Becoming the Horse: A Transformational Journey - Guided By Linda Kohanov – Spoken Word and Drum – Music by Steve Roach and Byron Metcalf.

For over a decade, equine-facilitated workshops and indoor seminars designed to boost creativity and vision have been among the most popular events that Linda leads. One guided visualization in particular, developed in Linda’s advanced workshop Black Horse Wisdom, has produced deeply moving, transformational experiences in people of all backgrounds. Linda’s way of inviting people to activate the imagination and let it run wild, without losing connection to a more grounded perspective, is unique, something she learned from working and living with horses.

“Horses embody a grounded spirituality,” Linda emphasizes, "one that moves fluidly back and forth between a form of consciousness that anchors itself in concrete reality and a much more soulful, creative, transformational form of consciousness that can embrace the deeper mysteries of life. In myths from around the world, the horse is considered a powerful psychopomp and guide that can take people back and forth between the worlds, allowing them to access inspiration, helping heroes and artists to bring the wisdom of the gods back to earth. And in the traditional tribal cultures of Siberia (where the word “shaman" comes from), actually becoming a horse, through an altered state induced by drumming, is considered the premier shamanic act of a great healer or visionary.

“Over the years, I’ve found that exercising your imagination to 'become the horse,’ has an uplifting, physically, mentally and emotionally invigorating effect on people from all walks of life, whether or not they would normally be interested in more formal shamanic studies. Why? I believe it’s at least partly because your own body is essentially the horse that your mind rides around on. It is a sentient being, not a machine, and it holds tremendous wisdom when we give it free rein. At the same time, the horse is a non-predatory power animal, one that inspires us to access freedom through relationship—relationship to the herd, the earth, and the deeper potential of humanity.

"For thousands of years, horses carried us on their backs, allowing us to explore territory that would have been difficult to traverse on our own two legs. In the 21st century, horses are doing something more important, they're helping us to explore the unknown territory of consciousness itself. In unleashing your imagination to actually become the horse, you are awakening a part of you that can travel between the worlds more and more fluidly, ultimately helping you thrive in this world with courage, grace, inspiration, and a soulful sense of freedom."