FOR THOSE WHO JOINED US AT THE JOURNEY ON SUMMIT
A way back to what you felt in Paso Robles
Thank you for spending part of your summit with me, and or being willing to put a part down in front of someone you had only just met. What happens in a session like that does not integrate on its own, so this page is meant to support the practices we worked with.
WHAT WE WERE DOING
Before you could talk, you were already having conversations. You reached, and someone came or they did not. You pushed, and someone could handle your push or they could not. That is how you learned what closeness and contact feel like, and your body never forgot any of it.
Then came the mask. It is made of words and expression and explaining yourself, and most of us got very good at it.
Your horse does not have that layer. The horse never learned to explain himself, and he cannot read your explanations either. What he reads, what he is brilliant at reading, is the older thing underneath, which is why he has never once been fooled by you having a good day on the outside.
There is your body, and there is also the relational moving body - made of your armoring, your attention and your gestures. The horse has been reading the second one the whole time. Now perhaps we can begin to as well.
Relational Gestures
The six relational gestures: Yield, I am here, being with. Push, I am here, separate, and still with you. Reach, I am open to contact. Grasp, arrive, not cling. Pull, one breath of closer. Release, contact ends without rupture.
The six gestures in this work are adapted from Ruella Frank’s developmental gesture work, based on the Body-Mind Centering® lineage.
Finding your Ground
A guide to help you resource yourself while you explore the practices we began in Paso Robles. It walks you through five ways to come back to yourself before you work with your horse, during transitions, or any time you feel unsettled. Each one takes a few minutes and none of them need special equipment (your horse is optional too, though they will probably notice the difference).
5 RESOURCES FOR EQUINE SOMATIC PRACTICE
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if you want to go further
Foundations is the self-paced path through this work. It is built for people who want to take it into their own practice with their own horses, and it goes considerably deeper than two and a half hours allows (it’s a year-long course). The certification path sits on top of it, for practitioners who want to work this way with clients.
EXPLORE THE COURSES
NEED HELP FINDING THE RIGHT PATH?
Not sure which path is yours? Foundations, or the certification path - a short conversation is the quickest way to work out which one fits where you are.
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