I had a conversation with one of my Teachers yesterday… He shared with me something that really hit home… and I quote “Listen…. AND hear with your heart”.

I pondered this with a great big AHHAAA! I soooo get it, in life we seem to think that by listening we’re actually doing something. In reality, often times, we are simply listening enough to formulate what we want to say back in order to… be right, sound smart, have the last word, etc. etc…

With this statement by my “Krishna” I discovered something important, shocking I know. That listening is about hearing and truly listening occurs in our body, our heart, more than our ears. The gift of “hearing” what someone is sharing with us is truly a gift. It’s a moment in our lives where we experience connection, with ourselves and another sentient being. Pretty cool huh!

I wish for you today the gift of Krishna’s sharing, to not just listen but HEAR, and hear clearly with your heart!

Cathy

Meet “Krishna” – 6 year old Thoroughbred facilitator at Challenge-U

Last month, Challenge U held several equine experiential workshops in Southern California. We are so excited to begin this next chapter of transformational work that we can offer our clients. We are also in the final stages of securing an amazing property of our own in Fallbrook, CA to use horses for team and leadership development. If you are wondering what we mean by using horses or “the Way of the Horse” then let us explain…

Horses responding to their surroundings

Our last equine event started with a deeper understanding of what the messages are behind the emotions we experience and how to access those messages. Instead of assigning good-bad-right-wrong to emotions, we can simply look to them for the information they are providing.

To horses, emotion is simply information. It it just an important for them to know when another herd member is feeling afraid or angry as it is for them to know when that same horse is feeling content or playful. Because they are preyed upon in nature, these sensitive, mindful creatures have maintained a highly developed ability to respond to subtle changes in stance, muscle tension, breathing and hence the general arousal level of other horses as well as predators, an ability they easily transfer to human beings.

An interesting fact is that creatures with a keen emotional sense cannot easily be manipulated or lied to; they are only comfortable when authentic feelings and motivations are being acknowledged. The physical behavior of horses provides a dramatic illustration of this point. As we watch horses, we noticed that they pick up on everything going on around them, but typically only react strongly when they feel threatened. They don’t suppress their emotions, while at the same time they don’t just react wildly to everything they experience.

One of the greatest tool we taught the participants at our last event was how to develop Emotional Agility. This refers to the ability to get the message behind the emotion, to adjust behavior, relationship or environment accordingly, and then let that emotion go and return to grazing. This ability helps us humans not panic or overreact when faced with strong emotions, while also not suppressing uncomfortable emotions that could lead to whirlwinds of uncontrollable expressions later.

As you probably have already recognized, developing Emotional Agility will dramatically alter how you receive and respond to the world around you. Here is a testimonial of how it is already changing the participants of the workshop…

“This experience has helped me make connection to things I have pushed aisde because I didn’t know how to deal with them. Now I feel pretty comfortable addressing those issues and staying true to me and defining my boundaries.”

The most exciting part about this learning is it’s only the beginning of what horses can teach us and what we want to share with you. We encourage you to check out all the workshops we are offering involving Equine Expereintial Learning at our Upcoming Events page.