Not Horsing Around
Last weekend, Zest Wellness and BritCay partnered with OnCourse Cayman and Cowboy Town Stables to host a Corporate Equine-Assisted Growth and Development workshop for wellness champions. Participants were immersed in an out-of-the-box approach to wellness exploring different aspects of:
Stress Management
Problem Solving
Communication
Team Building
Leading the group we had Dr. Alexandra Bodden, Clinical Psychologist (OnCourse Cayman), and Shanna Pandohie (Equine Specialist). For more information about the “why” behind this event click here.
Please see the comments below from those present at this experience for a deeper understanding of what it was like as well as photos from the event.
“This experience was all about learning from the horses by using them and the arena as a surrogate for the office environment. It was a great exercise in patience, problem solving and team work, and a reminder that though we may believe we understand our colleagues’ intentions and motivators we may in fact be miles off. It definitely teaches tolerance and compels participants to step outside their comfort zone and think outside the box…skills that we can immediately apply to the work environment.”
– Kenisha Morgan Taylor, Marketing Coordinator
“As an icebreaker to introduce us to our friends for the day—we were tasked with “going to get one and bring it here” without actually receiving much instruction. However, Virginia from the HSA, was successful in being the 1st to achieve the feat; our very own Nurse Sharon was a close 2nd but notably, she was almost the first to pull it off before being road blocked by a 1,000-pound defenseman 🐴…”
- Glenn Duran, Corporate Wellness Coordinator
“I attended the Zest Wellness Champions "Eagala" event with an open mind hoping to learn about team building and wellness initiatives that could be implemented for my organization. Interacting with horses and being outdoors was an initiative that intrigued me. The value for me of this unique experience is that I learnt a kit about perspective and being open to different points of view. It also demonstrated how passing judgment or forming an opinion on someone or something can shift or depend on your viewpoint or experience.
The experience of observing and interacting with horses enabled this to be played out in real time with humans and animals. For example, I may see a horse acting quiet in a corner and assume that that horse is quiet all the time, another person may witness the same horse being playful and interactive and have a completely different perspective or impression of the same horse. Learning about how horses read body language was really insightful and the workshop also provided huge scope for self reflection a part of wellness that is really underestimated. Thanks to Glenn Duran our Cayman Zest Wellness coordinator for arranging such a great initiative."
- Sharon Looney, Corporate Biometric Program Manager
“I think the natural intrigue of working with these animals is symbolic of the all-around experience (e.g. how will this relate to workplace? What kind of interactions will we have with the horses? Is it really safe to be so close to them, etc.)
In summary, I would describe this as an experience that really forces you outside of your personal bubble and comfort zone. In addition, it reminds us that multi-faceted perspective is real amongst humans and that we should consciously take a step back on a consistent basis to try to understand one another and ultimately respect individual views, preferences and methods of doing things.
That is to say that “your view/way” is not necessarily the “correct view/way” nor is it not; based on the fundamental definition of “perspective”.”
- Glenn Duran, Corporate Wellness Coordinator
Interested in joining the Zest Wellness program? Visit www.joinzestwellness.com for more information or www.zestwellnesscgi.com for a program overview.
