Tips
A Terminal Diagnosis for Your Beloved Pet & What You Can Expect
One of the most difficult situations a pet parent can face: Your cherished animal received a terminal diagnosis. What can you expect? What do you do now? How can you best support your loved one? What is the best way forward for our family? These are just a few of the many challenging questions that…
Read MoreWhat Animals Want Us to Know: Death is Definitely Nothing to Fear
At BrightHaven, we feel privileged to have provided animal hospice care for and shared the dying experience with over 600 animals who taught us so much. And they showed us time and time again that death is definitely nothing to fear! How Animals Helped Us Release Our Fears About Death and Dying As you can…
Read MoreWhat We Learned from Animals About Living & Dying Well – Part 1 of 2
Living Well Through the Last Breath the BrightHaven Way
Join the BrightHaven Family! Sign Up for the BrightHaven Newsletter! Thank you for spending this time with us. We hope this piece brought you comfort, insight, or a moment of reflection on your journey with your beloved companion. If you’d like to continue receiving thoughtful resources, stories, and guidance, you’re always welcome to stay…
Read MoreAnnouncing the BrightHaven Caregiver Academy – Perfect for Pet Parents!
We’re thrilled to share exciting news that marks a new chapter for BrightHaven, the BrightHaven Caregiver Academy! Here’s what BrightHaven President & Founder Gail Pope especially wants you to know about this amazing addition: “After years of dreaming and planning, we’ve launched BrightHaven Caregiver Academy (BCA), a resource dedicated to empowering pet parents with the…
Read MoreAnimal Reiki: A Vital Part of BrightHaven’s Animal Hospice Care – Part 1 of 2
BrightHaven’s approach to animal hospice care the BrightHaven way is all about living well through the last breath, regardless of circumstances. And that’s what Reiki is all about too! What is Animal Reiki? It’s essentially meditating with animals to share a peaceful, kindhearted space where connecting heart-to-heart promotes optimal balance of body, mind and spirit…
Read MoreUnconditional Acceptance & What Animals Teach Us: No Matter What, All is Well
Unconditional acceptance is an integral part of living well and fully through the last breath, although it’s certainly not always easy, particularly in challenging situations such as the looming loss of a loved one. And last but certainly not least, there’s a poetic inspiration about unconditional acceptance from a beautiful little dog named Cassie. What…
Read MoreLatest Animal Caregiver FAQ: What is BrightHaven’s Approach to Grief?
Every Day is the Perfect Day to Celebrate the Healing Power of Love!
Although February is often associated with romantic love, it’s the perfect time to celebrate all kinds, including the soul-FULL love and appreciation we share with our animal family. At BrightHaven, we believe that love is such an essential, transformative and powerful healing energy, it is the guiding force of our work. The importance of love…
Read MoreHow Does Mother Nature’s Healing Power Help Us Live Fully?
Have you ever wondered how all beings are instinctively drawn to Mother Nature’s awesome healing and nurturing power? I’ve learned that her slower pace and regenerative properties effortlessly help us feel more whole, peaceful, calm and clear, and bring us back to the present moment and a sense of aliveness and possibility. Perhaps that’s one…
Read MoreWhat Have Animals Taught Us About Life-Affirming Love & Relationships?
Through our work and play with animals for over 30 years at BrightHaven, we learned that love is such an essential, transformative and powerful healing energy, it became the guiding force of our work, directing our choices and our interactions with animals and people. And the unconditional love that animals naturally share provides us with a…
Read MoreHow Forgiveness Can Help You to Live Well Each & Every Day!
Animals can teach us a lot about releasing the past and moving forward after experiencing challenging and hurtful situations. We would be anthropomorphizing (attributing human behavior and characteristics) if we concluded that they forgave. Instead, their apparent resilience may spring from their natural inclination to live in the present moment and in alignment with Source,…
Read MoreLessons from Our Animals: What Are 3 Uplifting Opportunities of Grief?
The word “opportunity” may not come to mind when you’re emotionally reeling from the loss of a loved one. But as with most of the events we face in life – even the painful, heartbreaking ones – grieving holds many possibilities to deepen our capacity to grow and to love. Life-changing lessons are often found…
Read MoreCelebrate the Tremendous Healing Power of Love Each & Every Day!
At BrightHaven, love has always been a guiding force behind everything we do, guiding our choices and our interactions with animals and people. The BrightHaven Menu for Healing, which forms the foundation of our work, is also known as the “Love Sandwich” as it begins and ends with love. The profound effects of love in…
Read MoreWhat Can Promote Healing in Your Animals & You?
2 Lessons Animals Taught Me About Growing Older Gracefully & Fearlessly
2 Ways Helpful BrightHaven Caregiver Resources Are Better Than Ever!
BrightHaven’s goal is to help you help your animals live well each and every day! Founded in 1990 by Gail and Richard Pope, BrightHaven is a renowned animal rescue, hospice education and holistic education nonprofit organization. Our primary focus: senior, disabled and chronically ill animals, a vulnerable population that has an overwhelming need to find…
Read MoreWhat unfailingly helps you to live well & fully each day?
The answer: LOVE!!! And as always, February has been the perfect month to celebrate love, with St. Valentine’s Day occurring on the 14th. At BrightHaven we celebrate and honor love in everything we do, every day of the year – its healing power is tremendous! For example, our Menu for Healing, which forms the foundation…
Read MoreCan Suffering Really Be a Matter of Choice?
When we have an elderly or ill furry family member, or our beloved animal has received a terminal diagnosis, pain, suffering, will to live and quality of life for living and dying become important considerations. A Helpful Definition of Suffering Pain and suffering are often lumped together, as if they’re synonymous. However, that may not…
Read MoreWhat Animals Want Us to Know About Living a Full Life
One of the many things that this shared COVID19 experience has brought front and center is the omnipresent impermanence of everything, including life itself. What animals want us to know: Living well and fully each and every day is so important, regardless of circumstances. And animals can definitely show us how! What Animals Want Us…
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