Episode #76 Tami Friday’s Healing Journey: From Occupational Therapy to Mastering Animal Communication and Reiki – Embracing Energy Healing, Intuitive Connection, and Nurturing Bonds with Pets

Reiki is a journey and not a destination , and on this Ready Set Reiki journey , we refer to ourselves as guides rather than hosts , as we two are traveling , supporting each other and learning on this Reiki journey as well . And with that said , I am your guide , tracy Seawright , and today joining me on my journey is Tammy Friday .

She is a professional animal communicator who can telepathically connect with any willing species living or departed . She also provides energetic assistance for pets , people and their property . She utilizes her background as an occupational therapist and Reiki master teacher to convey a compassionate and healing presence . During her online sessions .

Clients consist of animal lovers who are seeking insight for their animals to resolve behavioral and emotional issues , support their health and wellness , to help navigating end-of-life decisions and to connect in spirit she shares .

I love to foster mutual understanding between a person and their animal , whether it is to help solve issues that crop up or to help deepen their bond . She enjoys providing energy healing services to help support pets and people as they navigate emotionally , behaviorally or health challenges . Tammy , welcome to Ready Set Reiki .

I always I ask them you know we have a session coming up later , would you like to help , and you know if you want to and then they help and my dog has had some health issues . He's a little bit older and I've actually noticed since I started the animal communication more actively he's got like a renewed sense of purpose , which is really cool .

I used to have really debilitating migraine headaches and I tried all these different things to feel better and a physician assistant , you know , recommended why don't you try Reiki ? And I thought , why not ? You know the other things I was doing weren't so helpful . Why not ? You know the other things I was doing weren't so helpful .

And my first Reiki session , I believe , was like 2014 and I was just , I was just blown away with the first session .

I remember the Reiki practitioner um , she like had her hand hovering over I can't remember if it was my heart or heart chakra or my head and I started bawling and I was like you know , it wasn't like bad , it was like , but I was at one point I was emotional during the sessionling and I was like you know , it wasn't like bad , it was like , but I was at

one point I was emotional during the session . The other part . I'm like what is this ? You know she didn't touch me even , like what's happening . I was so intrigued and you know she shared that .

You know , learning Reiki I could help with healing myself with the migraine headaches and at the time I was a practicing occupational therapist working with people rehabbing and having that background of Reiki would also be healing and helpful for my patients .

So from then on I took Reiki classes , eventually became a Reiki master and utilized it in my occupational therapy practice a little bit informally . I worked in hospitals and home care but I realized that wasn't my calling and I think Reiki kind of opened up my world to being more authentic .

To be honest , over time I got a lot of Reiki sessions over my life starting then and I wasn't happy in occupational therapy . So I thought you know what I really want to start my own business . I was learning craniosacral therapy at the time , which is like a body work , and I thought you know what ?

Let me do craniosacral therapy , reiki with people and do distance Reiki and energy healing techniques over distance , for like animals and people , and that's what I did . I ended up leaving occupational therapy , mostly because of the migraine headaches were so bad and just focused on my own healing and focused on growing my business .

And while I was doing that , I was , you know , developing intuitive development , taking a lot of classes psychic development , mediumship , animal communication , you know all that sort of fun stuff and but I still felt like something wasn't quite there . I was , I was doing animal communication a little bit . I should backtrack , like probably about 2016 .

I was dating this person . We had a couple dates in , in , and all of a sudden I heard my dog in my mind's ear . We're all hanging out in the living room and my dog says I'm so glad they're in our life , you know , in our lives . And I was like what , like , like that was ?

It felt like he was literally talking to me , you know , like it wasn't like verbal , like audio , and nobody else could hear , but I heard it plain as day and I , I wanted to have that happen again and I couldn't . I'm like speak to me more , you know .

And so it was probably a couple of years after that where , when I was starting to do energy healing sessions with animals , I started to receive information from them . They'd show me images or thoughts and I had no idea if what they were saying was true or not . I started to share it with the clients , the people , and said this is what I'm getting .

It turned out like oh , that does resonate , that feels like it . And I had a turning point , probably in I think it was like 2022 , I had a session with two cats who were fighting . A client reached out to me and says this is all over distance and she said you know , maybe can the energy healing help .

I said I'll give it a try and you know , I thought I'm going to actually incorporate the animal communication into the session , not just dabble in it . Let's just see why are they fighting . So I asked the cats , like why are you fighting ? And they told me they said there's a lot of stress in the household right now .

Just a lot of chaos right now , a lot of changes , and we're just stressed out and we're just taking out on each other . And I said , okay , and so I could gear the energy healing to just help them with their stress , kind of lower their stress levels . And that was that .

And the next day the client sent me a picture of these two cats snuggling and I was just like I didn't really expect anything , but I it just really moved my heart and I just thought , wow , you know the the power of animal communication to kind of tap into what's the animal's perspective , what are their thoughts , their feelings , you know .

I mean , just imagine if we couldn't talk to each other . Like how hard that would be , and you know , to meet , you know our needs and help help meet somebody else's needs . And so I just decided almost pretty much then , and there I'm going to shift my entire business to animal communication , supplemented with the energy healing .

And so I got on a fast track of learning more . I read books , I took more classes and I practiced , practice , practiced . I did probably months of free sessions . Let me practice with your animal living , departed any species , and I just love it so much and I've been doing that ever since .

So that's kind of really fast how I kind of got started in the animal communication to find my calling . For a long time I didn't feel like I had quite found it . Something always felt missing .

And Reiki , excuse me , opened my eyes , opened everything up to you know , like with that lady , when she put her hand over my head , not even touching me , and I felt something . I cried . I mean , that was my first inkling that there is something there we can't see .

And I often would tell clients , especially if they're new to Reiki or any type of energy healing . I always say you know , it's like , it's like a microscope . You know there's bacteria , there's viruses , viruses . You know , a couple hundred years ago we didn't , we couldn't see it , we didn't know what existed .

I said maybe someday they'll have a little monitor and be like beep , beep , there's the reiki energy or there's the whatever . In other words , just because we don't see it or have a tangible way to measure it , um , I mean that's happening , but doesn't mean it's not real , doesn't mean mean it's not happening , it's just .

It's just in a different way , it's a different sensory thing for us .

You shifted , you went in a different way and it brought you to where your true purpose is . So bravo for that . For continuing on the journey .

You can go somewhere you never even imagined it's going to heal those parts of you and you might end up doing , you know , light language or tarot reading or something else that's your passion . It helps you find your passion and heals that part of you .

But when you start to learn , wow , when I reduce that resistance and start to allow that to come in , because I find like for me anyway , what really that allowance was , is for me to be more authentic and to kind of drop the baggage of expectation . You know I should be an occupational therapist .

I put money and sweat and tears into becoming this and it pays a certain amount , it's a status thing , whatever , whatever , whatever had to shut all that and come into the woo-woo world of things where , you know , I can't say exactly how Reiki works . I don't exactly know . I just know it can be helpful . But yet it feels good .

And stepping into what feels good , I've learned more and more to just do it anyway If it resonates . I've learned more and more to just do it anyway If it . If it resonates , I might be scared as heck , but you know , if I don't , I usually suffer more .

the process . And you know , especially with animals , sometimes I feel like there are some clients and it's not really their fault .

I think it's our culture that animals have free will , they have their own motivations , their own desires and we're not really taught that If you're not used to communicating with animals , it's like they're like this blank slate and so there's a lot of misperception that , oh , you know my animal if they just's like they're like this blank slate and so there's a lot

of misperception that , oh , you know my animal if they just do what they're told , that sort of thing .

And I've learned just through the animal communication like , oh , there's a whole another layer , like one example I had a client where you know very nice dog and the family , they had a newborn baby and they brought her home and this client reached out a couple of days later saying you know , our dog is aggressive to the baby .

We're we're scared for the baby's safety . You know , they think energy healing and animal communication could help them . Like I always say , let's try , you know .

And so we connected with the dog dog's name's Leighton , and Leighton was sharing that Leighton would like . Leighton was saying that there's stress in the house . You know , of course , right , you have a newborn baby . Even if it's good stress , it's stress , right . And the dog was like , oh , my god , there's stress .

And Leighton said you know , the baby smells like mom , but smells different . And there's the stress . So Leighton almost gave this impression that Leighton saw the baby as like a tumor or an afterbirth or something to be gotten rid of to protect the family from . It was just a misunderstanding . And so we talked with Leighton .

Like you know , leighton , this is a new baby , this is part as a human , this is part of the family . Now , this is part of your pack . Will you be willing to allow this newborn back into your family ? And there was a shift there . Layton decided , yes , I will .

And the client , you know , noticed , she said later , she said I noticed a shift right away and from that moment on they were cuddle buddies and she'd see some . So she still sends like pictures of them together snuggling and things . And you know , just to know that , wow , just to get the animal's perspective and try to understand them , that goes a long way .

And you know , like , oh , yeah , um , that makes sense , like it makes sense in her world the way it was , and just to clarify that .

So our next question is what is something that you wish your younger self knew about your current ?

And so now it's like I can look back to my younger self and say you know , hang in there , you know everything that you're doing , everything you're learning , isn't wasted . Hang in there , just everything that you're doing , everything you're learning , isn't wasted .

You're building skills , you're learning things , good and bad , what to do , what not to do , what you like , what you don't like , and eventually it'll come . So I always say follow the breadcrumbs , like those intuitive perceptions , the urges , like I want to try this , I want to do this . Follow those breadcrumbs and you'll get here , you know .

of thing and just kind and loving . You know , it's really kind of simple . You're at being respectful . We all have our differences and that sort of thing , and just kind and loving . You know , it's really kind of simple . It's to me , it's not so much about all the little letters after your name or all the classes , you know it's .

It's really , you know , embodying that openness .

There's , um , uh , I guess she would call herself a seer and she , when she talks with you , it's like she this is my goal to work on when she talks with you , it's like she's looking at your beautiful soul and she loves you , you who you are , and when you're in her presence , you feel like just loved , and even in your imperfections , and that's what I

strive for to embody that . You know it's yeah , it's beautiful , beautiful . So what advice would you give someone who is just entering this profession ?

You know , if you're interested in animal communication , whatever level , whether it's being professional or whether it's just hey , I want to talk to my own animals or I'd like to know what that squirrel is thinking when I'm out in nature .

You know , knowing that animals want to connect , I feel like right now , in this time , animals are , like you know , chomping at the bit , like we want to talk with you and they're waiting for people to want to receive that I feel like we all have . We all have that ability in our culture

. It's just not been encouraged . And so , you know , if you're interested , having the desire to learn is the first thing . And then , you know , trusting and seeing what draws to . You know you can read books , you can . There's so many different animal communication classes out there . Finding , you know , maybe someday I'll teach one . You never know .

But you know , I feel like I'm still younger in that journey of animal communication . But finding a practitioner that fits your learning style too , there's so many different styles .

And if you , even if you try one thing , if it's not quite a fit , maybe a different practitioner , different teacher , different route of learning will help you and then just observing I think really just observing animals sitting and watching your pets , seeing what they do .

What would your perspective be in that situation and how do you think that they might be feeling or thinking in that situation ? Trusting the perceptions you get . Even for me , that's how I started with information .

I'm like , really , that doesn't make any sense , like when I was talking with Leighton , like afterbirth tumor , like no , that doesn't make any sense , but you just trust it . You just you have to be vulnerable with animal communication because you're always putting yourself out there and you could always be wrong .

And you know animal communication it's not 100% anyway , I think . I think they say I don't know who they is , but they say , like with any mediumship or psychic ability or animal communication , you're always striving for 80% not 100 , but 80 would be great .

And so just going , trusting your instincts with it , playing with it , it it's okay to be wrong , and just having that desire will take you a long way . You know , sit out in nature . You know , watch the squirrels , the birds , whatever animals come by , you pay attention .

I actually started too , and I learned this from my Reiki master , who taught me when I would see unusual animals that you normally don't see , like something was unique , like you see deer once in a while , but all of a sudden you see six deer and that's unusual .

Or you see an animal you normally don't see , or an animal doing something you normally don't see . Do you can look it up ? You can type in what is the spiritual meaning of the squirrel or of deer and see if that information resonates .

That was kind of a way to help me start to , you know , hone in on the wisdom of animals and the messages that they share . And now I don't need to log in unless I'm really tired , but do that search but I can tune in . Okay , what is ? Do you have a message ? You know ? What would you like to share ? All ?

You know , like I said , there's so many different reading styles and you know you can literally do a search of that , but that's that's my favorite book like well by far , to be honest . Yeah .

It's just a different energy , it's a little bit vocal , and I also do my background with craniosacral therapy . Even though that's a body , hands-on touch thing , I will use those techniques intending through distance .

So when I'm doing a session , whether it's energy healing for pets , people or property , as I say , I'm looking at what intuitively of my toolbox of energy healing tools is draws me and will utilize that with the person .

So , like with animals energy healing , I often work with animals if they have like anxiety or depression or even physical ailments just to help them . A lot of times with stress , just helping calm the nervous system . Same thing with people , whether it's like anxiety is common or even grief .

You know a lot I do have people that reach out because they've lost an animal and they're feeling like did I do something wrong or the way maybe their life ended ? There's a lot of grief or shame or whatever around that . So healing for that . And then property , the space . I do space clearing .

When we're in a space business or home you know you can feel drained or you can feel energized , you know . So if you're like , if you're at a wedding and you're excited , you feel the energy in the space . Or if you're somebody was arguing in a room , you're like , ooh , I feel something . It's just clearing that because we experience it . Our animals do too .

So if you have like a lot of stress and tension , just clearing that out , so that it's just my way of supporting us , supporting our animals , yeah , Wonderful .

if you have any questions or anything that way .

So we're going to begin with question number one as an animal communicator , what is the lesson that this journey has taught you ?

And so the client reached out saying can an animal communication session help with my cat ? And his name is Spike . And you know , I asked Spike , like you know what's going on with the eye , why don't you like these eye drops ? And he said it stings . It stings , it's uncomfortable . And what was really nice is that the person , the client , was very open .

She basically , through the session , she kind of said well , here's the situation . You have eye drops and then you have gel and the cat's like okay , the gel doesn't hurt as much . Okay , good to know . She says we could do the drops , we could do the gel , we could do oral medication .

But then if we do oral , you have to go to the vet , which you don't like , and then you're they're gonna have to monitor you for symptoms or nothing at all , and then you'll probably lose your eye and you'll have surgery . You could lose more , you could lose your life even , and you'll have surgery at the vet to remove your eye or both eyes .

What would you like to do ? So she , she was truly okay . She , she didn't have an agenda of . It's got to be this one option and that's it . She truly was like what do you want to do ? It's your life . And so the cat said you know what ? Let's do the gel , because the gel is less painful and and so that's what was decided .

So the client did the gel and she reached out and she said the cat Spike was fine , he allowed her to do the drops . And that just other stuff always blows me away . It's because we listen to the cat , you know what is the cat's perspective , and really just heard the cat and honored his decisions , his preferences and that sort of thing .

And that's one lesson that I continuously learn is just that ability to really listen to another being and see from their point of view before we go in , to go in at it with our own agenda . It's sort of like put both of our agendas in and see if we can mix and match and come out with a win-win . You can't always , but if you can . That's great .

I guess I should share , like another , a book that can be really helpful is and I don't remember the author , but it's a book called the Explosive Child , so you can like look that up . But that book taught me a lot with animal communication . It's how to communicate with a child where traditional discipline and ways to help a child don't work .

And the basic premise of the book is is almost like compromise negotiation , you know , like if the child doesn't want to go to bed at a certain time , okay , why is that ? And then see where are you willing , where's the child willing to meet halfway somewhere and you test it out until both are satisfied . And the book goes in much more detail about it .

But that promise of that really shapes my sessions with animals and people , like is there something that you're both willing to come to terms with and do , so you both can be happy ?

So imagine , imagine if you started your day , you woke up today and you didn't know whether you were going to work , whether , if you started your day , you woke up today and you didn't know whether you were going to work , whether it was a day off , whether you're going on vacation , any errands that would feel for some .

Some of us would be like this is cool , this is like you know . They would like it , but not everybody does . For some people can create an uneasiness , like I don't know what I'm doing today . Same with our animals . Some animals love that spontaneity , but some animals are like what is going on ?

And so just talking with your animal , like today I'm going to work , or or you know we're going to go for a walk after work , we're going to brush you if you know what's happening , or you have the vet coming up in a couple of days and that's to help you with that itch or whatever it is .

And the way you can communicate with animals is you can speak . So animals have told me that they do read our minds , just as like the telepathy . But we're all over the place in our thoughts . You know , you know , and who can attest to that ? Right ?

You're thinking one thing , then you're canceling it out , thinking the opposite , and it's just all over the place . That's just where thoughts go . And so animals they're like . Well , we don't know what's the dominant thought in that particular moment . So by speaking out loud , it puts that dominant thought , that energy out there .

And so you can speak out loud to your animal and they'll get the gist of it . And you can also . Animals also connect with visual imagery and emotion . So let's say you want to convey . You can try this . If you want to convey something , let's say a behavior that you're hoping for , you can visualize the behavior that you desire .

So let's say it's your dog and you want , like your dog , to be quieter when people come . You can try this , because they may have their own reasons . You may have to work through more depth , but it's worth a shot . It doesn't take any effort . At least it shows your animal what you're looking for .

You visualize quietness and then you show that your emotions , your emotions might be content , happy , calm , whatever it may be . You know good energy emotions . And then you think of the behavior maybe you're not really desiring the dog barking , maybe jumping up on whoever's there , and you visualize that . And then you pair it with emotions that aren't so .

Are the your emotions ? I call them like maybe you're frustrated , you're scared , you're stressed , you're irritated , and that's you give these two scenarios . So you're kind of showing like this is what makes me happy , this is what makes me unhappy . Now , your animal still has a choice and they still have their own issues with navigating that .

Sometimes it can help . Sometimes you may have to dig deeper , but just you know , just by starting to try to connect with your animals , to know that you care , by talking with them , goes a long way . So you know , that's what I would . That's the one thing you can , some tools you can try with your animals .

So I talk to them and I tell them I'm leaving but I'm coming back . Don't worry , I'll be home for the rest of the day . I just need to do this one thing and I'll hand him a toy and he'll take it and he just shakes , he shakes and shakes and shakes and stops and then he's okay . So a little bit of a reset with them .

But yeah , I talked to them as if like you have a great day , and then I come back and I'm like did you have fun today ? And I'm here for the rest of the day . So talk to them just like I do a person .

And then I'll even say the one time something changed , I said boys , I lied , I have to go out again yep , and they , you know , oh my god , animals are so like there's in my experience .

You know , just saying sorry goes a long way and they're so forgiving , yeah they are .

I guess the theme of this interview is about respect , respecting all beings , and you know , one thing I want to share too is you can still have your boundaries and your expectations . That just because your animal may want to like lay on your face you can't breathe , it doesn't mean that that's the way it's going to be .

You know , if you don't like that , you can say I don't like this and let's do something else . So you know , it's okay to have your boundaries , it's okay to have your expectations , just doing it respectfully and noting all beings , even creatures , even bugs .

You know , I'll do a little thing too , like I , you know , and I laugh because it's like I have a phobia of spiders and I'm trying to work through it and it's quite weird to be an animal communicator and have this phobia , but it's something I'm working through .

Anyway , in summer , at the back door where I let my dog out at night , there's a light there and so there's this big spider last several years that likes to . I don't know if it's the same spider . I spider last several years that likes to . I don't know if it's the same spider .

I haven't asked if it's the same spider of the family line , but any , I don't know how long they live with asking that . But anyway , there's this big spider right by the back door and I'm always afraid he's just gonna , you know , land on me as I'm coming in or out of that door letting my dog out .

For at night , and before I really got into animal communication , I would like sweep the web , I'd spray at it , you know , not so nice , to be honest , and it would always reform by the next night or even a couple hours later . And I'm like , oh God , you know , like always coming out there .

And when I really started getting animal communication , like in fact , like last summer , I was talking to the spider . I'm like , okay , I'm sorry , but I just I don't want you landing on me and you , seeing you close to the door just gives it's , just makes me uncomfortable . Is there something else ?

Somewhere else you can go , where you can get your food and have a nice web and whatever . And that was that ? And then all of a sudden I'm like I didn't see the spider . I'm like where did it go ? And then one day I kind of noticed the lighting . There's a window not too far away from the door and that's like a window that isn't really used .

The spider built its web at that window and obviously I almost didn't even notice it and I thought that's perfect , you can have that , I won't bother you , you know there's no chance of you falling on me . And so that's now . We can live in coexistence . We'll see this this time of year .

Now that's going to be starting where it's going to be that time of year where the spider is going to be coming out . So I'll be curious to see if we have to have another conversation or if they remember . But it's paying attention to all creatures , not just the ones we , you know , have in our families , you know .

They just tell me , they love that love between you and you know , your desire to connect with them , to see them as equals to you , with their own thoughts , their own feelings , and working together to have a harmonious life .

They just you know , they're invested in that too , they , if you ever doubt that your animals love you , I mean I , I've I've yet to connect with an animal who hasn't loved their person in one way or another , even if they show it in a different way . So yeah , yeah , All right .

Also , if you're interested , feather Sister Wellness offers a variety of yoga classes , trainings , reiki trainings and Reiki sessions , and that's an online platform as well . So thank you so much everyone for joining us today on this journey . So my name is Tracy Seawright and this has been Ready Set Reiki © transcript Emily Beynon .