Empowerment, Self Confidence & Awareness

The meaning of empowerment according to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, is to equip or supply with an ability; to enable. The true force of empowerment can be felt when a person allows oneself to completely and wholly embrace this meaning , feeling free to utilise to its fullest such an ability . In today's modern society where we have access to a large amounts of information, at a fast pace and easier than we have ever had before, one would think we have never been in a better position to equip ourselves with knowledge....but just how much does this translate into ability and in turn empower us to live a life we dream of? 

The term empowerment is used seemingly freely in the modern era , we aim to empower employees, empower our children and ultimately empower ourselves. So just what is empowerment? I set out to discover not just the meaning of it, but the process behind achieving it.

The Personal Empowerment Institute of suggests you can learn to harness your authentic power enabling you to experience true joy and inner peace, by following nine steps .This process which includes establishing clear purpose and direction , thinking with your heart and honouring your true self would seem to be a great start. In saying that how do you begin to define such a purpose and direction?

Upon not only my personal journey but those documented by many others a very good first step is to begin to look inward. By that I mean becoming familiar with who you truly are , and what it is you bring to this world. Attune yourself with your core values and become the person you are most comfortable being. This includes the socio-psychological concept of self-confidence.

There are many factors that may affect self-confidence , or the self-assuredness in one's personal judgement, ability, and power.  These factors include social networks, activities, perception of self, and perceived perception by others. It may extend to body image and physical and emotional health. Understanding yourself through a personal discovery journey, can help you to gain wonderful insights into how your beliefs and emotional awareness impact your everyday life. In particular area's including sense of worth, resilience and ability to cope may be impacted as part of this process. 

Working with horses helps instill trust, self-esteem and confidence. Communicating and making a connection with animals who are full of grace and power is in itself a challenge, and when successful can be very rewarding. Awareness of one’s personal presence and physical being, having knowledge and consciousness is the foundation of good communication, in particular with equines.  The true leverage and benefit of positive interaction with horses can be found in the process of learning in the moment. That is not only are you discovering truths about yourself by receiving immediate and honest feedback, but to succeed you need not only acknowledge this feedback but process and apply new skills and levels consciousness. 

Learning or development of knowledge is a major step which contributes to empowerment, however translation of this knowledge into living consciously and being self confident and aware to me are a fundamental part of the process. Equine facilitated learning is key in enabling all these components to engage and create new mind maps and ways of thinking. When one understands and accepts who they are, the possibilities are limitless. 

  
Konect Equine Wisdom and Wellness Centre

Cognitive-behavioural treatment programs for children with anxiety, what makes them effective?

Given the high number of children I have visiting my facility experiencing anxiety, to help me gaining an understanding of what can help to overcome and manage the symptoms I undertook some research. I focused on evaluating the CBT based approach. The studies which included intervention programs both school and non school based, delivered mostly in group settings, and treatments delivered to children at a variety of ages from as young as 4 years old. Components of each intervention including structure and content, delivery methods, participant age and parent or teacher involvement were evaluated. Common themes between each of the interventions and a summary of the outcomes are established and key components evaluated.

This investigation has given me , and Konect Equine Wisdom and Wellness Centre the opportunity to review program content and delivery to ensure we are helping in the best way possible. One area of interest is the meaningful contribution to positive outcomes family involvement can have. I am looking at ways to further incorporate parents into sessions with the goal of transferring knowledge and skills to them as well.

Feel free to check out the full article here >>>>  The efficacy of Cognitive-behavioural treatment programs in reducing symptoms of anxiety disorders and promoting resilience in children

Desensitizing what it means for the horse, what it means for the human.

Creating an awareness of physiological and muscular reactions within oneself creates an understanding of the impacts of anxiety. By consciously and systematically training your body, through exposure to feared situations, you can effectively desensitize yourself, and your mind, to certain environments and or situations. 

This process which can be seen as a type of relaxation training , can be an effective method for dealing with anxiety and or related internalising disorders, or simply just as a way of managing or overcoming fear. Systematic desensitization can be employed in a number of ways, imaginal desensitization for example through the use of visualisation techniques, or in invo desensitization where the actual feared object or situation is employed. Another technique is through an experiential learning session with horses. 

Experiential, or in other words observed, pragmatic , realistic , down-to-earth , or practical manner is very much my preferred mode of delivery for this type of mind-body training.  Coming into contact with grace, power and beauty (all elements displayed by the deeply spiritual animal that is the horse), in an attempt to learn about ones self and the impact of physiology, sounds more like fun than a deeply profound learning journey to me. 

Not surprisingly desensitizing and sensitizing horses plays a part in training and communicating with horses. You can desensitize a horse by applying a stimulus, such as your hand or brush, on a certain part of the horses body ,  or a rope or halter on their face,  until a particular response is eliminated, for example accepting the stimulus and not moving away from it. By completing this process in a kind and systematic way you can teach the horse to accept them , i.e have no response. The reverse is also true you can sensitize a horse to a particular aid or cue teaching the horse to move away from that pressure. This approach to communicating with horses creates a very good foundation for learning about our individual methods of communication. Interacting with a horse in will give your immediate feedback about not only your body language/physiology but also speak volumes about your focus and language methods. The horse will see exactly what your feeling or projecting, and react in an way which will help discover your authentic self. Horses are extremely present and live in the moment , and they are masters at helping us do the same. 

Integrity, assumptions & Trust , Why they are important when communicating with horses.

Today some very important lessons were themed into one of my morning equine facilitated learning sessions. These were based on the principals of "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz. When communicating with horses these fundamentals are important and helped in a lot of  areas within today's workshop. Firstly  agreement 1 - Be Impeccable with your word , speak with integrity. Applying this when communicating especially with a horse is imperative , say only what you mean. If you avoid confusing the message with all sorts of  "white noise" or irrelevant misleading information, we get our intention across much easier. When a horse sees and feels congruence, or everything seems to be in alignment,  it will be more accepting and trusting of our requests. Basically you need to not just say and show what you mean , you must also feel it. Your intention needs to match your actions. Build trust by showing you are capable, dependable and fair. "Use the power of your word in the direction of of truth and love". This ties very closely with number 3 - Don't make assumptions . If you express what you really want,  and communicate clearly, you are better able to avoid misunderstandings . 2 -Not taking anything personally is another extremely important one when interacting with horses , they do not hold a grudge nor have an ego . This is why we need to ensure we do not let our emotions take control of our actions. If this happens and we let our fear, aggression, or frustration project onto the horse, we will only receive the same back. It will also destroy any trust that has been established. Self awareness and regulation of emotions are key to building a relationship and communicating successfully with a horse. 4 - Always doing your best is the most important approach here, if you are always doing your best in the moment and you remain flexible chances are you will succeed. Today was a very windy morning and this contributed to the challenge we undertook with the ponies. The wind added many elements to our fun session,  and required us to pay extra attention not only to self awareness, but our communication methods. In order to do this we needed to raise our consciousness in relation to our personal physiology , focus and language. We wanted to give not only ourselves but the horses the best chance of succeeding after all this was a first time attempt at trying to drive the horse from the ground.

How can a horse help you find peace?

An equine facilitated learning session can help us understand why we feel anxious and uncertain, it can also lead us to discover many other things.  When you place yourself in the present moment and focus only on you, the animal and the now, it ignites the mind body connection process. During interaction with horses we allow ourselves to connect and understand new ways of communicating including non verbally.  The changes and personal growth that unfolds is guided purely by feel, and is unique to each and every person, lucky enough to spend time in the presence of these amazing, wonderful and nurturing animals.  Horses have the most magnificent soul, capable of guiding us on personal awakenings and journeys beyond imagination. The following article explains in detail the wonderful insights and  magical moments that can happen when horses and human connect in an authentic and open way.  Please take the time to read and understand the possibilities benefits and joy that awaits.


Meet Your New Therapist. He's Wise, Compassionate...And Likes To Eat Hay

Master your emotions

What benefits could you get from understanding the factors that impact our emotions or how we feel?  These interesting facts about how physiology can affect emotion, can positively impact our self awareness, and bestow us with,  the ability to choose the emotion we want to experience in a given situation. How can we control our emotions through physiology. There is more to this then just smiling , you need to really physically show the emotion you want to feel , within your body in order to self generate that emotion. It is in our make up , ingrained within our physical being,  the ability react and respond to the everyday situations that we are faced with . We do this unconsciously , we react so to speak . How much do you pay attention to your body, and what it is experiencing and or feeling ? Also do you ask why do I feel this way? Is there a reason,and is that reason justified , or am I just unconsciously feeling that emotion. Watch this video where renowned psychologist and emotion-guru Paul Ekman describes how introducing conscious awareness to facial expressions can help one override and control their emotions. 

 

Building Trust and Connecting with a horse

Creating a connection with a horse, and or another person calls for a certain amount of self awareness. How will you choose to interact with and treat them, will you consider how they see the world , can you show empathy for what is going on in their world? This video is a wonderful demonstration of how important it is to develop "an unspoken contract with the horse" , one that is based on trust, peace and kindness. Gaining that immediate connection and building a trust and bond allows for a more authentic relationship and lowers the need for concern. Klaus says he will "present himself in a clear and decided way". This is not so as to change the horse , but to break the outer shell and get through to the true inner of the horse. What kind of benefits could you get by interacting with people or beings that you know, care for, and love in this way. What impact could lifting your self awareness and empathy have on your life, relationships and general well being and happiness. Watch video here >>>>>> Immediately connecting with horses

Discord Amongst the herd - How is your herd (family) getting along, are you all in disagreement, constant conflict and friction, or is your herd a harmonious heaven?

 In a herd of animals such as horses there are times when you are more likely to find disharmony occurring, such as at feeding time, when new herd members are introduced, or when there are other disruptions or events that may cause uneasiness.  We too experience these events and or disruptions in our day to day lives which can and do result in changes to our herd (family) dynamics.  Interestingly horses are naturally very social creatures and are dependent on each other for safety. Safety is not just a should for a horse it is a must! What I mean by that is horses depend on each other for survival; the reason for this is that they are prey animals and have a strong sense of self –preservation.  What lessons could we learn from observing the herd dynamics and gaining an understanding of certain times and or triggers that can result in disharmony or upset amount herd / family members?  Horses are very good at understanding their role within the herd, and show not only understanding but respect and commit to their place and individual responsibility in the herd. For example horses know who is the leader, and will respect and look to them for guidance. While others lower in the herd, while not always less important, are content and happy with their role. Together they form a strong interdependent bond that helps them fulfill their primary goal of safety and survival. The work together as a team and communicate clearly with each other. Consider how this compares to your family or personal relationship, do you all respect each other?  Is there an agreed upon leader? Do you all communicate with each other clearly? Do you all understand your role?  Are there times and or events which constantly trigger conflict or arguments? 

What is Conscious Communication

Clearly communicating what your needs wants and desires are is not only a very important skill, but one that can assist in your overall emotional well being. I believe communication is a skill we should invest considerable effort in fine tuning. It is not something that is learned once and then never improved upon or reviewed. If we think about the varied number of not only methods, but other beings that we communicate with over our life time, it will start to provide you with an understanding of how we need to be not only flexible, but aware of how we, and others around us communicate.  By increasing our self awareness and understanding the impact of how we communicate, not only can we improve relationships but in the process become more conscious of the impact we have on those around us.  Such an understanding results in greater empathy and happiness within our lives. We start to feel more confident, capable of expressing ourselves and more in control of our emotional state. Follow this link to a simple process that will help you become a master of conscious communication.... conscious-communication process

More support for the effectiveness of Equine Interaction

The therapeutic value of interaction with horses is becoming more and more documented . This article shows how "Health professionals say horses can reflect our emotions to bring relief from addiction and stress" . The horse provides very good feedback in relation to a person and or persons emotional well being. 


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Life Lessons from Animals about being Human

When I came across this particular article I felt compelled to share. It explains the many benefits and lessons we can learn from interacting with animals, not just horses. What I like about it in particular is that is touches on how long this field of work has been around , and explains that we are only beginning to realise the potential impact they can have. The article is wonderful and is well worth a read What therapy animals can teach us about being human enjoy