We recently attended a retreat at Meghan Vornholt Yoga and Equine Facilitated Wellness in Cochrane, AB. The retreat, Finding Your Flow, was a wonderful example of mindful reflection, yoga and interaction with horses in a wellness context. We wanted to share our personal experiences of being in the present moment, and what that meant for each of us that afternoon.
Shreyasi: I learned much about flow from Meghan. Flow is to do with being in the present moment, tends to be facilitated by unstructured time without an agenda, and involves curiosity and play. Flow can occur for body and mind. As hard as it can be sometimes, we can find flow at any moment of the day. Flow can happen even when we are in the midst of a task.
One of the most powerful realizations for me was how much I missed yoga. We practiced some simple stretches and paid close attention to how it felt in our body as we went through each movement. Paying attention to how restrictions in the mind can affect flow in my body was a big lesson. I remembered how connected I felt to every part of my body through yoga in the past. Even though I have been physically active with my horses and in other ways for years, I felt a sustained and tangible connection between mind and body in those yoga stretches. As Meghan guided us through the movements and created a safe and ever expanding space for all of us, I noticed nostalgia, deep joy and lightness inside me. Her words and guidance reminded me that to feel flow in motion and fully present inside my body requires me to slow down and intentionally be mindful through movement. Yoga helps me to get out of my head and into my full being. This awareness then led to striking impressions around the herd and Merlin, the horse I worked with later that day. I felt things more intensely and seemed to have heightened clarity in my thoughts. I resolved after that afternoon to return to regular yoga practice, something I’d let go of in the last few years. It felt as comfortable as catching up with an old friend or going back to something I used to love doing and had long forgotten about!
Frank: What I learned from the weekend, when looking at the horses, is how they are already in a flow state. They don’t overthink and they are in the present moment. Although relaxed in the herd, they also remained aware of their surroundings. The yoga helped me to access that flow state which horses naturally inhabit. During the yoga exercises, I reflected back to when I was a child outside on a sunny day and how much easier it was to attain flow at that stage of life. As a child, it was easier to be in flow because life was more unstructured with time for play. As an adult, my life is quite heavily structured. Being at the retreat helped me realize that I would like to be in the present moment more of the time and attain that flow state through the day. The yoga also influenced how I spent time with my horse. I noticed feeling less rushed, being more mentally open and following the horse’s natural inclinations more than usual (which included grazing and enjoying the moment). This contrasts with my typical tendency to occasionally rush through time spent with my horses in a goal-oriented way. Going forward, I will make a conscious effort to be in flow state more often by tuning in to the present and not rushing. One can’t be in a perfect flow state all of the time but I will create more breaks where I can be that way.