Here is the first of our Mindfulness Moments at The Barn series. We will post exercises loosely adapted from the Mindfulness Exercises included in our book project, Sharing The Now: Mindfulness Exercises to Enhance The Connection With Your Horse. Most of us already do these things at various times of the day. The exercises are designed to invite you to incorporate such moments the next time you are at the barn. We invite you to BE WITH your horse(s) in these moments, rather than just DOING things with your horse(s) all of the time. Step away from the task-oriented frame of mind that is so often adopted, and embrace noticing and being with all that arises in the present moment without pushing it away or wanting it to be something else.
An important concept that will be discussed at length in the future posts are how safe these exercises are for you and your horses. Safety, both emotional and physical, is important to consider at all times. Watching your horse from a distance, as suggested in this exercise, allows him or her to move away or to be themselves without feeling imposed upon. It also allows for you to tune in to a part of the day that is often taken for granted. Think of the hundreds of times you’ve marched into a field or paddock to catch your horse for task X, Y or Z in the time you have at the barn that day. How many times have you just stopped to watch and reflect on the amazing creatures that horses are?!
The other thing you can focus on mindfully is being aware of your body and the non-verbal messages you are relaying during the exercise. Are you feeling relaxed and friendly, or are you feeling tense? Are you preoccupied with something else from earlier in the day or later on? When we notice the things happening on the inside, we can see how they affect us on the outside in terms of our body language. Horses, being prey animals, are sensitively attuned to those automatic non-verbal messages. We can feel more relaxed by taking a few deep breaths, relaxing our shoulders, and relaxing our gaze so that we have “soft eyes”, which is a term used in centered riding. Soft eyes refers to a relaxed gaze which allows awareness of the entire surroundings, and is the opposite of a “hard intense stare” that tends to happen when one is overly focused. When we adapt our body language to reflect a more welcoming softer being, this helps both us and the horses feel safe during any of these Mindfulness Moments exercises.
Concerning your safety, standing across the fence or the barn stall door when first trying out this exercise allows you to experience things without needing to be as focused on your physical safety around horses. You are at a distance from the horse to facilitate space to explore whatever arises inside without external pressure to be there for the horse. As you experience the exercise, if there are particular thoughts or emotions arising that feel painful, or alternately physical sensations that are hard to cope with, please consider the suggestions on how to respond. We will make this an ongoing theme throughout other Mindfulness Moments At The Barn.
Adapt the script to suit your horse’s gender. How can you remember what to do during the exercise when you are at the barn? One option is to print out the script. Another option is to write down a few key words and use them to frame the way you do this exercise. Finally, we will also include a video of this and other exercises as we post them through the next while, so that you also have an alternate medium in which to grasp what we mean when we invite you to try the Mindfulness Moments at The Barn series. Here is the script, loosely modified from our manuscript for Sharing The Now: Mindfulness Exercises to Enhance The Connection With Your Horse.
When starting this exercise, notice how it feels inside your body right now. Are you tense or relaxed? As you pay attention to your body, there may be specific sensations. If so, let them be just as they are. Notice if they naturally change over time. If there are painful sensations, you can adjust your body position, stretch, or focus on another region of the body which is less tense. If there is nothing obvious right now in your body, take a minute to notice specific things, such as the way your feet feel standing on the ground and the way your body feels as you breathe in and out. Check in with your five senses. In other words, what are you seeing right now? What do you hear or smell? Can you taste or touch anything?
After noticing how your body feels, notice the state of your mind. Are there particular thoughts or emotions right now? Are they pleasant or unpleasant? Can you observe them without being overwhelmed? You can try breathing through the tough emotions or thoughts, or focus on your breathing if you’d like. Are you able to focus right now? Start watching your horse using “soft eyes” or a relaxed gaze.
Where is your horse right now? Where is he looking and does he notice you? Notice the position of his ears, his face, and legs. Are his ears pointing towards you, indicating that he is attentive to your presence? Visually focus on your horse’s entire body and on parts of his body, starting with his head and following along his body towards his tail. Deliberately rest your gaze over specific areas, such as the face and muzzle, the set of his jaw, his neck and shoulders, his withers, back and girth, as well as his legs and tail. You can notice your horse’s coat colour and texture, areas of light or shadow and body contours. You can notice colour patterns and patterns along the legs. If your horse approaches you, you can touch him for a few moments if you’d like and then take a step back to continue watching him.
How does your horse’s movement change during the exercise? Does he seem relaxed by showing signs such as licking or chewing, having his eyes closed, his head down or other clues? Every horse has its own body language cues, although there are some general signs. Can you notice your body language and look elsewhere and then back at your horse?
This exercise is to help you observe the facts, as they are, without starting to think about things like conformation or breeding. That is natural for experienced horse people to do; however, this exercise is so that you can sense how a horse appears and BE with him just as he is right now. If you start to think about things, refocus your attention to just noticing what you see right now.
Now, again notice how you feel in your body. Notice if you have particular thoughts or emotions. Then return your focus willingly back to looking at your horse. If there are intense emotions, take care of yourself by taking deep breaths or focusing on your senses or looking back at the horse. Are you or your horse uncomfortable with this exercise? This is a possible reaction, if you haven’t done this before.
Have you looked at your horse like this before? If so, when was the last time? How connected are you feeling to your horse right now? When you are ready, stop the exercise and focus on something else.