As I look back over the years, I realize I have had experiences with some pretty mysterious origins. There have been accidents, failures, even chronic issues in my body that could not be explained. What I finally figured out was, my emotions were controlling my body and my world! Let me share with you a couple of memorable experiences I had, that were very puzzling, but have shown me just how connected our emotions are to our bodies and our everyday experiences!
My first experience that showed me the power of our emotions on our physical world was the sale, or rather the lack of, of my house. It was my first house that I had purchased soon after finishing college. I lived there for about 17 years. After getting married, and not needing two homes, we put a lot of work into the house and listed it on the market. The home was lovely with many custom, rustic features added. But Not-One-Person looked at the house for the multiple years we had it on the market! I even did the “ bury the St Joseph statue” ritual in hopes of making something happen! What I came to realize was that I had not been ready to let go of the house. Emotionally, vibrationally, I was holding onto it. This realization came when there was a shift in the way I felt about the house and property. As soon as that emotional shift happened, we had multiple people looking at and making offers on the house, after so many years of trying to sell it!
Another powerful experience happened during my transition from trimming horses to educating about using essential oils with animals. My excitement about the oils was growing while my interest in trimming for others was declining. But I kept on trimming. Soon my right hand thumb started to freeze. Like it didn’t bend! That meant I was having trouble using my nippers. At this point, I hadn’t made any connection with the way I was feeling about wanting to pursue a new area of interest and my thumb. All I knew is that I was just frustrated and angry! I decided I needed to stop trimming. The very day I declared I would stop and pursue my new passion, my thumb returned to normal use! Crazy right?! Well I discovered through doing some research that the hands are governed by the heart energy center. Some of the feelings that reside here are confinement, the inability to cope, injury, distress. I think all of these were applicable to my situation at the time. It is easy to see now… that once I followed my heart’s desire, the physical issue I was having disappeared and all was well!
Over the past few years, as I have been exploring the path of gaining better connection and understanding with my horse Calli, I have come into contact with ideas that have expanded not only my mind but my everyday life with my animals! Much of this particular subject about emotions, for me, started with a collection of CD’s called The Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks. The idea that we could create the life we choose by the thoughts we think and the emotions we attach to those thoughts was both thrilling and motivating! It lit a fire in me to learn more. It is THIS feeling, this excitement and exuberance that manifests and tells us we are on the path to big and wonderful things! I was lead to other resources such as, Releasing Emotional Patterns With Essential Oils by Carolyn Mein. This book really solidified the idea that our emotions reside, vibrationally, within the different energy centers of our body.
As I was doing my horse workshops, helping people to understand how to “read” what their horses might be feeling and how it affects their body, I found that I needed something to refer to that had the body systems along with the emotions and suggestions for essential oils. I couldn’t find anything like that, so I created one! It’s a downloadable pdf called Connecting Emotions, Energy Centers and Essential Oils and is included in a mini course with videos explaining each section of the ebook. It includes a chart with the emotions, body systems and essential oils for each energy center, graphics of the horse, dog and human showing energy center location, an explanation of how and why to use this resource, tips and techniques, an observation and notes template and additional resources. There are also videos on how to use a pendulum as well as the application of the Feelings Kit oils to a horse.
Knowing the extent to which emotions affect our bodies, for us and our animals, I think it is so worth the time to pay attention and explore this subject! I know for myself, I now choose my thoughts and emotions to create positive experiences and manifest life goals. When caring for my animals, I now have greater insight into their feelings and can provide better support for their health and well- being.
If you’re looking to know more about emotions and the body, and specifically horse related topics, join my community The Hearts of Horses; Empowering Through Holistic Care.
All the best,
Marta
Before I discuss the five ways to help calm your horse holistically, I’d like to give you two key characteristics to keep in mind that are necessary for raising kids, training animals or running a business--- Honesty and Consistency. With these two qualities you will surely have success, especially with your horses. Animals are honest…they know no other way. It is one of the reasons they are so good for us. They help us to become better for ourselves and for them. The consistency part can be difficult for us. It means doing the same thing, in sequence, repeatedly. It also means offering the same (non-emotional) response to undesired behavior. Horses learn patterns 7 times faster than humans. So be sure to pay attention to what you are doing BEFORE, because they’re already 7 steps ahead!
Now let’s talk about the 5 ways to calm your horse, holistically…
1. Get your horse out of the stall and moving! Horses are herd animals who live in small bands that cover approximately 25 miles a day in their wild setting. Their range revolves around the water hole. There are also a variety of “events” within the range that keep the horses moving to the next one! Knowing what these are and incorporating them into your horse’s environment will contribute to a more balanced emotional state. There are “events” like the water hole, the bathing/grooming area, a resting area, a salt/minerals lick and more. The “vices” that come into play with horses in stalls, become virtually non-existent when they are allowed to move as a herd.
2. Play with your horse! Get to know them on the ground and learn to have a conversation with them. Allow them to have a choice and a say in what you are doing. Remember you are developing a friendship/partnership where you each have responsibilities. Can you imagine hanging out with a friend who is always telling you what to do and never asks what you like or want?!
Asking your horse to change directions gets them into their thinking (left) side of their brain instead of the emotional (right) side of the brain. So if your horse is getting all wound up and excited, AVOID the lunging circle! Get your back to a fence and get them changing direction. They’ll soon come off their adrenaline high and begin thinking again. Asking your horse to move backwards and sideways also requires using the thinking side of the brain. These two movements are definitely a great thing to incorporate into your regular routine with your horse!
3. Feed your horse like a horse! It’s so easy to want to give our horses all the things. Admit it, it makes us feel better. The fact is most grains and treats are loaded with sugars and can be deadly to our horses. Horses are browsers. Browsing for small amounts of plants while moving all-day-long. Setting up the environment so they can eat this way will reduce many of the “problems” we see with traditional horse keeping. It could be as simple as spreading the hay into many piles (instead of one or two) so that horses can push their herd mates to the next pile. There should always be more piles than horses!
Another key part of nutrition are the minerals. This is often overlooked and one of the key pieces of their overall emotional wellness. Magnesium plays a large role here too! Get your hay tested to find out the minerals you will need to supplement. For more information on providing a good foundation of nutrition for your horse, get this guide.
4. Use essential oil blends and singles daily for your horse’s emotional fitness! A few of my favorites are Peace and Calming, Valor and Stress Away. They were instrumental in my hoof trimming business for helping to settle an unsettled horse (and owner too)! I could offer a drop in my hand to the horse and depending upon their need; they may sniff it, lick it from my hand or sometimes they’d grab the whole bottle! That seemed to happen a lot with Stress Away. There are a few other oils used in protocols that I have found to offer incredible emotional releases and help to balance the horse’s energy. These are the Feelings Kit, Freedom Sleep and Freedom Release Collection.
5. Lastly, incorporating Healing Touch for Animals has forever changed my animal care for the better. I can help my animals to be calm and release experiences that are causing them to feel or behave in unwanted ways. Learning the techniques from the Level 1 online course have allowed me to not only help my horses (dogs and cats too) live better… I have been able to help other people’s horses to feel relief from traumatic events, to release traumas they have carried and to get their energy open and flowing again. If you have horses (or any animal) the Level 1 is a wonderful addition to your holistic care tool box. Click here for more information about the Healing Touch for Animals Level 1 online course.
Having a calm horse is something virtually anyone can achieve. By taking the time to understand the things that motivate a horse (and are innate in them), you can begin to put each facet in place in their environment as you care for and interact with them. For me, each of these has contributed to the emotional balance of my horses as, over the years, I learned and incorporated them into my life with horses. I am forever grateful to have learned these holistic care ways. I hope you take the opportunity to incorporate some of them too!
If you have questions or choose to learn more, join my free Face Book group...
