Some notable quotes from my new role model, Forrest, might just enhance my point:

Forrest Gump: My momma always said, “Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.”
Mrs. Gump: You have to do the best with what God gave you.
Forrest Gump: Mama says they was magic shoes. They could take me anywhere.
Forrest Gump: Now you wouldn’t believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was ever going somewhere, I was running!
Forrest Gump: When I got tired, I slept. When I got hungry, I ate. When I had to go, you know, I went.
Elderly Southern Woman on Park Bench: And so, you just ran?
Forrest Gump: Yeah.
Forrest Gump: My Mama always said you’ve got to put the past behind you before you can move on.
Jenny Curran: Were you scared in Vietnam?
Forrest Gump: Yes. Well, I don’t know. Sometimes it would stop raining long enough for the stars to come out… and then it was nice. It was like just before the sun goes to bed down on the bayou. There was always a million sparkles on the water… like that mountain lake. It was so clear, Jenny, it looked like there were two skies one on top of the other. And then in the desert when the sun comes up, I couldn’t tell where heaven stopped and the earth began. It’s so beautiful.
Jenny Curran: I wish I could’ve been there with you.
Forrest Gump: You were.
Forrest Gump: Mama always had a way of explaining things so I could understand them.
Forrest Gump: What’s my destiny, Mama?
Mrs. Gump: You’re gonna have to figure that out for yourself.

Well, I wish I could be more like Forrest, and sometimes I can feel his innocence and awe for life without all of the shouldas and ought- tos coming in to disturb my present moment. I know with humility and extreme gratitude that my teachers, the horses, my dog Grace, and all of the animals and nature are really speaking to me, if I would only listen! Remember how Forrest ended up being in a lot of places just because he showed up?

Thinking about all of this brought me back to the work of Anthropologist E. Richard Sorenson and his research on what he calls preconquest, characteristics of the minds of indigenous peoples, versus postconquest typified by modern rationalism and the consciousness that develops from these different worldviews. His research is extensive and interesting as an understanding about what happens when the logical, rational Western mind overtakes the liminal awareness of the indigenous tribes and the animal kingdom. Preconquest consciousness is rooted in feeling and sensory awareness. Like our horse teachers, individuals in such societies are highly sensitive to changes in muscle tension in others indicating shifts in mood. If others feel good then you feel good; if others feel bad then you feel bad. Sorenson calls this “socio-sensual” awareness.

I believe that many of us are throwbacks to this type of consciousness and that our sensitivities and “sixth sense” are a result of us recovering our true natures. We feel what is not right but often feel helpless to change the situation. In my 30 years of experience as a therapist, I encountered many sensitive individuals who had been broken by the system or had used drugs and other means to dull their senses to survive in this paradigm. When individuals who operate from an epistemology of feeling encounter reason, they will automatically be overshadowed by reason. Individuals operating from a feeling perspective will be abused or silenced by having their experiences matched against the rigorous logic of rational analysis. Feeling individuals feel invalidated, and innate understanding is blocked by “truth.” The question is “What is “truth”? Our opportunity is to be able to integrate our understanding based on scientific knowledge and mystical wisdom and to create a new paradigm which is inclusive. Clear reason is rooted in the wisdom of the body through feeling which is certainly something the horses demonstrate for us.

This is a lot to digest, especially on a warm Sunday morning in Tucson, Arizona. However, I believe so many of us are interested in horses and other forms of animal assisted therapy for just some of the reasons stated by Sorensen’s work with the indigenous tribes of New Guinea. We need and are looking for this type of consciousness, awareness, mindfulness, and sensibility; and I believe working with the horses is one of the ways to be in this state of grace and openness. I especially like Sorensen’s observations that preconquest groups are both individualist and collective. When we look and observe the horses in their natural settings, we see this behavior and way of being all of the time. This consensual type of leadership allows for individual creativity and “socio-sensual” awareness when the motivation for individual well-being is integrated with the well-being of the entire community

Maybe this is an opportunity for us to learn from indigenous people, the animals, and to remember what Forrest Gump had to say. So thank you, Forrest, for reminding me, as one of my role models, to stay in the present, enjoy this day, and be grateful for Spring!

Kathleen Barry Ingram
April 2010

Really listening from a deep heart space (the Yin) is paramount when I am mentoring or coaching an individual since only real and lasting change happens in relationship. As a relationship coach I hope to offer people the possibilities to take action (the Yang) in their lives for positive and sustainable change. 

In the early 90’s I was in one of the many processes in my life of reinventing myself when I started a private psychotherapy practice in Tucson after being in the corporate world at Sierra Tucson. Bernadine Johnson (now retired and very married!) and I began a series of workshops we titled, Become Your Own Role Model.  We were women who had grown up in the 50’s and 60’s ourselves with very traditional female role models and found ourselves self-supporting and single without much of a role model for how to be and how to do this.  The initial offering morphed into future workshops around this theme with horses as co-facilitators.  The horses and most definitely the mares ended up being very good role models for this important message: Know and believe in yourself.

What is it that keeps people stuck in old ways of being, believing, and behaving; even when they think they know that other possibilities are out there and they feel they should make a change?  In a conversation with David Young last fall I had the opportunity to delve deeper into the distinction between fear and vulnerability when he said, “I am a man and I don’t think so much about vulnerability, I think about risk.”

Actual fear is an outside factor where our physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual safety is being threatened versus inside fear or the feeling of vulnerability. However, because of our wonderful limbic system (our body’s survival mechanism) both fears feel the same in our bodies.  The positive side of vulnerability is the novelty of meeting some part of yourself that is new or that you are rediscovering and the unlimited opportunities which are available with this new way of seeing and being in the world. Do you remember hearing, Feel the fear and do it anyway[1]? This is a very good motivating statement and with the horses help I have been able to coach people on the differences between these two types of fear.

 I recently worked with a client and a herd of 3 horses (a gelding and 2 mares) where this concept came to life for her and for the other group members.  One of the horses, the gelding, began engaging with her even before she entered the arena.  We were discussing what she called “the power of fear” and after scanning her body for information and finding where this fear was lodged I asked her to turn around and look at the 3 horses in the arena. The gelding had come up to the gate from a considerable distance in the back of the arena.  With 3 horses loose in the arena we had the opportunity to see which horse would step forward to engage with her and perhaps give her answers to her questions in this present moment experience.  She went in safely and began to use her sensing body to determine proximity and the feelings which arose with each step towards or away from the horse.  Prior to going in I had given her a short description of the differences between fear, vulnerability and the action of risk and coached her on the distinctions. The client and the horse engaged in this dance of relationship for some time and I asked her to walk away to see what would happen.  Previously she had stated that her biggest fear in relationship was the fear of abandonment, and that in the past she compromised her values and her beliefs to not be left and experience the emotions which might follow. She and the horse had established a limbic connection through the a concept called emotional resonance (where you feel and resonate with another being emotionally); therefore there was a possibility that this might feel just like it had in the past when she took the chance of walking away or considering a different path in a relationship with a loved one. One of the biggest benefits from experiential learning with the horses is the immediate heart felt sense of connection they can give us (one we often want to keep forever). By taking the action of walking away she felt in her body how it might be to risk this imagined abandonment once the connection had been made. He never left her side and this woman, not an experienced horse person, began to realize what the dance of relationship with another whole being could feel like.  She felt the yin and yang of it, never lost her sense of self, and came out of the arena radiant and fully alive.  After she came out of the experience and shared what she had felt prior to going in and what she hoped to receive from the horse, the group members gave her their perceptions of what they saw and felt watching her with the horse. They validated for her not only what she felt and experienced, but as conscious observers gave her information which was new and might prove valuable the next time she stepped into relationship with another human. My sincere wish for her is that she remembers this experience in her whole body and can reclaim her sense of self in every relationship. 

The other participants wanted to learn more about this risk or yang action and I gave them a little of what I am currently teaching about this.   If we only experience vulnerability without action, we may feel weak and even experience “learned helplessness”[2].  The key is to become conscious and take action or risk, a yang movement, only after we have accessed the feeling, or yin place, we are presently experiencing. If we take the risk unconsciously without an assessment of the possible consequences of this action, the likelihood of success is limited and the probability of failure, injury or even death is greater. Some people may be more apt to take the risk unconsciously while others may be immobilized and remain stuck in the same behaviors and patterns.  So we must: first notice the sensation or feeling and identify the emotion; second engage in self-regulating our arousal systems so that we can be present and cognitively aware; and third become curious and take conscious thoughtful action (the risk part).

As a mentor/coach I really love assisting individuals in finding this lost part of self and to re-igniting the original blue print of their souls. Together we can explore the yin of it and with support I can help you move into the yang of it.  So whether you want the opportunity to engage with the horses or wish consultation and support with me in person or by telephone, consider giving yourself this gift for the New Year. 

Supported by Latest Brain Research

I can’t tell you how often I have witnessed a client coming out of a quiet session with a horse and heard them say, “It was magic! I felt like myself for the first time My heart just opened and these tears came flowing out—but they felt free, open —you know not jammed up in my throat”. I could go on and on about what people felt in the presence of the horse and what other people witnessed, but I think you get the point. Guess what, it is not magic but is a process scientists now can actually name which happens only in relationship. What the client and others felt, saw, and experienced is the limbic connection of two beings. Relationship does affect the revision of these pathways in the brain through the processes of limbic resonance, limbic regulation and limbic revision or restructuring.  . 

 The book, A General Theory of Love is an excellent source for much of the research on this subject. Some of the information contained in this book about how a therapist’s relationship with a client is the determining factor in long term healing; this can be applied to how and why equine facilitated learning works. 

Look at some of the direct quotes from this book about the limbic connection and see if you agree.“The first part of emotional healing is being limbically known [limbic resonance]—–having someone with a keen ear catch your melodic essence…a precise seer’s light can still split the night, illuminate treasures long lost, and dissolve many fearsome figures into shadows and dust.  Limbic regulation happens through relationship.But people do not learn emotional modulation as they do geometry or the names of state capitals. These concepts are stored in the neocortical brain. People and animals absorb the skill from living in the presence of an adept external modulator [the horses with congruent and authentic facilitators], and they learn it implicitly.”[1]

I can’t begin to tell you how passionate I have become about some of the newest brain and body research and information coming from very reliable and dedicated scientists and clinicians. Most of my professional life, I have practiced as a clinician whether I am conducting a session as a psychotherapist, coach, mentor or teacher. The many “miracles” I have been a part of fills me with awe and hope for the ability of people to learn new things, change and have better lives. The work that I do with the horses has transferred to everything I do and teach since these brilliant beings are so good at helping people come back to their true selves. Leigh Shambo     has coined the term we use consistently now called the “homerun”.  A core value at HEAL is this “homerun”—the ability to immediately anchor increased connectivity human to human. This is actually what is often missed when someone has an experience with the horses and we believe that the limbic revision happens when the facilitator helps the client to fully embrace and integrate this new way of being into the human world, the “homerun”.    

The book, The Brain That Changes Itself[2] has some of the best information on the neuroplasticity of the brain. Neuroplasticity of the brain is the term used to describe the capacity of our brain for creation of new neural connections and for growing new neurons in response to experience. In the process of experiential learning with the horses, the experience itself which is vey new for most people, i.e., being with a horse without doing anything can actually assist the client in forming and developing new neural connections. I often give a simple explanation like this: The horses help the humans to see, feel, and believe in the possibility that the old super highway way of being and responding to a familiar person, stimulus, thought or action can be replaced by a new path—much like the road less traveled.  Most of us can visualize this and if we believe in change we can be open to this new neural connection and perhaps the old super highway—which helped people to survive but is keeping them from thriving will eventually become grass and dirt and the new path will become a newer, quicker highway to an expanded vision of life. 

In Daniel Siegel’s latest book, Mindsight, he eloquently and factually supports the efficacy of experience in relationship to help people grow and change. He believes that most people come into the world with the brain potential to develop mindsight, but the neural circuits that underlie it need experiences to develop properly[3]. He describes mindsight as our seventh sense and tells a story of a ninety-two year old man who was able to overcome a painful childhood to emerge as what he calls a mindsight maven. Siegel believes, as do I, that it is never to late to stimulate of growth of neural fibers that enable mindsight to flourish. How exciting is that!

The horses and good facilitators both with listening hearts can really help people be open to the possibilities of change and with limbic revision guide them towards the probability of a new life. One of the consistent ways of doing this is what I call holding the sacred space of possibility.This is a space, nestled between two heart beats, where two beings breathing together co-create the possibility for lasting and sustainable change.

Working Calendar for 2010 Events, Workshops and Training Programs: Look under Events for full descriptions.  New Information will be added monthly. 

February 9-13   Sacred Pause Retreat- Tubac, Arizona

February 19-21: Feb 26-28   FEEL Program (www.horsespiritconnections.com)  in Toronto, Canada        TRAINING PROGRAM

March 12-14     Equine Alchemy presents EFL MasterMind Course, Wellington, FL

                           http://www.equinealchemy.com/EFL_MM/

May 3-9         HEAL Training Program Week One/Leigh Shambo (www.humanequinealliance.org) in Chehalis,WA   TRAINING PROGRAM

May 22-25    Sacred Space: The Zone of Intuitive Knowing (www.ahho.me) in Sussex, United Kingdom

June 7-11          AHHO Training Program in Sussex, United Kingdom www.ahho.me)

June 18-20        Germany workshop/Eva Balzer (www.evabalzar.de)

July 9-11           FEEL TRAINING in Toronto, Canada (www.horsespiritconnection.com)

July 23-25         Energy and Grace, 6th Year! (www.humanequinealliance.org) Washington State

August 9-13      Advanced Workshop with Eve B.Lee at Loghaven, Chicago, IL (www.equinemagic.com)

August 14,15- Transitions: Moving Beyond Limiting Belifefs in Parker, Colorado with Donna Martino, Parker, Colorado Tel: 303-880-7144 www.spiritoflifeLLC.com  Contact for more information

September 5-11 AHHO EFL Training in Sussex, United Kingdom/Suntui (www.ahho.me)

September13-18    Personal Mastery: The Missing Piece, Kathleen with Suntui and Flo Magdalena (www.soulsupportsystems.org) Sussex, United Kingdom

September 24-26 Charting Your Own Course in Toronto, Canada/Wendy Golding( www.horsespiritconnections.com)

October 3-7, 2010 HEAL Group Training Program, Washington State www.humanequinealliance.org

October 11-17  HEAL FacilitatorTraining Program Week Two/Leigh Shambo Washington State (www.horsehumanequinealliance.org)

October 25-30    Collaborative Partnership Training Program  with Eve B. Lee(www.equinemagic.com)  Chicago, IL

Watch this interview with Kathleen produced through Horse Spirit Connections, Toronto, Canada in February 2009. 

Magic, Leigh, Kathleen & Gem in Washington

HEAL- Human Equine Alliance for Learning

May 3- 9, 2010

October 11-17, 2010

Facilitator Training Program for Equine-Facilitated Learning (EFL)

The Facilitator Training Program of 2009 completed on October 17 with 9 amazing women.  Profiles and information about the graduates can be found under the Event page of this website.The HEAL staff (Khrista and Ricki) and the addition of David Young with his scientific mind and his gentle teaching with the horses have added more support and validity to our program.  To apply for 2010 or for more information, please contact Kathleen Ingram kathygram@cox.net   Program begins on Monday, May 3 through Sunday, May 9:  Week 2 begins on Monday, October 11 through Sunday, October 17,2010 

This program is designed as Post Graduate training for individuals who have at least a Master’s degree or equivalent study and experience in the Human Development field.  We are accepting applications for the 2010 program from qualified individuals who are looking for practical training and guidance in starting their own programs in Equine Facilitated Learning  The HEAL program is taught by two leaders in the field-Kathleen Barry Ingram, MA (co-creator of the Epona Approach TM  and Leigh Shambo, MSW (of Human-Equine Alliances for Learning).  This year we have added David Young to the staff and consider his expertise in scientific rigor, and years of experience practicing natural horsemanship as the next step for the HEAL Model TM  of EFL

HEAL 2009 GRADUATION

Cost: $6,800  Please contact Kathleen at kathygram@cox.net or Ricki at ricki@humanequinealliance.org  for more information.

Attached is a full program description  heal-ftp-2010-pdf

Leigh Shambo and Kathleen Barry Ingram

Sunday, October 3 through Thursday, October 7, 2010 at the HEAL Center in Chehalis, Washington* Professional counselors & therapists: CE hours through NASW-WA & BBS- CA

October 3-7, 2010

The HEAL Model™ of Equine-Facilitated Learning is the most clinically sophisticated and scientifically supported model for employing horses in human emotional healing.  

This training is for…

People who are teaching and facilitating EFP/ EFL in groups, or who want to begin and feel they need additional training.The facilitators/instructors will share their expertise and experience leading groups and workshops with horses as esteemed colleagues and guides, and will provide solid, proven information, techniques and considerations for all types of groups,

We welcome… EFP/L facilitators from all walks of life, including…

professional counselors and therapists, teachers, life coaches and personal growth facilitators, specialists in leadership and corporate training, equestrian coaches, and others.Whether you work with adults or youth, closed or open groups, whether your scope of practice includes Psychotherapy or Learning—this training will give you valuable information and increase your confidence and skills in facilitating group process and understanding group dynamics.

You’ve heard of  Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) for mental health.Horses in particular are powerful partners for helping both young and mature clients learn emotional wellness skills.Exquisitely sensitive to tiny fluctuations in autonomic arousal, horses will amaze you with their ability to quietly regulate human emotion, and allow themselves to be soothed and regulated by the human as well.Horses are the therapy animal of choice for supporting humans to learn emotional self-regulation and modulation. 

For full Program information:  heal-group-process-flyer-10-pdf

Chehalis, Washington( south of Seattle)

Cost: $2,400 (includes material, lunch and snacks)

Contact:  Ricki: ricki@humanequinealliance.org

Leigh and Kathleen in Washington

East Sussex, United Kingdom

Exploring the Scientific, Psychological and Spiritual Dimensions of Equine Facilitated Learning and Psychotherapy

Sunday 22nd – Tuesday 25th May 2010 

COST: £895

Led By Kathleen Barry Ingram MA co-creator of The Epona Approach ™

This workshop is for people interested in the subtle energetic connections between all of life.  We exist interdependently in relationship with all in the invisible web of the quantum field.  Horses, as consummate teachers, can show us how to re-discover, connect and develop our “knowing” selves.  The Zone of Intuitive “Knowing” comes directly from the ‘brain in the gut’ and the ‘brain in the heart’, and informs and integrates this “knowing” with our neocortex, thus allowing for conscious choices in the present moment.  This workshop includes experiential exercises with the horses that engage our innate abilities to use these organs of perception.  We can choose to enter the Zone of Intuitive “Knowing” through direction from these powerful centers of intelligence in concert with the intelligence centered in the brain.  When fully grounded we are able to extend our self-awareness into all aspects of daily life and live authentically each moment with tangible success.

Suitable for business and life coaches, counselors, psychotherapists, healing therapists (any discipline), teachers, business managers, trainers and consultants, all horse professionals or anyone interested in human growth and development. This is a non riding workshop. (This workshop can be used as a qualifying workshop for approved EAP/FEAL Qualification Training)

CONTACT: Suntui www.authentichorsehuman.org

COST: £895

Great Cansiron Farm House, Cansiron Lane, Hartfield, East Sussex, TN7 4LD

Tel:   +44 1342 850330

Skype: suntui1

E-mail: suntui@me.com

“The Power of Horses”, a workshop in Mettmann (near Dusseldorf), is being hosted by Eva Balzer.  Eva completed the HEAL Facilitator Training Program with Kathleen and Leigh Shambo in October 2009.  This will be the first opportunity for the German audience to hear the latest psychological and scientifc research which backs up the experiential findings of the work with horses.  Kathleen is very excited to introduce this and to share her experience and expertise with the German people. 

Contact:  Eva Balzer, www.evabalzer.de email: kontakt@evabalzer.de

phone: +49-1722320836
address: Eitelstrasse 47
         40472 Duesseldorf

COST: 495€

Eva & Jola at home in Germany