This article is part of our Mental Health Awareness Month. Brought to you by Touched by a
Our Happy Place
We all do it—we go to the barn to hang out. There might not be anything specific we want to work on with our horse or maybe we don’t even want to ride. We just want to spend quality time with our horse. We know that spending time at the barn is good for our soul.
What we may not know is why it’s good for our soul.
Horses allow us to be mindful and can do powerful things to discharge our negative energy. Photos courtesy of Kimberly Beer.
Melisa Pearce, the founder of Touched by a Horse® and creator of the Equine Gestalt™ and Equine Facilitation™ methods, explains how horses pick up on our vibrational field. Horses will bring the energy into their own bodies to transmute the emotion, discharging our negativity in the process.
[READ MORE ABOUT WAYS YOUR HORSE CAN BENEFIT YOUR MENTAL HEALTH]
Here’s how they do it.
Horses are Clairsentient Beings
What this means is that horses are able to perceive our emotional energy through means of feeling. Undoubtedly, horses can receive every aspect of our energy including our mind and emotions that are both conscious and subconscious. Being a clairsentient being ties in with horse’s intuition, allowing them to just know and sometimes mirror it back to us.
Horses Act as Sponges
Yes, some horses may act more as a mirror in the sense that when you feel nervous, your horse may begin to express nervous behaviors such as pawing or work at a faster pace. What other horses are capable of doing is absorbing your energy—like a sponge. This will usually occur when you’re feeling sadness or grief. Your horse will begin to take on the energy and you will no longer be able to feel the emotion.
Horses Act as Diffusers
When your horse acts as a sponge to absorb your energy, they transmute it, discharge it, and cleanse themselves. The diffusion can be seen in a variety of different ways including licking or chewing. As you allow your horse to transmute your emotion, you will begin to feel a shift that makes you feel more open as a sense of calmness washes over you.
We can experience this in our everyday lives with horses. However, if you’ve experienced trauma or are having a hard time managing your emotions, you might consider an Equine Gestalt Coaching Method® coach. These coaches will connect you with their horse and work through an experiential session that will enable you to become aware of emotional blockages and unfinished business that might be holding you back in life. Your horse is more than a mirror to your soul, they can help heal it.
To learn more about Touched by a Horse® and the Equine Gestaltist™ and Equine Facilitator™ programs or to find a practitioner in your area click here.
