Duchowość jeździectwa? O związkach jeździectwa naturalnego z ideą nowej duchowości
The Spiritual Dimension of Horse-Riding? On the Links between Natural Horsemanship and the Idea of New Spirituality

Summary/Abstract: New spirituality is a phenomenon in contemporary culture that has the extraordinary ability of adapting to various spheres of social life. The aim of this paper is to identify and examine the presence of the discourse of new spirituality in narratives by the leading propagators of natural horsemanship. The appearance of this discourse in a sphere apparently as distant from spirituality as horse-riding can be regarded as an indicator of broader cultural changes, which consist in the spreading of a characteristic language and a vision of the world over an increasing number of cultural spheres. Agata Rejowska’s analysis shows the presence of the following distinctive new spirituality motifs in the narratives of the propagators of natural horsemanship: holistic thinking; the rejection of the mind-body dichotomy; intuitionism; appreciation of nature; an understanding of “energy” reminiscent of Far Eastern views; the use of alternative medicine, and the recognition of values traditionally perceived as “feminine” (e.g., giving preference to cooperation instead of violence and domination).

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