Your animal is teaching you how to heal. Not just them. You.💕
I want to tell you about a time in my life I don’t talk about much.
I was in my 20s, living in a small apartment in Riverside with my brother. And I was drowning.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been in that place — where the world feels too loud, too sharp, too much. Where anger and sadness twist together until you can’t tell them apart anymore.
I shut everyone out.
I didn’t want to leave the house. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I spent most of my time in my room, the door closed, the world on mute.
But I had two dogs. And they needed me.
The Only Reason I Left
Every day, I’d have to get up. I’d have to leave my room. I’d have to take them out.
And in those moments — walking them around the block, the sun too bright, my chest too tight — they were the only thing tethering me to the world.
I wasn’t doing it for me. I was doing it for them.
But here’s what I didn’t realize then:
They were doing it for me too.
In those quiet, sad moments — the ones where the weight felt unbearable — my dogs would come.
They’d walk over slowly. Look into my eyes. Rest their heads in my lap.
Not trying to fix me. Not trying to make me feel better.
Just being there.
And every single time, I’d feel it. That instant shift.
The tightness in my chest would ease. The spiral would slow. The world would feel just a little less heavy.
They got me through the darkest days of my life.
Not with words. Not with solutions.
Just with presence. Just with love. Just with being there when I couldn’t be there for myself.
What They Knew That I Didn’t
I think about that time a lot now — especially as a veterinarian who’s spent two decades studying healing.
Because here’s what my dogs understood that I didn’t:
Healing doesn’t happen in isolation.
It happens in connection. In presence. In the quiet moments when someone — or someone with four legs — sits with you and says without words: “You’re not alone. I’m here. We’re going to be okay.”
They didn’t need me to be happy or fixed or “better.”
They just needed me to be.
And in doing that — in showing up for them, even when I couldn’t show up for myself — they showed me the way back.
Just recently, I had a conversation with Jan Allegretti — a pioneer in holistic animal health — and she said something that brought me right back to those days in Riverside:
“Animals embody the spiritual qualities we spend our whole lives trying to cultivate.”
Presence. Trust. Unconditional love. Living fully in the moment.
My dogs weren’t trying to heal me. They were just being exactly what they are.
And somehow, that was everything I needed.
The Science Behind What I Felt
What I didn’t know then — but understand now — is that something profound was happening in those moments when my dogs rested their heads in my lap.
When you sit with your animal and breathe together — no agenda, no phone, just presence — here’s what happens:
✨Your nervous systems synchronize
✨Your heart rate variability matches
✨ Your stress hormones drop
✨ Your oxytocin rises (the bonding hormone — it’s literally anti-inflammatory)
Science calls this co-regulation.
Your animal calls it love.
They downshift your nervous system from fight-or-flight to rest-and-digest. They remind your body — on a cellular level — that you’re safe.
This is energy healing.
Not mystical hand-waving. Not requiring certification.
Just two beings, breathing together, reminding each other: We’re safe. We’re here. We’re okay.
My dogs were doing this for me in my 20s, and I didn’t even have words for it yet.
But I felt it. God, I felt it.
A Practice: The Breath Between You
I want to give you something you can do today. Right now, if you want.
It’s what my dogs gave me all those years ago, even though I didn’t know to name it yet.
It takes 5 minutes. It costs nothing. And it’s some of the most powerful medicine I know.
Here’s how:
- Sit with your animal. Floor, couch, bed — wherever they’re comfortable.
- Place your hand gently on their body. Chest, side, back — wherever feels natural. Feel their warmth under your palm.
- Close your eyes (or soften your gaze).
- Notice their breath. Don’t change it. Just notice. The rise and fall. The rhythm.
- Match your breath to theirs. Slow down. Let their calm pace guide you.
- Breathe together for 5 minutes. When your mind wanders (it will), gently bring your attention back to the feeling of their body, their breath, the warmth under your hand.
That’s it.
You’re not trying to heal them.
You’re not trying to fix anything.
You’re just being together.
And in that space, something shifts.
Just like it did for me all those years ago.
Why I’m Telling You This
If you’re in a hard place right now — whether it’s grief, burnout, health struggles, or something you can’t quite name — I want you to know:
Your animal is doing for you what mine did for me.
They’re not waiting for you to be okay to love you.
They’re not judging you for the hard days.
They’re just here. Present. Steady. Holding space for you in a way the rest of the world often can’t.
I don’t know where I’d be without my dogs from that time in my life.
But I know this: they loved me back to myself.
And if your animal is doing that for you right now — holding you together when everything feels like it’s falling apart — I want you to know:
That’s not small. That’s everything.
When You’re Ready to Go Deeper
Some of you have asked me: “How do I learn to do energy work with my pet? I want to help them, but I don’t know where to start.”
I created a mini masterclass just to get you started –
“Energy Healing at Home: A Pet Parent’s Guide to Reiki & Intuitive Connection”
In it, I teach you:
🌿How to ground yourself before working with your animal
🌿Simple hand positions that support healing
🌿How to follow your intuition (yes, you have it — your animal will show you)
🌿Simple energy healing techniques
🌿How to create a healing space in your home
This isn’t about becoming a Reiki master.
This is about deepening the connection you already have and learning to trust what your hands — and your heart — already know.
The way my dogs trusted what they knew. The way they trusted that just being there was enough.
Access the Masterclass Here → For just $20/month, cancel anytime. We drop a new masterclass every month and you have access to the entire vault.
What Your Animal Wants You to Know
Our animals don’t need us to be perfect.
They don’t need us to have all the answers or never feel stressed or always get it right.
They need us present.
They need us to show up — messy, imperfect, human — and be willing to sit in the stillness with them.
To breathe.
To trust.
To remember that healing doesn’t always look like doing more.
Sometimes it looks like being still enough to let the healing in.
Your animal is waiting for you.
Not waiting for you to fix them or figure it all out.
Just waiting for you to sit down, take a breath, and be here.
They’ve been teaching you all along.
Just like my dogs taught me in that small apartment in Riverside, when I couldn’t see a way forward and they showed me — one head-in-lap moment at a time — that I wasn’t alone.
Maybe today’s the day you listen deeply 💕
With so much love,
Dr. Lily 🦄💜
Integrative Pet Wellness Center
P.S. Try the breath practice today. Just 5 minutes. Then email us at info@integrativepet.com and tell us what happened. If this story resonated with you, we’d love to hear yours too. 💚
P.P.S. The masterclass is self-paced, so you can do it whenever it feels right. Your animal will be your best teacher — we’re just here to give you the framework. Start here → Access The Masterclasses