with Jenny Pim
Your horse will be drawn more to connect with you if you can do things in an easy and effortless way when you’re with him. In Taoism the term for doing things in an easy and effortless way is Wu Wei (wei sounds like ‘way’ in English). It is literally translated as ‘non action’ and can be interpreted to mean action without effort.
There’s another Taoist quality or concept that makes us attractive to horses and that is Ziran. Ziran literally means ’self so’. It can be interpreted to mean being natural and spontaneous.
One of the things that Equestrian Tai Chi does is to develop our awareness of our physical self, to become more aware of our body and how it moves.
Taoism is the ancient, mystical, spiritual philosophy of China. Its emphasis is on living in balance and harmony with the natural world.
The Tao means The Way, to follow The Tao, means to follow the natural course of life. (It is pronounced Dao, rhymes with now)
Being Spontaneous in the Taoist sense is different to the meaning we give it in English.
Spontaneity is one of the main concepts in Chuang Tzu. Chuang Tzu and the Taodejing are the two major foundation works of Taoist philosophy. Chuang Tzu is attributed to Chuang Tzu (born circa 369 B.C) and his work simply bears his name.