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Asi
q
V o i g h T ~
Talking to the Animals
W
e've all heard of Dr. Doolittle; well Asia Voight isn't
nearly as well-known, but she's gaining in popularity
every year.
Voight - who has a degree in Communication Arts from the
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and has previously worked as
a midwife's assistant, cranial-sacral therapist and professional
healer - began communicating with animals professionally in
1998, after studying advanced levels of animal communication
with Penelope Smith. (Smith is considered by many to be a pio-
neer in the field of interspecies communication and has
authored best-selling books on communicating with animals.)
Si nce that ti me, Voight says she has worked with over 12,000
animals and their owners. Her work has been featured on televi-
sion, radio and in magazines, as well as in Dr. Julie Kaufman's
book "Crossing the Rubicon: Celebrating the Human-Animal
Bond in Life and Death.
A professional animal communicator, Voight says her ability,
though honed over the years, comes naturally and is something
she has been doing since she was a child.
"I feel that I was born being able to communicate with ani-
mals and at the age of five it was pointed out to me that not
just everybody communicates with animals," she says, adding
that when she was a teenager she asked that the gift be turned
off. "I wanted to be like every other teenager and to that point
I'd not met anyone else who communicated with animals. I just
wanted it to stop and just try to fit in. "
But in 1987 she was in a car accident and suffered a near-
death experience. It was at that time, Voight says, God asked her
to come back to earth and re-awaken her ability to communi-
cate with animals and to share that with the world. So she
relearned her natural gift as an adult. That's why she believes
she can effectively teach it to others, something she does in class
settings, in addition to private readings.
"It 's like learning another language and it takes time and
12 PETBuzzIMayJune2007
practice. I'm still learning and still practicing," she says.
Having been born with the gift and having a near-death expe-
rience gives her a slight edge, she says, because she's able to
connect with animals on somewhat of a deeper, more spiritual
level. "But anyone can learn it, absolutely. "
Most of us communicate wjth our animals now, but it is not
on the same level as what Asia does or teaches.
"I teach people how to listen and be receptive to the informa-
tion that the animals are sending them, and then also how to
more effectively send information to your animals that you
want them to know," explains Voight, adding that the ability
to communicate with animals is much like tuning into a radio
frequency.
"Every living thing gives off its own radio waves or their own
signal and I'm just able to find it and it's like a click goes off in
my body when I have the right frequency. Sometimes the com-
munication is more like a sensation coming into my body or
through my heart. It's like a feeling I get from them. But many
times it's also words," Voight says. "From there all the informa-
tion comes forth . Of course a lot of it also depends on the ani-
mal's ability to communicate, too. Some are excellent communi-
cators and it's effortless for me to understand them. With other
animals it feels a little bit like charades."
A pet owner can ask anything, ranging from what the ani-
mal 's favorite color is to what they feel their life's purpose is.
Sometimes, though, people don't want to talk this intimately
with their pets, she says, because they're afraid they might learn
their pet really doesn't like them.
"But what actually ends of happening is that the people who
call me for an animal communication session already have a
pretty good relationship with their animal s and they are, there-
fore, rewarded with hearing how their animals do appreciate
them, love them and actually now may name details about their
life, " she says. "And they are overly amazed with the newfound
connection that they share on a heart and soul level with their
animals after they've communicated with them."
"Mostly people ask if the animals are happy; that's probably
number one. They want to know how they feel physically, do
they feel good. They want to know what they can do to improve
their pets' lives. They want to know if they like the other animals
that they live with. And with horses, they want to know things
like how the saddle feels and do they like the riding they're
doing together."
What's the benefit to owners of Asia communicating with
their pets? It's as unique as the pets themselves.
"One of my clients said that I saved her thousands of dollars
because I was able to pinpoint what was wrong with her cat and
she was able to go to a holistic and open-minded veterinarian
and share with them the information that I had gotten from her
cat, and her vet knew what that meant, because the cat is not
necessarily speak in technical terms, " she says. "Although I did
have one cat who was owned by a veterinarian and when it
spoke to me it felt like it was reading out of a medical textbook."
Another of her clients had a dog that was eating the furniture
and the walls "They couldn't find a place to contain this dog
where it wasn't destroying everything, and it was peeing and
poopi ng all over the house. So I had one conversation with the
dog about this behavior and the next day it all stopped. And they
now enjoy a stress-free, loving, happy relationship with their
dog," says Voight.
Jill Endries was skeptical at first, but within minutes was a
believer, and in the last year, Asia has done readings on all eight
of Endries' Siamese cats.
"My cats are my best friends and I was looking to see if there
was anything I could do to enhance my relationships with them.
There were a couple behavioral thing I wanted to address, but
that was not the main reason I went to her," says Endries. "She
conducted a couple of readings and I took one of the communi-
cations classes and it was like a whole new world appeared
before my eyes. The transformation and understanding that grew
between me and my kitties was absolutely phenomenal."
"Asia nailed every last detail about them and their personali-
ties as if she'd lived with them every moment of their lives. She
could tell me things about them that I've never shared with any-
body else. And they told her things about me that I've never
shared with anybody else. There's no way she could have known
any of those things," says Endries.
As far as the behavioral issues, they have cleared up, too.
"Now the hierarchies are gone and there is a much
greater understanding and peace between us," Endries says
of her and her cats.
Voight is not dismayed or offended by skepticism
about her claims, saying "A fair amount of skepticism is
good because it helps weed out animal communica-
tors who should not be practicing because they're
not good."
"Skepticism is healthy and comes along with
every type of profession, even if it's someone
who's going to clean out your fireplace. Most of us
can't get up and look down inside the chimney
and really know what's going on. You have to
trust the professional. It's the same in my profes-
sion," she says. "Part of that trust comes from talking to others
who have worked with this person and finding out what their
experiences have been. "
Voight's parents call her an animal therapist and she says part
of what she does really is like having a counseling or therapy ses-
sion.
"I am counseling them in a way and asking them questions
and sending them sensations very vividly of what they want to
create in their life," she says, adding that the animals would
rather have their owners feel joy and happiness than anger and
frustration. "Animals want to be smart too, but sometimes they
just don't know what a good, smart dog looks and feels like. I
cannot make them behave; I cannot make them change. But I
come to them in an absolutely supportive, loving space and
within that space I create the option for them to transform and
change. And with the discussions and images, most of them do."
She concedes because of the radio waves and frequencies, it is
possible to get a person's pet mixed up with a neighbor's, at
which point if the person says it doesn't sound like their pet, she
stops and starts over. There have also been about five animals in
her career, Voight says, that she was unable to communicate
with - either because she couldn't find them or in one case a
dog who just told her it didn't want to talk. But in most cases
pets want to talk to their human family members as badly as the
people want to talk to them, and the result is amazing, and the
people usually have a greater respect for the miracle animals
are.
"People who already love their animals are shifted after this
communication to a whole new level of understanding of the
brilliance that the animals have," she concludes.
If you would like to share comments or would like more
information regarding 'Talking to the animals' writ-
ten by Cheryl Hentz, please contact
CheryIHentz@gmail.com . ::-