best friends

Among the special new friends I have met this year through riding, is my intrepid traveling companion, Helene. She teaches me through her constant example of kindness and great sensitivity to animals. She is always thinking of our equine friends – what does this one need, how is so-and-so feeling…and she takes action – purchasing items to make them more comfortable or starting a small campaign to help a horse find a new home.

Helene shared her generous spirit this Christmas by sponsoring a rescued horse for me at Best Friends Animal Society in Utah. Please take a moment to look at their inspiring site – you might fall in love with some special friends there and be moved to do some sponsoring yourself, as was I:

Shown above is “my” horse Dee. He is certainly the oldest horse I have heard of! Now he is living out his remaining years with love and good care, along with the 1,500 other animals to be found at the sanctuary on any given day. You can read about him here:

G.I. Gurdjieff said that we should practice loving plants and animals first so that we might eventually develop the capacity for truly loving other human beings. He also said that horses and dogs are the only animals that realize they are not, but long to be, human.

you never know

Captured above is the hypnotic movement of the Mevlevi Order of Whirling Dervishes. Founded in the 13th century by Sufi mystic Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, the order has preserved the tradition of whirling for 800 years. An expression of faith, the rhythmic rotation of the ancient sema ritual focuses on the relationship between body and soul, man and God, lover and beloved. Sacred music performed live by Turkish musicians enhances the ritual performance. This photo is from the UC Riverside website announcement of their performance.

Years ago as a young woman, feeling wise for my age but with little life experience behind me, I read the Sufi stories collected by Idries Shah. I found them charming, interesting, but I put them aside. Once such story, “Fatima the Spinner and the Tent” was brought back into my awareness several years ago by a dear friend who was attempting to reassure me that my hard work, perseverance, and many and varied interests all fit together into some kind of grand scheme which would soon be revealed to me. Fatima discovers that the challenging experiences in her life are really blessings in disguise, which ultimately lead her to great happiness. Click here for the full text.

Periodically I would return to the story – I understood the concept, but exactly how did it apply to me -- how was I meant to weave together the various and varied aspects of my life into a coherent whole? Frustrated and impatient, I thought the best plan would be to “choose a direction and pursue it.”

Just about the time I thought I might make this big choice, I took that first riding lesson. Initially it was just a thrilling new experience, a feeling of beginning to fulfill a long-time dream. "Try it and see what happens, see where it might lead you" I said to myself … I soon discovered that I had waded into a flowing stream, or actually more like fallen into a river with a strong, swift current, which carried me away, almost against my will – except that I was more than happy to go along!

Already my involvement with horses has brought many facets of myself into perspective. Each day brings some synchronous event, or another piece of the puzzle falls into place, an “aha!” moment, or insight. I know this is a time of grace, where my openness and effort have found some equilibrium.

My sister Carolyn is famous for two stock expressions, spoken often and rendered with feeling in deaf speech -- one of them is “you never know.” You can imagine the multitude of uses for such a phrase.

it's not what you think

“Humans are born communicators; we don’t have to wait until we acquire language skills to get our point across. We have awareness before we have spoken language . . . Wordless communications happen all the time . . . so subtly that they often go unnoticed while the constant noise of conscious thoughts and emotions claim our attention. But intuition is no less real for its subtlety. We don’t need words to hear what our hearts are saying.” --Excerpt from The Language of Animals by Carol Gurney (emphasis mine)

“When we interact with our horse the most important part to the horse is the metamessage – the part that supplies the context and meaning to our messages. They read that in our body. Ease or fright, fun or work, alert or sluggish – how we say it. The extent to which our whole body sends the same message is what the horse looks at to figure out whether or not we’re sure. It’s a lightning fast, intuitive, visceral level of communication between bodies."
--Excerpt from the T'ai Chi for Horsemen page on the Prairie Winds Equine Massage website of Sarah and Michael Stenson.

All the “threads” on this page of the Prairie Winds site are great. The EMT (equine massage therapy) program offered by Prairie Winds has me totally intrigued – it is a two-month, 350 hour immersion and is based in an energetic perspective.

Dawn Harris and her horse “Valentine” pictured above certainly personify the heart-to-heart connection. I met Dawn at a Centered Riding Clinic in Pedericktown, NJ this autumn. She was very excited to hear that I taught the Alexander Technique, as she would like to incorporate it as part of her continuing ed as a Centered Riding Instructor. Dawn loaned me her sweet Appaloosa “Danny Boy” to ride at the CR Instructors Clinic in North Carolina. She patiently helped me tack him up and shared generously from her wealth of knowledge and experience. Dawn grew up in Texas on a working ranch. She tells me she learned many things “the hard way” – now she is approaching her riding and teaching from the Centered Riding perspective; her big heart and hard knocks experiences are serving her well!

so i've heard

Growing up as the only hearing child in my family, the oldest daughter with two profoundly deaf sisters has, I know, given me some unique communication and perceptual abilities -- verbal, visual, spatial, kinesthetic and some synthesis of modalities which I appreciate more each day. I have always been the person who can understand the incomprehensible accents and "hear between the lines" of less eloquent speakers. Of course I am ever more curious to discover how this may manifest in my relationship with horses.

I began playing the oboe at age ten when Carolyn was eight and a half and Barbara was just four, possibly around the time when the above photo was taken, and I continued on to earn my degree and play professionally. My sisters always struggled to understand what in the world I was doing...but they used to find it very, very funny as well and would do hilarious imitations of me. This poem attempts to assume their point of view.

A wonderful book by Oliver Sachs called Seeing Voices beautifully describes American Sign Language (ASL) as a complete spatial language and also documents deaf culture and history. My sisters were raised at a time when deaf children were either taught sign language, or they were schooled in the "aural/oral method of communication" (speech and lip reading). My parents chose the latter method. Two deaf children learning to speak and read lips -- they might possibly read my lips, but you can imagine the difficulties reading each others lips. Not only were they not being taught ASL, sign language was not allowed in our house. Needless to say, we developed our own!

Today most deaf children are taught through "total communication," a combination of methods. My sisters grew up to learn ASL, to marry deaf men and bear children with perfect hearing (two each) -- all gifted communicators, who can speak and sign simultaneously. My sisters also developed excellent speech and lip reading skills -- however, despite their fluency in ASL, they are recognized by the deaf community as "non-native" signers.
I continue to try to understand the complexity of my relationship to my sisters, to expression and communication, my place within the family and how it all has influenced my place in the world. An interesting article here, contains an extensive resource list at the end.

embodying a dream

I guess that is what I am trying to do … we use the vehicle of our physical form to realize our dreams -- by refining and clarifying ourselves.

More than ten years ago I first read a book called The Intuitive Body by an aikidoist named Wendy Palmer.

Here is the excerpt which planted the seed in me that “some day” I too would ride horses…it is from the Introduction and is called "Embodying A Dream."

The photo shows my Swedish friend, Annelie Andersson-Beck partaking of the awesome power of her Swedish warmblood gelding, Sober, at a Susan Harris Centered Riding (& Centered Jumping) Clinic. Annelie has told me that she and Sober like nothing better than to ride out into the wind when it is snowing, Sober tossing his head with delight -- I like to visualize that!

a walk in the park

A recent newsletter from my State Senator began with this bit of understatement: “Dear Friend: New York City is known worldwide as an exciting, vibrant city. Those of us who live here know that day to day challenges come along with that excitement.” No kidding.

Having been transplanted into this environment from the Midwest almost 30 years ago, I have become adept at negotiating my daily journeys through busy streets and crowded subways.

The first few years found me often frightened, upset by a scene of homelessness or chaos or unusual behavior from types of people not encountered so readily out in the Heartland. Time and experience have helped, but aikido training has been particularly useful, giving me a new sense of myself and expanding my perspective on my surroundings. Now it is not often that I lose my composure on the street or feel unsafe or uncomfortable anymore.

Recently, my toolbox of urban coping techniques has expanded to include many powerful images from Centered Riding®, and even more recently Eric Franklin’s work. The hierarchy of techniques seems to start with centering -- a sense of my whole self, facilitated by using soft eyes which expands awareness and brings in a tremendous amount of information about my surroundings. Invoking soft eyes also has the effect of releasing tension in the primary head-neck relationship, which puts me more in touch with my breathing and my grounding. So a kind of chain of awareness events begins to unfold and it is almost as if I become an observer, yet I know that I am also orchestrating my experience.

Because I have relatively limited time actually riding a horse, I have found renewed motivation to use my City life in any way which might contribute to becoming a better rider; of course the practical application of body awareness techniques has been part of my way of life since my early Alexander training with Marj Barstow in Nebraska. Remembering to apply what you have been learning, or slowing down enough to apply – finding the spaces and moments within your activities – these are the challenges to growth, and change.

And application while safely inside your practice room, or even on the aikido mat may seem easier than having the presence to overlay some of the imagery in the midst of a noisy and crowded city street or sidewalk or on a packed subway platform. But, it can be done and to great effect. By starting simply and returning gently to basics, I am discovering that I can continue to experiment, adding more layers of images and awareness. Then, if something unexpected or startling does occur I am in a much more responsive space to deal with it.

Everyone must find the awareness tools which work for them and the moments to apply them within their lives. A few examples from my morning commute: Subway stairs – lots of them, and a great opportunity to use the “bubbling spring”, the balance point in the center of each foot, just behind the ball. Place it on each step and notice all your joints working more easily – ankle, knee, and hip – and notice the spring it gives you; contrast that with trudging flat-footed up the steps. Negotiating crowds – lots of these too. First invoke soft eyes and then use an image of your center guiding you easily through the chaos; sometimes my center is a large glowing sphere (give it a color!), which is spinning to generate my movement. In order to turn, my center changes its rotation – I notice that sometimes when I try to negotiate a turn without my center, I find my neck tensing slightly and my chin jutting forward.

Allowing the center take you through is a different experience altogether. Feeling the pressure of tense and hurried people (a way of life in NYC). I sometimes experiment with becoming s-l-o-w-e-r and allow my weight to also sink down (weight underside); I consciously resist the urge to jump ahead, instead allowing people to go in front of me, or holding a door for someone coming up from behind – I find this certainly improves my experience, but I have also had encounters where I felt others calm down as well. I recently had this experience while riding – for me it was a waiting, an expanding of time, a not rushing ahead or trying to make my horse do something – much more of a cooperative kind of leadership.

So, the photo above is the view from my office – I am near Central Park, so close that I can take a little walk there each day and create another small piece of sanity in the City. Of course, I often work through my lunch time and do not take this opportunity, so my entry here is to remind myself that this might be a good use of 15 minutes of my time – even though life in New York City is not “a walk in the park!”

what’s on my mind

The photo above shows a gorgeous property (currently for sale) in Burgundy which covers 11 acres and includes stables, bridle paths and other minor amenities such as a manor house, chateau and tower “guesthouse”… here is a link for those of you who like to dream.

Have I been procrastinating lately, mulling over which would be the best subject for a post…? Possibly, but as I collected all my current books, videos, magazines and DVDs from around the apartment into a stack here, it occurred to me that I have been quite busy consuming information and connecting ideas -- reading, watching DVDs, looking up information on the internet, researching possible seminars and trips (all revolving around or somehow connected with riding a horse!). Here is a list of items gathered up:

Zen & Horseback Riding  Applying the Principles of Meditation to Riding Horses, by Tom Nagel

Horse Gaits, Balance and Movement by Susan E. Harris

Ride From Within --Use Tai Chi Principles to Awaken Your Natural Balance and Rhythm, by James Shaw

Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery, Eric Franklin

Ride the Right Horse --Understanding the Core Equine Personalities & How to Work with Them, Yvonne Barteau

Animals in Translation --Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior, Temple Grandin

The Mindbody Prescription – Healing the Body, Healing the Pain, John Sarno, MD

Craniosacral Therapy and the Energetic Body, Roger Gilchrist

Dressage in Harmony, Walter Zettl

The Complete Horse and Rider, Alois Podhajsky

Jin Shin Jyutsu for Your Animal Companion, Adele Leas

BodySense - Revolutionize Your Riding with the Alexander Technique, Sally A. Tottle

Albinus on Anatomy, Robert Beverly Hale and Terence Coyle

and of course, Centered Riding and Centered Riding II, Sally Swift

DVD: 2006 Centered Riding Symposium, including presentations on the history of CR, The Rider's Seat (by Tom Nagel, mentioned above), Feldenkrais and CR, Tai Chi, Rider Biomechanics, Natural Horsemanship, Alexander Body Work and Life Skills!

DVD: The Visible Horse, Susan Harris & Peggy Brown
DVD: Moving Naturally, A Portrait of Marj Barstow (Nebraska Public Television, 1981)
DVD: GAIAM - Balance Ball Exercise Sampler: Strengthen core muscles, improve balance and posture

Magazine: Aikido Today with an article about a black belt test by an equestrian which incorporated riding!

Here is my Google Book List which I use to keep track of favorite books.
However, I recommend ordering horse-related books from Trafalgar Square Books.

upcoming blog posts:

-video footage of Marj Barstow, at age 82, effortlessly making her way from the ground to the back of her horse and riding on her Nebraska ranch (in a lope – that’s a Western canter, right?) – technical challenges are keeping me from realizing this post… but it will soon be possible
-habit & change
-my urban laboratory – using the City’s challenging environment
-the psoas is where it’s at
-the center

grounding

I think I know something about what it means to be grounded when my feet are actually touching the ground. It is about my connection to the earth and my relationship with gravity. Sometimes I am aware that it includes a sensation of weight and stability, but with an inherent quality of ease. Sometimes it speaks to me of calm simplicity. When I have a heightened awareness of the present moment I sense my ground, and then often notice that I am centered and balanced as well. I might feel that I am breathing in through the soles of my feet. It’s an experience of aliveness. These are some aspects of what it means to me to be grounded, at least while standing on the earth, walking on the streets of New York or on the aikido mat.

However, this connection to the earth is not something which can be "achieved." It comes most often when we stop doing and trying and just notice “what is.” It's a quality of awareness, not an act of will. At least one aikido Sensei has told us that we don’t have to try to be grounded -- we already are naturally grounded. We just need to allow ourselves that luxury -- by getting out of our own way. Alexander Technique shows us that being grounded is part of our natural coordination; young children and animals don’t have to work on their grounding -- they experience it directly, without interference from habitual tension patterns.

So, sometimes my training and awareness allow me to suspend my effort or "doing" for a while and experience my connection to the earth, my "being." But put me on a horse . . . and then what happens? It certainly brings me into a new relationship to the earth! And now my connection must be “wireless” so to speak. This connection is an energetic one, and even after years of practice and study of various martial and healing arts, this new energetic relationship is elusive. However, I am beginning to understand that I’m going to have to allow it to develop, through the use of the Centered Riding images and through diligent yet delicate repetition.

Sally Swift created many powerful images as part of her pedagogy. One is of a giant fir tree which, as you sit on the horse, rises majestically up through the center of your body and at the same time grows roots extending deep down into the earth. Another visualization allows your legs to extend all the way down to reach the ground from your seat on the horse, where you imagine bare feet with toes wiggling in the mud!

At the Centered Riding Symposium in Vermont earlier this month, Peggy Brown, a Level IV Centered Riding instructor, gave a vivid demonstration of the power of the imagery of centering and projecting intent. She said (while talking about Centered Driving) “I can project my center 3 feet in front of me {pause}; or I can project my center 10 feet in front of me {pause}; or I can project it to the back of the room {pause}; or into the parking lot outside the hotel” etc. -- and each time you felt her do what she said, and had no doubt whatsoever that she certainly could project her center (energy and intent) -- wherever she wanted! That demonstration assures me that I may also, eventually, learn to use this "thought power" which unites body and mind to create an energetic bridge, to complete the circuit from my seat on the horse, down to the earth -- to the ground.

Definitions, Terms & Food for Thought

Ground (Science: physics) a conducting connection with the earth, whereby the earth is made part of an electric circuit.

A ground is a direct electrical connection to the earth, a connection to a particular point in an electrical or electronic circuit, or an indirect connection that operates as the result of capacitance between wireless equipment and the earth or a large mass of conductive material.

Electrical grounding is important because it provides a reference voltage level (called zero potential or ground potential) against which all other voltages in a system are established and measured. An effective electrical ground connection also minimizes the susceptibility of equipment to interference . . . eliminates electrostatic buildup that can damage system components . . . In effect, an electrical ground drains away any unwanted buildup of electrical charge. When a point is connected to a good ground, that point tends to stay at a constant voltage, regardless of what happens elsewhere in the circuit or system. The earth, which forms the ultimate ground, has the ability to absorb or dissipate an unlimited amount of electrical charge.

Wireless is a term used to describe telecommunications in which electromagnetic waves (rather than some form of wire) carry the signal over part or all of the communication path.

intention

The leader-follower balance in the rider-horse relationship has been fascinating and mystifying to me during these early stages of learning to ride. Let’s see, you have to direct your horse, but you must also allow your body to follow your horse. Soon you realize that you most definitely must lead, you must have clear intent and assertiveness, all the while maintaining a quiet centeredness as well as a responsiveness. Let’s just say this: “easier-said-than-done” is really an understatement.

The uke or following role was easier for me to learn in aikido –- it seemed natural. And as a beginner in aikido, you can get away with not being a leader for quite some time. It does not work that way in riding –- your horse will be the first to show you this! The confident, assertive person I can embody on the aikido mat does not seem to be the same person who is learning to ride the horse. This is one of many fascinating discoveries so far. I am learning that all my ideas and conceptual understanding are going to be put to the real test -- the horse test.

Last week, while riding the dream horse “Phoenix” who seemed to respond positively, almost at my first thought, I began to imagine that I knew something…”I’m really beginning to get it” I told my friends later. This week, the smart little being, who is technically a pony in horse's clothing, aptly named “You Who,” quickly got my attention when he did pretty much just as he pleased, despite the clearest intent and aids I was able to muster –- a humbling experience!

“Clear Intent” is one of the Centered Riding basic principles of particular interest then. How do I communicate to my horse that I am capable, calm and the leader – something horses as herd and prey animals need in order to feel secure. And how do I quietly provide all that without engaging the tendency to push, pull or generally add something extra to the interaction, especially with a less responsive or more willful horse. While I do understand that many of my goals and concerns will be learned on and from the horse and worked out in the riding ring in the course of “more time in the saddle,” I cannot seem to stop trying to further my understanding by reading, watching and making connections between the various other disciplines in my experience.

Obviously, it is not force which allows a 120-pound woman dressage rider to prompt a 1,200 pound horse to dance around a riding ring with her! As you watch her you really cannot see what she is “doing” even when someone describes it to you. Similarly, it is also not force which allows a 120-pound woman aikidoist to receive and neutralize the power of the strike or grab from a 220-pound training partner and even sometimes project him dramatically yet safely across the mat. And often to the uninitiated observer what she “did” to allow a positive outcome is too subtle to grasp.

So the leader-follower balance seems to correlate to understanding what you have to do versus what you must then allow. And the very first thing which you actually do is really quite a subtle mental activity – a clear thought or intention. If you mix up the order of priority and attempt to allow to happen the very thing which requires initially and simply the application of clear intent, you may then find yourself having to try to do something to compensate. The cart before the horse, so to speak? In aikido the correlation is seen in the timing of the response to an attack. In fact we are developing our awareness of situations so that we are not “caught off guard” for an attack but are sensitive to the first hint of the movement of that aggressive energy towards us. The more closely timed your response is to that moment, the less you actually have to do after that. Being in the right place at the right time might describe an effective aikidoist’s reaction.

Once your priorities and timing are in order, the right amount of effort becomes more obvious. Clear intent is something you initiate with your mind – it begins as a thought and it continues as a thought put into action – we get into trouble when we add something extra in the form of unnecessary muscular tension or force which we think will enhance our effectiveness. Renewing the thought or intention repeatedly seems to describe what it is that we must do; after that we must learn to more and more “get out of the way” and allow the activity to have a chance to unfold.

How does this translate into horsemanship? My hope is that with experience and practice of clear intent a kind of natural leadership may emerge and that I may develop a quality of intention that will encourage my horse to want to follow me. Idealistic? Yes. One thing I’m beginning to understand is that, especially when a horse is involved, you can think about it, read and write about it, watch videos and demonstrations, conceptualize, wish for it and hope for it and yes, dream about it -- but when you get on that horse you have to ride it! And that’s what I’m so excited about learning.

The photo above was taken at Susan Harris' CR Clinic at Chapter One Farm in Pedricktown, NJ. Lacey Williams is a wonderful young rider who impressed me in so many ways -- her quiet demonstration of the principles we were learning, her brief mention that she used to enjoy breezing horses at the race track and playing polo!, the fact that she was still recovering from a serious back injury, her courage and composure after a fall, her curiosity about the Alexander Technique -- not to mention her patience showing me how to tack up the horse I was to ride in the clinic, answering my endless questions and listening to my beginner's observations.

harmony

The video shown here is courtesy of Sergio & Candice Cuevas and is the introductory collage of a DVD documenting a series of aikido seminars by women instructors in 2006. It is a short, beautifully-edited piece which shows aikido’s principles in action throughout, while highlighting individual personalities. I am honored to be included, especially among these powerful, centered, accomplished women –- my teachers, friends and training partners: Karen De Paola (Skylands Aikikai), Laura Pavlick (Litchfield Hills Aikikai), Claire Keller, Ruth Peyser and Sharon Silberstein (The New York Aikikai).
ai – ki – do

a Japanese martial art based on joining with and then redirecting an attacker’s energy through the use of circular and spiral movements

ai = love, harmony
ki = energy, life force
do = way or path

a method for harmonizing the life force, a path to loving all beings

A Japanese sensei (master teacher) of ours recently told me that he felt that one of the common translations of aikido “The Way of Harmony” did not adequately describe what O’Sensei (Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido) was working towards in his development of the art. This teacher had been an apprentice to the founder and his recollection was that O’Sensei never spoke about aikido in this way. He spoke of it as being “your relationship to your God” and that was about all he ever said, leaving it to each individual to find the meaning of that phrase through repetition of the techniques. This implies a very personal process -- both an internal journey and a finding of your place in the world.

Back to the dictionary:
harmony - congruity of parts with one another and with the whole

1. agreement, accord, harmonious relations
2. a consistent, orderly, or pleasing arrangement of parts; congruity
3. Music:
a) any simultaneous combination of tones

—Synonyms 1. concord, unity, peace, amity, friendship. 2. consonance, conformity, correspondence

Well, there is a lot of “peace, love and agreement” in the dictionary’s description. And you may be able to sense some of that in the video, as what starts as an attack seems to somehow end up turning and spiraling around and dissipating. You may also feel the conflict, the power and the martial application. And you will sense the different personalities and energies of the practitioners -- it’s all there on the mat -- a microcosm of our world.

But this condition of harmony does not have to be consonant -- it can also be dissonant (as in 3a above): "any simultaneous combination of tones." In other words, it is not always pretty, in a conventional sense. Things don't always appear to be peaceful and lovely or free of conflict, yet aikido contains, even in the apparent chaos, an underlying order -- “congruity of parts with one another and with the whole.” I think that really says a lot about what happens to a person as they become more integrated within themselves through aikido practice.

The primary means of transmission of aikido was through direct physical contact with O’Sensei, as the students initiated the attacks and had to learn to absorb his powerful response. Learning to absorb a powerful infusion of energy -- this seems to me one of the things we are doing when we ride a horse. You could say the same of sports involving other forces of nature: surfing, skiing, windsurfing. In aikido (and in riding?) we must learn to both absorb and to project energy. One person gives the attack (“uke”) and one person receives the attack (“nage”). Uke takes ukemi -- “ukemi” translates roughly as the art of falling. This interaction has a kind of leader-follower structure, but upon closer observation you may notice that the distinction between who is leading and who is following starts to become less clear. The roles seem to reverse and sometimes seem to contain each other.

So I am wondering what you get out of watching this footage. Do you see a graceful, choreographed dance, a series of conflict resolutions, a playground of energies? No longer able to see aikido from an objective, outside perspective, as I watch, the movements resonate in my muscle fibers. The riders I am meeting all impress me with their ability to see movement in horse, rider and the interaction between the two. Alexander colleagues who worked with Marj Barstow (a horsewoman herself) were all certainly trained to see, both deeply and broadly. So I leave it to each of you to enjoy this small taste of aikido. The beauty of the art and the power of its principles in action inspire me every day. The intense interaction, the connection to a greater power -- these also draw me to horses and help me persevere in riding.

For my Centered Riding friends who have asked about places to learn aikido, visit the website of the United States Aikido Federation to find a list of dojos near you.

poise

poise 1 (poiz)

n.
1. A state of balance or equilibrium; stability.
2. Freedom from affectation or embarrassment; composure.
3. The bearing or deportment of the head or body; mien.
4. A state or condition of hovering or being suspended.

Research is beginning to show that we can gain much useful kinesthetic reprogramming through our visual sense, by observing people and animals who exhibit ease and freedom in their movement and “carriage.”

This image of an Indian dancer is one which speaks to me about the quality of “poise” – in the general sense of a state of being, but also specifically, of the poise of the head atop the spine. And along with poise, comes the concept of balance, and possibly even the terms posture and alignment. She does appear to have good balance and good posture and alignment in this static snapshot of a moment in time. But there is more to it than that, and as you develop your powers of observation you will become very aware of and receptive to this quality of expressed ease. From this image we can extrapolate her larger movement, remembering that balance, posture and alignment are not static, but highly dynamic and consist of a series of continuing, minute adjustments in the relationship of our component parts.

Consulting the dictionary came to me as an afterthought. I have always liked to use the phrase in describing Alexander’s discovery “the quality of ease in the poise of the head resting on top of the spine determines the quality of ease of movement and coordination throughout the entire body.” Well apparently poise is also known to include balance, stability, equilibrium, and a quality of hovering (floating?) and suspension – reflecting polarity between earthly, or earthy and more ethereal concepts. And to be poised also describes an emotional state where we are composed and have freedom from affectation. Poise also suggests a moment of clarity or a state of being ready for anything – “poised for action.”

So, poise manifests in our inner state, our outward appearance and in our relationship to the world. Once again here we are, poised between Heaven and Earth – receiving, transmuting, translating and balancing different qualities of energy.

So I share this image as a reminder to myself that this natural poise is really our human birthright. It is the same type of relationship of head to body you will see in small children before they have had a chance to begin to interfere with their innate coordination; and you will also see it in the movement patterns of healthy animals. The good news is that we can learn to allow this quality of ease to manifest in ourselves -- not by trying to create it or feel it or recreate it, but by noticing its possibility and particularly by remembering that it originates in the poise of our heads on top of our spines.

sacred space

The photograph used to illustrate the first entry "the dream" was chosen for its qualities of poise, balance, suspension and stillness in movement and the cathedral-like expanse of space between the rider and the rafters of the riding arena. The rider is Annelie Andersson-Beck on her horse, Sober (Swedish for "elegant"). I met Annelie at my very first Centered Riding Clinic at the end of August and we each recognized in the other a kindred spirit. She looked at me and said 'I hear you practice Aikido!' and I looked at her and said 'and you ride dressage!' She is a Centered Riding instructor and a competitive dressage and event rider. She had encountered several riding books which mentioned Aikido. One of them was "Horsemanship Through Life" by Mark Rashid.

The experience described in the poem was really in my dream (and is my dream) and I woke up with the phrase 'Riding Between Heaven & Earth' reverberating through me. For me the dream foreshadows the experience of integrating my Aikido training and Alexander Technique experience into my riding. In Aikido we use a number of breathing and awareness exercises to remind us that the center of our being is really the confluence of the vast energies in the center of which we are blessed to be standing.

The photograph above was taken by Maureen Gallatin; I am shown getting to know her beautiful horse, Calvin. Maureen attended the Centered Riding Instructor's clinic in North Carolina this past weekend where I had been invited by Susan Harris (Level IV Senior Centered Riding Instructor) to supply the Alexander Technique component of the program in addition to participating as a student rider for the CR instructors to practice their teaching skills. Maureen's website is Inspired By Horses, and she believes that horses have the potential to inspire and enoble us with their own natural nobility.

As I drove back towards Charlotte after my weekend of immersion in CR, I felt that I had received true grace in my experiences during those three days. Just as an Aikido dojo (place of practice) is considered a sacred space where learning and experimentation unfold under the watchful eye of a Sensei (master teacher), assisted by the senior students, I felt a similar atmosphere in the riding arena -- that it was a laboratory of learning and acceptance. And I felt truly seen and acknowledged and regarded as a precious gem, or maybe as a precious infant -- with potential recognized and nurtured and protected.

The people I am meeting through Centered Riding are so very impressive in their dedication to teaching and learning without ego and their obvious love and respect for individuals, the horse and for the relationship between horse and rider. In addition, they express a beautiful balance between dedication to serious and complete education and a lighthearted sense of humor which permeates these clinics and makes them so joyous!

I am honored to have found this community so early in my riding experience and I am quite at peace knowing that each Centered Riding Clinic strives to create a sacred space where we can all explore Sally Swift's work in a safe, supportive and non-judgmental atmosphere.

the dream

poised, connected, suspended

intimately aware of my horse's being
we are an entity, united in an endeavor
joined with a purpose in common
I become a neutral channel
Heaven's energy pours down through me
Earth's force rises, supporting us from below
blending somewhere, somehow, deeply in our core
it is touch-and-go, moment-to-moment
moment-by-moment
bliss