The Power of Calmness

Your heart is racing. Everything’s a blur. That frenzied feeling grows by the moment.

Maybe you don’t trust your horse or the situation. Maybe it’s your own insecurities.

Whatever the reason, anxiety can feel like a stressful, runaway wild ride.

The first step to get back to a place of being engaged and “on it” is to consciously call up a state of internal calmness.

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We’ve all been there. 

One day, you’re on, but your horse is having a bad hair day. The next day, your horse is great, but you feel cranky. Next day, your horse is good and you feel okay, but you can’t quite find your seat.

Sometimes it’s hard to get it all together at the same time!

Because the mind, body and emotions are inseparable, if one is off, it always affects the other two in a negative direction.

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Recently, I saw the movie, “King’s Speech”. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend that you do so.

You might be wondering, “How is this movie relevant to riding my horse?

Here’s what happened. “King’s Speech” inspired me. It embodied three powerful, timeless themes to help us keep thriving. They are:

• Go for your dreams
• Never give up
• Surround yourself with strong, supportive people.

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Eight Empowering Ways To Think About Competition

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t show horses.

My parents had around 400 horses. Showing was a big part of our family business. I, along with my four siblings, exhibited horses to market them. Dad had high expectations for our success in the show arena.

Throughout my lifetime of show ring experience, I have often thought about what competition means to me. I’ve never stopped studying exactly what makes high performers excel above the rest.

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We all love to laugh.

But, what you may not know, is how important humor is regarding your ability to ride a horse at your highest ability.

Researchers learned years ago that for anyone to be “on”, to be their best, and to be successful, they must enjoy themselves, and have fun.

So, humor you might say, is serious business.

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Anyone who rides a horse reflects on the amount of trust he or she has in their horse from time to time. This is a natural part of riding.

Just as in any relationship, trust is a critical element of a healthy give-and-take exchange between two personalities.

As riders we need to trust our horse, and our horse needs to trust us for both parties to be at their best.

The dictionary defines trust as, “the reliance on the integrity and strength of a person or a thing,” or “a person on whom one relies”.

Sometimes, when things aren’t going so smooth, and you’re teetering a little about trusting your horse, it’s hard to decipher if the issue is about trusting your horse, or if it’s about trusting yourself. “Is it me; Is it him; Or is it a little bit of both?”

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Instead, Get Into a Good Story

I bet you love a good story.

I do. In fact, this past holiday season, for the first time in a while, I got immersed in reading a couple of great books. They took me away.

My husband, and I shared one of them. We read it out loud to each other. It was great. Tom just happened to discover it in a bookstore.

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Always There, Easy, and Not-so-Easy

This holiday, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting about relationships.

I’ve also had a number of people ask me via email about sustaining healthy relationships.

This time of the year is a good time to discuss this topic because the holidays are classic for getting together with friends, and family.

We also slow down a little, so we have time to think about all those people who are involved with us in all the different dimensions of our lives.

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How often do you think, “I can do it!”?

And, then in the next second you have a super uncomfortable, shriveling moment of doubt.

You question yourself, “Can I, really?"

Innately, you know it feels so good to dream big. It’s energizing!

That’s because dreams and passion fuel our lives.

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Three Key Questions to Ask Yourself

Fall is often a time to reflect about what has transpired during the first three-quarters of the year.

You’ve got time now before the beginning of 2011 to think about what worked this year, what didn’t work, and what you would like to do in the future.

Maybe you want to buy, sell or trade your horse. Maybe you want to show more … or less. Maybe you’re content at the moment.

In this article, I’m suggesting three key questions to ask yourself when you make decisions.

They will help you stay on track with what makes you personally happy. It’s so easy for any number of reasons … ourselves, other people, circumstances … to make decisions that haven’t been thought out completely.

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