Pam’s Story of Meditating with Horses & Russel William’s ‘Looking Through the Horse’s Eyes’

A few days ago, I stood among my horses in their grazing field as they nibbled patches of grass not covered by last week’s light snow showers.

After a few minutes of standing near them, Dan, Ollie, and Quill slowly wandered toward their resting area near the barn. I joined them in their walk as if I was one of them until they stopped and stood still. I continued walking until I reached the inside of their horse shed.

I found my comfortable sit spot and set an intention to sit in silence, quiet time and see if the horses would join me, I would feel so delighted if they did. And if they did not, I would still go into an hour-long meditation.

A few minutes had passed when Dan slowly entered the shed, acknowledged me with his soft nose as if to say welcome, and then found his resting position. A few more minutes had passed when Ollie the other gelding walked in, acknowledged me as well, and then found his resting position.

Here we are just the three of us, two horses and one human, in a wooden shed built in the beautiful glacier-carved country-side of Kiel, WI. It was a sunny winter day with the sun directly overhead and it’s rays of bright sunlight were entering the space. It was an afternoon siesta after their munching fiesta, and the horses knew it. Something I wish the western world would do.

I was so delighted the horses chose to share their personal shed space with me; silently united in a herd mediation together.

So the meditation is underway – my mind, my breath, my body and heart – and the horses standing nearby as if they are rooted to the ground with their lowered heads, droopy lips, and heavy eyelids.

One aspect of meditating with horses is we normally don’t fall asleep; but there are many stories of children and adults that do in their company, it’s just so calming and peaceful.

This next piece is where I’m going to be vulnerable and share something that sounds crazy, out of the ordinary, very difficult to describe in words.

I’ve been meditating on and off with my horses over the years, and more recently decided to do a daily meditation for 90-days following Kyle Cease’s lead. Kyle is known as an author, comedian and transformational speaker, I love his honesty, humor, and big heart.

As a result of my daily meditation, I’ve been uncovering answers and making deeper discoveries, love it when new things naturally come to the surface as I can feel it, know it, and it speaks the truth.

Here is my meditation story. As you read this, I recommend using your own imagination, and see where it takes you.

I’m sitting comfortably with my horses which I love being with and feeling their expansive loving energy. I love seeing the outline of their noble majestic bodies, their crystal like enchanting eyes, their beautiful free-flowing long manes and swishy-long tails. I love listening to their deep belly breaths, short snorts, and soft whinnies, and taking in their body’s nature-based aromas. If I could bottle the horse’s scent it would make for a great calming-effect perfume.

As we are sharing in the silence, I purposely acknowledge and then release many thoughts, with no judgments, labeling, or emotional reactions, other than to just sit with my thoughts and let them go as Eckhart Tolle spiritual teacher and author recommends.

So, I’m in a very relaxed state of mind and notice the horse’s breathing. I can see and am focused on each horse’s body as I listen to their breathing and become aware of how deep each breath is. Then out of the blue I’m fascinated by each exhale of their breath which is accompanied by this beautiful cloud of steam flowing out from their nostrils. The steam looks like a thick fog we commonly see early in the morning.

As I’m captivated by what I’m experiencing, I then feel as if I’ve entered another world, a world without thought, an inner knowing, that I’m experiencing pure consciousness beyond the constraints of the human conditioning, the human mind. I become so aware of what can only be identified as this pure life energy in the horses, contained inside the shell of their bodys, an invisible force, is the best way I can explain it. And I felt myself being a part of their world, understanding them, interconnected with them, with nature and feeling total peace.

Crazy stuff right, and no I’m not coo, coo! This is how I interpret it.

The horse is life itself, consciousness, I am consciousness, you are consciousness, we are consciousness sensory beings. And with each heartbeat, with each breath, my body’s makeup of molecules, atoms, cells, all that mysterious stuff is life. That life is a gift and we were born to express our true nature, to evolve beyond our conditioning to the best of our abilities, and create in whatever way, shape, or form of our choosing the life we want to live.

We are here, because we are, and are all interrelated species, no matter if we are in animal, elemental, or human form. One way to look at it is trees and animals can live without us, but we cannot live without them, we need to respect nature and each other.

Then a thought came into my mind that horses have a conscious, and they can think. I had this inner knowing of nature’s coding, an intelligence that is of a different level, a different dimension. Something we may never fully understand, how can we, it just is!

Then I feel called to look at the tall trees lining the horse’s grazing fields. As I’m looking at them, I get these new unexplainable visions in my mind, different forms of life. The horses standing so stately and still, with relaxed bodys and how that relates to the leafless trees. The horses are interrelated with the trees and are in a type of hibernation to share in nature’s symbolic cathedral and spiritual silence of the harmonious universe.

So this next part is where it gets crazier, I couldn’t make this stuff up if I wanted too. Just so you know I was not aware of or watched this video before meditating with the horses.

I’m finished with my meditation that was longer than an hour, thanked the horses and went to my home office. My mind was so filled with curiosity about consciousness, and the new thoughts I was holding onto that I had to listen to anything Eckhart Tolle teaches about consciousness and thoughts; as what I just experienced really got my attention, and I wanted to know more.

I’m on the web and somehow come upon this on-line video with Russell Williams, who is known as one of the most remarkable enlightened spiritual teachers of our time. I have no idea who this man is, never heard of him, but was intrigued by the video’s title, Looking Through the Horse’s Eyes’.  So of course, I had to watch the video.

The video is an interview by Lain McNay, who asks Russel about an unusual experience he had when he was 29 years old, working for a circus taking care of the animals, the horses.

The piece I relate to starts at the 29.50 time frame. If you choose not to watch this is the highlight of what Russel Williams said.

“During this time, you see, whilst we built the show, I looked after these animals and I built up a very… You can’t not love these animals when you live with them day and night. You go tenting you live with them, you sleep with them, 24 hours a day, and you can’t not care.

I thought if I could understand the true nature of these, I could perhaps do even a bit better. And I set myself that task; not allowing myself to form any opinions whatsoever. That took a bit of doing, but after three months I stopped thinking”.

He was asked by Lain McNay, where do you think that came from?

“I don’t know, it came from deep within me, sort of instinctively. And this is the bit you see; how did I know that I mustn’t allow myself to think about these things or form an opinion?  Because it would be a concept of some sort. Would that be right?

Three months I just focused on them, just observing feeding, grooming, doing whatever had to be done without thinking about it, it was just so natural. Then another three years went by when one morning, I remember it was in September at Doncaster, the last tenting of the season. And I was there on the camp bed, I woke up, I looked across at an animal and there was steam coming out of its nostrils.  

The next thing I know, I was looking through the eyes of the horse, and feeling it and knowing it as if consciousness had transferred. Wonderful. And then it reverted back to this…very strange, and then I had a look at the lions; I knew the lion. Then there were a couple of Alsatians, one of them came out, I knew that, I looked across and saw a tree and knew that too and I looked into this – oh dear…it was just the same, no different. Just conscious life itself, nothing else.

And at that point all the emotional aspects disappeared, weren’t there anymore. I was at total, utter peace. It’s been that way ever since.”

What I find fascinating is the similarities I had to Russel’s experience:

• Russel took care of and lived with the horses, the animals. I take care of my horses, I spend huge amounts of time with them. They mean life to me.
• Russel said he wants to know the true nature of the animals.  He said he stopped thinking and forming opinions. For me I’ve always wanted to connect and communicate with my horses, which is why I study and travel so much. I want to understand the horse and the human, keeping what works and letting the rest go. During the mediation I let my thoughts go and was in present moment time, no labels.
• Russell saw steam coming from an animal’s nostrils. I saw steam coming from my horse’s nostrils.
• He then said he was looking through the horse’s eyes and feeling it and knowing it as if consciousness had transferred.  I think what Russel means is, he is not literally looking through the horse’s eyes but using that as a metaphor to explain how things are interconnected. While I cannot explain this stuff, I too felt the interrelatedness of all things. The horse is life itself – consciousness, I am consciousness, we are consciousness – sensory living beings. 
• Russell said he looked across and saw a tree, just conscious life itself, nothing else.  I talked about seeing the trees and how that relates to the horses.

During the interview Russel says he was enlightened because of this experience. While I can’t say the same thing for what I experienced, it truly was a profound experience, a feeling, an inner knowing.

Could you relate to any of this? Can you see yourself meditating with a horse, I highly suggest you give it a try as you never know what may happen. I’d love to hear any comments below.