Working as a pet sitter, I get to see how a lot of dogs and cats live while their humans are away or at work. Some people like to leave on the radio to keep their pets comfortable by maintaining a feeling of consistency. Others leave the TV on – often tuned to the Animal Planet Channel. (Have you ever watched Animal Planet? I’ve seen snippets while on duty, and let me tell you, some of those shows featuring animal disasters or animals gone wild are actually pretty stressful.) I’m a fan of music for my dogs. I used to leave on the classical station for them when I went to work; having heard that classical music can have soothing, therapeutic effects. Then my radio died. Around the same time, however, I started listening to a series of guided meditation CDs before I left for work. I watched with interest each morning as my dogs joined me on the floor as soon as they heard the opening gong. They lay down quietly to enjoy the soothing voice of the narrator and the sound of the background music. I could see that they responded to the CD in a way I had not observed when the classical station was on.
What’s on Your Pet’s Play List? The Healing Power of Music by Beth Lowell
One of Beth’s favorite clients, Ozzy the Boxer
They appeared to be actually listening to it. I could see I was onto something big. The first CD I bought for my dogs was Spiritus, by Patrick Bernard. I read about it in Sharon Callahan’s book, Healing Animals Naturally with Flower Essences and Intuitive Listening when I first started learning about flower essences. Composed with the intention of “clearing past disharmony, opening new channels to the inflow of grace, restoring balance, and facilitating deep
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communion between all species”, it incorporates the healing vibrations that come from universal spirituality by combining the Vedic, Buddhist, and Christian – Gregorian traditions. My dogs settle in quickly when they hear this collection (I often also use the Spiritus spray – a blend of flower essences made especially to be used in conjunction with listening to the CD.) I read in Sharon’s book that animals are also quite partial to Brian Eno’s Ambient Music for Airports. Based on how much my dogs enjoyed Spiritus, I quickly added Eno’s album to my dogs’ play list. Researching it, I learned that Eno had composed the music inspired by the concept of airports – “places of departure where people spend time, sometimes anxious, sometimes bored” – to be both unobtrusive and able to be listened to, and to be calming to listeners. I took special note of the words “anxious and bored” states which pets are often in when left home alone. My next find came when writing a review of Celeste’s Reiki Meditations CD. Celeste did a wonderful job with the guided meditation but what struck me most about her cont’d on next page
Fall 2009