Have you ever wondered about how the universe works? As humans, do we create our reality by projecting our thoughts and beliefs on to it or do we simply receive our reality from Spirit Source as part of some predestined or predetermined grand plan? Or, is it a combination of the two? Or better yet, does it depend on what perspective we are viewing life from? Which is soul driven? Which is ego driven? Which is part of the original divine plan? Or, is neither perspective right or wrong and instead something more innate to our nature?
I won’t claim to have a definitive answer on the subject, nor will I attempt to push my beliefs on to you. What I will do instead is share Odin’s preferences and how he teaches me to work with my energy.
Today, as I usually do on Monday, I went for my late morning visit after I finished morning feed with the other horses on the ranch, right now, we have 50 or so horses that get fed each morning. I mention this because none of the other horses ’complained’ about my energy. It just goes to show how sensitive Odin is. There was no wind this day, very few falling leaves and he was on an area of his pasture where there few leaves under foot and hoof. So overall all the environmental factors were leaning in our favor for Odin to be at least…cooperative? But the truth is, he wasn’t having any of it. He was fine at a distance of about 15-20 feet, but his anxiety rose if he came closer for a treat or if I approached. I let this go on for a while as I shared the present moment with him and observed. The gift of the present moment is a unique state of heightened awareness. What I was able to notice while in the present moment was the size of my energy field around me and moreover, that my field was projecting outward rather moving inward, receiving the world around me.
As soon as I noticed this I began making myself feel small, shrinking the energy bubble around me. How did I do that, you ask? I both visualized it and used my breathing to draw in and go within. I closed my eyes for a bit and brought my awareness to a deep and inward place so that I was once again moving from deep within the center of my being. All that energy that was expansive and filling the bubble around me, I drew inward to my center. As I did this, I maintained my heart connection with Odin.
After a few minutes of BEing in this inward and centered place Odin walked toward me. He hesitated as I offered him a treat, so I re-established my inner connection and made sure my ‘bubble’ was small and that I felt connected or grounded to the earth. He responded in kind by coming closer and being willing to knock a treat from my hand to eat. I took that as another sign that I needed to stabilize my energy and maintain the inward connection in order to help him feel comfortable. I continued to work at establishing my field in a way that was pleasing to him and he responded in kind, happily munching through an entire container of treats.
I may not know for sure the answers to my philosophical questions, but if Odin is my teacher, I have an inkling. Odin has taught me unequivocally that in order for him to be comfortable around me, I need to be in a receptive mode, with my energy centered, and grounded. I need to be fully embodied without projecting anything outwardly. I describe this as the feminine or yin stance or perspective. It is inward and receptive. It also happens to be the energy most appropriate for the season. Just as the trees in nature lose their leaves to preserve and maintain their inner strength through winter, we too must gather ourselves and enter winter’s cave to preserve and gather our strength for the coming year.
What I’m realizing is that the work of feeding 50 horses requires a lot of me, of my energy, of my strength, I expend and it puts me in a more yang orientation. Whereas spending time with Odin and nature allows me to be more yin and frankly, he requires it of me. It surely has been a lesson indeed.
Odin 