“Great Magazine!
Where can I find a copy?”
naturalpet
“You mean Natural
Awakenings Long Island?
Why, it’s everywhere!”
Find YOUR copy at any of these places
throughout Long Island:
Doctor’s offices Librarys Best Yet Market Fairway Grocery King Kullen Market Athleta & Lu Lu Lemon Stop And Shop Grocer Waldbaums Grocery Whole Foods Wild by Nature Yoga Studios
44 Long Island Edition
Their Gentle Empathy Helps Us Heal by Sandra Murphy
HEART-TO-HEART WITH A HORSE
P
hysical therapists have long used horses to help patients improve balance or strengthen core muscles.
Now they’re helping to teach empathy. Given a horse’s significant size,
sometimes distracting surroundings and the need for safety, humans need to learn the animal’s non-verbal cues, and to reg- ulate their own. Close interaction without riding is proving to be helpful for those dealing with addictions, trauma and grief, and for employees to improve their com- munication and teamwork skills. Kelly Wendorf and Scott Strachan, co-founders of Equus, in Santa Fe, work with both individuals and orga- nizations. Strachan emphasizes, “This isn’t magic. Horses reflect our feelings back to us. If we’re nervous, the horse will be more skittish.” “We’ve had executives arrive with cell phones firmly in hand and leave holding soggy tissues instead,” comments Wendorf. “For them, it was unexpectedly emotional.” For addicts caught up in a debili-
tating cycle, “Equine therapy gets the brain firing in a new direction,” says
www.NaturalAwakeningsLI.com
Constance Scharff, Ph.D., director of addiction research at Cliffside Malibu, in California. “Patients may say they’re fine when they’re not, but you can’t lie to a horse. They have boundaries; if you’re angry, a horse won’t tolerate your behavior and will walk away.” Scharff notes, “Equine therapy is complementary to psychotherapy medicine, and one tool we use in approaching addiction. Depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can be the underlying issue, so we can address it, to understand why the person became an addict.” Wendorf relates the story of an
18-year-old client facing body image issues. “Five horses approached her and touched her with their noses on her arms and legs. Where they touched was where she had been cutting herself to try to relieve her emotional pain.” “People feel a powerful connection
when they let down their defenses and a horse responds,” says Sheryl Jordan, equestrian director at Salamander Resort & Spa, in Middleburg, Virginia. “Our
Osetrik/
Shutterstock.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56