Nervous System Regulation in a Chaotic World: Nature Based and Equine Therapy as a Revolutionary Act

There are moments when it feels impossible to ignore what’s happening in the United States.

Not just the headlines, but the tone in the air. The speed. The division. The constant sense of threat. Even when we’re not actively reading the news, our bodies are still taking it in. Our nervous systems are still tracking it.

And lately, I’ve been noticing it in my therapy work.

More clients arriving dysregulated. More anxiety, more grief, more irritability, more shutdown. More “I don’t know what’s wrong, I just can’t settle.” More people blaming themselves for not coping better.

I want to say this clearly: it makes sense.

If the world around us feels unsafe, our bodies will respond like it’s unsafe. That isn’t weakness. That’s biology. That’s intelligence.

Nervous System Dysregulation in a Chaotic World

After a hard client day recently, I did what I think a lot of us do when we’re trying to come back to ourselves: I went to the grocery store in Boulder.

Something about errands can feel normal. Predictable. Like a small way to re-enter the world after holding so much.

But even there, the nervous system of the collective was loud.

Within minutes of walking in, I witnessed at least three different yelling fights. People snapping at each other, unable to share space, unable to tolerate small inconveniences, unable to stay connected to basic humanity. Everyone felt on edge. Divided. Braced.

And then, in the produce section, I found myself standing between two women screaming at each other and calling each other names. One of them was holding a baby.

I remember making eye contact with that baby, huge eyes, taking it all in. The baby and I just looking at each other in this moment of “what is happening?” Neither of us enjoying our time in the produce aisle.

I almost left multiple times.

Not because I was being dramatic, but because my body was tracking what was true: this wasn’t just “a disagreement.” This was dysregulation spilling into public space. This was nervous systems that couldn’t find their footing. This was people who didn’t have enough capacity to stay relational.

And it hit me, again, how much we’re all swimming in right now.

How to Feel Grounded When the World Feels Overwhelming

When I feel overwhelmed, I don’t actually need more information. I need more resourcing.

I need to come back to the things I can control:

· Where my attention goes

· What I feed my body and mind

· How I breathe

· What I touch

· Who I let close

· How I move

· What I choose to practice when the world is loud

And for me, over and over again, what helps most is relationship.

Not just relationship with people, but relationship with the natural world. Relationship with the more-than-human world. Relationship with the part of me that existed long before algorithms, before productivity culture, before the constant demand to react.

Nature Based Therapy for Anxiety, Stress, and Trauma

Nature-based therapy can sound like a luxury until you remember what nature actually does to the nervous system.

Nature slows us down without shaming us. Nature gives us rhythm. Nature offers orientation. Nature reminds the body what “enough” feels like.

When we’re outside, our senses have something real to track: wind, temperature, birdsong, the weight of our feet on the ground. Our attention becomes embodied again. We return to the present, not through force, but through contact.

In a chaotic world, that kind of contact is medicine.

Equine Assisted Therapy and Nervous System Regulation

Horses are especially powerful right now because they don’t respond to our words, they respond to our nervous systems.

You can’t “perform” regulation around a horse. You can’t intellectualize your way into safety. You can’t bypass the body.

Horses invite honesty. They invite coherence. They invite us back into the kind of presence that can’t be faked.

And in a time when so much feels distorted or surreal, that kind of truth is grounding.

Travel, Nature, and Resourcing as a Therapist

Recently, I traveled outside of the U.S. and I came back feeling more resourced, and honestly, more wild.

Not reckless. Not disconnected.

Wild in the way I mean it as a nature-based therapist: more alive, more instinctual, more rooted in what’s real.

I spent time in Ecuador on horseback, moving through wide volcanic landscapes. There was a moment, galloping through open land, where I could feel myself returning to who I really am.

Not who I am in a culture that demands constant output. Not who I am when I’m bracing for the next thing. But who I am when I’m in my body, in motion, in relationship with an animal, in relationship with the earth.

I let myself be free. I let myself be a little ridiculous. (Yes, I wore furry chaps and tipped my hat during a long ride, because something in me needed that kind of joy and permission.)

After Ecuador, I spent a few weeks in Costa Rica, deepening into nature, horse relationships, and the wild. Less performing. More listening. More letting my nervous system remember what it feels like to be held by something older and steadier than the news cycle.

And I realized: this isn’t just personal.

Wildness, Relationship, and Healing as a Revolutionary Act

In a world that profits off our dysregulation, coming back to the body is revolutionary.

In a world that wants us numb, choosing aliveness is revolutionary.

In a world that keeps us indoors, overstimulated, and disconnected, choosing relationship with the natural world is revolutionary.

That’s what nature-based therapy is, to me, not an aesthetic, not an escape, but a return.

A return to the parts of us that know how to breathe again. A return to the parts of us that can feel and still stay here. A return to the truth that we are animals too. A return to belonging.

Therapy Support for Feeling Unregulated and Overwhelmed

If you’ve been feeling unregulated lately, you’re not alone, and you’re not broken.

Your nervous system is responding to the world it’s living in.

And we can work with that.

We can build capacity. We can practice regulation. We can find the places where you still have choice. We can reconnect you to what supports you, whether that’s nature, movement, breath, boundaries, relationships, or the steady presence of a horse beside you.

Because the goal isn’t to pretend the world isn’t happening.

The goal is to stay connected to yourself while it is.

And sometimes, the most powerful thing we can do, especially in a chapter like this, is to come back to what’s real:

The ground. The breath. The body. The wild.

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The Immediacy of Love: An Animas Quest into the More Than Human World

By Lexie Glisson • March 2, 2026

The Immediacy of Love: An Animas Quest into the More Than Human World I recently returned from two weeks in the Arizona wild that felt less like a trip and more like a tectonic shift of the self. It began with retaking the Equilateral (EMDR + Equine Assisted Therapy) training. This was a time of stripping back the layers to re-anchor into the wisdom of my body and the silent, honest presence of horses. But the grounding was only the preparation for the underworld descent of the Animas Valley Institute intensive: Deep Imagination. Somatic Healing and the Power of the Animal Body The transformation began the moment I closed my eyes on my first night in Arizona. I dreamt I was in the wild, surrounded by hundreds of cats. Their bodies were low, their eyes tracking me, stalking me like prey. I felt a familiar timidity, a fear that these wild beings could turn and attack at any moment. But then, the atmosphere shifted. The cats began rubbing against my legs, brushing past me, and purring with a deep, vibrating resonance. I felt caught between a cautious need to move slowly and a sudden, overwhelming realization: maybe they are just deeply relational. What followed was a sensation I feel I’ve been waiting my whole life for. It was a feeling of euphoria and a primal, erotic charge. It was a deep longing and desire finally being met. This dream became the blueprint for my time in the canyon. It taught me how to move through the world not as a spectator, but as an animal body, listening for the shimmering conversation between the hunter and the beloved. Transforming Fear into Relationship through Deep Imagination As I moved deeper into the canyon, the Wild Other changed its shape. I carried a second dream of being chased by a rattlesnake, paralyzed by the strike. With the help of a guide, I entered the somatic heart of that fear. I allowed my spine to elongate, stretching tall while my feet rooted into the earth. From this place of animal strength, I was able to turn and meet the snake’s gaze. In that eye-to-eye contact, the threat transformed into a relationship. I felt a deep, strange longing to be inhabited by this being, to allow the snake’s fluid, ancient power to become my own. Finding Flow and Softening in the More Than Human World Later, during a solo wander in the heat of the canyon, I found a deep bend in the river that moved in the exact, undulating shape of a serpent. I gave myself to it. I let the Snake River take me downstream, over and over. Each time, the challenge was the same: How soft can I get? I practiced softening every muscle, letting go of the ego’s need to control, allowing the current to devour my resistance. I wasn't just swimming. I was practicing the immediacy of love, a total, defenseless presence to the flow of life. The Practice of Reciprocity and Sacred Movement To honor these encounters, I entered into a silent ceremony. I offered the movement of my own body as an expression of deep respect and gratitude to the wild cat and the rattlesnake who had guided me. For four minutes of uninterrupted, silent movement, I let my body speak back to the canyon. In that dance, I wasn't just observing nature. I was offering myself to it. It was an act of reciprocity, a way to say, “I see you, I thank you, and I am here.” Moving from Ego to Intuition in the Wild The ego, however, is a persistent marcher. After the river, my thinking mind decided I needed to reach a specific, noble spot further up the canyon. I fought the current, ignoring my intuition three times as the walking grew harder. It took a prickly, thorned branch catching my skin to stop me dead in my tracks. When I finally surrendered and turned around, I saw the beauty I had been marching past: cottonwood fluff drifting like snow through the golden light. As I walked back downstream, the moment my mind drifted back to my noble goal, I tripped. I looked down and realized I was standing exactly where I had started, at the bend of the Snake River. And there, to my left, was the answer to my journey. I had asked the snake how I could stay connected to its power. There stood a tree with webbed roots , the exact image from my internal vision. Wholeness and the Immediacy of Love I am remerging from the canyon with a new understanding of wholeness. It is not a solo achievement or a destination we march toward. It is a collective recognition of the More Than Human world. We heal the long severance from our souls when we refuse to look away from the stalking cat, the striking snake, or the divine gift in another’s eye. When we stop trying to conquer the wild and instead allow ourselves to be devoured by its beauty, the gates of the kingdom swing wide. Salvation is not a distant destination. It is the euphoria of the purr and the softening of the spine. It is the immediacy of love

How to Meet a Horse: Somatic Awareness and Equine Communication Signs

By Lexie Glisson • February 17, 2026

How to Meet a Horse: Somatic Awareness and Equine Communication Signs

Being Safe vs Feeling Safe: A Nervous System Guide (with horses)

By Lexie Glisson • January 31, 2026

Why You Can Be Safe but Not Feel Safe: And What Horses Mirror Safety isn’t just a thought. It’s a nervous system experience. There’s a big difference between being safe and feeling safe : Being safe means there’s no present-moment threat. Feeling safe means your nervous system agrees. If you’ve ever been in a totally normal moment, nothing dangerous is actually happening, but your body is acting like something is wrong, you’re not alone. You might notice a tight chest, foggy thinking, an urge to escape, or a sudden numbness. That’s often a conditioned response : an inner state that doesn’t match your outer reality. This is where a tool called dual awareness can help. What is dual awareness? A nervous system tool for feeling safe Dual awareness is when you place equal attention on your outer world and your inner world . It helps you check for congruence between: what’s actually happening right now, and what your nervous system is experiencing. When your inner experience matches your outer circumstances, you’re more likely to respond with choice and clarity. Step 1: How to check for safety in your environment Before we do anything internal, we start with the obvious question: Am I actually unsafe right now? If there’s a real present-moment threat, that’s not the time to talk yourself out of it. Your nervous system is doing its job. If you’re physically safe, here are a few gentle ways to orient to the present moment: What do I see right now? Where are my feet? What sounds do I hear? Step 2: How to check your breathing, body, and thoughts Next, shift your awareness inward and notice what’s happening without forcing it to change. Breath: fast, slow, shallow, deep Body: tense, relaxed, strained Thoughts: scattered, racing, absent, foggy, sharp, hyper-alert Then try naming your experience in a way that creates a little space: “A part of me feels scared.” “A part of me wants to leave.” Instead of: “I’m not safe.” This small shift can help you stay connected to what’s happening inside without becoming consumed by it. Step 3: How to tell if you are safe but not feeling safe Now that you’ve tuned into both your outer world and inner world, ask: Does my internal experience match my external circumstances? Being safe + feeling safe is a congruent state. Being safe + feeling unsafe is an incongruent state. Incongruence doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. It often means your nervous system is responding from old learning rather than present-moment reality. What horses mirror in equine-assisted therapy: congruence and nervous system state When working with horses, they can support this process by mirroring congruence or incoherence in real time. Horses are especially sensitive to authenticity. They don’t care if you’re sad, mad, bad, or glad. What matters most is whether your inner state is congruent with your outward expression. As you attempt to connect, you may notice patterns in how horses respond. Signs a horse may sense calm and congruence Turn toward you with soft eyes and gentle curiosity Eat or drink water (often a sign of rest and digest) Hold their head in a neutral or lowered position; ears forward or neutral Stand with a leg cocked or lie down to rest Signs a horse may sense stress, activation, or incongruence Become restless, busy, or more alert Lift their head or pin their ears back Break connection and move away Test boundaries by crowding your space or bumping you These are only a few examples, and it’s always more complex than one behavior. It’s about the whole scene: the context, the relationship, and the overall vibe. That’s also why it’s important to do this work with an experienced equine professional. In session, I use my own dual awareness to track what’s happening and help you and the horses move toward deeper congruence. How you rewire the nervous system: repetition and returning to the present Dual awareness helps you stay connected to yourself and your environment in the present moment without getting swallowed by a conditioned response based on the past. Every time you notice you’re elevated and you come back to reality, you’re reprogramming your nervous system. Every time you catch an old story and choose to reorient to the present moment, you’re reprogramming your nervous system. Every time you become aware that your body is reliving an old experience that doesn’t match what is actually happening right now, you’re building a new bridge. You’re learning to respond to the world as the mature adult you are, instead of like the younger part of you that didn’t know what to do. Therapy support in Boulder and Denver: equine-assisted therapy, EMDR, and nervous system work If you’ve been wondering why you can know you’re safe but not feel safe, you’re not alone, and it’s workable. Dual awareness is one of the ways we start building that bridge. Want support with this work, with or without horses? Reach out to schedule a consultation and we’ll explore what kind of therapy support fits best.