EQUINE BODYWORK & TOUCH SKILLS
Movement is the other side of touch. They are the shadow of each other.
Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen Rethinking Horsemanship with Linda Tellington Jones
TOUCH
Touch is how we connect, explore, and soothe. Touch brings us into an immediate embodied relationship with the world around us. Touching dissolves our separateness; if is the most intimate way that we bridge the space between two beings. How we touch - the quality of intention, receptivity, and listening that we offer - defines our availability to another. Touching is always a shared act. We are always being touched by what we are touching. Often the way we touch our horses is about doing, rather than nurturing a shared experience of just being. Practicing mindful, embodied touch is a powerful way of bringing greater feeling and harmony to the bodies of both horse and human, and creates regulation of the shared nervous system. With this work you will learn the fundamentals of trauma-informed touch and bodywork skills to help you connect more fully with your horse and yourself. By becoming more aware of how your nervous system affects your relationship with the horse, you can find greater, ease, balance and softness through both the quality of your touch and the expression of your body as a whole. Paula will share the fundamentals of Tellington TTouch, and touch practices rooted in nervous system regulation and the embodied intention of "listening with the hands and the whole body." Paula's touch work includes her experience as a deep tissue practitioner, Tellington TTouch Practitioner 1, and touch skills related to the trauma-informed practices of Somatic Experiencing ®.MOVEMENT
Developing the ability to be more mindful and expressive in our movement deepens connection with our horses and ourselves. Moving with our horses with awareness of what our bodies are expressing supports ease and balance in the bodies of both horse and human, helping us become more aware of what we are signaling with our bodies and minds. Moving consciously with horses means bringing an improvisational and playful quality to our relationships with horses, regardless of your movement experience.PAULA JOSA-JONES
is unique as an equine practitioner because she integrates expressive somatic movement skills with both her therapeutic and creative work with horses. A dancer, choreographer and improvisational movement artist, as well as a Master Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist (MSMET), she brings a lifetime of experience as a mover and touch practitioner to her work with horses.Find Our Horses, Ourselves: Discovering the Common Body
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