My Organs Tell My Structure Where It Needs To Be: Conversations On Posture
When it comes to our organs, we appreciate them in the context of life functioning systems (and rightly so), but we rarely consider their role
When it comes to our organs, we appreciate them in the context of life functioning systems (and rightly so), but we rarely consider their role
So much of the success we experience in training is about creating environments that support the outcomes we are trying to teach. This is different
A couple of decades back when I was studying health science, my class group was told a story about peanuts. Peanuts are prone to a
This week, I’ve been reading lots of articles about women in the wild. Adventurers, hikers, campers, who set out to the mountains and forests in
These last few days, as life sometimes demands of you, I’ve spent many more moments than planned away from my computer and from work. For
Sometimes, our body is expressing things that our mind is choosing to be blind to, a constant tap-tap-tapping at the door of our consciousness of
I shared a video of my baby horse Saffy’s first ride in my membership group, and one of the comments there was “so much fun
One of my mentors once said to me, Jane, people don’t need more information, they need more experiences. She was referring to the movement work
But what if this is just the way you are? Energetic adjustability is a big conversation amongst riders, and an essential skill in being able
This is Saffy. Some of you will have seen her pop up every now and then on my page, but for the most part, she’s
Movement arcs are patterns of movement that the body follows when its moving in the parasympathetic nervous system. They are based on the understanding that
Do you want to do some filming this afternoon? My husband calls out kindly to me. Yes, I reply, a note of resignation in my
The first thing to emerge was my hand, reaching across the room to find my phone. 4:56 am. A little surge of success welled up
On Monday, riding Merc, we eased into trot. Walk had felt ok, but in trot, immediately somethings wrong. His stride is slightly off. He feels
There’s a beautiful phrase I hold gently in my hands, that I’ve adopted as one of my mottos for living. “Birds coast when they can”
Movement pathways are one of my favourite things to teach. I honestly feel like they’re the keys to Narnia, but most people don’t understand why
What I understand to be true is that it’s ok to begin the new year motivated, inspired, and ready to go. It’s ok to feel
There’s a gentle thread that connects the days after Christmas to the early part of the new year. I’ve heard them described as a hush;
There’s a quote from Philippe Karl recounted to me a few years back that periodically spins through my head whenever I’m working with my horses:
Yesterday, I was riding Nadia in the arena when I felt the flicker of old patterns bubble their way to the surface. We’ve had some
The topic of energy is a vast one and how it is we define energy means and our understanding of it is going to mean
What healthy movement creates in the body is the desire to move more. When moving feels good, it becomes a self-propulsive force where the experience
Because I’m often blessed with the company of my lovely neighbor, Liz, when I’m playing my horses, I’m forced to also articulate things that would
The idea that a horse is lazy is such a falsity. I was chattering with my sidekick Liz yesterday, who’d been with me while I
Before I started writing this, I was staring at my screen for a good few minutes, wondering how to begin. The thing is, I have
How we define and understand ‘regulation’ has a profound effect of our experience, and our perception of our capacity and safety when engaging with our
Yesterday, my glorious patchy pony and I went for a ride across the inlet. The top layer of earth was thin baked, the sky holding
Contact, like posture, is not a fixed state, but a constant cycle of information exchange between the rider and the horse. Bodies do not hold
When we observe beauty in movement, what we’re observing is a body with high vibrational resonance. Our brains may interpret this as an interplay of
Earlier today, I posted about fascia and it’s relationship to our experience of beauty; how its vibration essence (or lack thereof) is what allows for
Any system or practice worth following will be open to robust questioning. A red flag always pops up for me when someone expression irritation or
Yesterday, I wrote briefly about how emotion is an internal experience, rather than an external expression. The following question popped in the JoyRide member’s group
Emotion is an internal experience, not an external expression. That simple sentence has changed my life. When a feeling state comes up that has the
The idea of harmony is a really interesting one. I searched for the definition just now and this is what came up: the combination of
Something I’ve noticed when I feel tired, run down or out of sorts is that I’m more easily susceptible to the pitfalls of comparison. It’s
I used to think the discomfort I felt sitting or lying on hard surfaces was due to having a slight frame and limited padding over
Yesterday, I pulled on my boots and walked out to the paddock to catch Dee. As I made my way down the grassy path, I
There’s a negative cycle we get stuck in when we find ourselves living more often than not in our fight flight or sympathetic nervous system.
1. Chantel Prat “Turn down the voice that tells you you need to be more” “We are dynamic beings. Our brains grow and change
Do you know when the sun rises? One of the things that always makes me grateful to live where I do is that nature is
Let me start by telling you a story of The Other Day. Because The Other Day it was lovely and warm, and the sun teased
There’s a little track I walk through to get to the field where Merc and Ada graze. It winds its way through a patch of
The work involved one of us lying on the ground, and one of us holding onto the others foot. “Should I encourage movement of some
What we love about horses is also the essence of what we often find the be the most challenging: their energy. “I just don’t get
I re-read a message today that made my heart hurt. “I’m not sure if you do anything for grief,” it begins. Beyond that, we know
I’m standing under a cluster of Blackwood Trees. It’s started raining lightly. The ground under my feet is still dry, a network of elevated roots
I had a really interesting conversation a little while back that sparked some thoughts I want to share with you. The challenge came from a
When it was obvious I couldn’t hold winter back with the force of my intention alone, I moved Merc and Ada to the back paddock.
I recently was in a rather blokey conversation with a rather blokey man. We were talking about motorbikes and things that go fast and things
I returned home on Thursday after a 4-week trip away. I’ve travelled a lot this year but this one was a little different. For the
I always have the best of intentions of sharing my adventures in real time when I’m on the road. The truth of it is, however,
This week has been a whirl of last minute getting ready-ness, goodbyes, long haul flights, hellos, new people, and horses. I was thinking about the
My littlest boy Tommy was off playing in the snow today. My husband, Giles, just sent me a message that he went on the ski
When I first started to teach Merc shoulder in, it was a massive suck fest. There were literally stops and starts, overshooting the lines of
Yesterday, a familiar topic got presented in my membership group: goal setting. I don’t really set goals, I mused. I don’t find goals to be
This evening, I leant on the wooden fence next to Ada as she ate, and watched my other horses organize themselves in their post feed
I talked last week on my blog about developmental movement patterns, and how, in JoyRide, we’d been working on both the head push and the
Two things I know. I have a good program. I’m passionate about what I’ve learned and the work I do. I’m lucky to see its
Cantering on Merc is one of my favourite things to do. It hasn’t always been this way. His body has only just started unravelling, at
Ada, it turns out, thinks wheelbarrows are quite magical, and most definitely mysterious. It was one of those very still, almost-winter-but-not-quite autumn days today, and
Does pain, discomfort, or “unsoundness” always indicate that something is wrong? When I started to learn more about the nervous system and its relationship to
Developmental movement patterns are patterns that are begin in utero, and progress through the birthing process and into early infancy. These patterns are not only
When I first learned that you could read the nervous system state you were in at any one time by understanding structural patterns of the
Back pain has been a feature of my life for as long as I can remember. As a teen, I was poked, prodded, and evaluated
On Sunday, I sat down to write. Not the kind of writing intended for the world (although maybe one should not look to separate them
Our life, our body, our experience, our emotions are an intimate co-mingling with the world around us. Wonder is our innate state. Our lineage is
To get from the paddock where Merc lives to the arena involves a mini expedition. We wind our way up the track, keeping left; a
“So if a person is permanently stuck in fight/flight mode how does one release this to return lungs to normal position therefore improving posture? Is
A few years back, I remember having a conversation with Warwick Schiller about relaxation. I had recently bought my big warmblood mare, Nadia, and I
She’s little, maybe 5 or 6 years old. She outside, playing in the trees. She’s alone, but she doesn’t mind. She doesn’t feel alone. She’s
I classify the Island of Comfortable in the same geographical zone as the Island of Calm; not bad to visit, obviously useful to hang out
There’s a track that I follow that winds through the paddocks to the trees at the back of our property. You first go through a
There are certain landscapes that I walk through where I know that I’m little more than a very brief visitor. You’re not meant to stay
In our movement sessions this week in my membership, we are focusing on the talus bone, the part of the ankle joint that the tibia
We have a huge, ethical responsibility to ensure that when we ask our horses to release old patterns, come back into their body and allow
I know when I started my adventures understanding more about the body, the main preoccupation was in developing softness, pliability, and flexibility. Tension was something
I landed back on home shores late yesterday after two intensive weeks away, bookended by long haul flights that saw me travel from one end
I did a thing this morning which is something that I talk about with the glorious peeps I work with; I started searching for articles,
Last week, we began a discussion of the tailbone and within that comes the discussion of the anterior and posterior pelvic tilt. If you haven’t
I teach something called movement arcs or balance lines, which is all about learning how our horse’s centreline and back line move in space so
One of the things I find challenging about talking about biomechanics from the perspective that I teach it is that it’s somewhat of a paradigm
I read an article recently that was addressing fear in riders, and the tendency that many of us have to curl up in a fetal
In my experience working with the nervous system and the body, most presentations of scoliosis aren’t congenital and irreversible (so something you are born with
A few days ago, I wrote how I lost my precious yearling Bear. Since that time, I have adventured through the depths of my own
The word vitality stems from beautiful origins. It’s born from the latin word “vitalis”, which translates to “of or manifesting life” or “belonging to life”.
What if, whenever we felt lonely, what we were actually experiencing was a state of mis-attention. Where our mind had pulled us inward and convinced
Where do you go, I was asked, when you need to unwind, or recharge? Where do you go to reconnect with the world? Ahh, I
It’s 2004. I’m in Sri Lanka, two weeks after a devastating Tsunami swept through. I’m here as an aid worker. The hotel I’m staying in
There’s a moment when you get off the plane in New Zealand and start to make your way through the airport that a waiata plays
When I first started working with the nervous system, my interest was around how I could use these understandings to be more engaged in life.
Yesterday, I slipped out into the afternoon sun, grabbed a halter and walked up the farm to get Saffy out of the paddock. I had
In parasympathetic movement patterns, the shoulder girdle- and specifically the AC joint- is what dictates the movement of the head. If you look at Image
Over the course of a month, I write a number of blog posts and share frequent snippets of my work on social media. I know
Time- or perhaps more specifically, the feeling that I don’t have enough of it- is something that I have wrestled with my whole life. In
This story has two parts. The first part involves something that popped up on my timeline (that created the inspiration for this post in the
I’ve been a little absent from social media of late. My family got visited by everyone’s favourite spicy flu (as my friend Rachael would call
I’ve been musing over this post for a while now, the reason being that what I’m about to talk about is not black and white.
Last week, I wrote about my experience with frustration and how the whole “leave your emotions at the gate” is not mantra that I subscribe
On Tuesday, I caught Merc and brought him into the yards with the plan of going down to the arena and working together. By the
The sit bones get a lot of airtime when it comes to position and balance, and almost all of the instruction that I’ve heard involves
Survival patterns are patterns that we have learned and developed in childhood as a means to get our needs met. They can and do take
I got asked in a podcast interview once who was the horse that has influenced me the most, and the answer was Dee. The reason
In my membership group yesterday, we began a discussion on biomechanics, and I was asked my opinion on some of the more well-known forms biomechanics
Modern living has got us into all sorts of pickles when it comes to our nervous system. Let’s consider movement as an example. In early
We’ve been working through a movement arc series in JoyRide that explores the difference in how the body moves between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous
I thought this would be fun to show you. A couple of days back, my husband offered to come outside and take some photos of
The position and shape of the pelvis changes dramatically depending on whether you are in a parasympathetic or fight flight nervous system state. In the
The subject of core strength and how to properly use and train our abdominal muscles get a lot of airtime when it comes to conversations
The “fight flight response” or the “fight flight nervous system” is a common nickname given to the survival or sympathetic nervous system. It can be
The fight flight brain looks for things that are the same. “How is this experience the same as what I experience yesterday, or last year,
Dear Breath, Oh my, Breath, where do I even start? I think of everything I do and teach and share… when I talk about you,
The superficial front line of fascia is a literal line that travels up the middle on the body. In the movement work that I practice
Thresholds. It’s a word that we hear a lot applied to both horses and humans. How do you define threshold? And what markers are you
Dear Head, For the longest time we had a complicated relationship. I won’t be so arrogant to assume that I completely have you sorted. To
I was listening to my lovely and rather fabulous friend Kate Sandel the other day in a conversation that she was having about separation anxiety.
The other day in my JoyRide group, we started talking about the difference between conscious, subconscious and unconscious, and I thought it would be an
Spooking! We had an interesting discussion on spooking last week in Stable Hours (the weekly Live Q&A in my membership group) that brought a few
Having a sense of progress is important, but it’s easy to miss the small, everyday markers of progress if you are attached to what progress
Your current nervous system state expresses through your motor patterns. It expresses in movement. This is an easy sentence to read and gloss over but
Look up! Many of us consider posture and position from the viewpoint of the outer tube of the body. For instance, we see or sense