An amazing session with the herd this afternoon. Very healing I think for all of us. Lots of sharing of the present moment and also bringing unwanted fears, anxieties, stresses and pain into the present moment and releasing them.
The session started with the ponies who were in the shelter. Mostly Chocolate engaged although at first I think it was a little painful or too much focus and she backed off, but slowly as the peace came over us she came forward again. After a while, for some reason I found myself sensing into the stomach. What came back to me was a sense of anxiety in the guts, a fear that came up into the guts, linked with the laminitic heat in the feet.
I got a sense that in the past when the feet hurt, it created a fear of being alone, and this manifested in the gut. The fear emotion was palpible. At some point they linked the heat or inflammation in the feet with being taken away from their herd mates, being left on their own. I could feel it in my own guts. And I sensed it came from both of the ponies, and was very old. We just stayed with this fear, and after a while there was peace in place of it.
(What a consideration! We are good at doing things that create more problems than they solve aren’t we. Putting words to what I was sensing I think that this was about being taken away from their friends because they were in pain and couldn’t walk properly. We don’t consider that being alone and in pain is probably the most frightening thing for a herd animal, particularly if they are then enclosed and can’t escape. Think of it like this : what feeling would you get if you were on your own and you fell down a hole and broke both ankles and you also broke your phone, then some foreigner came along, gave you a bucket of chips and a painkiller and said something you didn’t understand and then left. Terrified comes to mind! You would probably eat the chips because your body said you needed them to stay alive, but your guts would be rolling.)
When that shifted the three horses came and joined us. There was no pushing around. They all very gently left me and the ponies exactly where we were and they each quietly found a space that would not intrude on each other. It was a beautiful example of mindful regard for each others physical healing space, and I could sense the deliberateness of it.
In the next hour I explored each of the herd through alternating with present moment stillness and peace, and mindful regard which allows me to ‘feel’ the horses and ponies. That is, I let whatever comes into my feelings also come into my mind so I can intellectualise to myself. Many things came in and out and, although I do try and intellectualise them, I am learning that sometimes it is just a feeling that cannot be put into words.
There were feelings that I can put into words like a shared heart connection manifesting in a deep love feeling; a sense of muscles releasing and relaxing; a feeling of grounding pain and allowing it to dissipate into the earth; at one point as I regarded each member of the herd I sensed a feeling of a touch with each one although there was no touching. It was like they were saying touch is good and the bigger the hug the better. This was a particularly beautiful feeling with Timmy and I feel we are moving into a peaceful place with touch. I could sense Chocolates joints in my knees. Neige’s hip stiffness came to me as a tension through my hip and thigh. I sensed a shoulder tension and release right down the front legs and into the ground with Risada. There was jaw tension in both Risada and Timmy. Sometimes as the releases occurred the horses would move or stretch, so for instance Chocolate stretched out a back leg behind her, Timmy flexed his neck and poll up, Chocolate yawned out a lot and so did Risada, and so on.
It used to be quite tiring for me trying to do this with just one horse, but I love it now. The more they allow me to connect and join with them the more I can do, and the longer I can stay. I always leave gently and slowly when I can’t maintain the focus because then thoughts start to come up and this puts feelings out from me which is not what is needed in these sessions. All they should feel from me is peace of mind and fleeting acknowledgement thoughts that register what they are communicating to me.
If you want to start to learn how to develop this type of understanding / communication / connection I highly recommend The Trust Technique video course. Just search Trust Technique on You Tube to see what it is all about.