Meet Sarah Louise Lilley
EFT Practitioner & Speaker
Hi, I’m Sarah Louise Lilley
Clinical Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT or “Tapping”) practitioner, sought-after coach, and speaker
I help equestrians heal the root causes of fear, trauma, and nervous system dysregulation - so they can reclaim ease, trust, and joy in their horse journey.
Known for my holistic and heart-centered approach, I equips riders with tools that cultivate ease, trust, and clarity by releasing the root causes of anxious thinking and limiting beliefs.
.jpg)
Here's my story
Anxiety was taking all the fun out of my riding!
I had a minor fall and broke my finger. It wasn’t a big deal and I was back on a horse in a couple of months. But now I had this low level anxiety I couldn’t shake…
It was soooooo frustrating! It was ruining my favorite thing to do. I’d always been a confident rider. I had other falls. What the #%€* was going on?
To top it off I was a mindset coach at the time! I was using ALL my tools and nothing worked!
I visualized ... .I used positive self-talk…I accepted the element of risk in the sport…..I rode a different horse…..
If anything the anxiety is getting worse. I started to feel like there was something wrong with me!
What do I wish someone had told me back then?
-
You’re not alone.
-
Your body isn't out of control, it's a badass at keeping you safe.
-
The anxiety is not in your head (it's in your body.)
-
There’s nothing wrong with you, you just need a tool to process and release the trauma.
-
This is a solvable problem
Trauma in the Horse World
Many equestrians have experienced trauma at some point and don’t even realize it.
There are 4 characteristics of a traumatic event. If 1 of these 4 conditions are met your brain *might* code that memory as a traumatic event:
-
Be a threat (or a perceived threat) to your physical safety
-
Overwhelm your capacity to cope, producing a sense of powerlessness.
-
Produce a feeling or being isolated or alone
-
Violate your expectations
Let’s say you’ve been kicked by a horse - a threat to your physical safety. Likely felt like it “came out of nowhere” - your expectations were violated. And maybe your trainer was not very supportive - and now you feel isolated.
What I want to normalize is, even if you think logically “I wasn’t kicked that hard, I’m totally fine now.” It might not matter - from a nervous system’s perspective you’ve been through something traumatic.
So what finally helped? Emotional Freedom Technique.
To quote the title of Bessel Van Der Kolk’s book, “The Body Keeps The Score.”
It wasn’t until I used Emotional Freedom Technique, aka EFT or “Tapping” and explored my body’s reactions that I was able to move past my anxiety.
Yes! The thing that finally helped me was tapping on 9 acupressure points on my face and torso. (It may sound “woo woo”, but stick with me here. Clinical studies show EFT sends calming signals to the brain and rewires your neural pathways. There are 200+ articles in peer review journals proving the efficacy of EFT!)
Once I resolved that trauma my anxiety just dissipated. Suddenly I felt in control again, I could choose how I wanted to show up as opposed to coming from a fearful place.
I felt like myself again!!! EFT gave me back the joy and connection of being with horses.
After that I was all in!
I pivoted my business to support equestrians overcome fears, blocks and trauma so they could reconnect to their confidence, truly partner with their horse and (most importantly) find the FUN again in their horse journey.
I work with clients all over the world via zoom.
Clients like Laurie who had a really scary fall riding and was having typical PTSD like symptoms - intrusive thoughts, flashes of things she saw or felt that day. She desperately wanted to ride again, but it felt impossible, just thinking about riding she could feel the panic in her body.
Part of her thought about giving up riding. She even considered selling her horse. She felt like she had lost a part of herself and didn’t know how to get it back.
We tapped and over the course of a month we rewired her brain around that trauma so it no longer triggered her. Laurie texted me a few months later to tell me she was buying a second horse!
Why is EFT such a great fit for equestrians?
Not only is EFT a great tool to move past trauma, it’s also an amazing emotional regulation tool.
Horses mean everything to equestrians! That means emotions run high.
Whether it’s a really disappointing ride or your horse is suddenly hurt and the future looks uncertain. Those emotions are not in your head, they're in your body!
EFT gives you a somatic tool to emotionally regulate so you can navigate the inevitable ups and downs of #HorseLife with more ease.
Horses are highly sensitive to our energy, if we’re hurried and rushed they feel it. Tapping is a quick and easy tool (that requires nothing but your fingertips) to bring calm to the nervous system before you ride as part of an everyday pre-ride ritual. By centering your energy, you create more trust and connection with your horse.
We have horses because we love them…
So if riding no longer feels fun, safe, or joyful, that’s not a failure - it’s a sign your nervous system needs support. EFT is the tool I wish I’d found sooner. It’s simple, effective, and it works.
If your nervous system has been whispering - or screaming - that something isn’t right, maybe this is your sign to stop white-knuckling it through fear or pressure... and try something new.
