Clearing binqi in horses for healing and change

licking and chewing

swishing tail, yawning and foot stamping

Watching the session what will I see?

Jo doing buqi on a horse - copyright Steve West 2006

As you watch the Buqi session you will a number of things. The practitioner will generally not touch the horse directly. You will see her using her own body in such a way as to open a field of energy, to watch, sense and feel the information that is being emitted from the horse and direct vibration information to the body of the horse from her own body, concentration and hands. If you look closely you will see her use the breath in a certain way too.  

You will see the horse responding in a variety of different ways but ultimately the horse will become quiet and deeply relaxed. There are many different reactions and we can make certain interpretations about what is going on.

The reactions that can be seen when horses are responding to Buqi reflect the movement and release of binqi

The Practitioner uses observation and sensing

Buqi therapy on a horse - practitioner is Jo Osborne

The practitioner will observe the posturing of the horse, will look for areas of habitual contraction in the musculo-skeletal system; areas of the body that have become rigid, unmoving or stagnant. Using their sensing functions the practitioner will then seek to locate areas of energetic discrepancies, or disruptions, and the accumulation of binqi; which can often be felt clearly by the practitioner.

The practitioner will also follow how the horse is breathing, posturing, resting a limb, when and why the horse is licking and chewing, yawning , etc, in order to know what and how to work next. As one develops as a practitioner the sensing function becomes more and more refined.

The effects of deep relaxation 

Flyn yawning during a Buqi sessionDuring Buqi the horse often becomes deeply relaxed; he drops his head, may droop the lips, the breathing changes, there may be twitches and small adjustments seen in the joints, muscles and other soft tissue structures.

The para-sympathetic nervous system (opposite to the fight/flight mechanism) is activated which generates deep rest. This can be a very healing time especially for those horses that are naturally very tense, anxious or have become suspicious.

This very deep relaxation also becomes part of the horse's repertoire of experience of inner stillness and inner security.

As the head lowers you can see the biomechanical effect of the thoracic spine (the area under the saddle) lifting and the breath being more deeply drawn into the body.

If the horse is holding deep muscular tension it will be as a result of this deep relaxation that the horse is often seen to make a spontaneous stretch. These stretches are deeply satisfying to observe. The result is that the horse stretches through the contraction and the held-tension with the effect of changing habitual postural holding patterns.

The deeper breaths, release and depth of movement of the diaphragm has an influence on the rest of the body and on the expelling of binqi.