Further adventures of reiki cat

For some reason, Thor was particularly being a reiki cat at the start of December, so I thought I’d give you an update on him.

He’s generally been stretching out in the space where I offer my clients to sit down, sometimes slowly pushing against them so he’s basically taking up the whole area, and clients are perched on the corner of the sofa.

Or he sits on the reiki table, looking at my clients and then doing his classic move of falling over on his side with his belly exposed, so if you’re used to cats, you know he wouldn’t mind a bit of a belly rub.

I can’t believe what a flirt he’s being.

Occasionally, he’s missing in action, but has often been around, and if it’s anywhere from about 2.30pm onwards, he’ll be looking for attention in the lead-up to dinner at 5pm.

It’s uncanny that he seems to know, before a client will come even in the door, whether they are cat people, have cats, or are even dog people but don’t mind cats.

One client, who has three cats, came with her husband, who waited quietly on the sofa during the treatment, and Thor just got up and lay down beside him the whole time. A long time ago, he was going through a bit of an active phase where I didn’t trust him not to jump up on the table during a treatment, so I’d let him say hello and then put him out of the room. Mostly lately, he’s happy to say hello, and then if we can move him from the table to the sofa, he just blisses out. However, a few days ago, a client who has a long-haired cat came in for a treatment and Thor decided that he would obviously be welcome and jumped onto the table just as the treatment started. It was cute but I put him out of the room.

Freyja, Thor’s sister, rarely makes an appearance, though sometimes noses around before dinnertime, and as mentioned, occassonally, she will really decide that someone is OK with cats, and even allows them a quick touch.

I had my first client who was afraid of cats. Phobias are so hard to relate to when you don’t have them yourself. I was looking at the faces of my gentle, curious cats, and thinking: how can you be afraid of them? But she managed to back into the reiki room … I kept the cats away from her, and she had a great treatment (it was her first and she was amazed at how good she felt, right away, afterwards).

I never imagined Thor might be a part of my reiki practice, but if he graces us with his presence, I consider it a pretty good thing. If he’s already dozing, he’s a pretty good model for how to be in this world. With most of my clients coming for stress and anxiety, he’s a good role model for being free of both of them. Plus, he really seems to be bring delight to various clients. A number of clients who are from overseas have had to leave their cats with family members in their home countries, so they love to be able to hang out with a cat … And one or two clients had Russian Blues in their childhood or have known Russian Blues in their time, so it’s especially nice for them to have a visit with Thor.

As in my last post about reiki cat, in May, I try to warn clients on my website if they have allergies to cats to warn me, but I understand that it’s hard to read everything on a website. Yet, I don’t want to make the cat a defining feature of my practice! One of my current clients thinks Thor is beautiful but is allergic, so popped an antihistimine before her treatment and was fine. I had a client a few months ago, who unfortunately, became so congested during the treatment from his allergy to cats that I don’t think he was able to relax into the treatment. If you’re allergic to cats, let me know before you come and I’ll give the room an extra vacuum, wash my hands an extra time, and try to make the place as free of cat fur as possible before your visit.

Discover the gifts and benefits of a session of Japanese reiki therapy, healing energy from an experienced practitioner. Since 2011, I’ve given over 900 treatments. Visit my website or Facebook page for more information and SMS, email, call me or book online if you’d like to make an appointment.
Clients come from all over Sydney to see me, and I’ve also had clients who are visiting Sydney from Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast come and see me while they’re here for business, conferences or meeting families. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney.
 

Reiki cat

While it looks like I’ve managed to teach my cat how to give me reiki… it isn’t true. But let me introduce you anyways to Thor. We actually have two cats, Russian blues, siblings: Thor, the male, and Freyja, the female, named after Norse siblings, a god and goddess. Occasionally, they will greet you at the door or peek around to look at you from outside the reiki room, especially if it is close to their dinnertime at 5pm.

But Freyja is quite shy, so you’re more likely to meet Thor. The other thing is that Thor loves the reiki room! He used to sneak in and sit quietly, but then he got bolder and if he senses that you likes cats, he’ll jump up next to you (or might already be sitting in your spot when you come into the reiki room) and then often, will fall to his side and look adorable and ask that his belly be rubbed. I think he’s ridiculously cute.

However, I’ve had to put him out of the room during the treatment (after you’ve settled in). The first time I thought I’d let him stay in the room, he jumped onto the table and licked the client’s face! He also one time jumped all the way over the table, lightly pressing his paws onto the client’s stomach as he passed. She was OK with it, but thought that I had very quick hands.

The other thing that amazes me is that Thor (and Freyja too) occasionally knows who has a cat or really likes cats. They sometimes know this before a client has even come into the apartment, and are ready to say hello right away. I always ask if they have a cat or like cats, and they say yes.

I recently had my first clients who were allergic to cats, which led me to post this information on my website (and be better prepared). If you are allergic to cats, don’t worry. Just warn me in advance. I will vacuum the room especially before you come, make sure Thor hasn’t touched the towel and sheet on the reiki table and will keep him out of the room for a period before your treatment, and wash my hands an extra time before the treatment. It would also help if you take an antihistimine or other allergy medicine before you come, just in case.

Some people ask whether the cats like reiki! Thor and Freyja like being touched which is pretty much the same thing. When I’ve tried to give them reiki, they usually shrug it off and go away. However, some animals love reiki, and I have a few friends who specialise in animal reiki, for example, Bronwen at the International House of Reiki (here’s one of her posts about animal reiki) in the Blue Mountains, Deborah in Melbourne who offers animal reiki treatments in person (Note: as of 2023, Deborah has moved to Perth. Sorry) and at a distance and Vicki in the Northern Beaches of Sydney.

Discover the gifts and benefits of a session of Japanese reiki therapy, healing energy from an experienced practitioner. Since 2011, I’ve given over 650 treatments. Visit my website or Facebook page for more information and SMS, email, call me or book online if you’d like to make an appointment.
Clients come from all over Sydney to see me, and I’ve also had clients who are visiting Sydney from Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast come and see me while they’re here for business, conferences or meeting families. While it’s easiest to get to me from the CBD, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Kings Cross, Redfern and Potts Point, I’m pretty easy to get to from anywhere in Sydney.