Learning to Rest the Way Horses Do
We look to horses to mirror our emotions, boundaries and feelings but we don’t often equate horses to rest. Horses are great teachers about the value of rest, and teach us how to shift away from unhelpful beliefs around the need for constant output.
As prey animals, horses do not treat rest as an afterthought- it’s connected to their whole sense of survival. A horse’s nervous system is finely tuned to safety, making rest integral to regulation and quick responsiveness when needed (aka safety and survival!). Often people have a complicated relationship with rest, and believe they need to be completely done or deserving of rest. Horses show us that rest isn’t about getting to a place of exhaustion, but rather intentional rest helps support readiness and builds capacity to keep ourselves safe (emotionally, physically and mentally).
Horses also have this remarkable ability to enter a state of rest while standing. They relax their muscles just enough to keep them upright without collapsing, and will doze off long enough to rest while still staying vigilant. Horses show us that rest doesn’t always mean stopping everything, but rather can be enjoyed in quiet moments like taking a pause to catch your breath, closing your eyes or enjoying peaceful time outside.
A rested horse is not less capable- it’s more present and responsive. We need shift our perspective of rest from laziness to productivity. Instinctive rest is not time away from our abilities, interests or responsibilities, but rather an investment into them.
