Culture Of The Heart

A CULTURE OF THE HEART

Including yourself in the harmony of connection

By: Kerri Lake, U.S.A.

Sixteen formerly wild horses now live together in a five-acre pasture in Western Colorado. After they were removed from their wild homes, these horses were considered dangerous. Trainer after trainer was unable to “break” these motley souls. They were labeled “failures” at being a valuable service to humanity. It was decided that there was no hope for these ones, that their greatest value to humans would be realized at the slaughterhouse.

Today, ten people will step into the five-acre pasture with these “dangerous” horses. There is a little anxiety. How will the horses respond? Will they accept human presence after other humans worked so hard to “break” them? Will the horses resent human presence?

The value of Mustang lives is measured differently in this gathering. These people have shown up to simply be with the horses. There will be no training, no ropes or whips. On this day, the value of the horses is found simply in their presence.

Rather than all ten entering the pasture at once, they break up into pairs. Two open the gate and close it behind them. The next two enter. Then the next two. Horses stand in small groups,

finishing their breakfast of rich, Colorado hay.

The herd is in constant communication with one another. Each watches the other for information about their visitors. Ears move, individuals shift their weight, and they use their breath to communicate a general sense of ease, or danger. As the humans enter their world, the horses munch their hay without skipping a beat, and they exhale. They are relaxed. Even in their relaxation, all of the horses are aware, connected and communicating.

Most barely lift their head to directly acknowledge their visitors. Annie is different. She’s the tallest and nearly the biggest Mustang in the herd. She happens to love connecting with people who love connecting with her! She breaks from her meal and walks straight over to greet her guests. Annie comes with a history of refusing domination. One man tried to rope her and physically force her into submission. If Annie feels threatened, she may stand and defend herself. Wild horses prefer running toward safety, but they will turn and defend when there is no escape. The man who tried to dominate Annie found himself in the hospital with a separated shoulder. His injury wouldn’t have happened if he had connected with Annie and listened, rather than use force. Unfortunately, it was Annie who was saddled with a bad reputation for causing the injury.

Khaleesi Knowing this history, and watching her approach, the group of ten had an opportunity to choose fear or simply relax with the rest of the herd and welcome Annie’s connection. Everybody chose relaxation. As Annie stepped up to the first person, her demeanour was soft and warm. She let out her breath, lowered her head and invited touch. A human hand reached out to stroke Annie’s neck, her face, her shoulder. Everybody’s energy expanded. Everyone’s heart expanded. And this was the beginning of an effortless day among the herd. Horses live in community with their hearts open, and they invite humans to join them in that shared connection.

WHAT IF HUMANS CREATED COMMUNITY LIKE HORSES DO?

As a species, the horse intends harm to nothing. Horses organize their complex social structure for a common priority of harmony, or wellness for all. They share their sense, vision and collaboration for the chance to be nourished. Horses don't think about harmony, they don’t discuss it or analyze it. They feel it. Embodied harmony is a way of being that is largely unfamiliar to people, but it is a presence that speaks to the human heart with intuitive clarity.

After Annie broke the ice and found the humans receptive, Lucy and Shirley came over to say hello. Then Tamaya, Shadow and Big Rich showed up. Laverne and Tahotay weren’t far

behind. People stood in pairs, randomly spaced around the 5 acres. Horses were free to approach or keep their distance, as they wished. There was no force by human or horse. Radiant heart energy touched everyone present, relaxing both the body and the mind.

Horses have an energetic presence that extends far beyond their physical body. People came to spend time among the Mustangs to experience this sense of connection. Just standing, just being with the horses, gives people the chance to experience a deeper connection with their own heart. Opening the heart puts horses and humans in a shared field of communication. It’s a feeling that you can’t “un-experience” once you’ve felt it. You have it forever, to share in all of your relationships, as you wish.

Horses receive their information about life, the environment, and each other through their senses. Individuals harmonize with one another because they share a common priority - life in harmony. In the absence of an external threat, even minor conflicts are just a form of communication. They are simply “being horses”. Their sense of safety is rooted in their ability to connect and communicate clearly with others, to listen and move toward life together. In their shared priority, the entire herd can respond when they sense danger or disharmony. Connection at this level offers the experience of never truly being alone. Someone always has your back. Denied this connection, individuals can be overcome with anxiety when forced to live alone or in isolation. They are missing the shared communication with others that provides a foundational sense of safety.

RE-ORGANIZE YOUR AWARENESS

Rango and Clancy have been watching and feeling the herd and the people from a distance. In their unique ways, they sense whether they’d like to approach or stay where they are. The equine mind notices, calculates and translates information so that movement is true to what they feel. The safety of a herd blossoms from their willingness to feel and communicate their sense to one another. Some of the herd feels good approaching; others occupy a different part of the pasture. Together, they create a harmony where everyone feels safe, just as they are.

How might we live and interact differently if we were provided an education of intuition around kindergarten-age? What if senses were valued, as much as the more common indoctrination into social conformity, at the beginning of our schooling?

The human mind was never meant to navigate the world all by itself, but it has lost touch with its innate “herd,” the body and the heart. Just as horses remain aware of their senses (their body), humans can do the same. The body is designed to communicate senses - it is the part of you that is always and forever in the present moment. Feeling your senses always includes thinking. In fact, Terri & Shadow sensory information can help the mind navigate life with much greater

ease. Give the mind a job of prioritizing sensory information, and it begins to function with intuitive clarity.

INTUITION PROVIDES INFORMATION

Eight weeks ago, two new Mustang mares arrived from quarantine. Arya and Sansa were in quarantine because they came from the “killpen”, their lives spared from slaughter by the action of humans who find value in their existence.

Why were those two saved and not the others? How do people choose to save one wild horse and not another?

In this particular case, the horses and the humans are making choices together. There are some horses who put out the call, through their heart and their energy, that they are ready for a new kind of life. Human hearts sense this call. Human intuition produces a feeling through the body. A human mind recognizes the feeling and takes action.

Kerri & Kalvin with Laverne

Arya and Sansa are ready to be released from smaller pens to join the herd. They’ll move onto the five acres to integrate and harmonize with Annie, Lucy and the others. What’s the best way to release them? Together? One at a time? Along with experience in evaluating the health and management of a horse, people simply make their choices by “feel.” Experience alone offers only a partial foundation that can provide the greatest support when integrated with intuitive information. Horses may know how to find water from their experience in the terrain, but it is their intuitive sense that lets them know whether it’s a good time of day to approach. When a person is open to recognizing sensory information, their intuition will always guide them to dynamic and nourishing choices well founded in experience.

A FRIENDSHIP WITH THE MIND

A wild horse’s education is all about sensing the world around them. Because our general human education did not include language and guidance for our senses and intuitive connection, the mind has been expected to notice, label, interpret, calculate, analyze, decide, attempt, re-group, try again, re-analyze and try again all by itself. No wonder it produces anxiety! What if the mind isn’t really a problem? What if it’s just missing some important sensory information?

Separating the mind from the senses is impossible they are designed to work together. Senses provide information, and the mind translates it. The mind was never meant to figure out “how to be human” all by itself - it’s meant to work in harmony with its good friends: the body and the heart.

Annie and Lucy are not using their mind to analyze whether this group of humans are safe to approach. They are feeling a sense of safety. No matter how much analysis the human mind engages in, people also take action because of how it feels when they do. Asking people to

become aware of what they feel is tender and often frightening business for one reason only judgment. Time spent with horses can guide people to experience themselves, if even for a few seconds, without analysis or judgment. Horses let you “just be you.” When humans are willing to feel, and judge themselves as little as the horses judge them, innate connection and intuitive clarity can be restored.

**Take a moment here and try the Be Kind with Your Mind exercise on page 24**

A CULTURE OF THE HEART

Humanity is experiencing a profound and global shift. It’s time to recreate the way we are "being human." People's hearts are asking for a new kind of clarity in the way we relate to one another as individuals, societies and cultures, and to ourselves.

Sixteen formerly wild, formerly dangerous, formerly un-valued Mustangs live together in harmony. They now welcome humans to share their space. Harmony is created through openness, connection and the absence of judgment. Listening to her own senses, Annie communicates to the others that she finds no danger among her visitors. Lucy hears her and relaxes into gentle interaction. Rango and Clancy eventually come forward to share a little closer connection. Arya and Sansa watch and feel the absence of threat, learning that there are humans who are willing and able to listen, to connect.

While humans are the only species capable of excluding themselves (temporarily) from their innate harmony with life, the opportunity for connection perpetually exists. Nature does not operate from a priority of correctness or conformity. It harmonizes for life. Any living being who includes themselves in nature’s movement toward life can experience the sense of “never alone" that we witness in a cohesive herd of horses. As two or more people share that state of being, they generate a harmonic connection, whether they are among horses or not. Once you've felt it, you can't un-feel a touch between hearts. Sense and intuition open the way for a heart-connection between horses, between people, and between all species.

It is a unique honour to share this kind of space with once-wild horses who could walk away but choose to connect. They love being with people who are tuned to a culture of the heart. ~*~

“To listen like a horse is to listen without judgment.” Kerri Lake

BE KIND WITH YOUR MIND - AN EXERCISE

The mind is trying to help you - it’s been trying to help you survive by being constantly active. Well-intended as that may be, the thought patterns might not be “helping.” You can take a ten second break from any self-talk and chaotic thought patterns. Let’s start by folding your hands.

If you don’t look down at your hands, how do you know if they are touching each other? Take a moment to notice your hands, and then…exhale.

With your awareness on your hands, offer your mind a genuine “thank you,” right from your heart.

“My dear friend, thank you for working so hard for me.”

Take the full ten seconds. Or just take five, if ten is too much. Watch how your body responds when your “thank you” is genuine.

How does it feel to be you when, from the heart, you acknowledge your mind for all of the hard work it’s done to bring you here? For ten seconds, don’t judge where you are. Simply experience your hands, experience your body. And let your body breathe.

When the mind is acknowledged by the heart, how does the body respond? How does it feel to be you?

Once the mind realizes it’s being genuinely thanked for its efforts, it tends to quiet down all by itself. Directing the mind to watch the body gives it a job that actually helps reduce anxiety. The body responds with immediate validation - in those ten seconds, did your body relax more?

For horses and other non-humans, organizing for harmony happens without thought. For humans, it’s an option, one of many. We have the flexibility and capacity to choose how we organize our awareness, to include ourselves in this innate nature, or not.

Where horses have one another to share senses and information for a sense of safety, people must begin sharing senses first within themselves.

Play with this awareness. Once you feel the body respond to a relaxed mind, you can always regenerate the experience, ten seconds at a time. ~*~