In Memory Of Griffin

I AM WHO I AM BECAUSE I KNEW YOU

Excerpt from my book Beyond Companionship: Connecting with Kindred Souls of Animal Companions, in memory of my beloved companion Griffin. 

Waking Up: My First Soul Connection

I open my eyes slowly because the sunlight is invading my bedroom and I am aware that it is the weekend and I have slept in. I am also aware that the head of my three-year-old German Shepherd, Griffin, is resting on the bed and he is intently staring at me. I close my eyes and snuggle into my purple shabby chic comforter, wondering what he wants. My mind rests on the most obvious answer--Griffin needs to go outside.

I groan to myself at the thought of leaving my present comfort, and it is at that moment that I notice one very distinct sound missing--his whine. German Shepherds have a unique whine that any owner can attest to. The whine is so high pitched that there are moments I am sure Griffin is making noise, but the sound is beyond my range of hearing. The high pitch sounds made by Griffin that are within my hearing range can awake me from dead sleep. Griffin employs the German Shepherd whine often when he needs to go outside.

I turn my head back to Griffin, meeting his unusually quiet attentive stare and a question pops into my head, Why don’t we go to shows on the weekend anymore?

My logical mind protests this random and unexpected intrusion by not answering the question,  Immediately another question presents itself: Why did we move here?

Ok, I think. I am now intrigued as Griffin’s chin is still resting on the side of my bed and he has not taken his eyes off me. These are not questions I would ask myself, and all this while I am wondering, Am I dreaming right now?  I start to clearly think the answers to these questions that were presented in my mind and a dialogue begins. I then, in my mind, ask, Griffin, are you asking me these questions?  

He replies, Yes.

***

I have a dear friend and mentor, Paris Drake, a world-renowned psychic who has an office not far from where I grew up in Wisconsin. When Griffin connected with me and asked these questions, I wasn’t shocked. Because of my relationship with Paris, I was very open to the fact that connecting with other souls-- even animal souls--is possible.

If I could have invited you into my head to witness my first time communicating with an animal, my exchange with Griffin would have sounded like an inner monologue. Even today when an animal sends me a verbal message during a session, in my mind it is a similar feeling to what you feel when you are talking to yourself. I have learned that being aware of what I am thinking and feeling in every moment allows me to be acutely aware when I experience thoughts and feelings outside of my own. This is because our thoughts and feelings are sent out into the surrounding world through energy.  

At the core of each of our beings, person or animal, there is an energy, a vibration, a unique expression that radiates out into the world. These individual energetic frequencies converge in an ocean of energy which results in a sea of oneness where we all are interconnected.  The more I reached into this sea of oneness, connecting to the energies and souls around me, the more I began to resonate with the undeniable connectivity existing just beneath the surface of everything we see. It is this very oneness which allows me to peer into the eyes of a client's beloved animal companion and glimpse into their life experience.

If you would have told me at the moment Griffin first connected with me in this way that talking with animals would become my passion and life's work, I would not have believed you,  but the truth is something awoke deep within me that sunny spring morning in 2006, and over the course of the next year, I incessantly read books on animal communication and chatted with every animal that crossed my path.

People oftentimes ask me how I came to be an Intuitive Animal Communicator, inquiring if I have spent my whole life chatting with the animals, questioning who I studied with, and how many years of lessons I took. In truth, none of these paved the way to my present career.  I started with a gift and an insatiable need to share it. The rest of my pilgrimage from Amy Miller to Amy Miller, Intuitive Animal Communicator unfolded over time in the serendipitous way that occurs when you allow yourself to stand in the truth of who you are.

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Goodbye My Beloved Friend, Forever in My Heart.

I said goodbye to my best friend yesterday. Thanks to the integrity and compassion of the amazing people at Caring Pathways the experience was peaceful for both Griffin and I.  He passed laying next to me on his bed while I pet him, told him how loved he was, and how grateful I was such a beautiful soul came to share 12 years in this time and space with me. Deva Premal and Miten played softly on my iPhone in the background. The song "Shadow of Light" came on and when it ended everything went silent, the music stopped the exact moment I felt Griffin leave his body.



Making the decision to support Griffin's transition into the greater dimension of life was the hardest thing I have ever done. You might think that because I am animal communicator, who specializes in supporting people with the departure of their beloved companions that the process might be somewhat easier. I assure you it was not.  Griffin and I talked, and I was fully aware of his wishes. His health had been declining over the past few weeks and in his last two days the Degenerative Myelopathy had progressed to the point where he couldn't walk or stand, but when he looked at me he was still Griffin, my all smiles best friend. I sat at the computer bawling, going through articles I had preciously pinned to help others going through what I was now going through.  Griffin was whispering it's ok, I'm ready to go, it's time, its ok. My heart knew his words were true but my mind was having a hard time catching up. Even with the apparent fact that his body was clearly no longer serving him in this life, I couldn't fathom that this was it. And a big part of me was not wanting to get on board with making the call to the vet and move forward with making arrangements to let Griffin go.

While coping with the thoughts of my impending loss I stubbled across an article on my Pet-Loss Grief Healing Board titled, "Knowing When It's Time to say Goodbye". by Robin Bennet.  In the article she references a book she read that helped her with making the decision to let her beloved companion go. The book "The Dog Cancer Survival Guide," at one point outlined the 7 joys of life:

• 
  
• The joy of eating and drinking
• The joy of motion
• The joy of social interactions
• The joy of having a fully-functioning body
• The joy of a healthy mental state
• The joy of play
• The joy of expression

Robin's article shared that "The Dog Cancer Survival Guide" explained a pet losing one joy could still have a wonderful life, but if three or more joys of life were missing from the pets life the one would have to seriously consider quality of life. My own thought while reading this was at that point one would also have to find the strength to support their companion through the end of life process, something I discuss in my book, Beyond Companionship. It was clear to me that Griffin had loss the joy of motion, a fully-functionhing body, the joy of play, and joy of the full expression of livingness. That awareness was the turning point for me, I knew it was time in my heart and my mind now, but I still had not been brave enough to make the call to the vet. 

The morning all this was happening I had two calls from clients in the same position as me. Needing to make the decision to help their pet cross-over because the body was no longer serving him/her, but just life Griffin both the pets were expressions of love and joy and fully cognitive when interacting with their people. Supporting theses people and their pets, whininess their courage in supporting their animals wishes gave me the final push I needed to make the arrangements necessary for Griffins transition. 

There is an emptiness now in the house, being a German Shepherd a breed known for being attach at the owners hip, he would follow me from room to room. But to my surprise am ok. I'm fully at peace with his passing and my connection with him is still the same, if not stronger.  I'm focusing on self care and me kind to myself when I begin to judge my grief and healing experience, as I expected it to be far more painful and less peaceful at this juncture. 

Dear Griffin,

You filled the last 12 years of my life with love and joy. We climbed mountains and played in the ocean and I am grateful for every moment we shared. I am blessed the beautiful soul within you choose to share this life expression by my side. 

I am who I am to day because I knew you. You live on in my heart and your legacy is forever entwined with my sharing of the gift you awakened in me with the world. 

Until we meet again,

A.

ANIMAL COMMUNICATION CHANGES LIVES

No matter what your reason for contacting an Intuitive Animal Communicator the out come for you and your animal companion is life changing. Here is a clients testimony highlighting the profound change she experienced with her dog Shaneeq (pictured) after just one intuitive communication session with me. 

I had a session with Amy b/c  I could tell that my dog, Shaneeq, was unhappy.  We've had some big changes to our pack dynamics with the loss of 3 elderly dogs in 4 years and recently, 3 new fosters.  

Shaneeq was withdrawn and was staying in the corner of the bedroom most of the time.  After my call with Amy, she is a new dog!  She is no longer staying in the corner of the bedroom.  She follows me everywhere, hangs out with the other dogs and even gives them kisses!  Now on our alone-time she and I play and play and play.  She is 10 years old but she has been doing that scoot/run with her butt tucked under her when we play.  

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DO YOU KNOW HOW YOUR THOUGHTS ARE IMPACT YOUR EQUINE ATHLETE?

One of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal for shaping the working relationship you share with your equine athlete is your thoughts. Most of us go through the motions of training, relating, and working with our equine athletes without giving much thought to monitoring our thought patterns. This is a mistake because the thoughts you think during everyday interactions with your athlete is where achievement of relationship and performance goals is conceived.

Amber Manley & Doc | Behind The Ally

The Facts:

All physical reality is made up of vibrations of energy. 

Every thought you think every word you say sends out its own energetic expression effecting physical reality. 

Your animal companion is highly sensitive to energy.





Because animals are highly sensitive to energy your equine athlete feels you before s/he sees or hears you. What I mean by this is that when you are communicating with your horse s/he receives the message you are sending energetically before s/he receives the information visually or audibly. Basically, no matter what you say or do, your thoughts dominate the communications your horse is receives from you.  So how can you harness your MindPower to impact the relationship and performance you want to experience with your teammate?

GET MINDFUL

Mindfulness is an integral part of  your MindPower and it takes some practice because most of the thoughts we think are re-active patterns or habits of our mind.  Mindfulness requires you to be in a place of high-noticing when it comes to your thoughts. When from a place of high-noticing you become aware an old thought pattern that does not support the type of relationship or performance you want to create with your equine athlete, you have an opportunity to shift that thought and align it with the experience you want to co-create with your equine athlete.

For example; When in a training session something goes wrong most peoples first reaction is. Why? This would be a pattern of thinking or habitual response that sparks the counterproductive search into the question, "Why is this happening" Please do not think that uncovering why your companion exhibits a particular behavior is unimportant, because it is. Helping people uncover the motivation behind their animal companion’s behavior is an essential part of my work as an Intuitive Animal Communicator, but in that moment its far more productive to get mindful. 

How you do that is allow your self to activate high-noticing, this means becoming acutely aware of your current thoughts. Are you feeling flustered, angry, embarrassed, disrespected, what is your current reactive thought pattern in the moment? (For those of you familiar with my in-the-moment message seining technique from my book Beyond Companionship this is process is a part of the acknowledgment step, getting clear about exactly whats happening in the present moment.) Once you be come aware of your current thought pattern you can shift those thoughts from reactive to co-acitve and that's mindfulness. By shifting your thoughts back into alignment with the experience you are trying to create for you and your equine athlete s/he is going to be receiving clear, unclouded information giving you greater ease and acceptance while working together. Once your thoughts are in alignment with the experience you want to have, combine verbal communication with positive reinforcement training techniques to support your equine athlete throughout the rest of your learning/working time together.

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Bonus mindful tips for those of you committed to being a more conscious companion to your equine athlete.

Intention/Affirmation - Positive affirmations are a great energy shifting tool. What's your intention for the work you share with your equine athlete? How do you want the time you share with your equine athlete to feel? Answer these questions and develop an affirmation that can be recited in the moment to remind you of your purpose and help you shift from re-active to co-active.

Activate Heart-Space - You can activate your heart space by bringing your attention to your heart center, thinking of something you love a joyful memory, family member, or beloved pet can help you do this. Animal companions hold the space of unconditional love in our lives. Your pets true essence resonates with the vibration of love, so when you pause and drop into your heart-space in the presence of your animal companion you are literally tuning into his or her wave length. Once you have connected on this level any interaction that follows is going to feel more connected, communicative, and co-creative. 


If you want to explore mindfulness your personal connection with your equine athlete more in-depth I invite you to book an intuitive communication session. 

Mention this blog at the beginning of your equine athlete's communication session in the month of August and get a bonus 10 minute MindPower Analysis exploring your current thought patterns and how you can shift into MindPower and positively impact relationship and performance. 

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GUEST BLOGGER: The Hippie Homesteader talking about her Hippie Horse product lines best-seller.

Part of being a Conscious Companion to the animals in your life includes supporting their physical well-being and this time of year if you are a horse owner helping your horse stay sane by protecting them from those pesky flies.

Guest Blogger Amanda Hirschfield AKA The Hippie Homesteader has just the thing for that in her new Hippie Horse essential oil product line.

Whether you show, race, trail ride, or rodeo as horse owners we all have one common nemesis-flies. Yes, it's that time of year again, fly season. Every summer I would scour the aisles of the local farm store, trying to determine what spray is going to keep my horses comfortable in the pasture and able to focus in the arena. But with every pull of the spray nozzle I was becoming acutely aware of how many toxic chemicals I was applying to my horses skin. It just didn't feel right, and to be honest, they weren't even that effective.

Several years ago I started studying herbal medicine and aromatherapy.  I knew that this was the answer to keeping bugs and toxic pesticides off of my animals. After a few seasons of testing blends I developed a combination of essential oils that keep my animals happy.

So when I started my aromatherapy company - The Hippie Homesteader - I knew that I needed to include all natural products for my equine companions. By far my most popular Hippie Horse Product is SHIELD, an all natural fly spray. This blend of essential oils keeps flies, mosquitoes, and ticks at bay without any pesticides, detergents, or artificial ingredients. This is a fly spray you can feel good about using and the best part, it works!

SHIELD- All Natural Fly Spray 

Connect with The Hippie Homesteader by

 visiting her website 

http://www.thehippiehomesteader.com 

&

 liking her on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/thehippiehomestead

2 SIMPLE STEPS TO CONNECT WITH YOUR PET

Throughout my book Beyond Companionship: Connecting with Kindred Souls of Animal Companions, you will see Pause & Connect Points.   I did this for two reasons; I wanted to give you an opportunity to apply what you are reading about to the relationship you share with your pet(s), and because I know what a profound impact pausing to connect with the animals in your life has on the relationship you share with him/her. 

Taking the time to pause and connect is especially important in working and learning situations when you need to communicate information to your pet.  How clearly can you communicate what you need to your pet if you don't take a moment (pause) to get connected? Communicating does not have mean exchanging information by talking to your pet and hearing his or her response the way I do in one of my intuitive communication session. Communication as an exchange of information. You and your animal friends are always exchanging information, sometimes it is verbal, other times you  communicate through body language and your energy is always broadcasting messages to your animal friends, human friends too! If you are an equestrian you will communicate through leg pressure, and equipment like reigns, and bits. No matter how the information is being exchanged, communication with your animal companion will be crystal clear if you pause and connect first. 



Here are my two simple actions to help you pause and get connect with your animal friend. I recommend doing this before any time spent with your 4-legged companion.
1. Pause - Stop and take a deep breath.

2. Connect - Drop into your heart-space. You can activate your heart space by bringing your attention to your heart center, thinking of something you love a joyful memory, family member, or beloved pet can help you do this.

Animal companions hold the space of unconditional love in our lives. Your pets true essence resonates with the vibration of love, so when you pause and drop into your heart-space in the presence of your animal companion you are literally tuning into his or her wave length. Once you have connected on this level any interaction that follows is going to feel more connected, communicative, and co-creative. 

*If you are interested in further connecting and communicating with your companion sign up for my weekly sentiments from the animals we share our lives with and get a copy of my Quick-Start Guide to  Conscious Companionship with Animal Companions*

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STEPS FOR RECONNECTING W/ A DEPARTED ANIMAL COMPANION IN YOUR DREAMS

As an intuitive animal communicator and grief coach I am always reconnecting people with their departed animals, but in truth our animal friends who are now in spirit are always reaching out and connecting. You might see your departed dog out of the corner of your eye, or think you feel your departed cat brush up against your leg. A woman in my free monthly pet loss healing group told us about how when she's found dimes she knows they are a sign from her beloved departed dog. After telling her friends this they now tell her, I saw a dime and it made me think of you and your departed dog. Bonds of love are eternal and each of these is a way which departed animal companions connect so we can continue to feel their love and presence.

Another very common way for a departed animal friend to reach out and reconnect is to visit in a dream. I think its easy for them to connect in a dream because the mental mind is not engaged, controlling and judging the experience making clear, authentic connection possible. The trick is remembering the experience in the morning and dream scripting/dream journaling helps with that.  It is a fact that everyone dreams 4-5 dream cycles a night and if you would like to intentional set up a dream reunion with your departed companion here is a simple 3 step process for creating a intentional dream connection. 


INTENTIONAL DREAM SCRIPT STEPS

1. Set your intention
Begin by seeing the mental image of your departed animal companion in you minds eye. On a piece of paper jot down your intention for meeting your companion in your dream tonight. Is there something you want to say to him/her? Is there something you want to feel? You might want to pet or hug your companion, maybe just the comfort of his or her presence is what you want to experience. Is there something you need to know? Are you wondering if your departed companion is ok? Would you like to receive some divine wisdom from him or her? 

2. Say the mantra
I love this mantra! I got it from Charlie Morley's Hay House World Summit 2016 interview. 

                                        "Tonight I remember my dreams.

                                        I have excellent dream recall."      -Charlie Morley

Repeat this mantra over and over as you fall asleep. You want this to be the last thought you have before driving off to dream. 

3. Journal
It is a fact that keeping a dream journal helps you remember your dreams. People who write down what they recall from their dreams right away when they wake up remember more, and if you do this repetitively you remember even more. Don't make a big deal about this. Keep the paper with your dream intention on your night stand and when you wake up in the morning give yourself 3-5 minutes to jot down the main points, main narrative or anything
you can remember from your dream. 
                         

The more you practice these intentional dream scripting steps the easier it will become for you to recall connecting with your departed animal friend in the dream. Your animal companion wants to love, support and connect with you.  Dream scripting is a great way for you to reach out and initiate the reconnection. These steps I have given fro intentional dream are also first steps to Lucid Dreaming, allowing one to consciously interact within your dream. If you are interested in learning more about lucid dreaming check out Charlie Morley's work.

Sweet Dreams Conscious Companions...