Our world is busy. There is always something that wants or is pulling your attention be it good or bad. Finding your headspace is an important way to anchor yourself and prepare for the task ahead or at hand.
In doing what I love and working with your horses, being able to find my headspace before each horse is very important. I spend countless hours driving from barn to barn, reading new research, learning new skills, managing business finances, finding new clients and most of all making sure that my amazing current clients are getting the very best from me. All of these things can invade my headspace and fight to push their way to the top. What is most important to me is making sure that my current appointment is at the top of that pile.
How you may wonder do I make sure that your horse is dominating the top of my headspace pile?
There is so much that goes into making sure that I am ready and in the best headspace for each session. It starts at least the day before I am scheduled to see you. When I send you a personal reminder of our session appointment I have pulled your horses file, I have reviewed all of my previous notes and started a new set of notes with all of my goals set out for this session. Once I arrive at your barn I take a few extra minutes once my truck is parked to clear my mind. I push away all of the days events that have gotten me this far, all of the crazy drivers, any personal business that is tying up places in my mind, I review again my notes that I have prepared for your horse, I run through mentally my planned massage routine, I have a small mediation and breathing session to ensure my headspace is clear and ready for your horse and your horse only.
Now that I am ready and focused it is just as important to me to make sure that your horse is in the right headspace to receive their session and that it will be the best and most effective session for them.
I recently had a client come into the barn for their session who was showing signs of stress. She was pacing the stall, her face was held tight and you could see she wasn’t in any headspace for her session. I could have started her session hoping that she would relax, hope that her mindset would calm and the session would be effective but forcing her into the session when her head isn’t ready can be dangerous for me and would be completely ineffective for her.
There are quite a few things that we can do to help your horse when they are not in the headspace to accept their massage session. I may ask that you walk them quietly in the arena for 10-15 minutes. Maybe take them outside if the weather is permitting an have them stand and have a bit of a graze. Luckily I also have the BEMER blanket that I have added to my toolbox and it can do wonders to help a horse. It can reduce the stress, help calm the horse and start the process of increasing the microcirculation all of which will lead to overall better results.
With this beautiful client, a quick 15 minute session with the BEMER blanket was just the ticket. Her body became quiet, you could see her eyes relax, her lips drooped and started twitching and then the yawns started. Not only did it help to clear her headspace but it gave me the chance to re-set my own headspace so that I knew we would both be in the space for her to benefit the most from her session.
Knowing how to find my headspace and knowing how to find your horses headspace is just as important as the session itself. So yes, the world is a busy place but taking the time to find your headspace will always make your world a little better!