Here at Round the World Magazine, we believe in the power of healing with animals.
From finding comfort in service animals while attending large social gatherings to balancing our energy with the rumbling frequencies of a cat’s purr, we know that our animals play a significant role in mending our species.
Until recently, we hadn’t heard of healing with horses via a method known as Equine Gestalt Coaching.
The Equine Gestalt Coaching Method® was developed by Melisa Pearce, a core founder since 1989, of the horse-human healing movement.
The method is experiential in nature and involves the horse as an active partner with the coach in the client’s exploratory process.
The horse’s interaction is integrated with positive coaching, somatic awareness guidance, and Gestalt methodology to help the client examine his/her life and choices with a focus on designing a positive future.
We met with Liz Lane, who is, among other presentations, a qualified Equine Gestalt Coach. She is the owner of Hearts and Hooves Connection Coaching and she gave us the low down on how we can heal with horses.
Read about what sort of services she offers in her home town in Wales, UK, and also virtually across the world.
What do Equine Gestalt Coaches offer?
As an Equine Gestalt Coach, Liz offers to support her clients to enter a safe, confidential space of self-inquiry along with her partners, the horses.
This usually involves a visit to Liz’s field where she will sit with her client(s) either sharing direct space with the horses or seated just outside of their space.
Liz will connect in with what is ‘up’ for you. This means inviting whatever words to be spoken that want to be spoken by her client. Those words could be ones that are said in the mind, ones that are heard as an inner critic, ones that were once said aloud, and that are held as truth and ones that describe a life story.
Words hold and transmit energy, sometimes that energy can be stuck in the body. Liz and the horses will hold a safe space to release that which is stuck, to speak the truth, to feel lighter, and in more connection to our true selves.
What Can I Expect from a Healing with Horses Experience?
Horses are mystical and elegant beings that offer us wisdom that leads us onto the journey to self-discovery.
Over thousands of years of interacting with humans, we have historically bonded with the horse in many different ways. This includes transportation, food, battle mounts, sport as well as companionship.
Times are changing with our relationship with horses and if we listen closely enough, we’ll discover that the horse is, in fact, the teacher.
With the EGC method, the horse is a cofacilitator, in fact, they stretch beyond that. The physical presence of this 1200 lb animal is enough to still a beating heart, to bring immense peace and a feeling of pure love and connection.
With four feet firmly connected to the earth, horses are one with nature, the wind caressing their mane.
We are living in a very interesting and perhaps testing time on our physical and inner well being.
Liz will be able to offer support to find the tap within you to ‘fill up your cup’. She’ll start by finding out how ‘full your cup’ actually is! And asking if you reach out from a place of vulnerability, who will meet you?
Do you choose to discover? Or is it ‘safer’ seemingly to keep it all inside?
Every session is different depending on the person. Liz is qualified and experienced to get you to look inward and begin the healing process.
What makes Liz a great Healing Guide?
On Liz’s journey through life so far, she has experienced a mixture of situations where sometimes she has chosen to reach out and sometimes has chosen to look within for guidance. A wide variety of guides have shown up and Liz believes the ultimate guide is her inner knowing or intuition.
Liz’s journey is about moving away from judgment, full stop.
This means, to Liz, that she perceives her choices as learning opportunities, neither right nor wrong, good or bad.
She gathers more information about herself and thus can feel more deeply into what has more ease for her.
These awarenesses have arisen through choosing a long path of personal discovery.
Liz is always selflessly thinking about others and how she can help steer on healing journeys.
She asks:
- What might you discover?
- Who might be there for you? Maybe an ‘other’ being, human or animal.
- Maybe you can be there for yourself in a way you never knew before.
- What else is possible?
- Do you have a choice in the direction that you travel to?
- Is your life a one-way track without possibility of other?
- Is that ok for you?
- What if you discovered that there are options?
- Would you choose to investigate?
Liz supports people on their journey toward the personal true self. It might look like energy leaving the body as a vocal or physical movement expression, a shift in how a person feels physically, or/and a sense of coming home to oneself.
Some of the services that are offered on the Hearts and Hooves Connection Coaching website are:
- Private coaching: One-on-one sessions with Liz me, partnering with the horses in a safe, confidential & private environment (1½ hrs).
- Phone/Skype coaching: Flexible support and exploration through the use of a variety of coaching tools from the comfort of your own home (30 min calls).
- Group sessions: Regular monthly gatherings for support, connection, fun (!) & self-exploration with the horses.
- Workshops: Please contact me to discuss the possibility of a custom-designed full/half-day experience for you and your group.
- Packages: These include 3 telephone connection calls & 1 or 2 horse experiences. Usually scheduled over 1 month, flexible to suit you.
- Liz also offers a one to one coaching ‘walk and talk’ service away from the horses. This is an opportunity to be heard at a deep level whilst experiencing the beauty of the Welsh landscape.
Areas which can be explored include:
- Self-esteem
- Life purpose/reconnecting with all of you
- Relationships
- Grief/loss
- Self-reliance
- Life transitions
- Vulnerability vs Strength
Along with being a qualified EGC (Equine Gestalt Coach), Liz is a BSc Animal Science graduate, a Groove Dancefloor Facilitator, along with other qualifications in Reiki and Access Bars.
Liz brings many parts of self to the table, she is an adventurer, a gypsy free spirit, a nature lover, a believer of possibilities, a dancer, a safe place in a storm. Liz’s top value is connection and she strives to be open to welcome new experiences, sharing time and space with all beings.
How Can I Contact Liz?
Liz invites you to gift yourself your own clarity in a safe, exploratory way in nature and with the support of her four-legged, huge-hearted, grounded friends, the horses.
Liz is based in North Wales, UK.
For a chat about how Liz and her beautiful horses can support you please email liz@heartsandhoovesconnectioncoaching.com and/or visit www.heartsandhoovesconnectioncoaching.com.
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