Horses are masters at focus, as prey animals, their lives depend on it. Their instincts are very keen about where they are directing their focus and intention. Sometimes it’s about finding water or food. Sometimes it’s about sensing danger or fleeing from it. Whatever their focus may be, you can bet that once they’ve chosen it, their actions and intentions are aligned. They don’t waste energy thinking or over-analyzing a situation. They are present. They aren’t attempting to do too many things at once, just the most important: “What is my goal?” and “What is happening right now around me.” There’s no room for excess thought or action.

When intensely focused on something, horses also remain aware of their environment, for safety reasons. In contrast, once we […]

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“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”

– Hans Hofmann

When we think of simplifying our lives, our first thought usually goes to our closets, our cupboards or our bookshelves. We’ve heard it time and time again: simplify, declutter, get rid of things you don’t need and you’ll have more freedom, be happier and more effective. While simplifying our physical world can help create a sense of ease and space, simplicity can be applied to much more than just our possessions.

The definition of simplicity is “the quality or condition of being easy to understand or do.”  Simple, isn’t it? Simplicity simply means easy, non-complex. 

With the continual barrage of information and options we are presented with day to day it’s easy to get overwhelmed, take on more than […]

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Jeff* and his wife, Sharon*, came to Stand InBalance because they were struggling with their 13 year old daughter.  During one session they chose to connect with a large donkey which they decided represented their “daughter”.  As they began walking their “daughter”  to the barrel labeled “communication” the donkey stopped and refused to move any closer.  While Jeff and Sharon appeared to be communicating with each other and working together, the donkey’s reaction said otherwise!

We asked Jeff and Sharon to pause and become mindful and open to understanding what the donkey was expressing through his body language. This helped them shift into a more amenable mindset. The next step was helping them both let go of negative self-talk and body tension so they could be open to letting their donkey teach them about authentic communication.  If they made assumptions, went back to negative thought patterns, or weren’t really honest […]

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