I have a passion for animals. (I think many empaths do.)
I currently have eight animals, including three dogs, two cats and three goats (meet Duff, the Nigerian dwarf goat).
Most of them are rescues, although I think of them as rescuing me.
Animals help us heal, and I’ve incorporated animal therapy into my retreats with women.
Along the way, I’ve enjoyed watching elephants, and their amazing personalities. The way they live and interact in their herds is astounding, not to mention their intricate matriarchal society.
And like many wild animals, they’ve had to not only deal with human encroachment on their homeland, but also being used and abused by humans.
Asian elephants are endangered, and in India, where the largest population are, they’re particularly threatened by human encroachment.
Then there’s the issue of the temple elephants of India who are CHAINED and loaded down with allot of weight for religious processions.
This is incredibly cruel, and I support the work Sangita Iyer of Voices for Asian Elephants.
It’s an amazing organization that’s been putting in alert systems at train tracks to help avoid accidents where trains hit elephants. They’re also acquiring land for the elephants, digging water holes and planting among other amazing work to help these “keystone” animals that are so important to our ecosystem.
They’re also involved in acquiring robotic elephants for the temples to replace real elephants.
Read her book: Gods In Shackles
I’ve also been particularly moved by a story about an elephant that lives at the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand.
Her name is Jokia. She was rescued by the Elephant Nature Park in 1999 from illegal logging and extreme abuse. Jokia suffered a miscarriage while pulling a log uphill and was not allowed to stop working to check if her calf was dead or alive.
This event naturally caused Jokia extreme physical and emotional trauma, and she fell into a deep depression, refusing to work. This provoked the wrath of her owner, who took aim at her with a sling shot, permanently blinding her in both eyes.
I’m currently sponsoring Jokia, and pledging a portion of my coaching income to help the elephants of the park. You can learn more about Jokia and their work here.
