Eunoia

This word captures exactly what we are working with in the counselling space. Sorting out your mind so that it thinks beautiful thoughts. That you are enraptured by life and your future. I love the connection that happens within Facebook when people actually let you in and share the things that bring them joy. This word was shared by a lovely friend who is excited by her daughters words of the day that she shares in a little post it note, with delightful pictures both on it and with it that convey what she is wanting to share with her mother - a connection.

With the Area Dressage champs going on, it was fun to work with the younger riders who were new to this to help them to understand what they needed to do in the arena during their 5 minute test.

What was key was accuracy, I said to one, do that movement when it is asked for at the letter. Secondly I said, don't worry about where your horses head is. Just do that movement and then if it doesn't go well, don't worry about it, just focus on doing the next movement. The key is for you to be relaxed about it, you are not going to achieve anything better and it is not a training round, it is simply what you and your horse can achieve on the day. It is a test and then that test will be over and you will have some feedback to work on for the next test you do.

It was great to hear the judges give some advice at the prize giving on how to increase your scores. She said accuracy and relaxation. I was pleased to hear this as it reinforced the advice I had given to these riders. And I am no dressage queen! But it was what others had told me and it worked and so I passed it on.

One of the key things though was how to manage your mind. Because although we might ask for a movement from our horses, they may get a fright or get scared because it is a new place and get tense. And that movement may be a disaster! The ability to let go of that disaster fast is key in moving forward and asking and expecting that things will go well in the next movement.

You see, that is like life. It is a myriad of steps and sometimes a step doesn't go well. But if we focus on the negative aspects or when things go wrong then we will continue to take negative steps. When we let that go and visualise a positive outcome then we bring in the possibility that we can achieve it. And what happens then is that we do.

The judge talked about how many of the riders that had a whoopsie at the start of their tests and just kept smiling and riding on went on to do a great test.

So just remember when life tests you, it is a mere moment in your life and your ability to realign yourself to neutral for the next moment quickly is key. That is called resilience. And if you are naturally pessimistic then it is an important skill to work on... Optimism.

Through our process, we can rewire your brain to become more optimistic. There are techniques like gratitude and being present in the moment and breathing (mindfulness) and for the horse riders out there - Horsefulness (Being mindful with horses) because if there is one thing that horses do is they live in the moment and they remind us to stay present in the moment too.

One of the things that Theta Healing does is remind our bodies to believe that something is possible or remind us to be able to feel successful. It is fast and quick... Sometimes we have forgotten how to be well. And theta healing can achieve instant healing, if you believe it.

If you are destined to be a dragon warrior, a peach or a Grand Prix dressage star. You have to believe!

And surrounding yourself with others who believe in you too!