Giving Healing Some Horse Power (Part 5)

The importance of Rest

So often we are looking for a magic wand: that pill or procedure that can make us well, but in doing this we are relying on others to heal us when the only real and lasting healing comes from within. 

Our bodies have a blueprint of how they should work and also a variety of systems that are always aiming for balance and working towards the healthy model.  However our lives are often busy and our stress levels can mean that we loose that balance, leading to disease.

When we take time to be still we can reconnect with our inner wisdom, allowing the body's systems to work as they were designed to do.  This is why including times of rest into our schedule is so important.  It switches the body from the 'fight or flight' cycle of the sympathetic nervous system into the 'rest and repair' cycle of the parasympathetic nervous system. 

You can see this in animals.  They spend time sleeping or dozing during the day - think of your dog, cat or horse who can often be found taking a nap!  Athletes know this too and plan regular rest days into their training schedules.

The importance of Play

I've been fortunate recently to be spending some time with a couple of fabulous geldings.  One, a Welsh Section D, is 23 years old and his best mate, a Warmblood, is 17 - but you'd never know it!  Put them out together and they run around and play like a pair of 2 year olds.  It's wonderful to watch them having fun together, racing around, rearing and bucking.

Contrast this with a lovely chestnut gelding who lives at the same yard.  He's 22 years old and seems to be a bit of a loner, always standing still in one spot, just watching.  There are obviously lots of contributing factors to this: his age, his health (he has arthritis), his build and confirmation, but it's interesting to see how much older he appears (even though he's actually younger than the Section D).  The other 2 boys also have joint issues, but they experience less pain and stiffness.  Their play is helping to keep them both fit and young at heart.

It reminds me of the saying: We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing

In our busy lives we can get caught up in rushing around between work and home commitments and weeks can go by before we realise that we haven't made any time for fun.  I strongly believe that it's important to find what 'makes your heart sing' and to regularly ring fence times for this. 

For me it's spending time in Nature, gardening, reading and being with friends and animals.

What brings you joy and how can you include more of this in your life?

If you would like to explore ways to experience this balance and healing rest, please contact me:

            email:                         robyn@equnergy.com

            phone:                        07980 669303

You can also see more on my website: www.equenergy.com

Taken from Giving Healing Some Horse Power.  You can read the full text here.