equine guided MEDITATION
“Meditation means listening…” ~Erich Schiffmann
Upcoming GROUP equine guided MEDITATION
Tuesdays 7:00 - 8:00a @ CREATIVE SOLE STUDIO | Minimum Attendance Required | Text or Call Ahead 603.986.5159
WITH THE ALCHEMY HERD
Fridays 8:30 - 9:30a @ HORNBEAM HOLLOW RANCH | Weather Permitting | Text or Call Ahead 603.986.5159
“Dedicating some time to meditation is a meaningful expression of caring for yourself that can help you move through the mire of feeling unworthy. As your mind grows quieter and more spacious, you can begin to see self-defeating thought patterns for what they are, and open up to other, more positive options.” - Sharon Salzberg
As anxiety and behavioral patterns have increased in the world, one practical and holistic solution to the growing need for stress reduction, mental acuity and balanced emotions can be found in MEDITATION. Combine this listening in nature among the trees and with the horses - and your heightened state of awareness and focused attention will help you achieve a mentally clear & emotionally calm stable mind. In this deep state of relaxation & tranquil mind you will experience many benefits on your psychological wellbeing including:
Better Relationships (with Self, Other, World) *
Sharp Focus
Body/Breath Connection
Acceptance
Stress Reduction
Increased Productivity & Creativity
Emotional Stability
Improved Immunity & Health**
Better Sleep, Better Memory, Less Pain, Slower Aging
Altered State of Consciousness
equine guided MEDITATION can be enjoyed seasonally when we open group classes to the public or as a stand alone 1:1 guided session and will also be found as a general Spirit Wrangling practice in all of our Alchemy programming; including HorseYoga and Equine Guided Coaching sessions, workshops and retreats.
No experience is necessary and meditation can be done a variety of ways (on or off the horse, in or outside of the paddock)
* Research suggests mindfulness training makes couples feel more optimistic, more accepting of and closer to one another.
** A study found that, after just eight weeks of training, practicing meditation boosts our immune systems ability to fight off illness.
Four elements necessary for meditation:
a quiet, peaceful environment - where you will not be disturbed
a comfortable position - that can be held for several minutes
an object of contemplation - can almost be anything including the sound and rhythm of your breath, or a mantra
a passive attitude - let go of expectations, let go of trying, let go of thoughts and allow them to pass
“We have a culture in which the nourishing, life-giving waters of emotion, empathy, sensory awareness, gut feelings, and other forms of nonverbal awareness have dried up in the heat of our obsessive reliance on all that is light and logical and conscious enough to be mapped, explained, and controlled. Our culture tends to value thought over emotion, logic over intuition, territory over relationship, goal over process and force over collaboration, competition over cooperation. Most people deny and sublimate their feelings, keeping them well below the conscious level until the somatic tension becomes so overpowering that the emotion overrides reason and finally expresses itself, often in violent and self-destructive ways.”