May 2, 1999 to June 20, 2021 How are You Showing Up Today?
It was 1998 and I was rushing to my riding lesson after a stressful day at work. I arrived late and had to quickly tack up my first greatest teacher, Wulfy. As I threw the saddle on, Wulfy turned around and bit me right on my butt. Well, he had put me in my place!
Over the next decade I came to learn the incredible power that horses have to feel what a person is feeling and show you explicitly what they think about it.
My next greatest teacher Aurora, my beautiful Andalusian mare, was the perfect mirror and taught me the valuable lesson “How am I showing up today?”
From a young age Aurora would always mirror back how I was feeling. She would provide the biggest hugs when I was in my calm, grounded, authentic state. Those hugs were so powerful and my heart would open with such warmth and love I could feel it through my whole body.
On the days I was feeling anxiety or stress and closed myself down, she would walk away. Sometimes I would need to catch her and she would get into a state of anxiety herself and run away. There was no way I could catch her then. I learned it was me.
This pattern continued through the next 20 years that she was with me and I learned that in order to be with her, I needed to release my stress, breathe down into my feet, open my heart, let go of all the nonsense and stress that I was holding, and become my authentic self. You couldn’t fake it as horses feel even more threat if you put on a happy face, while still feeling your stress. This incongruence is transparent to them and even more alarming.
I took this lesson into my everyday life, at home, at work, or in everyday situations. How am I showing up today? I could see others and how they were showing up. It is all a choice.
I learned over the years that I too can feel other people‘a emotions and many other people also have this empathic ability, including my two amazing daughters. School years were hard and this knowledge helped them to separate their own feelings from others’ and helped them navigate the world.
My beloved Aurora passed away this past weekend and I want to honour her with the greatest lesson she taught me and how she helped me become a better person and so many others. Her legacy lives on in the lesson of how are you showing up today?
Ingrid is a FEEL Facilitator and Life Coach here at Horse Discovery. Book your session with Ingrid to work with the horses to learn what they can teach you. Read more about Ingrid on our Team page:
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