Sunrise conversations with the horses and aina this morning at the @choicetribehomestead 🌅🐴
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Sitting in council with this herd is such potent medicine. Today's guidance filled me with deep trust and open hearted acceptance to all that unfolds as @choice_tribe begins to plant seeds in Australia!
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21 November is the final day to book Dongara Immersion spots or Individual Sessions with Jordanna in the greater Perth region. BOOKING >> choicetribe.as.me
Soft, relaxed, and willing interactions with other beings become available to us when we are actively aware of and adjusting to the current state of congruence within ourselves, the other being, and the environment. Congruence is the foundation to cultivating authentic Connection - mututal feeling & trust - and coherent Communication.
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General care tasks - like trimming hooves - at CHOICE are a great space to explore and gauge our current experience of the relational concepts of Congruence, authentic Connection, and coherent Communication, both for ourselves and horses.
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Duncan's hoof trim At CHOICE takes about 35 mins. He knows he is safe and seen because his needs of secure attachment and authentic expression are met by the human's awareness of and adjustment to the 3 C's
14 Sleeps till the 1st EVER @choice_tribe Immersion in Australia! Registration for Immersions & Individual Sessions will close on 21 November. Use the link in our BIO to schedule your CHOICE experience!!
DONGARA, WA Hosted by @susimay22
👣Walk in Balance Immersion ▪︎ 23-25 November
✨️ 2 SPOTS AVAILABLE ✨️
▪︎ Individual Sessions ▪︎ 26 November
✨️ 2 SESSIONS AVAILABLE ✨️
PERTH/ PINJARRA region, WA
▪︎ Individual Sessions ▪︎ 28-29 Nov & 4-5 Dec
✨️ 4 SESSIONS AVAILABLE ✨️
FERGUSON VALLEY/BUNBURRY region, WA
🐴 Journey Inward with Horses Immersion ▪︎ 1-2 December
✨️ SOLD OUT, thank you WA! 🤍✨️
▪︎ Individual Sessions ▪︎ 30 Nov & 3 Dec
✨️ 3 SESSIONS AVAILABLE ✨️
BONUS!!! Lesley will be available 3 Dec for Immersion Participants to book a 1:1 Session to gain deeper clarity on Drum Journey meankng. Contact @journeydrum_meditate_sunshaman to Book!
Walnut's 6th Solar Return 🤍🎃🫏 You make the barn such a bright place kiddo, love you!!
Such a fluid herd integration! Mystic - the Appaloosa - is blind and integrating him in with new friends became a nessecary choice this weekend as his long-time herd mate is experiencing severe health issues and will be transitioning the next few days. We have been intentionally setting the space and tone for this integration with Arrow, and it was seemless! Full heart!
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Mystic is fostered from Mustangs to the Rescue Mustangs to the Rescue
Still pondering attending one of our Western Australia Immersion? We a few spots left and really hope this message from Jo and the #choiceherdoregon nudges you to join us! 😉
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🐴 23-25 November, 2023
Walk in Balance: Remember Your Natural Awareness Dongara, WA | Hosted by @susimay22
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🐴 1-2 December, 2023
Journey Inward to Wholeness with Horses plus a special offering by @journeydrum_meditate_sunshaman
Wellington Mill, WA | Hosted by Leah & Pete
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Visit our website to register ➡️ Link in BIO
www.choicetribe.com
Day 1 process of supporting Duncan to ground, move, and integrate the high stress experience of a recent emergency veterinary visit. Big stuff is occurring inside the horse here even though there is not a lot on the external.
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A little background: Duncan came into the #choiceherdoregon 6 years ago with behaviors of cribbing, pulling back, stoicism in the herd, and anxiety in active situations. At the time, these behaviors were attributed to previous stabling situations and training, and we navigated them from a "doing" rather than "being" approach (more on that in another post!) This approach which attempted to sort out and re-pattern his incongruent behaviors never seemed to get to the root of the issue. As we shifted away from natural horsemanship and evolved into CHOICE Approach experiencing, our understanding of Duncan's behaviors was transformed. All of our cognitive, linear reasoning for behavior fell off, and we learned to sense into Duncan to feel/hear/see/connect-with/know his behavior; almost as a first-hand experience. Through this progressive process of congruent connection between horse and human, Duncan was able to share the major trauma that first initiated his nervous system dysregulation - his gelding. Using shared senses of imagery, kinesthetic feelings, emotions, and auditory suggestion, Duncan took us back to the moment he was unable to move his body whilst being able to feel the castration procedure He had no control of his body, no way to run, to fight, to escape the fear and pain. Duncan internalized his gelding experience, which became stored tension in his body and physically manifested as anxious and erratic behaviors. To note: this stands as one of two past rememberings I've experienced with horses that have been deeply emotional and viscerally painful.
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Fast-forward to present: Duncan has made phenomenal progress in how he navigates stressful and intense situations, knowing he has a choice and his voice is heard. Cont'd ⬇️
"The essence of trauma is a disconnect from the self. Therefore, the essence of healing is not just uncovering one's past but reconnecting with oneself in the present."
-Gabor Maté
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Some clips of a session that show the beautiful unfurling of Destiny through her choice to be present in her body to accept and move through the experience of watching her foal die in a fence over a decade ago. The grief, the self-blame, the anger, and the broken heart that she carried within for years, presented outwardly as "an attitude" or "mare behavior" through most of her life. Through the CHOICE Approach work, she discovered she had a voice through her connection with Kelsey and she began to share the absolute devastation she'd been living in. The deep fear that accompanied the idea of letting that experience go - the fear of awounded mother who doesn't want her daughter to be forgotten. As the conversation progressed, we (the humans) brought empathy and support to Destiny. We cried tears and collapsed to the ground with her when she shared the sensations of fear and loss that rippled through her body. We honored the being that her daughter was and walked with her to release the pain and create space for love to flow in. Within our shared reverence of the beauty of life and death, her "behaviors" disappeared, and her eagerness to engage and process her inner world has developed in a relatively short window of time. Before this work, prior to knowing her feelings and attachments to the traumatic event...she did not want to be touched, she would not lay down in the presence of humans, and her demeanor during focused horse-human sessions was intense-agitated 🤍 I love that this is what she's like now. Growing, trusting, and sharing her mother wisdom with us all. @_kels_050
So quiet this morning, you can feel Fall is coming. Everything is shifting and changing. It's slow and heavy. A time of pause; the environment telling us to just be. Moments of stillness, the gift to pause and find our center 🩷
It's sunset-thirty, which means it's thoroughbred play time 🫶 Baja & Duncan
Gypsy enjoys her evening walkabouts on the ranch, nibbling around the pond is her favorite right now! She joined the #choiceherd in March and has adjusted to the choice lifestyle seamlessly. Through our daily interactions, we have cultivated a mutual understanding of the parameters of these independent strolls, and she is the best listener when I call for her to come back into the paddock. Deep reverence for the teachings this Equine Elder is sharing with us all! 🫶
This isn't the paddock you live in!!! Appears that #minidonk learned a trick last night...how to visit friends in other herds. He's totally working the "It wasn't me" ears this morning 😅
Evening strolls with friends 🤍
Be still. Listen to sounds and hear the stories of the surrounding landscape. Be still. Feel the sun dance across you skin and the wind wrap you in its embrace. Be still. Tune in to the ripples of energy that move all around and ride upon them to new places of awareness. Be still. Open to the infinite possibilities of the moment.
Since arriving 9 weeks ago, Baja has been blossoming into his CHOICE lifestyle and today's first bath of summer is a statement to how he's doing 🫶🐴 I am deeply humbled by this herd and their guidance in the evolution of @choice_tribe
Belief is Biology.
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1st distance carry At CHOICE for Jill and Arrow. During this session we are building upon Arrow's understanding of At CHOICE ground communication with the added situation of a rider. After 15+ years of being ridden by the bridle, Arrow is still developing her self-confidence in making choices. Without the physical pressure of tack, the unsuredness in t'asks no can create some concern (stimulating sympathic nervous system activity). By having Jill just 'sit' and all the direction about movement for the ride coming from me on the ground, we are supportively building Arrow's trust in trying new things by reframing past beliefs (training) stored in her biology (nervous system). This IS the process of learning with your horse and working through nervous system dsyregulation.
"Qigong is the refinement of consciousness to enhance the state of energy in the body. This leads to vibrant health, a harmonious body and mind, and an awakened spiritual life." Grandmaster Dr. Pang Ming
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Zhineng Qigong has grown to be an integral component of CHOICE Horsemanship sessions, both on the ground and mounted. It is a practice that address the innate wisdom of the Universe and the innate wisdom within our own bodies - developing this wisdom and strengthening our capabilities. The horses recognize the human's presence and congruence with the qi field through this practice and open more freely to choice t'asks'.
