If horses were given a choice, would they let us ride them? Two documentary movies and a whole new way of approaching things later, that question was somewhat of a sliding doors moment for Elsa Sinclair and one that I and many others have infinitely benefitted from. In this episode we explore: - The principles and practices behind Freedom Based Training - The leadership scale: Passive, assertive & dominant leadership - Width and depth in training; relationship and skill-based training - Flow and harmony in horsemanship - Pura Vida: The adventure of crossing Costa Rica with two rescue horses I hope you enjoy it! Please feel free to share and leave a review! 

Investing In Harmony & Flow with Elsa Sinclair

The Confident Rider Podcast is for big-hearted equestrians looking to create meaningful relationships with their horses.

My work explores nervous system support through movement, education, and biomechanics, and helps riders transform into responsive, adaptable, and confident horse people, living their dreams with their horses.

Join me to explore the wisdom of our body & mind, through personal stories and conversations with other riders out there creating their best riding life.

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Modern understandings of anatomy and physiology have allowed us to know our body and mind in ways that have not understood previously. Whilst this is a blessing that sees both horses and humans able to function in a way that maximizes health and wellness, we have to take care that the same information that seeks to liberate does not become reductive. Where we are reduced to a body mobilized by a nervous system and brain and forget that we are so much more beyond that.  Our creativity, our intuition, the imaginative and the symbolic are, equal to the touchable and the visceral, a huge part of what makes up the magic and mystery of being human. A huge part of what allows us to make sense of the world, our place in it, and to both open and close loops of experience that may be swimming in the pool of our unconscious. When we approach or seek out work that allows us to lead full and vital lives, to reconcile upsetting or traumatic experience, or to find a way through a real and present challenge, what we are looking for is safe passage; ways to be moved from the point that we find ourselves in now to a different space—a space that allows us more choices and gives us back our agency and voice. Creative expression offers this, both as an organizing, physical movement and an internal movement. It allows us to leave a different person from how we came.  In this episode, we discuss:   A personal experience I had this week with writing that I found transformative on every level  How creative expression can allow us to close open loops of experiences that are keeping us stuck  The need for creative expression as part of a full and vital life   I hope you enjoy it! Happy listening, xx Jane Links referenced: To join the journalling workshop, or to read my poetry & writing: https://janepike.substack.com/ Confident Rider Website: www.confidentrider.online

Allowing Yourself To Be Moved: On Creative Practices as Portals for Transformation & Wellbeing

I found out recently that the phrase “heart on your sleeve” is, in part, from Shakespeare’s play Othello-- we have just conveniently lopped off the other half of the sentence which goes on to say “…for the daws to peck at”.  These words are uttered by one of the most villainous characters in the play, who, in the process of confessing to treacherous acts, remarks that by wearing his heart upon his sleeve, which he says to mean the act of truly exposing himself or opening himself up, he would be inviting crows to peck away at him. As a consequence, he opts to keep his true emotions and intentions hidden.  While the treachery might not be entirely relatable, the idea of opening yourself up to the crows by speaking the truth of your insides might hit closer to home. In JoyRide this morning, I asked if anyone had anything they would like me to speak to on the podcast, and Leana posted: Ways to feel safe within vulnerability I love this as a conversation launch point because there is so much to be said for safeguarding practices around vulnerable experiences and the process of ‘opening up’, the depth of which I only skim the surface of in this episode. Vulnerability has become somewhat of a cultural catchphrase, but the reality of what it takes to be vulnerable- and for that to be truly held- is much more complex and nuanced than perhaps we consider or allow for. The world is hungry for vulnerability- on social media, in the arts (music, writing, music) etc, in life- but in the midst of the desire for its production and consumption, there is sometimes little to hold it at the other end. In some instances, vulnerability has become yet another commodity, another product ready for consumption without wider conversations around what our collective and community responsibility might be if we find ourselves on the receiving end of vulnerable expression. On a personal level, vulnerability needs to be shared with discernment. Our energy is precious and to be vulnerable is another level of energy cultivation that can be depleting if not experienced in a context where that same energy is contained, and then beyond that offered back. In this episode we touch on this in conversation. What does it mean to be vulnerable? How do we share our vulnerability with discernment? And what is our collective and community responsible for both the vulnerable and vulnerability both? I hope you enjoy it! ❤️ Jane Links referred to in this conversation JoyRide: www.confidentrider.online/joyride Substack & Interwoven: janepike.substack.com   

Question: What are the ways to feel safe within vulnerability?

Lovely people, I’m back-- Both on the airways with the Confident Rider Podcast more generally speaking, and with two of my favourites, the incredible Tania Kindersley and Kathy Price. If you are familiar with our catch ups from the past you will know that the usual format runs to something like the following:  What do you think we should talk about? I’m not sure, what do you think? I’m not sure either? Shall we just hit record and see what happens? Yes, let’s.  So here we are, hitting record and seeing what happens!  Given the nature of good friends, similar interests and desires for conversations that do more than skim across the surface level, we inevitably find things get interesting quite quickly.  Over the course of our meandering conversations, we discuss:  What is it we mean when we say that we are always learning from our horses?  What does it mean to live a live that feels spacious?  What is your relationship to time? How does it differ between horses and humans?  How might the creative process apply to our relationship with our horses?   I hope you enjoy it!  ❤️ Jane 

On Time, Space & Bigger Questions: A Conversation with Tania Kindersley & Kathy Price

 "When the old patterns arise, I will dissent. When life convinces me, it is something to be endured rather than enjoyed, I will dissent. And I will show up here, and I will write about it, as a reminder to those wanting to hold hands and do the same." ❤️ Jane www.confidentrider.online

I Dissent: A Letting Go Of Old Patterns

A gentle reminder to let yourself be new. ❤️ Jane https://confidentrider.online/

Investing In Harmony & Flow with Elsa Sinclair

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