Equine-imity: Stress Reduction and Emotional Self-Regulation in the Company of Horses

Do you wonder what it means to be "healthy as a horse"? Equine-imity teaches you how to create lifelong practices and relationships, with or without equines, that will improve your health by reducing stress and bridling emotions that behave like runaway horses. Based on the classes and private sessions Dr. Kane conducts in the Stanford University Health Improvement Program, Equine-imity uses techniques from qigong, tai chi, yoga, Reiki, and nature-based therapy that have medically proven health benefits. Can't quiet your mind for sitting meditation? Equine-imity teaches moving meditations that fully engage your mind and body. Simple activities such as meeting, grooming, and leading horses are taught as meditations.   Don't know how to meet a horse? This book provides resources for finding equine programs and private individuals with horses in your area.   Equine-imity is written especially for non-equestrians and non-meditators. Whether you have a horse or have never even touched one before, whether you practice meditation or not, in Equine-imity you will discover: Horses as teachers of physical, emotional, and spiritual healthAppreciation of the human body as beautiful in every size and shapeApplied principles from exercise physiology, sports medicine, natural horsemanship, and equine-assisted therapy7 easy-to-follow medical qigong exercisesThe Stanford four-phase Equine-imity somatic horsemanship program, proven to reduce stressResources for how to locate horses near your home or workplace       Our bodies are our temples and horses lead us to the altar.   Beverley Kane, MD, is Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine and an integrative medicine physician in the Stanford Division of Primary Care and Population Health, Palo Alto, California. Read more