One must commit to doing one’s best to eliminate any behaviour or practice that knowingly causes physical or psychological harm to those in our care
The Wisdom of Wildness: Healing the Trauma of Domestication – Ren Hurst
I would add something to this as well. It is not only about those in our care, but ourselves, as well. Often times we do things that can be physically harmful to our bodies, or psychologically harmful, affecting our mental health, or be holding on to something that was done to us, or taught to us.
First, do no harm, is the first principle that Ren Hurst explores in her book and looks at our behaviours and practices in relation to animals in our care, domestic animals. There are thirteen principles and they all relate to each other and become a way of living our lives, of learning how to be in relation to ourselves and others, animal or human.
When I first read this principle I looked at it from the persepctive of doing no harm physically. I felt I was in a pretty good place with that. None of the horses had had metal shoes since they came to live with me. I owned a bit for all of a few weeks but my horse said No, and I listened. I was on the cusp of deciding whether to continue riding or not. My riding horse was not happy about being saddled (never had been when I think back).
I didn’t like having my dog on a lead and used it as little as possible. I was lucky to live in an area where it was unnecessary most of the time and I could refrain from having him on a lead, although he did give me a scare sometimes when he would take his time about coming back, but he knew where home was. He often came with us when I went out riding, and as he got older and didn’t want to go so far, he would just turn round and go home of his own accord.
I then really looked at riding and asked myself a very deep question. Why?
None of my horses liked being ridden. None of them came cantering around the corner when a saddle came out, and when I really took a good look at my reasons for riding, they were all around “doing what was considered to be the right thing” and reacting to that old mantra of “why do you have a horse if you are not going to ride”. I stopped riding. It made me very happy. And my relationship with the herd changed hugely. It is all about knowing the real reason behind anything you do.
It is all about the comma, the pause in the sentence. First……………..pause and ask yourself why you are doing something, and really understand the reasons and where they come from within you……….then ‘do no harm’.
Being responsible for the health and welfare of domestic animals, animals that cannot say “Yes” or “No” with any level of autonomous power, means that sometimes deliberate harm is unavoidable. Is a jolt from an electric fence harmful? – Yes. But it is safer than the harm that could be done if the horse got itself on to a busy road. It is all about discernment. Understand why you are doing something, and make a decision based on the least amount of harm. As the human care giver the decision is yours and only yours. You are the only animal in the relationship with the power to decide, with freedom of choice. All choices have consequences. Nothing is right or wrong. It is just a choice with consequences. Some more harmful than others.
Having practiced this principle for a long time, it has become easier to be more discerning about some of the decisions I make around caring for the animals I share my life with. I feel it in my body now if a choice I am making is coming from a peaceful place of presence, or from a place of fear. The pause is there to help us slow down and know where we are coming from. When we are honest with ourselves our animals respond accordingly. They feel the difference in our energy level. They sense our presence, our discernment and our truth.
We can use this principle for ourselves too, in a lot of ways. Our own health is one of them. As you go into the freezer for that tub of ice cream, or pick up the wine bottle for another glass of wine, or pop outside for another cigarette, First………pause, and ask yourself why. Take a few seconds to really ask yourself why you want another glass of wine, another bowl of ice cream, another cookie, another cigarette, and once you have found your truth, make your decision. Only you can. Nobody can do it for you. Only you can do yourself harm or not. You are responsible for yourself.
And that is the key to all these principles. We are responsible for our own thoughts and feelings and how we share them. Nobody else. It doesn’t matter how much we might feel we were forced into something, or want to blame our parents, educators, bosses, the government, social media, relaitionships, etc etc, the only person that is truly responsible for ourself is ourself. If you are blaming others you do yourself harm.
First,……..pause, ask yourself why and do yourself no harm.