The real adventure of a lifetime is getting to know ourselves at our ooey-gooey center, or innermost core - and for Kelly, the journey of self discovery was guided by horses, nature, and ultimately, the Equine Facilitated Therapy called Gestalt that changed her whole life.

In episode #7 of the podcast, I sat down to talk with Kelly Dukarski, an Equine Gestaltist who partners with horses to offer a somatic healing experience in which clients are able to clear trauma from the body, reclaim their happiness, and embrace the beauty of who they are. She is based in West Newbury, Massachusetts, and has over three decades of experience as a horsewoman, in addition to 25 years working as a horticulturist and 15 years as a folk herbalist.

Her deep love of horses comes right across in this interview, as she talks about how she’s walked a nontraditional path as a horsewoman, and weaves her healing work with herbs and nature into her work with horses.

I couldn’t stop smiling hearing Kelly’s stories and testimonials of her work as an Equine Gestaltist. In fact, by the end of our conversation, I set a reminder for myself to book a session with my local Equine Gestalt Coach (more on that later!).

Read on or listen here to learn about the importance of giving back to our horses in return for all they give us through nature-based rituals, the profound ways in which horses show up to help us move through traumas, and how doing our personal work must come first before we go forth to help others.

In describing your work to me, you wrote,

“It gives us the ability to clear trauma from the body, move through grief, speak our truth and live in our values. And it is often life changing and profound.”

So why don't we just dive into like that ooey gooey life changing center of it all?

Well, so Gestalt is a German word and really the translation of Gestalt is about a return to wholeness or the symbol of wholeness, right? And so it can also be described as flowing into form. And I really love that. I just love that whole description because it offers us an opportunity to come into this as we are, however we are, and go at our own pace. Right? And so when, let's see, how do I describe this? So gestalt is a type of, it's a healing modality, which is a type of therapy that centers around an experience. And in this case, it's an experience with the horses. it offers this cathartic release.

So if we believe that trauma is trapped in the cells of our body, which can be trapped in the cells of our body, we often need help kind of coaxing this out, right? Because our mind, our brains go into a protective mode that really keeps us from our truth. keeps us from taking a good look at where these things come from and how they happened. And really this beautiful thing happens when you get in the presence of a horse and a horse is able to tap into this. And so people always ask me, how does a horse do that? Like how, what is this? Is this, cause they think of it as maybe... Oh, it's a little hokey. You know, what is this? What is this magic that you're talking about?

But really the thing that happens is... The trauma itself gets locked in the chakra points of our body or the energy points of our body, right? That's where we hold our trauma. So depending on your life experience and the things that happen to you, those settle into the different energy points in your body. And a horse that is made up of... completely of energy, right? They respond to that all the time throughout the entire day, right? Their nervous system, and that's a whole nother thing, like going into the fight or flight mode of their nervous system, they're responding all the time. And so they have this ability to align their chakras with ours to determine where we're trapped, where we're holding that negative energy or that trauma. And it offers this really beautiful opportunity for us to have a cathartic release around that.

People feel a sense of real safety in the eyes of a horse, in the presence of a horse. And it brings them to this place of real vulnerability and acceptance to really be able to tell their story. You know, they tell their story to my horse. And it's, it's consensual that my horse in the process of this, of this work is that is that liberty. It's not halted. It's completely free to participate in this work as it chooses. And they choose it every single time they step up for that client. every time I get choked up because it's just so beautiful to witness. And I feel like, yeah, I feel really grateful and fortunate to be a part of this, you know, to be able to shine a light on the healing capacity of horses.

So for people who are completely new to the idea of partnering with horses in a therapeutic way, how would you describe what these sessions look like?

Well, everyone's an individual and they come with their own set of beliefs and values and personal situations, personal traumas or whatever it is, right? And let's just say this, I want to kind of throw this out there because trauma is a word that... shows up a lot, it's really talked about right now. And the reality of trauma is that it, trauma at its core is an adverse experience, right? And we've all had that. Every single person on the planet has had trauma. It's the degree of trauma that each one has experienced, right? And so when people come to me, it's at all different levels.

I do not take an intake on a client because I want them to show up and to be received with no preconceived notions about what's happening. I want them to enter into the session completely present to the day and not... Because oftentimes, like I said, our brain is working really hard to protect us. So we've already thought about our strategies on how we're going to show up. And the stuff that we're going to talk about long before we even got there. Right. I think I'm going to talk about this and this is what's really coming up for me. But when they get there and they have an opportunity to get present in nature, right out in nature and have these awarenesses where they slow down and I ask them to tap into their body, to start to feel into their body and get out of their head, the session really unfolds from there.

And oftentimes it's about many different things other than the thing that they showed up to talk about in the first place. And the horses respond to that immediately.

When a client arrives, my horse has already taken a read on them. We typically meet, right outside of the paddock or the pasture that we're working in. And my horse is already taking a read on them. And as we start to unfold in the session of, it starts out with a little bit of, well, conversation about where they're at. We tap into their body and pretty instantly, my horse is already giving me the cues on where to go with this. and we instantly move into the pasture or the paddock to work with the client. And it's because as soon as my client enters, the horse goes into action and they typically line up their chakra points on their body with my clients. And that instantly tells me that, yep, we are going in the right direction based on what they're telling me and how my horse is responding to that.

It can also change because as soon, let me say it like this, horses respond to us when we are in our body, in our hearts and not in our heads. And that switch over happens really fast, right? Just like when you see a horse in a field. They're switching over between that fight or flight mode constantly, right? They're going back and forth. They do the same thing with the client.

When a client goes from feeling, telling us, you know, how they feel, where they're at, my horse is right there with them and then their story can unfold. But there comes a point when a client could... have an awareness that, oh my gosh, I'm telling my story because they've never told this to anybody before. And they'll switch back into their heads and my horse will instantly take a step back and not respond. And then they might say, oh my gosh, the horse doesn't like me. No, that's not it at all. You know, they go right into this self-judgment mode, but that's not it at all. It's that he will respond to you when you get back into your body.

And again, that awareness for a client is like, wow, it shows the disconnect and how we are so disconnected from our day in general, that being disconnected from our body is somehow safe. Right? And that's just the more we connect with our body and get in tuned to who we are, then we have this ability to not only heal, but set our course for the future. right? It gives us courage and empowerment and sets us on a whole new path.

So each experience is very different depending on the person and depending on what they bring into the session. And the horses respond differently to each person. But I am truly blown away in every session. I'm in awe of them in every single session. Absolutely. I'm in awe of the clients that come to me too for this vulnerability and willingness to trust all that's happening to a horse. That is just like, well, it gives me great hope for the future. It gives me great hope for not only the future of healing and therapy, but for the recognition of the gift that horses can give to us. know, truly, that is like, that's the part for me that drives it all, you know, puts it all together.

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Learn more about Kelly

Follow Kelly’s journey, and learn more about her work, mission, and retreats at A Wild Omen, and be sure to follow her on Instagram @awildomen.