Transition stress is no small task. People who are trained to perform in high stress environments tell us that putting down the skills and training they use to override fear and face lethal danger is not as easy as taking off their uniforms. Nor is it easy to keep the home fires burning and manage a family while spouses are away or on duty. Between cumulative stress and the identity shifts from one role in life to another, relationships can falter under the strain and stress of lives lived under the burden of too much adrenaline and not enough time to recover.

Our nervous systems are designed to use short bursts of adrenaline for emergencies — not for ongoing stress. When we don’t find healthy ways to digest and metabolize these life-saving hormones, we carry the past and project into the future in ways that are very expensive to our nervous systems. We can’t settle down, return to life at home or in our communities because we are distracted by intrusive thoughts and reactions that are out of sync with what’s really happening now. These thought patterns block our attunement, aliveness and ability to remain present to others.

Horses on the other hand, are always grounded and always present. The in-hand skills and body-based attunement practices we teach help reveal places where we feel unsteady or reactive — in real time. Their clear, non-judgmental responses help us liberate energy and respond rather than react to people and situations that trigger us.

TEE is a multi-component curriculum. We teach in hand horsemanship skills, body-based practices and offer an engaging discussion we call Emotional Agility that provides tools to handle difficult emotions and triggers.