Circles of Nature Wellness Consulting

Trauma? What does Nature & Horses have to do with that!

6/25/2019

I have recently been asked to better clarify what exactly it is that I do, as a Life Coach, as a Facilitator of Equine Assisted Coaching and a Hiking Guide. What is it about Nature and Horses the helps us to make sense of the trauma's in our lives, and how do they help us move through them and heal.

What is trauma? Trauma is the response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms an individual's ability to cope, causes feeling of helplessness, diminishes their sense of self and their ability to feel the full range of emotions and experiences.

What causes trauma? This is so different for everyone, the particular trauma is different, how it affects us is different and how we deal with it is different than anyone else. The common thread though is that it does affect us but our society these days will only let us show this on the outside for a limited amount of time... "that's do bad but it's time to get over it and move on"!

We're still suffering, but we hide it and we hide from it. It's scary to look at and it's scary to deal with it so we distract ourselves with work, family, phones, computers....

"If I ignore it long enough", it will just go away... nope! We just start to feel the effects in different ways, again, different for everyone but there are consequences.

I'm very grateful, my love of nature and my horses went a long way to helping me make sense of some of the crap that landed on my plate. Even though I may not have been consciously aware of what my horses were doing for me I just knew that I always felt better after being around them, mentally, emotionally and physically. They were a "reset button"!

I finally clued in and I needed to know more about how they did this, I've learned so much over the last few years, I'm still learning from them...

You can't hide anything from them but no matter what it is, you will receive no judgement, you will receive truth and the space to be safe. Their intuitive nature and ability to let emotions flow makes them natural Shamans. (Shamanism is an ancient healing tradition and moreover, a way of life. It is a way to connect with nature and all of creation).

Nature Therapy

Humans are drawn to nature and comforted by natural settings. If you've ever found yourself staring longingly at a picture of a beach or been transfixed by a scene of the forest, it's an example of your inner spirit seeking to align itself with the core of its nature. We evolved as part of this planet – just as much connected to Earth as the flowers, plants and trees – and our body, mind and spirit are happiest when they remain attuned to more natural settings.

There are so many studies out there now about the positive effects of nature. There is the science behind it and then there is my favoured approach, Forest Bathing and/or Earthing. Mind you, there's science behind these methods but I just like to do it.

There is no disputing that time spent outside make us feel better!

It is my passion to introduce the people who choose to work with me about a different way of being. A way of being with horses and in nature that facilitates healing, growth, and forward movement through our traumas.

This is not about riding a horse or climbing a mountain, it is about finding our way home. Home is where the Heart is, Home is about feeling safe, Home is about being able to Breathe deep and Release that which keeps us stuck in trauma.

"In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful." Alice Walker

If you would like to know more, I would love to speak with you!

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New for Circles of Nature; Coming this Spring

2/11/2019

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I have always wanted to expand my Coaching into nature walks and hikes. I'm not a hard core hiker (scrambles and climbing) but I have experienced some pretty amazing places in the Canadian Rockies. Sometimes I've had to work a bit harder then I had expected and sometimes the adventure was pretty easy, either way, the experience has been nothing short of life changing.

I recently finished a certification with the Outdoor Council of Canada as a "Field Leader", this means I can lead class 1 hikes. There are certain specifics that I have to adhere to, which is perfect as those are the kind of hikes I do, 3 season day hikes, trails, flora & fauna.

In March, I will add on a winter aspect to the certification, snowshoeing will be coming to an end by then but there's no better way to beat winter cabin fever than finding a way to go out an play in it.

Getting out in nature, you find out some breathtaking things about yourself and realise you can reach amazing heights. I am so excited to share those special places with you.

For more information, contact me here.
#circlesofnature #outdoorcouncilofcanada #forestbathing

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Harry Horse and the Philosophers Meadow; Chapter One

9/3/2018

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I have had a heck of a time trying to figure out what to write about lately, I’ve started with numerous topics and I always seem to just get part way through and then it’s, nope, that's not coming out just right. I’ll have to come back to those!

Yesterday, I had a very profound experience with one of my horses, connecting with this horse, Spock, has been a difficult one for me. He has demanded more from me then any other horse I have ever had the fortune to be involved with.

Spock is my 3rd grey Arabian. I don’t go looking for grey Arabians, they just seen to show up in my life whether I want them to or not ;) All of the animals that have come into my life have come for a reason, to teach me something. I haven’t always realised this at the time, but the more I open to my “awake dream” the more I understand why they came to be with me for a time.

At the beginning of 2018, Spock made it clear to me that I needed to spend time this year in connection, connection to myself and to nature. All that I have learned over the years, I did with the idea that it will be a benefit to my clients, I kinda took myself out of the equation.

I’m not a benefit to my clients if I’ve strayed out of my own dream.

One of the things the I have started doing is called “Earthing”, Earthing (Vitamin G, grounding) is connecting to the Earth’s electrical energy, this is a physical connection between the electrical frequency of the human body with that of the Earth's. Pachamama, Gaia, Mother Earth is a source of subtle energy that contributes to our health.

This is something I did naturally as a child, my mother could never figure out how I managed to roam around outside without any shoes on. As we grow older and start to conform to what society says we should do, we put our shoes on and we go to school and then to work and we lose that connection we naturally had as a child.

The other thing I have been doing is connecting to my own energy field. You may know it as the Auric field (Aura), in Shamanism it’s our Dream Body or Luminous Energy Field. This field contains a lot of information about us, not only the good but the traumas, our own and the ancestral ones that have attached to us.

Our mission, if we choose to accept it, is to heal what needs to be healed.

So back to the experience yesterday with Spock. I had been out in the field with the horses, Earthing and getting in touch with my Energy Field (this is a practise I have been doing a lot). I wasn’t trying to heal anything, I was just getting to know “me” better, looking for any chinks in my armour!

Because horses are so very sensitive to energy, and they can get a lot of information about us through our energetic field, and the electromagnetic field that our hearts generate, they know more about us then we often know about ourselves.

Spock didn’t care about whether or not I had healed anything, he just cared that I had taken the time to connect.

He doesn’t always like to be to close to people if there is a lot of inner turmoil or confusion. It’s difficult for him, so if you want to check him for injuries or even just bug bites, it’s uncomfortable for him.

Lately, he’s been allowing me to wipe him down with bug spray (without having to halter him), and believe me, that’s been virtually impossible before.

And yesterday, when I wanted to check him, and scratch him, not only did he allow me but he actually dropped his head and closed his eyes. Trust me, this is a huge step forward in our relationship!

This was truely the deepest and most profound Heart connection I have experienced.

The trust he expressed in that simple act made my heart soar!

How we show up in our lives stems from our hearts. It's smart, it's insightfull, and it's healing.

This is what Nature and the Horse teach us!

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Messages from the Herd - Reflections

5/19/2018

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This morning was one of the few times where I didn't "have" to run off somewhere first thing, where I'm often feeling rushed.

And what a lovely morning it is!

I promised myself this year I would spend more time with the horses, with nature and with my gifts, this decision was so beautifly reflected back to me by the horses this morning.

I went out to open up their gate so they could go back into the big field for the day. Freya was laying down and Spock was quietly munching on the green grass, they both came to greet me. This is were the message starts, "take time to rest this morning"! Spock was gently licking my hands and we spent a few moments just being together. Freya, usually being the one that likes to be in your space, graciously gave us that time to be.

My relationship with Spock has been a tough one, mostly because he is so sensative to energy and because he reflects that back to me so redily. He has felt my frustrations, my fears surrounding the future of my business and showing up fully in my light.

Heres the really amazing message from this morning, Spock is now putting songs in my head, this made me laugh, a song I haven't heard nor thought about for years. As he escorted me to the gate, a song by Ray Stevens starts playing in my head...

Everything is beautiful in it's own way
Like a starry summer night
On a snow covered winter's day
And everybody's beautiful in their own way
Under God's Heaven
The world's gonna find the way

I'm still smiling! Not just because of these words, but that Spock shared this with me. My decision to pay more attention to my path, to more fully embrace my connection to nature, Mother Earth, my Shamanic studies and to share this "magic" with others is truely paying off!

The gratitude I feel is beyond words!

We would love to share with you!
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Blessings & Safe Journeys

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Messages from a Horses Ass

5/5/2018

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And what does this have to do with connecting to our Wild Feminine?

You’re standing out in a herd of horses and this happens, one of the horses, with much purpose, plants his butt right in front of you. There’s no pushing or bumping, his head is low, it’s a very calm act on the horses part. A lot of people will tell you, that’s a dangerous place to be, and in some cases, yes, but not in this case!

In this case, this is horse medicine!

Meet Cheveyo, I first met him in 2014, and I was expanding on my training in Equine Assisted Healing. Little did I know the breadth of the journey I was about to take!.

I have since met several horses that will do the same thing, it’s like they talk to each other, oh, wait, they do (but that’s a whole other discussion).

When horses are given the opportunity to do this healing work with us, you find that each horse has their own medicine. Some horses it’s about setting healthy boundaries, some it’s about leadership and some it’s all about heart, the list goes on.

In Cheveyo’s case, this is about grounding, aspects of self, connection and showing up in our fullness. This is a horses root chakra, and when they present this for you, you can trust that there is a message for you.

Butt ;) what is that message?

Four years ago when I first met Cheveyo, he was offering me his support! I thought I was dealing with “stuff” pretty well. Adrenal fatigue from years in emergency services and shift work, I was still in the 5 year frame after breast cancer, being a caretaker for my Father who was sinking into the dark pit of Alzheimer's and a Sister also with Cancer. They left this earthly plane within 3 months of each other, along with my horse at the time, the horse whose idea it was to take my medicine out into the world.

Cheveyo saw right through the mask I put on for the rest of the world, I’m strong, I’m ok, I can find my way through this…we’re not meant to battle these kinds of life events by ourselves! And healing doesn’t happen in isolation. The support that Cheveyo so graciously offered me was worth his weight in gold.

We live in a world, mostly so, that is unbalanced, we don’t feel particularly safe… we’re often in a fight or flight mode. We’re reacting to our modern day stresses of work deadlines, financial or relationship issues, we’re connected to our phones and computers instead of the Divine and/or Nature.

What does it look like when our root chakra is out of balance? Our bodies contract, compress inward and become rigid and mechanical. We’re in that primal fight or flight. There’s a reason for us to be in that state but we are not meant to sustain it for a long periods of time or we get sick! Physical illnesses, anxiety, digestive & eating disorders, weakened immune systems, adrenal fatigue. And specifically for women, breast & uterine cancers, There is a disconnect with our own bodies!

Once upon a time, I had a dream, a dream to help people remember how to breathe again. For me, this always happens when I was out in nature, not just with the horses but being outside tree hugging, dirt worshipping, animal kissing, flower loving nature.

Recently, one of my own horses has been, kind of a horses ass, in a different way. Actual physical nudges and pushes, he was acting like he was frustrated about something, well since they’re actually mirrors for us… you get the drift! It was time to take a good hard look at what I was doing, what I needed to do to make an even deeper connection to nature.

Fortunately I got the chance to attend a special workshop with a very special young lady and this gave me the opportunity to reconnect with Cheveyo, almost exactly 4 years to the date that I first encountered him. I still got his butt in front of me but this time the message was quite different!

Science has now proven what Ancient Healers have known for millennia, what people like Louise Hay and Deepak Chopra have been saying for years. Only 5% of illness is from genetic mutations, we are active participants in 95% of our illnesses and there are things WE can do to prevent and even reverse those illnesses.

So here's the message from the horses asses.

Our connection to the Earth!

Mother Earth, connecting to her vibration is one of the most healing things we can do for ourselves.

On a medicine wheel, earth sits in the west, this is also where the root chakra is represented.

Earth is the Feminine with her innate, creative, intuitive energy. Feminine magic and wisdom, the first step on the path to a deeper connections with our soul and awakening our heart fire.

Horses are both very ground and spiritual beings, they’ve got that connection of “As above, so below” naturally. That balance of the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine.

For many of us we need to start at the root and connect with that “Wild Divine expressions of you”, powerful, loving from purity, the use of our magic for the highest good of everyone and being connect to our natural rhythm.

Here is our invitation to you… Join Spock (the other ass), Freya and myself in an introduction to The Horse and their connection to the Wild Feminine.

For more information:
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lorraine@circlesofnature.com

Blessings and Safe Journeys

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Wild Women in the Winter

3/4/2018

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Happy Spring

3/20/2016

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Happy first day of Spring!

I thought about sending out a note at the beginning of 2016 but for some reason it just didn't feel the right time.

For me, Spring is a more remarkable time of the year. As Nature breathes new life into our world and potentially, into us, if we take the time to listen to her messages.

So what exactly is the dream of Circles of Nature?

I’ve been listening to Google play a little bit lately, the James Taylor station, and I’ve heard a song a few times that I hadn’t heard in a long while, Jim Croce’s “I’ve got a Name”, ok, so I never really made it out of the 70’s when it comes to most of the music I listen to. But I had forgotten how much I liked the song, and some of the lyrics certainly have new meaning for me since the passing of my father.

Like the pine trees lining the winding road
I’ve got a name, I’ve got a name
Like the singing bird and the croaking toad
I’ve got a name, I’ve got a name
And I carry it with me like my daddy did
But I’m living the dream that he kept hid

Moving me down the highway
Rolling me down the highway
Moving ahead so life won't pass me by.

What does that mean exactly? For me, and I think for many people, we have a tendency to follow someone else’s path… sometimes it’s our parents, it maybe our siblings or societies ideas of how we should live our lives. Go to school, get good grades, go to university, get a job, get married, have kids… you get my drift. And that's not a bad path, it’s an important one, if it’s truly the path you want to take in your life.

But there are different paths, and I know for myself I had a different one, and it was not the practical one my parents wanted for me. I don’t blame them, not at all, they grew up in a very different time, they lived through the depression and 2 world wars, you did what you had to just to survive and they did their best with what they knew.

What was nurtured was my love of nature and animals, so in a way, my parents did actually point my in the direction of my path. It has however been a struggle to be able to see my way through the maze to the trees.

When I look back on some of the events of my life, I certainly see how the “struggles” have actually been the catalysts that moved me forward, as long as I remembered my roots! I definitely lost my roots, my grounding on numerous occasions.

Once Upon a Time, I had a dream… that dream was to create space where people could come and remember how to breathe again. I know, we all still breathe, we kinda have too, but I mean really breathe, those deep full breaths that remind us that we're not just living but that we’re alive!

That dream started with becoming a Practical Herbalist and Nature Guide, now those vocations got put on hold for a bit as the horses felt I needed to widen my path a little bit to include them.

I’ve always known that I felt better just being around the horses and when I was recovering from breast cancer, I found out just how invaluable that relationship was. The healing I received from my horse at the time was truly amazing, and that was just from spending time with him, I couldn’t ride for many months and I’m very grateful for that, I just spent time with him. Being in that field of energy is one of the most healing spaces on this earth.

But it’s not just being in the presence of the Horse, Nature also has such a healing presence. This is something we all know, inherently, we have a energetic connection with nature, do you feel better when you can breath in the scent of the trees? When you’re by a lake or waterfall? In the mountains, by the ocean or just hanging out in a garden?

That energy is around us all the time but in the Spring when it’s coming on so strong, it’s a wondrous time of year to really connect with it. I reminded myself of that yesterday, when I finally had a day off to myself where I got to spend time at a little provincial park with my dog Marty, some time out in the field with the horses and some quiet time spent in the back yard surrounded by the trees. The sun was so warm and the trees let just enough breeze in to make it a little sanctuary. The crows attempted to scare off a bald eagle from their nest, and the coyotes were celebrating something, perhaps the birth of pups?

The healing energy I immersed in yesterday is carrying through to today, not only has it motivated me to write this note to you all but it has also helped me dissipate some negative energy coming from someone else. Being very sensitive to others energies, I could have easily let that consume me and then pass it onto others… ew!

Whatever path we choose for ourselves, I truly believe that how we walk it is just as important. Find what energizes you, what feeds your soul! This is what Circles of Nature is about, if you’re not sure where and how you want to go, if fear is keeping you stuck... come and play in the mud!

Breathe with Nature and the Horse
www.circlesofnature.weebly.com

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Innocently Selfish

3/22/2015

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Every morning I get to wake up to a dog that wants cuddles & belly scratches, and there is no denying him! Some may say he’s being pushy or demanding but really, for him, I think it just plain feels good, he wants it so he asks for it… I think there could be a lesson in that!

I have always felt, deep in my soul that we are naturally meant to feel happy in our lives but, for reasons that are different for everyone, we deny ourselves. We want but we don’t ask or maybe we don't think we deserve. I have been learning that if my wants are in line with my well-being, with my balance, if it feels like it will make my spirit happy, then there’s nothing wrong in asking. I have also learned, if I'm asking for something that really doesn't feel right, and I know it in my gut, I really don’t want that.

Every morning that same dog bows his head and gently places it on my chest, I don’t know if that’s his way of thanking me or maybe his way of hugging me. I don’t have to ask, he just does it, I gave him something he asked for and I get a heartfelt thank you. What a happy way to start a day. :)

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Circle Ponderings

Trauma? What does Nature & Horses have to do with that!

New for Circles of Nature; Coming this Spring

Harry Horse and the Philosophers Meadow; Chapter One

Messages from the Herd - Reflections

Messages from a Horses Ass

Wild Women in the Winter

Happy Spring

Innocently Selfish

Thank You

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