00:08
You’re listening to Episode 27 of the Confident Rider Podcast with Jane Pike.
00:22
Guys, I am really excited to share this one with you! You know when something clicks for you? And
I’ve been doing this work for a really long time, but on a personal level, over the last couple of
days, I have had an experience which has re shuffled things in my mind, and I feel like I’ve
reached a whole new level of alignment in terms of where it is I’m going with my own horsing
practices, personally, and also just how it is I’m navigating my day to make sure that things are
lining up. When I’m talking talking about lining up, I am talking about lining up from the inside out.
So making sure that spiritually, emotionally, logically, physically, things are feeling in alignment,
to be in a place to create what it is that I want, and be able to really show up for my horse also in
the way that I want. So let me give you the backstory to this.
01:25
I’ve spent the last two days working like a madwoman off the back of this inspired action that I’m
talking about, because I had an experience- a 24 hour experience at the start of the week- which
really re-shuffled things for me. Basically, I rode Dee, and we had kind of an average ride together.
Nothing went really wrong. Nothing was fantastic. It was just kind of okay. And it got me thinking
for some reason this particular ride got me thinking, am I the one for the job? Now for those of you
who might be new to my story with Dee and for those of you not, I apologise for me reiterating
this particular part, but I have been going through the process of starting Dee under saddle. This
is the first time that I’ve done it. And so I’m kind of feeling my way through the process and asking
a lot of questions, drawing on the knowledge from lots of other people to get me to the place that
I want. And so, occasionally, I’ve been hitting these roadblocks where I’m like, okay, where to take
this next? For the most part, it’s been super harmonious. He has been so gracious in allowing me
to go through this and to make the mistakes that I’ve made and you know, we’ve we’ve got a
pretty good thing going on. But what I’ve been finding recently is that I am coming into the trot- so
we’re working on establishing the trot under saddle- and I just couldn’t help him, I felt, find the
level of relaxation that I wanted him to. And for whatever reason, I’ve kind of become a little bit
fixated on this, I guess thinking about it and ruminating over it.
03:10
So we had a ride and it was it was okay like I felt, like like I said, that things weren’t really bad,
things weren’t really great. But little idea sparked into my head and was like, are you the best one
for the job? It wasn’t coming from a place of ‘Oh, I’m useless. I can’t do this’. It wasn’t like a woe is
me me place. It was like, I really want to do the best thing by my horse. I know that in this
particular area, you know, I’m a little bit green as well, and wouldn’t be better if I sent him to a
professional, quote unquote, for a couple of weeks to put some rides on him and kind of get things
flowing. And I reached out to a couple of really good friends of mine about it and one, Katy, who
I’ve done a podcast with in the past, Katy Negranti, she’s one of my best friends and she was like, I
totally believe in you, you can do this. It’s very normal to have these wobbles, you know, and she
said something as well which is like, you know, someone might get on him and get that trot and
canter going and whatever but it will be pushing through a level of resistance that you’re feeling
at the moment and you need to trust what it is that you’re feeling.
04:25
So I thought more about that and I agreed with her, and I even contacted a trainer to ask
availability, just kind of like putting it out there, you know, like assessing what my options were,
and kept on going about my day. And I was walking up to the horses- so we have this beautiful
back track, and there’s trees down there, it’s one of my favourite places to walk. And I was walking
along with two buckets and a voice popped into my head. That said, ‘Jane, if you really want to
do this, you need to double down and make it happen.’
05:06
And literally, it was like ding! I have been arguing for my limitations, especially this last 24 hours
but to an extent this entire time, I didn’t realise how attached I had become to this idea that there
were other people, in this kind of like, you know, alternate universe that would be more suitable or
better or, you know, would do whatever job that I couldn’t do. I was attached to this idea and I
was using it as
05:41
kind of my get out of jail free card. Like it was it anytime, obviously I experienced this level of
resistance with within me, I reverted to that thought process of “is this you know, is he better with
someone else would someone else do this better?’ rah rah rah, and so on and so forth. And I was
like, excuse me but bloody hell, Jane, like you need to get serious about really backing yourself,
you need to double down and get this done. And doubling down is not about the actual process
of showing up, although it’s a part of it. Because I know that I am capable of doing this. I know
that I have the skill to do this. I know that on a bum in saddle level, I am capable of making this
happen. So the only thing that is holding me back is this persistent and consistent attachment to
this limiting belief that I’ve been unknowingly cultivating that someone else potentially could be
better for the job.
06:51
And that little flicker of doubt that it planted in me was enough for me to actually not invest 100%
in myself. With that in mind, I had this, let’s double down on this idea. I was like, well, what’s the
double down method? Literally, I said to this to myself, what’s the double down method? And
again, I came back to my office, I sat down with my pen and paper, and I mapped out what I
believed a double down method would look like.
07:25
Now the double down method encompasses all four parts that I am always wanting to pay
attention to in my work. It encompasses the spiritual element, it encompasses the emotional
element, it encompasses the mental element and the physical element. So that spiritual element
is really that faith and trust in myself, that the support is all around me, and that if I just soften the
edges of my resistance and back myself, I can attach myself to the thought that I am no longer
available to the idea that what I want is unavailable to me. Emotionally I need to practice the
feeling of what it is that I want. You know, I need to actually infuse my body marinate myself in
the experience that I want of that lovely relaxed, free flowing trot. I can feel it now it actually
makes me smile as I’m walking around. But emotionally I need to go to that place in order to
create aligned action, we have to get ahead of what it is we want to experience. We have to get
ahead of it on every level and that is activating our creative power. Now I know this and I practice
this in so many areas and I’m practices in my riding as well obviously, but I got this like I really got
it the last 48 hours and I feel excited about it. I feel excited sharing it with you, I feel excited
talking about it. And I really believe that that
09:05
joy filled feeling is an indicator of things clicking into place. It’s like roger that you’ve got it right.
You are on the right path. Let’s rock this out now. So we have this spiritual element, we have this
emotional element, we have the mental element, which is really having clarity around the
process. Confusion, ambiguity, are dream killers. So really just sitting down, identifying what it is
you’re looking to create, how it is you need to make that happen, what skills you have to draw on,
what resources you have to draw on. And resources also involve the people there that can help
you. So this doesn’t mean you know, backing yourself and 100% believing in yourself and saying, I
am no longer available to the idea that what I want is unavailable to me, also doesn’t mean that
you have to go it alone. It means that you You open yourself up to all of the support that is
around you, while simultaneously knowing that you can trust yourself and your inner wisdom and
intuition at the same time. So they’re not separate pieces that somehow work together as
independent units. These two things meld together.
10:18
And then we have our physical intelligence, which is that commitment to showing up, to doing the
work to staying available to the higher intention of what it is that you are wanting to create and
being unattached to the moment. So those two pieces are really, really important, this intention,
this alignment with your higher intention. So for me, that is alignment with this beautiful, relaxed,
forward free flowing trot, and recognising that perhaps that’s not going to happen instantly. You
know, and so being unattached to the moment. The emotional element, it’s, I guess it’s sort of
traditionally called visualization but it’s that feels quite serious, doesn’t it? So I’ve lost it. I’ve
dropped the idea of visualisation in this instance. And I’m calling it playful dreaming, because I
just want to soften the edges. Like I say, I want to get into this with the idea of possibility and
potential and fluidity and fun and in order for that to happen, I want to be playful, like I don’t want
to get all serious and stuck in it.
11:24
So JoyRiders, by the time you’re listening to this, if you are in my membership programme now,
you will have been introduced to this Double Down Method, because I’ve been creating it for you
the last couple of days. And I’ve gone through that process of defining the four quadrants so the
spiritual, emotional, mental and physical elements of what it is we need to pay attention to to
double down and if you haven’t got into it already, there are meditations and visualisations; there
are inspiration cards and a workbook there for you that you can jump into that really take you
through the same process I’ve been going through to get my stuff together, basically. And if you
want to join us for that you can come and join JoyRide, confidentrider.online/joyride, the Double
Down Method is in there and it takes you through this process that I’m talking about right now.
12:17
So onwards, okay! so I had this, you know, epiphany of what of what needed to happen. And what
was really interesting was after this happened, and I decided to write this course tonight, to make
this course, it’s really very personal, because it does relate specifically to, you know, my own
adventures, which everything does, but this this one in particular feels really personal. But what
happened was the next day, I went out there and road and the two words that popped into my
head were grace and ease, grace and ease. And I jumped on Dee, and I decided, you know,
instead of… well this playful dreaming element is really important and the playfulness, in
particular, because I think when we start to identify something, which is a challenge or a problem
for us- problem feels like quite a serious word there- but you know, something that’s a little bit
sticky or a little bit thorny, then we tend to fixate on that. And one of the practices that I’m always
involving myself in and always teaching is how it is we can expand our awareness so that we can
zoom out and realise that in the midst of challenge or in the midst of uncomfortable emotion, the
tendency is to shrink in and really focus in on that thing. And so the skill of being able to stay
resourceful and access everything else that is available to you, involves zooming back out and
saying, okay, I recognise that there is this inherent tendency to contract into uncomfortable
feeling. But if I can zoom out and realise that actually… it’s possible for me to point towards my
resources, it’s possible for me to access other feelings in this moment, then, you know, things start
to happen because you realise that there are so many other possibilities. There are other choices
that you’re able to make in terms of how it is you show up and how it is you approach something.
14:25
So I decided, how is it that I can approach this differently? You know, how can I approach this
playfully? And I started to repeat to myself grace and ease, grace and ease, grace and ease. Now,
this is like a focal cue. I guess there are two types of focal cues that I teach. And they’re both
outlined in the Rise Pathway because specifically I refer to them when it is we are riding under
pressure or in environments which don’t naturally support the mindset that we want to create like
competition. And so choosing a word for yourself that kind of demonstrates the atmosphere that
you want to create can be a really good thing to attach your mind to. And that’s what I decided
to do in this instance. I kept smiling. I kept light. I kept everything really understated because for
me, in my particular problem, in inverted commas, we were launching into a really big trot
straight off the bat that felt a little bit unbalanced and a little bit rushy. And that’s where I was
having this sticky moment. And so I decided, Okay, let’s really underplay this you know, if what we
have…. if the energy that’s presenting us one that’s a little bit much, then we want to go in the
other direction, really underplay it. So I was very subtle. I just allowed the thought of trot to rise up
into my brain space, and let that be the aid as opposed to actually, you know, asking something
physically, even if that to me appeared to be quite subtle. So we came in to trot, I thought about
trot, I chanted out loud grace and ease, grace and ease to myself. We tried it half a dozen strides
and came back to walk off the seat aid. And I tell you, it was like I had won a gold medal. I was
elated.
16:20
And we did that half a dozen more times and I got off. And we’ve been repeating it ever since.
And something has changed. But nothing has changed, right? Something has changed. The
something that has changed is me. The something that has changed is my attitude. This
something that has changed is my level of belief. The something that has changed is my
approach to how it is I am showing up for my horse. I’m showing up playfully. I’m showing up with
positive anticipation and expectation. I’m showing up believing that this will happen for us. This
may it may not happen in the way that I envisage or dream and desire right now. However, I trust
that what it is that I desire for both of us is on its way to me. And when I hook into that, everything
feels wonderful. It feels wonderful now, that’s the joy of it, hey. It feels wonderful now not in the
future. And when I hook into that feeling of feeling wonderful now, then I’m in the ultimate
creative zone. So for any of you out there, and I know actually all of us, right, all of us go through
this kind of stuff at some point or another. If you are out there pushing the bar in any way, if you’re
expanding your comfort zone and doing the do, the simple truth is this stuff is going to come up
for you and you too are going to have to double down.
17:52
Now the thing with doubling down is that you actually have to do it you have to get ahead of
yourself. You have to get ahead of what’s presenting in your experience or in your reality. And that
does require a commitment on some level. So for me, I am ruthless about the thoughts that I
entertain. Usually I am, you know, I am this way anyway. But obviously what’s happened over the
last week is I’ve been really involved in one of those upward cycles of progress that I talked about,
where all of a sudden, I am re presented with a similar way of going about things or a similar
feeling that a new level of information understanding has made its way to me. And so I can really
clock in with a totally different perspective of how it is I want to go about things, a totally
different feeling, like I say, a new level of alignment. But for me, I’m also doing the Do you know, I
am making sure that what it is I’m marinating in, what it is I’m surrounding myself with is fully
supportive of what it is that I’m wanting to create, and I’m not entertaining the possibility. Like I
say, I am not longer available to the idea that what I want is unavailable to me. So for me that
involves a pretty specific amount of time per day that I’m dedicating to spiritual, emotional,
mental and physical advancement if you like. When I get up in the morning, the first thing that I
do is I have a meditation practice I have a breath practice that I go through and a journaling
practice that I go through and that is what I have put together and put down in the Double Down
method in JoyRide because I really believe this stuff works.
19:32
I guess I haven’t it’s… some elements might be slightly more woo woo than what it is. I’ve talked
about before that I thought you know what, let’s just get down what what you believe in and what
works for you because that’s your truth. And then whoever comes to it can pick and choose as to
whether it’s their truth also. So for me, it’s really creating those practices, those sustaining
practices that allow my mind allow my body, allow my spirit, allow my heart to get to where it is
that I want it to be. And so there’s that 20 minute practice in the morning the breath, practice the
meditation practice the journaling practice. And then I have created another one called Playful
Dreaming, this visualisation practice, which allows you to, again, get into that lovely aligned
space and connect with what it is that you are wanting to create. Dreaming, my friends, is a
radical act. It is something that is not so much supported out there because everyone is fixated on
what it is that actually happening in front of them. You know, we are observers of what it is that’s
going on, and usually what it is that’s going on, that’s not working. And so instead to be able to
detach yourself from that, not as a dishonouring of what it is you’re experiencing, but instead
saying, you know, I recognise that in order for me to be able to really connect to what it is I want, I
have to get creative. And that creative process involves me on every level getting ahead of what
it is I want to experience that I know that success is an inside job. And it starts with the belief. It
starts with the belief that then it takes the action that takes me to the place that I want to go.
And it’s hard because you have to hang in there before it shows up.
21:27
And there will be evidence; evidence in the people around you, evidence in what it is you’re
experiencing that challenges those practices, that tells you that you’re wrong or it’s not true, or it’s
a wistful dreaming. But ignore it. You have to hang in there. You have to align yourself, you have
to really attach yourself to the outcome before the outcome is known to you in your experience.
Can you tell them excited? Can you tell I’m excited? Double Down Dudes! Like if you really have
something that you want to happen. And for me, I really want to go through this process with my
pony from start to finish. Like I really, really want that and I know we can do it. I believe in him, I
believe in myself, but you gotta double down, you’ve really got to do the work on every level,
you’ve got to show up. You’ve got to really get out there and take the action that you need. You’ve
got to ask for help. But before that, you’ve got to believe that you can do it. You’ve got to believe
that you can do it. You have to actually create the practices and processes around you that
support the idea that you can do it. And you have to be unavailable to the idea that what you
want is unavailable to you. Because it is available to you and you can absolutely do it. Oh, there
we go. If you want to double down me come and JoyRide it is such a great place to be. The
members are fantastic the contents out of this world. Well, I’m getting quite excited about that.
But really I really believe in it. I see the success stories that come out of it every day and I’m
excited to double down with everyone that’s been there. So if you’re like it’s time for me to get this
stuff done as well then the course is in there right now and I am inviting you, formally, to come
and join me: confidentrider.online/joyride. Aside from that though, have a fantastic week, back
yourself, believe in yourself, believe in your horse, do the work and get out there and make it
happen. I’ll talk to you in the next episode. Thank you so much for joining me today and I’ll catch
you on the flip side