Recently I had an equine assisted coaching session with Lynn Baskfield and the herd at Wisdom Horse Coaching. It felt very good to be back with them, since I hadn’t seen them since November.
Various horses came up and greeted me and then went on about their business. Moon and Coal, who have helped me before, decided to be my teachers that day, so they stayed by my side and got closer…and closer…and closer…and closer….
The herd has been helping me learn to stand my ground and to step forward energetically when I want to move someone or something away from me. Beginning with 2009 I have also started to put systems in place (sometimes called spreadsheets) to help me become more focused and orderly as my business is ballooning in growth. Moon and Coal gave me the chance to see where I was in my education process.
Coal represented my intuitive, creative side which is a very natural place for me to be, my center of being, the right side of my brain. Moon represented the left-brained side of my life, the part that is logical, analytical, rational, objective and sequential, all of the attributes which go into the makings of a good spreadsheet. A place where I feel uncomfortable, ill at ease, awkward and lost. I found it humorous that Coal was standing on my right side and Moon was on my left.
Both of the boys kept getting closer and closer to me, right up in my face, so to speak. I gathered my energy, directed it towards the boys and moved them away from me.
Coal, the polite gelding he is, moved away to a respectful distance. He still watched me, he was still curious, and he respectfully kept his distance as he observed me.
Moon? No such thing as moving away! Oh no, Moon took that as an invitation to get even closer to me, picking at my coat and gloves with his mouth, sniffing me up and down.
It was getting annoying, but I remained calm, politely asking him to leave. Lynn asked if I was getting annoyed with his “niggling” and I said yes I was, but he wasn’t leaving.
As soon as I acknowledged that Moon was annoying me and not leaving, he took that as an invitation to get even more up close and personal! His niggling turned into wiggling as he literally took my coat sleeve in his mouth and tugged at it, lifting my arm, shaking it back and forth.
Lynn looked at me and said in her most professional coach voice, “He’s not leaving, and this is getting worse. What are you going to do about it?”
It was then I had my epiphany – instead of “politely” asking him to stop and giving him mixed signals, I needed to expand my energy and clearly step into my energy.
Literally, all I did was step into my energy, and as soon as I did, Moon backed off. He didn’t back off as far as Coal had done, but he moved out of my space and stood by respectfully as Lynn and I continued our conversation.
Ever since then I have been practicing stepping into my energy, stepping forward into who I am, instead of passively, “politely” hanging back and allowing niggling, wiggling things to annoy me. I had to chuckle as this lesson appeared again while I was having a massage. As the woman was working on me, she said her sense was I was entering a time where I was stepping in my authentic self. We both laughed as I told her the story of Moon and Coal, and told her she was speaking straight from the horse’s mouth!
Harmony,
Janet Roper
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Janet, as I read this, I wondered how can I apply this simple technique at the office and have co-workers practice when something or somebody annoys them to the point of “no return”. Re-tweeting to see how my network can help me on this task. Any ideas? As always, thanks for your wonderful insight into the animal world.
Morning, Karina,
Keep me posted on what you find out! Animal communication for humans………;-)
Harmony,
Janet
It’s funny how horses can pick up on such subtle things as confidence and lack there of….
Hello risingrainbow,
Horses are so wise, aren’t they? Great mirrors for us humans.
Thanks for stopping by & leaving your comment.
Harmony,
Janet
the nuances of animal communication remain something of a mystery to me (but then i suppose that applies to human communication too!
but i never cease to be amazed by just how much they reflect our attitudes, emotions and intentions. in a way, working closely with horses is like psychotherapy – if they are reacting negatively to their training or whatever demands i’m placing on them, i have learned to first look within myself for the cause… and i usually find it!
Hello jme,
Great words of wisdom! Thanks for sharing.
Harmony,
Janet