The Information Officer of The Victorian CF Association, Lyn Eggelston, (and in charge of their newletters at the time) invited me to submit an article about anything I wanted. So I wrote about my horse. I also recently submitted this to the Welsh Pony and Cob Societies Australian Magazine, "Action".
When I wake up, I sometimes curse the ever-present mucus in my lungs. Usually, once I’m awake, it’s difficult to sleep again, as the lungs command me to cough to remove the mucus.
It could be in the same moment, that I also think - couldn’t I, just for one morning, wake with a clear chest and breathe easily. In the scheme of things this seems like a fairly simple, basic request. But for someone with CF, it would be a gift from heaven! It’s a rare moment within my busy life, that I feel self-pity and quickly I reprimand myself for feeling so negative.
Then I sit up to contemplate my day and what is planned. As I look out my window, I gaze across a well-loved garden, the paddocks with their beautiful green grass, and a very special friend who inhabits them. And then I forget my full and aching lungs, and I marvel how I came to own such an amazing animal, who over 12 wonderful years, has given me strength, fun and laughter and a will to live.
Pretty amazing gifts for an animal isn’t it? He can’t speak, can’t embrace me, but he has an unlimited supply of unconditional love, tolerance, patience and forgiveness.
Poplars Farm Anniversary or more affectionately known as Andy, or the “Randster” came into our lives at the tender age of 3, a black coloured, gangly but kind looking Part Welsh Galloway. Dad had gone to a horse sale to buy a float, but instead came home with a horse!! I already owned a pony, but I was growing too big for her, and told dad (confidently thinking, as children often do, that my request would be gratified!!!) I needed a bigger horse. I didn’t expect this to happen for quite a while.
At the horse sale, some of my friends from Pony Club saw Andy, and told Dad he was the “perfect next horse” for me. Luckily, Dad heeded their advice, bid for Andy successfully and brought him home. To this day, I marvel at the synchronistic events that brought Andy home to me.
Andy and I have had a very successful career together and are known around the district as a winning combination.
Often a horse’s temperament and conformation are suited to only one discipline of Dressage, One Day Eventing or Showing. But not Andy – he is accomplished in all three. In the showing ring, we have placed in hundred’s of ridden and led events, resulting in 30 Champions and 30 Reserve Champions. In the Eventing scene, in Pony Club (at Interzone and State Level) and now in Open Competition, Andy and I have won over 30 One Day Events, and 18 times have won the Dressage Phase. My favourite wins include 1st place at the 1992 Pony Club State Dressage Championships, 1st place in the Grade 2 Pony Club Interzone Eventing Championships and 2nd place at the Royal Horse Summer Show in 1995 for Best Pony Club Mount, out of over 100 entries.
The best part of the competitive horse world was meeting different people. Growing up in Pony Club was a wonderful, social time, and Club members learnt the skills of comradeship, support, and the grace of keeping a smile on your face when beaten, or being humble after a good day.
Competing also gave me some treasured memories for my parents and myself. At my 21st birthday, my mum gave a beautiful speech, and expressed great joy when seeing her supposedly “frail little girl” gallop around a cross-country course, arriving back safely at the finish line, flushed, out of breath but very happy.
As I grew older, I not only looked forward to my competitions for riding, but for the time I shared with my parents, particularly my mum, as dad was often still milking cows when we needed to leave around dawn.
I was fortunate that my parents encouraged my horse riding. At that age, I guess they were unsure how long I would be around, so anything that I expressed interest in, they were happy for me to follow it, and encouraged it enthusiastically.
Horses can often be a passing fad for many children but my passion has stayed strong. Yet, over time, and as my health deteriorated, I lost some of my competitiveness and found myself grateful that I was able to ride, and enjoy Andy’s company and personality.
And he certainly has a personality! Recently, he decided that the pumpkins next to his paddock (that he’d never shown an interest in before!) looked very nice, and proceeded to eat the pumpkin vine, then a whole pumpkin, and left tell tale teeth marks in another before Dad was onto him!
Several weeks later, Andy got in trouble again, when he ate a prized watermelon (only the 2nd one mum had ever grown) that was unfortunately too close to the fence!!
Andy’s antics over the years have given us many laughs, and it’s surprising how intelligent they can be, particularly if it’s to do with food! Andy turns 15 this year, as I turn 26. As the years roll by, I become a bit daunted as it becomes likely that I’ll outlive him. I can’t imagine my life without Andy, so I try not to think about the inevitable. Animals are lifelong friends, and have so many gifts to be given to their owners. I like to think myself as a guardian to Andy, to whom I owe my responsibility and care.
What CFers may lack at times in their health, we certainly make up for, with the talents we have been blessed with. Owning, riding and competing with Andy has given me a chance to forget about CF and focus on something which gives me much joy, pride and success. Andy and the experiences we have had together helped shape the person I have become today. Never doubt the healing power of our animal friends.
In November Kerryn McIver, the Community Relations and Information Officer of CF Victoria invited me to write an article about "alternative therapies" - topic?? Anything I wanted to!! So I wrote about Reiki.
By Genevieve Broom
A lot of these healing modalities, although called different things and have different techniques of treatment, usually achieve the same means in the end. One example of this is energy based healing modalities. Qi Gong, Reiki, Seichim, Tai Chi, Acupuncture, Healing Touch, Pranic healing, (just to name a few!) share the basic principles of that they all work with Qi energy to create equilibrium in the body, mind and spirit. Not all people are open to these modalities and/or believe that the body has an energy field, (called an aura) but curiosity is rapidly growing.
Reiki is a beautiful, gentle and holistic healing modality. Through several "attunements" from a Reiki Master, you are then able to channel universal healing energy, (or called "Qi" - pronounced Chee) by the laying on of hands on the body. This energy is available to everyone – it is not for the privileged few or exclusive to certain people. Thousands of years ago we are told that people understood the power of healing through the hands. Over time most people lost or forgot their healing abilities.
Dr. Mikao Usui, who was also responsible for it’s revival, rediscovered Reiki in the middle of the nineteenth century.
Reiki energy goes to where the body needs it the most. It “knows” where to go in the body, without you having to manipulate it or think about it. Even if you are a sceptic, this will not affect the Reiki’s ability to work, though it may affect the way in which you perceive it. The most common thing experienced during a treatment of Reiki is a sense of peace and relaxation.
Over the years I have given many treatments to my family and friends and the responses have been varied but always positive.
In a treatment where you are receiving Reiki, you may feel the healers hands become hot or cold, you may feel tingling from their hands or on your own body, you may feel different emotions as they are stirred up and released, you may even fall asleep!! There are so many things that can be experienced.
Some of the benefits of Reiki are that it helps the bodies natural ability to heal itself, works on all levels (on mind, body and spirit) to create balance, helps to loosen up blocked energy, adjusts itself according to the needs of the person receiving it and can also be used on animals and plants.
I have been using Reiki since I was 16 years old, so at 26, I have been using it for 10 years. My mother and 3 of my sisters also have become Reiki channels. With all the coughing that I do, Reiki has been wonderful for easing the ache in my lungs. It’s been soothing for period pain (like a hot water bottle but 100 times better!!), chest pain from constant coughing, (particularly when I have an infection) upset tummies (either from forgotten enzymes, or just general irritation from food), and for stressful situations (very calming). Every night before I go to sleep I put my hands on my chest and let the energy channel away to my lungs, particularly at the top where I know I have had a bit of lung tissue damage, and it tends to ache sometimes.
Mum and I have often exchanged Reiki, and when I have been really sick, an hour session with her really brought me a lot of relief. The treatment would help with my recovery; relief in any pain and in my mind and body would bring a sense of peace and calm.
A couple of years ago I had to go to hospital to get my wisdom teeth out. After the anaesthetic wore off, (I was put to sleep because I didn’t want know anything about the operation!!) I was experiencing the most intense pain and feeling panicked because I just didn’t know when it was going to stop. So Mum started giving me Reiki. After a while the pain and my panic subsided and I felt much better (though unfortunately I still looked like a chipmunk!!) While she was treating me, (picture Mum sitting on the bed holding my face between her hands) a doctor walked in to check up on me, and his face showed his bewilderment as he said, “ I won’t even ask!!”
I have also used Reiki on my horse Andy. I remember a particular time when Andy injured his leg quite badly, and I used Reiki on it every day for a week after the vet told me Andy would not be able to be ridden for at least a month. Within two weeks Andy’s leg was all healed, and the vet asked me what I had done!! I didn’t tell him at the time as I thought he would think I was a bit loopy!!
I’ve also used it on him to help me connect with him when I feel like he hasn’t been well, and offer him a bit of relief. In a treatment Andy stands very still and often goes to sleep, with his head and neck lowered nearly to the ground. Animals in general love this modality, and I often find cats and dogs trying to sneak into my lap to get a bit of a dose!!
There are many books available about Reiki, which would give you a more in depth description on what Reiki is. Courses are always being advertised in New Age shops, newspapers (one I recommend is “Living Now”, which also has a website – visit http://www.livingnow.com.au) and magazines, so it pays to really shop around and choose a course (and teacher) that feels right for you. I have only covered the very basics, and hope that this may inspire you too look at something that has given me a lot of healing and relief in managing my CF. I do not use Reiki exclusively however, but use it with a combination of other therapies.
Over the past 10 years, I have been opened to a very different way of thinking to why DIS-EASE occurs in our body, and how emotions and what is going on in your life often manifests as illness in our bodies. When I get an infection, rather than just treating the infection, I also look beyond it to see if there is something else my body is trying to tell me. This is a different topic all together, but it is food for thought.