“Hope is the companion of power and mother of success; for who so hopes strongly has within him the gift of miracles.”

Samuel Smiles Photo by Julie Davidson photography

Hope. When it’s there, we can feel it. It has a power that can motivate us, encourage us, uplift and inspire us. When it’s not there, it can be easy to forget its importance. When things get rough it can be hard to remember to connect with hope, but it is during these times that we benefit the most from being hopeful. Hope is an energy, a mindset of openness and possibility that looks to the future, serving as a guiding light towards what could be and leading us onward with positive focus.

When we connect with […]

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About a year prior to finding Stand InBalance, Emily* lost her mother to Covid19 and lost her job. The stress of the situations combined meant she never really had the opportunity to acknowledge or process her grief. Emily found herself in a constant state of movement and anxiety; she felt a strong need to stay busy and active, allowing herself no time and space for rest or recovery. Finding both the time and the monetary resources to pay for any professional support for her mental health was extremely difficult. Eventually, she found her way to Stand InBalance, and with the help of the Equipowerment Foundation for Healing Horses and Helping Humans (EFH4) an opportunity was made available for her to be able to take some sessions at […]

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“You have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” —Louise L. Hay

photo credit: The Equine Connection

Relationships are how we perceive the world we live in. It is the interaction between ourselves and everything outside of ourselves that creates experience, conveys information, evokes emotion and generates life. We’re usually quite focused on the relationships we have with others – things, people, places, etc. – but what about the relationship that we have with ourselves? Often, this relationship doesn’t get the attention it deserves. It can go unnoticed or neglected, taking a backseat to the interactions and experiences we have with others. However, our relationship with ourselves, is the most fundamental relationship we can have. It has the potential to be the […]

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Horses LOVE to take care of themselves. They sleep whenever they want, they play whenever they want, and they look to each other for shared grooming time. The health of the herd depends on how each individual horse takes care of themselves. Equines natural survival instincts insist that they care for themselves and they have the freedom to do so without questioning it or judging it!

How often do you find yourself in some kind of debate about whether or not you should take a day off, or schedule that much needed massage? More often than not, we tend to put ourselves last, not realizing just how important our own well-being is in order for our best Selves to show up in our lives. Witholding […]

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Once in a while, someone crosses your path and you are forever changed. There’s something about them that makes you feel seen, heard, safe and loved on a level that’s not often felt, a healing happening in places you didn’t know that needed to be healed and in an instant you are connected to something greater than yourself. Our beloved Condina, the matriarch of our herd, was such a creature.

To know her was to love her. She was kind, patient, loving and willing. She embodied beauty and grace with a large and undeniable presence. Horses knew it and humans knew it. She was the queen, referred to by us simply as “Mama”.

“Mama” taught us about the joy of a good brush and Self-care. She taught the value of being […]

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