Today we’d like to introduce you to Tara Coyote
Hi Tara, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in Northern California, with a father with deep roots from Kaua’i, Hawaii and a mother from beautiful New Hampshire, in New England. Both of my parents were exceptionally rare, special beings that loved nature, bird watching and learning everything there was to learn about the environment. When my brother and I were young, they started an ecology safari business, which allowed us all to travel around the world as a family through their business travel. I am grateful for having such a young exposure to the splendor of the earth, her wild creatures and other cultures at a young age!
I became a single mom at the juvenile age of 22 years old to a sweet baby boy, named Willow. Raising him made me strong and initiated me to life’s joys and hardships at an early age.
I have been fortunate to have a myriad of experiences through out my life. Various careers have included running an import business from Bali, Indonesia, working at an art gallery, running a Pilates/Gyrotonic/Yamuna Body Rolling studio and teaching these powerful fitness modalities, starting an running a horse retreat center, Wind Horse Sanctuary, where I taught Equine Facilitation Learning workshops, private sessions and grief rituals and so much more!
In September, 2016, I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. I treated it exclusively naturally until a stressful event occurred and I was forced to sell my beloved horse retreat center. During that time, the cancer spread through out my body from my breast to my lungs, liver, spine, adrenal gland and through out my bones. I decided to move back home to Kaua’i, Hawaii, when my health was at the lowest. Moving back to the islands in January 2019 was an attempt to save my life. In the winter of 2019, I was referred to Hospice and I knew I was dying.
The cancer load in my lungs was so severe, that I could not have a conversation without coughing and had to sit up to sleep at night for 3 months as the coughing fits were so severe and I was using an oxygen machine to breath. I was walking with a cane as my left hip was breaking. The cancer load in my body was so intense that I was in constant pain.
I decided to face my greatest fear, which was doing chemotherapy.
I ended up doing nine months of chemo. In that time, I almost died a few times and ended up breaking my left hip and had to receive double hip surgery as my bones were breaking from bone metastasis. During the time of my allopathic treatment, I still kept up my natural healing routine with vitamin IVs and other non-toxic medicine. I finished treatment in February 2020 with remarkable results, the cancer had shrunk through out my body!
The doctors and nurses who saw me at my lowest all call me a ‘miracle case’. To come back from such a severe prognosis five years ago and to be so close to death is rare. I am incredibly grateful to be alive!
In the fall of 2022 I was told I was NED, which is No Evidence of Disease. I never dreamed in a million years that I would be told those golden words, that there was no detectable cancer in my body!
In the summer of 2021, I self-published my best selling memoir called ‘Grace, Grit & Gratitude: A. Cancer Thriver’s Journey from Hospice to Full Recovery with the Healing Power of Horses’ sharing my story of healing cancer. I have published three children’s books since that time: Comanche the Wild Mustang (a wild horse conservation book), the coloring book version and Kaimana the Hawaiian Mermaid (an ocean conservation book). I have also contributed to numerous other books and magazine publications over the years.
You can now find me on the tiny island of Kaua’i, Hawaii, swimming with my mermaid tail (sometimes with sharks and whales), sharing about ocean conservation, writing, creating social media content, enjoying life and happily scooping horse poop, while caring for my beloved horses!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There definitely have been many obstacles along the way!
When my body was breaking down and everyone thought I was dying, I had to redirect my energy to believe in the impossible!
As far as the journey with cancer goes, believing in my bodies ability to heal, when the dominant paradigm teaches us to fear cancer and our own mortality in general, has taken a deep courage and a faith in my bodies ability to heal.
I have had to learn how to work with the power of my mind to see myself as continuing to heal, despite the odds. Learning to focus my mind in this manner has been a powerful lesson in reining my own internal power, much like a jedi master in the archetypical film Star Wars.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I have written some books (as mentioned before) and contributed articles and chapters to other published books.
I work with people with horses practicing Equine Facilitated Learning teaching private sessions, group sessions, ‘Grief Rituals with Horses’ and other workshops.
I am a life coach.
My most recent work is introducing clients to the art of being a mermaid, by wearing a tail, swimming comfortably and helping them find joy through the process!
I am most proud of writing my memoir ‘Grace, Grit & Gratitude: A Cancer Thriver’s Journey from Hospice to Full Recovery with the Healing Power of Horses’. Publishing it took great discipline of writing and editing every day for a year and a half straight. It is no small feat to publish a book!
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
To answer about the Equine Coaching or Equine Facilitation Learning world, I definitely see this business growing and becoming more popular. In the last decade since I have been doing this powerful healing work with the horses, I have seen the interest in healing with horses grow at an exponential rate. It is inspiring to see others open up to the healing power of horses!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.windhorsesanctuary.com/ https://www.cancerwarrioress.com/. https://www.taracoyote.com/ https://www.kauaimermaidjoy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taracoyote/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tcoyote
- Twitter: taracoyote
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/TaraCoyote
- Other: https://amazon.com/author/taracoyote
Image Credits
Brett Stanly: https://brettstanley.com/
Erena Shimoda: https://underwaterhealer.com/
Kalalea Photo: https://www.ericataniguchi.com/