Kawartha Lakes woman offers horse wisdom yoga
Tara Lee knows firsthand about the value of working with horses. Such connections keep a person in the present moment, she says, because “a horse does not care about your past or future events.”
Now, the Fenelon Falls-area woman has launched horse wisdom yoga in Kawartha Lakes.
Lee, who was raised in Coboconk, moved back from B.C. in 2015 as a single mom raising two children. She called it a “time in life of shedding old skin and regaining new.”
It was during this time she found the perfect bridge to merge her love of horses with yoga, in horse wisdom yoga – the name of an actual program designed to “allow the movement of expressions of feelings, in the presence of a horse ‘guide.’”
To be clear, there are no actual physical yoga movements that are done on horseback.
“There is a connection to nature — and horses are usually the closest thing to ‘wild’ as we can get,” says Lee. They “interact with you at whatever state you’re at,” she explains.
Lee is a certified 200-hour yoga teacher, and a certified horse wisdom yoga teacher. She has completed studies in energy healing and reiki and will have upcoming certification in trauma counselling. She also will soon complete specialized training in yogic sleep – a state of relaxation and rest that is in between regular sleep and wakefulness.
As someone with first-hand personal experience with PTSD, Lee found that her “equine family” taught her ways to release the negative experiences of the past that no longer served her needs.
The outcomes of horse wisdom yoga are often related to being in a relaxed state of true peace. She equates it with getting a hug for 20 consecutive minutes, creating conditions of lower blood pressure, a slower heart rate, and being more aware of one’s surroundings.
The horse wisdom yoga program involves, among other things, providing group circles and one-on-one sessions, and creating programming designed for youth to allow for self-study and a reconnection to nature. There will also be silent work, forest bathing, and meditation. Lee also creates specialized discovery programs for survivors of past events.
Lee says she will be at a major yoga conference in Toronto on April 3 to promote horse wisdom yoga and then at the Peterborough Yoga Festival in June.
Her work at the stables in Kawartha Lakes is by appointment only. Contact her at or through her Facebook page here.