Welcome
Humble Herd of Healers invites you to join our co-creation with humans, horses, the land, and the invisible realm. We offer Herd Heart Healings with the Inner Freedom herd of horses and donkeys in Buchanan, Michigan.
Herd Heart Healings are ~75 minute sessions for a participant with two reiki practitioners and the herd. Sessions are outdoors, April - October. As part of a session, the participant has space to connect and meet the herd, set a healing intention, receive reiki from Stacy and Elizabeth, and experience the healing energy of the herd. Reiki is a Japanese energy healing modality that shares universal life force energy to promote wellbeing, stress reduction, and relaxation.
For us, healing is reconnecting with our heart. The Heart Math Institute has done scientific research recently on the relationship between horses, humans, and hearts. Horses’s hearts have electromagnetic fields five times larger than ours and their hearts beat three times slower than ours, making them extra sensitive to energies in their environment, including us. Being with horses regulates our nervous system and supports our healing.
This is an evolving offering. We began doing it for ourselves for fun and have had the opportunity to share it with a few friends. Our own experience brings us back to the herd again and again to listen to their innate wisdom and connect with their healing energy. We trust in the horses’ knowing and capacity to meet each individual where they are.
Offerings
Seasonal: March–October
Herd Heart Healing
Investment
$180 for one session
Please reach out to us if you are interested in participating in a Herd Heart Healing session but the investment level is too high. We want to honor that this is an energetic exchange and thus requires financial investment but we also want to meet people where they are.
$450 for three sessions
Our version of a “punch card”—invest in three sessions with a discount.
Giving
We offer gift cards if you are interested in giving a Herd Heart Healing to a loved one.
What to Expect
Once you have signed up for a Herd Heart Healing, you will receive email confirmation, sign an online waiver, and complete a questionnaire. On the day of your session, you will arrive at Inner Freedom and park near the barn. If you arrive early, we ask that you sit under the tree while Stacy and Elizabeth and the herd prepare the space.
We will meet you by the gate and invite you in to meet the herd. The reiki session is under the shelter of the horses’ run-in shed, and we will have the reiki table and chairs set up. We will observe the horses together and set healing intentions. We will have an altar arranged in the space and we invite you to bring an object to support you during the healing (e.g., rock, feather, or anything meaningful to you).
The reiki session will occur on the healing table and will last 30-40 minutes. You will have the option to receive the session seated if you prefer that to laying down. The horses and donkeys support this session in their own unique and individual way, sometimes approaching the table to be close, and other times arranging themselves in patterns further from the reiki table.
At the end of the formal treatment session you are invited to integrate with the herd and share any insights if you desire.
Please note: as we are partnering with large animals who are by nature unpredictable, we reserve the right to move a session indoors. As a guest if you are unsatisfied with your experience in any way we offer a full refund.
For us, healing is reconnecting with our heart. The Heart Math Institute has done scientific research recently on the relationship between horses, humans, and hearts. Horses’s hearts have electromagnetic fields five times larger than ours and their hearts beat three times slower than ours, making them extra sensitive to energies in their environment, including us. Being with horses regulates our nervous system and supports our healing.
This is an evolving offering. We began doing it for ourselves for fun and have had the opportunity to share it with a few friends. Our own experience brings us back to the herd again and again to listen to their innate wisdom and connect with their healing energy. We trust in the horses’ knowing and capacity to meet each individual where they are.
Herd Heart Tarot
Investment
$258 for one session
Please reach out to us if you are interested in participating in a Herd Heart Healing session but the investment level is too high. We want to honor that this is an energetic exchange and thus requires financial investment but we also want to meet people where they are.
$450 for three sessions
Our version of a “punch card” – invest in three sessions with a discount.
Giving
We offer gift cards if you are interested in giving a Herd Heart Healing to a loved one.
What to Expect
This is a 2 hour appointment combining a Herd Heart Healing session with the horses followed by a tarot and/or astrology (Stars & Cards) reading with High Low Tarot in the Inner Freedom barn.
This is a unique experience tailored for one person’s journey. This offering is an opportunity to open to the support of the modalities of tarot and/or astrology plus the wisdom of the horses and reiki. The experience begins with the Herd Heart Healing with the horses followed by a reading in the upstairs of the barn.
About Us
The Humans
Elizabeth Carden shares horse medicine with humans through Inner Freedom in partnership with her herd of three horses and two donkeys at their home in southwest Michigan. Elizabeth is a Reiki practitioner, a certified Mastery Practitioner from The Reflective Horse, and a humble listener to the animals, land, and plants with which she plays. Being with horses has been transformative for Elizabeth in her own journey of softening, self discovery and embodiment; she loves creating spaces for others to remember their true self in the presence of free roaming horses.
Stacy Nelson grew up on a farm, nestled in the rolling hills of upstate NY. Being a ‘farm girl’ has been a touch point of her life and still inspires her.
Her work is rooted in presence, trust, and a belief that true healing often happens in the quietest spaces. As a healthcare provider Stacy often saw firsthand that people need care that honors the whole person—not just the physical body. Reiki became a way to offer something different: a pause. A moment to return to the self.
She brings her full heart, clinical knowledge, and intuitive sensitivity to each session.
The Herd
We have three horses and two donkeys. They are utterly themselves, and with each passing day reveal the expansiveness of their nature. While we could share a story of who each one is, perhaps it’s more truthful for them to show you. We invite you to come experience the power of your own heart here with the herd.
The Space
Testimonials
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I felt very held by the experience. I came away feeling lighter and grateful for this practice. I appreciated the guidance in how the animals were experiencing and participating in our session and the careful attention that was given to my needs and desires for our time together. How wonderful to be in nature and experience the grace and love of all the beings who participated (donkey, horse, bird, moth, fly, human, barn cat).
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I had the most wonderful herd heart healing session with Elizabeth & Stacy. The questionnaire I filled out ahead of time helped ground me in my reasons for the session. When I arrived, they had read my responses aloud to the herd which felt like a respectful exchange of energies to ground all of us in the session. We three humans sat with the 3 horses and 2 donkeys for a little bit to all get used to one another. It was magical how each animal found a way to say hello, put me at ease, and then step back when the timing was right to start the session. On the table, with my eyes closed, Elizabeth and Stacy performed Reiki while announcing the movements of the herd. I simultaneously felt vulnerable with the large animals so near, and very safe with the practitioners caring for me, while the magical energetics washed over me during the session. Afterwards, I felt refreshed, lighter, energetic, and calm. Amazingly the herd all stepped away giving me a moment to re-group before saying goodbye. I would recommend this type of session to anyone looking for some good energies and magical connections.
Just for today,
do not be angry.
Just for today,
do not worry.
Just for today,
be grateful.
Just for today,
work honestly (or be diligent in your work).
Just for today,
be kind to others.
(from The 5 Reiki Principles)