One thing I just adore about periodically immersing myself in quite rustic experiences, is how deeply gratifying the simplest things suddenly become.
Pure freedom is the only way to describe how it feels driving the Dodge Ram pickup truck down the dusty roads towards town, after nearly two weeks living out at the ranch – a gorgeous and deeply reflective space, but not walkable to much-needed amenities.
Max, the ranch dog (with whom I have deeply bonded and vowed to procure him some proper meat at least for the time I’m here) has apparently heard my promise and is bounding like a clown alongside the truck for the 3 miles I’ve driven towards town – I finally stop to pick him up and he clamors across my lap to happily perch in the passenger seat for our journey.
Following the Openings
The journey to me landing at this incredible horse and donkey sanctuary in the heart of El Pescadero, Baja Sur, Mexico is just too serendipitous – I had in fact been “soul calling” in an opportunity to immerse with horses and explore equine therapy for some time, when I received a call from a friend I’d met at a yoga and breathwork event up in Oregon several months prior.
“I’m here with Noel at her horse sanctuary, and we were talking about you – we want to bring breathwork here!” The cheery text accompanied a photo of the ranch, and an intuitive hit nudged in my gut.
My life was in transition, location-wise at the moment; I’d had tentative plans to stay in Portland the rest of the year, but a bit of a restless feeling that there was something else meant to happen for at least part of that time.
I needed a shake-up, a new experience to bring new perspectives to both my healing and creative work, and my personal journey. (I realize that may sound a bit wild coming from someone who has been living somewhat nomadically for about 15 years now!)
In any case, I lightly responded that I’d be interested to come down sometime and offer breathwork classes and work with the horses — it turned out she needed a live-in volunteer and ranch hand for some time in November-December.
So to put it somewhat concisely, this is how I found myself several weeks later living at a horse and donkey sanctuary, teaching meditation and breathwork with horses, leading horse-connection Airbnb experiences and kids camps, and caring for 15 rescue animals out in the Baja desert.
(If nothing else, I’ve developed a pretty comprehensive CV at this point in life – which I am told is a true 6/3 Generator dharma!)
Spending time with these horses and donkeys each day has been such a homecoming, a return to a huge part of who I was in my younger years – and truly, in my soul. Yes, I was a “horse girl” – but it was such a deep love and devotion at the time, I can’t even really explain or understand it completely.
While I was blessed to have the opportunity to ride and develop a special connection with horses as a child and into my early teenage years, life of course happened – and as middle and high school progressed, I was pulled back into the normalities of school, sports, grades, and preparing for college.
Now, at Los Sagrados, I remember why that intuitive pull towards these animals felt so strong. They are pure mirrors and regulators, sharing their presence and strength so generously while always showing us exactly what we need to see about ourselves.
You simply cannot be in stress or tension around a horse; they will feel it and mirror it back in equal measure – and this is not a situation you want to find yourself in. But when we allow their teachings of patience and presence, a truly magical connection opens up – one which honestly I have not found to be replicated in any other type of relationship.
With Max riding shotty, I’m eagerly anticipating the Baja Beans cappuccino that will accompany this luxurious grocery run – when suddenly I realize we’ve just passed a junction in the road and met a blockage – and I hadn’t checked my map.
The truck sinks down into a divot of soft sand, and I try to reverse out – only spinning the wheels. Five minutes of various strategies only gets us more stuck – and I’m suddenly very grateful Max has accompanied me for protection, as we’re going to have to walk back the 3 miles home past several questionable street dogs in order to call Juan Carlos the ranch hand for help.
Mexico, it turns out, is its own medicine – and I am so grateful for the constant reminders I have while traveling of the goodness of humanity! Not two minutes down the road, we come across a car filled with a Mexican family – the driver can clearly see the worry on my face, as he rolls his window down and I ask him in Spanish if he can help me with the truck… pointing down the road as I make a mental note add the word for “stuck” to my vocabulary list.
The whole family immediately hops out, and on our way over somehow another couple of Mexican guys appear for the mission (I’m still not sure where they came from!)
Letting air out of the tires, scooping the sand away, they push on the truck while I reverse and finallyyyyyy get that Dodge out of the sand pit. 😅
Profusely thanking them all, they point me down the direction I need to go (actually he reversed me out and got the truck on the right road!) – and Max and I are on our way. Cruising once again, I’m reminded of just why I love experiencing the world so much – there is so much adventure, and so much goodness out here. So much community spirit, willingness to help one another, and opportunities to laugh at ourselves…!
The ranch is quiet on Sundays, as the builders are away and it’s Juan Carlos’ day off. No kids or riding lessons, and no healing workshops. It’s such a gift to return to the magical quiet here – to return to simple tasks of feeding the animals, cleaning their spaces, engaging with the horses and feeling our nervous systems match in a soothing rhythm.
I’ve always been such an “outward” person who struggled to spend too much time “away” from the world… but something has been shifting in me these past few years. (Don’t tell me that is just getting old, ha!)
The little ripple of raucous going into the little pueblo of El Pescadero (well, and getting stuck and then rescued) still buzzed through my system, alongside the shimmer of indulgent bliss from the freedom to go grab a coffee! and watermelons! and to drive! 🙂
But I’ve realized that fully receiving the medicine of this desert and these animals actually comes through the stillness, the quiet, and the space between. The magic comes in just simply being with. With ourselves, with the sounds around (as I write this, dusk has fallen and cricket sounds fills the air.) I won’t have a shower tonight, as we’ve been out of running water since yesterday – but part of the magic of rewilding and living a life connected far more with nature than that in our modern world, is removing life’s gratuitous pleasantries and conveniences often enough to embody the appreciation they deserve.
I have much more to say on horse medicine, and the intuitive draw that humans have to horses (for another post!) I was speaking with a new friend here recently, a regular volunteer who’s been coming for the past year and developed a real passion for working with these incredible beings. We conversed on the relationship between women and horses, and the way it seems women are so drawn to them – such powerful but naturally gentle animals as the prey creatures that they are – and the intrinsic energetic factors that may underlie that connection. An inherent desire to balance our inner feminine and masculine energies in a way – a topic I plan to explore in another article.
All this is to say… I feel full here in a way that I never feel in a city. So full with connection and relationship with the animals – the horses, donkeys, Max, the cacti, sunsets, and desert creatures… even the tarantulas (who have definitely been engaging with me!) Grateful for this period of pause, as we enter the last month of 2025 – and sending my blessings and love to those of you out there moving through your own inner transition and period of reflection.
2025 has been the year of the Snake, all about shedding old skins and embodying all that needs to happen in the process of release – so that we can emerge as a literally new version of ourselves.
2026 will be the Fire Horse – and I can absolutely feel it. We are all, collectively, gathering ourselves for a time of profound power, creative emergence, wisdom and growth. New aspects of ourselves coming alive and online. New gifts to be shared, stories to be told, tales to be written. There is a New Earth being born, and we are all a part of it – each and everyone of us. Our thoughts, our beliefs, our hearts – all will be mirrored in this transition just in the way these beautiful creatures mirror our own state back to us.
Being with these horses now, I remember what it is to carry a fierce yet graceful power – an activation and embodied knowing of what lives in my very bones. Our bones.
Horses are otherworldly. I believe they are messengers and medicine-carriers for these times. The hoofed ones are such a grounding presence for our own beings when we have the chance to share space with them – and such a beautiful embodiment of the full spectrum of being alive. Gentle wisdom, controlled power… sacred wildness galloping freely through the vast landscape of possibility (and desert sunsets!!)
With wild love from the desert of Baja 🌵🧡