Healing Connection
How do you invite others to step into relationships with you? How do you show up? What are the signals you send to others non-verbally? Below is the story of one woman's experience as she opened to begin healing with horses.
"I began healing sessions because of the enthusiasm that Gloria has to help clients in partnership with her horses. I did not have a clue as to how horses could help me become more in touch with myself and help with my healing journey. But I had faith that Gloria could help me. Her confidence in the healing abilities of her horses, Saphira and Shadow, is immense and believable.
My experience has been enlightening. I feel a connection with both of the horses and could easily just stand by them for hours, talking to them and feeling their peaceful and strong energy that they emit from within. Whatever my intention is for the day, whether it be for connection or healing or just seeing what happens, I always come away feeling peaceful. Any anxieties or fear that I bring in with me when I am spending time with the horses diminishes, leaving me with a sense of calmness.
Gloria has explained to me that while the horses may not understand my words, they will understand my intentions. And they will respond to non-verbal cues when those cues are clear and concise. Waving your hands without clear intention doesn't do anything, and Saphira and Shadow have just ignored me when I have tried communicating without clarity. But when I become real and talk softly with intention and make requests, they hear me and respond.
Today my intention was to ground-tie Saphira. This is used when there isn't a safe place to tie the horse up. When the rider drops the lead-rope to the ground, the horse is expected to stay at that place. Saphira did not recognize my first attempts. She just wanted to eat. There was no connection. I thought for a few moments and then went up to Saphira and told her what my intentions were: I wanted to train her to be ground-tied and this was something that I wanted her to learn for her safety if there was ever a time that there wasn't a place to tie her up. And I asked if she would be willing to try to learn this. My voice was soft and even, and I stroked her softly while I spoke to her. I also asked her if she would let this time be a time to stop eating for a moment just to try this. This is when I felt a connection with her. I backed off and took a step away. Every time she put her head down to eat, I pulled up on the halter and spoke to her. After a few moments of trying this, I backed away and Saphira stood still for a minute or two. This was a beginning.
What Saphira taught me was that it was up to me to communicate clearly with softness and with clear intention. Slowing things down and being patient and making the environment feel safe are very important. How Saphira responded to me once I made my intention clear and safe for her really makes me wonder if Saphira might be able to understand English.
My next exercise was to get Saphira to move around the round pen clockwise without touching her. Again I moved around and nothing. When I don't communicate with intention, Saphira does not respond. So again I thought, how can I use the halter to help me? I held it up between my raised hands. Then I jumped around a bit. And then I started swinging the halter in a circle, which I was told later was like making my arm longer and making me bigger. I was able to get her to move both clockwise and counter clockwise. It was pretty amazing communicating to Saphira that my intention was to have her move around the round pen without touching her. I did not force her to move. She made the choice to respond to my request. And I believe she chose to move because she felt safe.
The purpose of the exercises was not about getting Saphira to stay in one place and be ground-tied, or even about getting her to move around the round pen. It was all about communication. How do you communicate with others so that they are willing to listen to you? This is what Saphira taught me today because she did not respond until my intentions were made clear." - Ruth Crea
As we begin to develop conscious awareness of what the energy is that we send out, while communicating in relationships, our eyes can open anew and begin to take in the subtle non-verbal cues being sent back and forth. Our body, our personal sensing device, can alert us whenever we begin to step out of congruence with our own held intentions. As we consciously choose to "rock back and breathe" dropping into our body while acknowledging what is true for us in the moment, connection miraculously happens, within ourselves and in relationship with others.
