It felt like coming home

I believe that the events and happenings in my life are like breadcrumbs that - if I’m willing to follow them - will lead me to my soul’s purpose. My path to animal communication has been a long and winding one.

I’ve long had a strong sense of kinship with the earth and all that inhabits it. I grew up with parents who believed in fostering exploration of the natural world and experiences within it. My grandfather would lovingly tend to the birds in his backyard, and he would introduce me to them as they flitted back and forth between his feeders.

My heart has never allowed me to leave an animal or bird in plight, so I’ve been blessed to live with a number of dogs and birds over the years who’ve allowed me to love them and learn from them. Neighbours and friends would call me if they found an animal injured. I’ve revived a chipmunk who had fallen into a pool, carried and nursed a dehydrated warbler found lying on the sidewalk in my hand as I returned from a run, and cared for a female purple finch I found injured in my garden.

Walking hand in hand with a deep respect for the earth and especially the animals inhabiting it has beckoned me to engage with the spiritual realm. I’ve learned Shamanic journeying, explored my own past lives, and connected with horses via equine assisted learning. It was with horses that I became aware of the potential for powerful communication between humans and animals, and that animals had much to teach us.

I learned about animal communication when a mentor suggested that it might be something that would interest me. Researching it, I could feel excitement building and a feeling of coming home deep in my body. I immediately signed up for an online course and gobbled up podcasts on the subject while driving and walking. Mentorship sessions with several teachers followed, each one providing me with new perspectives, skills, tools, and lots of opportunities to practice.

Recognizing a passion for older animals and seeking a way to bring support and comfort to those who are palliative, I completed the University of Vermont’s Companion Animal End of Life Doula certification. Though animal communication wasn’t covered in the course, it became clear how important it was to be able to communicate with animals at the end of their lives.

It’s thanks to all of these rich experiences that today, when I hear someone looking longing at their dog and uttering the words, “If only they could talk,” that I think, THEY CAN! And when dogs do communicate with humans, they have the ability to clarify, explain, provide new perspectives, and teach us profound lessons. It is my honour to “give them a voice”.