May 29, 2007
Fabulous Finds: "Soleful" PurposeThe Empowering Scent of Horse Manure!
by Laurel House
I was so stressed, I could barely breathe. My muscles had managed to mangle themselves in such tightly bound knots, that it hurt to touch them. This LA lady was beyond wanting and into the realms of sincerely needing an intensely relaxing reprieve, for the sake of my health, my sanity and the sanity of every person forced to come with five feet of my presence.
If Miraval Resort (www.miravalresort.com), the summer camp for adults that was recently rated the “best destination spa in the country” by Travel and Leisure Magazine, was all it was chalked up to be, I was guaranteed a serious infusion of serenity.
The silence that surrounded me at Miraval’s desert oasis, situated in the middle of nowhere (no joke, it was nowhere near anything that resembled civilization), was anything but soundless…It screamed! (Who knew silence could be so loud?!) Trees swayed, their branches clanging into each other with the most 
bizarre hollow drumming noise. The babbling stream snapped, as it sifted through smooth rocks in its wake. Birds tactfully balanced on cactus needles, chirping and peeping under the scorching sun. Nature was alive and well at Miraval, something that I had forgotten about, living in high-rise laden la-la land.
Somehow, two hours quickly passed and it was time for my first activity. Despite my lifelong aversion to horses, I felt insanely compelled to sign up for the Equine Experience. (Self-imposed torture is sometimes fun.) Having no knowledge of what I was about to encounter, a group of about six of us headed out to the stables, where Wyatt Webb, a psychotherapist and creator of the Equine Experience, awaited our arrival. After a bit of a psychology lecture on life and happiness (surprise, surprise, dear Wyatt focused on me, the most psychologically in need of the bunch), we entered an arena and were shown how to brush, walk and clean the hooves of a horse. Isn’t that what every girl wants to do when she escapes to a pamper-promising spa?
More than digging dirt out of a horse’s hoof, the Equine Experience dug deep into my psyche, hauling loads of mental manure out of the depths of my being, including insecurities and painstakingly buried personality patterns that hindered my ability to succeed in certain situations. With tears streaming down my cheeks, Wyatt reminded me that this task wasn’t about the horse… It was about me.
A few yards away was a round corral, where Wyatt’s own horse stood. We were told that our next task was to direct the horse, leading him to walk, canter and maybe run without touch or words. The direction was to come out of the energetic power in our stomachs! Um, okay… Surprisingly, each guest was able to wordlessly coax the horse to walk, even canter for a moment. When it was my turn, I imagined my energy was a laser beam that burned through my stomach and onto the horse's butt. And he started to run. That horse ran and ran in circles until Wyatt yelled at me to stop and harness my energy. I have never felt so calmly in control in my life.
I left the ranch with the distinct odor of horse on my clothing and skin, a smile 
on my face and my spirit soaring. In the end, I don’t know if Miraval was great for me. Yes, I did “come into balance,” as their slogan pretty much promises, but did I really need to know that I was capable of making a horse haul ass in order to get away from my energetic force? Regardless, I enjoyed it and the next time I am in need of getting an instant surge of power or dose of balance, you can bet I will be heading out to nowhere and happily coating my clothes with the empowering scent of horse manure!
