A Different Way of Meditating

Feeling perfectly content to be so physically small in this great big space, I was sitting on the ground in what I have come to call the Temple of the Horse and though no other humans were there, I was far from alone.

We were just watching the snow gently falling outside through the arched doorway that led from the arena to the forest. A spring snow is not at all uncommon in the mountains of North Carolina. It was so quiet that day, the air was fresh and it looked like a winter wonderland, cold enough for snow but not too cold to be outside. I just wanted to ‘BE’ with them… without an agenda … enjoying the beauty of everything we had right there … together ‘just BEing’.

During those moments of quiet meditation and a deep sense of gratitude, he quietly came over and stood within inches of me. Normally I would have gotten up, since the sheer size from that angle felt immense and could have actually been overwhelming. As I looked up at him, I felt his commanding presence yet I felt safe, he was the alpha horse of the herd … and I was in his house.

Zorro stood so close that I had to bend back to see his great white head and mane. He is an Andalusian, the white dancing war-horse of Spain and is strikingly beautiful. He slowly lowered his face all the way down to my level, until his eye was literally within inches of mine. It is not common for a horse to look a human in the eye, yet he was looking right into mine so intently, so sincerely and without as much as a blink. I felt his warm breath blow on my hands and on some level I was aware of the sacred gift he was offering.

Suspended in Time

I am not sure when it happened or what prompted the shift, but for that moment it felt as if we were suspended in time.

We were caught in an inward spiral and connecting from one heart into the place where we were no longer separate beings, into a place where all of us… animal, human and nature were all connected and still one.

I could sense that he was trying to tell me something, something so deep and personal that everything seemed to fall away from around us. I was conscious of having to let go of thought and I felt tears quickly rushing to my eyes, tears of relevance and honor with a mutual wish to trust and to learn…

I became lost in those deep black pools within his eyes and there was a sense of recognition that I felt from within my body. He was teaching me something ... I knew he was helping me to heal on an inner level, I could feel a sense of deep peace within my body and the bliss that comes from the feelings of comfort and love.

Blessed with Rejuvenation

Within a few moments, my awareness of the space that surrounded me came back. Zorro had shifted his head and he began to lick and chew for a moment. I could feel the energy shift in completion and he walked away and stood in the sun that was streaming through the archway just twenty feet from where I sat.

In the precious moments that followed, there was a warm reception from the rest of the herd as each gentle being came over to the place where I was still sitting. One by one they got close enough to gently sniff my head and touch me with their soft warm muzzles. It felt as if each of them in their own way had been part of this loving ceremony.

I knew that these were special moments and we all had benefited from the experience. The feeling was so peaceful, like a very deep meditation.

Meditation had never came easily for me, but this happened so simply and within moments. Everything around me just stopped and I felt all at once comforted and connected to some higher awareness within myself. The outcome was a sense of rejuvenation, as if I had a good long nap and had woken refreshed, energized and at peace.

From the Human Experience to Clarity and Bliss

If someone had told me about this years ago, before I had done research on the healing effect horses can have on personal well-BEing and how they can help with the development of human awareness, I would have questioned the viability of such a concept. But for now, as I am left with this feeling of complete awe and awareness, I know my experience with Zorro was possibly one of the greatest gifts I could have been given. He helped me to slow down enough to find the clarity and bliss within myself and he taught me that I could easily go there anytime I needed.

In one moment I was in a state of the ‘human experience’ all of my thoughts and lists of ‘to dos’ had been swirling in my head. By comparison, it was a state of discomfort, out of the vortex as Abraham-Hicks would say. But simply and within a moment, I was once again deep within that vortex of connection, and I felt the peaceful alignment with my heart that has to be heaven...