Life can be hard — and managing stress is essential for maintaining good mental health. The way you balance your daily responsibilities, emotions, and personal well-being plays a major role in how you feel. So, ask yourself: How is that balance working for you?

When life becomes unbalanced, the toll can show up in both physical and mental health. The connection between mind and body is powerful. This is known as psychosomatic — when emotional or psychological stress manifests as real physical symptoms. Sometimes, the symptoms are visible and diagnosable. Other times, all tests come back normal, but you still don’t feel well.

Chronic stress can lead to autoimmune conditions and other long-term health issues like fibromyalgia. Emotional pain, especially when left unprocessed, can trigger hormonal imbalances and activate the body’s fight-or-flight response. But over time, when that response is constantly activated, the system can burn out–leaving a person feeling emotionally numb.

When someone continues to function — going to work, raising kids, managing daily life — but feels emotionally stuck, flat, or disconnected, they may be experiencing a condition known as functional freeze.

What is Functional Freeze?

Functional freeze is a survival state where the body and mind shut down to cope with prolonged stress or trauma. On the outside, you may appear “fine,” but inside, everything feels dull. Joy, excitement, and pleasure are missing. Your mood is constantly suppressed. You’re just going through the motions of life.

Emotional pain is perceived by the brain as a threat, just like physical danger. That’s why so many people feel constantly exhausted — your body wants to retreat, cocoon, and wait until it’s safe. But because we still have to work, parent, and keep up with life, we push through — and stay stuck in this frozen state.

Breaking Out of Functional Freeze

To escape functional freeze, it often takes a somatopsychic approach — where movement and sensory input help shift the mental state. It’s difficult to overcome the pull of shut-down and inertia. That’s why doctors often recommend gentle movement like walking, just to begin reactivating the body.

One powerful method for healing is therapeutic horseback riding. Sometimes, all you need is to show up at the riding center — and let the horse do the rest. The benefits are remarkable. The horse’s rhythmic movement stimulates your muscles, increases blood flow, and reawakens your nervous system.

As you progress to trail riding, you gain the added benefits of forest immersion–the calming, restorative effects of being in nature. You breathe in the healing chemicals released by plants and trees. You reconnect with your senses. The natural grounding energy from the horse helps rebalance your nervous system and reduce inflammation.

If horseback riding becomes a regular part of your routine, your brain begins to shift focus — from survival to pleasure, from apathy to intention. You may even find yourself looking forward to it — and to life again.

We are now approved to accept the Independent Health’s Health Extras card for sports programs. Centaur Stride is listed as “instructional and recreational sports lesson” in their system as a manual reimbursement option only. This would allow for the member to pay for the services out of pocket and then submit their receipt for reimbursement. A special receipt from Centaur Stride is necessary for the client to get reimbursed. Also, as a participating vendor, we are in their Discount Directory. When you pre-pay for 7 lessons, you get 1 free. This discount will be available for all Independent Health members if they show their ID card as proof.

Check with your insurance carrier to see if your plan has a health and wellness plan.

For more information about Centaur Stride or its programs, volunteer opportunities, or to make a donation, visit us online at linktr.ee.com/centaurstride or call (716) 326-4318.

Our next fundraiser is our 1K and 5K Fun run/walk on Sept 6. Join us for the fun and a healthy walk through the woods event at Centaur Stride.

Claudia Monroe is founder and president of Centaur Stride