Cattie and I agreed to write a guest post for each others blog and  I am so delighted we did, as her story is so inspiring and you can really get a feel for the wonderful soul she is.  I asked Cattie if she would be willing to share some of her own stunnning photography too which I am delighted she agreed to.   I hope you will enjoy learning more about Cattie and please do get in touch with her, sign up for her Guide, which is global, by visiting http://animalmassageguide.com/  you can  e-mail Cattie from her contact page too.

Cattie with Sadie

Hi everyone! This is Cattie Coyle from Animal Massage Guide, and I am so honored that Julie invited me to write about myself and AMG. When I asked Julie if there was anything in particular she wanted me to write about, she said “tell us about yourself and how and why you started the wonderful Animal Massage Guide”… well, here goes!

I have always loved animals and was one of those kids who was happiest hanging out at the stable or with my (and my friends’) dog(s) and other pets. My parents had to drag me away from pastures, barns or anything I came across that had animals. As I got older, I started pre-med with the plan to become a vet, but after a year of that, it dawned on me that while I would be helping animals, they would fear me, and I would also have to do things I wasn’t even able to think about. And that was it for pre-med. I instead decided to follow another passion – photography. I enrolled in a 2-year professional photography program and majored in portraiture. Of course, my final portfolio consisted of portraits of people with their pets.

Cattie playing with Prospect

I tried to survive doing pet portraits full time, but either the market for it wasn’t there yet or I just lacked the necessary business savvy. Whatever the reason, I needed a steadier source of income and ended up in the corporate world. Which I actually didn’t mind for many years, until my Dad suddenly passed away. It made me stop and think about what I was doing with my life, and I realized I wasn’t happy (to say the least) and what I was doing for work was completely meaningless.

Deep down, I knew I needed to work with animals. I came across animal massage by chance during a visit to Sweden, and when I returned to the US, started researching animal massage schools here. I found Bancroft School of Massage in Worcester, MA (where they had just started a small animal massage program), applied, and graduated in 2005. I started my own business, but after only a few years, allergies forced me to stop practicing. I had already become allergic to horses, cats and rabbits, and when I started reacting to dogs as well, I couldn’t continue.

But what was the end of my business was also the beginning of Animal Massage Guide. When I first started practicing, I was contacted many times not only by animal owners looking for a massage therapist for their pet, but also by people who were interested in learning animal massage and wanted to start their own animal massage business, or add animal massage to their existing “human” massage business and were looking for advice.

As I had been on “all sides of the fence” – as somebody looking for a school where I could learn animal massage, as a massage student, as a practitioner starting (and running) an animal massage business, an animal-loving allergy sufferer, and an animal guardian looking for holistic health alternatives for my own pet – I decided to start a blog to put all my experiences in one place, as a resource for everyone to use. At the same time, I was doing a lot of research into alternative therapies for allergies, and in my quest I came across many therapies I never knew existed before, and most were also used with animals. So what started as a blog about animal massage slowly became a blog about many different kinds of alternative/complementary therapy for animals.

I didn’t really have any set goals with the blog when I started it, but as it has evolved, I slowly figured out what they were. I want AMG to be a resource that both help open animal owners’ eyes to the fact that there are a lot of complementary options available, and that you may not have to give up on your pet just because the vet said so; and also help alternative / complementary animal health practitioners get more exposure (I know how difficult marketing yourself can be, and how important any chance to get your name out there is), and an opportunity to share their story and help educate us about the modality they practice (and maybe even find a new one to try themselves).

I can’t tell you how grateful I am that I did start the blog. It has allowed me keep up with and learn so much more about complementary and alternative health both for people and animals, and I have “virtually met” so many amazing people who do so much for the animals and are wonderfully generous with sharing their stories, case studies and advice (thank you all!)

As for where the blog will go in the future, there will be more guest posts, more schools and practitioners added (sign up! it’s free), and I am working on a few exciting projects which hopefully will see the light of day at some point this year. I am also undergoing a new (to me anyway) kind of allergy treatment, continue to do freelance photography, and am about to embark on a whole new exciting adventure in the animal health field (there will be blog posts about all of this eventually of course!).

Julie, thank you so much for inviting me to write this – it was a good excuse to look back and think through the choices I have made and why I made them. A little self-reflection is always good for the soul. And for anyone reading this – please let me know if you would like to be listed on AMG, or if you have a story / case study (or anything else) you would like to share. I always love to hear from readers!

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderfully inspiring story Cattie, and here are some of Cattie’s beautiful photographs. You can see more of Cattie’s beautiful photography at her website http://www.ccoylephotography.com/

Our Next Playshop – Even Better Value Now! (Near Guildford)

How To Communicate With Animals Intuitively
Weekend Playshop with Julie Lines
24-25 July 2010

Puttenham, Near Guildford, Surrey, England.

How would it feel to be able to communicate intuitively with your animal companions?  Would it be reassuring to know that you could ask your animal friends anything you wanted and be able to understand their responses? How would this change your relationships and your life? Well, it is possible and you can learn how.

This Playshop is designed to give you all you need to be able to reactivate this amazing and humbling ability. All you need to do is bring an open heart and mind coupled with a willingness to practice and learn.

Our Playshops are designed to give you everything you need to reclaim your natural abilities, in a friendly and supportive way.

Included in this Playshop you will learn and practice how to;

Centre yourself.
Quieten your mind and reopen your receptivity.
Re-sensitise yourself
Receive animal communication
Use a body scan to identify “dis-ease” within an animal
Track lost animals

The weekend is facilitated by Julie Lines, an animal intuitive who has been training and developing people for over 15 years. She is passionate about sharing these skills to change the way humanity views and treats the animal kingdom. Julie was trained by Amelia Kinkade, the highly acclaimed animal intuitive and has developed this Playshop to centre on you as a learner, sharing with you all you need, regardless of your current level of knowledge and skills.

The Playshop is designed to allow you to explore these topics in a highly supportive and positive way including; group discussions, personal reflection, guided meditations, practice with visiting animals and photographs. You will be given a Playbook containing key information and plenty of space to write your own notes.

15 places maximum, £150 if you book before 1st July, £200 after.

To book your place now and for more
information please visit our
website www.voiceoftheanimals.org.uk or
telephone +44 (0)845 838 6801 or +44 (0)7968 038279 for an initial discussion.

For those of you that have attended our workshop,  other animal communication workshops or read any of the excellent books recommended on our site, here is the beautiful Gemima and I have a few questions for you to ask her.  I can verify a good few of the questions so that you can check how accurate you are. Let me know your answers either by using the forum, for all our workshop attendees or by commenting on this page.

Have fun and I look forward to hearing from you and Gemima!

Gemima

With thanks to my wonderful friend Barbara Nock for sending me this short clip.

As always, this beautiful animal simply took my breath away, what an amazing, gracious, compassionate and loving soul in a leopard seals body.  Enjoy!!  Blessings and love to you. XXX

Click here to view the embedded video.

My friend passed on this story today about an amazing relationship between a Costa Rican man Chito and his animal companion Pocho.  I attach the story and then a brief video clip.

I am a big fan of Steve Irwin and the very important animal conservation work that he achieved in his lifetime, which his family is continuing.  I recommend the book Steve and Me, written by Terri Irwin, his wife.  He shows us that a lot of the challenges we have with our animal relatives are just as much to do with the beliefs and attitude WE have about them and the fact that for the longest of times humans have made themselves the enemy of many, many animal species.

With compassion, patience, love and effort this man shows us a wonderful example of how we could be with other species, especially ones that we have feared and believed to be man killers and nothing more….  Thank you Chito and Pocho and thank you to Steve Irwin, in spirit and his amazing family.  Enjoy…

Click here to view the embedded video.

I have been reading and learning about the decline in bee numbers across the world.  I am fascinated to hear your views on why this is happening and what the human race should be doing about it. 

From the bees perspective it is reasonable to assume that they have been treated pretty poorly by humans, from the general dislike of stinging creatures, to use of pesticides and other harmful chemicals, to the systematic taking of their honey for our own profits and consumption…  Let’s send out a message of love and compassion to all bees, please stay with us!  Take a look at this short trailer if you are interested in learning more.  Love and blessings, Julie XXXXX

http://vanishingbees.co.uk/

How To Communicate With Animals Intuitively
Workshop with Julie Lines
28-29 November 2009
Grange Farm, Preston Capes, Northamptonshire, England.

How would it feel to be able to communicate intuitively with your animal companions?  Would it be reassuring to know that you could ask your animal friends anything you wanted and be able to understand their responses? How would this change your relationships and your life? Well, it is possible and you can learn how.

This workshop is designed to give you all you need to be able to reactivate this amazing and humbling ability. All you need to do is bring an open heart and mind coupled with a willingness to practice and learn.

Our workshops are designed to give you everything you need to reclaim your natural abilities, in a friendly and supportive way.

Included in this workshop you will learn and practice how to;

Centre yourself.
Quieten your mind and reopen your receptivity.
Re-sensitise yourself
Receive animal communication
Use a body scan to identify “dis-ease” within an animal
Track lost animals

The workshop is facilitated by Julie Lines, an animal intuitive who has been training and developing people for over 15 years. She is passionate about sharing these skills to change the way humanity views and treats the animal kingdom. Julie was trained by Amelia Kinkade, the highly acclaimed animal intuitive and has developed this workshop to centre on you as a learner, sharing with you all you need, regardless of your current level of knowledge and skills.

The workshop is designed to allow you to explore these topics in a highly supportive and positive way including; group discussions, personal reflection, guided meditations, practice with visiting animals and photographs. You will be given a workbook containing key information and plenty of space to write your own notes.

15 places maximum, £200 if you book before 7th November, £250 after.

To book your place now and for more
information please visit our
website www.voiceoftheanimals.org.uk or
telephone +44 (0)845 838 6801 or +44 (0)7968 038279 for an initial discussion.

My friend David Benson has just posted this link on Facebook, and I wanted to share it with you as it contains some stunning photographs and is a wonderful celebration of World Animal Day that was on the 4th October. Thanks David.   Enjoy!

Love and light, Julie XXXXX

http://bit.ly/WlIl5