Horse Medicine and Mindfulness
Horse Medicine
Why Horses?
Horses help us ground into this present moment and reconnect to the body in a safe way. They offer immediate feedback, physical and intuitive, to help us gain awareness of the unconscious dysfunctions that take us away from our authentic state of being. Because they are mystical and also animals of this earth, like we are, they help us to balance mind, body and soul. They teach us to be WILD again.
Horses invite you to drop into your heart, access your creative flow and inner wisdom. You can experience heart resonance, a state in which you feel regulated and in flow with nature. Horses interact with you when you are emotionally congruent, i.e. when you are authentically sharing your emotions with those around you.
Horses help women, in particular, to feel empowered by creating a different relationship to their bodies, in particular to Womb. They help us remember the PRIMAL WOMAN inside each of us. Horse Medicine helps you connect again to your womb, become the sovereign guardian of your womb space, and tend to areas that feel stuck emotionally, energetically or physically. In this way, living from a place of vitality and deep love.
What is Horse Medicine?
Medicine is something we receive when we are ready, completely open in heart, body and soul, and is guided by the instinctive templates of our body knowing what is needed to heal. Horse Medicine is a way that horses consciously offer their wisdom for our healing, if we choose to receive this.
Horses show us the mirror and are also a portal for transformation into vibrant whole states of being. They are a guide and also a companion to walk with us, side by side. They are all of these things. There is the medicine of individual horses and then there is the medicine of the equine collective. They are within and without. They offer medicine on conscious and subconscious levels, meeting us in times of being awake and also in the land of our dreams.
There are many lenses or ways to perceive/conceptualize what horses offer, all of which are diminished in my perspective because they are perceived with human eyes and through a human lens.
But some ways to conceptualize the ways that horses offer their medicine are:
- building secure attachment, introjecting secure and loving caregivers and helping us to reparent the inner child
- building vagal tone and offering lived experiences of safety inside our bodies. This is being embodied and in resonance with the divine and natural worlds.
- connecting us to the mythical and fairytale realms, connecting us back to nature, and to our inner child
- illuminating our foibles and limitations with compassion and grace that only non-humans can extend
- offering us a portal back to our Wild, i.e., the natural state of being and genuine self-expression.
Our Philosophy
Horses are sentient beings capable of their own deep wisdom, reflections, emotions and agency. We respect their autonomy and their choice to partner with humans on their own terms, and we honor them for just being who they are.
We believe you already have the resources you need to heal and achieve your dreams. You are the one doing the healing, we are here to help facilitate that process in a transformative space with our herd.
Our horse medicine program includes offerings of Equine Guided Coaching and Soul Work, and Psychotherapy.
What is the difference between Equine Guided Coaching and Soulwork, and Psychotherapy?
Although both coaching and psychotherapy lead to personal growth and self-awareness, they operate differently. Coaching is for anyone seeking awareness, to shift their automatic dysfunctions and wanting to live a higher purpose life. Clients are highly motivated, are ready to commit to the work of self-growth and be able to invest resources and time into their journey with the herd. In a coaching dynamic and process, we are focused on how we feel right now and what we are building towards our future and vision. Clients spend time reflecting on what is here right now and coaches champion and reflect and observe alongside our herd with our clients.
Soul work takes this level of self awareness into the next level, and may include spiritual elements like working with your intuition, your spirit team and ancestral healing. Womb tending and womb honoring practices can be integrated into Coaching and Soul Work.
A Therapy model is better suited for anyone with a history of mental health diagnoses, and who may already be seeing a mental health professional for support and/or treatment. Shreyasi and her team provide equine-facilitated therapy, with a focus on mindfulness, feeling safe in your body and being regulated in your nervous system during and between sessions with the herd. Our approaches are body-focused and trauma-informed, offered at your pace and supporting your physical and emotional safety.
Horse Medicine Options
Equine Guided Coaching and Soulwork
Those interested in Equine Guided Coaching and Soulwork can apply to join Awaken the Matriarch program coming soon.
Equine Guided Psychotherapy
If you have a history of anxiety, depression or other mental health diagnoses, and are currently receiving mental health treatment and/or support, then our Equine Guided Psychotherapy may be a fit for you. We offer 1:1 and Group options running from March to October inclusive, in person at the farm.
Because we have a limited number of therapy client spaces, you may be added to a waitlist. Please remember these sessions are not a replacement for medications. If you are interested in learning about our Psychotherapy options, click below.
Mindfulness Options
Pain is necessary, suffering optional.
BUDDHA
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Group
This internationally recognized evidence-based program is for people seeking mindfulness and ways to effectively cope with stressors.
The experience of pain is a natural part of life. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) gives you the tools to reduce suffering and to thrive (rather than just survive) during life’s stressors. Experience wellness in spite of whatever you are moving through!
Experience the magic of Spirit Farm
Our in-person programs are held at our farm in Sherwood Park.
The Horses Within
We are all the same.
We feel the sun on our face
We hear the wind in the trees
We feel love, pain, loneliness and grief
We feel the magic of connection
We want to belong somewhere
What is freedom, really?
Do we know when we have it?
Breathing in and out, spaciousness in your heart.
feeling one with nature
These things soothe the horses within you
