IRELAND, a Link to Possibility

I am looking at the girl I was "before" I left for Ireland, the girl who made the trip and the one who returned.  And I want/need/desire there to be a difference.  Please note, I am using the term "girl" very loosely here, but it is early morning and that is how I am feeling. You might understand this better, as time goes on.  {*.*}

In Ireland, the Land seemed to continually whisper to me, "Let it go."  I heard it as I leaned my head into the trunk of an ancient tree or laid my heart upon the earth. I heard it from the moss and the tiny green "villages" I marveled at on the rock walls.  My body pressed the point by becoming constipated and all I wanted to do was "let 'er rip, and let it go".  But even with herbs and massage I was having trouble ... physically letting it go. In ceremony, a shaman stepped in front of me, looked me straight in the eye and said, "Move beyond your fear. Do what you want to do. Be who you want to be."  She smiled at me and in that moment I felt like everything was possible.  Re-member. That is who I want to be now, the woman/child to whom all things are possible.  So be it.

One of the things I let go of on the Isle of Inisfallen, is my proclivity to perfection.  Kind of trips off the tongue, doesn't it?  Proclivity to Perfection.  Ta Da!!!   Well it is not only a pain in the arse, it can be an excuse for not getting things done.  I am thinking of a lovely little blog I wanted to write earlier this year and I saw it accompanied by the perfect picture of my horse. I could easily visualize the whole piece. But the weather outside did not match the message of my blog, so I waited and waited for the perfect conditions.  Then, one morning the weather cooperated and I went out and took a dozen pictures of my adorable horse, frosted from head to tail with shimmery ice crystals. My photos were not as artistic as I had envisioned but they would do. Coming back to my computer I searched for the essay and realized I had never committed the words to paper - waiting for the perfect moment I had never actually written the blog piece - so now I had “okay” pictures and no essay.  I had nothing but a good intention and a lot of dissatisfaction with myself.

If only it ended there ~ but unfortunately this sad story continues. A few weeks later, I did actually "find the time" to write the piece, but it was a sunny warm day and something inside me said that I could not really post a blog about frosty horses on such a beautiful sunny Spring day.  Preposterous!!  Everyone would know it was sunny in Colorado and that this blog piece was not spontaneous.

So now I am beginning to see the flaws in Miss Perfection.  She really only cares about what everyone else will think of her. Anything less than perfection is unacceptable to her ~~ because of what others may think.  But when I let Miss Perfection "drive my bus" … I become constipated … my physical/emotional and spiritual bowels twist up, all forward motion grinds to a halt, and nothing productive is accomplished. 

My need for perfection at all costs, especially as it relates to being judged by others, is a limiting belief that no longer serves me. This part of my personality may have served me at one time but is now coming from a place of fear. That is what I let go of in Ireland. In my search for inner peace, I released fear based limiting beliefs.

As a gestalt coach, I know that I cannot toss Miss Perfection under the bus. Even when I want to, and I do, that is not the answer.  She deserves acknowledgement and acceptance. But I will ask her to sit in the back seat and enjoy the ride, offering up her valid ideas only to help put the polish on a piece; to bring up the luster by loving it into a more complete piece of work we can both live with.

And so now my dear little blog, get ready. I might post about rain during a drought, or feeling good when I don't, or any number of random ideas. And if I think of a fantabulous addition after the fact, I give myself permission to post that as well .... in a non-sequitur manner that would not have been possible BI = Before my magical trip to Ireland.

AI = After Ireland.                                                                                                                                       I claim my Freedom !!
Loving Living Wild in Colorado,
In-Joy !!

3rd Annual Equine Gestalt Coaching Method Summit 2013

This event was held on September 20, 21, 22 in spite of the fact that Boulder County, including Lil Bit North Ranch - home of the Touched By a Horse program - had suffered through a flood of “Biblical proportions” just one week earlier.  Access roads into Boulder County were just beginning to open up, but every one managed to make it in and the event was a HUGE success.  Melisa Pearce and her staff did a superb job and the program ran smoothly and efficiently.

For me, introducing our new anthology, Touched Buy a Horse; Equine Coaching Stories, Edited by Melisa Pearce, was an incredible highlight. As assistant editor, I am fantastically proud of this book which includes stories and poetry by 21 different authors. The theme was to describe what equine gestalt coaching looks like, how it has affected us personally, and what our healing herds of horses are offering as our loyal partners in this venture. This book is going to make a BIG difference in helping people understand what we have to offer in the expanding genre of personal coaching! Trust me, you are going to want to read this book!

Our keynote speaker was Larry Freeborg, a pioneer in the development of equine-guided groups such as EGEA (Equine Guided Education Association) and EAHAE (European Association for Horse Assisted Education) and has followed the development of the Horse Assisted industry for the last decade. I was lucky enough to catch his talk every day; he is highly intelligent, thorough in his history of this fast growing business, and spoke on planning and business development topics for professional coaches that were important to everyone.

Other Speakers included: Kimberly Beer, professional photographer, graphic designer and Platinum Solution Provider for Constant Contact.  Melanie Mulhall, an award winning author, writing coach and served as primary editor on our new anthology. James Fitzpatrick III, CPA, had the dubious honor of speaking to us about financial planning first thing after lunch on Saturday. He rose to the occasion and gave a wonderful presentation. And on our final Sunday, Mark Guynn, of Guynn Training Center, gave a riding demonstration of Melisa’s three year old Gypsy Vanner horse, Rua Prionsa’s ("Pri") debut under saddle. It was a beautiful thing to watch!

 

 

 

BB Harding and I are offering a one day retreat at Dragonfly Farm in Platteville, Colorado. 

We have a fun filled day of playful exploration.

Come on out and join us!

Expressions – Part 8

TESTIMONIAL.

On a warm summer's day I lost a dear friend named Ann.  In April, Ann had come out to my house for a wild foods class that I was teaching.  Unbeknownst to me, Ann was suffering from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, which eventually would claim her life.

Everyone had a great time with the plants, and our field trip, and we also spent some time with my healing herd of horses and donkeys.  My horse, Lakota, tuned in on Ann and spent many minutes licking her hand.  I had no idea what was going on, and could only hope that Ann was comfortable with Lakota’s attention.  I had to trust the process.  When Ann came out she had tears in her eyes and told me that she had received a wonderful healing from my horse and she was so thankful.  She wrote me a thank you note that brought tears to my eyes when I received it and I asked her if I could post it to my website. She agreed and it is there still.

There are no pictures of Lakota licking Ann’s hand. Everyone in class that day could tell you about it, but there are no pictures.  I had no idea of the significance of what I was witnessing.  The picture below was staged with the help of another dear friend of mine, Deb.

“What a wonderful day being with you and the circle of women!
Thank you so much for sharing Lakota with me. I will never forget her breathing and gentleness.                              I do believe she licked my hands to help heal them!! She knew I needed some help there.                                         I am so glad she let me hug her and pet her.
The sharing circle at the beginning was powerful. You are such a sensitive, loving, enthusiastic teacher. I always love field trips so visiting the variety of plants and picking and tasting them was pure fun.
Thank you for offering this special class. Any time I can learn more about wild plants and animals, I feel blessed. May you find sweet success, you deserve it.”
AT, Erie, CO

I’m Back !!!

WOW ~ is time flying by for you as well?

I intended to offer my paper, Expressions of Horses as Healers, one piece at a time; breaking it down into small segments.  I scheduled Parts 1 through 6, and my goal was to present the entire paper without interruption.

And then life happened.
 
And life has been "interesting."  I use that word a lot these days in place of difficult, overwhelming, hard or scary.  "Interesting" carries a different energy ~ and that appears to be the main lesson. As my friend BB said recently, "The energies of these times are proving to be intense, chaotic and uprooting as we move more fully into the Age of Aquarius."  I am learning how to handle the not so subtle energy fluctuations that are being beamed to earth at this time.  My teachers said they were coming and science now says that it is happening.  Some days are better than others.
 
So, now I wish to finish the series offering Parts 7 - 10 in, hopefully, short easy-to-read segments. This will allow me to move on, free of my self-imposed decision to offer the whole paper in its entirety before scurrying off in new and exciting directions.

I hope you find it interesting! 

Check out my new adventure and website,
www.healinghorseregistryinternational.com

Expressions - Part 5

2. CHAKRA BALANCING.

Many Eastern healing modalities work with the energy centers of the physical body.  A widely known view is the Chakra system, which was known in both Chinese and Indian philosophies. Chakras are the energy centers of the physical body. The primary seven are located on the mid-line of the body and align, in an ascending column, from the base of the spine to the top of the head. They can be visualized as a double spinning spiral that opens both to the front of the body and along the backbone. In perfect health, these energy centers give and receive energy and are balanced one to another as well as front to back.

Acupuncture, Healing Touch and Reiki are only three examples of healing modalities that have become more mainstream, even in our Western healing practices, as we begin to have more understanding of the holistic approach of body/mind spirit. As a Reiki Master myself, I realize that most practitioners have an understanding of the chakra system and incorporate chakra balancing as part of their healing routine.

Melisa had a large black and white Gypsy Vanner horse named Fancy that joined her healing herd. She had feet the size of dinner plates but I have watched her time after time, gently walk around a client and balance their chakra’s front and back, and never once stepped on a human foot. She was Melissa’s “go to” chakra balancer. She often gently backed up till she was touching the person with her enormous rump, to balance their root chakra.

Yes, they can balance ours even as we balance theirs. I have watched many horses do a quick body scan from toe to head before they go to work, walking around “their client”, standing for a few minutes with their forehead at a person’s abdomen, 3rd chakra = solar plexus, and then move to the persons back and present their heart chakra to the back of that person.

Expressions - Part 4

Another clear visual of what leaching looks like.

This woman has had very little experience with horses and found Lakota “quite large and pretty scary”. She wanted to be with the horse but her every movement was tentative. She is wearing a nervous grin. She got to the point where she was more comfortable with Lakota reaching out, stretching really, to touch her on the collarbone and shoulder.
The woman professed to carrying a lot of tension in her neck and shoulders. She was also very much “in her head” even as I attempted to bring her more into her body.

I asked the woman to walk around the pen and I attempted to get her more into her body. She was a very good story teller however, and more comfortable with her words than with her body.

Lakota was not impressed with her story.  She moved to the side and began to leach energy.
Almost immediately, the woman’s stride lengthened, her pelvis gained more fluidity, and her shoulders dropped to a more natural position.
My assistant and I made eye contact as we watched the woman’s physical demeanor change even as she walked/talked on. 
She had no idea of the changes taking place until we brought it to her attention.
She was finally silent, with wonder and awe.  She "felt" her body.

Expressions - Part 2

INTRODUCTION.

I took pictures of my horse, Lakota, as she grazed in my back yard and I told her “I am going to take these to Melisa’s tonight.  Let me know what you think about this work.”

Several hours later I dropped my photos into the wicker basket with many other pictures. It was an Equi-Spiritual event at Melisa Pearce’s barn, home to Touched by a Horse. Later in the evening, Melisa ruffled through the pictures, looking and listening to the voices of the sentient beings captured with film. She held up Lakota’s picture and she said, “I don’t know who belongs to this horse but she just told me, “She is willing to do this work. She can do this work. She is ready to go to work.”

I sat back in my chair with tears in my eyes. My question had been answered. WOW!!

This path has had many trail markers along the way.  I cannot remember not loving horses. I have been told for years that I could work with horses if I wanted to but I  had no idea what it looked like. Every reading I received for several years, from many different persons, said a version of the same thing. I remember distinctly, a woman telling me that there were five animals that agreed to assist the human population to become better citizens of the earth.  They were elephants, horses, dogs, dolphins and macaw parrots.  The more I thought about it I realized that they have a vested interest in us getting it right. If not, we are the only species that has the potential to destroy all that we hold dear.  Plus, at least one of these animals can be found on every continent, or in the vast waters surrounding our fragile land masses or flying freely above us.

And several years before that, as one of my teachers and I had just finished giving Lakota an etheric clearing session, she looked at me and said, “This is a healer horse”. I had no idea what she meant and really no idea of the journey that this magnificent being and I would undertake.  I was just beginning to see this beautiful creature in a whole new way.

A few months after Lakota first answered my question, I trailered my sweet horse to Melisa’s for a weekend.  Just two girls going to class together.  I was a student in Melisa’s Equine Gestalt Coaching Method eighteen month program. On the way over I told Lakota that I would not put any pressure on her. I loved her for just who she was and if she wanted to do this work she could, and if she didn’t, I would still be her best friend.  There was no way I could have predicted what would happen to us next.

EXPRESSSIONS OF HORSES AS HEALERS

 

 

 EXPRESSSIONS  OF  HORSES  AS  HEALERS
 

By Annette Price  /  September 17, 2012                                                          
http://www.onthewingsofahorse.com 

 

 

Prepared as a Course Project in Horse Psychology

Reach Out to Horses’ Holistic Horsemanship                                            

Comprehensive Training Course                                                                                 

with Anna Twinney 

at Zuma’s Rescue Ranch, Littleton, CO

How to be a Better Human 101 ... cont... again ....

In the past I have jokingly described my spiritual journey as “How to be a Better Human 101”, placing myself in the freshman class with wide-eyed enthusiasm and an unchecked willingness to experience it all. My goal with every semester is to discern the teachings and assimilate universal wisdom.

For the past two years I have decided to up the ante; sometimes advancing with baby steps, sometimes falling on my bum, but encouraged by the brilliant rays of understanding that sometimes break through the clouds.  My teachers are the horses and those two-legged beings that speak through them, to them and with them.  Completing Melisa Pearce’s program, EGCM, Equine Gestalt Coaching Method was a dream come true; it has been nothing short of amazing.  

My self-study curriculum remains challenging, as on-going lessons should, with several mid-course corrections required, and I ride the roller coaster of accomplishment, failure, self-doubt and joy with utter amazement.  This past week-end’s training with Anna Twinney (Reach Out to Horses) was HUGE.  Surrounded once again by humans and horses I stepped into the arena. 

"I want to open you up.” Anna’s words are still ringing in my ears.  I have a very uncomfortable vision of an old fashioned manual can opener lying beside a tin of sardines, split open via a ragged wound, sharp and possibly dangerous. Worth diving into if you happen to like sardines, but proceed with caution, it is to be handled with care.

This Monday morning I take stock.

Physically, I am beat up, things hurt when I move, a temporary un-comfort-able-ness.

Spiritually, I am standing at yet another precipice, wondering how to get across.

Mentally, I know that we have stood in front of different obstacles before and have eventually figured them out. I take comfort in the absolute knowledge that I have tremendous teachers, marvelous mentors and friendly faces to guide me, stand beside me, and encourage me.

The horses stand out in their pasture, absolutely aware while appearing to dream contentedly in their own little world. But as every thing in the universe is connected, we too are connected. They accept their day, knowing that this journey is my own, but still mindful of my progress.

It will be what it will be. I am not sure where we are going but excited for the journey to unfold.

The EGCM 1st Annual Summit

What a marvelous week-end for a coming together of like-minded souls. The Equine Gestalt Coaching Method TM herd was 27 strong beautiful women + our beloved coach Bob.  The weather was fantastic, sunny and bright as the ideas that were shared; the air as clean and crisp as the topics discussed. As cliché as it sounds, I had to write those words, for they are my truth. It was great to be with the women that I have met already on this journey; to stay in touch with one another is important to me. And to meet the new women coming in, to learn the faces that go with the voices that I have been hearing on class calls.

Friday afternoon, we graduates set up our booths in the hallway of the barn and shared stories. It always feels good to be back in this barn, a place where so much growth and transformation has transpired.  Melisa called us all to order and we shared a social hour of cheese cake and coffee.

Saturday morning came pretty quickly, I must admit. I got dressed, fed the critters, drank a cup of coffee, took my shears and basket out to the yard and collected some herbs, and headed back the 35 minute journey to Little Bit North Ranch. I was excited to participate in whatever came my way this day.  The break out session with all of us who have Peggy as a coach was fascinating to me. I had gone prepared to do a greeting ritual, but learned that Ashara had something planned so I slipped easily into Plan “B” which ended up being a wonderful experience for me.  Melisa is always touting my herbal back ground in our class calls and yet I was having a difficult time weaving my passion for herbs with my passion for horses.  I gestalted a little talk about the three plants I had brought with me and then opened it up to the group as to how I could integrate the two.  And as we shared ideas, I did gain insight and it was so much fun. I want to thank costmary, motherwort and mugwort (Artemisia) for accompanying this day and playing their part so beautifully.

As I drove away towards home Sunday, I was thankful again to have found this program, for my determination to see it through, and I could feel the excitement of this adventure as it coursed through my weary body. The first summit was an inspiring success and I came away with new skill sets to play with and the determination to continue learning. I am at the beginning of a new adventure, with an urgent desire to learn new ways of walking beside a horse; to deepen my love and to honor these sentient beings.  When I stand in their presence I am lifted up ~ they give me inspiration and hope for the future. I am outrageously blessed.