Horsemanship for Health

Danny is a native pony who reads energy like a zen master. Put yourself in a slightly off position or approach him without making your intentions clear, and he’s immediately suspicious. He needs to feel that you are grounded in the present before he will connect. I have spent a few months getting to know Danny and in that time he’s taught me to become more respectful in my approach. He’s given me lesson after lesson in how often my mind is distracted even when I think I am focusing. If Danny were a Zen monk, and maybe in a former incarnation, he was, he would be beating me with a stick. Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake.

It takes impeccable energy to stay awake. Everything calls for your attention. Danny standing under the elder bush in the hottest part of the day. Dragonfly asking for reassuring scratches and contact while he waits for Danny. Sheranni sauntering over to see why I am spending time with Dragonfly. Play barks from the hound when he senses I am absorbed in horse time. The broad beans collapsing under the weight of their own pods. Rabbits nibbling the carrot tops. The flowering, budding, drooping, flourishing cycles in the community garden. The running, resting, ruminating and relishing cycles of being animal. Rain water in the can. The sound of spray whisking over dry earth. Energy in Everything.

Brilliant thinkers and writers among them Lynne McTaggart, Jude Currivan, Thomas Hübl and Jeff Karp are influencing my approach to energy. Instead of thinking of energy as something that might run out, especially if I try to cram too much into an already full day, I am now thinking of energy as a wave that regenerates itself. My shift in thinking is leading to a greater sense of noticing where the energy is and where it is not. Where is it flowing and where is it flat? And this form of attention is proving more energising than my former pattern of moaning about never having enough time. As if there were some ideal plateau of spaciousness I might one day reach if I put in enough effort.

Our well-being enquiry this week focused on energy and I realised that many of us have been conditioned to doubt the power of our own energy. Tone it down. Be realistic. Live within limits. Don’t get carried away. Stick with what you know. We are given advice to stay small. To temper, dampen and dull. Energy requires us to live on a higher frequency and we are just not prepared for this form of vibrancy. We are told all our lives to conserve energy, to be in control, to play it safe. We are warned off living with our full colour spectrum on display.

The sea is not told to stop flowing in waves. Birds are not scolded for singing so loudly they intrude on our session. The wild poppy who appeared overnight and amazed us all is not shamed for being so brazenly beautiful. The pony who chooses to leave when he feels uncomfortable and return to a cool space where he can rest is not judged for being fickle.

Natural rhythms are energy and we are part of this wave. Everything we do sends energy. Everything we say. Every intention. Every thought. Every glance. Every footstep. Every touch. Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake.