by Amy Alward | Oct 1, 2025 | Coming Attractions, Community Events, Featured Posts, Open House, Reiki Events
Register for our Online Birthday Party and Tails of Healing Event!
Don’t forget to submit a photo of your animal and intentions for the event below!
Intro: Why Blessing Our Animals Matters
Celebrate the spirit of St. Francis with our Tails of Healing animal blessing event from Whole Self Unity.
Every October 4th, many faith communities celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi by blessing beloved pets and working animals. At Whole Self Unity, we honor this beautiful tradition of gratitude, compassion, and connection. Animals are our companions in love, healing, and daily life — and they deserve to be celebrated.
This year, we’re carrying that spirit forward into our Birthday Party celebration on November 8, 2025, where we’ll host an online Tails of Healing (a blessing of the animals) as part of the event. Announcing it the week of St. Francis’ feast day gives you time to register and submit photos of your beloved animals!
On November 8, we’ll all come together to send Reiki and Distance Healing to our furry, feathery, and scaly friends. This event is a service we provide to our community, providing healing and blessing to everyone in our community. Come see what we have planned for the upcoming year, and give your animals the gift of some beautiful energy work!
The event is completely FREE as part of our birthday celebration–so this is a great time to give this fun and beautiful modality a try with absolutely no risk. Most people are amazed at how relaxed their animals get when the flow of healing energy, Reiki, and meditations begin. Whether your companions have fir, scales, feathers, slime, or carapaces–they are welcome here, and we would love to include all of you in our celebrations!
A Birthday Party with Heart
Join the celebration! Tails of Healing online event for pets and their people — November 8 at 3 PM PT.
WHO: YOU are invited
WHAT: Celebrate Whole Self Unity’s Birthday (November 12th)
WHERE: LIVE on Zoom (register below)
WHEN: Saturday, November 8, 2025 from 3:00pm to 4:30 pm pacific time.
Our Birthday Party will be a joyful online gathering filled with connection, healing, and celebration:
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3:00 pm: 30 minutes – Open House: Learn about Whole Self Unity, enjoy a short presentation, Q&A, and even an oracle card pull.
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3:30 pm: 30 minutes – Tails of Healing: Bring your pets on Zoom or hold them in your heart as we share Reiki blessings. A slideshow of all submitted pets will run so everyone can enjoy and bless each friend.
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4:00 pm: 30 minutes – World Peace Meditation: Guided healing for our global community.
If you aren’t able to attend in person, you can sign up to get access to the recording, and enjoy it later with your animal companions. We will spend the first half-hour giving you an overview of Whole Self Unity–who we are, what we do, and ways you can participate in upcoming events (including fundraisers).
The second half hour is for the Tails of Healing or blessing of the animals event. We will send Distance Healing and Distance Reiki to all animals signed up through the form below while a slide show plays. There will be a few minutes at the end to share stories in the Zoom room or over the chat before moving on to the last section of the event.
The final half hour will be spent offering a World Peace meditation and Healing, using the World Peace Grid. This Reiki blessing will feature a guided meditation and focus our intentions toward healing the planet and all who ride upon her.
How to Participate in the Blessing
Step 1: Tell us about your pet
Fill out the form below with:
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Your name and email
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Your pet’s name, type, color, and a few fun facts
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Any intentions or blessings you’d like to share
Step 2: Submit your photo
Rila says all tails are welcome at the Tails of Healing event!
After filling out the form, you’ll receive an email with instructions to upload your photo(s) to Dropbox. Please follow these guidelines:
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One photo per pet, up to 5 pets
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Only photos you’ve taken yourself (JPG format)
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Title your photo: "pet's name-last name-first initial" (example: fido-smith-j.jpg)
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Optional: add a note with your pet’s name, intention, or why you love them (use Dropbox’s “add a note” feature)
Deadline: All photos must be submitted by November 6, 2025 at 11 pm.
By uploading, you confirm you consented to the photo release in the form and that you have the rights to submit this image.
Step 3: Attend the Birthday Party Live (or Access the Recording)
You’re welcome to join the online Birthday Party live on November 8, 2025. Register now to attend via Zoom—registered participants will get access to the recorded Zoom event right away.
Can’t attend live? No problem! An edited recording will also be available as a free digital download in our digital Shop on November 12, 2025.
Why Now?
The Blessing of the Animals will be a highlight of our Birthday Party, which also marks the launch of our annual GiveLively fundraising campaign. By sharing your pet’s story and joining us in November, you’re helping build community and raising awareness for our mission: bringing affordable, accessible healing opportunities to women on a cancer journey and their support teams.
St. Francis of Assisi inspires our Tails of Healing event—a celebration of love between humans and animals.
Celebrate & Share
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Celebrate St. Francis’ spirit of compassion for all beings with us
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Share your pet’s photo and story today
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Join our Birthday Party on November 8 for connection, healing, and blessings
Legal Note:
By submitting a photo, you confirm that you are the creator or have the rights to share this image. Whole Self Unity may use it for the birthday slideshow and social media. We are not responsible for copyright infringement by submitters.
by Amy Alward | Jul 30, 2025 | Cancer Navigators, Distance Healing 101, Featured Posts, Reiki, Reiki Classes, Reiki Events
The Benefits of Self-Healing with Reiki
You have struggled, but now is the time to reveal your beauty and open to your own wisdom.
What if a few minutes of gentle touch each day could help you sleep better, ease anxiety, and find your center—even on the hardest days?
Whether you’re navigating a cancer journey, recovering from burnout, living with chronic illness, or simply feeling called to reconnect with your body and spirit, Reiki offers a powerful yet gentle way to support your healing.
At Whole Self Unity, we’ve seen firsthand how women with cancer have used Reiki to calm themselves before treatments, soothe pain, rest more deeply, and reconnect with inner strength. But the beauty of Reiki is that it’s not only something you receive—it’s something you can learn and use every day to care for yourself.
This post explores how learning Reiki for self-healing can benefit anyone, especially during times of transition, illness, stress, or deep personal growth. You’ll also find an invitation to join us—whether that means coming to a Reiki Share, learning to give Reiki to yourself, or simply saying yes to a new kind of support.
What Is Self-Healing with Reiki?
Reiki is a gentle, hands-on (or hands-hovering) healing practice that helps balance the body’s energy system. Rooted in Japanese spiritual tradition, Reiki can be shared with others—but one of its most life-changing aspects is how it empowers us to heal ourselves.
Once you’ve been attuned to Reiki in a class or training, it’s with you for life. That means you can place your hands on your own heart, belly, or body whenever you need grounding, rest, peace, or strength.
Self-healing with Reiki is like an energetic version of brushing your teeth: it helps you stay clear, present, and nourished in a world that can feel overwhelming. It needs to be done regularly to get the best benefits from the practice. It is a gentle, effective way to increase your sense of well-being and overall health–but it generally isn’t a substitute for quality care by professionals when more intervention is needed. It does make an incredible addition to your self-care routines–even when the “big stuff” comes along.
Why Reiki Is Ideal for Long-Term Support
Are you ready to step toward your best self right now? Reiki I for Self-Healing.
Many clients and students describe Reiki as the first time they’ve felt like they could do something for themselves in the face of intense circumstances. It’s a portable, side-effect-free, body-honoring practice that:
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Can be done anywhere, even lying in bed
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Is safe to use alongside conventional medicine
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Doesn’t require belief—just willingness
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Builds strength over time with regular use – as we become better at allowing it to work!
Whether you’re managing your energy after a medical procedure, recovering from trauma, dealing with sleep issues, or navigating emotional overwhelm, Reiki meets you where you are—without judgment.
5 Benefits of Learning Reiki for Self-Healing
1. Ease Anxiety and Regulate Emotions
Reiki helps settle the nervous system, making it easier to ride the waves of stress, appointments, emotional processing, and daily uncertainty.
For women going through cancer treatment, it can become a comforting ritual before scans or surgery. For others, it’s a way to ground before meetings, caregiving tasks, or life’s more chaotic moments.
2. Sleep More Soundly
A short self-Reiki session at night can cue the body into rest mode. Many students fall asleep while practicing!
People with chronic pain or insomnia report deeper, more restorative sleep with consistent practice.
3. Make Clearer, Healthier Choices
Reiki gently increases self-awareness. Over time, this can lead to choosing foods, boundaries, and relationships that better support your healing.
We’ve seen survivors of trauma, cancer, and burnout begin to trust their own needs and instincts again.
4. Build a Grounding Practice That Sticks
Reiki can be paired with meditation, prayer, or breathwork—or practiced on its own. Even 5 minutes in the morning can anchor you before the day begins. Taking 30 seconds to yourself in the bathroom before continuing with an overwhelming day can bring you back to yourself in the present instead of worrying about the path ahead.
Those with ADHD, autoimmune conditions, or anxiety often say Reiki helps them slow down and focus without needing to “do it perfectly.”
Self-Healing with Beginning Reiki Class can be the catalyst to shifting your whole reality.
5. Get Through the Hardest Days with Gentle Power
From chemotherapy to grief, caregiving to recovery, Reiki offers a soft, steady presence. It can soothe physical discomfort, emotional turbulence, and that deep inner ache that longs for peace.
For many, it’s a daily reminder: You are not alone—and you are not powerless.
You Can Learn Reiki Yourself
You don’t need to be “spiritual,” a healer, or anything other than yourself to learn Reiki. You don’t need to “believe” in anything, Reiki is a set of practical techniques and tools, not a belief system. That being said, Reiki also works right alongside all belief systems, if you happen to have a spiritual “Home”. All are welcome to heal here.
In our Reiki I course, we teach you how to:
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Give yourself a complete Reiki session
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Understand the history and ethics of Reiki
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Begin using Reiki for your own wellness goals
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Start sensing energy and tuning into your inner wisdom
Once you’ve taken a Reiki I class, your hands become lifelong tools for healing and peace. And you’ll always have something to come back to when life gets overwhelming.
Interested in learning Reiki? Join our next Reiki I class and begin your self-healing journey.
Reiki Shares: Heal in Community
Sometimes, we need the support of others. Our monthly Reiki Shares are open to anyone, even if you haven’t learned Reiki yet. We also love to see practitioners: anyone who has learned Reiki (even years ago!) is especially welcome. It’s a chance to give and receive healing in a supportive circle—online or in person.
“I didn’t know how much I needed this until I logged on. I could feel it start to flow over me. So much peace and love!” – Reiki Share participant
You’re invited. Come receive. Come reconnect. Come share your light.
Sign up for a Reiki Share and join our community of healing hearts.
Calling All Practitioners, Caregivers, and Change-Makers
Are you ready to unlock your potential to help yourself heal? Slowly, gently, and quietly?
If you’ve been attuned to Reiki and want to be of service—especially to women on a cancer journey—we welcome you to volunteer, refer students, loved ones, or deepen your practice with us.
We are building a beautiful network of support and care. Whether you’re just getting started or decades into your Reiki path, there’s a place for you here.
Join our community and help bring healing into wholeness. Refer women on a cancer journey (or members of their support team) to apply for a sliding scale treatment through our Cancer Wellness Fund.
Closing: A New Way to Be With Yourself
Whether you’re sitting in a treatment chair, curled up in bed, or taking a few deep breaths between errands, Reiki can be there with you. Gentle. Steady. Unfailingly kind.
And if you’re feeling called to explore self-healing with Reiki, we’re here to help you begin.
Your journey matters. Your healing matters. And your hands—yes, your hands—can become the doorway to peace.
Next Steps for You:
by Amy Alward | Jul 16, 2025 | Distance Healing 101, Featured Posts, Reiki, Reiki Classes, Reiki Events, Reiki Experiences, Reiki Sessions
When Crisis Hits Close to Home
Rila’s wounds were going to be open for 8 to 10 weeks.
Last week, something happened that every service dog handler dreads: my dog—my companion, my helper, my heart—was attacked by two neighbor dogs. It was sudden, violent, and traumatic for both of us. She sustained a serious abdominal wound, and the vet was clear: this would be a long recovery.
Eight to ten weeks of open wound care. Multiple bandage changes per week. Pain meds, antibiotics, and round-the-clock care. Sedation for the bandaging–again and again and again. I was devastated and overwhelmed.
Travel plans for the two of us, and work with clients were rapidly being scrubbed for the summer. I wasn’t worried about that, though. I wanted my partner to be okay–and the vet had to explain the way dog bites work and heal before I grasped the real issue: it might look like healing is going well one day, and tissue can then “die off” inside or at the edges of the wound. I was so scared for her.
But I wasn’t alone.
Calling on My Support System—and Reiki
As I’ve done during many hard times, I turned to my community. I shared what had happened on social media and asked for prayers, thoughts, light—and Reiki.
And wow, did she receive it. Reiki was flowing constantly to her from all directions. The powerful, compassionate Reiki practitioners I have worked with lovingly with in HeartSpace for years responded. My connections with the International Center for Reiki Training (ICRT), called for help from practitioners around the globe. For four days straight, she was bathed in gentle, loving energy from people near and far—many of whom have practiced Reiki with me, received sessions from Whole Self Unity, or simply held good intentions.
Practitioners put her in their Reiki crystal grids, so a continuous flow of Reiki would find her and boost her healing for the greatest possible good, in the highest possible way. Across time zones and across the International Dateline, we were bathed in unconditional love from near and far.
Rila looks miserable, even though she is heavily medicated.
During that time, I also gave her Reiki in person, tuning in to her body’s signals, her nervous system, and her inner knowing. I could feel her relaxing into it—releasing the initial shock, allowing peace to return, one breath at a time.
A Medical Surprise
When we returned to the vet on day four, something remarkable had happened.
The wound had changed–on the phone before opening the bandage, the vet reminded me again that this would take 8 to 10 weeks. Yet that story changed once she sedated my nervous partner and took a look under the bandage. The deep bruising that extended across her abdomen had almost completely healed. The pocket that was expected to drain for weeks had nearly closed. The vet called in another surgeon who examined it also and agreed–this wound was okay to stitch up!
Now, instead of a long, uncertain journey, we’re looking at just two weeks of healing. No more exposed tissue. No complex dressing changes. Just rest, care, and cuddles. (And a very bored service dog who isn’t used to being told to take it easy.)
We got home from the vet that night overjoyed and relieved–and so very grateful for all the help we had been offered. We even sang her song (The Rila Song) together as a duet. Normally, she just listens, but she is also Reiki attuned, and I believe she knew exactly what had happened.
What Reiki Is—and What It Isn’t
Rila had excellent medical care AND Reiki.
I want to be clear: we had excellent veterinary care. Reiki didn’t replace antibiotics or pain relief or medical guidance. It worked with the vet’s care—not in place of it.
Reiki is a gentle, non-invasive form of energy healing that promotes deep relaxation, reduces stress, and supports the body’s natural healing processes. It doesn’t override medical treatment; it enhances the environment for healing—physically, emotionally, and energetically.
In my dog’s case, I believe Reiki helped her body shift out of fight-or-flight, supported cell regeneration, and gave her nervous system the space it needed to recover from trauma. The antibiotics, pain medication, and excellent medical interventions helped her tissues and physical systems–the Reiki boosted those effects and also helped shift the nonphysical aspects of her fuzzy being.
Healing Isn’t Just Physical
This experience reminded me of something I often tell my clients: healing happens on many levels. Yes, her physical wound healed quickly—but I also saw her emotional recovery accelerate. Her eyes softened. Her breathing slowed. She slept deeply. Her trust returned.
That’s what Reiki can do. It supports healing not just in the body, but in the heart, the mind, and the spirit.
A Message for You, If You’re Overwhelmed
Rila feels better, because her healing was speedy with Reiki.
If you’re facing something hard right now—grief, pain, burnout, anxiety, illness—you’re not alone. Healing isn’t always fast. But it is possible.
Whether it’s through medical care, energy work, or the support of a loving community, healing happens. And Reiki can be part of that journey.
If you’re curious about trying Reiki—whether for yourself, a loved one, or even a furry companion—I’d be honored to hold space for your healing. I firmly believe that anyone who earnestly asks for healing receives it at the right time in the right way. Healing is already on the way, Friend.
Next Steps?
Curious about how Reiki can support you in hard times?
Book a Distance Reiki Session or Learn More About Our Practitioners.
Want to support someone else’s healing? Donate to our Reiki Scholarship fund, join our email list below, or connect with us to ask a question or volunteer. We are also offering a limited number of donated one-on-one sessions to women with cancer, nominate yourself or someone else on our Wellness Scholarship form.
