In New Zealand, we’re venturing into the darker months of winter. I always expect it to happen more gradually- like somehow, despite the changing of

In my general wanderings through conversations about the nervous system, I often see a lot of confusion between freeze and collapse. These terms are frequently used interchangeably, but

Something I know to be true: Emotion exists separately to action. Something I know is very common: Emotion and a specific action (or set of

Emotional regulation has become something of a catchphrase when it comes to nervous system talk, but “regulation” is not a term I like to use,

Maybe your body doesn’t want what your exercise plan wants. It’s interesting how we have intellectualized our movement needs, often in opposition to what it

There’s a huge, generative energy behind the belief that whatever you are naturally moved by also loves you back. I first heard about this idea

I woke up yesterday to a light that only exists in the creeping beginnings of summer. Bright; shimmering; a whiteness giving way to blue. The

Devotion. I was thinking this morning what a beautiful word that is. How the actual sound of it captures a tenderness that speaks to the

“I’m in a funk today, wondering what I really want” I plucked these words out of a post in my JoyRide group and have been

If you let yourself momentarily step back, the internet becomes a place where moment by moment, you can watch universes unfold. Without the moderating influence

I’ve been thinking an unreasonable amount this week about crying. About what it means to cry. What it reveals, what it allows. One of my

A couple of centuries back, Victor Hugo found himself seriously stuck. Whenever he sat down to write, he found himself pulled away to attend to

There’s a point in my day when I grab my sketchbook and my pens, and I disappear. I love to nature journal, to observe and

There’s a track that winds up past the greenhouse and then cuts through a gathering of Kānuka trees to finally finish at the paddock where

How do you hold your own hand, and guide your body out of collapse? It’s a difficult thing, to shift oneself from the murky confines

This weekend, I woke to rain. Big, sobbing drops of rain that spilled like lakes on landing. The path up to my office is an

An adaptable nervous system is a nervous system that has capacity to hold the result of many experiences at the same time. Capacity also allows

If you’ve ever worried about what other people think, struggled with negative feedback, or being on receiving end of opinions that feel a little wonky,

When is it *not* right to listen to our body? When should we look to the intellect instead? We are at the beginning of October,

It’s a tender, imperfect thing to write about beginnings when so many are facing new beginnings in ways that seem unfathomable. Where homes have been

Not all conditions of our lives, not all the things we are challenged by can be explained by ‘what happened to us’. In fact, there

The moment that we connect with anything- horse, human, other-outside-of-ourselves- is brief. In this way, the experience of connection is not an island that we

This morning, on Facebook Live, we had a discussion on anger; on the challenges that are commonly faced; on the shared experience that we all

This week, I have done little more with my horses than sit briefly with them while they have eaten their hay, and tended to them

Work, play, ride your horse as you like,in whatever style takes your fancy.Too much pain has been causedto keep believingonly one way is right.With horses,

We had an interesting question this week (well, they’re all interesting questions frankly!) in Stable Hours, our live Q&A in JoyRide. It was motivated by

Join Robyn Schiller and myself as we discuss the power of story, and how the nervous system lives in your body. I hope you enjoy

At least ten summers ago, I had a lesson with someone whose name is one you’ll never hear and whose presence has not stamped the

There are two conversations that I want to share with you, that appear to be very different but then loop back together in a (somewhat)

I’m currently obsessed with considering, thinking about, musing on the subject of time. We’ve been having some bouncy discussions in the JoyRide group on the

In the southern hemisphere, we are making our way towards the year’s brightness. The globe is shifting and turning, and alongside her, we are shifting

Let me paint a picture for you because this little missive is about pictures and so it seems like the most obvious and appropriate place

Looking out at my tree filled with bird feeders, I am pleased. I have spotted two birds that have not before frequented my little nectar

Boredom is a great healer. It can indicate you are standing on the edge of a precipice. That new territory that once felt far away

I was listening to an interview with Salman Rushdie yesterday and amongst the many things that he discussed, he talked about surrealism, fabulism (a term

It’s really a delight to realise how much can get done in such short bursts of time. I know on occasion I fall into that

A couple of weeks back- over the weekend that marked the end of my trip in the UK- I went on a writing retreat in

I’m careful not to attach a story, but I know Nadia so well at this point that any extended time off usually starts back in

There was a moment at the end of our ride when I looked up, and as though on a timer, the pine trees released their

Saffy is without a doubt a Queen Mare. I was going to say Boss Mare but the term appeals to me about as much as

When the wind comes up, the strands always find their way to fairy knots. Randomly woven spirals of black and brown and white bound together

If yesterday’s walk were a song, it would start by singing to you of memories. It would tell you there was a very slight breeze

I was thinking this morning about enchantment and goodness and the desire I have to bond over beauty instead of trauma, which considering it was

I was interviewed the other day and one of the questions I was asked was, who is the horse? The answer that spilled out of

A large number of people who come to me for help with their riding motivation, lack of time or feelings of self-doubt or lack of

On “Acting in service of”… It’s been a good few weeks since I’ve done anything of note with my lovely horses. I’ve had a flu

We had an interesting discussion in Stable Hours this morning, which is a weekly live Q&A in JoyRide. It started with discussions about emotional relationships

Often, I’ll start writing something and the words morph into something completely different. I may start with an idea, but equally it could be the

Back when I was a teenager- or at least on the cusp of teenage-ness, probably around 13 years old, my parents bought me a horse

I often joke about wanting to be Arwen from Lord of The Rings. I use the word ‘joke’ loosely, because potentially, if given the option,

There’s a small mound that lies a few meters down from our top paddock that’s one of my favourite places to sit. Maybe you would

The word ‘mother’ covers many situations and complexities. We can be a mother to biological children. We can be mother to children not born to

On navigating difficult conversations or, not wasting energy on attempting to change the mind of people who aren’t ready for it or open to it.

On balance, Or allowing the movement to organize the posture. Last night, Giles and I were chattering in the kitchen talking about nothing in particular

On holding fast, Or when life gets life-ey and you’re not sure you’re down with it. I’ve had some questions, some swirling of feelings expressed

6 things to think about when you are short on time but still want to work with your horse. 1. Choose one thing If you

On pressure or, How tightly do you hold things when only lightness is needed? I was sitting on some bizarre exercise machine whose official title

Training while holding a tea-light candle, otherwise known as: Going against the grain. I truly don’t think I would ever have started my own business

In the early hours of Sunday, the clocks changed. Time- the ability for someone to make a decision about it, the ability to fiddle with

On Soak Time: The process of thoughts and attention becoming embodied understandings. —- As a culture, we have developed strong patterns of believing that we

Things I’m thinking about: 1. Riding Merc yesterday, I was thinking about how the more stoic horses, or those we might consider to the heavier

Things I’m thinking about 1. I was poo picking in the paddock yesterday and thinking about our relationship to time. How we can so easily

Things I’m thinking about: 1. At the moment, the entirety of our herd is grazing the front paddock. This feels like a delicious and wholly

What are you looking at? Otherwise known as: What are you going to ask for or do when you look at me that way? Growing

With the unclipping of the lead rope, she begins to wander round the salt and pepper surface of the arena. On first impression, she appears

“Having good boundaries requires a willingness to lose”. When I first heard this in a training session, I couldn’t really make sense of it. Up

What’s your relationship to tension? I know when I started my adventures understanding more about the body, the main preoccupation was in developing softness, pliability,

Don’t let your quest for ‘nervous system regulation’ become another outlet for perfectionism or control. Another movement towards the ever illusive idealized or better self.‘Nervous

You are not entitled to success.You are not entitled to things working out.A horse, even one you label as your own, neither requires nor demands

What do we feel we need, to be ready to begin? Which we could rephrase as, what’s getting in the way of us starting? This

The other day, I was asked, how do you stay true to yourself, live a life that is connected and creative?I replied that I’m not

In response to being told to leave my emotions at the gate, or find a point of operating we might call neutral… Dear friend, I

Can you learn to read a body?Every body expresses a story. The story of everything that came before.I’ve had many conversations with trainers and riders,

At 4pm yesterday, I threw my laptop in a bag, along with a notebook and some pens, and jumped into the car. My eldest son

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

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

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