By Judy Ramsey
The ability to communicate with animals requires two things: a heart that can listen deeply, and trust that what you’re receiving is what is being communicated. Pretty straightforward. Open heart and trust.
““My horse, Classy, has been my teacher and constant friend for 21 years. She first came to me when she was three, and taught me most of what I know about horses, and much of what I know about people. She has accompanied me on many spiritual journeys — we are soul mates.””
Everyone is born with an open heart and full trust. That is why children are better than adults at communicating with everything around them -- animals, plants, and unseen helpers. Nearly everyone I have spoken to has memories of this clarity in early childhood. As we grow, those innate intuitive skills are often lost and forgotten, devalued in many ways. As adults, our hearts and minds have been shaped by life experience, education, and socialization. Older open hearts may feel vulnerable to emotional pain, fearful and walled off, disconnected with no return path.
Animals all over the world have watched humans come to this point. Many are willing to work with us to bring us into a higher vibrational state. If we can open our hearts and trust, we have access to many resources that are hidden to us if we can’t. The more we do it, the easier it becomes, and the animals celebrate this with us.
Over the years, I have met various animal guides and teachers. Their wisdom astounds me in its simplicity and depth. I would like to share a few nuggets just to give you an idea of what is possible when you reach the deep stillness inside your heart.
My horse, Classy, has been my teacher and constant friend for 21 years. She first came to me when she was three, and taught me most of what I know about horses, and much of what I know about people. She has accompanied me on many spiritual journeys -- we are soul mates. During an advanced bodywork training, I was on the table as “client” and was engaged in work with my heart, trying really hard to open it. I could see a crack through which golden light was shining. but that was all I could achieve. After nearly 40 years of abuse in my life, exposing that heart was a tremendous challenge.
Classy was with me, as she often is when I’m doing personal work. She turned to me and simply said, “It is the nature of hearts to be open. Just allow it.” I stopped “trying.” I stopped worrying about my vulnerability and “what if’s.” I became very still and just allowed my heart to do whatever it needed to. The crack widened and the golden light exploded in a mushroom cloud shape, permeating every cell of my body, filling it with heart energy. Since then, I allow a lot more.
I sometimes consult the animals to get advice. They have unique perspectives of our human world. Distressed over the level of suffering in the world at large, I asked a dark stallion, “What can I do about so much suffering?” He responded, “Acknowledge courage.” Those two words shifted my perspective from a focus on suffering to a focus on the strength that so many people demonstrate in the face of pain. The human heart is capable of great strength, and when I see it now, I acknowledge it.
Some years ago, I took a lymphatic drainage workshop in San Francisco. I was concerned about feeling the lymph fluid and called every colleague I knew to get some tips, with no success. I was at the Aquarium Under the Pier very early the first morning of my trip, walking through a long, Plexiglas tunnel with fish swimming all around. A woman behind me began yelling excitedly, “Octopus, octopus!”, a cry which reverberated off the tunnel walls and scared every fish in sight. I had never seen a live octopus, but arrived just in time to see him slip into a rock crevice with only a couple of tentacles and his “beak” showing.
I waited until things quieted down, then I asked the octopus quietly if he would come out so I could see his beauty. He replied, “No. Human energy is a bit much for me.” I agreed and we chatted a bit more. “Humans have such hard edges,” he noted. I explained that in order to walk in air, our bones and bodies had to be strong to support us. He replied, “I’d rather be fluid.” The octopus allowed me to meld with him to see what it was like. Immediately, I felt my sternum become jelly-like and I got a kind of giddy, happy feeling.
The next day, I was in the workshop. The instructor asked how many had never felt lymph flow --about half the class raised their hand. He said, “Just meld with the fluid in the body.” I realized that Octopus had taught me how to do that. I immediately connected with him and thanked him. He acknowledged the thanks and said, “Fluid is the best way to be!”
Hawks are beautiful creatures, so graceful. One day I was preoccupied with details of life, worrying about things that had happened, were happening then or hadn't happened yet. From the time I left the house until I arrived back home at the end of the day, about a dozen hawks had flown across my path or made themselves visible to me! If I usually see one or two a day, I’m lucky! I connected with the last hawk and asked, “What is important to know about the appearance of so many hawks to me today?” The hawk replied, “Take the broader view.”
As soon as he showed me his perspective, I realized I had not seen the forest for the proverbial trees. When I expanded my perspective, I became calmer when I could see the context of the details which had monopolized my attention. Sometimes we can’t see the horizon and have to trust that the larger picture is there, and that it makes sense.
*Interested in learning more? The next animal communication class is October 3-5, 2014. Learn how to access heart stillness and trust in your intuitive skills. Call 734-665-3202 to reserve your place in the class.
Judy Ramsey has been an interspecies counselor for nine years. For 25 years, she has been a translator, social work counselor, educator, and mediator. She is a craniosacral therapist in Ann Arbor at Head To Toe Therapies. She teaches basic and advanced animal communication, and also provides shamanic animal healing. Visit hearttoheartanimalcommunication.net, or contact Judy at judyramsey777@yahoo.com.
When behavioral issues occur with animal friends, it can be annoying, frightening, or downright dangerous. We interpret their behaviors through our human perspectives and act accordingly. However, an animal’s behavior, influenced by survival issues and past experience, makes sense to that animal.