Chapter 14 — Level 2 Practice, Integration & Certification

Completing the Animal Reiki Level 2 manual is both an achievement and a beginning.

At Level 1, you established your foundation in self-Reiki, in-person practice, animal communication, choice, and compassionate presence. At Level 2, your practice expanded through the three Reiki symbols, distance healing, support across time and change, and a deeper understanding of Reiki’s emotional and spiritual dimensions.

You can now offer Reiki to an animal beside you, in another room, in another city, or in another country. You can support animals through adjustment, recovery, emotional difficulty, ageing, illness, and transition. You can also work more intentionally with specific concerns while remaining open to the healing that is right for the animal as a whole.

Certification marks your completion of this stage of training. Integration allows the teachings to become part of your lived practice.

What Animal Reiki Level 2 Represents

Animal Reiki Level 2 deepens both your energetic practice and your relationship with Reiki.

Through this level, you have learned to work with:

Cho Ku Rei for strengthening, focusing, activating, and sealing Reiki
Sei He Ki for emotional and mental balance
Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen for connection beyond physical distance and linear time
Symbol combinations for different intentions
Distance Reiki for animals near and far
Photographs, names, written intentions, visualisation, surrogates, and beaming
Reiki across past experiences, present change, and future events
Animal choice during distance practice
Intuitive and energetic impressions
Caregiver communication
Session records and professional boundaries
Reiki support during ageing, serious illness, and end-of-life

These techniques are not separate from the foundation you developed at Level 1. They grow from it.

Symbols do not replace presence. Distance practice does not replace your relationship with the animal. Intuition does not replace humility. Professional knowledge does not replace compassion.

Each layer supports the others.

The Level 2 Attunement

The Level 2 attunement opens and strengthens your connection with the Level 2 Reiki symbols and frequencies.

Reading about the symbols can help you understand their meanings and uses, but the attunement allows you to enter into a direct energetic relationship with them.

After the attunement, you may notice:

A stronger or more immediate Reiki flow
Greater sensitivity in your hands or body
A deepening connection with one particular symbol
More vivid dreams
Emotional movement or release
Increased intuition
A stronger awareness of animals’ energy
A quieter or more spacious inner state
No dramatic change at all

Every response is individual.

A subtle attunement is not a weaker attunement. Its effects may unfold gradually through self-Reiki, meditation, symbol practice, animal sessions, and daily life.

Allow your relationship with the symbols to develop through experience.

The 21-Day Integration Period

Following the Level 2 attunement, complete a 21-day period of self-Reiki and symbol integration.

The purpose of this period is not to prove that the attunement worked. It gives you time to become familiar with the Level 2 energy before focusing primarily on offering Reiki to others.

During these 21 days:

Offer yourself Reiki each day.
Practise drawing or visualising the three symbols.
Silently repeat each symbol’s name three times as you invoke it.
Use the symbols within self-Reiki.
Observe how each symbol feels to you.
Record meaningful experiences in your practice journal.
Allow time for rest, reflection, and emotional processing.
Continue living normally without searching for dramatic signs.

Your daily session can be adapted to your schedule. A shorter session practised sincerely and consistently is more valuable than an elaborate routine that feels impossible to maintain.

A Simple Daily Level 2 Self-Reiki Practice

You may use the following structure during your integration period:

Sit or lie down somewhere comfortable.
Enter Gassho or use another centring technique that feels natural to you.
Ground yourself and become aware of your breath.
Invite Reiki to flow.
Draw or visualise Cho Ku Rei, silently repeating its name three times.
Draw or visualise Sei He Ki, silently repeating its name three times.
Draw or visualise Cho Ku Rei again, silently repeating its name three times.
Draw or visualise Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen, silently repeating its name three times.
Complete the sequence with Cho Ku Rei, silently repeating its name three times.
Place your hands wherever they feel naturally drawn.
Allow Reiki to flow without trying to control the experience.
Close the session with gratitude.

You do not need to use the full sequence every day. On some days, you may choose to explore one symbol in greater depth.

For example:

Work with Cho Ku Rei when you want to strengthen and focus your practice.
Work with Sei He Ki when you need emotional balance or inner harmony.
Work with Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen when offering Reiki across time, connecting with an earlier experience, or supporting a future event.

As your practice advances, your way of invoking the symbols may become more fluid. You may draw them in the air, trace them on your palms, visualise them within your third-eye chakra and beam them into your hands or body, or simply call them inwardly.

Over time, you may discover other methods that feel natural. Some experienced practitioners no longer consciously draw every symbol because its energy has become deeply integrated into their practice.

A Suggested 21-Day Integration Rhythm

You may follow this rhythm or adapt it according to your needs.

Days 1–7: Strengthening Your Foundation

Focus on Cho Ku Rei.

Explore its use for:

Beginning self-Reiki
Strengthening the Reiki flow
Focusing Reiki toward a particular area
Activating other symbols
Clearing and preparing your practice space
Closing and sealing a session

Notice how Cho Ku Rei feels when drawn over your body, on your palms, or visualised around you.

Days 8–14: Emotional and Mental Balance

Focus on Sei He Ki together with Cho Ku Rei.

Explore Reiki for:

Emotional balance
Mental calmness
Stressful experiences
Habits and repeated emotional patterns
Self-compassion
Harmony between the mind and heart

You may use:

Cho Ku Rei
→ Sei He Ki
→ Cho Ku Rei

Allow emotions to move naturally without judging them or demanding that they disappear.

Days 15–21: Connection Beyond Distance and Time

Focus on Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen within the full Level 2 sequence:

Cho Ku Rei
→ Sei He Ki
→ Cho Ku Rei
→ Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen
→ Cho Ku Rei

You may use this sequence to:

Offer Reiki to your past self
Support a future appointment or event
Connect with an animal resting in another room
Offer distance Reiki to an animal you know
Send Reiki toward an earlier experience that still carries emotional weight
Deepen your understanding of connection beyond physical separation

Finish each practice by returning your awareness fully to the present.

Practising the Symbols

You do not need artistic perfection when drawing the Reiki symbols. What matters is that you understand their general form, sequence, name, purpose, and energetic quality.

Practise until you can:

Draw each symbol from memory
Visualise each symbol
Silently invoke each name three times
Recognise the primary function of each symbol
Use Cho Ku Rei to activate another symbol
Select a simple sequence for a particular intention
Work with the symbols without becoming preoccupied with drawing them perfectly

You may practise on paper, in the air, on your palms, or through visualisation.

When practising on paper, keep the symbols respectfully. The act of drawing them can become a form of meditation.

Pause after each symbol and notice:

Sensations in your hands
Changes in your breathing
Shifts in awareness
Emotional responses
Images or colours
A sense of strength, harmony, connection, or stillness
The absence of any noticeable sensation

You do not need to experience the symbols in a particular way. Your relationship with them is personal and may continue changing throughout your Reiki practice.

Level 2 Animal Reiki Practice

After receiving your Level 2 attunement and beginning your integration period, practise offering Reiki to animals using the Level 2 teachings.

If you share your home with only one animal, you may complete your practice sessions with that animal. You do not need access to many different animals for your practice to be meaningful.

You may also offer Reiki to:

Animals belonging to friends or relatives
Animals supported by a rescue or shelter, with permission
An animal in another room
An animal in another city or country
An animal preparing for a future event
An animal adjusting to a recent change
A senior animal
An animal receiving veterinary care
An animal whose caregiver requests general wellbeing support

The purpose is to develop steadiness and familiarity, not to collect impressive experiences.

Recommended Practice Sessions

Before completing Level 2 certification, record at least six Animal Reiki sessions using Level 2 methods.

These may include:

Three Distance Reiki Sessions

Offer at least three sessions in which the animal is not physically present with you.

You may connect through:

A photograph
The animal’s name
A written intention
Visualisation
A surrogate
Beaming
A combination of methods

The animal may be in another room, another home, another city, or another country.

Three Additional Level 2 Sessions

Complete at least three more sessions in which you intentionally use the Level 2 symbols.

These may be:

In-person sessions
Distance sessions
Reiki for emotional balance
Reiki connected with an upcoming event
Reiki supporting adjustment or transition
Reiki offered alongside veterinary care
Reiki for general wellbeing

You may complete more than six sessions if you would like additional experience before certification.

Whenever possible, explore several situations or methods. However, repeated sessions with the same animal can also teach you how Reiki unfolds over time.

Animal Choice During Practice

Certification practice is not about making an animal remain near you for a required number of minutes.

The animal may receive Reiki while:

Resting beside you
Sleeping across the room
Moving freely through the home
Eating or drinking
Spending time outdoors in a safe area
Remaining in another room
Being geographically far away

If an in-person animal moves away, do not physically follow them to continue the session. You may remain where you are and allow Reiki to continue from a distance if the connection still feels welcomed.

For distance practice, address the animal inwardly:

Reiki is available to you. May you receive only what you wish to receive, in the amount that is appropriate for you, and in the way that serves your highest good.

The animal’s freedom remains central at every level of training.

Recording Your Practice Sessions

Use a practice log for each certification session.

Include:

Date and time
Animal’s name
Species and age, if known
General location
Reason for the session
In-person or distance practice
Method of connection
Symbol sequence used
Intention
Approximate session length
What you observed or sensed
How the Reiki flow changed
How the session ended
Caregiver feedback, if available
Your personal reflection

Example Practice Log

Animal: Jasper
Location: Another city
Method: Photograph and visualisation
Reason: Support during recovery from a veterinary procedure
Symbol sequence: Cho Ku Rei → Sei He Ki → Cho Ku Rei → Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen → Cho Ku Rei
Intention: Comfort, healing, emotional balance, and recovery alongside veterinary care
Session length: 25 minutes
Experience: The Reiki flow felt steady. My attention returned several times to Jasper’s abdomen, followed by a sense of warmth and quietness. The flow became much weaker near the end of the agreed session time.
Caregiver feedback: Jasper rested for most of the evening and appeared comfortable.
Reflection: I felt calm and connected. I noticed an urge to interpret the abdominal sensation but returned to offering Reiki without forcing an explanation.

Practice logs help you recognise how your relationship with Reiki develops. They are not meant to prove that every sensation was accurate.

When a Session Feels Uneventful

Some practice sessions will feel strong and memorable. Others may feel quiet or ordinary.

You may experience:

Few physical sensations
No imagery
No obvious emotional shift
An uncertain sense of connection
No immediate caregiver feedback
No visible change in the animal

Record the session honestly.

For example:

The Reiki flow was subtle, and I did not notice a clear change during the session. I remained present for the agreed time and closed with gratitude.

A quiet session is still valid practice.

Your role is to establish the connection, offer Reiki, remain present, and respect the animal’s choice. You are not responsible for producing a dramatic experience.

Developing Confidence Without Testing Reiki

Confidence develops through consistent practice, reflection, and experience.

It does not require you to repeatedly test whether Reiki is working.

Avoid disturbing a resting animal, asking the caregiver leading questions, or searching for behaviour that will confirm the session’s success.

Instead:

Observe what occurs naturally.
Record what you genuinely experienced.
Welcome caregiver feedback without directing it.
Notice patterns across several sessions.
Allow uncertainty to be part of learning.
Continue practising.

Trust grows gradually. It is strengthened by experience rather than forced certainty.

Reflecting on Your Growth

After completing your practice sessions, review your journal as a whole.

Consider:

Which symbol feels most natural to you?
Which symbol requires further practice?
How has your understanding of distance changed?
Which connection method feels most comfortable?
Can you remain present when the Reiki flow is subtle?
Are you able to include specific concerns without demanding an outcome?
How do you respond when an intuitive impression arises?
Can you respect the animal’s choices without taking them personally?
Do you close sessions clearly?
How has Level 2 changed your relationship with your own animal?
How has self-Reiki changed since the attunement?
Where would you like your practice to grow next?

You may notice that your greatest development is not a stronger sensation in your hands. It may be greater patience, deeper trust, more emotional steadiness, or a quieter ability to be with an animal exactly as they are.

These are meaningful signs of integration.

Level 2 Certification Requirements

Yes. The certificate should require only completion of the manual and the Level 2 attunement. The remaining practices are the student’s personal responsibility and may continue after certification.

Replace the section with:

Level 2 Certification Requirements

To receive the digital Animal Reiki Level 2 certificate through this course, the student is required to:

Complete the Animal Reiki Level 2 manual.
Receive the Animal Reiki Level 2 attunement.

The certificate recognises completion of the Level 2 teachings and attunement. The 21-day integration period, symbol practice, Animal Reiki sessions, practice logs, and reflection exercises are not required to be submitted before the digital certificate is issued. Students are encouraged to complete them independently as part of their continuing integration and development.

Each student is responsible for practising honestly and allowing sufficient time to become comfortable with the Level 2 symbols and distance Reiki methods. Certification marks the completion of this stage of training, while confidence and experience continue to grow through practice.

The 21-day integration period provides a helpful beginning, but self-Reiki is not intended to end after 21 days. Daily self-Reiki—or regular self-Reiki when daily practice is not possible—is recommended as a lifelong habit. It keeps your connection with Reiki active, supports your own wellbeing, and provides the foundation from which you offer Reiki to animals.

The following practices are strongly recommended after the attunement:

Complete the 21-day Level 2 integration period.
Practise drawing and visualising all three Level 2 symbols.
Explore each symbol through self-Reiki.
Complete at least six Animal Reiki sessions using Level 2 methods.
Include at least three distance Reiki sessions.
Keep practice logs and record meaningful observations.
Complete the reflection questions in this manual.
Continue learning about animal communication, choice, caregiver consent, privacy, and responsible practice.
Maintain daily or regular self-Reiki as an ongoing part of life.

These practices are undertaken through personal commitment rather than as conditions for receiving the certificate. Reiki develops through sincere, continued experience, and each student is encouraged to take responsibility for the depth and integrity of their own practice.

A Level 2 Self-Assessment

As your Level 2 practice develops, use the following questions to reflect on your understanding and identify areas you would like to explore more deeply:

I have received my Level 2 attunement.
I have completed my 21-day integration period.
I can draw or visualise the three Level 2 symbols.
I understand the primary purpose of each symbol.
I know how to activate symbols with Cho Ku Rei.
I can establish a distance Reiki connection.
I can offer Reiki through a photograph, name, intention, visualisation, or surrogate.
I can use the symbols with animals in a respectful and flexible way.
I understand that specific concerns may be included without becoming attached to one result.
I respect both caregiver consent and the animal’s ongoing choice.
I can share intuitive impressions without presenting every impression as certainty.
I understand how Reiki can accompany veterinary and palliative care.
I can communicate naturally and respectfully with caregivers.
I can keep clear and private session records.
I can close a session and return my awareness to myself.
I understand the importance of ongoing self-Reiki.

If one area still feels uncertain, return to the relevant chapter and practise it again. Certification does not need to be rushed.

If You Practise Only with Your Own Animals

You may have completed Level 2 because you want to support your own animals rather than offer Reiki professionally.

This is a complete and meaningful path.

The Level 2 symbols can deepen the Reiki you share at home by helping you:

Strengthen and focus Reiki with Cho Ku Rei
Support emotional balance with Sei He Ki
Offer Reiki from another room with Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen
Connect with an animal while travelling
Support future veterinary visits or other events
Offer Reiki to an earlier experience
Remain connected when your animal is staying elsewhere
Support ageing, healing, and life transitions
Deepen the bond between you and your animal

Daily or regular Reiki may support the wellbeing of both you and your animal. It creates shared moments of stillness and can deepen your awareness of one another.

You do not need to turn Reiki into a business for your training to have value.

If You Wish to Offer Animal Reiki Professionally

After completing certification, you may wish to offer in-person or distance Animal Reiki as a professional service.

Certification gives you a foundation, but a professional practice also requires:

Continued self-Reiki
Ongoing experience with animals
Clear caregiver communication
Reliable session records
Respect for privacy
Appropriate business policies
Awareness of your present abilities
Knowledge of the laws and regulations in your area

Before accepting clients, check the current requirements that apply where you live and practise.

You may begin slowly, perhaps by offering several practice sessions to people you know, volunteering with an organisation that welcomes Reiki, or providing a limited number of distance sessions.

Allow your professional practice to grow alongside your confidence and experience.

Continuing Beyond Certification

After certification, you may continue developing through:

Daily or regular self-Reiki
Reiki for your own animals
Distance sessions
Volunteer practice
Further study of animal behaviour and communication
Meditation with the Reiki symbols
Practice with different species
Reflection and journaling
Peer support
Additional Animal Reiki training
Animal Reiki Master-level study

You may also discover that your relationship with the symbols becomes simpler.

At first, you may carefully draw every line, repeat every name, and follow a structured sequence. Later, a symbol may arise instantly in your awareness. You may feel its energy before consciously thinking of its name. Eventually, some sessions may unfold without your consciously relying on the symbols at all.

This does not mean that the symbols have become unimportant. It may mean that their teachings have become integrated into your way of practising.

Remain open to growth while respecting the foundation you received.

Returning to the Reiki Principles

The Reiki Principles remain relevant at every level:

Just for today, I will not anger.
Just for today, I will not worry.
Just for today, I will be grateful.
Just for today, I will do my work honestly.
Just for today, I will be kind to every living thing.

In Animal Reiki, these principles may be lived through:

Remaining calm when an animal is uncertain
Releasing worry about whether enough is happening
Feeling gratitude for the animal’s trust
Recording sessions honestly
Respecting the animal’s choices
Offering kindness without demanding anything in return
Caring for yourself so that you can practise sustainably

The principles are not rules to perform perfectly. They are invitations to return to presence, one day and one session at a time.

The Heart of Level 2

Level 2 teaches that connection is not limited by physical distance.

An animal does not need to be beneath your hands to receive Reiki. They may be sleeping in another room, living across the country, staying in a veterinary hospital, or preparing for an event that has not yet occurred.

Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen helps you recognise that Reiki can meet the animal beyond ordinary ideas of separation and time.

Sei He Ki reminds you that healing includes the emotional and mental levels.

Cho Ku Rei helps strengthen and focus the Reiki flow and brings the other symbols into active practice.

Together, the symbols expand what is possible. Yet the heart of the practice remains simple:

You become present.

You invite Reiki.

You connect respectfully.

You allow the animal to choose.

You offer without forcing.

You close with gratitude.

Final Reflection

Before completing this level, sit quietly with your hands in Gassho or use another centring technique that feels natural to you.

Bring to mind the animals who have supported your learning.

Remember the animals who rested near you, moved away, remained active, received from a distance, or offered no visible response. Each one taught you something about presence, choice, trust, and connection.

You may say:

Thank you, Reiki, for guiding me through this level of practice. Thank you to every animal who has shared this journey with me. May I continue to offer Reiki with compassion, humility, trust, and respect. May my practice support the physical, emotional, energetic, and spiritual wellbeing of animals according to their highest good.

Remain in silence for a few moments.

Allow yourself to acknowledge how far you have come.

Completion of Animal Reiki Level 2

By completing this level, you have expanded your ability to offer Reiki beyond touch, place, and linear time.

You have learned that distance does not diminish connection. You have also learned that advanced techniques are most meaningful when they remain rooted in the foundations of Reiki: self-practice, presence, compassion, animal choice, and trust.

Your certificate marks the completion of your Level 2 training.

Your daily practice is what brings that training to life.

Continue gently. Continue honestly. Continue listening to the animals.

Reiki will keep teaching you.