What a Horse Named Willow Has Come to Teach Us All
About a month ago, we welcomed a horse named Willow into the herd.
Now, this may not sound like a life-changing statement, but getting a new mare has transformed everything for me.
Horses Are Healers
Let me back up a little bit…
You could say I was in a lifelong, unrequited love affair with horses. I had a little bit of experience with horses as a child, but I spent decades without them.
Only when I met a colleague who offers Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy did I realize that I had been longing to be back at a barn, seeing myself mirrored in a horse’s eyes.
I have spent the last five years making my “someday I’ll have horses in my world all the time” dreams come true.
Elvis, my big, sweet former racehorse came into my life in 2019. This gentle giant has been my greatest teacher and a source of so much joy and love. He fills my heart and he is such a source of healing for my therapy and coaching clients.
Every day I would visit Elvis at the barn, I had a sense that there was something missing. Someone missing. Maybe you could equate this feeling that many parents have: you love the kid(s) you have so much, but the family isn’t quite complete yet.
I knew I needed a mare. I knew the herd at our barn needed a mare. I knew that my family, clients, and community needed a mare, too.
And so, even though we were still dealing with a pandemic and life and work were busy in so many ways, I started the search. After getting my hopes up several times, I finally discovered a twelve-year-old white mare with blue eyes. She’d been a trail horse in the Carolinas and was now in Florida. She needed to land at her forever home.
The Answer Isn’t Just At the Barn, It’s Also in the Cards
When I first heard her name was Willow, it felt significant. After a month with her, I almost can’t believe how much Willow and the symbol of the willow tree has to teach me, to teach us all.
If you know me at all you know that I always have an oracle or tarot deck close by. Just last week I felt called to The Sacred Forest Oracle by Denise Linn. And when I pulled the Willow card, I realized exactly why the universe had put this deck into my hands.
The Spirit of the WIllow says: Be flexible in your life. Be willing to bend rather than break. Be amenable to change, and you will flourish in wondrous ways.
When Do You Stand Firm? When Do You Yield?
Getting a new horse is a huge undertaking. It’s more like moving across the country than it is like getting a puppy.
It means introducing a new animal to a community that is set in its established routine. It’s about being patient, confident, and open to the unexpected as you introduce the new horse to the herd. It’s about negotiating with the people who operate, work at, and visit the barn. It’s about vet visits and calling farriers about horseshoes.
In my case, it’s also about shifting my therapy practice so that more clients can come have their sessions out at the barn with the horses.
It’s also about yearning for this new baby to feel at home. It’s about wanting to feel accepted by a horse who may have a long, difficult history that makes it hard for her to trust people. It’s praying that everything feels like “a fit.”
The last month of welcoming Willow has been a challenge.
Her presence has called me to stand in my own sense of Embodied Feminine Leadership in an entirely new way, and that is rippling through my being at the spiritual, emotional, psychological, and physical levels.
And so, I return to my own inner wisdom and the wisdom from that “Willow Spirit” card: “Be willing to bend, even to yield. There is power in doing this as a choice, rather than as a forfeit of your will.”
Each day is a lesson in how to use my power. Sometimes, I need to set boundaries and use my strength to hold them. Other times, I need to be a conscious witness who releases my agenda and allows the moment to change me and my preconceived ideas of “this is the way.”
True, embodied feminine power allows us to discern when it’s time to take a stand and when it’s time to be flexible and allow the world to unfold around you. Embodied Feminine Leadership is about being vulnerable and strong, wise and ready to learn.
The secret to success and happiness lies in lessons of the willow tree. There are moments when you must root in, stay firm, and be assertive. There are other times when you must let the wind play through your branches, being receptive, playful, and adaptable.
And Willow, our soulful white mare, is here to teach this to everyone she meets.
I’m so grateful to say that she has already become part of client therapy sessions and is showing us all what an amazing healing partner she can be.
Want to Be Part of this Wise Willow Energy?
There are so many ways for you to learn and grow with Willow, Elvis, me, and the rest of the herd this summer!
I’m offering Qoya at the Barn once a month on Sunday mornings. Sign up for this sacred movement class now. The next session is Sunday, July 11!
Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy is a powerful form of healing for you and/or your tween and teens. Learn more and set up a session.
Are you drawn to that idea of “Embodied Feminine Leadership”? I’m excited to see coaching clients down at the barn now. If you’re a woman on a mission who wants to get your magic out into the world, let’s talk about coaching options.
