Communicating with Animals
What Can They Teach Us??

-Par Diana S.Bokhari

Communicating with animals can be interpreted in several different ways. Most people are able to read signs of joy in a dog when he wags his tail, or see a smile as he looks up at you to greet you at the door. A cat, feeling content after a full meat, rubbing herself across your legs, is also showing signs of her pleasure and affection. Many of us often wonder, if animals could speak, what would they tell us? Numerous scientists, around the world have dedicated their entire lives to studying various species' communication among their own kind. The results are amazing. Apes and elephants, for example, have demonstrated complex social structures which often rival our own. As humans, are we truly the predominant race simply because we are able to read, write and converse in precise syllables? Is it possible that our human ego stands in the way of accepting animals as our valuable partisans and teachers, and if so, what priceless lessons are we missing out on?

One of my own first childhood memories is that of my grandfather reading stories to me which almost always involved animal characters. These characters were depicted as kind, brave, and adventurous, leaving me with a feeling of fondness and a firm resolution to emulate their selfless and honorable actions in my own life. I never saw them as lesser beings; on the contrary, I perceived them as exactly the kind of friends that I would want to have. Do we ever stop to wonder why many children's story books revolve around animal characters? Could we argue the fact that they actually work to teach us valuable lessons for our future as adults? I for one, am grateful for the lessons animals have always taught me.

We can all learn to communicate with animals. We need to shed our human ego, which only serves to erect barriers between "us" and "them", permitting us to become more tolerant and giving of ourselves. According to Caroline Leroux, a professional animal communicator in Montreal, Quebec, telepathy is the universal dialect used by all beings. She says. "Our capacity to communicate this way is lost through socialization and the use of spoken languages. To communicate, animals send us images, sensations, thoughts, emotions and yes, words that carry sounds and images. The benefits of animal communication are numerous. To connect with the world of animals, is to connect with a world devoid of the notion or experience of judgment as we know it; animals do not have an ego. They are connected to the true essence of life which is divine in its reality, they know we are all one, and a conscious decision for us to reconnect through them can bring us more joy, more wisdom, more understanding and balance."

Our ancestors were wise in their recognition of this. They relied on animal guides as shamans and guardians who taught them great respect for the world around them, bringing them health, prosperity, and a sacred union with nature. Today, almost like modern day prophets, animals still speak to us on a higher level than we are used to. They appeal to our innermost sense of right and wrong, compassion, and the ability to love unconditionally.

Mary Lou Randour writes the following in her book Animal Grace: "That animals touch us in a deep, central place is not a modern-day phenomenon, but one that pervades the history of the human-animal relationship. We sense that we can benefit spiritually in our relationship with animals, and we are right. They offer us something fundamental; a direct and immediate sense of both the joy and wonder of creation. We recognize that animals seem to feel more intensely and purely than we do. Perhaps we yearn to express ourselves with such abandon and integrity. Animals reveal to us what we already glimpse; it is feeling - and the organization of feeling - that forms the core of self. We also sense that through our relationship to animals we can recover that which is true within us and, through the discovery of that truth, find our spiritual direction. Quite simply, animals teach us about love; how to love, how to enjoy being loved, how loving itself is an activity that generates more love, radiating out and encompassing an ever larger circle of others."

Understanding this simple message of purity, integrity, and affection is our first step towards communicating with all species. Our intellect must sometimes give way to humility. In perfect partnership animals would give us greater insight to all the little messages we receive each time a cat purrs, or a dog wags his tail. With childlike abandon we, too, can regain our innocence, and learn to celebrate oneness.

-Diana S. Bokhari is the founder of Quebec’s original holistic pet center for animal wellness, and has established a network for Canada’s leaders in complementary health care for domestic pets.  She can be consulted at diana@naturalanimal.ca.