Are you interested in deepening your connection with nature … are you someone who is interested in heartfelt and respectful relationships with our animal kin, someone on a journey of self discovery, self awareness and growth, perhaps someone who needs to take time to pause and renew your energy in a complex world to rethink the path you’re on … then this experience might be for you.
My sessions are gentle, delightful, and supportive and our time spent together can be therapeutic (not therapy.) You’ll have more skills when you leave.
Best of all, you need NO experience to participate, just come with an open heart and a curious mind!
Each session blends time with donkeys, time in nature, and simple creative exploration.
You will:
Spend quiet, guided time with the donkeys
Explore body language, presence, and non-verbal communication
Expand your senses, as the donkeys do by nature
Learn about donkeys, their histories, characteristics and ability to partner with us
Make something simple with your hands
Use breath, attention and creativity to settle your nervous system
Leave with fun and doable creative ideas and personal insight.
Why work with Donkeys?
Equine Facilitated Wellness encourages human wellness, healing and growth through working in partnership with horses, donkeys or mules. In my practice with donkeys, I appreciate their remarkable sensitivity, perceptiveness, and intuition. They are socially intelligent beings, fully engaged with their senses, living in the present without ruminating about the past or worrying about the future. Since they don’t experience the world from a solely cognitive place, equine have the gift of being able to relate to us on an emotional and somatic (body) level. We can learn so much from them!
As prey animals, donkeys use their senses in powerful informative ways. They respond to energy, body language, tone and trust. In their presence, we are invited to slow down, to become more grounded and aware of ourselves and to soften the chatter in our minds and return to what is happening now.
Their small stature is both endearing and comforting without being intimidating and as equine partners, donkeys can assist us in personal development, learning, therapy, and wellness.
About the art-making experience:
Being creative is in all of our natures but sometimes needs a bit of coaxing and support. Exploring creativity through a myriad of art making projects, adding gentle breath work for focus and present moment awareness, is fun, expansive and empowering.
Working with short, playful and immensely accessible expressive art-making, this is a wonderful creative approach to mindfulness, accessing a focused “flow” state of mind. We can find supportive ways for you to carve out a bit of time for a daily practice that can help to sustain us.
Being in Nature:
The forest, wetlands, birds, textures, sounds, and seasonal changes are our landscape. Escaping from the traffic, the hustle and the noise helps to quiet us, allowing room for listening and tenderness.
Both nature and donkeys help us slow down, notice more, and reconnect with the living world around us.
“In the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.” ~ Kahlil Gibran
