You are the Universe! - E27: Healing Addiction, Trauma & Control with Horses

Episode Date: November 9, 2024

Healing Trauma and Addiction Through Horses  Sat Nam my friends and welcome to the - You are the Universe podcast. Today, we're diving into a powerful and transformative topic: healing trauma, control and addiction through the incredible bond between humans and horses. We’re going to talk about a few healing modalities including: equine-facilitated coaching, Reiki, and yoga with horses as tools for deep healing. Horses are unique in that they are sentient beings—highly sensitive, deeply emotional, and wise in ways that we’re only just beginning to understand. They have an amazing capacity to mirror our inner world back to us, offering insight and guidance, if we’re willing to listen. Today, we'll explore how connecting with horses can help us heal, release trauma, and rediscover balance. Want to work with Victoria? www.VictoriaHaffer.com

Welcome to the You Are the Universe podcast. I'm your host, Victoria Hafer, Oracle, meditation teacher, somatic movement therapist and trauma support specialist with over 20 years of facilitating massive healing for people and animals. And I'm so flipping glad you're here. Today's topic is healing trauma and addiction through and four horses. Satna my friends and welcome to the You Are the You Are the Universe podcast. Today we're diving into a powerful and transformative topic, healing trauma, control, and addiction through the incredible bond between humans and horses. We're going to talk about a few healing modalities, including equine facilitated coaching, reiki, and yoga with horses, as tools for deep healing. Horsers are unique in that they are sentient beings, highly sensitive, deeply emotional and wise in ways that we're only just beginning to understand. They have an amazing capacity to mirror our inner world back to us, offering insight and guidance, if only we're willing to listen.

Today we'll explore how connecting with horses can help us heal, release trauma, and rediscover balance. Let's talk a little bit about how horses as sentient beings, act as mirrors for us. One of the most profound aspects of working with horses is recognizing their sentience, their deep, emotional, and perceptive nature. Horses are sensitive creatures with a unique ability to pick up on our energy and emotions. We could say they are the master empaths of the animal kingdom. They can feel our intentions, our worries, our stress,

as well as our joy. Unlike humans, horses communicate and process information on a purely energetic and body language level. When we work with horses, we get a direct, unfiltered reflection of what we're holding on inside. Horses serve as a mirror, showing us our own unheeled traumas, fears, or even blocks that we might not be aware of. So that which sits below the surface, right, of the conscious mind. Imagine you approach a horse with anxiety or tension. It's very likely the horse will respond with restlessness or maybe even avoidance. On the flip side, if you approach them with calmness and presence,

the horse will naturally feel more at ease. This mirroring process can be transformative in our healing journey. Let's discuss the role of authenticity and presence. Now, the key to connecting with horses lies in showing up authentically, truly who you are. You know, often we will show up in the world with a lack of congruency, meaning that what's happening on the inside of us could be irritation, annoyance, frustrations, or anger,

is not what's being reflected on the outside, right? So on the outside, we have a smiling face and we're saying, everything's fine, everything's fine, everything's fine. So being in the present moment is really what is needed in order to have a, you know, the best experience that you can have with the equine species. Horses don't typically respond well to pretense or masking of emotions. they can see straight through it. They have a really good bullshit meter. So unfortunately for anyone dealing with trauma or addiction, this can be both challenging as well as liberating.

Being with a horse forces us to strip away our defenses and bring our true selves forward in all of our vulnerability. Hmm. That sounds exciting. This authenticity isn't just a sense, for connecting with horses, it's also crucial in our healing journey. It reminds us that healing happens in the present moment, not in the past, aka known as depression and not in the future, known as perhaps anxiety. So learning to remain present with a horse helps us break the cycles of

negative self-talk or worry, helping us become more grounded and more centered. For people healing from trauma or addiction, finding that anchor to the present moment can be a lifeline, pulling them out of the past pain and old stories, as well as the future's uncertainty. So let's uncover some healing practices with and for our beloved horses. In the process of working with horses, there are several healing practices that we can go use to go deeper that I'm well versed in, such as equine facilitated coaching, Reiki with and four horses, yoga with and four horses. So let's start with equine facilitated coaching. I did my intensive training many years ago. It was probably over eight years ago with the most amazing teacher and

facilitator Kathy Pike. She lives in Colorado. And it was a I think it took me almost two years to go through the training. We went back and forth for many modules, but it was very fascinating, eye-opening and healing for me. I have to be honest that before that time, I had struggled immensely with things like chronic anxiety and depression, and it was really hard for me to stay in the present moment. You could say I was a really good candidate for, you know, being ADD. you know squirrel look over there and so I was constantly being distracted by outside things and I had a really really hard time just being in the here and now and at that point I have to be honest I don't think

that I had ever experienced true peace in my life and this again was so I think I was in my 40s Yeah, I think I was in my late 40s when when this all went down. So imagine a whole entire life of not experiencing true peace for a longer period of time. You know, often we might have fleeting moments. You know, you catch a sunset or, you know, maybe, you know, you swim with dolphins or, you know, you have your first kiss with your true love. All these things. But how long are you able to stay there in that space of true appreciation? and gratitude and happiness and joy. Often it can be very fleeting. So it really wasn't until I had

started truly working and doing this deep dive work with equine facilitated coaching that I was able to experience true peace the first time. So equine facilitating coaching is a process of personal development and healing where the horse plays the role of a co-facilitator. One of the things that we did learn is that you want to be really careful about your language. You know, I often hear about animals being used as tools, using, using the horse, right? Just think about the energy behind that. And really, we like to call it as they're really co-facilitators because they really bring so much of the magic. And obviously, I couldn't do equine facilitated coaching without the horse as my partner. So it's really a powerful form of therapy.

that doesn't rely on words alone, making it ideal for those who struggle to articulate their own feelings. During a session, typically a coach or a therapist guide you to connect with the horse, encouraging you to observe how the horse responds to your energy, your body language, and your emotions. This process can open up new ways of understanding and processing our past traumas. as the horse's reactions often highlight emotional blocks or areas that need healing. This is done with the client on the ground, not on the horse. So it looks like this. So we've got client and horse, typically inside of a round pen with the coach, myself, outside of the round pen.

And so I'm guiding you through the process. You come to the session with your own intention. You know, what is your heart's desire for the session? And it may be about gaining insight or clarity. It may be about releasing past trauma or, you know, a past experience or relationship. Maybe you're going through a really hard breakup or divorce and you're not really able to process it, you know, easily. Maybe you're dealing with a lot of grief. Maybe you recently lost your horse or your dog or perhaps, you know, a loved one, a parent or a partner. You know,

sometimes it can be very beneficial for us to have support. And often when we are being challenged in these areas in our life, it's very common that we don't really know how to move forward and how to process, a quote-unquote cope or you know really work through the some of the deeper more intense emotions and also right there's there's just so many things that really come to the forefront when we're working through challenging emotions so having having a coach to support you as well as the horse as a mirror to kind of show us where our blind spots might be. So this work is extremely powerful. I've worked with so many clients doing coaching with horses and every single one of them have had massive breakthroughs. So moving on to the

next healing modality and this is something called Reiki. So Reiki with horses, you can do Reiki on yourself. You can do Reiki on any sentient being. I have actually done Reiki on a lot of different, you know, commonly my go-to would be horses, dogs, and cats. Typically, cats don't really need Reiki. They actually say that they've created Reiki. I've had cats tell me that that they're the creators of Reiki. But if you don't know what Reiki is, it is an ancient 100-year-old healing, energy healing practice. Most horses respond incredibly well to this gentle, non-invasive therapy. I will tell you, not all horses need Reiki if they're in their balanced self. But, you know, if you look at the situations that many horses are in, if they're not able to live that natural horse life where they don't really have to do a lot of work and they're not really asked to do things of their own accord.

For example, if you're familiar with equine assisted therapy, where that is a little bit different, that's basically when typically, huge adults or children who may have um different um situations like you know ADD ADHD um and different other therapeutic things that may need addressing it could be stress it could be emotional it could be mental health issues as well but often with that kind of equine therapy that the person of the adult or the the child is on the horse we're not really going to talk about that. That is something different. But if you have a horse that engages in those kinds of sessions and frequently throughout the day, it, you know, your horse horses, just like people need to be cleared of their energy, right? You can hold on if you think about the fact that for those

of you do know about Reiki, there's seven major chakras in the body. And the third chakra, which is also known as the solar plexus, the power center, basically sits on a horse right where a human would sit on their back. So if you have any kind of disruptive energies, emotions that have not been dealt with and you come into your horse session, your root chakra, the base of your spine goes right onto the back, of the horse, aka the third chakra, also known as their power center. So if you're not dealing with your stuff as an equestrian, you know, working with your horse, horse owner, that energy

can transmute right into the horse. So yeah, it would behoove us, most horses will benefit from Reiki. Some horses are fine and they don't need it. Maybe old retired race horses that are you know, live in their best life and they, you know, they just get to graze on the field all day long. They may not need to clear their energy fields. So horses like humans can hold trauma in the bodies. Through Reiki, we can help release trapped energies and soothe any physical or emotional pain a horse may be carrying. When we offer a Reiki to a horse, we're not only healing them, we're also grounding ourselves and connecting to a larger healing energy. This reciprocal energy exchange can have a calming healing effect on both the human and the horse.

So I've worked on many, maybe hundreds of horses who have had trauma. Often they tend to be Mustangs, where in the fact that they were rounded up. You know, they lived in a while at one time. and then they were brought in to the wild pen, you know, in the wild with the helicopter. I can only imagine it often, you know, they're separated from their families, their loved ones. Sometimes some horses get away and then some of them don't so they get separated. And then unfortunately they go to auction. Some of them are sadly enough sold for meat.

And other times they're, you know, they're sold to farms or centers, barns, which luck of the draw. maybe an amazing horse lover buys them, but if not, they can be sold into very extreme conditions. So again, which can be very stressful. And often, you know, a lot of the old school people, and it's still happening today, people will try to do, they call breaking the horse. So taking them, basically, it's basically stripping them of their spirit. And often horses who have been extremely traumatized will sit in the space of, literally what we call desensitization where their spirit has or parts of their spirit or soul have

actually left their body and then they're just checked out so they're just kind of not there anymore and you can feel that so i that i worked with a lot of people horses and dogs as well who have had these kinds of situations and the a transformation can be just so beautiful and so amazing and so wonderful. And the last modality that I would like to talk about is yoga with horses, on or off horses and yoga for horses. So yes, I'm trained in this as well. I have been in different situations, been on retreats where we've practiced yoga in the presence of horses, right? I've done things where I've taught a yoga class in the field with horses. maybe over, you know, 50 feet over where you could see the horses while you're practicing.

So practicing in the presence of your horses takes mindfulness and body awareness to a whole new level. Horses are naturally attuned to our energy. So if you're calm and focused, they tend to feel the same way. The practice of yoga helps us to connect to our breath into a sense of inner peace. So imagine performing a grounding yoga sequence with a gentle horse beside you or mirroring your energy. The synchronicity can be incredibly soothing, helping to alleviate stress and promote mental clarity. I've also experienced yoga on a horse. So this can be a great experience for experienced riders or inexperienced riders. Maybe you have a new horse and you're building your relationship with your horse, right?

And so by getting on a horse, and again, you've got to make sure you're safe and you know the, you know, that you know the history of the horse. You don't just get on any horse, old horse and not know their background and then attempt to do, you know, maybe yoga poses with them. So, but for those on a healing journey, you know, whether you're looking to build and strengthen your relationship with your horse, if you own your, have your own horse, or it could be someone that's maybe afraid of horses. Maybe you've had a past experience with other horses and it wasn't so good.

And so you have some trauma around that. And or maybe you're just to have a lot of fear around these big, huge, magnificent, sentient creatures and because you just don't know how to be around horses. So anyways, there's a lot of different layers in which we can, and I've also been trained in doing yoga for horses. So in other words, you know, horses can hold a lot of tension and stress in their bodies just like humans. And so by taking them through some really powerful stretches, like with their neck and their head and their shoulders, that's yoga for horses. So there's another aspect to the yoga and horse situation.

Right. So have you ever wondered if horses experience trauma? Well, of course they do, right? Just like us, horses can experience trauma. and hold on to it within their bodies. Abuse, neglect, and even natural stressors like transportation or isolation can leave a lasting impact on a horse. This trauma often shows up in their behavior.

An anxious horse might be reactive or reluctant to trust, while a horse with abandonment issues might resist separation from others. When we approach healing horses who've been through trauma, it's a woman. It's crucial to bring patience, compassion, and an open heart to the table. Horses need to feel safe before they can realize and release what they're holding. Through therapeutic techniques like Reiki, gentle bodywork, and simply spending time in a non-demanding, respectful way, we can help a horse feel secure enough to begin letting go of their past pain.

process can be incredibly therapeutic for us as well, teaching us to be gentle with our own wounds and to embrace healing as a journey. The mutual benefits of healing with horses. Let's talk a little bit about that. So working with horses is a shared experience of healing. As we help them process their traumas, they in turn help us face and release ours. In fact, I remember a horse that I worked on many years ago where halfway through the session the horse actually started doing Reiki on me. And so it was such a beautiful. I actually have a photo of this. And it was such a beautiful experience because even if, you know, don't ever think of your, your horse or your dog or your self is being broken because we're not and they're not. And so when you approach that they are,

you know, powerful, sovereign beings, even though they might be, you know, showing up and showing other symptoms to the root in the core of who they are, they're sovereign. Horses are sovereign. So for anyone dealing with trauma or addiction, the process of caring for a horse can offer purpose, structure, and connections. Horses bring us into the moment and remind us to let go of judgment and simply be. They offer us unconditional presence. And in doing so, they help us access a wellspring of calm and healing within our

ourselves. Spending time with horses can reduce stress, increase self-awareness, and encourage emotional release. Research has shown that equine therapy can reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and even PTSD and people. And just as importantly, the relationship we build with a horse, our horse, can reignite a sense of trust, teaching us that healing is possible through connection, patience, and authenticity. So lots of stuff here. And again, three major areas. I could obviously do a podcast, a separate podcast for each one individually and go into much more detail. So I'd love to hear from you. What interests you, right? What was your aha moment here? Did anything, did it strike a chord in your heart, you know, in your head, right? So this work is so fascinating. And, you know, as a big part of the work that I do is really supporting people and especially women in transforming their addictions, their habits that aren't serving, right, and their

past traumas really into their superpowers. And working with and exploring with animals as a support system and co-facilitating with them to support the human in their own healing is so powerful. So I want to thank you so much for joining us today as we explored the remarkable ways in which horses can guide us on our journey of healing, whether it's through equine-facilitated coaching, Reiki, yoga, or something else. Horses offer us a path to reconnect with ourselves. We discover trust and reclaim inner peace.

If you're interested in learning more about these modalities or doing a private session with me, I always invite you to reach out. I'd be happy to get on a complementary exploration session with you. And remember, true healing happens in connection and presence and in the heart. Until next time, be kind to yourself on your journey. And remember that healing is an inside job. Thank you for listening and I encourage you to subscribe to my channel and share it with your loved ones, anyone that you think that might be interested in learning more about how you are the universe.

Much love to you all. And remember to be and see the magic in everyday life.