Away from the Pain

I recently learned an interesting fact about horses and how and when they move away from pressure.  Since my goal and heart this year are geared toward helping others with an equine assisted activities program, I thought this horse fact would be perfect to compare to our tendencies to immediately run from pressure in times of difficulty.

Horses are flight animals (they are not predatory) and while we might think that when physically attacked by a predator they’d immediately attempt to flee or move away from the pressure of a bite.  However, what I learned is that they in fact stay still; they do not move away because it would cause more damage to their bodies.  They wait until the bite pressure from a predator is released and then move away from it as fast as possible to save their life.

How do we deal with pressure?  How do we deal with what might seem a daily deluge of difficulty and stress?  Do we immediately run from it or wait until we have a clear view of when best to move away from it?

Often times stress is self-induced.  We leave little time for our own well-being or we over schedule ourselves to a point of exhaustion.

If we take into consideration the wait, the true observation and realization of where the pain, stress or difficulty comes from, we can better assess when to truly move away from what is causing these detrimental habits.

Metaphorically speaking, if we, like the horse, are in danger of something negatively affecting our lives, we need to stand in that moment and move away when the time is right.  Our lives and our health depend on it.  Once we are able to move away, if we need to run like the wind then do so; if we can move away from it calmly even better.  However, the point being – what holds us in negative spaces sometimes feels impossible to get away from; it is our own truth and our own calm, specific assessment of the right time to move that will keep us safe, healthy and productive.