Fotini Chandrika
We have to feel it to heal it.
There truly is no other way.
I have spent over two decades unraveling years of personal trauma through feeling, together with Horses.
I have spent the last decade partnered with Horses in helping clients do the same.
We live in a society where we are often shamed for our sensitivity. As soon as we enter into institutionalization (ie. school), the process of mass desensitization begins. There is a trauma that goes along with this process. We all experience it to one degree or another because we are all human and by being human, we all possess the innate gift of sensitivity and empathy.
We see this just as much in the traditional horse world. From the time a horse is born (in many cases) they have their future planned out for them. Very few have the option to exercise much choice and their trainers work hard to desensitize their innate horse spirit.
Most everything in the traditional way of being with horses goes 100% against the grain of who horses really are! Most everything in society's way of being with humans goes 100% against the grain of who we truly are!!!
In the early years of my trainings as a multi-certified wellness professional in the fields of yoga, reiki, ayurveda, herbalism, aromatherapy and equine guided wellness, I was taken aback by society's language used around healing. Our 150 year old medical system is referred to as "traditional" medicine while our 5000 year old medicines are referred to as "alternative" or "new age" medicine.
Our way of being with horses echoes this backwards trajectory.
We call modern day equestrianism "traditional" while engaging in spiritual practice and partnership with horses is "woo woo". There is much evidence to prove otherwise. Our spiritual connection with horses dates back to the caveman days and into the years of Greek mythology where the centaur depicts half man/half horse. The centaur has been said to represent the union of the horse's strength and the humans intellect, bringing a unique balance to the creature. As you can see from the photo, there is no separation between the two beings. They are joined together, neither superior to the other.
Since I was a small child, I questioned society's ways. Things often didn't feel right to my innate being which resulted in me not fitting into the "box" and the institutions trying to figure out what was "wrong" with me. I knew something was very wrong, but it was not with me, and I was determined to seek out truth. I found the truth in Nature. Not Nature outside of the self, but Nature on the inside.
Despite what we have been taught, we are not separate. Much like the centaur, we are bound to Nature through unity and oneness.
During this past two years of the Co-vid-19 pandemic, humans have had the opportunity to experience, first-hand, the karma of our actions among the creature who has contributed the most to human "civilization", our horse partners. While most humans have unknowingly caused this suffering to their beloved horses, it is only through our own empathic awareness that we can begin to help the horses heal.
In recent months, us humans have been asked to navigate isolation, separation and lack of resources.
Due to this pandemic, many humans have been unable to cope with these restrictions, resulting in an increase in mental health crisis, detrimental addiction issues and suicide rates climbing at alarming rates.
It is shocking how much this way we have been asked to navigate the pandemic mirrors the way many humans have asked horses to live for far too long.
Horses are herd animals and many are asked to live separate from other horses. Horses move up to 20km a day in the wild and yet many are asked to stand in a small box stall. Horses spend up to 16 hours day grazing on various plants and grasses and many are given only small rations of food per day, without plentiful variety. When horses try to communicate with us about their imbalances, they are assumed to be "naughty". Much like humans are when asking to be heard in ways that don't conform to the "box stall" of society.
In feeling the pain of being unable to access the innate ways of our human being-ness, we are helping to heal our horses. In understanding the feeling of being confined to a "box", we begin to truly embody an understanding of our horses. Through feeling, we are healing. Together.
It has not only been the horses we have been asked to help heal.
Through this global crisis, we have been provided with the opportunity to feel through the various cultural movements that bring us to a place of listening, learning, holding and supporting the healing of humankind of all colors and origins.
Again, through the consciousness of feeling into this pain, we are helping to raise the vibration and frequency of our planet and doing our part to help it heal.
Nature, too, is healing. The chaos of natural disasters, bringing her pain to the forefront so that it can be released and set free in the winds of healing.
We are in crisis. There is no doubt about that.
But, I truly believe, that with this crisis comes the greatest awakening ever known to our planet. One where every. living. being. has a voice! One where every. living. being. is seen and honored for who they are!
It is our time to breakthrough.
It is our time to break free.
It is our time to remember who we are and return to our role of caretaker of the planet.
Through feeling it all, we WILL heal it all.
Everything is a symptom of healing.
In this crisis, we are all coming home.
Holding the vision,
Fotini Chandrika
Comments