Afleveringen
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I’m so pleased to introduce you to the wonderful author of some of my favorite novels. And I’m not the only one, as she has sold over 70,000 books on Amazon to date!
In this interview, I ask Lynn whether she is ‘channelling’ as she writes and where she thinks the ideas and wisdom transmissions come from? We also discuss how she went from competitive equestrian rider to advanced horse listener (it’s quite the remarkable story). Which leads us into a whole discussion of riding, giving the horse choice (and what that looks/feels like). Along with a deep discussion of the mirror-healing process that horses engage us with and what that looked like for Lynn and her soulmate horse, Pie. And so much more good stuff!
Lynn Mann is the author of 10 fabulous novels about humans and horses in the world of the Horse-Bonded. If you’re looking for story-based examples and instruction in animal communication, then these books will enthrall you!
The plot lines and action are riveting, the character development pulls you deeper with each novel, and there is ongoing instruction – through witnessing what happens between horse and human – of how to connect deeply/telepathically with your own horse. Does it get any better than that?!
As Lynn said afterwards, “That didn’t even feel like a podcast.” Nope, just two people willing to be fully authentic and chat about how these amazing creatures have transformed our lives and helped us evolve.
You can watch the video of our interview, or listen to it as a podcast – your choice!
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Ginny interviews me (Jini Patel Thompson) for her podcast, and asks me questions about my childhood, my healing journey, how I manifested the ranch and knew that it was the herd’s land, how things unfolded with the horses and why.
You may have already done the heart-opening meditation with Ginny Jablonski and know that she works full-time as an animal communicator. However, in this podcast, you’re not going to learn much about Ginny, as she is interviewing me this time, for her podcast, Interspecies Evolution. I promise I will be hosting a conversation with Ginny soon and talking all about her journey and her remarkable transformation after her NDE (Near Death Experience).
Until then, I offer you this glimpse of her inquiries into my life’s journey and experiences with the Singing Horse Herd…
If you prefer to listen to this as a podcast on your favorite platform, just click here.
In the beginning, where Ginny says we tried to do the podcast earlier but got Shanghaied by the herd, who had things to say… What happened is the horses were quite insistent about communicating with Ginny first, giving her and I information, and doing healings for her. So we had to rebook at a later time to do this podcast. It’s all good.
Train with Ginny & the Singing Horse Herd in April/May 2023! If you would like to learn or expand your skillset with Ginny and the herd, they asked to work together with her, teaching people:
Healing At Liberty: Energetic Awareness for Bodyworkers, Animal Communicators and Energy Healers
Just click that blue link above for lots more information about the Course.
Any questions, or stories you want to share about anything we discussed, or that were prompted by our interview, just Comment below
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Join me (Jini Patel Thompson) and the Singing Horse Herd as we take you on a guided journey to release anxiety, fear or loneliness from your body & mind. Followed by gentle music and being with the herd and dogs out in nature. You may also like to use this before bed to ease into sleep.
If you prefer, here is the podcast audio-only version of this meditation:
I co-created this guided meditation with the herd at the request of my son, Hugo, who landed in the UK on April 23rd and went straight into lockdown quarantine at the soccer (football) school he’s attending for the next two months. He was in a 12×8′ room with only enough floor space for a yoga mat, in solitary confinement for 7 days! Meals were dropped off outside the door. He was only allowed to leave the room to shower or use the toilet. His isolation was worse than an incarcerated criminal, because at least they’re allowed to go outside once a day and they leave their jail cell for meals.
What governments are doing in the name of ‘covid’ makes me a tad crazy sometimes. How many children are dealing with split custody with their parents living apart? So they have to go into solitary jail cells just to see their parents? Madness! We negotiated hard and by Day 3 they allowed him outside (alone) for 20 minutes twice per day.
On the flip side, I’ve been discussing with Hugo why he chose this experience… He could have quarantined with Dad for 10 days and then attended the school. But he was adamant that he just wanted to ‘get going’ with his destiny/passion (at that time, they told him school quarantine would only be 5 days).
Why has he voluntarily chosen this difficult trial that could make even adults lose their mind? I don’t know when he’ll have the answers to that question, perhaps it won’t be for a few months or even a year, but this meditation, along with this other one (also with the herd), Lazer Tapping sessions, and a Zoom session with the herd have all combined to help him stay sane, avoid deep trauma and mature in a positive way. Life hey? The challenges never cease.
Hopefully this video can go out into the YouTube universe and help many more people struggling with pressure, stress and isolation. And if you have kids or teenagers, definitely share it with them. They are all struggling, even though they may appear to be fine.
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Join Kesia Nagata and I for an evening of storytelling. When Juno pops open the fence and hops out onto the driveway – yet no one else follows him – the horses are sending a clear message to Kesia. One that involves llamas, a raging river through a canyon, and an encounter with a mama black bear and her two cubs…
Here are some photos to illustrate our discussion:Juno’s fence poppingAfter Jax and Firefly left – the two groups restingAmalia (Firefly’s mum) stands guard while Montaro R.E.M. sleepsJax and Firefly in their new digsKesia walking the 6 km route with JunoKesia’s husband, Tim Butement, walks with MontaroThe two bear cubs up in the tree – WAY up there!Juno and Kesia face the pylon challengeFinally – all 4 are together in their new 80 acre lush pastureJax the magical, mythical steed – what adventures lie ahead of you?p.s. I am also thrilled to announce that our new LTYH Supplement Shoppe is up and running! These are all the natural supplements I use with the Singing Horse herd – all tried-and-tested – to produce vibrant, whole-body health. Click the JINI SAYS tab on each product to find out exactly how I use each supplement with the herd, or why I chose it for the Shoppe
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In this podcast episode, I am being interviewed by Megan Brincks from Chrome Magazine. You may have seen this wonderful article she wrote – I posted it on Instagram and Facebook when it came out:
Article on Meditation in Chrome magazineWhen Megan first requested to interview me for the magazine, I suggested we record it as I knew she was going to ask me some good questions! I also knew it was going to be interesting because Chrome is the official magazine of the American Paint Horse Association. As you will hear during our interview, Chrome readers all ride their horses – and compete in shows, events, etc.
You may wonder what on earth the average Chrome reader would have in common with LTYH? I have to admit, when Kesia and I first started this blog back in 2013 I don’t think we ever could have predicted something like meditating with your horses would go mainstream! And I was curious as to how much I could actually speak to, or assist, this audience. How could I meet them where they were at and give them solid tools to move forward? Or reasons to enter this very different space with their horse?
The article was a 4-page spread in Chrome magazineWell, obviously the larger horse world is very ready to consider this aspect of relationship with equines because Chrome magazine gave Megan’s article a 4-page spread – which is some serious real estate in a printed magazine with a circulation of 55,000 members!I hope you enjoy our conversation and perhaps take away something new to try with your own horse(s).
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If you’ve ever wondered where I get some of the crazy ideas I write about here on Listen To Your Horse…
Or perhaps you’ve watched my non-training videos and wondered what made me approach things that way…?
Then this podcast with Tracy Malone of Come Along For The Ride may just shed some light on those wonderings. Tracy takes me back to where it all began and the unique circumstances that set me up for such a different perspective on horses.
Of course, it didn’t feel different to me, it was just my normal. It wasn’t until I came back to horses in my 40’s that I realized how lucky I was to have been taught by horses for a decade, not humans.
*you can listen online here, or download this podcast to your device.
“Boy oh boy, she is next level of consciousness, in my own personal opinion… I know that when someone is talking, and I start to fidget and feel really uncomfortable, that my buttons are getting pushed to a place I’ve been resisting to go. This happened during this interview, Jini pushed my buttons by the end of this podcast – and I mean that in the best way possible. The depth she’s gone to with her own horses made me so uncomfortable, simply because I’m not ready to go there. Yet. There’s so much surrender that’s needed, so I’ll be taking it one step at a time and giving myself a lot of kindness along the way. But it’s an amazing place to think that I can achieve that one day.” – Tracy Malone
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Join me for a stimulating discussion with animal communicator and life coach, Alecia Evans, about the essential lessons she’s learned from working with dogs, horses and wolves. Things like:
What’s wrong with treat training or clicker training, based on Chinese Medicine principlesThe importance of matriarchal leadership in a herd or packWhat is the Fierce Female and it’s value in teaching?How the Wild evokes our primal, instinctual knowing.How to be in integrity with your anger: If you respond in anger, you end up attacking the Being; not the behaviour that crossed your boundary.Alecia and I discuss how these lessons from wild beings; beings still engaged with the primal, illuminate a path forward to greater wholeness for humans. Alecia says:
“As we’re seeing the rise of the feminine on the planet, it is essential that women now understand this inner energetic language of what Fierce actually is, how important it is, and that it connects us to our gut instincts. And how it is simply used to set a clear boundary – it’s not anger, it’s just the clarity that that behaviour is done, that it will not happen again.
It can be shocking, because it is stunning, it is very intense. But if you don’t throw anger at the being and fracture the being (you’re bad, you’re wrong)… because you are so precise with it, it really doesn’t leave a lot of fragments. Anger is a self-feeding loop. Fierce is a very precise energy that the animals use to say: ‘bad behaviour is not tolerated, here’s the rules of the jungle, everybody abides by them’.”
Here’s the video of our (almost 2 hour!) discussion, along with a powerful healing breath technique that Alecia developed through her Wu Ming Qi Gong practice. If you want to jump straight to the breathing technique, start at 1:18 minutes:
If you prefer, you can listen to the audio instead, or download it to your iPhone or mp3 player (great to listen to as you drive!):
If you have any further questions (or comments) for Alecia or me, just leave them below. Thanks for joining us in the white wolf circle!
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You may have noticed we talk a lot about meditation and mindfulness on this blog. One of our readers tagged me on Facebook and asked if I could explain more about my own meditation technique. So here we go… AND make sure you scroll down to the end where I will lead you through a guided meditation out with the horses.
But first, what is the difference between mindfulness and meditation?
Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present – with all of your senses tuned into the present moment. So your mind is NOT wandering somewhere else; you are not thinking of your fight with your friend, or your latest problem, or how excited you are about your next trip, or what kind of bracelet you’re going to make at your jewelry workshop, or imagining yourself in Bali… and so on.
Nope. You are not thinking or feeling or emoting about anything other than right HERE, right NOW. So if you’re at your barn, you’re smelling the hay and manure, you’re feeling the rough wood hay feeder, you’re watching the movement of your horse’s muzzle as she chomps hay, you’re hearing the sound of your horse chewing, you’re feeling the warmth of the sun on your shoulder. ALL your senses (sight, smell, touch, hearing, perhaps taste) are fully present and engaged in THIS moment. And only this moment.
If you feel drawn to Mindfulness, then any book by Jon Kabat-Zinn is great – my favorites are Full Catastrophe Living and Wherever You Go, There You Are.
But isn’t meditation also about being fully present in the moment? And turning off the monkey-mind or chatter-brain? As Kathryn Remati says:
“Both practices are life skills that give you the tools to access inner peace, which is already inside of you. Both rely on the ability to be focused entirely on the present moment. (We can’t experience peace when we regret the past or worry about the future.) Both practices offer a way to increase happiness and decrease suffering.”
So yes, mindfulness IS actually one way of meditating – because it is reining in the monkey-mind and keeping it focused on ONE moment. But it is also a separate kind of practice because mindfulness keeps you fully present, whereas meditation allows you to leave (or transcend) earth-time and drop into a different kind of space altogether.
MeditationMeditation can lead you out of your chattering brain and into the space in-between thoughts, using a variety of techniques. For example, Transcendental Meditation (Hindu origin) involves focusing on ONE mantra, or chant. Om namah shivaya is a popular mantra. So you would just say that one phrase, Om namah shivaya, over and over again, while sitting quietly, eyes closed, and breathing into your belly. Eventually – and for some people this can take weeks or months – you will drop into the space between those words, where nothing exists but the pregnant silence of the universe. This is when you leave the time-space continuum of earth, and when you come back from the silence, you realize that 1 hour has passed, but it felt like only 5 minutes.
With Zen Meditation you focus on your breath while your body is sitting in a certain posture. Your thoughts are allowed to come and go, but if you find yourself actually thinking about one of your thoughts, then you need to pull your attention back to your breath. So instead of your focus being on a mantra, it is on your breath – breathe through your noise and keep your mouth closed. When you’re breathing correctly, you will establish a long, deep, natural rhythm and hear a sound upon your exhale that is similar to pranayama breathing in yoga.
Again, when your focus on your breath becomes complete, you will drop into the stillness and time will cease to exist. Although this stillness-bliss experience can also take a fairly long time to happen, the benefits to your brain functioning and stress levels are immediate. Here’s a super-short video by journalist Dan Harris that shows you how simple meditation can be:
Is there an easier way?Having done years of both mantra and breath meditation (for up to 7 hours/day for months at a time), I can say that it certainly is a powerful practice. And once you develop that fluency, you can ‘drop into the space in-between’ fairly easily. But it does take a particular person, or mindset, along with a significant time commitment to get to that fluency. If you find yourself drawn to this type of meditating, then Autobiography Of A Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda is an excellent book.
What I often find more useful (and enjoyable) is to combine breath with prana (ki/chi/lifeforce energy) in a type of Guided Meditation. You can either have someone else (or a recorded voice) guide you, or you can guide yourself. My favorite method is to guide myself; using my brain/imagining/visualization to direct myself through an energetic experience.
In this way, I am working with, or, focusing on prana/ki/chi. Or, I might focus on a particular energy flow, like Kundalini (coiled at the base of the spine). This type of meditation also works to get beyond the babbling, busy mind by giving it a task to focus on. I find this technique can get someone into meditative (deeply relaxed) state faster than most other techniques. Because you are not just giving the mind something to focus on, but once you open to the flows of prana, that lifeforce energy works its own magic on our brain, chakras, etheric body, etc.
So I was pondering our reader’s request to share more about my meditation technique as I was sitting on the slow feeder next to Montaro and Jax, who were munching away. And Montaro said, “Why don’t you just record one right now?” I thought, oh that’s a good idea – I can use Voice Memo on my phone and if the audio isn’t good enough, I can just re-do it at home with my pro microphone. But I got the sense that Montaro thought I should just do it live and he would assist. So I did. When I listened to it afterwards I was thrilled that you actually can hear the sound of their chewing – which I find as soothing as ocean waves.
So here is a short and simple guided meditation – courtesy of Montaro – that you are meant to take out and do with your horses! If you have already spent time meditating with your horses, then you know that the energetic body of a horse commands a deep meditative space. So they make it easier to slide deeper and faster into meditative state (deep relaxation, where the mind is quiet). Personally, I think all beginners should learn to meditate in a space surrounded by meditating horses – what a wonderful, easy initiation to meditation or mindfulness that would be!
So DOWNLOAD THIS GUIDED MEDITATION and take it out to your horse’s space.
Or you can listen to it right here:
Your horses don’t need to meditate with you – they might be grazing or playing, it’s all good. You can either stand on the earth, or sit in a chair, on the ground, against a tree, etc.
If you’re standing – plant your feet evenly, hip width apart, pull up from your cervical spine at the back of your neck, which should lower your chin a little. You want to get your spine straight and your hips even – as much as is possible.
If you’re sitting – sit in a way that your spine is straight, and like the standing position, pull up from your cervical spine at the back of your neck, which should tuck your chin in towards your chest a bit. We want to get the spine straight (which automatically stacks your bones) so the energy can flow easily. Loosen your belt or undo the top button on your pants so you can breathe freely and deeply into your belly.
Either have your device on speakerphone, or only place your headphones in one ear. This is because you are going to become mindful of the sounds around you in the beginning.
Press PLAY on the mp3 and just follow along; I will guide you in what to imagine/visualize and when.
I have added about 5 minutes of silence/horse chewing on to the end of the recording, so you can just stay in that space for a while, if you like, or pull your headphones out of your ears if you want to stay longer.
If you enjoy this kind of guided meditation and want some more, feel free to check out the audios on my gut healing site.
And if you’d like a quick and beautiful one you can do right now, here’s one from Kesia that she shared on her recent Healing with Horse Tele Summit discussion:
Kesia Nagata’s Tree Connect Guided Meditation
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If you are an Equine-Assisted therapist, teacher or educator, or thinking of working in this field, then you are NOT going to want to miss this enlightening teleseminar with the very experienced head of the Healing With Horse Collective (2500 equine-assisted therapists worldwide). Likewise, if you’ve been an equine therapy client, or workshop participant – this call will likely open your eyes and perhaps address some concerns.
I talk with Diedre West about top concerns – from both inside and outside this industry – regarding horse welfare; psychological as well as physical issues.
Diedre shares many ‘insider’ stories from her decades-long work in numerous settings, with clients ranging from war veterans to international corporate CEOs. You can click the PLAY button to listen to it here, or right-click on the Download link to save it to your computer or device. Enjoy!
We had a lot of comments on the call from people concerned about the welfare of the horse, so in addition to what we discussed on the call, Diedre offers this advice:
“Often, the beginning of a deeper relationship with horse is when you ask what the worry, or concern, or problem is about, what the wall is that one is putting up, rather than assuming the horse needs your protection. Protecting others is a coping strategy, it is not a solution. Further, it is only when we do NOT ask for more information and assume it’s only about the horse, that horses will sometimes take the problem on themselves and manifest illness in a misguided attempt to help, or simply because they cannot help but take it in (as dependents such as human children cannot help but be affected by the unheeded energies of their caretakers).”
Here are some of the points discussed and questions answered during the call:
The use of round pens; both open and closed gateSpecies-appropriate horsekeeping (forage/grazing, herds, pastures not paddocks) – can we not ask MORE from those who are acknowledging horses as sentient beings?The psychological toll Equine-Assisted therapy has on horses and how to prevent burnout and help support horse facilitators.If the horse is a sentient being and active in a therapist role, then shouldn’t the horse be able to choose at all times whether to work, or not? What place do ropes, halters, closed pens and client expectations have in a supposedly consensual therapy setting?What are the standards or code of ethics around the treatment of therapy horses and who is enforcing them?How can we monetize the services of a living being without dominance, or can we?I think Diedre and I managed to cover most of the current dialogue about concerns for the welfare of therapy horses during this call. But if you have other points to raise, or stories to share – please post them below!
