I had a riding lesson the other day that was a real eye-opener, plus a heart and mind opener too. I’m working on getting comfortable with speed of the four-legged, horse variety; despite the yeehaw thrill of cantering, I seem to always find my heart up in my throat in anticipation of it. Mind talking at body loud and fast: what if Flash trips, what if you fall off and “bonk your noggin” (as Morgane always says), what if, what if, what if. Will somebody please shut my mind up?! So Janice had us doing a series of cantering exercises, and on a longer one, it seems I was yelling WHOA. I was? But here’s the most interesting thing: Janice told me that although my voice signal was to stop, my body language was not, I was moving with Flash in good form. My head was saying stop while my body was saying go. Boy, how often does THAT happen? I certainly didn’t need further proof of being stuck up in my head, but there it was, loud and clear as the “whoa” that I didn’t even realize I was yelling. Which led me to ponder how wonderful it can be to stop letting our minds rule the roost, and let our bodies and intuition contribute more. Can you give your body permission to actually feel without direction from the mind, and allow yourself to enjoy this natural state? How much of our stress do we create in the war zone of our minds? An easy place to try going au naturel: the yoga mat. Here’s the gorgeous Flash, my equine teacher right now.