Looking for Truth

                I have been studying the scriptures and praying intensely about what God wants for my life. I have pondered over the prophecies and the promises that the Lord has made to us in these 'last days' and I have felt a greater desire to figure out just how I am suppose to be a part of all of that.   

       

               Would I have had a soft enough heart to accept Christ even though he was scorned by the religious leaders of the day?  Would I have accepted Joseph Smith's outrageous claims about the First Vision back in his day?  Would I have been willing to step outside my comfort zone to seek after Truth? 

               I  have asked the question many times…"Why does this loved one get a different answer than I do?"  I was given the following:  They BELIEVE it with all their heart because that is tradition and what they have been taught.  The TRUTH is that they believe it.  So, the Holy Ghost ratifies that as truth, that they BELIEVE it.  As long as they don't even consider another possibility, then that is their answer. The Holy Ghost testifies that it is true that they believe it, but it is not necessarily true that what they believe is actually true.  Sounds weird, but that is what I was "told" and I didn't get that idea from anything I've read or heard. It came straight as inspiration. This can even spill over into dreams and visions.  They may look like what we believe is true. I am sure that has  happened to me as I have been on this journey.

                Soooo…I must look seriously at that scenario and consider other possibilities. Is what I believe the Truth or is it just true that I believe it?    I have been given answers that I don't want to believe, because they are opposite of what I've been taught most of my life.  I would much rather feel safe in believing the traditions. It is a challenge to constantly be asking for ratification from the Holy Ghost about all that I read and hear and being willing to look for Truth.

Engaging the Empath

Empathy enables us to FEEL others’ experiences in our own body.  Teachers, psychologists and healers all take advantage of this in their work.  Mothers are natural empaths. Christ was the ultimate empath.

 Most people aren’t aware of how much heavy emotion the Empath in them picks up each day.

When the Empath is healed, we will find love pouring out of us all the time, which doesn’t involve a loss of self.

We start to get a Feeling of who needs a phone call; what books we should read; who is trustworthy; how available someone is for an intimate relationship. 

 

 Our Feeling reception area is at front of the body from the top of the diaphragm to just below the navel--often called solar plexus ( "gut feelings", Solar Chakra).  This is often accompanied by physical sensations, such as butterflies or knots in stomach.

   We must protect ourselves against onslaught of negative feelings from others--tension, depression, anxiety.  They may not be ours, but we pick them up from others.  Eastern beliefs hold that the solar plexus is where the spiritual and physical worlds join. No wonder it's a key reception center.

          When accessing feelings ask:  Where are the feelings coming from?  Don't force, just be open and aware.  Note the impressions.  Refer to the post on Feelings and Impressions.  We often are given information in the form of Feelings and Impressions.

Molecules carrying emotional information are not only generated by the brain, but by sites throughout the body, most dramatically in the heart and gut.  When people have "gut feelings", they're not speaking metaphorically.

             There are Highly sensitive people (HSP) in about 20% of the population.  It also survives in horses about 15-20% because it's useful to have a few around who are always watching for subtle signs…danger, new foods, etc.  I had a "highly sensitive" horse once, but had to find her a new home because she was so much on the look out for the predator, it made her unsafe for a senior citizen like me.

          The Empath does not act in a healthy manner until  the grip of restricting family relationships is released.  Most people are still living in the past, working overtime for other people.

          Some feelings our soul sends us are as fine as silk, a nudging, a caress, a whisper.  Others tear into us with the intensity of Beethoven, pushing us in a new direction like wave crashing against a boat.

There are some exercises that help engage the Empath in us.

o   Practice going to a location (room) and sensing the feeling of that area. Can scan with the hand to make direct contact.  Vibrations can travel through the hand to the abdomen where they are amplified.  Practice sensing on jewelry or objects. Practice next time you buy something whether it be the ripest cantaloupe or the object that will last the longest.

o   Hold heart, feel pulse for 2-3 minutes.  Visualize yourself as a child between ages 5 – 10, sitting in one room of the house you grew up in.  Hold an “interview” with each of your parents, one by one.  Be aware of the different sensations in your body.  Evaluate whether either of them was attached to your empathic senses in a controlling way and made you feel responsible for their happiness. If so, tell them that you wish to be free of that influence and you are ready to walk forward as an independent being.  There may be others that may have manipulated you.

o    

o   Determine who, in your childhood, gave you the most space to be yourself, to express your feelings and desires without shame.  When you find that person, focus your attention on that warmth between you.  Recognize this as a healthy expression of the Empath—of intimacy in which you are able to remain connected to yourself and be physically aware of another person’s emotional needs.

o    

o   Stay in this loving frequency as long as you want.  Journal about it.  What images and colors came to mind?  What relationships still need healing?  Go back to this meditation at least 3 or 4 times.  You can yell, scream, curse, write letters then burn them, whatever you want.

o   Give Love where it is needed either to you or another person.  If you find it difficult to do that, give Love and Gratitude to your higher power.

o    

o   When you meet people, allow yourself to perceive all of them. Reach out to people in love.  Open yourself to the intelligence of plants and animals.

o    

o   Journal Writing is one of the best ways to develop intimacy with feelings.  It’s not about self evaluation; it’s about getting blood moving, stepping into a world of no shame, fear or criticism. If you want a question answered, just ask it.  The subconscious loves to answer questions, (including negative ones ).

o    

o   Breathing:  breath and feeling are interconnected.  When we change our breath, we change our awareness.  Whenever you want to be more intuitive in a situation—, why someone is angry, when you should speak in a conversation—just breathe more.  Take relaxed inhalations and monitor all information that passes through you.  What is subtle with scattered breath becomes obvious with calm breath.  Breath not only enhances intuition, but protects us, creates a boundary that edits harmful energies.  This reminds me of Mark Rashid, a renowned horse trainer…just breathe.  In teaching how to become in tune with the horse.

o   Avail yourself of various methods of healing:  massage, acupressure, not baths, sauna, Quantum Touch, EFT, Heart Point, Rapid Eye.

 

          Spend one morning or afternoon on a weekday BY YOURSELF visiting the following in order:  courthouse, hospital, arboretum or park--30 minutes to an hour in each place, but not over an hour.  Turn off cell phone, no music.  Take a pad of paper and pen.

1.  Courthouse: focus on the energy as you approach it.  Do NOT focus on a particular person.  Walk around the halls and spend a few minutes in the open courtroom if possible. What does the energy feel like?  Record how it feels and if there is any energetic effect on you.  Just experience and record.

2. Next, go to the hospital.  Notice how you feel as you approach it.  Go to energy intense locations such as the emergency room, post-op waiting and chemotherapy waiting.  How does it energetically feel?  If you feel a fear, Where does your body feel it?  Sick to your stomach? Chills?  Record.

3.  Once you leave the hospital, travel to an arboretum or park.  Record how you energetically feel. Do not think about the prior two places. 

There is nothing "wrong" with being empathetic or developing this gift.

I was going to quote heavily from Doug Mendenhall's posts on Empathic Healing, but decided just to give the link(s) because the information is so good. Actual quotes from those with powerful empathetic gifts.  People of the Heart.

            When our Savior was in the Garden of Gethsemane, we read that He suffered for the sins of the world and that so great was His pain that He bled from every pore. (Mosiah 2:7, D&C 19:18-19) Can you imagine! He took upon Himself, Empathically, not only the conditions of mortality, our sins and iniquities, but our transgressions which defined is our actions of evil wrongdoing. And every sorrow and sadness of everyone involved in our lives, because for everything which we do surely effects our loved ones as well . The aches and pains we physically feel when we suffer from sickness and infirmities, He took and takes! His suffering was certainly equal and exceeded any of the depths of our guilt, our grief, all of these negative attributes that keep us from experiencing peace.  Yes, Christ IS the ultimate Empath!

Partial List of references:

Candace Pert, Molecules of Emotion

Pete A Sanders, You Are Psychic

Teresa Brady, Ignite Your Psychic Intuition

Andrei Ridgeway, Psychic Living

Linda Kohanov, Riding Between the Worlds

Douglas Mendenhall, Conquering Spiritual Evil blog

Believing In Angels

WHAT IS AN ANGEL?

 To me an angel can be a mortal on an inspired assignment to help someone else. 

          The following information is good enough to share, better than I could write.  It is taken from the Pure Revelations blog.

"An angel is simply a being from beyond the veil that is on the Lord’s assignment. There are all kinds and each has different duties. They may be the spirits of the dead, our family and loved ones who watch over us; or a messenger or protector from the Most High with great glory. They are kind, they are loving, they are powerful, and they always want to help.

          Part of coming unto Christ is to receive Angels, but where do you start?

Be believing. Cast away your doubts and expect the unexpected.

          Ask the Lord. (James 1:5) This is how you open the door. Ask the Lord to specifically send an Angel to administer to YOU. But remember, you must ask with real intent, nothing wavering. If your intentions are pure, the gift shall come.

Take time to be holy. Set aside some time to ponder, fast, pray and prepare for instruction. You don’t have to be perfect, but your thoughts need to be focused.

Follow the “Four Steps to Praying with Power.“ https://purerevelations.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/four-steps-to-powerful-prayer/

Don’t set limitations. You can ask for departed loved ones, people in the scriptures, notable past spirits. If the Lord permits it, they WILL COME. This is NOT some kind of spiritualism. This is a Gift of the Spirit that the Lord wishes to bestow upon each of us who desire it ask for it.

Be sure to check if they are a true messenger. Usually asking the Lord is sufficient. The Adversary may try to deceive you. It is often a good idea to shield the room and conversation before your prayer begins.

      Don’t be surprised if you only hear them first. You will begin by hearing a voice, which is unmistakable as the intelligence flows into your mind. Eventually you will see them in a vision as the Lord sees fit." (From the Pure Revelations blog)

          If the Angels are translated or withholding their glory they may appear as a regular person, but glory surrounding them can be felt. The Father and the Son appeared to Joseph in a vision. Yet Moroni came to Joseph as a translated being. As they say, angels have visited people unawares.  Most depictions of angels show wings.  I believe an angel can appear as they desire.  Some may appear with wings, but I believe the idea of wings began with the idea of angels flying through the air, thus requiring wings.  Also, their dramatic auras could likely appear as wings to the observer.

          Always ask questions. They will bring a message, but if you don’t ask questions you will miss a great opportunity.

          When they leave, thank the Lord if there is any other knowledge He wants you to have?

 

          Record your experience in your personal journal. This is personal scripture that you will study and relish in the future. Often Angels will come as you are writing.

          Would we be guilty of “seeking for a sign” if we entertained the idea of speaking with angels? What do you think?

 How should we view the visitation of Angels?

 Is it appropriate to “seek” these blessings NOW?

WHAT DOES MORONI SAY?

 …  “And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them. (Moroni 10:8) “And again, to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits;” (vs. 14) “And now I speak unto all the ends of the earth—that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief.” (vs. 24) “And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.”  

          The following information is from Fragrant Heavens  by Valerie Worwood.

" Some people believe in angels because they have seen them, even in some cases, before their eyes beheld them.  Other people believe in angels because they have heard their voice, or smelt their sweet fragrance and known they were near….Experiences are also very personal and varied, and full of love, poetry and drama.

…One day when I was driving along, one whispered, "pull over" in my ear, which turned out to be excellent advice.

I have seen a shining being standing in my own living room…angels are very physical at times and very etheric at others…have been described as spiritual beings intermediate between God and mankind.

  When we all hold the divine spark of unconditional love, then the earth will glow and the work of angels will be done.

Angel energy may come to different people in different forms, as our intellect will accept."

          Some are sent to observe only. Some angels are large and powerful, while others are small and gentle. Some angels are friends and family who have departed or have not yet come to mortality. It is appropriate to ask the Lord who they are and why they are here. Sometimes the answers you get when asking them directly are surprising. Each Angel has their own personality and many of them know you better than your best friend."

 

          There is a saying that I, myself, have said many times.  That is, "My (or your) guardian angels are working overtime."  The point being we realize that we have been protected or watched over in some way that goes beyond "normal" or "mortal" realms.

          Angels are representatives of God and they can provide a connection between God and mankind.    Hebrews 1:14, indicates that angels are sent by God to be of some type of service to people as directed by Him.

The Scripture that refers most directly to the probability of guardian angels is in Psalm 91:10-11. Many people pray this prayer in times when they are afraid or when they need protection.

"No evil shall happen to you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling. For He will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you in all your ways."

          We see angels being used throughout Scripture by God to protect His people. Genesis 18 and 19 shows us that angels delivered Lot from peril, and followed God’s commands to bring wrath to the cities. Additionally, in Exodus 32:34, God tells Moses that His angels would go before him.

          Most religions agree that angels are to be respected and regarded with reverence, but not to be specifically worshiped or prayed to. In the Bible, angels are mentioned in the context of giving comfort and protection, and as part of God's plan, they are worthy of honor. However, our prayers and supplications should always be directed to God and not to any other deity, including angels.  

          In Acts 12: 1-11, we read how King Herod seized Peter, had him arrested and put into prison with four squads of soldiers to guard him and the intent to kill him after the Passover. Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards in front of the door kept watch.   An angel of the Lord appeared, woke him up, and the chains fell from his hands. The angel directed Peter to get dressed, and follow him and they went past all the guards undetected, and proceeded to the iron gate of the city which opened by itself.  Peter didn't give the praise to the angel who lead him through his escape, but recognized that it was God who made it happen.

            In Revelation 22:9, the apostle John had been given revelation of the future by an angel and his immediate response was to fall down and worship the angel. However, the angel rebuked him and told him not to do so. He reminded John that he was a servant of God and all worship belonged to God.

          Does this mean that we aren’t to acknowledge angels in our lives? Yes, we can acknowledge them  as messengers of God and protectors. We can honor their roles as God’s servants in the heavens and in the earthly realm. We can become familiar with the angels and get to know them. Whether we recognize them being active in our lives or not, we should be receptive to their unseen presence. It's one more confirmation that God is constantly aware of our needs and provides His angels to minister to us.

          Denver Snuffer related his experience with an angel:

"As I stood before this angel I noted that he was old, as tall as I am, with a beard, a full head of hair. It was long, but not quite to his shoulders. He spoke with authority, accustomed to declaring messages with efficiency and clarity. His demeanor was somber, as if the weight of eternity rested upon him. Although there was nothing vocal, he spoke with the clarity of a voice which settled deep within me…   When an angel speaks to you, you never forget. Through all that has come and gone since that day, I am still transfixed by that moment."

References:

https://www.angeltherapy.com/guardian-angels

Fragrant Heavens by Valerie Worwood

Pure Revelations blog 

Come Let Us Adore Him by Denver Snuffer

The Eagle and the Ego

On December 3, 2016

We were on our way to Pinedale, delivering a load in the truck and trailer.  Our friend was behind us in his truck, bringing the panels on a flatbed.  Somewhere between I-80 and Kemmerer, a golden eagle flew into our windshield, directly in the middle.  The window was not broken, but the mirror was knocked loose.  Left a little bit of blood and guts.  Our friend said he saw it thrown up the air and it sailed back over his truck.  No way it survived.

        About 10 days later I was given the meaning after specifically asking.  The eagle gave her life as a sacrifice as a learning experience.  The lesson is still sacrifice.  A sacrifice to offer a broken heart and contrite spirit.  In order to complete that, the EGO must be sacrificed.  For both of us.  That is why the eagle landed directly between us. Let go of all opinions of us by others, whether good or bad, (especially the good opinions as they are more difficult to release.)  Release them all.  True sacrifice of ego has not happened until we have been persecuted--called crazy or deceived for believing and declaring the truth.  Declare the Word as directed by the Spirit.  Sacrificing false traditions and temporal idols is easy compared to sacrifice of the ego.

Encouraging Awareness

          I have often noticed how UNAWARE we humans are. I have noticed this in others and in myself. Things that are in "plain sight" seem to elude us. An example is the movie, Sixth Sense  which demonstrates widespread sensory unawareness. Even with all the clues, few viewers realized Dr. Crowe was dead.

          If we cannot even notice these things, then how can we notice the things that are beyond the five senses?  How can we tune into spirit realm?  So….here are some ideas on encouraging more awareness.  The fastest and simplest way to open the 6th sense is to delve more deeply into the 5 senses.

          Valerie Worwood noted:  "Humans are far more sense-ative than can be accounted for by sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.  We react in different ways to people and places, "feeling" them to be beneficial or not, although such differences cannot be accounted for by the way they look.

            If invisibility meant nonexistence, there would be no such thing as radios, television and cell phones, because these are the receiving hardware that interpret bits of invisible information floating through the air."

 Stuart Wilde talks about The Power of noticing things: "The mind is lazy, it has trained itself to ignore everything except for things that scare or please it."

He says to notice things like How many lights?  How many tiles?  Where are things located?

"Think of a street you go down regularly.  Write down everything you can remember.  Most likely it's not much.  Then go to the street and fill in the missing bits."

      

    Have a small notebook with you and take note of things you see during the day.  Write down events or descriptions of people.  (Handy if you ever want to become a writer). Writing a journal that describes events takes the mind away from itself.  In your notebook, record  insights that come to your awareness. Write in it every time you have a new awareness or AHA moment if a light goes on with new information for you.  Write answers to prayers.

..Look for the constellations in the night sky.  Learning the sky is a spiritual experience. Gives you a whole bunch of new friends.  By knowing the stars, you place yourself in proper context.

 Listen to your pet's heart.  It will talk to you.  Feel the bands of energy coming up from the earth.  Notice as they pass thru your body, Imagine how they might traverse the heart of an animal's perception.  Can do this with a rock.

Here are some ideas from Glenda Green:

1.  While waiting in a public line, talk to someone around you.

2.  Notice somebody's work or service and give a heartfelt acknowledgment.

3.  Talk to a child and relate to her perceptions of life.

4.  Let an animal tell you what it wants.

5.  Recall your dreams and let them speak to you.

6.  Write down a goal or dream that you have considered improbable and for a moment, accept it as possible.  Write a script for it as if it were really happening.
7.  At work, let "what you are doing" really talk to you.  It has a message.  Listen.

8.  Respond to some request instead of dismissing it with non-attention.

9.  Act on something about which you have been procrastinating.

10.  Ask for the will of God to be revealed in life and promise to listen.

11.  In nature, ask for restoration and peace.

12.  Watch a sunrise, a sunset, or a full moon and feel the nourishing energy that bathes and connects with your whole being.

13. Go for a walk or a swim in a natural body of water and allow your body to be moved along by the flow of life…

14. Sit in a garden and notice how life is recognizing and entreating you to become one with it.

 15.  Stand like a tree, move like the breeze and flow like a stream.

Place your hand in a stream and see it elude your capture.  Yet your hand is bathed and refreshed.  Put your hand in again.  Did you touch the same water twice? But it washes and refreshes your hand once more.

16.  Release all worry, apathy, and any state of mind that would undermine your alertness or prevent you from responding to a new invitation.

  We are composed of 99% pure consciousness that can change in the blink of an eye.

Why doesn't it happen that easily?  Because of another force, mighty and tenacious…the power of our agreements about what is!  So powerful that we could miss the sunlight at noon if we believed it to be midnight.

  When our life is bright with vitality, we are content with the external supply.  When challenges and hardships overwhelm us, we are too absorbed to look for light or a higher answer.   

Teresa Brady has some good ideas for developing Awareness:

1. Pay keen attention to everyday life.  Really look at the food on your plate.  do the colors look appetizing?  Smell it.  Savor each bite.  Notice combination of tastes.  Which flavor is your favorite?  Do this until it becomes a habit.

2.  Outdoors.  Hold a small flower in your hand. What is the first thing that comes to mind.  Look closely at minute details.  Stretch your arm out to look as a whole.  Quick scan of senses.  What do you see, smell, feel, hear about this flower.  Taste? Awareness on all sensory levels.  Do this for one week, varying the subject matter each day.  Small enough object to put in your hand.

3.  After doing the above exercises for a week, extend the awareness to people and places.  Your parent, spouse or close friend.  Be aware of physical, emotional, spiritual changes the moment you are in their presence. What is it about them that is different from everyone else? If they have passed, you can still do this.

4.  Next, do the opposite.  Be aware of how you feel when with negative people.  How do you feel physically, emotionally, spiritually.  Once you have become adept at being aware, take this to a higher level.

5. When around a place, house, etc. you have never been before, be aware of how you feel when approaching.

6.  Instant awareness scan of a person.  Look instantaneously in their eyes, make physical contact through a handshake if possible.  be aware of the first thing that comes to mind.  Do not dismiss it.  It may not match the person's friendly smile or appearance.

          Belleruth Naparstek asks us to "consider the particles and sub-particles within an atom.  How do roses know when to bloom?  How do birds know where to migrate?  How do Monarch butterflies find their way from Canada to Mexico every year?"

          She emphasizes the importance of paying attention to easily ignored, subtle fragments of impression, regardless of how vague and momentary… first impressions…spontaneous and surprising impressions.  She also talks about the various ways of feeling energetic shifts, such as a warming sensation, tingling, waves or flutterings of energy; sense of lightness or weightless; sense of disappearing boundaries, feeling of expansion, heightening, waves of warmth or color coming from around the heart, seeing colors, hearing tones or high pitched sounds. These can be accompanied by feelings of elation, joy, peace, love, inclusion, completion, wholeness.

"There is only one moment in time when it is essential to awaken.  That moment is now."  Buddha, India 563 BCE

References:

Fragrant Heavens by Valerie Worwood

Ignite Your Psychic Intuition by Teresa Brady

Keys of Jeshua by Glenda Green

Your Sixth Sense, by Belleruth Naparstek, 1997

Connecting With Horses

            I have been attracted to horses all my life.  It is something inborn in my spirit.  I grew up in the city.  My parents had nothing to do with horses.  My mother told me that when I was barely over a year old I got sooo excited when seeing pictures of horses and began kicking my legs. There was just something so stirring and magical to me about horses.  My mom made me a wooden rocking horse for Christmas when I was just 2 1/2.  I drew horses, I read stories about them, I WROTE stories about them.  I turned brooms into stick horses.  My mom ended up using her wood working skills to make "Stick horse heads" attached to broomsticks.  I was in heaven. I had all sorts of toy horses.  If there would have been My Little Ponies back then, I would have been in an even higher heaven.

             One of my earliest memories is of my 4th birthday party.  My mom made me a cowboy outfit and I got SPURS to wear.  I can still remember how joyful I was when wearing those spurs over my sandals and riding my stick horse. Seeing and touching a live horse was such a rare treat for me living in the city.  I "lived" in a fantasy world, creating stories in which I was always the heroine with the horses; sometimes, I was even THE horse.

             On long car trips with my family, I saw horses in fields.  I picked a favorite and I visualized myself riding that horse along the side of the road, jumping fences, etc. until I came to another field, then I picked another horse, did the same thing.  I had herds of little plastic horses at home and spent countless hours playing with them in the yard and house.  I even constructed horse race scenarios and used dice or a spinner to have the horses move around the race track.  They all had fancy names and when a winner had emerged, I wrote news articles about the races.  Yes, I was certifiably Horse Crazy.

             At the age of 15, we were camping with my family.  I saw a herd of ranger's horses in a field.  I approached them and jumped on one, bareback, bridleless.  They took off and I held on.  My dad captured the moment on film.  When they slowed to a trot, I jumped off.  After this incident, my parents found a friend who would board a horse and they bought me one for my 16th birthday.  It was about 10 miles from our place and I had to drive there, but it was my dream come true.  Anyway, that's the short version.

              Here is a Facebook album of photos of my horses through the years: I Love Horses

             In my later years, I have gotten back "into" horses and with maturity I have learned so many lessons from them. Read some of my other blog posts about Shrek  and the one called "At Liberty" about Kachina. There will be more posts coming about Ellie  and Zamba  and Wayfarer.

            So, What if you don't have anything to do with horses?  Don't even like them, know them?  Maybe even "allergic" to them?

Photo by Teisha Preece

Then you might find it easier to swim with dolphins…for horses are the dolphin energy of the earth.  Most people can find a horse easier than a dolphin.

You don't even have to touch a horse to connect with or interact with it.

Let me give you a few hints.

     

           Some of the best information on connecting with horses is given by Linda Kohanov, in her outstanding books, Riding Between the Worlds and Tao of Equus.  Thus, I quote extensively.

"The horse doesn't judge what they're feeling and doesn't hold grudges.  As soon as the person acknowledges his fear and anger, a horse with a talent for this work will walk over to him and lend him support.

 …not sure what we could offer a horse as far as leadership.  We can't tell the difference between the good grass and bad grass in a field.  We have lousy hearing.  We can't see 340 degrees around us.  Maybe horses can't figure out a maze, but where on the plains would you find a maze?"

     "Animals preyed on in nature have to be sensitive to emotional energy and the intention behind it.  The 'feeling behind the façade' is one of the key principles of equine facilitated therapy…the equine system is like a huge receiver and amplifier for emotional vibrations.  No matter how good you are at hiding things from yourself and others, your nervous system still involuntarily broadcasts what you're really feeling--at a frequency horses are especially good at tuning into.

       Unlike human beings, horses don't judge or reject us for what we're feeling.  It's the act of trying to suppress our emotions that drives them insane…even a horse written off as "loco", too crazy to live, could feel safe enough to approach at the moment we let down our guard and begin to speak from the heart.  

       To horses, no emotion is good or bad…so called negative emotions tend to carry a bigger charge because they often must be acted upon quickly to ensure survival.

Secure horses, like well-adjusted people eventually become experts at what is called "emotional agility", the ability to get the message behind the emotion, adjust accordingly, then let go of that feeling and return to homeostasis.  Many humans get caught in the vicious cycle of suppressing and then inappropriately expressing emotion as the pressure reaches critical mass.

         Domesticated horses mirror the truth of what's happening from moment to moment, thus keeping their handlers from becoming mired in projections and illusions…they not only reflect incongruities in emotion and intention, they highlight unrecognized strengths and improvements as well…horses provide a form of biofeedback for practicing self-awareness, emotional agility, and relationship skills that conventional counseling, role playing and discussion groups barely access since these techniques are based primarily in language.  Many have developed intuitive gifts by working with horses…while these animals validate legitimate strengths, they also reflect areas of imbalance, sometimes with surprising hostility in the presence of people who use meditation practices to suppress unresolved anger…which is an increasingly common coping strategy…called "spiritual by-passing."

          'Horses are such forgiving creatures…'  It's not forgiveness in the human sense, because there's no judgment to begin with.  It's closer to the original meaning of the word…to let go.  Only, it's not in the nature of horses to cling to anything, so there's no need to let go. They simply respond authentically to what's happening at the moment. 

        Horses are actually hard-wired for a state of non-attachment championed by Buddha.  In the wild, they don't defend territory, build nests, live in caves or store nuts for the winter.  They move, unprotected, with the rhythm of nature, cavorting through the snow, kicking up their heels or grazing peacefully…despite a keen and constant awareness of predators lurking in the distance.  While they react quickly in the face of danger, they show remarkable resilience in recovering from traumatic events.

Humans spend so much time and energy judging what should or shouldn't happen, what they should or shouldn't feel, that they sacrifice their ability to enjoy or adapt to what is happening.

   Horses often just stand.  It's only humans who always have to be doing something."

  Words from Noche the mustang:  "Joy Is.  Sadness Is.  You try to lasso one and chase away the other.  Yet in finally meeting what you've been craving all along, you're not sure whether to capture it or flee from it, because even great beauty is too wild for you.  This is suffering that my kind has never known."