I love meditation, but I did not always feel this way. What has changed? My attitude towards meditation that came when I removed expectations of myself, and what I thought “doing it right” looked like. Now I understand that the benefits of mindful practice, arise from regular practice. It is called practice…not perfect…because it is a lifelong practice that produces compounding results the more I do it. I have fallen in love with the reality that mindfulness produces equanimity, the ability to have inner calm, mental clarity, and emotional steadiness, regardless of what the day may bring. Essentially, equanimity comes from slowing down.
Mindfulness practice can be hard in our fast paced, often hectic, and chaotic world. So slowing down both the mind and body can almost feel impossible.
Horses (equines) have an amazing capacity to support humans in our endeavours to slow down, calm down, be present and focused. This short video provides a brief overview of two research studies that demonstrate the positive impact horses can have on assisting our sympathetic nervous system to slow down so we can experience inner calm. One of my earlier blog posts explores how and why we need to regulate our nervous system to experience life more fully and experience greater peace.
When our nervous system is dysregulated, we cannot consciously choose to ‘’calm down’’. If someone tells us to calm down when we are dysregulated it usually has the opposite effect! Developing equanimity through mindfulness practice is essential to our health, well-being, and quality of life. There are many ways to practice mindfulness. I use a variety of practices including Equine Informed Awareness which helps increase the intensity of the practice. This is because of the symbiotic connection between human and the horse. If you would like to experience this for yourself, please book a session or email Elizabeth Denniss at elizabethdenniss@bigpond.com for more information.