Thank you so much for your response from my previous newsletter—my lesson with Leo.
 
We can either, respond to, and learn from, the lessons presented or we can simply ignore them. When ignored, they tend to appear over and over again until we finally open up to understanding how they impact us—physically, emotionally and spiritually.
 
In my lesson with Leo I learned to trust myself on a deeper level, an unconscious level.  Developing trust and confidence on a deeper level helped to get out of a potentially frightening situation on a trail ride with Leo.
 
It was a perfect, quiet, windless, day. The weather was warm and as always the nature surrounding us was breathtakingly beautiful. The trail can be quite steep going up and down the mountain. Leo and I led and my riding partner, Doug, trailed behind.
 
The trails are often quite steep. In our moment of peace, Leo suddenly stepped off the edge of the trail. The ground underneath gave way and his left back foot was momentarily unable to support us.
 
I could feel the imbalance immediately. Hanging off the edge of the cliff sent fear signals to my thoughts and body. Knowing instinctually that my weight on his back end would hinder his ability to move forward, I automatically leaned forward so that my weight was not on his back end. And at the same time I said, “MOVE”, it sounded so loud to me. Leo heard my voice and moved forward and in the next moment we were safely back on the trail.
 
In the midst of all this I remember thinking—but not verbalizing—“what is going on here?” Safely back on the trail, I turned to my riding partner and asked, “What was that?” He said Leo had lost his footing as the trail gave way. I asked if I had yelled MOVE! Doug responded with “no, you didn’t say a word. You just reacted and moved forward off the edge.”
 
I yelled “MOVE” in my panicked head, and Leo responded to my inner voice. WOW! All happened so fast and I reacted so fast.
 
Leo and I continued our ride on the trail, I clearly remember taking deep breathes to calm my thoughts and to relax my body. I did not talk, I needed to be quiet for a few minutes to process what happened.
 
Leo did not panic. He listened to my body’s reaction, and my inner voice, and moved forward. He remained calm and continued to remain calm as we continued our ride.  My reaction surprised me. I didn’t panic on the outside either. I did not say words of dramatic alarm, nor hold on to the experience and inevitable trauma from the fear. Instead, I trusted my instincts, the partnership I had with Leo, and calmly corrected the problem.
 
Life lessons come to us in many forms. In our experiences we have a choice to fuel trauma or to recognize and release trauma. As you release trauma it is easier to stay in physical, emotional and spiritual balance.