Ride a horse!

First, sending lots of strength and encouragement, no matter what!

And in this essay…

It sounds crazy to just do it, to ride a horse, but it doesn’t have to be fancy or any sort of long-term commitment. There are lots of therapeutic riding schools that specialize in healing trauma. And literally any farm will be open to taking a tour or get some help with grooming. If you can get yourself to a farm, learn to care for a horse, maybe take a walk around a field, you’ll still get the benefits. Riding has helped me:

-with confidence and bravery. Something about sitting up high, trusting another being with your safety, it is an amazing feeling of accomplishment and power.

-feel safe. The horse is strong enough to carry me and most of them want to keep me safe. It’s a practice in mutual trust.

-get more physical energy: constant movement, building muscle, feeling stronger.

-more competent. Even if I feel incompetent in other areas of life, I get a sense of purpose caring for another being.

-emotional intelligence. Horses are emotional reflections and often very grounding for anxiety and nervousness (depending on the horse!)

(I did a partial lease of a horse, which is an option most places if you want to commit further - cheaper than ownership; but you get a special relationship with one animal. This is a very sweaty Peyton. See also: my rec of giving a horse a bath!)

Thank you for reading my essay. Good luck 💕