- Kadima Rides.. And Falls… And gets back up again. If you’ve talked with me about Kadima riding, you likely heard me lament about being so worried about her falling off. Not because she has poor balance, the girl acts like she was born on a horse, but because. Just because. (There’s really no good reason). I found out just how unhelpful that mom worry is a couple nights ago. Kadima has been riding, Chance, our awesome trimmers Halflinger stallion that we are borrowing to tease my mares a bit (which isn’t working, but more on that later). He’s a gem. We were trotting along all happy and relaxed when Kadima turned and looked back, concerned that we ran over the raspberry basket. I looked to see her a little off center and decided in that moment the worst was happening and leaped at Chance like a cougar pouncing (it really was that bad). Of course, this terrified Chance and he jumped sideways to save his life from this sudden attack, and off went little Kadima. There were some tears, but we knew she was okay. We held her and talked about if she was hurt or scared. (She was scared). Then, I decided to do some Mind Change method to help her overcome the replay memory. I wasn’t sure if it’d work on a 3 year old, but it totally did. Within a couple pattern interrupts she was now picturing me catching her instead of falling and ready to “get back on” by her own idea. Poor Chance was still a little nervous, so I worked with him a bit too, realized I also needed a little session, and afterwards we all came together and had a nice happy little trot into the sunset. I checked to see if the Mind Change work stuck the next morning, asking Kadima right after she got up if she’d like to ride Chance today… She said yes.
- How our thoughts, words… become real. This goes right along with the above. In a weird way, I was actually thankful for that fall experience. 1 – she was safe. 2 – I had the tools to help her mentally overcome. 3 – it was evidence that my fear of her falling was totally unhelpful. When I watched the video, it stuck out to me that by the time I decided to intervene, Kadima was just getting back center in the saddle. She would have been totally fine without my help (and especially without the panicked version of help I offered). Mind Change, Scripture, Life all shows us how important our thoughts, pictures, words affect everything around us. Because I had been picturing this traumatic picture of Kadima falling over and over in my head, when the slightest indication that this was happening was noticed, my body went into “Kadima falling autopilot mode” and reacted totally out of tune with the situation. There was nothing I could consciously do to stop it. This is precisely why it is so important to pay attention to when we are recording those tracks and change them before they start playing on loop and effecting everything around us. I will be doing more and more of this and am so grateful for the tools to do it and the Scripture to back it.
- Somatics in Saddle: I’ve shared about a lot of the somatic work I’ve done on the ground with my horses, and the amazing results, but last Tuesday it got taken to a whole new level while riding Rocki. She was carrying her shoulder to the inside when tracking left. Instead of trying to correct it, I wondered if the somatics understanding of “going into the resistance” would work in this scenario. So instead of getting her off of her shoulder, I let her counter bend even more to the inside. Then, while I asked her to remain in that direction of travel and bend, I invited her to do her own movement with her head and neck. Up, down, wherever she wanted to go. Then I’d softly take her bend the other direction, set the bend and direction of travel, but again invite her to move wherever she wanted to within that. Back and forth we went, nice and slow. It was amazing how she accepted this invitation and to see where she would take her body. It was releasing areas that I would have a hard time to find myself, and an even harder time to release myself. It was placing the healing into her hands and allowing her own intuition to lead. My body is relaxing and happily sighing at the reminder of this sweet, sweet session.
- Truth is Truth: After my last Mind Change Appt on Wednesday, I had the opportunity after opportunity come up to work with 10 different people and horses with mind change work. I wasn’t looking for these opportunities, they just came. These varied from cold sickness, nervousness before competition, traumatic event experienced by a horse that wasn’t doing well after, morning sickness in pregnancy, traumatic medical events, feeling stuck in being able to prioritize important things, extreme back pain, etc. It has been nothing short of amazing. It’s not a magic pill that you take one and are done for life, but a tool that you can apply as your journey through life. A true way to renew your mind instead of letting the traumas of the world conform you into someone you don’t want to be. You can heal areas that unlock SO much in the body to bring healing. The fact that I felt confident enough to walk friends and family through this after so little education, further solidifies that there is so much truth in this. Truth is easy to learn. Easy to implement. It agrees with how we were created, so why wouldn’t this be the case?
- All the puzzle pieces coming together: Just like a puzzle, in the beginning it goes slow. You have all of the pieces spread out and have no idea how it’s supposed to go together. You have the picture in the background, so you know the end, but it’s not of too much help to get started. But piece by piece, as you put them together eventually there is a tipping point and it gets easier to find the remaining pieces. This is how my healing/rodeo journey has been. It all started 2 years ago when being directed to learn Aleph Tav Body. That was such a shift, it took a while to put those pieces together. Once that section was pretty well set, Discovering Mercy came into play. That was another huge section that took a while to piece together, but ended up being such a large part. Next comes Somatics and movement, filling in the connecting pieces so now it’s starting to really take shape. Cue Mind Change and now most of the picture is filled and it’s just understanding exactly where everything fits together. It may seem like my blog is not much about rodeo and horses, but it’s everything about them. These concepts and pieces are unlocking more than I ever dreamed possible, but that picture that was my “ideal” that I wasn’t sure was possible, is made possible through all of these pieces. Applying them to the horses is such a gift.
5 Steps Closer, thank you for coming along. Nicole & The Team:
Uriah, Kadima, Birdie, Blondie, Dean, Grace, Rocki, Salily, Shasta & Shmini |
Bonus!: Things were on the up and up after writing my blog Monday morning. Monday afternoon rolls around and suddenly I am a mess. I’m too tired for lessons, grumpy with Uriah and overwhelmed with all there is to do and all on my goal list. It started with a hug from Uriah, being able to talk through and identify the root of my angst, and then him sweetly taking Kadima back to work so I could have time to work through what was going on. I went to grab my mind change book, which was in the room I work out in. I’ve been meaning to work out. So, I did it right then and there. Gosh, life isn’t so bad anymore. I think about all of the gratitude I have to Teresa for helping me be confident in working out and how much gratitude I have towards my body for making such fast changes. I decide I’m going to make dinner, do mind change work, update my blog, then go riding. About 30 minutes prior all I could think of was going to bed. I would like to reframe the “truth is easy” part, just a bit. Because on one hand, it is. I was able to do a 180 and get back on track in a short period of time because of truth. On the other hand, to face it and work through it sucked for just a little bit until the breakthrough came. So I’m adding this in here, in case anyone needs a little extra encouragement for when the opportunities to grow arise and when it sucks at first to face them. Remember, the breakthrough is coming and it’s always worth it. I’m rooting for you.
-Nicole |
