The Spiritual Moments That Opened Our Hearts: A Companion to “The First Time We Knew”
Have you ever just known something — without any logic behind it?
Maybe you felt a shift in the room, a sudden sense of calm, or a quiet nudge from a beloved pet who was no longer physically with you. If you’ve ever had a moment like that — or even wondered about them — you’re not alone.
In our most recent episode of Peace of Mind for Pet Parents, Gail and I opened up about the very first times we sensed something beyond the physical. These weren’t grand moments or dramatic spiritual awakenings — they were subtle, sacred glimpses that changed the way we understood life, death, and connection.
Today, we want to go a little deeper — not just into what happened, but into how we made sense of it all. This post is for the spiritually curious, the gently skeptical, and the pet parent who’s ever felt there must be more than meets the eye.
🕯️ What We Shared in the Episode
In The First Time We Knew, we each talked about the early spiritual experiences that helped shape how we now support pet parents.
Gail recalled childhood memories of waking to the sound of “paws on the bed” — even when no pet was there — and seeing a mist-like presence at the top of the stairs. Later in life, she experienced herself leaving her body, watching herself read a book from the ceiling before “returning” with a feeling of complete peace and validation.
I shared the story of collapsing in my office while in grad school, only to find out soon after that my father had just passed away.
“Suddenly, every ounce of energy in my body was gone, and I collapsed... It wasn’t until the phone rang later that I learned — that was the moment my father died.”
Years later, after the devastating loss of my young cat Annie, I was flat on my back recovering from a back injury and grief so intense it physically broke me down. That’s when I felt her.
“She was with me. I felt her. I saw her. And because I was so drugged out on pain medication, I wasn’t judging myself. It just became my reality.”
We didn’t have language for these experiences at the time — but we do now. And that’s what we want to share next.
🔮 Psychic vs. Mediumship:
What’s the Difference?
When people hear “psychic,” they often picture fortune tellers or crystal balls. But the truth is much simpler and more human.
- Psychic awareness means sensing information about someone or something still alive or present in the physical realm. This includes knowing what a person is feeling, receiving insight about a sick pet, or even helping locate a lost animal.
- Mediumship involves sensing or communicating with someone who has passed over — whether that’s a human or an animal.
As you begin to explore your own intuition, you might receive messages from the living or the dead — sometimes both. But they’re not the same frequency, just like different stations on a radio dial. The vibration of a human who’s passed is different from that of an animal, and different still from someone who’s physically alive but energetically distant or struggling.
“Just because someone can feel or see a live person doesn’t mean they’ll also sense a living lost animal. These are different vibrations — different channels we each learn to tune into in our own way.”
Learning to sense beyond the physical is less like flipping a switch and more like learning to play an instrument — it takes curiosity, patience, and practice.
✨ The “Clairs”: Understanding the Language of Spirit
Not all intuitive messages are visual or dramatic. In fact, many people are already sensing things every day — they just don’t have a name for it. Below is a simple table you can use to recognize the types of experiences you might be having.
CLAIR NAMES
- Clairsentience
- What It Means: Clear feeling
- How It Might Show Up: A gut sense, chills, grief, joy, feeling another’s energy
- Claircognizance
- What It Means: Clear knowing
- How It Might Show Up: Sudden knowing without explanation, intuitive certainty
- Clairvoyance
- What It Means: Clear seeing
- How It Might Show Up: Mental images, symbolic visuals, dreams
- Clairaudience
- What It Means: Clear hearing
- How It Might Show Up: Hearing names, words, or sounds internally
- Clairalience
- What It Means: Clear smelling
- How It Might Show Up: Sensing a familiar scent that’s not physically present
- Clairgustance
- What It Means: Clear tasting
- How It Might Show Up: Tasting something linked to a memory or loved one
“Gail, you and I are both clairsentient and claircognizant — we feel something, and then we kind of have an understanding of what it means.”
Naming these experiences can help you feel less alone — and less “crazy” — when they happen.
🕊️ The Spiritualist Tradition That Shaped Us
Both Gail and I were introduced to the Spiritualist tradition, albeit in different ways. Gail attended Spiritualist Church services as a girl growing up in the UK. I pursued mediumship training as an adult, seeking to understand and refine what I was already sensing.
Spiritualism, especially as practiced in the UK, teaches that:
- Life continues after death.
- We can communicate with those who have passed.
- Healing, compassion, and personal experience are the foundations of truth.
It is not a dogma, and not a religion in the conventional sense. It’s a lived philosophy that honors direct communication with the spirit world — often through messages from loved ones who have passed.
Believe us when we say, we don’t consider ourselves professional mediums. But we do believe that spiritual connection is real — and that our animals are among the greatest teachers of this truth.
📚 Resources for the Spiritually Curious
If you'd like to learn more about the spiritual aspects of animal caregiving, or explore your own intuitive development, here are some trusted resources I (Karen) can recommend, having taken courses from each:
💬 A Final Invitation
You don’t have to identify as “spiritual” to benefit from reflection and connection. These moments of sensing — the collapse, the whisper, the dream, the feeling — don’t always come with instruction manuals.
But they often come with the love we feel for our pets.
“It’s acknowledging these little snippets… these little experiences we have along the way, that then allow us to accept that it’s real. And when we start doing that bit by bit by bit, the more we do, the better we’re able to connect with our animals.”
Have you had a moment that made you stop and wonder?
We’d love to hear about it — comment below or share your story with us inside the BrightHaven Caregivers’ Hub.
How We Can Help
Grief can be heavy, especially when you’ve given your whole heart to a beloved animal. BrightHaven Caregiver Academy offers gentle, soulful support to help you navigate loss and begin healing with love and intention.
- Consultations Services: Get personalized advice on creating and adjusting care plans from our experienced team.
- Caregivers’ Hub: Whether you're just beginning to worry about your pet’s health or you're deep in the trenches of daily care, the Hub is here to help you feel more confident, less alone, and deeply supported—every step of the way.
- BCA Shop: Visit our Shop for curated products designed to enhance your pet’s comfort and care
Together, we can help you and your pet navigate this challenging journey with resilience, compassion, and, above all, peace of mind. Sign up for our mailing list to stay informed about new resources and services designed to support you and your pet on this journey.
