Meditation, Horses, and Retraining Your Brain

Kim and Cecil having a "now" moment

Many of us have trouble feeling calm, being present in the moment amidst stresses of life.  I have always found my calm with the horses.  As prey animals, they are hard-wired to pay attention to what is going on in their immediate surroundings.  Imagine a horse in the wild, standing around brooding on the insult an older mare said to her days ago, completely oblivious to the predator approaching in the tall grass.  The preoccupied horse wouldn't live to reproduce.

This is also helpful with training, as horses pay such close attention to what we do with them every time we do anything with them.  Many people find their "now" when they are with these horses, because interacting with them can be so all-encompassing.  I also suspect that their "present-moment" nature can be contagious if we let it, and being aware of what is going on NOW can make other human concerns fade into the background.  I recently had a friend ask how to find that calm in her daily life when she is not able to quiet her mind or be around her horse.  She already does focused breathing and meditation, and still struggles with being present.

I shared with her how I find my "now", that feeling of focus, flow, in the zone, whatever you choose to call it, when I am NOT with the horses.  The way I bring it into regular life is to incorporate it into my meditation. I recommend that once your breathing is quiet and steady, picture/imagine yourself walking out to greet your horse, the feel and weight of the lead rope in your hands, or the texture of the mane in your fingers, and visualize the whole visit between you and the horse. Whether that includes a ride or not is up to you. Keep it detailed, use all 5 senses. This helps bring that feeling of "present". Once you can reliably get that "feel", pair it with a short phrase or word. I use "BE HERE". Eventually the phrase will be linked to the sensation in your brain, and you can summon it with the words. Make sense? Just retraining your brain.  Be sure to use a phrase/word that has meaning for you.