One of the questions I hear a lot is “how to I reset myself after my horse spooks or I get a fright? I find it completely throws me off and it’s difficult to find any sort of balance and relaxation within myself after”.
Let’s look at this from a couple of different angles. First up, it’s completely normal (and a sign of a healthy nervous system) to startle or have a reflexive response to something that takes you by surprise- that’s not something we can “cancel out” and nor should we look to do so. It’s another thing, however, to find yourself completely overreacting to the same stimulus and finding you lose your mojo for the remainder of the session.
Why does this happen?
Your motor responses and reflexes mirror where you are sitting in your nervous system. If you are prone to hypervigilance, anxiety and concern, then our motor patterning- the way that we respond to the world and potential threat- becomes over-sensitised and exaggerated. If your horse spooks then, for example, your body takes it a few notches beyond what is necessary and as a consequence it’s more challenging to come back to a relaxed baseline simply because you are further up the chain of activation to begin with.
I use balance work as a means to recalibrate these responses and bring the body, heart and mind into a more regulated and responsive- rather than reactive- place. Even working with blocks or objects really close to the ground, where there is almost zero chance of injury, gives us an opportunity to observe the corrective responses of the body and to connect the dots between feeling “up” on the inside, how that is informing our decisions and actions, and how it is we can create the circumstances for a more integrated and centred state of being.
Onwards.
❤️ Jane
Interesting in exploring movement-based work for nervous system awareness and recalibration? We are all about that in JoyRide! You can check it out here:
www.confidentrider.online/joyride
