Chapter 5 — Using the Level 2 Symbols with Animals

The Level 2 symbols can deepen Animal Reiki without changing its essential foundation.

The animal remains a participant.

Reiki is offered rather than imposed.

Touch remains optional.

The practitioner remains a conduit.

The symbols bring focus, emotional harmony, and connection into the practice, but they do not replace your attention to the animal before you.

Level 2 practice is not about fitting every animal into a more elaborate technique. It is about allowing the symbols to support a relationship that remains responsive, respectful, and guided by Reiki.

Begin with Your Own Presence

Before deciding which symbol to use, begin with yourself.

An animal may be sensitive to your movements, attention, breathing, emotional state, and physical presence. If you enter the space hurried, worried, or determined to produce a result, the animal may respond to that intensity before the Reiki session has fully begun.

Take a few moments to settle.

You may:

Sit or stand comfortably.
Bring your hands into Gassho.
Notice your breath.
Feel the support beneath your body or feet.
Offer yourself a few moments of Reiki.
Acknowledge any strong expectations you are carrying.
Set an intention for the animal’s highest good.

You might use:

I offer Reiki with compassion and respect. May this animal receive in the way, amount, and timing that are right for them. May I remain a clear conduit without trying to control the outcome.

The symbols become most supportive when they arise from this grounded beginning.

Symbols Within an Animal-Led Practice

In Animal Reiki, technique follows relationship.

You may enter a session planning to use the complete layered sequence, only to sense that Cho Ku Rei alone provides a simple and appropriate beginning. You may intend to use Sei He Ki and then find that quiet, symbol-free presence becomes the central practice.

This does not mean that your preparation was unnecessary. It means that the animal is not required to conform to your plan.

The Level 2 symbols offer structure, but they should not make the session rigid.

A helpful approach is:

Prepare yourself.
Observe the animal and the environment.
Establish a respectful Reiki invitation.
Invoke the symbol or sequence appropriate to the intention.
Allow Reiki to flow.
Continue observing without trying to interpret everything.
Adjust your physical presence when needed.
Close when the session feels complete.

The symbols support this process. They do not dominate it.

Offering the Symbols Without Imposing Them

You do not need to draw symbols directly over an animal’s body.

You may invoke them:

Over your own palms
In the air before you
Within your mind
Within the shared Reiki space
At a respectful distance from the animal
Over an animal’s photograph or written name
Through silent repetition of the symbol names
Through visualization without visible hand movements

This flexibility is especially useful with animals who are startled by movement or uncomfortable with direct attention.

If you choose to draw the symbols visibly, keep your movements calm and natural. Avoid reaching toward the animal’s face, standing over them, or making sudden gestures near their body.

A symbol does not need to be physically close to an animal in order to be part of the Reiki session.

You can invoke the symbols quietly where you are and allow the animal to determine their own distance.

Choosing a Symbol or Sequence

You do not need to use all three symbols in every session.

Choose according to the nature of the Reiki offering rather than trying to create the most powerful-looking technique.

For General Focus and Strengthening

Use:

Cho Ku Rei

Cho Ku Rei may be appropriate when you want to:

Begin the session
Activate your hands
Focus Reiki within the shared space
Strengthen a general Reiki offering
Bring focused Reiki toward an area already identified by a veterinarian
Prepare the animal’s bed, blanket, water, or surrounding environment
Close the session

For Emotional Harmony

Use:

Cho Ku Rei
→ Sei He Ki
→ Cho Ku Rei

This sequence may be meaningful when an animal is moving through:

Adoption or rehoming
Separation
Grief
A change in caregiver or household
Travel or relocation
A new animal or person entering the home
Changes in routine
A frightening experience
Veterinary visits or unfamiliar environments
General emotional unease

You do not need to identify the exact cause of the animal’s emotions. Offer the sequence for harmony and the highest good without constructing a story about what the animal must be feeling.

For Connection Without Physical Proximity

Use:

Cho Ku Rei
→ Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen
→ Cho Ku Rei

This sequence may be used when:

The animal prefers to remain across the room
The animal is elsewhere in the home
Approaching would disturb or frighten them
The animal is resting in an enclosure, stall, hiding place, or protected area
You wish to continue hands-off after the animal changes position
Physical touch is not appropriate

Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen is not limited to long geographical distances. It can support connection whenever physical proximity is unnecessary or unwelcome.

The complete methods of formal distance Animal Reiki will be explored in later chapters.

For a Complete Layered Practice

Use:

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

The complete sequence may be helpful when emotional harmony and non-physical connection are both relevant.

For example, it may be used when an animal:

Is newly adopted and prefers physical distance
Is staying away from home
Becomes stressed when directly approached
Is preparing for travel or a veterinary visit
Is adjusting to a major transition
Is physically resting but emotionally unsettled
Needs support while remaining in a protected or private space

Draw the symbols one over another, repeating each name three times. Then pause and allow the layered sequence to settle before offering Reiki.

Using Cho Ku Rei with Animals

Cho Ku Rei can form the energetic foundation of an Animal Reiki session.

You may draw or visualize it over your palms before beginning. You may invoke it within the room, over the shared practice space, or at a particular point during the session when greater focus feels appropriate.

A simple beginning is:

Enter Gassho.
Draw or visualize Cho Ku Rei.
Repeat its name three times.
Hold an intention for the animal’s highest good.
Allow Reiki to flow from where you are.

You may also use Cho Ku Rei when the caregiver has identified a particular area of concern through veterinary evaluation.

For example, if an animal is recovering from a diagnosed injury, you may offer focused Reiki toward that area without claiming to assess the injury yourself.

Do not hold, restrain, or repeatedly approach the animal so that you can place Reiki over a specific body part. Focused Reiki can be offered hands-off and from a comfortable distance.

Cho Ku Rei may also be used to bless:

Drinking water
Food
Bedding
Blankets
A carrier
A stall
A resting area
An animal’s collar or other belongings

This blessing does not change the practical purpose or safety requirements of the item. Food, water, medicine, and veterinary instructions should continue to be handled appropriately.

Using Sei He Ki with Animals

Sei He Ki brings the harmonizing quality of Reiki into situations involving emotional experience, adjustment, and inner balance.

Animals do not need to display obvious distress before receiving this symbol. Sei He Ki may also be offered as part of general emotional well-being and the deepening of a peaceful relationship.

Use:

Cho Ku Rei
→ Sei He Ki
→ Cho Ku Rei

Then allow Reiki to flow without mentally repeating the problem you hope to change.

For example, instead of concentrating upon:

This animal must stop being fearful.

you might hold:

May Reiki support this animal’s emotional balance, sense of safety, and highest good.

This creates space for healing without reducing the animal to one behaviour.

Fear, hiding, barking, withdrawal, restlessness, or reluctance to engage can arise for many reasons. Some are emotional, some are environmental, and some may relate to pain or health concerns.

You do not need to determine the hidden cause in order to offer Reiki. When behaviour changes suddenly or raises concern, appropriate veterinary evaluation remains important.

Sei He Ki supports emotional harmony. It does not give the practitioner psychological or diagnostic authority.

Using Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen with Animals Near or Far

Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen allows Reiki to be offered beyond ordinary physical distance.

The animal may be elsewhere in the same home, in another city, in another province or state, or in another country. Practitioner and animal do not need to share the same physical location for distance Reiki to be offered.

Use:

Cho Ku Rei
→ Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen
→ Cho Ku Rei

Cho Ku Rei establishes and focuses the Reiki practice. Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen creates the energetic connection beyond physical separation. The final Cho Ku Rei activates, strengthens, and focuses that connection.

When the animal is far away, you may use their photograph, written name, location, or identifying information as a point of focus. These details help direct your attention toward the intended animal, while Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen opens the distance Reiki connection.

For example, you may offer Reiki to:

Your own animal while you are travelling
An animal staying at a veterinary hospital or boarding facility
A companion animal who has moved with a family member
An animal living in another city
An animal and caregiver located in another province, state, or country
An animal receiving support from a practitioner who cannot visit in person

Physical distance does not make the Reiki offering weaker or incomplete. Within Reiki practice, Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen allows the connection to be established whether the animal is across the room or thousands of kilometres away.

When the animal is nearby but prefers physical space, the same symbol may be used without approaching them.

A cat may remain beneath a bed.

A horse may stand on the other side of a field.

A dog may settle in another room.

A rescued animal may feel safer watching from a protected place.

Remain where you are and offer Reiki. Do not repeatedly call the animal toward you, reach into a hiding place, or physically follow an animal who has moved away.

Physical distance may be part of how the animal participates.

Whether the animal is nearby or in another country, your role remains the same: establish the connection, offer Reiki with consent and respect, remain a clear conduit, and release the outcome.

The complete methods for establishing and conducting a formal distance Animal Reiki session will be explored in later chapters.

Using the Complete Sequence with Animals

The full layered sequence combines focus, emotional harmony, and connection:

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

You may draw the sequence:

Before entering the animal’s space
After settling into your chosen position
Over your own hands
Within the space between you and the animal
Over a photograph used as a quiet focus
Entirely within your visualization

After completing the sequence, pause.

You do not need to keep redrawing the symbols throughout the session. Let them establish the practice, then allow your attention to soften.

If you feel drawn to invoke one symbol again later, you may do so. For example, Cho Ku Rei may be brought back into awareness when the session shifts or when you are preparing to close.

The complete sequence is a doorway into practice, not a formula that must be constantly maintained through mental effort.

Symbols in Hands-Off Practice

Hands-off Reiki often suits animals naturally.

The animal may rest nearby, move around the space, eat, groom, look out a window, or fall asleep while you remain seated.

You can invoke the chosen symbol sequence over your hands and then rest your hands:

In your lap
In Gassho
Open with the palms relaxed
Over your own heart or abdomen
At your sides

You do not need to aim your hands continuously at the animal.

Reiki is not a beam that must be physically pointed and held in place. Allow your posture to remain comfortable and non-threatening.

If the animal comes closer, continue observing. Their approach may indicate curiosity, comfort, or a wish for greater proximity, but it does not automatically mean that touch is invited.

Let the animal show you how close they wish to be.

Symbols with Welcomed Touch

If the animal clearly welcomes touch and touch is safe, the symbols may be included in a contact-based session.

Before placing your hands upon an animal, invoke the chosen symbol or sequence in a way that feels calm and natural.

For example, you may:

Use the fingers of one hand to draw or trace the symbols over the palm of your other hand, repeating each symbol’s name three times
Draw the symbols over both palms before beginning the session
Visualize the symbols glowing within your palms
Imagine the symbols becoming part of the Reiki flowing through your hands
Draw the symbols quietly in the air before approaching the animal
Visualize the symbols within the shared Reiki space
Beam the symbols gently toward the animal from a respectful distance
Invoke the symbols silently without making any visible hand movements

To beam a symbol, visualize it before you, between your palms, or within your heart space. Repeat its name three times, then imagine or sense the symbol radiating toward the animal within the flow of Reiki.

Beaming does not require physical force, intense concentration, or a rigid hand position. Your palms may face loosely toward the animal, remain open in your lap, or rest comfortably over your own body. Allow Reiki and the invoked symbols to flow without pushing.

Once the symbols have been invoked, pause and become receptive. If the animal clearly welcomes touch, place your activated hand gently in an area where contact is already comfortable and familiar.

You do not need to draw the symbols directly over the animal’s body each time you change hand positions. The symbols may be activated through your palms, visualization, silent invocation, or beaming before touch begins.

If the animal does not welcome touch, the same methods can be used within hands-off practice. The symbols and Reiki can be beamed from a comfortable distance while the animal remains free to rest, move, approach, or leave.

Rest your hand lightly in an area the animal already accepts, such as:

The shoulder
The upper back
The side of the body
The chest
Another familiar and comfortable location

Avoid painful, injured, sensitive, or medically treated areas unless the caregiver and veterinary guidance indicate that touch is appropriate and the animal welcomes it.

Let your hands remain soft. There is no need to press, manipulate tissue, or hold the animal in place.

If the animal shifts, turns away, becomes tense, looks repeatedly toward your hand, or moves away, release the touch. You may continue hands-off from where you are if the animal remains comfortable.

The symbol supports the Reiki practice. It does not turn unwanted touch into acceptable touch.

Following the Animal During the Session

An animal may change position several times during Reiki.

They may:

Move closer
Move farther away
Turn another part of the body toward you
Lie down
Sit up
Groom
Drink water
Look around
Leave and later return
Fall asleep
Continue their usual activity

Let these choices shape the physical form of the session.

You do not need to redraw the symbols every time the animal moves. The Reiki connection can continue while the animal changes position.

If you become uncertain, return to a simple foundation:

Stay where you are.
Soften your attention.
Allow the animal space.
Invoke Cho Ku Rei inwardly if greater focus would help.
Continue only while the practice remains respectful and settled.

Movement is not automatically rejection, and stillness is not automatically proof that the animal is receiving deeply.

Observe without turning every behaviour into an energetic conclusion.

Recognizing Responses Without Assigning Fixed Meanings

During or after Reiki, an animal may appear more relaxed. You may notice yawning, stretching, licking, blinking, sighing, grooming, sleeping, repositioning, drinking water, or seeking quiet.

These behaviours may accompany relaxation, but they also occur in ordinary animal life.

Record what you observe without presenting it as certainty.

For example:

The dog lay down approximately ten minutes after the session began and remained resting until the session ended.

is an observation.

The dog released all stored emotional trauma through a yawn.

is an interpretation that the behaviour alone cannot establish.

You may sense an energetic change or receive an intuitive impression. Hold it with humility. Let direct observation, caregiver knowledge, and appropriate veterinary care retain their proper places.

Working with a Caregiver’s Intention

A caregiver may request Reiki for a specific concern.

They may say:

My animal is adjusting to a new home.
My animal becomes unsettled before veterinary visits.
My animal is recovering from a procedure.
My animal is grieving.
My animal has been hiding more than usual.
My animal is ageing and seems less comfortable.

Listen carefully, but translate the request into a non-controlling Reiki intention.

For example:

May Reiki support this animal’s healing, comfort, emotional balance, and highest good.

You do not need to promise that a behaviour will stop or that the animal will recover in a particular way.

If the caregiver describes new physical symptoms, pain, significant behavioural change, breathing difficulty, inability to eat or drink, or another urgent concern, encourage appropriate veterinary attention. Reiki may accompany care, but it should not delay it.

Examples of Symbol Use with Animals

A Newly Adopted Cat

A newly adopted cat remains under furniture and does not welcome approach.

Sit at a respectful distance without blocking the cat’s exit.

Use:

Cho Ku Rei → Sei He Ki → Cho Ku Rei

If you wish to emphasize connection without proximity, use the complete layered sequence.

Offer Reiki quietly. Do not stare into the hiding place, reach toward the cat, or wait for the cat to emerge as proof that the session worked.

The intention may be:

May Reiki support this cat’s emotional balance, sense of safety, adjustment, and highest good.

A Dog Preparing for a Veterinary Visit

Before leaving home, offer a short Reiki practice.

Use:

Cho Ku Rei → Sei He Ki → Cho Ku Rei

You may also invoke Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen in the complete sequence when offering Reiki toward the upcoming visit.

Hold:

May Reiki support this dog before, during, and after the visit. May the experience unfold with the greatest possible balance and support for everyone involved.

Continue using the carrier, leash, medication, transportation plan, and veterinary instructions appropriate to the dog.

A Horse Who Prefers Distance

The horse remains elsewhere in the pasture and does not approach.

Stay outside the horse’s movement path and maintain a safe distance.

Use:

Cho Ku Rei → Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen → Cho Ku Rei

Offer Reiki without walking after the horse.

The horse may remain where they are, move farther away, graze, rest, or approach. None of these responses needs to be forced or interpreted as the required outcome.

A Senior Animal Resting at Home

A senior animal is resting comfortably and welcomes your quiet presence.

You may use Cho Ku Rei alone for a simple general session or the complete sequence for broader support.

If touch is clearly welcomed, rest one hand gently in a familiar area. If the animal prefers rest without contact, remain nearby and practise hands-off.

The intention may be:

May Reiki support comfort, balance, healing, and the highest good of this animal.

When Your Desire to Help Becomes Intense

It is natural to want an animal to feel better.

That desire may become especially strong when the animal is ill, frightened, ageing, or deeply loved.

Notice when the wish to help becomes urgency.

You may begin adding more symbols, extending the session, concentrating harder, or repeatedly checking the animal because you fear that simple Reiki is not enough.

Pause.

Return to Gassho.

Offer yourself Reiki.

Remember that the symbols do not need to be pushed toward the animal. Reiki does not become more compassionate because you strain.

A clear conduit does not carry the entire outcome personally.

You can care deeply and still release control.

A Complete Symbol-Supported Animal Reiki Session

The following structure can be used with an animal who is physically present or nearby.

1. Prepare Yourself

Enter Gassho.
Settle your breathing.
Offer yourself a few moments of Reiki.
Acknowledge your expectations.
Set an intention for the highest good.

2. Observe the Environment

Notice where the animal has chosen to be.
Avoid blocking exits or movement paths.
Choose a safe and comfortable position.
Allow the animal to observe you without pressure.

3. Offer the Reiki Invitation

You may say inwardly:

I offer Reiki with respect. You are free to receive in the way that is right for you.

4. Choose the Symbol or Sequence

Select:

Cho Ku Rei for general focus
Cho Ku Rei → Sei He Ki → Cho Ku Rei for emotional harmony
Cho Ku Rei → Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen → Cho Ku Rei for connection without proximity
The complete layered sequence when emotional harmony and distance are both relevant

5. Invoke the Symbols

Draw or visualize the chosen symbols.

Repeat each name three times.

Let the symbols settle before continuing.

6. Allow Reiki to Flow

Remain hands-off unless the animal clearly welcomes touch.

Keep your attention soft and spacious.

Allow the animal to move, rest, or continue ordinary activity.

7. Respond to the Animal

If the animal moves away, do not physically follow.

If they approach, allow them to determine the distance.

If touch is welcomed, use a light and familiar contact.

If the environment becomes disruptive or the animal needs practical care, pause as appropriate.

8. Close the Session

When the session feels complete:

Bring your hands into Gassho.
Invoke Cho Ku Rei if this is part of your closing practice.
Thank Reiki.
Thank the animal inwardly.
Release the energetic connection.
Ground yourself.

9. Record the Practice

Write down:

The symbol or sequence used
Your intention
Whether the practice was hands-off or included welcomed touch
The animal’s observable behaviour
Your own experience
Any questions or reflections

Separate what you directly observed from what you intuitively sensed.

Reflection

Consider the following questions:

Do I choose symbols according to the practice, or do I feel pressure to use all of them?
How does Cho Ku Rei affect the beginning of an Animal Reiki session?
Can I offer Sei He Ki without deciding what an animal feels?
Can I use Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen without reducing the animal’s preferred physical distance?
How do I respond when an animal moves away?
Do visible responses influence how I judge the value of a session?
Can I distinguish observation from interpretation?
Am I able to release touch immediately when it is no longer welcomed?
What happens within me when I strongly want the animal to improve?
Can I remain a compassionate conduit without carrying responsibility for the outcome?
Which symbol sequence feels most natural in my current Animal Reiki practice?
How will I continue self-Reiki alongside practice with animals?

Let your answers arise from honest practice rather than from the desire to appear certain.

Looking Ahead

You have now learned how to introduce Cho Ku Rei, Sei He Ki, and Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen into Animal Reiki while continuing to honour animal choice, physical boundaries, and the natural flow of the session.

The next chapter will explore the foundations of distance Animal Reiki.

You will examine how Reiki can be offered when practitioner and animal do not share the same physical space, what distance connection means within Reiki practice, and how to remain present without relying upon touch, proximity, or immediate observation.