March 13, 2025
Your 1,200-Pound Mirror: What Horses Reveal About Your True Self in Midlife
What happens when a woman in midlife stands before a 1,200-pound mirror that can sense her true feelings? According to Sue Willoughby, founder of Willoughby Coaching, magic unfolds as women finally confront what's been holding them back.
Sue reveals how working with horses helps women over 40 cut through their own BS and reclaim their authentic selves through the powerful mirror of equine feedback.
• Horses provide intuitive feedback during coaching sessions by reacting to clients' true emotions and energy
• Equus coaching involves no riding - clients interact with horses at liberty while Sue observes their interactions
• Horses don't lie or judge, serving as "1200-pound mirrors" that reflect what's really happening inside us
• Midlife brings identity challenges as women's roles shift with empty nests, career changes, and physical transformations
• Our bodies hold all our experiences - horses help women reconnect with somatic awareness beyond intellectual processing
• The pandemic amplified midlife challenges, creating isolation and anxiety on top of identity and hormonal shifts
• Working with horses builds self-awareness, groundedness, and clearer non-verbal communication skills
• Many women experience powerful emotional releases when they feel truly "seen" by horses
• Sue offers both in-person sessions in Washington State and virtual coaching that incorporates equine wisdom
• Equine coaching helps women recognize their patterns, identify bodily sensations tied to emotions, and communicate more authentically
Sue's Bio
Meet Sue Willoughby, the no-nonsense founder of Willoughby Coaching. Sue’s all about helping women over 40 cut through their own BS and reclaim their lives through the raw, honest power of Equus Coaching. Imagine getting deep insights about who you are and how you show up—all through connecting with a horse.
Sue’s journey hasn’t been a walk in the park. She was raised by a single alcoholic parent, came out at 17, and hit rock bottom more than once. But she turned it around, moved cross-country, and built a kickass life and career.
A lifelong lover of horses, Sue turned that passion into a coaching business that helps women ditch their fears and step into their authentic power. From being a DJ and standup comic to a private pilot and Roller Derby ref, Sue doesn’t just talk about living boldly—she lives it. Now settled outside Seattle with her horse Moose, two Dachshunds, and a VW Bus named Arlo, Sue’s ready to shake things up and inspire you to get out of your own way and live fully, right now.
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00:18 - Introducing Equus Coaching
03:17 - Horses as Intuitive Mirrors
08:21 - Midlife Crisis and Identity Shifts
18:54 - Revealing Hidden Emotions
22:31 - Post-Pandemic Healing with Horses
27:25 - Building Self-Awareness Through Horse Connection
30:39 - Midlife Makeover Resources
WEBVTT
00:00:00.179 --> 00:00:03.827
When I work with clients, I use the horse.
00:00:03.827 --> 00:00:05.530
They don't ride the horses.
00:00:05.530 --> 00:00:28.803
The horses are just there and they're in the presence of the horse and, as I'm working with the client in a coaching sense, I'm looking at the horse for feedback, and by that I mean their body language, a small twitch of their ear or how they're reacting to the person that they're in the session with.
00:00:28.803 --> 00:00:34.273
So they act as a really amazing and intuitive feedback loop for me.
00:00:34.273 --> 00:00:39.604
So that is really because here's the thing they don't lie and they don't judge you.
00:00:39.604 --> 00:00:40.625
Okay.
00:00:40.625 --> 00:00:46.771
So it's a really 1,200-pound mirror, right?
00:00:46.771 --> 00:00:48.512
So you're getting live feedback.
00:00:48.512 --> 00:01:21.685
You know, because when we do talk coaching or talk therapy, you know people can sort of say what they want and it may not be their true essence of what they're really trying to get to, and the horse is like in the background going nope, nope, nope hi, I'm glennis woods mullins and I love to help women to vibe, to be more vibrant, intuitive, beautiful and empowered in midlife.
00:01:22.025 --> 00:01:23.346
So come on, let's vibe.
00:01:23.346 --> 00:01:40.570
We always talk about how midlife involves change and we sometimes have talked about how to embrace that change.
00:01:40.570 --> 00:01:43.763
But you know, I think that we can never have enough information or enough stuff in our toolkit.
00:01:43.763 --> 00:01:47.594
You know I talk about that toolkit all the time to kind of get us through the rough spots.
00:01:47.594 --> 00:01:50.022
I know that my experience when I was midlife.
00:01:50.022 --> 00:01:52.653
I don't know if I would be considered midlife now that I'm 67.
00:01:52.653 --> 00:01:58.730
That would mean I'd have to live to be 164 or something like that, or 34.
00:01:58.730 --> 00:02:10.437
So I don't know if that's good, but anyway, I was definitely a midlifer, I'm an honorary midlifer and I know that it can be an exhilarating time but it can be a confusing time.
00:02:10.740 --> 00:02:23.664
And today we have Sue Willoughby with us who's going to be talking about how we can transform our life and that 40 is a fantastic time, a great opportunity to really embrace the idea of radical personal change.
00:02:23.664 --> 00:02:25.367
Embrace the Idea of Radical Personal Change.
00:02:25.367 --> 00:02:40.050
Sue Willoughby is the no-nonsense founder of Willoughby Coaching and she loves helping women over 40 to cut through their own BS and reclaim their lives through raw, honest power of ECWOS coaching, which is really interesting.
00:02:40.050 --> 00:02:41.052
I hope I said that correctly.
00:02:41.052 --> 00:02:42.185
I know you work with horses.
00:02:42.185 --> 00:02:43.399
Tell us a little bit about that.
00:02:43.399 --> 00:02:48.932
How did you get involved in using horses to help women feel more empowered about embracing change?
00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:53.949
Yes, that's a great question and I am actually right there with you with that midlife thing.
00:02:53.949 --> 00:02:58.211
I just turned 65 and I was thinking about that myself the other day.
00:02:58.211 --> 00:03:04.243
I'm like, oh my God, does that mean I have to live to be 130, or whatever the math is on that, I'm 67.
00:03:04.283 --> 00:03:06.961
And I'm like, or as I like to say sometimes three years from 70.
00:03:06.961 --> 00:03:07.562
So there you go.
00:03:07.963 --> 00:03:08.645
Oh, there you go.
00:03:08.645 --> 00:03:10.210
That's another way to look at it.
00:03:10.270 --> 00:03:11.252
Really paints a picture.
00:03:11.379 --> 00:03:13.685
Yeah, yeah, equus coaching.
00:03:13.685 --> 00:03:20.424
I came to it as I come to many things in my life just through a very circuitous route.
00:03:20.424 --> 00:03:46.330
I like to explore and I'm always curious about life in general, and horses have been a constant thread for me since I was a kid, whether I had my own horse or whether I was, you know, borrowing someone else's horse or just the attraction to them and finding them as healing beings, which they are incredibly intuitive and incredibly healing.
00:03:46.330 --> 00:03:51.305
And when I work with clients, I use the horse.
00:03:51.305 --> 00:03:52.989
They don't ride the horses.
00:03:52.989 --> 00:03:57.443
The horses are just there and they're in the presence of the horse.
00:03:58.304 --> 00:04:16.269
And as I'm working with the client in a coaching sense, I'm looking at the horse for feedback, and by that I mean their, their body language, their the a small twitch of their ear or how they're reacting to the person that they're in the, in the session with.
00:04:16.269 --> 00:04:21.723
So they act as a really amazing and intuitive feedback loop for me.
00:04:21.723 --> 00:04:28.043
So that is really because the here's the thing they don't lie and they don't judge you, okay.
00:04:28.043 --> 00:04:32.634
So there it's a really 1200 pound mirror, right.
00:04:32.634 --> 00:04:36.103
So you get, you're getting live feedback.
00:04:36.103 --> 00:04:46.834
You know, cause when we do talk coaching or talk therapy, you know people can sort of say what they want and it may not be their true essence of what they're really trying to get to.
00:04:46.834 --> 00:04:50.930
And the horse is like in the background going nope, nope, nope, nope.
00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:57.793
So they intuitively pick up on the person's energy and their emotions and all of that.
00:04:57.793 --> 00:05:08.346
So that must be a pretty very people have to be pretty getting used to the idea of being transparent Maybe not in front of you, but definitely the animals picking up on things.
00:05:08.346 --> 00:05:10.740
So take us through what a session is like.
00:05:10.740 --> 00:05:15.812
How do you come to the point where you're going to actually expose your client to the horse?
00:05:15.812 --> 00:05:16.661
How does that all work?
00:05:17.682 --> 00:05:24.973
Yeah, that is a great question, and exposing yourself and being transparent is a huge part of it.
00:05:24.973 --> 00:05:48.009
So someone may come to me as a referral or just out of curiosity, or maybe you know they've been in in therapy or other coaching situations and they feel perhaps that they are not, they've hit a plateau, or they just can't break through a certain thing, or this may be their first you know, just out of curiosity, what they.
00:05:48.009 --> 00:05:50.555
You know what's the deal with the horse thing.
00:05:50.555 --> 00:05:51.422
I get a lot of that.
00:05:51.422 --> 00:06:09.026
So when they come to me and they've signed up for a session, I usually have a call ahead of time, sort of a discovery call, to find out where they're at, what they want to work on, you know what things they need support around, because it really is that kind of a supportive environment.
00:06:09.026 --> 00:06:15.528
And then when I'm one-on-one with them, they will come to the barn where I work out of.
00:06:15.588 --> 00:06:16.911
I work out of a couple of places.
00:06:16.911 --> 00:06:25.112
I have my own horse and a couple of other horses at my stable, or I work with rescue horses at a rescue facility.
00:06:25.112 --> 00:06:37.209
So that's really fun too, because the horses get to be supportive in a way that you know they might not normally, you know, feel like they have a purpose as well and that's important to them.
00:06:37.209 --> 00:06:45.934
And then they come and we may talk, we may have a little introduction with the horse and once again, I go through.
00:06:45.934 --> 00:07:17.668
You know what is it in this session that you would like to work on or that you need support with, and a lot of times the intention that they initially set for the session is completely different from what we end up working on, because I'm getting immediate feedback from the horse and that gives me the opportunity to ask really open-ended questions and get their feedback on what they're seeing that the horse is doing.
00:07:17.668 --> 00:07:57.802
So the horse they're in a either a round pen with the horse and the horse is at liberty, meaning that the horse is free to do whatever the horse wants to do, so if it wants to walk around, if it wants to roll on the ground, whatever it wants to do and then I will show the client ways to interact with the horse, whether it's moving the horse or something I like to call advance and retreat, where they can approach the horse and then back off and try and make that connection with the horse in some way, which is also a great opportunity for me to observe how they're approaching the horse and then I just let them.
00:07:57.802 --> 00:08:05.608
You know, obviously there's a safety demonstration because I don't want anybody to feel uncomfortable and if they do, we may just start off with grooming.
00:08:05.608 --> 00:08:16.451
You know, maybe I'll have the horse on a lead rope in a halter and I'll hold the horse and they can just sort of get used to being around something that large.
00:08:16.552 --> 00:08:26.440
Because, honestly, people I hear a lot that, oh, I'm so afraid of the horse right, because maybe they've had a not a positive interaction with the horse, but Because maybe they've had a not a positive interaction with the horse.
00:08:26.440 --> 00:08:28.646
But also they're big and they are powerful.
00:08:28.646 --> 00:08:36.791
But the thing is that horses are prey animals and I think people forget that when they're out in the wild they're.
00:08:36.791 --> 00:08:40.260
The essence of their being is survival.
00:08:40.260 --> 00:08:46.924
So they are constantly assessing their environment through all of their senses.
00:08:46.924 --> 00:08:50.106
They are giant sensing beings, right?
00:08:50.106 --> 00:08:50.447
They're.
00:08:50.447 --> 00:08:54.369
You know everything, from hearing, sight.
00:08:54.369 --> 00:08:56.990
You know everything, smell.
00:08:56.990 --> 00:08:57.471
They're very.
00:08:57.471 --> 00:08:58.451
They like to sniff you.
00:08:58.451 --> 00:09:04.575
When you come up to them, they'll extend their nose and if you hold your hand up, they'll sniff you, kind of like a dog, right?
00:09:04.575 --> 00:09:10.538
So they use all of their senses to build their awareness of their safety in their environment.
00:09:12.020 --> 00:09:26.177
They're also herd animals, which means that they rely on each other and the ability to read what their herd mates are doing and how, like if someone else is sensing danger.
00:09:26.921 --> 00:09:37.727
So when they're with another person or persons or horses or whatever you become part of their herd so they're going to look to you and read you.
00:09:37.727 --> 00:09:48.562
They can sense your heart rate, they can sense your respiration, so they really know what's going on inside, whereas we tend to live up in our heads a lot.
00:09:48.562 --> 00:09:54.793
So they will sense what's really going on inside you and act accordingly.
00:09:54.793 --> 00:10:04.561
So they will know if you're putting up a front which we all do and know if they feel safe or not.
00:10:04.561 --> 00:10:25.506
So I'm watching the person interacting with the horse on the ground there's no riding and I'm watching what the horse is doing and it gives me the opportunity to then ask questions about their initial that they they wanted to accomplish right, whatever they wanted to take away from the session, and then I'll.
00:10:25.506 --> 00:10:31.423
It just gives me the opportunity to just open up the door and say okay, so what are you sensing from the horse right now?
00:10:32.988 --> 00:10:40.052
And no, the horse is and supposedly the horse is reflecting what it is that they're really feeling.
00:10:41.980 --> 00:10:51.707
So, for example, if the horse is on the other side of the arena and not interacting with the person at all, it could mean that they don't feel safe.
00:10:51.707 --> 00:10:54.042
It could just mean that they're being a horse, right.
00:10:54.042 --> 00:10:58.678
But people will project their interpretation of what the horse is doing.
00:10:58.678 --> 00:11:00.841
For example, the horse doesn't like me, right, the horse is bored.
00:11:00.841 --> 00:11:01.702
I love that one.
00:11:01.702 --> 00:11:06.128
The horse doesn't like me, right, the horse is bored.
00:11:06.128 --> 00:11:07.448
I love that one.
00:11:07.448 --> 00:11:08.409
The horse is bored.
00:11:09.171 --> 00:11:10.751
And that could be really actually.
00:11:10.751 --> 00:11:14.436
Maybe they're bored, maybe bored with their life or bored with who they are.
00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:18.864
It can be any of those things.
00:11:18.864 --> 00:11:22.072
It can be, you know, with the whole thing, like the horse is bored with me.
00:11:22.072 --> 00:11:26.907
The horse doesn't want to come near me, doesn't want to interact with me, it doesn't like me.
00:11:26.907 --> 00:11:35.149
Interesting and that opens up a whole new, you know can of worms like okay, let's talk about that.
00:11:36.600 --> 00:11:45.673
Well, it's interesting because one of the things you talk about is that midlife is a ideal time to make some radical transformations.
00:11:45.673 --> 00:11:53.494
Well, it's pretty radical already the idea of getting feedback from a horse to determine what's going on with you.
00:11:53.494 --> 00:11:59.120
But, in particular, why do you think it is that midlife is probably the best time to make radical change?
00:12:00.961 --> 00:13:03.845
I think that any time in our life is time for radical change, but midlife especially because for women and I do predominantly work with women is that they have come to a point in their you know, away at college, all of a sudden, and what their identity is wrapped around or wrapped with or, you know, connected with it may be a job that is going nowhere, and they don't, but it is their identity, you know, and I think a lot, of a lot of women, their identity is wrapped around what they're doing, whether it's raising a family, whether it's a certain career, and they just get to a point where they either feel like they don't have value anymore or they don't know what that value is and they don't know how to get beyond their identity that they've, that was tied up in something else.
00:13:04.546 --> 00:13:39.200
So it's it's fun to help them crack that open and find that new space to grow or change, or just find that they have all of this experience, all of this amazing life experience that they don't know what to do with right, or that they don't realize that they have, you know, like, well, I've just been raising a family for the past 20 years or 30 years or whatever.
00:13:39.220 --> 00:13:45.442
We kind of lose ourselves a little bit and women have a tendency to be out of directed when it comes to approval and all that.
00:13:45.442 --> 00:13:48.802
And one way to look at it, because I've thought about this myself.
00:13:48.802 --> 00:13:49.697
I have four daughters.
00:13:49.697 --> 00:13:59.721
They're all adults now and they all left home at different times, but they came back, not here to live with me and my husband, but to get their own places.
00:13:59.721 --> 00:14:04.245
So I had three of them here with me and then one who never did come back.
00:14:04.245 --> 00:14:10.538
She lived in DC for a long time, then relocated to Florida so, and she would always come back three or four times a year and then we would go to see her.
00:14:10.538 --> 00:14:11.903
So it didn't seem that bad.
00:14:11.903 --> 00:14:15.878
But then what happened was one of my daughters got married and moved to Texas.
00:14:15.878 --> 00:14:17.543
Another daughter got married and moved to Texas.
00:14:17.543 --> 00:14:20.375
Another daughter got married and moved to Las Vegas.
00:14:20.895 --> 00:14:25.351
Then, all of a sudden, the delayed reaction of the empty nest syndrome really hit me.
00:14:25.351 --> 00:14:40.245
I still had one that was here, but she's busy with her fiance looking for a house to build here and she's got a really successful career, and all that Now, granted, the youngest is 32 and the oldest is going to be 40 next week, so they're not like in their 20s, okay.
00:14:40.245 --> 00:14:53.285
But I've had a delayed reaction because so much of my you know at a girl, validation was tied up in their lives and so now that they're gone, it's kind of like, wow, what do I do?
00:14:53.285 --> 00:15:00.836
And of course, I have a very active business, a very active life, but I've always felt that the best thing I've ever done in my life was my kids.
00:15:00.836 --> 00:15:06.879
So now that they're gone, it's like wow, I can't even look at them and say, wow, that's great for validation.
00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:18.245
Then I thought, okay, I'm doing the exact same thing that so many women do is putting their sights on validation that's outside of themselves, instead of counting on what's going on on the inside for validation.
00:15:19.315 --> 00:15:20.458
Yeah, exactly.
00:15:20.458 --> 00:15:22.524
And how did you deal with that?
00:15:22.524 --> 00:15:24.982
Well, you know it's interesting.
00:15:25.062 --> 00:15:26.288
I'm still dealing with it.
00:15:26.288 --> 00:15:31.510
First of all, I was transparent with them about it in terms of how I was feeling, you know, because they didn't have a clue.
00:15:31.510 --> 00:15:37.686
They thought I had already gone through this, you know, 15 years ago when the first one left, or 20 years ago when the first one left, more more than that.
00:15:37.686 --> 00:15:39.769
She was 18 when she left and she's almost 40.
00:15:39.914 --> 00:15:42.143
So do the math 22 years ago.
00:15:42.816 --> 00:15:48.205
You know they thought that I had already gone through this, but not only did they leave, but they had grandchildren too.
00:15:48.205 --> 00:15:50.402
So you know it was a double whammy.
00:15:50.402 --> 00:15:52.503
You know my grandson he's 18.
00:15:52.503 --> 00:16:04.142
He's still here going to college, but he's 18 in college, working, you know, doing his thing.
00:16:04.142 --> 00:16:06.791
So I had to really sit down and talk with myself and kind of reassess my value in terms of just being a mother.
00:16:06.791 --> 00:16:08.316
What else am I valuable at and when I?
00:16:08.636 --> 00:16:21.706
You know and I go back and I look at that part of my journal just to reinforce that, because I have to kind of unlearn what I would say, what I say would say was kind of like stinking, thinking that the only thing I've ever done that was good was my kids.
00:16:21.706 --> 00:16:32.062
Because the reality is I've done a lot of things while raising them and just that alone is really an amazing thing, Some of the things that I've done while raising four kids.
00:16:32.062 --> 00:16:34.980
I look back and I still don't know and they're all close together in age.
00:16:34.980 --> 00:16:36.500
I still don't know how I did that.
00:16:36.500 --> 00:17:04.583
I never thought much about it, but now that they're gone, I am thinking about it and I'm using that to say, yes, they are one of the best things that you ever did, but the reality is the skills and things that you had to put together to do that, that's what ultimately is pretty amazing, and you can apply those skills to whatever else it is that you're doing, which is really interesting, because raising four children was like being in a bootcamp of multitasking.
00:17:04.583 --> 00:17:08.657
So, as an entrepreneur, that's what it's all about.
00:17:08.657 --> 00:17:10.461
So it was no big deal.
00:17:10.461 --> 00:17:13.909
I go okay, I know what this is like crazy, but I get it.
00:17:13.909 --> 00:17:16.219
It's my place of security.
00:17:16.219 --> 00:17:18.905
So that's kind of how I was able to transcend.
00:17:18.925 --> 00:17:27.304
But it really hit me kind of hard, Not so much the emptiness syndrome, but the fact that I was feeling like this so much later, after the first one I had left home.
00:17:27.304 --> 00:17:37.055
So you know, looking back at that, it really makes me even more aware of the myriad of feelings that we go through during this part of our lives.
00:17:37.055 --> 00:17:40.517
And one of the things I told myself was I need to be transparent.
00:17:40.517 --> 00:17:54.624
So when you were talking about the horse, I thought, oh, what a great, what a great tool, because they can maybe fool you, but they can't fool the horse, and in order to figure out what's going on with you, you have to arrive at some place of transparency.
00:17:54.624 --> 00:17:59.617
So I'm wondering if that might be one of the reasons why it's so impactful with the horses.
00:18:00.578 --> 00:18:16.431
Yeah, I love all of that that you just said and that's so spot on with what women go through and, like I said, the emotional changes, the physical changes, the delayed reaction.
00:18:16.431 --> 00:18:17.632
That was really amazing.
00:18:17.632 --> 00:18:31.067
And, yes, the horses can tune into all of that and the other thing about being with the horses that I bring into is the whole somatic aspect of it.
00:18:31.067 --> 00:18:46.248
So, when I talked earlier about all of us being in our heads, right, we're processing all of this stuff in our head, but our bodies are also processing a lot of stuff, because everything that has happened to us lives in our bodies somewhere, right?
00:18:46.268 --> 00:18:49.838
The body keeps the score Absolutely, it does Absolutely.
00:18:49.838 --> 00:19:06.791
So it's really important to kind of bring that back into the picture, bring that back into the realization of when, when you're having this reaction because horses are will bring up some powerful reactions or some powerful emotions.
00:19:06.791 --> 00:19:11.851
I've had people just basically walk into the space with the horse and start crying.
00:19:11.851 --> 00:19:22.468
You know, everything just sort of opens up because the horses have this really interesting energy sphere and that you can't ignore.
00:19:22.468 --> 00:19:37.651
It's very powerful, it's very intuitive and for some women they feel like maybe this is the first time they're actually being seen in a way that not just on the outside but also on the inside.
00:19:38.194 --> 00:19:40.242
Ladies, are you ready to vibe your life?
00:19:40.242 --> 00:19:49.104
The Vibe Wellness Woman Network is your go-to space for holistic health, empowerment and community, created just for women over 40.
00:19:49.104 --> 00:20:01.162
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That can be a pretty wow experience, because I was just thinking about this the other day when I was interviewing somebody else on the podcast.
00:20:24.544 --> 00:20:46.925
You know we have our besties that we talk to and our family that we talk to and maybe our workmates that we talk to, but there's always a certain part of us, in most cases of women, who don't talk to anybody about that piece, most cases of women who don't talk to anybody about that piece, and I would imagine that might be the very piece that the horse picks up on or reflects, because we do not.
00:20:46.925 --> 00:20:56.482
There's so many things that we don't share in comparison to what we do, even to those who are closest to us, and so much of that has to do with that outer directed need of approval.
00:20:56.482 --> 00:21:01.125
And if I say this, they're going to think how could you think that, or how could you do that, or whatever.
00:21:01.125 --> 00:21:02.590
And so we just don't.
00:21:02.590 --> 00:21:12.862
And the thing that's really interesting about that not allowing ourselves to expose that and eradicate it and get it out is that it shows up in different ways later on.
00:21:13.483 --> 00:21:16.617
I think it's one of the reasons why our country is so sick right now.
00:21:16.617 --> 00:21:21.438
I'm not talking so much emotionally, although that probably is true too, but physically.
00:21:21.438 --> 00:21:33.717
Covid hit us so hard because of the pace within which we live our lives and the fact that we're always supposed to present I got it together front and not let that slip.
00:21:33.717 --> 00:21:42.076
And it wrecks havoc over time with our immune system and we don't really know that our immune systems have been that compromised.
00:21:42.076 --> 00:21:49.001
Yeah, we're getting colds, maybe quite a bit Blues, I mean now so much that we have shots for them Makes you want to think why is that?
00:21:49.001 --> 00:22:00.480
But no preparation for an unknown assailant to come in and make us sick, because our immune system wasn't prepared for that, we hadn't been exposed to it and everything just fell apart.
00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:03.226
And I think that it was more than symbolic.
00:22:03.226 --> 00:22:15.026
I think it was really a real reflection of what's really going on with us in this country when it comes to tapping in, digging deep, peeling back the layers and finding out what's really eating us.
00:22:16.095 --> 00:22:17.458
Yeah, absolutely.
00:22:17.458 --> 00:22:33.663
And, like you said, the pandemic didn't just hit us on a physical level, it didn't just cause sickness, it caused emotional upheaval, it caused isolation and all of these things that we just didn't know how to deal with.
00:22:33.663 --> 00:22:48.317
And then, coming out of the pandemic, was this really interesting rehumanization, I call it, where we had to almost like learn how to interact with each other again.
00:22:48.317 --> 00:22:49.721
You know, I mean, we're so.
00:22:49.721 --> 00:22:57.363
You know, we, we weren't hugging, we weren't touching, we were, you know, social distancing and all this weird stuff that we're like.
00:22:57.363 --> 00:22:58.488
And you know we're still coming out of that.
00:22:58.508 --> 00:23:00.977
We're like and you know we're still coming out of that.
00:23:00.977 --> 00:23:02.943
We're still coming out of that, you're still like.
00:23:02.943 --> 00:23:05.599
You see somebody like, is it okay if I, you know?
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And some people say, yes, we're like, well, no, it's okay, you know, then you begin to feel, oh, is it me?
00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:21.086
Oh, I'm not sick, all these other dynamics that we weren't ever really dealing with, plus the stuff that we never did deal with and and I think that know, it appeared on a certain level that we came back, just like that.
00:23:21.086 --> 00:23:24.335
You know our economy came back over time and you know that.
00:23:24.335 --> 00:23:31.239
You know everybody's gone back to work and working from home or whatever, but I don't think so, yeah, it was interesting.
00:23:31.398 --> 00:23:33.402
I will just tell you this really quick story.
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I, I was in real estate and of course that all shut down and I was like, oh, I see an ad here, I'm going to go drive an Amazon delivery truck during the pandemic, like early on, and it was interesting.
00:23:51.049 --> 00:23:59.785
I mean, first of all, people had no contact with the outside world, so everybody was ordering everything on Amazon and literally it was.
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I felt like the ice cream truck.
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You know, I drive down the streets and people were literally waiting in their, in their driveways, If they were in houses, for you to come in.
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Like they're like ah, yay, a person bringing me cool stuff.
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You know there was that.
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And then you know, if you're delivering to like an apartment complex, that was weird because everybody was totally shut in their apartments, you know.
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So you put the package down in the door with like creak open golem, you know, reaching out, give me the package, you know.
00:24:28.169 --> 00:24:29.299
So it was weird.
00:24:29.299 --> 00:24:48.301
It was just seeing some of those different interactions and I think you know I felt like pretty fortunate I had my own home, I could walk around my neighborhood pretty freely, I wasn't trapped in an apartment or a condo or something else, but yeah, yeah, we're still coming out of it.
00:24:48.801 --> 00:25:05.239
Honestly, I mean, we think that everything's back to normal, but it's not whole reaction during this election cycle is all convoluted into the fact that we still have a lot of healing to do.
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There's still a lot of hurt.
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And then you take into consideration those midlife women who were going through all of that at that time, trying to keep their families together, and meanwhile their hormones are all over the place and all the kids are at home and husband's at home and people are working from home, going to school from home.
00:25:24.286 --> 00:25:32.019
You've got to cook and do all these things and you're going through your own emotional things and don't follow your own because your body is changing.
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I was very busy during the pandemic season with anxiety, depression, obesity, prevention for some people, other obesity, just a plethora of issues that people were trying to deal with.
00:25:46.326 --> 00:25:57.645
But now that we are at a place where we're trying to move forward and looking for in some cases people are looking for some solutions to heal from what they're doing.
00:25:57.645 --> 00:26:03.347
Why would you think that working with horses would be particularly good for someone coming out, or something like that?
00:26:04.394 --> 00:26:05.516
Yeah, that's a great question.
00:26:05.516 --> 00:26:26.529
I think that well for me and how they've helped me, horses are really good at helping you build self-awareness, because they are so present in their own bodies and in their own space that it helps us have a better understanding of what is inside of us.
00:26:26.529 --> 00:26:38.009
Once again, you know coming back into your body, understanding, you know being able to say, oh okay, I'm feeling this emotion or that I'm experiencing this thing.
00:26:38.009 --> 00:26:40.838
Where do I feel it in my body?
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Is it something that I recognize or that I can recognize?
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That is when you're triggered.
00:26:48.119 --> 00:26:51.999
Or there's something else that you know you're making a decision.
00:26:51.999 --> 00:26:53.884
What comes up for you in your body?
00:26:53.884 --> 00:26:55.260
Do you feel it in your gut?
00:26:55.260 --> 00:26:58.674
Do you feel it like a you know, a tingling sensation?
00:26:58.674 --> 00:27:05.366
Is it tightness in your chest, so that you can start to be aware of when these things come up for you?
00:27:05.915 --> 00:27:18.950
Oh, okay, I can take a step back and be more observational rather than reactionary, without just, you know, boom, exploding in anger or anxiety or whatever.
00:27:18.950 --> 00:27:22.364
How can I be more aware of that?
00:27:22.364 --> 00:27:37.489
So I think awareness is one thing, being more grounded is another thing, and that once again brings you back into your body and then how we communicate, because horses are nonverbal obviously.
00:27:37.489 --> 00:27:40.300
I mean, you can talk a blue streak to your horse, right, I do.
00:27:40.300 --> 00:27:42.214
I talk to my horse all the time and he's like, yeah, whatever.
00:27:42.476 --> 00:28:05.641
But being more conscious and aware of how we're communicating with others non-verbally because it's really important how, how we, our body language, our, how we convey messages verbally, and then also the non-verbal piece of the verbal conversation is really important.
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And also patience.
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Horses are very patient and they will let you know if they're not getting a clear message.
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So if you are asking a horse to do something, whether it's move or whatever it is, they will wait and they'll be like that's not quite right.
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Can you tell me a different way?
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And you kind of go, oh, okay, well, maybe I'm not being clear.
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So they can really help you with your communication skills as well, and timing and all of those things.
00:28:43.247 --> 00:28:59.092
So it really helps you peel back the layers and then also helps you figure out what is effective and what's not effective, how you can change your reactions to things, to yourself and to others.
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So it's a beautiful thing.
00:29:02.002 --> 00:29:02.945
That's amazing.
00:29:02.945 --> 00:29:06.425
Now I know we're on a podcast and we're talking virtually.
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Do you work with people virtually as well?
00:29:07.634 --> 00:29:08.134
I do, Okay, and where is your the virtually?
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Do you work with people virtually?
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