Descending into Interior Wisdom

ESPíRITU ?

THE HORSE GUY?

Coaching with Horses?

Story #87

DESCENDING INTO INTERIOR WISDOM

If you’re reading this you already know. A sense of wonder and curiosity will take us further and deeper into our development than our rational minds will. Wonder opens us up to what’s possible, to unexpected discovery and to a vast landscape on the other side of what little we know about ourselves.

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“In this time when everyone is separated to one degree or another, in this time when many people are feeling the deep splits within themselves, what is needed is not simply an accumulation of more information. What is needed is a descent into interior places of wisdom.” Michael Meade.

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David Wagoner, an American poet (1926-2021) was known for using the natural world in much of his poetry. It was the forests of the Pacific Northwest that found their way into his poem, Lost, which purports to be what a Native elder might say to a person afraid of becoming lost in the forest.

LOST

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you

Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,

And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,

Must ask permission to know it and be known.

The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,

I have made this place around you.

If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.

No two branches are the same to Wren.

If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,

You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows

Where you are. You must let it find you.

?????????David Wagoner (1999)

The experience of feeling “lost” can bring the best of us to a stand still (even if we do not want to admit it). We either fight against it or run from it. In Lost, we see a third option, a complementary practice of stopping, pausing, opening to what’s around us with wonder and respect rather than reacting in fear to the uncertainty and forcing something to happen.?

All of nature — trees and bushes, Ravens and Wren — conspire in support of your highest good. Horses demand honesty. They reward deep presence. Horses know what we need and become a mirror for us so we can discover what we need as well. Call it full body learning, partnering with horses requires letting go of a pre-planned agenda and opening to what wants to happen. While there is thinking and decision making involved, it is the deeper, visceral awareness and trust that are essential.

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“ Wherever you are is called Here…you must treat is as a powerful stranger…The forest breathes. Listen…I have made this place for you…”

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You want your horse to show interest in you. It stands near you but seems interested in looking around at everything other than you. This goes on for several minutes. You begin to hear a feint voice in your heart — not your head — that whispers to you the only affirmation you require is from within yourself. You’ve chased external validation for as long as you can remember. A tear forms in your eyes and a sense of deep calm. It has been years since you’ve tasted this calm. Your horse turns and moves towards you and remains by your side.

Another time. You have a moment of fear which you instinctively hide; your horse moves away. You wonder whether there’s a link between your ‘secret’ and the horse’s behavior. You do something new — you apologize out loud for trying to hide.?The horse immediately moves to your side. The connection feels special; you hope it will stay with you a long time. More deeply, though, you wonder whether others can sense your hidden intentions at work and at home. Transparency suddenly becomes a direction you know you must take in your life and leadership. No action plan is needed, just one word: Transparency. You know what to do.

At the paddock gate. I had a moment just yesterday that prompted me to write today. I went to the ranch by myself in the late afternoon of a hot and humid day. Our horses were ready to come in. Farm hands were leading other horses into the barn where cooler temperatures — and food — awaited them. I walked over to the gate where both of our horses approached me. I suddenly had a sense that I needed to take them both in myself, at the same time, something I had never done. It’s a deceptively complex task for someone who’s never done it.?

The horses are training me well! Prior to beginning I did a body scan on myself: Physical, Emotional, Spiritual assessment out loud in front of them. I discovered I felt a bit scared and unsure of myself. My breathing was shallow, not deep.?My right shoulder has been sore lately and I would need it to hold the horses as I fumbled with the gate. I would need them to work with me, to watch over me in those moments that could get out of hand in the blink of an eye. I needed and asked for their help. Call it an equine prayer request. My humility for their patience and understanding.

I envisioned the steps:

• Opening the heavy metal gate ( that wants to swing open) but using my body to keep it closed was my first move;
• Keeping the other horses from getting out or from blocking my horses from leaving;
• Getting a lead rope on one horse and letting it out of the paddock while holding onto it;
• Putting the lead rope on the second horse and letting it out as well while holding onto both horses, all 2800 pounds of them;
• Closing and locking both locks of the gate…with one hand.
• Hand walking both horses down a steep gravel path back into the barn and into their stalls.

The experience ended perfectly. They chased the other horses away from the gate and then came out themselves, one after the other, and stood still as statutes as I closed the gate behind us. The walk back to the barn was effortless.

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I do not know why I felt a need to take both horses from the paddock; it wasn’t something I had planned. I certainly felt fear and had doubts about my horse handling skills. There was risk: horses have gotten away from handlers at this particular paddock. Mostly, I had to see in these horses a potential for partnering, if only because I could not do this alone. There was nothing gallant in my choice! I needed them and we all knew it.

The poet claims “…The trees ahead and bushes beside you are not lost…” What if this is practical advice, and not a metaphor? What if partnering with all of nature, including horses, is exactly what we need when we feel lost, afraid and unsure which way to turn? Can I open myself to this possibility? Even when it may require a descent into my interior, often unsettling and surprising wisdom? Will I??

Will you??

ESPIRITU

www.espirituhorse.com