X

There’s a hidden place called Beachwood: Why Integrative Equine Therapy with Horses helps heal Anxiety and Stress

There’s a hidden place called Beachwood…

Lynne Bryan Phipps’, Beachwood’s Executive Director, was interviewed recently on “It’s Your Voice,” talking about how Beachwood’s horses and Integrative Equine Therapy can help people heal from anxiety trauma and stress related illness.

Integrative Equine Therapy Can Help with Anxiety and Stress Right Now

Host, Bahia Yackzan, was asking about how Integrative Equine Therapy can help people heal from the increased anxiety and stress we’ve all been experiencing since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As Lynne explains, the most powerful place to start is by grounding and calming our busy minds. The we can take a deep breath and turning toward that feeling of anxiety with curiosity. What part of us is worried, anxious, stressed out and why are we feeling that way?

Feeling Anxious and Feeling Stressed? Anxiety Relief Starts with Changing Our Response

Feeling anxious and stressed is often accepted as just the way life is, or just something humans have to experience. 

It is not. 

We don’t have to feel constantly anxious. We are not designed to feel constantly full of fear and dread. 

Anxiety relief starts with a profound shift in understanding: it doesn’t have to be this way.

We are designed to feel anxiety and stress as a passing, fleeting feeling that alerts us something is not safe or not for us. Feeling anxious and stressed out are not our natural state of being. But sometimes we get stuck in an anxious spiral, and we need help. 

Beachwood’s horses can be part of that anxiety relief support. Many of Beachwood’s videos on our YouTube Channel feature our horses. Rajah in particular, likes to be on camera showing how he can help people with anxiety relief. 

Anxiety Relief: The Bond Between Horses and Humans Helps Healing Happen

Beachwood’s horses like Rajah don’t need treats to turn towards the humans they help with anxiety. Rajah is a calm, compassionate, and expressive horse partner, who can help with anxiety relief without words. A Veteran caregiver who was helped by Beachwood calls Beachwood’s horses “furry angels without wings!”  

What is it about horses that can help people experiencing anxiety and stress? That’s one of our most watched YouTube videos! 

Beachwood’s Horses Help: Anxiety Relief Starts with the Connection Between a Horse and Human

As a lifelong equestrian, Lynne explains, she knew that there was something important, wonderful, and even magical about the connection between a human and a horse. 

Wondering why Beachwood’s horses are ideally suited to helping heal from anxiety and stress related physical and emotional symptoms? As fight or flight animals, horses are particularly clear at communicating the difference between danger and safety and wellbeing to their horse herd. 

Have you ever seen a herd of horses moving together? It’s fascinating to notice how in tune they are with each other. It’s also fascinating to watch how they are able to flow seamlessly as a herd. Beachwood’s horses do this, and you can too. Beachwood’s horses help with anxiety relief by letting you into the herd to experience the feeling of safety and connection you’re designed to know and depend on. 

There’s a hidden place called Beachwood…where the horses are waiting to show you how to feel safe and connected. 

A Hidden Place: Beachwood’s Horses and Integrative Equine Therapists Help with Anxiety and Stress

When Beachwood’s horses, our Integrative Equine Therapists, and our clients, are all connected, it creates a sense of safety. It’s impossible to let down your guard and let therapy for anxiety, trauma or therapy for grief really work until you feel safe. From that sense of safety, you are able to relax your guard and let healing from anxiety and stress happen.

Beachwood’s Horses: Horse Therapy for Anxiety and Stress Really Works

As Lynne talks about in the interview, anxiety and stress are a natural part of our system. They tell us something isn’t safe,  doesn’t feel right, or something isn’t right for us, and to move away. When our systems are in balance we can FEEL something in our bodies, which is where anxiety can show up first. 

What does anxiety feel like? It might be tension in our shoulders. We might feel anxiety in our throat, maybe it’s hard to breath. Maybe anxiety feels like tension in our stomach or our backs. 

Noticing that we are feeling anxious is a very important step to helping us heal from stress and anxiety. Beachwood’s horses are very gifted at showing us where we hold tensions and stress, and our Integrative Equine Therapists are trained to read what the horses are showing us! 

By tuning into our physical signs of stress and anxiety and what the horses show us about where we are holding stress, the Integrative Equine Therapist is able to gently help a client with anxiety relief. Stress related illnesses can be migraines, irritable bowl syndrome, histamine reactions like hives, and even heart pain.

Tune-In/Tune-up Experiences: Find Out More about Integrative Equine Therapy for Anxiety and Stress

There’s a hidden place called Beachwood where the horses are waiting to help you. Our Tune In/Tune-Up Experiences are designed to help you find relief from anxiety and stress in just three sessions.

Integrative Equine Therapy with Beachwood’s horses and IET therapists for anxiety and stress relief, is a very gentle and compassionate form of therapy. 

Beachwood has centers in Rhode Island, Florida, and a new facility in Pennsylvania, between Philadelphia and Wilmington DE. 

Ask about individual sessions, intensives for 3 or 6 days, and mini-retreats at all of our locations. 

Beachwood’s horses and IET therapists are here to help with anxiety, depression, grief, stress-related illness, and PTSD. If you are looking for a data-backed protocol that helps with anxiety relief and stress relief, contact us today. 

Posted in