WELCOME
I am in the process of elevating my business and relocating from Montana to Mesa, AZ. This will enable me to travel to you and work with additional horses to provide the Equine-assisted Experiential Workshops and Horsemanship Coaching described in my website.
But this website is still being updated, so please bear with me. In the meantime, please browse, and if you are interested in exploring possibilities, email me and let's chat about how I may customize services to support you.
Nervous System
Well-being
What is it?
Introduction
Our capacity for wellness and growth depends on how safe and connected our nervous system feels in relationship.
The Nervous System’s Role
When we feel threatened, our nervous system automatically diverts vital energy from tending to our health and wellness and directs this energy into the neuropathways that mobilize for protection and survival. When the threat passes, a well-regulated nervous system will return this energy to the neuropathways that sustain all the things we want in our lives: wellness, healthy relationships, peace, learning, productivity, and balance personally and professionally. However, when our nervous system has been overwhelmed by trauma and stress, or neglected, the neuropathways that form the infrastructure for all we seek is short-circuited and our nervous system lacks the capacity to be well-regulated. So, no matter how hard we try to heal, grow, and thrive, our vital energy is trapped in the reactive patterns of survival -- the neuropathways of fight, flight, or freeze -- and unavailable to sustain well-being. In other words, we can't become authentic conscious creators in our lives until we repair and rebuild our system's pathways for safety and connection.
What our Curriculum Offers
Grounded in Polyvagal Theory and the neuroscience of safety, the Heart Connections curriculum offers facilitated sessions with the horses that invite individuals and groups to partner with their nervous system by learning to recognize and appreciate their nervous system states so they can build a trusting relationship with it. During our sessions, we practice resonant listening. Resonant listening is the practice of helping the nervous system (including the nervous system of a horse) feel seen, heard, and understood. This allows participants to experience trust and connection within their own nervous system as they co-regulate with the horses. And, this is applicable not only to experiential learning for personal or professional development, but also for those who own or work with horses, because this experience can transform their horsemanship.
Because each session with the horses offers a carefully crafted embodied experience, participants are also actually helping their bodies repair damaged neurocircuitry, build new and more resilient neuropathways, which increases their capacity for authentic connection. Authentic connection is the key to grounding the nervous system (human and horse) in safety.
Becoming Conscious Creators
As we become more aware and connected to our nervous system, we are better able to lead it back to safety after it is activated into protective patterns. The essential neuropathways are strengthened, and we can experience well-being more wholistically -- physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
With this embodied awareness and a regulated nervous system anchored in well-being -- we have the foundation necessary to become conscious creators with greater capacity to thrive in every aspect of our lives.
Why Experiences with Horses are so Powerful
​​Horses require authenticity to feel safe. Their sensitivity to nervous system cues offers honest, non-judgmental feedback. Their inherent nature as prey animals who seek safety in connection creates a living classroom where participants are able to learn about themselves in a supportive, safe environment. And the learning comes as an embodied experience in relationship with a horse and its own nervous system where regulation and co-regulation in relationship can be transformational.
This experiential learning with horses changes us from the inside out and empowers us to act with integrity -- congruent in thought, feeling, and emotion.
As these experiences are integrated into our lives, we are transformed. We are no longer passengers clinging to a runaway horse always afraid of a lion, but we are consciously connected partners with our nervous system (and horses). We are empowered to lead ourselves safely through life's challenges because, no matter what happens, we know how to return our nervous system home on the neuropathways anchored in well-being.
Our Services
