned home under medication.

During the initial first few days, the focus was on assisting her recovery and monitoring her.  It then became apparent that her recovery was going to be a long one.  Initially, my thinking was “Xena is a 15-year-old girl, of course this is going to take time” but then the knowing that there was more to her illness became stronger.

The infection had cleared but Xena was holding on to symptoms in order to teach me more.

I, along with many communicators I know, sometimes find it difficult to ‘hear’ our own companions when we are emotionally immersed in their situation. It was some time after her initial illness when Xena communicated the message “Let go” to me via a very dear friend of mine who enjoys a very special connection with Xena.  It was a message I understood immediately as I had been continually trying to ‘fix’ Xena and her recovery.  The day I received that message, I did ‘let go’ and assured her that I would remind myself to trust in the universe and allow her recovery to take its own path.  This is a message which continually emerges during interspecies conversations and I was having to remind myself of it and practice the challenging task of truly surrendering all control of the situation.  Xena’s energy began to shift, it had become lighter and her recovery began.

My lesson continued as Xena’s recovery continued.

During the weeks that followed, the complexity of my lesson grew.  It was like thinking I’d learnt maths at simple division, then got introduced to algebraic geometry.

Xena and I were having extended daily Reiki sessions during her recovery and it was during one of these healings when I was consumed with grief and sadness.  Recognising that it was not coming from Xena, I asked her more and she took me through previous life experiences which I thought I had processed.  Grief was the major element.  Whenever Xena and myself would sit and connect, tears flowed freely.  Two loved ones who had previously passed had become ‘trigger events’ for me during these conversations with Xena.  I realised the connection between these two events, Xena’s illness and her lengthy recovery as I painfully re-processed the experiences.

During these two trigger events I had experienced, I had felt unable to ‘fix’ one loved one and the other death I felt  I possibly could have prevented, or at least delayed.  (If only I understood more then).

After her illness, Xena had stayed in recovery status until I released my control of ‘fixing’ her.  It was as if she had ‘paused’ her recovery until I realised this.

I was still holding that energy with me and creating a ‘loop’ of emotional distress.

It had never occurred to me how imprinted this was on my psyche. These events had to be processed and ‘let go’. They were not for me to control.  These two souls both had their own paths to follow, it was not for me to walk their paths for them or control the direction they went in.

Xena’s key message to me was as follows:

“Release the toxins.  Let go of the past, it no longer holds you, your emotions or your being.  It is a lesson you are now processing and digesting.  Allow it to flow through you and don’t hold onto it.  The energy stagnates, rots and feeds sickness and disease”.

Xena’s illness attached to her digestive system until I had digested and processed what I needed to.  All throughout her illness and recovery, she was teaching me to truly ‘let go’, not just acknowledge the phrase and nod my head in agreeance, but to action it from my heart, to truly release all control.

Xena’s selflessness, love, perseverance and teachings are so humbling.  This lesson is, amongst everything else about her, something I will forever be grateful to her for and continue to live by.

There is a refreshing sense of freedom and empowerment to truly let go.

Many instances and methods emerge where our animal friends present their messages to us, we just have to recognise the signs and that is the purpose of this project.  For us all to recognise, understand and learn from these messages.  Our companions have so much to say.

If you have an experience to share where you, or someone you know, has learnt from animal, please contact me so we can share these messages, helping others recognise what their companion has to say.