​I wanted to expand a little bit on a post that I did some time ago with my Reflections with the Herd series about getting back to grazing. Getting back to grazing is one of the most powerful lessons that I've learned from the Teachings of Equus.

Let me go back a step.  Horses are prey and herd animals.  They spend the vast majority of their time grazing.  Relaxed, being present with their community. As prey animals, they are biologically designed to have a heightened sensitivity. They are very aware of their surroundings, the energy that enters their space, what's happening around them. They are masters at "reading the space". And they can be triggered or alarmed if something comes into their space that poses a threat to their safety and well-being. It’s a matter of survival.

But the beauty of horses is they don't hang on to that energy. Horses feel, reflect, and respond. And then they go back to grazing, they return to their natural state of being. Horses are very efficient with their energy as a matter of survival. To stay in a heightened state of anxiety, on the verge of flight, would sap their energy and leave them at risk of not being able to respond if another threat arises. In the wild, a horse in a constant state of anxiety is a dead horse.  So horses feel the change in energy, they reflect on whether it’s a threat, and then respond accordingly.
 
And then they LET IT GO.
 
They return to grazing.

It's a lesson that I think that we all can learn.

For us, what does that look like?

Do we even know? Do we know what our natural state of being is?

I look around at the world right now, everybody is in a hyper-vigilant state of awareness because of the chaos. Because of the pandemic, because of the crises in economic environments around the world, because of political instability.

The level of anxiety that we are currently experiencing is unsustainable. I mentioned that horses feel, reflect and respond.  Humans typically observe, analyze (or over analyze), and problem solve. Our ego mind, which horses don’t have, keeps us reliving and analyzing, making it difficult for us to let things go.

But how can we get back to grazing? How can we let some of this anxiety and distress go and get back to grazing?

Remember back to grazing is getting back to our natural state of being. We need to know what that is for each of us individually and collectively in our communities. Do we know what that looks like for ourselves? That self awareness and self reflection is key.
 
For myself, I look to my horses to tell me when I’m operating authentically or not.  Horses demand authenticity. Their behavior and response to me tells me whether I’m grounded in my natural state of being or if I have let anxiety and fear run the show. My default state is one grounded in respect and compassion. I’m connected to my friends and family and community. When I let fear and the uncertainty around me settle in, and begin to feel panicky and anxious, I feel myself withdrawing and isolating myself.  I get cranky, and sometimes intolerant. I fly off the handle. My horses immediately respond in a different fashion.  Sometimes avoiding me, sometimes being very pushy and disrespectful.  Mirroring back to me the disconnect that I’m feeling. Sometimes the feelings of anxiety are subtle, and I don’t even recognize them myself at first.  But the horses read the shift in my energy, and their behavior changes. That’s always a sign for me to get curious about what they are responding to.
 
Similarly, our communities also have a natural state of being, and we all contribute to that. I live in a rural area near a small town. Friendly, helpful, engaging is how I would describe our town. In these challenging times, there has been an undercurrent of tension that has been introduced. The social distancing requirements have made our daily interaction, well, a bit weird. There is less eye contact, people take the long way around, there are short tempers. Differing opinions on wearing face masks, keeping distance, and in general the disruption to our daily routine, has heightened anxiety and in some cases divided where we should stand united. This has been building for months, now, and as I said before, this heightened state of anxiety is unsustainable. Don’t get me wrong, challenging times also bring out amazing acts of kindness and generosity.
 
We each have a role to play in bringing our communities back to their natural state of being.  Our new normal, as they say, doesn’t have to be hyper-vigilant and anxious. Just as the herd looks to each other for balance, so do we.  The leader in the herd can restore calm with their return to grazing, we each can influence the energy around us by knowing what our natural state of being is and finding a way to “get back to grazing”.
 
What is your natural state of being? How can we embrace our inner horse wisdom?
How can you “get back to grazing”?
 
If you would like to explore your natural state of being, or other Teachings of Equus, I am booking one on one sessions, both in person and virtual, with me and my horses in August and September. You can email me  at [email protected] for more information and to book a session.

​Transparency post - This I think is a pretty fundamental philosophy for me. And its fair to say I’ve been a bit triggered on this topic lately.

You see, I have people in my life that are less positive, I would say probably negative. And they consume far too much media that follows a more conspiracy theory sort of perspective. You know, we live in pretty challenging times right now and being isolated from our communities can lead us to go down a train of thought that sees nothing but greed and corruption and negativity in the world.

And I'm not blind to the fact that there are some truly shitty people out there. Those that take advantage of situations in pursuit of their own personal agenda with little regard for the impact on others. That's just a fact. And unfortunately, some are in positions of power and authority.  But there are also some truly generous, compassionate, positive individuals out there that deserve more of our attention.

So what is it that you see in the world?

Do you see the corruption? Or the greed? What do you see? What do you choose to see?

My default is to come from a place of compassion and a generous spirit. Like I said, I'm not blind to the fact that there are some really negative people out there. But that's not what I want to put out there in the world.

Yes. I need to be realistic. And just because I choose not to dwell on the negativity and the panic and hysteria does not mean that I'm stupid or I'm an idiot. Not at all. I see it out there, truly I do.

But I will not feed the hysteria. I will not believe that everyone is greedy and corrupt. I choose. To see the world in a different way.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not perfect, and I have my days when I don’t feel so compassionate or generous of spirit. But on those days, I choose to take a moment and be grateful for what I do have. I choose to be positive. I choose to lead by example. I see people that are overwhelmed by what's happening around them, and they do behave a bit selfishly. You know what, people ARE overwhelmed. They're frustrated. They're worried. And you know sometimes really good people do really shitty things. That doesn't mean that they're shady or evil people. It just means they're overwhelmed.

I have the capacity to be compassionate. To lead by example. To continue to be grateful for what I have in the world. And that's what I choose to see in the world also. I choose to see those that are compassionate, I choose to see those that are generous. I choose to believe that most people come from a place of positive intent. And I choose to foster that overall mentality. 

And when I see unacceptable behavior, I call it out. Some of what is going on cannot be tolerated. But you can do so respectfully. And with compassion, as we don’t know what an individual may have been dealing with that might trigger their actions.

So what do you see in the world?  What do you choose to BE in the world?
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Much Love from Toni and the Herd.

PS - Pictured above is a 30 Day Gratitude E-Journal created by  my dear friend Jenny Lincoln. Its a beautiful collection of thoughts and prompts to support a grateful, positive mindset.  Here's the link to get your free copy.
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https://www.facebook.com/JennyLincolnCurbsideCoaching/app/123077107711598

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