We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Leah D’Ambrosio. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Leah below.
Leah, appreciate you joining us today. What’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?
I believe that most people misunderstand meditation and the power it can have in your life. Although meditation is more popular than ever, in my humble opinion, very few people are actually meditating.
A recent statistic came out that said there are anywhere from 200-500 million people meditating and meditation apps have exploded! Currently there are 100 million people who have downloaded the Calm app. Headspace has over 30 million users and Insight Timer has over 13 million users. That’s a lot of people “meditating” yet we are in the most stressful, angry, and compassionless times most of us can remember. The side effect of meditation is compassion for yourself which is why I feel most people are experiencing more of an “adult time out” than true meditation.
Meditation is incredibly powerful and can create huge change in the world. In the 1980’s there were two significant peace projects. From 1983-1985, a RAND Corporation think tank gathered 8,000 (sometimes more) people who were trained in meditating and had them focus on peace during their meditations. Results showed during this time, the rate of terrorism worldwide was reduced by 72%.
Between 1987-1990, 7000 Vedic Pandits practiced peace in India and created technologies of consciousness. The world experienced a huge transformation towards peace during this time: The Cold War ended – the Berlin Wall came down – the Iran-Iraq war came to an end – South Africa began moving towards abolishing Apartheid – terrorism subsided.
Sadly, funding ran out for these projects, but you can see how when just a small amount of people meditate, positive change can be achieved.
The difference between how everyone is meditating today and how these meditators from the special projects were meditating is, I believe, intention. We must have intention when we meditate. When we listen to Calm or Headspace, it can serve more as quiet time than an actual meditation. When we meditate with an intention to release stress, anger, or frustration, we will find we organically become more compassionate. It’s a documented side effect.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
I was an Executive Assistant for 30 years and in 2015 moved from my home state of California to Oregon to start a cannabis edibles business. I made infused toffee and marked them with edible green crosses to indicate they were an infused food. In 2016, I took my idea of marking edibles with the green cross and started an ancillary cannabis business, Baked Smart, to provide products for edible companies to mark their edibles for compliance purposes. All of that was/is my “must do to survive” business. Since 2007, I have studied and taught Animal Reiki/Meditation which is my true love and passion.
In 2007, I was looking for a way to volunteer and help animals without becoming a vet tech or working in a shelter. Shelters made me cry the minute I walked in, so it seemed impossible to consider that as a volunteer opportunity. Thankfully, I came across Kathleen Prasad and Animal Reiki Source. Animal Reiki was something I had never heard of but after reading Kathleen’s book on Animal Reiki, I found it could be a new way for me to help animals.
Little did I know that step would lead me to meditation, internal peace and becoming a leader in the Animal Reiki industry. After taking Kathleen’s classes in 2007 and 2008, in mid-2008 Kathleen and I turned our mutual desire to support shelter animals into the Shelter Animal Reiki Association. Our association now has over 400 shelter, practitioner, and teacher members around the world. Thousands of animals have been supported with Animal Reiki since 2008 and it’s exciting to know that thousands more will be supported in the years to come.
Kathleen Prasad’s Let Animals Lead® method of Animal Reiki is an effective meditation-based modality used to support animals’ emotional needs. Through the practice and teaching of this, I was able to profoundly change my life and help others change theirs.
Prior to 2008, I was very uptight and very rigid. I wouldn’t describe myself as a rageaholic but I would say that my anger would cause me a lot of grief. Through the meditation techniques I was learning in the Let Animals Lead® method of Animal Reiki, I was changing. I was becoming calmer, peaceful, more intuitive, compassionate, and best of all happier!
In our normal daily life, our brains function in what’s called a beta state. But when we are angry or stressed or upset, our brains go into a high beta state. It is scientifically proven that when your brain is in high beta, you cannot think clearly. You literally cannot problem solve. So not only are you stressed and feeling overwhelmed and upset, but you also can’t clearly see a way out.
I was living like that for years. That’s not to say I wasn’t functioning – I was. In fact, I was a high functioning individual, but I was always in a heightened state of anxiety and fear which would turn into anger or sadness. When I started learning meditation through Animal Reiki, I changed. I started to find peace in the midst of chaos. I became the person people sought out during a crisis because I was calm and could listen and offer sound advice. This was all very new!
As I say this, I realise it sounds so easy. Just meditate and your life will be so much more peaceful! If only! Meditation takes practice! Meditation can be uncomfortable! Honestly, when I started to learn meditation, my mind couldn’t be still. At that time, I was an Executive Assistant for very influential attorneys and executives, so I was on the move constantly. Sitting down and meditating for five minutes felt like a tortuous hour. Thankfully I had some amazing tools through Animal Reiki that helped me immensely that I want to share with all of you.
First there are the Five Precepts which sound like affirmations but are really what I call a path to a meditative state. The precepts are: For today only, do not anger, do not worry, be grateful, be humble and show compassion to yourself and others. These Precepts seem deceptively simple, but they are very powerful. Repeating these in the am upon waking and the pm when going to sleep were life changing for me. Within two weeks, I found myself becoming calmer and happier. When things started to go south during my day, I would just say – for today only! and repeat whatever Precept felt appropriate.
What I was experiencing was the path to the peace of meditation. Something I teach others how to easily do as well. If you look at the Precepts one step at a time, you can easily see this path. When you let go of anger, you get down to worry. When you let go of worry, you become more grateful. When you are grateful, you naturally become humble. Just try being grateful AND having an ego. You can’t do it! And when you become humble, you become compassionate. It’s a beautiful process that is super easy but again, powerful! And no, it doesn’t happen overnight but, seriously, within weeks of practicing this, your life will change. Another secret to the Precepts power is reciting these upon waking and again when you go to sleep. At night they seep into your subconscious and do all sorts of magic to your mind while you’re sleeping!
The second most important tool for me was meditating in the presence of an animal. When I started to learn Animal Reiki it was because I wanted to help support animals but little did I know they were going to be helping me. As part of my Animal Reiki practice, I was supposed to meditate every day so that when I sat with an animal, I could hold space for them.
Before I go any further, I really need to explain what holding space means. When an animal is ill, has trauma or is in a shelter, they are not their usual calm, balanced selves. Their energy is off. Unlike humans, animals live in a state of peace – a state of non-attachment and non-judgment of any outcome. For us humans, it’s hard to even comprehend this state. But when animals are sick or traumatized, they get worried, are afraid, etc. We can help them by creating a meditative space within ourselves. A space where we let go of anger, worry, and fear and focus on the energy of love. When we do this, our energy is calm and loving and animals who are experiencing illness or trauma, can easily connect to that energy, relax and feel comforted.
Have you ever sat next to someone whose energy felt really good? They may not have said anything to you, but you just felt happy sitting next to them. That’s the same thing that animals get from us when we meditate, only it’s much, much stronger for them. We humans have earmuffs on when it comes to energy. We kind of sense it but it’s dull. We rely more on the spoken word. Animals communicate and live by their energetic senses. It’s what keeps them connected to their world. So, they are hypersensitive to our energy. When we can bring our energy into balance and sit with them when they are stressed, our energy can seem like a warm, comforting blanket of love.
So back to me in 2007. Every morning, I would wake up, sit next to my sweet Shar Pei Bruce, and say the precepts. The point of sitting next to Bruce was to help myself match his calm demeanor and to get his support in holding space for me. Yes, animals hold space for US! And Bruce was the best at this. If my mind turned from the precepts towards thinking about him or anything else, he would get up and walk away. But if I went inward and used my precepts as a mantra to keep my mind occupied and not wandering, he would lay against me. It was my reward for staying focused. He was my first meditation guru.
Throughout the years of teaching and practicing Animal Reiki/Meditation, I have had many wonderful animal teachers. I have had tigers teach me the power of connection, alligators showed me what grounding really feels like, dogs have shared the power of pure love and horses the practice of patience. There are many more, but those lessons come to me throughout my day. It’s another benefit of turning to animals as meditation teachers. The lessons you learn from them are so powerful, they stay with you long after the meditation session has ended.
One very profound meditation experience was in 2011 at the C.A.R.E. Foundation with two tigers, Tigger and Pumpkin. Kathleen had gone to C.A.R.E. to teach Animal Reiki and I went along to help assist her. During the class, I was blessed to be able to meditate with them. Tigger and Pumpkin had been rescued from a very bad situation and were close to death when Christin Buford, the founder of C.A.R.E., brought them to her sanctuary. Having undergone so much abuse, they were understandably aloof with strangers.
I was only able to get two 20-minute sessions with the tigers, but they were life changing. When a tiger connects with you, it physically feels like something has hit your chest. Their energy is so strong and powerful that my body actually moved with the connection. Sadly, during that first meditation, as soon as they connected and I felt that power, I opened my eyes and let out a little squeal of delight. Bad idea.
The interesting thing about meditating with animals is that when your mind wanders, some animals will take your mind wandering as a sign the meditation is over and will get up and leave. Dogs and cats are much more forgiving and will usually stay with you. Horses may leave but when you immediately realize what you’ve done and go back into the meditative state, they will come back. Tigers? Not so much. Tigers are incredible teachers and will tell you the session is over and to try another time. No matter how much you apologize and go back into the meditative state, they’ve moved on. They are more like a very wise guru who is here to teach you a lesson. And that’s what they were teaching me.
I was able to go back and do a second session and this time I made sure I didn’t lose it when they connected. This time the meditation was so easy to fall into. It is so hard to describe other than I felt myself being wrapped in the warmth of pure love and I felt all tension, stress, anger, fear, and anxiety disappear. I allowed myself to let go of the idea I was with tigers and just dissolve in the space. This type of meditation is one that you never want to come out of but sadly I only had 20 minutes and needed to end it. It was an overwhelming experience that was very emotional for me. To experience that kind of pure love not only from the tigers but from within myself was a very rare experience. It was an experience that has stayed with me since February 2011. To this day, I can easily go back and experience every little detail of that meditation. It was that intense.
My desire to keep the amazing feeling I got after leaving C.A.R.E. was what motivated me to meditate with tigers daily during the whole year of 2011. I would picture myself at C.A.R.E. with them or visualize us all in a jungle by a waterfall. The visualizations always created a strong connection and feeling inside of me. But even though I felt I could sense their energy through my meditation, there was a part of me that thought I was making it all up. I reminded myself that since I could feel them and my meditations were so deep, that is what was most important. If it took making it up to feel that way, then it was a win/win.
In February of 2012, Kathleen and I returned to C.A.R.E. and I learned very quickly that what I had been feeling with the tigers wasn’t made up by me at all. In fact, I was about to understand how very real it was. When we got to the property and started to walk back to the tigers, we could see them lying on their perches. We were about 100 feet away when they saw us coming. They must have heard our voices, because they jumped off their perches to go to the back of their cages where they could greet us. The property is huge but was very quiet and on this day Kathleen and I were the only ones back in the area of the tigers.
When tigers see a friend, they make this deep vocalization called chuffing. We heard the tigers start to chuff and assumed someone they knew must be back in their area. When we got to Tigger and Pumpkin they were chuffing and rubbing their bodies on the fence like cats do when they are happy. They were rubbing their heads and even jumped to stand up against the fence. They were so happy to see us! Kathleen left me with the tigers so she could move on to her good friend Bahl-Shoy, a Siberian/Bengal tiger, who was very excited to see her after her own meditation experiences from the past year.
As I sat with Tigger and Pumpkin and soaked in their excitement to see me – their chuffing continued which was loving validation they were happy I was there – I realized all the times I was meditating and pretending we were together, they were feeling it. They were with me in my meditations the same as if I were sitting in front of them. Our bond was so deep after that year of meditating together it was as if I had seen them every day in person.
Of course, you doubt the truth even in the face of it, but it was confirmed when our friend came on property and the tigers went back to their aloof selves. No more chuffing or love for the new stranger.
For the next 6 years our bond got even stronger until the year they both died. Pumpkin died first from a recurring medical issue and then Tigger died a couple of months later from a broken heart. They were such a loving bonded pair of tigers it seemed fitting they would leave this world so close together.
Tigger and Pumpkin showed me what pure love feels like. Love without judgment, expectation, or attachment. Although they were in cages, they were happy and loving. They were silly and played jokes on each other – Pumpkin more than Tigger. And they were the most incredible teachers of peace and grace.
Humans don’t know how to experience pure love. Our love always has attachments. I love you BUT I don’t like it when you do – fill in the blank. I love you BUT it hurts me when – fill in the blank. Animals love us humans even though we are flawed. Humans on the other hand have a really hard time seeing past imperfections. We attach ourselves to outcomes and experience constant disappointment. But under all those imperfections is a beautiful light within us. It is our own unique light, and it is what the animals see when they choose to connect with us. They see our hearts and our truest form of who we are – a loving, kind, compassionate being.
When we open our hearts to meditating with animals, we are elevated to a higher level of consciousness. We are elevated to a place of pure love, peace, and joy. Through the love and support of animals, we become better people.
If you are interested in learning meditation but struggle with sitting still, you are not alone! There are times when I still struggle to quiet my mind. Thankfully, there are simple ways to obtain a deep sense of peace without forcing yourself to sit quietly for 20-30 minutes. Meditation can be easy and very gratifying! My business partner Jamie Lee and I, through our business Animal Bonds, teach very simple but effective meditation techniques you can use to create huge shifts in your life.
And here’s some incredibly good news about meditation! It is scientifically proven that we can change who we are through meditation. If you are an angry, shut down person, you can become peaceful and happy. If you are insecure and anxious, you can become confident and calm. I am living proof this is possible! There are even cases where people who were sick become healthy. All through the power of meditation.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
In May of 2014, I had been happily married to my husband for 16 years. We had a solid marriage with normal ups and downs most marriages experience. We loved each other and neither of us had ever cheated nor had either of us ever wanted to. At the end of May, my husband lost his job due to a life changing incident that happened at his work. Nothing was his fault; it was something tragic and he found himself unemployed. He had been working 14-hour days as a director in a large corporation and told me he wanted to take a month off before he found something else. We were in a position financially where he could do that, and I readily agreed considering everything he had been through.
Throughout the month of June, he started acting strangely. Music and art were his hobbies, and he would lock himself in his studio for hours to create. Nothing super out of the ordinary but it wasn’t like him to spend so much time locked in there alone.
Towards the end of June, he started to get really angry and short with me. He became belligerent and mean. He was turning into someone I didn’t even know. Thankfully for the 4th of July holiday he went to his brother’s house. He was gone for a few days and was supposed to come home the following Monday.
That Monday morning, I woke up to emails and texts from friends asking me what was going on with my husband and had I been on Facebook yet? Not one of them gave me a clue to what this could be. I opened my Facebook and saw that he was posting photos of himself with some girl at the beach and sharing that he had found the love of his life. I literally felt the floor drop out from under me. I started crying and couldn’t stop. It was the kind of crying where you can’t even feel yourself breathing. I felt like I was going to die.
It didn’t stop there. I opened my email and there were emails from the two of them telling me how stupid I was and all kinds of horrible things. They had my old laptop and had gone through all my emails and were using my words against me. I felt like someone punched me in the face. The pain that was racking my body was unbearable and I’m crying so hard I wanted to lay down and die.
Finally, because you can only cry so much before your body no longer has tears, there was this small space of time of quiet and I started to say the precepts. At first, they were just words but then I started to feel them. And with that feeling came a calm and a peace that allowed me to get on top of the pain. I could breathe. I could think. I went into action.
I did everything I could to protect myself financially, talked to an attorney and watched comedy. One thing I learned was that during times of crisis, you have to laugh. Joy will keep you above pain. And when I was joyful, I could meditate. And when I meditated, I felt stronger, calmer, and confident.
Thankfully I had friends like Kathleen who I contacted and who held space for me. Friends who reminded me that I was strong. Friends who walked me through breathing and who reminded me of my meditation practice. My biggest supporters though were my dogs, Titus and Bruce. They slept with me and wouldn’t leave my side. They were my little soldiers of peace. If I started to feel sad, they would lay up against me or one of them would kiss my face. Titus took my husband’s spot on the bed and would sneak up in the middle of the night to lay his head on the pillow next to mine. It’s hard to feel lonely when you have that kind of love.
Friends and dogs aside, I have no idea what I would have done without my meditation practice. It is why I feel so strongly everyone should have some sort of practice. Especially in these current times where there is war, political fighting, poverty, and suffering. By creating love and joy within ourselves, we spread it to everyone around us. It’s what my friends and dogs did for me and it’s what we can do for others.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
I met Kathleen Prasad in September of 2007 in her Animal Reiki Level 1 class. From the moment I found Animal Reiki it was like we were destined to do something together. Prior to her class, I had contacted another Animal Reiki teacher but after a week of no response, I contacted Kathleen. Within five minutes she responded to my email that there was room in her upcoming class. I was so excited! I hadn’t allowed myself to believe I could take a class with the woman who created Animal Reiki!
During the class I found Kathleen to be kind and open, so I talked to her about how I wanted to support shelter animals with Animal Reiki. She was very supportive and gave me lots of tips on how to go into the shelter and not cry. One of the most profound things she said was – If you don’t go in and offer Reiki to the animals, who will? That stuck with me and helped me to get past my own sorrow so I could be of service to the animals who need it the most.
The following April of 2008, I took Kathleen’s Level 2 class and during our lunch break she shared how it was her dream to have a non-profit that brought Animal Reiki to shelters around the world. I asked her when she was going to do this, and she said it was just a dream because she had no idea how to start a non-profit. I had many years working in the legal field and shared that I knew how to start a non-profit. She sort of looked puzzled and said “Really? You’d help me?” Um, that was a no-brainer for me! To be partnered with the woman who created my newfound love? Yes, please!
By August of 2008 we had our papers filed and were up and running with 28 members and 2 shelters. By mid-2009 we had our first international member and our first international horse rescue! Throughout the next 14 years we traveled for work to Utah, Kansas and Florida and France, the UK and Switzerland. Since 2008, we’ve taken SARA from 28 members to 400 and from 2 shelters to 74.
Throughout all of this we have gone through personal tragedy, medical issues, heartbreak and moves (mine out of state) and have always stayed close. It is rare to find a partner you can share so much with and never have a fight. That’s not to say things haven’t gotten tense. Especially when we were planning a retreat! Nothing will get you stressed out like planning a retreat for 28 all by yourselves! But even when things get tense it’s not for long and we laugh ourselves back into peace.
I have laughed more in this business than any other and am grateful to have found a partner that matches me. To look at us, we couldn’t be more different. She is light, I’m dark. She loves color and flowers in her hair, and I wear all black and nothing adorns my hair. She is soft spoken and more like a deer. I’m not soft spoken and more like a pit bull. But it works. Somehow it works and for that I am grateful. I’m looking forward to seeing where the next 14 years takes us. I’m 57 now and she’s 52 so at the end of the next 14 years, I see us resting on the beach somewhere talking about how grateful we are that someone younger has taken over the business!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://animal-bonds.
com - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/ animalbondsmeditation/ - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/ AnimalBondsMeditation/ - Linkedin: https://www.
linkedin.com/in/leah-d- ambrosio-383613a/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/@
sara_news - Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/channel/ UCuEpeMpO2UjAJBwkRFVZeGw - Other: These are the links for my non-profit,
The Shelter Animal Reiki Association: https://shelteranimalreikiassociation. org
FB: https://www.facebook.com/ ShelterAnimalReikiAssociation/
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/shelteranimalreiki/
YouTube: https://www.youtube. com/channel/UCpDd07hnqr- NQuI4i0GWGzA