The Power of Intuitive Animal Communication with Maribeth Decker

Episode Overview:
In this enlightening episode of Grief 2 Growth, host Brian Smith welcomes Marybeth Decker, an intuitive animal communicator, medical intuitive, and energy healer, to explore the profound connections between humans and animals. Together, they delve into the world of animal communication, revealing that this mystical ability isn't reserved for the few but is accessible to all. Join us as we uncover the basics of communicating with our pets, understand the importance of their senior years, and learn how to navigate the emotional journey of their passing. Whether you're a pet parent, an animal lover, or someone curious about the deeper connections in life, this episode promises to offer heartwarming insights and practical guidance.

Guest Bio:
Marybeth Decker is the founder of Sacred Grove, where she employs her intuitive and healing skills to assist pet guardians in addressing their animals' physical, emotional, and behavioral concerns. With a deep understanding of the unspoken language between humans and animals, Marybeth acts as a bridge, facilitating a deeper connection and understanding.

Connect with Marybeth Decker:

• Website: Sacred Grove

After listening to today's episode, what's one new thing you're inspired to try with your pet? Share your thoughts with us at grief2growth.com/community or on our social media channels.

Credits:

• Hosted by Brian Smith
• Special Guest: Marybeth Decker
• Produced by Grief 2 Growth Productions

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Transcript

Brian Smith  0:00  
Welcome to back to grief to growth another episode. My name is Brian Smith and I'm the host of grief to growth of course, and we talk about the deep mysteries of life, death and the connections that transcend the physical realm. Today we're going to talk with Marybeth Decker she's an intuitive, she's an animal, an intuitive Anna communicator, I should say. She's a medical intuitive and she's an energy healer. She's not just a voice for our pet, she's a bridge between human understanding and animal consciousness. She's at Sacred grove.com and she helps pet guardians face challenging issues with their animals, including using her intuitive and healing skills to address physical, emotional and behavioral concerns. In today's episode, we're going to go into the mysteries of animal communication. And Marybeth hopefully will demystify that for us, showing it's not just a special gift for a few people, but that we can all do it. We'll delve into how and why people learn from this type of communication. And we're going to cover the basics help you get started on your journey. We'll explore the topics of our animals senior years, how do we make peace with their passing? We'll talk about the myths of mites around that. And we'll talk about how to deepen the bonds with our animal connections, and why what might be holding us back and what can help to strengthen that. So whether you're a pet parent or an animal lover, or just intrigued by the deeper connections in life, I hope this episode provides provides with you a heartwarming and enlightening journey. So stay tuned as we explore these themes with Mary Beth Decker's. So with that, I want to welcome Mary Beth to grifter growth.

Maribeth Decker  1:31  
It's great to be here and we're we're getting to have my cat bunny visiting too with us today. So

Brian Smith  1:40  
I love it when the animal companions join in on the on the podcast. It's funny because sometimes people ask me should I put my dog in the other room? I know, cat sometimes you can't put them in here the room because they won't stay?

Maribeth Decker  1:49  
That's true. She was she was crying. She was outside to say, Wait a second. I know what you're doing. Let me Yeah.

Brian Smith  1:58  
So do you. I just just was kind of off the cuff. But did you think that they know sometimes what's going on when we do stuff like this? Because I do see dogs and cats I want to join in?

Maribeth Decker  2:09  
I think they do. I've noticed that. Even in my sessions, especially when it's about them when we're talking about them that many of them will come on over to say oh, let me let me be part of this. And I gotta say there's probably and you probably have it there's a certain energy that they're attracted to. And Brian that might be why people there people's dogs and cats and birds, whatever want to come in because there's something that you're creating that is like, Yeah, I'd like to get a little more or less a little closer to this. So I think it's almost an accolade to you to say when when they want to come in and hang out with you during that's

Brian Smith  2:54  
so how did you discover your ability to communicate with animals? How did this come about? Well, my

Maribeth Decker  2:59  
dogs literally started communicating with me after I had two full careers and I got this urge to go in a completely different direction into massage. And then from there, I learned energy healing and during my energy healing training. My dogs showed up and and shard started communicating with me. What was most interesting is the two that showed up first had passed on. They were in the spirit realm. And my first dog that came in was Timmy, and he was he's a great dog. He was a street dog from Hawaii. And we picked him up when we were stationed there. And he was he he traveled just like a navy dependent shirt. He's taping all over the place. And but he passed away here in Virginia and he was sitting in in the dining room. Hand now he's passed away, right? But it looked like my dog Timmy fool, fool guy can't see through him. He's sitting there one. I was one year up and one year down the grid. And he's looking at me and I'm catching him out of the corner of my eye. As I'm doing dinner and I turn and I go tell me any any leaves. He's gone. But it was real. I gotta tell you it was real and literally the communication was not like let me tell you my life story. But it was mom I'm still around, I survived death, I'm happy. And I want to, I just want you to know. I love you. I love you still. And so that he was the start of my saying what the heck. And I hit some others. Let's see what's really fun. My dog, Eddie who had also passed she accompany me how she's passed. So it's nobody can can sense her except me. She accompanied me on a plane, because I was going to a an annual meeting where I was going to staff that and, you know, if you've got anything Well, if your staff, you got to be happy. You got to be smiling. And I'm, I'm in total grief because I we just let her go. And so she was sitting in the pile. Next to me. I didn't see her. But I felt her presence so strongly that I was petting her. And I was laughing and think I wonder what the people on the plane were thinking, you know? I mean, like, Who is this woman, she there's nothing there. And she's moving her hand like this, as if she's petting a dog because that's what I was doing. And she stayed with me. And came and stayed with me that first night when I didn't have to actually go do anything. And let me just experience my sadness. And feeling her loving me. Anyway. comforting me, so that I was able to get up and do what I needed needed to do for the rest of the meeting. And it was just awesome. To gift right. So had we had, well, we'll keep going. Then we have Mitsubishi. And he he was a Siberian Husky, and he knew Eddie. Now he's still alive, right? I gotta be clear on this Snapple. Yeah, yeah.

Brian Smith  7:17  
They're physical or are in spirit. It's like, oh, they're all alive. They're

Maribeth Decker  7:22  
all alive. There you go. Thank you. He's physical. His big old very self is sitting with me on the couch. And I'm doing some. I'm, I'm doing some energy healing for him. Now I have not declared I'm an animal communicator. Because his back end is getting stiff and things like that. And he looks at me. And in my mind, I hear Don't try that. Don't do that shit on me. And he says it killed Eddie. First I thought, well, if I was really hearing him, this is what he would say. But reality was, I heard the guy and he jumped off the couch like he was offended. And after I got over the dam, my dog just swore at me. I thought about it and thought, Well, I was doing energy healing for Eddie. She still passed away. Did it make a difference? And I thought Yeah, did she's she was at a good place. She showed it to me when she she got on the plane with me it was just really there, fully present. And so when I got better at communicating, I went back and said, No, no Mitsubishi. I know I couldn't keep her in her physical body. But I did help her transition. To make it easier to just smooth that out and then he let me do energy healing anyway after that. So finally, we come to my dog Tibor. Here we got after Mitsu died. Now as a guy that really pushed me into moving into animal communication. He had come from a pretty tough background, and I was picking some of that up. He also had physical scars for such a young dog. You knew that. It was clear and his behaviors made it very clear that there were some issues in his life. But when I sat on the couch with him two times I saw the same vision of this training that they do for dogs and guard dogs where The guys put on these big thick suits, and the dogs attack them, and they grab and do all that stuff. And I'm like, What the heck, you must have seen this because I've seen it, it came into my head twice. And I know nothing about that stuff. So it's not like I can think about it on a regular basis. That is said, I finally said to my friend, Mary, I don't know what's going on, I keep getting these visions. And she says very bad. That's animal communication. Like, that's a thing. So after that we I use with my energy healing and animal communication with him, that helped him big deal. And I also started working with people in their animals after getting some good training. So that's how that's how I became an animal communicator. It certainly wasn't like I was born with it, at least not in my understanding as a kid.

Brian Smith  11:02  
So where do you go for training to be an animal communicator, communicator?

Maribeth Decker  11:06  
Well, there's, there's a lot of good people out there the train, and I, I do a, I've created Uconnect. My own training for people. It's specifically designed to start connecting with your own animals in case whether you want to be a professional communicator or not. But I'm one of many. And there's some great there. There are some great folks out there that do this. And it's lovely, when you start making those connections, and you can hear and you can, you can also send information. And it just it adds such beautiful quality to our relationship with our animals.

Brian Smith  11:53  
So what's animal communication? Like for you? Do you do hear words in English? Do you get images? You've kind of touched on a little bit, but just give me some more detail as to how that works for you.

Maribeth Decker  12:04  
Okay. Hi. I have my own definition of I think we'd say telepathy, the intuitive connection. Because I think, for me, the way it is, is information. energy vibrations are coming into the mind and the brain. I mean, the ground already does that we we get stuff coming into our ears, but it actually goes into the brain and the brains, the stuff that says, ah, Mary Beth's talking. Same thing with eyesight, it goes to the brain. I think information comes in that way. So having said that, I get knowings. Like, I just know, I've heard things in English. I have visualized things and it's, it's not like I'm watching a movie, but in my mind's eye, and kind of going like this into my head. But sometimes for people it's a little in front of them a picture shows up. Also feel things in my body. That's where the many different things like medical intuition come in. But you can also feel like if somebody's anxious, I can ask him how, how it feels, and I can feel what it's like in the body. So smell doesn't come in too often. But these three other ones come in pretty regularly, all these different ways. Right? Yeah,

Brian Smith  13:47  
yeah. And mediumship they call those declares that different. Yeah. So and it sounds like you're also a medium as well as an animal communicator, at least with animals.

Maribeth Decker  13:58  
Yeah. Yeah, it's it's something that's how do I say it? I know some mediums who are very, very good. I'm not sure I'm at that level. But I certainly can communicate with those who've passed because the truth is, their their energy is still there to be communicated with whether you're in a physical body or not, there's, there's, there's somebody out there to communicate with, that just have to learn how to connect and feel that connection with them.

Brian Smith  14:34  
Yeah, and I was gonna ask you about how we can learn to connect with their own animals. But you know, the thing is, I think anybody that's ever had an animal and I'm a dog person, we're talking before we start recording. I've had dogs for the last 30 some years. And they communicate with us in a different language and a different way and they pick up a lot more than we realize.

Maribeth Decker  14:54  
Oh, that's so true. I I felt for forever. that our animals are already intuitive. They're already picking all that stuff up. And they're wondering why the heck we are able to, you know, get what they're sending in. And why isn't it a two way street? So this little girl one time I could not go to sleep. Anybody said he probably had it, you go to bed and your mind will just not shut up. It just keeps rolling and rolling, rolling. She came over and she slept on my tummy. And all of a sudden, I realized the next day I had just gone to sleep. She just like, like, you got a problem there, mom. I can say that, Mary, but let me let me see if I can just clear that stuff out for you. Yeah, yeah. And there's a lot stories of animals who understand when we're upset, or we're grieving, and they're there for us. They also pick up on on our anxiety, I think that it is definitely a two way street that our our own emotions will affect our animals. And, and even the energy of things that we're thinking about doing even before we get the suitcase out, I think they probably pissed her to pick up the like, hey, they're getting ready to go somewhere, or what's you know, what's going on? Things like that.

Brian Smith  16:30  
It's, it's funny that you said that, because we were going to try it. We were traveling last weekend to go to my parents house in Columbus. And you know, we've all had that experience when you get the suitcase out, right? So, again, the rational mind says, Oh, they know because I got the suitcase out. And when I got the suitcase out before I left, so they put that together the bit I'm traveling, and then they act all weird. When we were leaving that morning, and we were we were driving and we weren't it wasn't an overnight trip. So we weren't packing. And my dog has never driven to Columbus with us two hour drive from us. But she's never been with us. But we were taking her that day. And but as far as our actions go, nothing was different. It was just a normal morning. But she was acting weird all morning. She was just falling right behind me like right on my legs. And I'm like, How does she know what's going on? Because I haven't done anything out of the ordinary.

Maribeth Decker  17:23  
There you go. Perfect example of Brian. There's just, they're connected. And who knows, they may even I think we visualize as much as we speak, and visualizations are really good. So you're probably thinking about where are you going? Where's the car gonna go? What time should you get there? You know, what do you need to? I think they're picking all that out. And obviously, you just gave me a perfect example of that. Yeah,

Brian Smith  17:51  
I guess it was really wild. Because and I know, I wondered, like, does she know that she was going because again, she normally doesn't go in the car. She goes in the car to the vet. We don't we don't take her places. But she was she was acting really weird that day. And so I think we've all had that experience. So when when people ask you how do we communicate with our animals? I think it's and I'll let you answer but how do you how do you think we should better connect with our animals?

Maribeth Decker  18:20  
Let's see how I start with this. There are some things you can do in the physical world. In addition to using telepathy, the clearer the different Claire's you can pay more attention to them in a mind full way. And I'm I'm saying this based on what I've noticed in my life. Simple things like I'll say it the way I understood it, we don't walk by them, like they're a piece of furniture. We start acknowledging them anytime we can with a touch or a look or something like that. So that increases the bond between us. And particularly, if you notice that they're looking free to you for some kind of a reciprocal, you love me right? Yeah. Like just don't walk by because I've noticed that sometimes I'm like cats and dogs and I'll look back and they're like, she just walked by. So they go back and you know, it doesn't have to be a long run a couple of seconds because we get so absorbed in our human life and our to do so what the next thing we have to do is we forget that there are beings I don't know that we forget, but we we put them at a lower level of import Just because I gotta get stuffed, I like to move them back up there. And just, it's such a simple thing to do, especially again, when they're, as I said, when they're really looking for you to give them something when maybe your dog or cat comes up in jumpsuit and just looks at you. Or they're, you know, my cats will do that. And my dogs will do that. Also, my new family will come and go like this, my little dog will say, Excuse me, excuse me. Can I have some time from you? And the answer is, generally, yeah. Okay. So that's the physical stuff. One more thing, which most of us could do a better job at is, if we're with them, particularly for walking dogs, it might be a good experience to, to disconnect from phones and anything else and just be there with your pup. Enjoying, it's good for us. But it's also good for the dogs, it's like it's our time.

Brian Smith  21:22  
Time for a real quick break, make sure you like and subscribe, liking the video will show it to more people on YouTube, and subscribe, you will make sure you get access to all my great content in the future. And now back to the video.

Maribeth Decker  21:34  
I think if you think of little kids at some point where you just have to be you and them playing in the playground, and you're not, you're not doing this and doing that you're actually with them, too. That's another way to just increase the band through physical stuff. Alright, so intuitively, you could just create a man's mindset. That, one, they're already connecting with you, they the stuffs coming in already. And they really want to. So they're ready. And then to a little bit of practice of just being quiet and asking a question. What is it getting quiet is imagine you're just moving your thoughts and emotions out of the way. So I used sometimes I would I would actually take my mind and say, Okay, here's here's the game, go play solitaire over in the corner. Because I'm talking to my channels right now I just need I need to be with them. And then ask them to tell you or show you something. And sit quietly and see if anything comes through something probably will. And it'll be fleeting. But take it because the first piece you get comes in slides in like your imagination. Before your your thoughts start to be tucked down saying I knew I already knew that. Or that's not possible or, and then thank them if you get anything and say I'll take more that's beginning to start. I'll stop for a second because I want to talk about sending information too. But if you have any thoughts on that, or

Brian Smith  23:37  
I think that's I think that's great advice. And it's interesting when we started the conversation you talked about your first communication being immediate Mr. Communication with an animal that was in spirit. And as I hear you talking, I've worked with a lot of mediums that sounds like what mediums do, it's like getting my mind out of the way getting open that that communication is being able to feel that energy. And you know, and knowing that energies are coming, it's like it's like we need to encourage that because your dog is always looking at you try trying to get you to understand what they're thinking. It

Maribeth Decker  24:08  
is I really do I have this picture of say, My beloved human What is wrong with you? I can't think this any louder, please. Where are you getting this? Yeah, yeah. So you start opening it at sometimes I think about it is if you're sitting in a theater waiting for the movie or the play to begin and you're all quiet because you're just you're there open ready. That's one of my my ways of thinking about it, but that people probably can come up with their own ways of how to just be quiet for a second and let it in.

Brian Smith  24:45  
Yeah, so that's receiving what about what about sending information

Maribeth Decker  24:49  
I'm sending for me is three, three pieces. Again, you got to the prophecies. The mindset is You got to trust that you're going to send and they're going to receive it like, just imagine or pretend. Or just say, I'm going to just try this, who knows, maybe it'll work. If I never do it, I'll never know. So just just have an open mind about it. Then I like to do pictures, thoughts, and emotions. Pictures are really useful for our animals. I think they think and visuals a lot. So when you want to share something, if you can think of a visual that will give them an idea of what you're talking about. Then you then you say the words that you're going to say. And then if there's an emotion that you can generate, I believe that that am set up. So for example, when I, when I work with some I do something called postcards from your pets, where I lead dogs, and mostly dogs and cats know that when their people are coming back and and tell them this, they're definitely coming back. They love them. Just keep the love connection going. One of the things I do is show them how many sunrises until their people come back from Wow. So we actually start a countdown after a while like, so you picture that the closing my eyes and I'm I'm seeing whoever I'm connecting with in my mind's eye. So yeah. And then I'm saying, hey, case, my dogs and cats are listening. This is just a test, just practicing guys. Your people would be back and I shown the sun, like the day lightening the sun coming up. And I thought I show 123. And then I show on the day they come back is my picture. There are people walking back through the door and everybody being so happy. So you've got I'm telling them, I'm showing them. And I've got I actually send the emotion of joy when everybody gets reunited. I have more examples. But I'm just starting to see if anything comes up question wise from you

Brian Smith  27:37  
just want to reiterate, I love that example. Because we we rarely leave our dog when my wife and I both work from home. And when we take her to the kennel to stay I always am concerned like, and I'll tell her words, you know, we're going to be back in three days or whatever by like that being able to amplify that with the sunrise because I've even thought about like, tell her it's going to be you know, certain number of meals are, you know, so the sunrise is a great way to do it. So yeah, thank you for that. I think that's that's really going to be helpful for people that we hate leaving our pets and they don't know. No,

Maribeth Decker  28:13  
I know. And, and you can communicate while she's there to just continue to say I hate coming back.

Brian Smith  28:22  
I've I've actually done that. Yeah, I've actually done it. We had to go we went to Arizona last year, we were gone for like a week and we're never gone for a week. And I'm like, you know Stevie's gonna be freaking out. Because usually it's a day or two. So for seven days, every you know, every morning I get up, I'm like, Okay, it's just, you know, it's just this many more days. So I like that, though. But I like to send in the picture too. I think that's really helpful and the emotion,

Maribeth Decker  28:50  
the emotion makes it just, you know, so, so great. We can if we have time with me, even I can give you a technique, we can practice that technique of connecting through the heart. If we have time. We can do that.

Brian Smith  29:02  
For sure. We have time. Yeah. What I want to do

Maribeth Decker  29:05  
one more thing. Let me see with this. All right. Excuse me for a second. So we go. The other important thing that I've learned is if you're going to use a visual or you're going to send them information, it has to make sense from their point of view. I'm gonna give a couple examples. People, you know, work with people there they have some rowdy pups, generally I have to and they say I want them to behave when people come to the house. It's a that doesn't mean anything to your dog behave, what the heck. So those are what do you want them to do? How do you want them to behave? Just give me a picture like My, my dog still passed away. I had Tibor. I said when they come in, I'd like you guys to go and just jump on the clap couch tubers, like yeah, whatever. But still, uh, and I would picture her people coming in. I'm closing my eyes here. I'm extra people coming in and she's all excited. And she looks and she jumps on the couch to gorgeous dancer and Just Dance. But he he knows. But he says, no. What was so beautiful is that that is what she did. She would go people would come in, and she would jump on the couch. And then she would look at me and she would say, I did good, right. I'm like, Stella, you're great. Thank you so much. That's perfect. Another one that was very cool was I was working with Lynn and our dogs chef, they would go to this house, the second house in Colorado with lots of land. And the dogs, she would tell chef she would say, don't go any farther than where I can see you. I've got to be able to see you. And he finally said I don't know what you mean. He actually told her because she would she took my class said well, okay, let's let's turn it around. How about don't go any farther than you can't see the house? Or you can't hear me call for you? That's me. And he's like, okay, I get it. Yeah, so yeah. So you really got to think about what not just the words but like, what are the visuals that you're asking them? Are you telling them put it in a concrete waves? Very

Brian Smith  31:49  
helpful. Yeah, very helpful, very helpful. You're gonna tell us about a technique to enhance it? Yes,

Maribeth Decker  31:57  
this might energetic green smoothie. He used to call it just the green smoothie. And people thought I was going to get a blender out. So that's why I did the energetic into it. And I'd love to do it right now if you want to practice it with me, we'll Okay. All right. So we're going to close our eyes. And we are going to picture a picture all the souls in our family I'd like to do it this way, even if there's just you and one other soul in the family as hopefully it's an animal because that animal companion, but a picture everybody in a circle around you. And I always think of it almost like the feeling of when I went to Thanksgiving dinner at my Nana and Papa's were the were all around the table. It's that sort of happy gathering. So it's in your mind's eye, it's just like a memory but you think of each one that that is in the family. When you've got that picture in your mind, it's really easy because you love everybody. And I want you to picture or, or imagine or pretend whatever word works for you. There's a beautiful green light coming out of your chest, your heart area, and it goes goes into the heart of whoever is on your left, I got people in a circle and I mean animals as well as human species when I say people so let it go into their heart. Then if you're more in the family have that that beautiful green light, very gorgeous, I think of spring leaves. Trees that beautiful great go to the next one in the circles heart and the keys going around to each heart until it comes back to you

what's really funny is sometimes people and animals and spirit will pop in to be part of the circle. We just say yeah, there's there's always room come on. So if if somebody pops in unexpected just make room for them, because you love them and now the end she's a surplus beautiful green light. This beam is through everybody's heart area. And what do you think green because the Heart Chakra The heart energy is always seen as green In what I've learned, now I want you to add the energy the feeling of love. And it can start to the left and feel the love you have for these lovely souls and send that energy through imbue that light with love and have it go through everybody's heart

when it comes back to you keep it going. Like a it's like a really slow river it's a very gentle movement of love and light

and in your mind, you can tell them some really beautiful things. I'm doing a generic version, but we can talk specifics so things like this is what it means to be family. We're all connected at the heart level we love each other we take care of each other. I'm always there for you and then in your mind just whatever it is it's coming through that you need to say right now or you want to say think it to them and know that they're hearing and feeling it too

now as you're in here, just keep it going and I'm going to talk about different ways to use this. So you can do a one on one connection like when the dogs got to be in the kennel for a longer time. Not only do you connect with them and show the sunrises but use that green light to connect to their heart and send love because I believe love is an amplifier of any communication in the physical world or in I don't know the spirit at the spiritual level and you can use that to say hey I'm going to be back in five sunrises let me show you one sunrise 2345 And then I'm coming back I'm coming to get you walk through the door and pick you up take you home yay whatever it is

my two dogs it's been a lot of reminding them that they're going to be with us forever every day they wake up they're going to be with us because they've had some my two recent guys who are here in the physical they are having a they had a rough time rough start so they need to know every day they wake up they're gonna be with this I'll be quiet let you say your own things to whoever you need to

whenever you're ready you can keep the connection going if you like just come on back Brian. Yeah.

Brian Smith  39:28  
Thank you that was great. It's really powerful thing to do. You know it's funny because we you said picture everybody in the circle I already included the people that were in spirit. So I'm glad you gave me permission to do that but for because to me that connection is always there. So I know for some people they might think of only the people are and I get a lot of times people that are that are dog lovers, you know and cats. We've had multiples we've got several of them and spear So I want to talk about our dogs and their cats as they get older as they become seniors and that the struggles that we go through. So, you know, there's there's taking care of them. And it's also making that decision sometimes to let them go. So how do you help people make those transitions?

Maribeth Decker  40:24  
In the taking care of them part, one of my most important realizations that I want to pass on to others, is that when we start to see them decline, or we get that diagnosis, that that clearly says there's an end in sight. Our grief starts right then. I mean, we always, I don't care how many people and animals how many souls we've lost, we still have this, you know, belief that Not today. Not Now, Not soon, and then it hits. So the one thing I'd ask people to do is to remember that they didn't get that diagnosis. They are not, they are not grieving, like we humans are. And I haven't met any human who loves her animal that doesn't start grieving when they hear that stuff, or they notice that stuff. And we jump to we jumped to the end of what we're going to do and things like that. And there's there's a phrase, I'm not being a smart aleck, but I say, but I do want to like wake people up to say, I'm not dead yet. Come on, be here. Now with me, I'm not dead yet. Focus back into the joy of daily being with them daily and making their life as joyful as possible. With Stella, I used to sing to her I'd say yeah, your day was Dell is a great day. Because that's how I felt, you know, and I'm gonna, I'm getting teary eyed because I just I just miss her. But the find the joy as often as you can, I am not saying to shut down the other feelings, but find the joy as often as you can, with their being in their presence.

Also look, sometimes look to alternative therapies or just basic things. Good veterinary care is great. I found acupuncture to be wonderful. There's, there's all kinds of things that you can use to help them stay mobile, you can even look into SE is, I think that's a better word this and maybe 30 years ago, but are they in pain? And would it help if we decrease their pain, something just simple like that? And pay attention to the basics of keeping them comfortable. And sometimes go outside to alternative therapies, because a lot of those are really good massage, hydrotherapy, things like that, if you can do it, you know, do it or learn how to do massage yourself. I was I was working with somebody over zoom. And I wish I because of my background in massage therapy. I was telling her how to, to work out her job while we were there. And she was down. This is Oh, yeah, you sighs you're like, Ah, he loves it. I said, Yeah, do that, because I'm saying this because a lot of times, their muscles are tight. It's not just arthritis, it's that there's tight muscles, and that makes everything worse. And so if you can start making sure the muscles are moving around and all that, you're going to have a happier animal as long as they're here. So there's, that's the physical stuff that you can do. Look for what we do this, but look more, mindfully, what brings them joy, and make sure that you're doing that with them and become the most flexible person that you can be about what they can't do anymore, and how we can still figure out how we bring them to if somebody wants to go outside that they can't walk much. Is there something you can do so they can still walk? Are you going to get one of those? Those contraptions that look like baby carriages and put them in there and take them out? What can you do to keep bringing joy into their life? At Physical Touch is also very important. And most of us love being having physical touch with their animals. Cats make their own decisions about how much they want. Generally, in, in these later years, even if it's a soft sitting next to or whatever being being physically connected is very comforting for them.

So anything that you I was going to go into I'm going to go into about the ending part and how, how I've seen it happen or, and give some ideas about the app. But anything before that, Brian, that you had a question on or so

Brian Smith  46:00  
I think I love what you said about staying in the moment, because I think about when I think about animals are dogs and cats, I believe that they live in the moment. And just that thing of like, I'm not dead yet. And so we get that diagnosis, and we immediately jump to the end. And we're and we're sad. And they're probably looking at us going what is going on with you everything's okay, you know, because they're, they're still fine today, or they're or they're, they're focused on today. They're not focused on tomorrow. So I do want to ask you. And this, this relates to when we do get to the end, because I'm thinking of a really good friend right now. She's had several dogs, and she's had to make a decision to let some of them go. And she just recently did it. And she's like, I can't have any more dogs because my, you know, my heartbreaks too much when I when I have to let them go. But I think it says we do that we're kind of denying ourselves the joy of having the time with them. So what would you say to that? Um,

Maribeth Decker  47:03  
yeah, hang on. thing that she has to honor. The fact that she's not ready. And and the immense pain. I personally have been through that I lost three out of five of my dogs and cats a year ago, right about this time. But I want to say that my dog, Mitsubishi. When he passed, and he was like, my heart dog, he was the guy that was there for me when my first husband died. So when he passed, I was like, Why? Why did you have to go like I still need to do and he said, somebody else need to I need to move out of the way so somebody else can come into your life. And that's what your Tibor who was probably came as a big dog from a dog fighting group. Wow. Yeah. So I would ask people to open your heart and find whatever it is that whatever, there's compassion, or remembering the joy of their lives, and how much they bring into your life. And do it again. Yeah,

Brian Smith  48:21  
I love that. Yeah, I had to go so that you can make room for someone else.

Maribeth Decker  48:26  
Yeah, cuz we're in. It's not like we can have 10 dogs in our family. I live in a little townhouse and suburbs, you know? Yeah,

Brian Smith  48:33  
yeah, I'm the same way. Every dog I see I want. And a friend of mine just recently had a dog. She's in Wisconsin, I'm in Ohio. And she's like, I have this dog. I can't keep them because my son has allergies. And I'm like, Yeah, I can't, you know, we can only have so many at one time. So that's a great way of looking at it. Sometimes one has to go to make room for another. And that answers a question. I think what I was gonna ask you about, Do animals have soul plans the way that I think I believe humans do. So what are your thoughts on that?

Maribeth Decker  49:02  
I do. I'm glad you asked that question. I believe that. I've gone as far as to say, yes, they do. And I believe they're part of our soul families. And I believe love is eternal. And once we have that connection, we are we are bonded. Now how? I will I don't know how it all fits together. I have my own opinion about that. But, boy, they're part of our soul families. And I believe that they have heard things that they want to accomplish in this life as and things that they want to give, as well as is the human species to us. And that they choose us or we choose now.

Brian Smith  49:44  
Yeah, I 100% agree with that. So when it comes to that, that decision of having to make a decision to let our animal go and I say it's a privilege that we can do that? Because we can't You know, I don't know How you people's thoughts are but with humans, we don't get to make that choice with animals we do. But then there's, there's an inevitable guilt. Did I do it too soon? Did I wait too late? And people usually fall one side or the other, but they're gonna beat themselves up either way. So what are the what are the animals have to tell us about that?

Maribeth Decker  50:21  
This is the best thing that I've learned. And I hope everybody who's listening take this to heart. In the the animals that I've connected with in the afterlife, they don't hold grudges. So they're not saying this, what it what they have, they have communicated through various ways is that what they bring with them is our love. That's what carries over into the afterlife. And the other thing that I want to say is, when we are when they come into our lives, I believe that they give us their medical power of attorney, they say, you, okay, I get it, you're gonna take care of me. And it is at a soul level. It's not like the dog says, Let me sign this thing. I know, I'm not, it's not there. But there is a soul level where they agree that we will be their guardians. And so letting them go, is not it is not required to be perfect. It is not a requirement that we have to be perfect people in this area. And I don't even think that is possible. But if we do it with love, and compassion, it's that's what they bring. That's what they bring into their afterlife. And they, the other stuff starts to just fade away. The difficulties and whatever they had going on in the physical world, it's it's, it generally gets cleared out. So that's that I really want to say that I think is so important for people to hear. And then to also I also want to point out that what I've realized, is this stuff of too, too late, held on too long did it too soon. It's a barrier to feeling the full grief of their loss. It's a human way of coping. And I get it. Because once you pull that away, it's like, Nope, they're gone. Yeah, that's it. Physically, I'm not going to be touching them or looking into their eyes. And that's that part of our connection is finished. And that's a hard place to get to.

Brian Smith  53:00  
Yeah, that was that was very well said, as, as someone who works with people in grief, and we usually talk about people, but we also grieve our animals. That guilt is a very common thing. And it is a barrier to healing. And I And frankly, until you just said that, I really never thought of it that way. It's kind of a way of distracting ourselves. way of not, instead of dealing with the grief, I'm going to deal with the guilt. And and so you you beat yourself up over it to to avoid dealing with the fact that you know that they are physically gone from us.

Maribeth Decker  53:35  
They are physically gone from us. Yeah. And it took me a while to figure that one out. Because it was so I mean, just all of us have it. Yeah, that's part of it. It's just we're not quite ready to move into the reality, this new reality that we have, yeah,

Brian Smith  53:53  
I've had to make that decision twice. And you know, you're and you know, my dog. The last one I had to make the decision for it was about four years ago, I think it was, and she hadn't been able to walk for a couple of days, she was having seizures, it's been a whole day. Like in her in her room, we have a mud room where when she would stay on like she does not have any quality of life, she has not been able to get out, I really take them to the vet. And they said it's gonna be a while, but it's not today one of those types of things. So we take her to the vet, and they throw a treat on the floor and like she's not going to eat it because she hasn't eaten anything like in two or three days. And she jumped up and ate the treat. Right as we're about to put her down and I'm like, oh, no, you know, but so that was you know, so thinking well, maybe she could have had a little bit more time you know, those thoughts go through your head.

Maribeth Decker  54:44  
Oh, it's so funny that you say that because I think this is just my theory. I stopped when I went home to to say goodbye to my dad. He had been close to a coma and had all the family her and my kids were like, two and four at the time and he perked up. He wasn't eating, he had stomach cancer, but he grabbed my son a treat that my son had. And he hate it just just to be smart as and then. And like two days later, he was gone. But it was like a just a final like, okay, it's almost over. And I'm going to I'm just going to do it. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like that happens sometimes that final splurge. And I think partly, partly, sometimes it's really, it's like, I know, it's I know. The, I've got a better outcome, that there's something good on the other side. And this body is, is, is not, it's no fun anymore. And I'm okay. Yeah.

Brian Smith  55:55  
I think it's really important. And I love this conversation. And I'm glad we went to this point, because it's not the end, we think of like, when we're making the decision for our animal, we think of it as I think of it as we're releasing them, you know, we're getting to the point where our bodies are designed to fail, they all do, inevitably they'll do. And when we do get cats and dogs, we know that there's typically fail sooner than our ours do. So it's time to free them from that, that, that body that no longer functions the way that they needed to, to, to have the joy that they could have.

Maribeth Decker  56:33  
I think it's so that's so true. And I, they also get to that point, too, I was talking to a cat, we do check ins every month, who's got neurological problems, and the way that it came through for this cat was that if you tap the analogy of the body is a car. She tried to shift, wouldn't go turn the steering wheel to the right, and the car would go to the left, it seems like and then couldn't even get out, like starting to feel trapped in our own body. And then we would kind of notice that the fun stuff is there's not much left.

Brian Smith  57:26  
It's a question I wanted to ask you. And it's maybe outside your area of expertise. But I had someone asked me just the other day, you know, people that are very sensitive will say why do animals come to earth to suffer? You know, like, well, especially like food animals, for example. Have you ever gotten any insight into that? Like, you know, being a cow or being a chicken?

Maribeth Decker  57:55  
Well, you know, everything we we feel are no always changes but this point.

Not so this is on a bigger level not on if you asked me if I was a cow, I'd say no others are going to choose this at a cow level. This is not a life that I want. However, I wonder if there's some goodness, big enough goodness in their souls that says we'd like to give you the chance to really look at how how you are treating another species in this world.

We're willing to, I don't know. That's what's coming through as humans. We'd like you to learn to have compassion for all of us. And I wonder if that's possible. That's just a wondering, is it at a very high level there? Like glue wake up? Yeah,

Brian Smith  59:16  
I got through that out of the blue. So I appreciate you playing along and answering that. Thanks.

Maribeth Decker  59:23  
Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. We'll see how that plays out for me, but that's what I was some wonder if that's that's possible for them to choose to.

Brian Smith  59:32  
So the last question I'm gonna ask you is about reincarnation and, you know, there's there's some debate about whether people animals had been people or it could be people or people could come back as animals. Have you had any insight into that

Maribeth Decker  59:53  
I have a felt set There might be some ability to choose to not be a human. And to come back as an animal. I don't believe that it's punishment, like some of this stuff I've read about. I think it's a choice. I met a horse that really loved this woman. It was a guy. And he was, he felt very human to me in his relationship, because he said, if he's, he explained that, if he was a man, he would fight her husband for her. That's a very human thought. anthropomorphism, but that is what came through for me. And I also found a really interesting story about a kid who had a memory of being a snake in a village, and he had many of the knew the story of the man in the village who would kill the snake. And it just felt, to me, it's a very fascinating story. So I'm kind of open to it. I mean, like, I don't know that the rules are as as stringent as some people have said.

Brian Smith  1:01:27  
We always want to apply rules to everything. And people want to say, well, animals Well, it's interesting. Some people say animals don't have souls, which to me is just that's not even debatable. Clearly do. And then some people said, well, there's their souls are different. And you know, so humans could never be an animal. But why not? Why couldn't I want to experience what it's like to be a dog or a cat? It's, it's just as you said, different vehicle to drive for my soul.

Maribeth Decker  1:01:53  
Yeah, and, you know, I love people to say that they're sure that their cat is their grandfather or their grandmother. And I'm like, I don't I don't know that you're wrong. I don't know. You know?

Brian Smith  1:02:07  
Yeah, I think it's certainly possible. But Marybeth, we're coming to the end of our time. I've really appreciate you doing this with me today. Let people know like what services you offer because I know you do work with people one on one people in the animals and how people can find you. Okay,

Maribeth Decker  1:02:24  
thank you, bro. This has been great. So you can find me the best way to find me is go to my website sacred grove.com sec. radgrove.com. I work with people are their pets, people and their animals to to help with behavior that's been behavioral, emotional, physical stuff and the life I do most of it over zoo, some phone calls. And I do it if you can speak English, and you can do it in some timezone that agrees with you. We can work together. And we look we can do both an animal communication, getting a little bit into the bodies of what's going on there. And energy healing so it's sometimes it's for the person as well as the animal. I also teach you connect. And that's twice a year and I created something called Family animal communicators community for folks who want to try learning it themselves with my pre recorded sessions and doing some practice. So that's it

Brian Smith  1:04:02  
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