We begin and end this conversation with the topic of happiness. 

In our culture, we’re taught that happiness is the pinnacle of life, and when we aren’t happy, we have somehow failed. But what if life is meant to provide more than just happiness? What if it’s the view of the hills and valleys, the experiences of our journey that make up the rich tapestry of feelings and experiences that constitute a life? 

We explore how some really deep and brilliant moments are born from intense pain and grief. Experiences like grief can create an opening that connects us to our higher selves and allows us to feel everything, including joy, more richly. Is judging those moments more valuable than fully feeling them? 

But what do we do when we feel disconnected, lonely, or lost? How do we remind ourselves that we are not alone? 

The beautiful, and sometimes paradoxical, part of life is that many different elements can coexist at once without negating one another; we can be thriving, and also devastated or heartbroken. Rather than searching for happiness, maybe we can just let ourselves feel our feelings and move towards what we love and what makes us whole.

Each of the guests shares their strategies for reconnecting, grounding themselves, and regaining perspective.

We hope you enjoy this episode and that you’ll join the conversation and share your experiences for the enrichment of all of us!

Podcast Guests

Sukie Baxter
Barbara Schulte
Christine Dickson
Jane Pike
Carla Bauchmueller

Music by Mark Rashid
Photography by Crissi McDonald

Different Paths To The Same Place

In this episode, we come together to explore questions about the ways horses and their people learn to better serve one another.. Starting with a touching and insightful journey into the experience of autism, we learn that there is healing in movement, relaxation through the breath, and connection through touch. Through tales of the group’s varied experiences and perspectives, we find comfort and enlightenment in the realization that we’re all talking about the same thing. Though we’ve each traveled very different paths and are experiencing truth through the distinct lenses of who we are, we’ve ended up in this same place, together. These truths are not something external to us - they are innately inside of each of us, just waiting for us to remember.

While the dots are being connected, the conversation reveals a simple process of self-discovery of who we are in the world, what we stand for and how we organically bond with one another in the interspecies community.  Reminiscent of our ancestors and the ways the hunter-gathers prioritized connection with nature as a gateway to growth, well-being and harmony.

Are you open to receiving the beautiful gift of movement that your horse offers? That you can also create just by going for a walk? How can movement calm the nervous system, open the lines of communication, and stimulate learning and social interaction? How can breathing and releasing tension in your hips and legs improve your connection with your horse? Is it possible to rewire our brains and nervous systems to function in a more healthful state? Is it possible to harmonize seemingly disparate ideologies, like ancient indigenous wisdom and modern neuroscience? Are you excited when pieces of “the answer” trickle in, even when you’re yet unsure of the question?

These conversations, in their absence of judgment and appreciation of inquiry, nurture an openness and curiosity in all of us. We hope you’ll join the conversation! 


In this Episode: 

Barbara Schulte
Terry Kuebler
Kathy Price
Rupert Isaacson
Steve Peters
Kerri Lake

Music by Mark Rashid

Episode #2 reflects on each person's personal journey with “change,”  what that process looks like and evolves into. The conversation rolls in  waves, exploring mutual curiosity with the feeling that ‘change is in  the air’. 

We talk about how we go about searching for and  recognizing clarity and guidance, and how we each have our way of  choosing words to describe our feelings. We dive deep into the  expectations others have upon us and the freedom we have to celebrate  who we really are. 

Unraveling the layers of feelings associated  with evolving through the transitional roles in life, seeking the power  of guidance from our friends, families, horse or spiritual communities,  we are able to identify who we are and how we show up and stay true to  ourselves. 

Listen in as curiosity, wisdom and more questions  percolate around these creative minds to show us that we all have the  capacity, with nothing to prove, and everything to gain, to follow our  hearts and share in this amazing world.

In this conversation: 

Crissi McDonald - www.crissimcdonald.com
Mark Rashid - www.markrashid.com
Kathy Price - www.kathyprice.co.uk
Jessica Whiteplume - @jessica.whiteplume.5
Carla Bauchmueller - www.theintuitiverider.com
Kerri Lake  - www.generateharmony.com

Visit www.CompassConversations.com to learn more about this ongoing project and join the conversation as a Sponsor. 

Episode #1 centers around helping others, including horses and humans, feel good about what they’re doing by deeply experiencing connection from their own, open, human hearts. 

This community came together through our common, passionate desire to help horses and their people find a relationship of connection, love. As our first organic conversation opens up, the undercurrent ripples with enthusiasm, taking this group of peers deeper into the wonders of truth, courage, healing, awareness, boundaries, clarity, intuition, balance/biodynamics, the nervous system, emotional states of horse and human, harmony, betrayal, presence, heart connection, as love, without conflict or judgment, and how listening helps us all feel better.

Listen in as we create a bridge between the horse-inspired awareness and non-horse-understanding humans to move from a paradigm of simply wanting a behavioral problem “fixed” to a different world where these same riders hear their horse, connect with them, and communicate as horse and rider find trust and support in each other.


In this conversation:

Karen Rohlf - www.dressagenaturally.net
Shea Stewart - www.equinebalance.net
Terry Kuebler - www.terrykuebler.com
Nahshon Cook - @nahshoncookhorsemanship
Carla Bauchmueller - www.theintuitiverider.com
Kerri Lake  - www.generateharmony.com


Visit www.CompassConversations.com to learn more about this ongoing project and join the conversation as a Sponsor.