I’ve been thinking a lot about giving and receiving love.  About being in the vibration of love.  About how sometimes I have moments when I am so moved by the vibration of love that tears spring from my eyes.

And I’ve been thinking about how much I love my horse, Biscuit.

Sometimes when my fifteen-month-old granddaughter comes over to visit and, for whatever reason, she cries, I take her outside and sit on a rock just outside Biscuit’s pen.  He will walk over and beam love at her.  It is palpable.  What I notice is that she will gradually stop crying, and when she realizes she isn’t crying, she’ll look up at me a little confused, like she’s wondering . . . what’s happened?  I was upset, but I’m not now.  Biscuit beams and beams and stays with us as long as we are there.

When Biscuit first came to live with me, I went out to be with him every day.  I brushed him and poured my heart out to him.  In my mind, I was nursing him back to life.  We’d rescued him, and he was about 150 pounds under weight, had a patched hoof, and his coat was dull and patchy.  He seemed to just need some loving.  That was easy.  My perception was that I was loving him back to health.

After about six months of this, I came home after a hard day, exhausted and needing a shoulder to cry on. I walked down to the barn and went to brush Biscuit.  Instead of my normal cheery ramblings, I started to cry the minute I lifted the brush.  I apologized for my mood. I remember hugging him. Just wrapping my arms around him and leaning in.  As I stood their hanging on, I saw an image of a green stallion.  Biscuit was sending me love.

In that moment, I knew that Biscuit had been loving me all along.  I was so focused on sending love, I didn’t realize I was receiving love too.

I just read about studies the Institute of HeartMathhas conducted about bidirectional “healing” that happens when we are near horses.  Research shows that the heart has an electromagnetic field that is larger and has a higher level of intelligence than the brain.  And while the heart’s energy field can be measured radiating as much as eight to ten feet around the body, a horse’s electromagnetic field is five times larger, stronger, and can directly influence our hearts.  It is likely horses have a “coherent” heart pattern, which studies indicate is a robust measure of well-being and consistent with emotional states of calm and joy.  When we feel positive emotions, we exhibit these patterns.

Wow.

I know that Biscuit’s love has affected me and my grandbaby, and now I understand why.

And I also learned something about myself.

When I feel love overflowing, I have been steeped in positive emotions, especially gratitude, joy.

Have you noticed that when you feel totally happy and you walk into a space, your joy can lift others up?  Or when someone else is filled with happiness, you are uplifted?

Think about the possibilities.

By simply feeling positive emotions, calm and joy result.  Our hearts open up.  They radiate out.  That vibration affects everything up to ten feet around you.

I have come to realize that every time I have been filled with love to the point of spilling over, it is a cocreation.  I am both radiation love and receiving divine love from everyone and everything around me.

Today we move into the Year of the Horse, and that has new meaning to me.