MANURE MEDITATIONS BLOG
I do most of my best thinking while I’m cleaning stalls or working on the pasture. I’m honored you’ve stopped by to read.
The Practice of Confidence
As I write this, the sun’s about to peek over the trees. In a few moments, the light will be so bright and piercing that I’ll have to lower the shades. I love this time when it’s not quite night or day. It feels sort of extra calm and peaceful on the ranch this...
Change Your Speed, Change Your Life
In a webinar I attended a while back, the participants were invited to embark on a slow, intentional walk for 20 minutes. We were to move at a pace where we could notice small details, like ants on the ground or tiny acorns. Gathering small objects we noticed or were...
A Better Way to Manage Fear
I had my second meeting with a new horse the other day. I spent a couple of hours working with Sadie, then we took a short ride in a big field. Sadie reminds me a lot of Roxy, my solid (now retired) pinto mare. She doesn’t have a lot of desire to go forward at...
Anger Expressed Appropriately
Something happened last week that made me sooooo angry. The details aren’t important. The anger had been building for a while, I had been blowing it off. That evening, it was time to let the horses out of their stalls after eating. As I got to the barn, I felt an...
What If You Had Nothing to Prove?
Several years ago, I entered my first competitive trail challenge with my pinto mare, Roxy. She was a good partner and trail horse, but we’d never done a competition like this. The event consisted of 8-10 obstacles over 6 miles and we were judged on how skillfully or...
How to Make Your Brain Feel Safe
Why is sensory input so important for the brain? Sensory input (touch, taste, smell, sight, sound, gravity, pressure, etc.) is an important chunk of information the brain uses to decide if it’s safe or unsafe. If your brain has a fuzzy map of where your feet are, it...
The Brain and the Threat Bucket
Yesterday we talked about the four categories of protective responses your nervous system makes to real or perceived threats--fight, flight, freeze, or fawn--and I gave some examples of how they show up in my life. I hope some of them resonated with you. Now, let’s...
You Are Not Your Responses (But You May Think You Are)
I love sharing my stories and insights with you. I especially love it when something resonates enough for you to respond back. I read every single one. While telling stories lets you know me, I don’t think I’ve done the best job communicating exactly how I work or...
Day 19: Space, Pressure and Friendships
Several weeks ago, a friend asked via social media for specific recommendations to deal with physical pain--but only if we’d personally experienced good results for ourselves. I briefly shared my experience with my neurosomatic coach. This is the person I credit with...
Day 18: Space to Say No?
Despite the pace of last week, I was determined to carve out some time to spend with my horses. Bentley and I went to the round pen so we could connect and practice playing with energy again like we had several days earlier. It had been such a fun session for both of...
Day 17: Finding Space to Belong
I often feel like an outsider, like I don’t really belong. The story I tell myself is that everyone's humoring me by allowing me to hang out with them. What do I bring to the table, really? A few years ago, I hosted a series of women’s retreats with 3 other women,...
Day 16: Making Space for Clear Communication
Bentley, my grey horse, was bit more anxious than usual the other day, so I was trying to be quieter in my body and not increase his tension. I wanted to communicate softly and quietly so he’d mirror my steadiness and relax his body and mind. He was really leaning...
Day 15: The “Right” Amount of Space
With the maiden name of Klöppel, I was excited about our move to Germany many years back. I was eager to learn the language of my ancestors. What stood out the most about learning a language as an adult was the importance of prepositions. You know--those little words...
Day 14: What’s the Space of Aliveness?
A few weeks ago, I met a new friend who’s at a crossroads about her next career move. She’s held high-profile, high-impact positions in the past, but she’s wise enough to recognize that spending time with her family is important to her. Whatever’s next must fit with...
Day 13: Reclaiming Space from People-Pleasing
As a recovering people pleaser, any conversation that involves conflict is hard. I was recently reminded--again-- that I tend not to ask for something unless I’m 99% sure that the answer will be YES. The story I tell myself is if you give me what I ask for and/or...
Day 12: The Power of Being
My client arrived at the barn frustrated by and still ruminating on an unpleasant conversation she’d had earlier in the day. She found it really hard to let go and be present. In the weeks before, we’d worked together online to reconnect her to her body and herself. ...
Day 11: Reclaiming Space I’d Given Away
Believe it or not, it's taken a year for me to be brave enough to trot my horse without someone else holding on to him. As a horsewoman for over 50 years, I could be really embarrassed by this, but I’m not. Here’s why. Nearly 4 years ago I got bucked off my other...
Day 10: How NOT to Take Up Space
Susan and I had been friends since kindergarten. Her grades were always just little bit better than mine which meant I was often compared to her. When we learned cursive in 3rd grade, her penmanship rivaled our teacher’s! I’d even call it “cute”--that’s how good it...