Meagan Hruska, MS, LMHC

02/20/2026

With all the nervous system lingo and emphasis lately, it can be confusing as to what a “regulated nervous system” actually means. It’s a misconception to think regulated means “calm and relaxed”, esp. at all times. This is actually a more accurate way of describing it! 👏🏼👏🏼

Lindsey Lockett also goes on to say in this post: “To be embodied in authenticity means your nervous system can hold activation in the presence of a perceived lack of safety without suppressing your truth.”

My way of saying it:

Authenticity is being present and self-aware enough in all states and still having control over your choices, behaviors and words; It is choosing your responses in all states without losing yourself or awareness.

Or another way: You are capable of choosing who you are in each given moment because you can handle all the emotions and sensations in your body without being afraid of them. You allow them to help you vs. checking out from them.

When this happens, emotions and sensations can no longer “hijack” or “overtake” you (or not as often at least because we are still human 😉). This is self-mastery! And this is also why self-mastery is directly tied to the nervous system and why it is important to learn how to work with it to inhabit your body fully.

02/19/2026

02/14/2026

I wanted to share what sacred and beautiful moments we can experience in our lives when we have the courage to work on ourselves; when we have the courage to become embodied into our best, most present and congruent self.

Yesterday, I got to spend time with Holli in her most vulnerable state, lying down and sleeping. Horses are prey animals so they spend very little time lying down, and even littler time in REM sleep. They can only enter REM sleep when they are lying on their side.

Although horses can and will lay down in the same space with you, I’ve learned over time that it is a huge honor when they trust you to be right next to them in this state.

When Holli eventually laid down all the way and went to sleep when I was sitting next to her, she communicated to me that she trusted me with her life. That she trusted me in that moment to be her protector. (And if you know Holli, you know how significant this is for her).

I’m still not sure how to put into words how beautiful it felt to know that our relationship reached a point where Holli sees me in that way. I do not take that honor lightly. It requires deep trust, safety and knowing to surrender into that level vulnerability with another being.

Holli and I didn’t get to this experience and level of trust and vulnerability over night though. It took time to build our relationship to this. We’ve had plenty of ups and downs, miscommunications, ruptures and repairs. It also took time and effort for me to become this version of myself.

I also know that horses, esp. Holli, are sensitive to energy. You cannot fake anything, hide or lie to a horse. This is why building relationships with horses are so powerful. You have to be willing to grow, face yourself, and learn to show up as your true self, fully embodied.

This moment with Holli showed me what happens when we do the inner work to become the best version of ourselves. Since you can’t fake stillness, peace or safety, you have to BE it in mind, body and soul authentically. If I wasn’t embodied fully in a presence of peace and safety, if this wasn’t what Holli was experiencing in relationship with me, she would have never laid down, let alone gone to sleep, with me right next to her.

I recognize what an honor it is for a horse to choose vulnerability with you, and I’m feeling so grateful for it. I don’t think I’m anything special though. Anyone can have this experience. But it is not about the horse, it is about YOU! You have to become safe and present in yourself so that the horse is able to sense it and know it is the truth (and same is true for any other relationship- with our partners, families, kids, friends, colleagues). This takes time, effort and commitment to doing this work on ourselves.

Even though I had this incredible moment and connection with Holli, it doesn’t mean we still won’t have hardships to navigate in the future or that this will happen all the time now. I’m sure there will still be plenty of times I don’t show up as my best self and she doesn’t either. However, I know we will also continue to have moments full of joy and connection with each other too. And that hopefully these experiences will become more and more prevalent knowing the foundation in our relationship is now at this level: secure, safe and trusting.

I also appreciate my Dusty Boots Barn Equine Services crew who held the space for this. Although you can’t see them, they were in the space with us. This is the power of community and safety in our herd of humans and horses- Holli clearly felt safe with our entire team too, not just me.

And…. because it is Valentine’s Day today, a day that is about relationships, I will say the most beautiful, powerful, secure and healthy relationships require us to learn how to BE our best selves first, so that we can then create it with others ❤️💫 this is why healthy relationships require self-work in addition to working on the relationship itself 😉. We can only be for others what we can be for ourselves.

P.s. this experience also showed me that Holli snores 😅😂 Happy Saturday, everyone!

02/11/2026

01/30/2026

01/18/2026

I know it’s clear to a lot of us how addicting our phones and social media have become. My family and I had a really great conversation about this over the Christmas holidays and decided to do a social media detox for two weeks together. So starting tomorrow, I’ll be going offline. I’m excited (and honestly a little anxious) to experience these next two weeks without it, but I know it will be so good for all of us.

If you’ve never tried a social media detox, I would encourage you to! There are so many benefits to it. Plus, doing it with others as a shared experience has even more benefits because it’s done in community.

See you all in two weeks 😁

01/11/2026

The people we choose to have relationships and community with really does make a huge difference! And I will say, it’s also important that we are actively engaged in becoming and embodying our best selves to be the person we’d want to be around 😉. It’s bidirectional.

01/05/2026

I’ve always loved learning from my uncle Ron and hearing his profound and advanced knowledge on the body! This is why I also continue to learn more about the body and incorporate somatic and body based practices into my sessions.

Even if you aren’t riding or working with horses, we have often used placing your tongue to the roof of your mouth as a simple way to feel grounded and connected to your body. I know there is so much more to this (esp. with body alignment, fascia, posture etc.), but we do use it in mental health too. So if you’re looking for a way to connect and feel grounded in your body, try placing your tongue to the roof of your mouth. It helps regulate and calm your nervous system and reduce stress/ tension, among other benefits to the body. Try it out and see how it feels 🙌🏼🙌🏼

2026, The Year of the Horse!

Original post by: Ann Montgomery-The Mindful Rider
March 5, 2022


“A number of years ago I had an interesting lesson with a student. The rider was struggling with getting a constant contact with her horse. After watch both of them move around the arena for a while and seeing the mare, chomp, and fiddle with her tongue and bit I asked the rider “where is your tongue sitting in your mouth? To this the rider stopped the horse and said ” how the hell did you know that” so it turns out that this rider has a gap in-between one of her upper molars and she has a habit of twisting her tongue to place the tongue in the gap.
When I asked her to place her tongue softly onto the top of her mouth the horse became quite in its contact and as the lesson went on the horse began to move freer in the shoulders, the rider’s tonal quality of her arms into her hand and fingers became a soft tone.

So why is this so, I asked myself, and did some research.

Why would the riders tongue affect the horses tongue so much?

Well from what I have researched the hyoid bone is part of the tongue movement apparatuses as the omohyoid muscle origin site at the superior border of the scapula and can vary in location and in size, and at times the muscle also originates from the superior transverse scapular ligament. The attachment of the central tendon can be only to the clavicle or to the clavicle and the first rib.

Wow I thought so when her tongue curls up a whole tension goes from her tongue down to her shoulder which must create a tension down her whole arm to her hand. This in turn puts a tension onto the rein and bit which travels onto the horse’s tongue, so guess what this also affects the horses hyoid bone and his omohyoid muscle into the shoulder causing the tight steps and fussy mouth. It’s a circle of tension.”

Continued in comments…….

01/02/2026

Welcome 2026!! 🥳 I feel so privileged to know so many amazing people through my work as therapist, whether it’s working with clients in the office or at the barn. Reflecting on this past year, I continue to feel so blessed to be able to build real relationships with my clients and to be apart of each person’s or family’s journey, no matter what it looks like.

And even though it’s a new year, by nature’s guidelines, we are still in winter. So I intend to continue to allow space for rest and slowness and would encourage us all to allow that for ourselves too ❤️ Happy New Year, everyone!

P.S., enjoy the “picture” of the year from our equine services team. Given the heaviness a lot of us experienced this year, I thought a funny photo might be good to add in!

Happy 2026!! We know that this was a year of ups and downs for all of us. Although it is technically a new year, it’s okay to still be resting and reflecting, given we are still in a winter season by nature’s guidelines.

We as a team continue to reflect with gratitude on all this year has been and everyone that’s been a part of it 😊 as we move into 2026, our intention is to continue creating a safe space and strong foundation of community, healing and connection for all who are apart of or will be apart our services. Our team is also committed to continue embodying the same inner work we ask our clients and participants to engage in💚✨🙌🏼

Thank you all for being with us this year in our journey! If you are also looking for a new motto or phrase of the year, you might consider what our team goes by. It has been foundational for our herd as humans and horses:

“Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast”
“Relationship over task”

We also thought it might be fun to include a picture of the year! Enjoy this one of Diana and Parker! I think it might sum up a lot of how many of us felt this year 😅🤣 (for context, Parker had just slobbered all over the back of Diana).

12/30/2025

I think this is so well said ❤️✨

12/27/2025

Given that the holidays can sometimes feel so fast, jam packed and rushed, we can often find ourselves going from one thing to the next. Our barn crew is here to remind you that it’s okay to slow down and take some time to be! We want to remind you that presence and slowing down is also a beautiful gift to give and recieve, whether it’s with our families, kids, friends, animals or ourselves 😉✨

Most of our team was able to come together yesterday and just slow down. We were able to lean into being present with each other and our horses. No agenda, no rushing. Just slowing down, taking in the fresh air, being outside in nature, and spending time with one another away from technology.

We did some grounding into our own bodies too, and one of our therapists led us in some “volcano” breathing (thanks, Amber!). It helped us release some of the tension and stress of the holidays we all have experienced in some way. I have attached a link at the bottom demonstrating what this looks like.

We all hope you continue to enjoy the holidays in whatever this looks like for you! We also hope you give yourself permission to take some time to slow down and breathe when you need it too💚

https://www.usd207.org/apps/video/watch.jsp?v=387461