The Somatic Enneagram
4 Day Workshop:
Thursday - Sunday
May 7th - May 11th
When life’s challenges feel relentless, the nervous system can forget what safety feels like. This retreat invites you into a transformative partnership with horses—who embody presence, honesty, and coherence—and the Somatic Enneagram, a body-centered path to self-understanding.
Over four days, you’ll learn to recognize and relax your reactive patterns, reclaim your agency, and rediscover how to live from grounded presence.
Find Capacity, Space & Freedom
This extraordinary offering is designed to reveal and resolve barriers and defenses that keep us from the grounded presence we need to face life’s challenges. Expand the space between stimulus and response for more freedom, choice and capacity in real time, right now.
The Landscape
Right now, the dramatic polarization of perspectives here and in other parts of the world have left many of us feeling overwhelmed and powerless to do anything but react rather than respond to situations – most of which are beyond our control. We spend a great deal of mental and emotional energy defending our positions, denying its impact on us or believing that if we have more information, we’ll feel safer.
As Elizabeth Stanley, PhD states in her book WIDEN THE WINDOW, The thinking brain will never make us feel safer.
It is the body that can inform and transform our ability to RESPOND rather than REACT to whatever we face. This is where the ‘juice’ is, as Helen Palmer used to say.
And, the more energy we spend on regrets, projections, stories and defense-based reactions to the threats we perceive, the less we have to invest in creative endeavors and practices that renew and build our capacity to meet life’s demands.
It’s an INSIDE JOB and horses get us there faster …as always.
Why Horses?
They’re both powerful and gentle.
They’re honest but not judgmental.
Their hearts are coherent.
They connect and collaborate through trust.
They resonate with congruence and invite emotional honesty
They help us carve new neural pathways in real time, right now.
The Experience
Somatic practices guided by Marion Gilbert and Jane Strong
Hands-on experiential learning with horses that reveals your emotional patterns
Real-time facilitation to support relaxation of type-based defenses
Daily integration time to deepen awareness and reflection
A small, intimate group of only 12 participants
EVENING ACTIVITIES
fire pit, canoeing, hiking, music and real horsemanship skills
The Benefits
Increased emotional regulation and self-trust
A deeper understanding of your Enneagram type’s reactivity in real-world settings
Tools to expand the space between stimulus and response
Embodied confidence, compassion, and connection
An unforgettable experience of co-regulation and presence through horses
Four days on a 65-acre property that includes hiking, swimming a fire pit and of course — horses who live together and love their jobs.
To register or for more retreat details, please visit:
https://www.somaticenneagram.com/equus-effect-meets-the-somatic-enneagram-may-7-2026
Bring your questions to the March 6th Webinar: 9:00 AM PST /12:00 PM EST
To sign up for this info session:
We recognize the issues of our times:
Too many demands & distractions
Not enough recovery time
Social friction
Unsteady ground
Change fatigue
Reactive culture
I thought that this is just the way it is but actually, It’s the way I’ve become. When I worked with those horses and the staff challenged me to go beyond my comfort zone, I realized things I didn’t even know were holding me back.
The more complicated things became, the more I realized how liberating it is to be present. I was so focused on what I was learning and doing, I discovered parts of myself that I thought were gone for good.
I thought this was going to be recreation, but it turned out to be really serious and more fun than I’ve had since I can remember.
I had no idea I could feel energized and relaxed at the same time, but i did. I understand what they mean by freedom and choice.
And we have some solutions.
Embodied Learning with Horses
Tools and skills to settle down
Practices to handle triggers
Real time nervous system feedback
We think we know who we are and how we have to be to survive, but most of these are scripts from the past. Reviewing them is part of the journey, but the next leg is to go beyond the mind and into the body where new patterns can arise.. We believe that there are no better companions than horses who are always present and coaches who have walked the walk toward more authentic ways to be and become.
TEE impacts our quality of life as well as our relationships with others — from the ground up. We offer a multi-component curriculum that uses real in-hand horsemanship skills, body-based practices and a provocative and engaging discussion around Emotional Agility.
We promise:
faster downshift from stress
better boundaries and communication
increased mental clarity
improved ability to manage energy and attention
healthier repair after conflict
stronger “I can handle this” internal narrative
*Inside The Equus Effect (ITEE) is also a prerequisite for the 2026 train to Facilitate Program that begins in September
When I learned how to trust myself on the inside, the outside got a whole lot easier.
I kept reacting to things that happened before instead of what’s really going on now. I had no idea I was dragging the past into everything until I understood how to show up for that horse.