How a Horse Helped Me to Reduce Stress

I have wrestled with stress for much of my life, including carrying a lot the tension in my body.  

Years ago, Ms.Beverly Chapman suggested that I get on one of her horses, a striking beautiful brown appaloosa.  When I got on him (bareback and all which was plenty stressful), she told me he wouldn’t move until I relaxed.  So I relaxed, but he did not move.  She said, “You’re not relaxed.”  I said, “I am relaxed.”  The horse wouldn’t budge.  

I tried to relax more, but still the horse didn’t move.  The same thing a few more times.  Each time I was positive I couldn’t further relax my body.   But the horse wouldn’t move.  I kept trying, and each time I tried, I actually did feel more tension leave my body.  Still, the horse was still (apparently just like I was supposed to be).  

Finally, when I felt that I was so floppy that I would literally fall off the horse, the horse started to walk.  

This horse is extremely big, and how this beautiful but very large animal sensed such modest changes of tension in my body is beyond me.  But this remarkable being was able to show me what my body is supposed to feel like when it is truly relaxed and free of stress. 

To this day, when I need to chill a bit and I am lucky to remember the story I just described, I travel back in time and try to recreate the experience.  The effect on me remains as magical today as it was then.  And I am grateful!