How the heck do they DO that?

In my last newsletter, I took some time to explore why it's important for business leaders to activate and spend time in your parasympathetic nervous system (ie "Rest and Digest) state, as it's in this state where you can access your most true and creative self.

In case you didn't have a chance to read it I've linked the article below for your easy reference.

There are many benefits to working with horses as personal and professional development activities.

While it's definitely a lot of fun and you can create amazing breakthroughs and overcome fears when working in active exercises, I shared how powerful some of the simpler reflective activities can be in helping you regulate your autonomous nervous system.

Simply sharing space with horses, is a very powerful way to help humans access states of calm, and so today I want to dive a little bit deeper into this topic to share with you how that actually happens.

How do horses help you access these states of calm?

For starters - on a practical and tactile level, their sheer size forces us to be?present and in the moment.

Presence may not sound like a big thing, but it's a gift not many give themselves - just look around at any public place- what's the ratio of people fully present to their environment, versus those completely drawn to their phones in their own world?

We've become so disconnected from ourselves and others in the name of electronic connection.....(the irony).

Being around horses requires that we are FULLY present, aware of all of our surroundings, and fully in our bodies.

Horses don't feel safe if we're not grounded or in our heads, or if our thoughts are elsewhere.

However this isn't necessarily something that many frazzled business leaders can do easily, and that's why before they ever go in with the horses, we always do a grounding meditation and they are able to do a body "self-scan"

This helps them to connect mind and body.

When we are fully present in our space we are suddenly more aware of our bodies, our feelings, our thoughts.

We wake up different parts of our nervous system.

There's also another way that horses help you access these states, and it actually blew my mind when I heard it, so I had to look it up and it's true.

It's all about energy.

The best way to say it is that a horse's emotional state is highly contagious :)

Horses co-regulate their emotions within the herd.

(and to be technical here for a moment ...co-regulation refers to the process where our "nervous systems resonate with one another like tuning forks, promoting shared experiences of settling, bonding, and attunement")

If you ever watch a herd in a field, you'll see what I mean. They usually always seem to all be in the same mood.

As humans, when we're in their presence, BE-ing part of that herd, we experience it as well.

Through co-regulation they are able to connect to us and bring our Heart Rate Variability into alignment with theirs.

(if you're not familiar with the concept of Heart Rate Variability here's a link to the ?Heart Math Institute?,)

In a study by the Heart Math Institute, they discovered that when a human sent appreciation to a horse in what they call a "Heart Lock" it wasn't the horse that was affected by the human, it was the human that was affected by the horse.

It was a fascinating study where they hooked up both horses and humans to heart rate monitors and observed them.

To sum up what was extrapolated from that study is that peacefully interacting with horses may move people into a heightened receptive state, our bodies acting as tuners and receivers, improving our non-verbal communication, and affecting our feelings and behaviors.

So how the heck does this help with your business?

It's about truly diving deep into what motivates you, challenges you, stops you, excites you, etc.

The results you are able to create in business, and your leadership are a complete reflection of who you are, your beliefs, and how you respond to people and circumstances.

And my clients who've all made massive income leaps over the past couple of years will tell you, that yes, we worked on their business - quite a bit, but more importantly, they worked on themselves.

It's a holistic experience, that brings together the principles of Mindset, Energy, Spirituality, Strategy, and yes, Horse Wisdom, to help you create an extraordinary life and legacy.

When you activate those hidden truths and emotions, and take what you learned about yourself out of the arena and apply it to your daily habits and interactions (and we do give you tools to help with that), the results are profound.

Here are just a few of the awareness that some of my clients had during their reflective sessions that they took action on and created results.

• Finally had the confidence to raise her fees. She immediately had an income increase the next week.
• Realized that a large but problematic client, was hindering growth and it was time to release them. They had a lot of fear about this as the income was substantial. However, after releasing the client, a whole world of opportunity opened up, and the gap was quickly filled with better and higher-paying clients.
• Realized the "right" decision wasn't to grow the business but to prepare it to sell it, and move on to other passion projects with the proceeds from the sale.
• Started a movement as a community builder.
• Realized that as a leader they were prioritizing being liked, and tried really hard to"be a friend" to their team, instead of being their leader. This left everyone confused, and frustrated. When our pony reflected this behavior back, the awareness did result in tears and clarity. After going back to the office, changes were made and they stepped up as the leader their team needed, and in return, the team stepped up to be what the business needed.

The beauty of these examples is that all of the decisions these clients made, they already knew on a subconscious level were the right ones.

However, in the chaos and mundane of daily life, they had pushed it down, and weren't listening or giving space to their true inner knowing. They simply were just putting one foot in front of another and doing what they did the day before, and not paying attention.

It was when they were in a truly relaxed state, "in the moment" emotions and crises, and information overload -that they were able to truly connect to what they needed to do.

Horses bring this state out in an extreme degree. They will for you too.

And in this receptive state, you access different parts of your brain, your mind, and your thinking.

You are able to assess people and situations from a neutral position.

This is truly when you are at your most powerful.

Intuition is heightened, your creativity flows, decisions become clear, boundaries are strengthened, and when you take what you learn back to your day-to-day business and life, aligned action becomes natural - and results inevitable.

And all of this is simply from sharing space.

Imagine what is possible once you start engaging and playing with them!

I'll share more on that another time.