#yogawithgin

I have been thinking a lot lately about connections. Connections with people are often easiest for us to see and think about, but really, and I love yoga for showing us this through connecting to ourselves first, even before connecting to others, we are connected to everything in the universe. Everything.

I posted a link to a video on Facebook a few days ago, but I wanted to link to it here again too. There’s a little girl, named Iris, who has autism. She has a therapy cat, and the cat goes everywhere with her and does everything with her, even swims with her. Their connection is so amazing. Tula, the cat, even got Iris to start talking. You can check them out here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3491674/Autistic-six-year-old-paints-cycles-SWIMS-tabby-feline-helped-voice.html

I have worked at Therapeutic Horsemanship of Hawaii for about 8 years now. We teaching horseback riding and horsemanship skills (caring for the horse, learning about horses, learning how to groom and tack up, etc) to students with both physical and mental disabilities, and “normal” kids and adults too. It has and continues to be such a magical experience. Over the years, I have had many students with autism, and in fact, they are often my favorite kids to work with (maybe I shouldn’t have favorites, but oh well!). Just like Iris and Tula, the connection between some of my students and the horses is so profound. I have had horses that will misbehave for regular kids who they know are not paying attention and then 10 minutes later do everything in their power to do everything right for a child who truly needs their help. It is so beautiful. I have had a few students with autism even say some of their first words riding a horse in my class. I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing that is. I don’t even have to say how amazing it is to see a student who couldn’t hardly talk, who acted out and constantly got upset to learn, over the years to speak well and ride their horse fully independently. Magic happens all the time. We are all connected. I love seeing those connections first hand there. 

If you are on Oahu and you are at all interested in checking out our program, we take volunteers to help us out everyday of the week (I’m just there on Sundays though). You can check out our website:

http://www.thhwaimanalo.org

Love, hugs, aloha and namaste,