reflecting on more chapters

I have been pondering how to implement concepts presented in Sacred Spaces (SS). When and with whom. Before I even began reading the book, I started tuning in. I knew the general concept from reading Linda's blog. 

Pausing before haltering. Cracking open stalls, and waiting to see if anyone wanted to interact with me. Observing. Sending thoughts. Waiting. Sometimes using words. Nothing felt different to me, but it felt good. 

Some responses I got from our horses were humorous. Specifically Nemo's. He is our most sensitive horse. I've had non-horse people tell me when Nemo looks at you it is like talking to a person. Yep, that is 100% Nemo. 

I smiled when he looked at me with his expressive eyes and "said" What are you doing? Not now. Can't you see I am eating. Not good timing on my part, but chore time is when I interact the most with our horses.

Koda on the other hand left his hay to interact with me. More than once. Jaw drop. My poor boy is starved for anything in addition to his 3X a day stall service/jail release. Koda plays his Get Out of Jail Card whenever he can. Most days he has become lovey-dovey with everyone. Other days he oozes like a time bomb looking for something to set him off. For the most part, Koda is doing well while healing. Better than we thought he would. 3 long months into a year sentence, we are hopeful for his recovery.

Hope and Cierra are almost always game for human interaction. Most days, Harmony could care less. When she does choose to interact, it is sweet.

What is very different with SS are the focus steps. Broken down questions/exercises to help achieve focused imagery. Key word focused. Hard for a busy mind.

After reading a few more chapters, I tried simple imagery with Ms. Hope. From inside the house. In my mind it went something like: walking down to the gate, haltering (without shenanigans) and walking back into the barn. Tucking Hope into her stall and ending with some love pats. Well, it didn't happen as planned. Brad ended up with Hope. Not his fault. I could have declared I was getting Hope. This wasn't really a fair experiment anyways. Hope typically does all the things I imagined well with me. A better test would be imaging walking into her stall to scoop a freshly gifted pile, without ear pinning dislike. However, I am not there yet and neither is Hope.

I will continue loosely trying concepts learned from Chapter 4 "Imagine that..." and Chapter 5 "Clear the Air (waves) Intentions and Pre-Cues" in some way or another. I can't go all in right now, my mind and heart are elsewhere. Focus and attention have unexpectedly shifted.

The great thing about SS is how the information and exercises are organized. The author makes it very easy to revisit concepts and find sectioned advice for help/practice.

We are on the brink of warming up to high temp's around freezing. This past weekend, 22F and sunny felt like a Spring day. If only Mother Nature would turn down the fan.

Our horses just went back on full day turn out. Perhaps now I can work up to getting back in the saddle. Pent up horses is not a good place to start. That would give me additional chances to work with SS mindfulness. Meanwhile, I will read the second half of the book.

I will close with saying both SS Chapter 4 & 5 were very interesting. I mean, who doesn't want to play Make Believe ~ where there are no rules, just imagination.

Tank balancing Cierra on his nose
1.31.26

chapter three take-away

For some odd reason I am already stuck on Sacred Spaces. Perhaps better said IN Sacred Spaces. Chapter 3 to be specific. It is titled "The Thought-Full and Emotional Human". Ummm, yep that is me.

I know in part the reason I am stuck is because I am an over-thinker. Wondering if I missed something. For now, I am refraining from re-reading chapter three.

What the author calls Productive Contemplation (PC) is what I call Visualization mixed with Meditation. 

My whole head is full of visualization. I think in pictures. Not by choice, it is how I am wired. I am very visual and frequently work on:

• Keeping my minds thoughts/pictures positive

• Focusing on one thing at a time, or at least quieting the others

Out of respect for the author, I don't want to give away too much of the book. I am sure she would prefer you read it :) However, there are some horse loading/unloading PC examples given that are ruminating in my head. Especially because the stories/examples in the book are real. 

Condensed version: A women has a horse dropped off to haul and was told it doesn't load. Over night, she imagines the unknown horse loading/unloading. In the morning, it does without issue. 

Another women has always needed help loading/unloading her horse. Driving home from the clinic, she imagines her horse loading/unloading. She unloads it by herself without issue. 

Hmmm. 

Brad and I were discussing how this is possible, when the handlers are not even in the same space as the horse. Telepathic sounds a bit woo-woo to me. It does make sense that PC changes a persons perception, and therefore shifts approach. The horse is the receptor. My take-away is the change resides in the person, and therefore the horse is approached/asked differently.

The power of positive thinking is real.

our winter herd were not part of book discussion

(Hope, Harmony, Cierra and Nemo)
1.17.2026

There are other related factors presented in Chapter 3, but I will close with the books clear message: 

Behavior <> Emotions <> Thoughts <> Emotions <> Behavior.

creating mindful space

This Winter. This year. This life. Has got me thinking. More than usual, which is already a lot.

I finally finished reading a book a friend chose for me. It was a book from her old reading group that she thought I would like. It was witchy. Maybe she was trying to tell me something LOL! She wasn't, the recommendation was spurred for a different reason.

The Witch's Daughter flops around different centuries (1600-2007) with a lot of death and fantasy weirdness. Reading it started out slooow, with pages full of tiny type. About a third of the way through the book, I was all in. I just found out this book is part of a series. I may or may not read more of them. I am familiar with the main witches ('er characters) and reading it involves imagination.

Meanwhile, among a few other TBR books there was one that jumped the line. Waiting to be cracked open. Suspenseful. I try not to start one book before I finish another. You can guess which book jumped the line, Sacred Spaces. Mentioned previously here and stemming from the Beautiful Mustang blog. 

I promptly read the Preface, Intro and Chapter One with interest. It closes with packing these three things for the book journey:

"A Desire to Learn.

An Open Mind.

A Loving Heart."

I already have those packed! Although some might beg to differ. My intention is to read this book slowly. To pause. Not for lack of interest, but to make space. Something that will be difficult for me. My files are always full and over-flowing. Letting go is hard. At least for me. 

I started reading Chapter Two in the evening, aaand said "this is way to technical right now". Perhaps it was the distracting drone of the wha-wha-wha TV noise. Suffice it to say, my night time reading is better kept light.

The next morning, I re-read the pages between sips of coffee. Finished Chapter two...and whoa!! Where is the mind blown emoji when I need it?! Oh, here it is 🤯 found on my laptop scrolly. Needless to say, I will be re-reading "Getting on the Same Wavelength(s)" more than once! Being on the same wavelength is not only necessary, it is interesting.

I give the author a lot of credit for acknowledging that not everyone is into science/techy/brain stuff. She suggests those readers skim, and skip ahead. I already noticed, questions are posed for the reader to decide. Meanwhile, theories and information shared is backed up by studies/science. 

Which leads me to a segua into my past and why this brainy-mind stuff is so exciting for me. One of my favorite college memories was sitting in a Psychology lecture about the brain. Why people do what they do. I recall thinking "that is me" and "oh no, that is also me"...and that is why so and so does XYZ. It was then that I fell in love with Psychology.

I took two elective Psychology courses in college, and did very well under an amazing tough love instructor. I looked into switching my major (Applied Arts) so I could marry the things I loved. I wanted to help others through Art Therapy. Specifically children. However, it required a separate Art Therapy Masters. A field that was new-ish back in the day and not offered in the big-little city. As a single mother, it would have been difficult at best to travel to classes and achieve all the extra schooling. What really swayed me, was finding out that an Art Therapist might spend one hour a day actually working with kids/art. The rest is spent managing/paperwork. No thanks. I didn't need more managing roles in my life, or paperwork.

Back to the present. Where shifting mindset will be close to impossible for me. It requires me to:

"Hone my Senses.

Pay Attention to Messages from my Senses.

Gain Control over Thoughts and Emotions (aka Energy Signature)".

Easier typed than done. Reframing my awareness will no doubt be trial and a lot of error. A worthwhile time (and mind) investment. I have already started my accompanying reflection journal, and have the remaining chapters in Sacred Spaces to guide me. One by one. 

Nemo & Cierra and Jameson
1.14.26

  

trying new things

Instead of setting New Year’s resolutions, which I gave up on decades ago, choosing goals or a focus word, I decided to try something I had never heard about. Rauhnächte. Have you heard of it?

"The Rauhnächte (Mystic Nights) are a period of 12 holy nights between Christmas and Epiphany (Dec 25th - Jan 6th) in ancient Germanic/Celtic traditions, seen as a time when the veil between worlds is thin, perfect for introspection, setting intentions, and spiritual cleansing to prepare for the new year. Rituals include smoke-cleansing homes to banish spirits, reflecting on the past year, and a popular "13 Wishes" practice where one wish is burned nightly, leaving the 13th as a guiding intention for the year ahead." 

From what I've read, start and end dates vary. Is the 13th wish chosen by that which we cannot see, or by pure chance? You decide.
 

~~~

On December 24th, I wrote 13 wishes on paper and chose them one by one without looking. I tossed wishes into the fire place each night, starting the 25th. One by one my wishes went up in flame. Poof!!

13 days is a long time to wait and wonder. It felt kinda weird. Am I dismissing 12 wishes forever-n-ever-n-ever? I sure hope not. I truly hope by participating in Rauhnächte that I did not open up my world to weirdness. According to my friend Google the Mystic Nights are also celebrated by Pagen, and probably others. Like me, who are not German/Celtic/Pagen. I can't even pronounce "ROW-na-tek-teh"!! Translated from German as "Rough Nights". Also known as "Twelve Nights". I did not smudge my house, nor burn incense or do any other related rituals. Of which there are many.

January 6th finally arrived. A familiar notable date. I grew up celebrating Dia de Los Reyes Magos (aka Three Kings Day) on January 6th in a much different way. That is another story.

Are you curious what my remaining wish to focus on this year is??!? I was too!

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wait for it

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wait for it

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the first wish I wrote down!

I was completely stunned!! I am still stunned. How in the heckle bejeckle did this happen? I mean, my first wish made it though to the end? 2026 is the Year of the Horse and my wish is about horses. I recently received the book Sacred Spaces and a beautiful Horse Journal from Linda, to help me along my way. Did I mention my first wish remained?! Jaw Drop.

Looks like it is up to me to make my chosen wish happen. Next month, it will be two years since I was on a horse. Nemo and I walked around the arena briefly, maybe 5-10 minutes.

me and Nemo

2.3.24

You gotta believe.