Fall is here! This is one of my favorite times of year! I
love the cooler temperatures and beautiful fall colors! I have spent 10 days in Bad Tolz, Germany at
the 6th (out of ten) seminar of my foundation training in Mind Body
Studies. Bad Tolz is in the Bavarian
region of Germany, and is surrounded by the beautiful Alps! Every day I walked to class to join
approximately 50 people that have traveled from around the world to Bad Tolz
for this course. There are people here
from all countries of the world and all lines of work that intend to
incorporate these studies into their daily life and career. Some people will be bringing this into their
role as a yogi or Pilates teacher. Other
will be bringing this in the martial arts as a judo or aikido instructor. Others bring this into their field of
physical therapy and other various fields of medicine. I of course want to bring this knowledge into
both my riding and my teaching!
In this course, we are learning to
notice the subtle nuances of various movements.
By noticing our movement patterns we are able to improve our movements
by paying attention to the details of the movement that make up a more fluid,
synchronized, balanced, and eloquent movement.
I think of this a lot like “dressage for riders!” We learn to notice things like the
distribution of effort in a movement, synchronization of body parts, sequence
of engagement of body parts, how far a movement progresses through one’s body,
reversibility of a movement, as well as relaxation and fluidity of breath. All of these elements make up a quality
movement. When one’s movement has these
various factors one can move spontaneously without effort. For example one could follow the jolt of a
spooking horse with minimal whiplash.
During these studies, one learns how to create new options of movement
patterns, thereby releases habitual patterns that may not be of use any longer.
In this modality, there are two
main methods of learning: FI (Functional Integration) and ATM (Awareness through
Movement). Functional Integration is one
on one session with a practitioner, where the practitioner physically guides
you through movements while teaching you a lesson in movement. Awareness through Movement lessons are group
classes where the practitioner verbally guides the group through progressive sequential
movements. In both methods the student
is highly responsible for their own learning.
They are the one that needs to learn to be able to quiet the chatter of
their mind, and begin to listen and learn to notice the subtle nuances of their
own movements.
After all, if we can’t even do
this within ourselves, how can we do it for our horses?
Also, I am sad to announce that Playland Farm recently lost a member of it's family. Storm, one of the farm dogs left us a few days ago. Storm has been an active part of the Playland Farm family
since my early teenage years. It is with
great sadness that I announce her passing.
She has had a very long happy life as a farm dog! Her favorite activities included joining us
on a trail ride or hack around the property, groundhog hunting, swimming in the
ponds, supervising my teaching and
riding, coming up to the horses on cross-ties and giving them a kiss on their
muzzle. She was by far the sweetest dog
that has ever claimed Playland as their home!
She has made numerous friends throughout the years of all species! She
will be greatly missed by all of them!
