Mandy Flint
I am writing this full of inspiration and feeling good, relaxed, calm and slowed down................
So this week, had some great experiences over the weekend and today.
I was riding my horse ready for my big competition next week, practicing and having a training session when it all came together brilliantly. We were in the ZONE and in the "flow". This for me was communication at its upmost. It was almost as if the horse could read my mind, we were connecting at another level as I was really just being in the moment, feeling “what is it that the horse needs and wants from me now for us to get the best results”.
My friend and trainer were watching me and they said "what have you been doing because it is as if the horse ( Teddy) is with you and reading what you want from him." I was so happy with him - ( and me) he can get quite tense and anxious at big competitions and if I get tense he picks it up immediately and it affects our performance (as he is a horse the only way he can communicate is via what he senses is happening with me.) SO I am now thinking OK so I am connecting with people and animals on a different level too this is spooky stuff. Spooky and great!
I am off to the national championships on Thursday this week. It is only now that I have realized this has always been my dream, to ride at top level in dressage against professionals wearing "top hat and tails"( dressage attire you can only wear at a certain level). It is all I have ever wanted to achieve with my horse and we have been training for 8 years for this, so I am very excited. By being in the moment I am really realizing what this does means to me.
`I am visualizing my best performance and staying with every moment - The dressage competition is only 9.5 minutes so I am staying focused on being in every moment..............
And then ...........
I am in Budapest working with a client at the moment, I have worked with this client for a few months and have never really felt we connected at a deep enough level........ so today I arrived as the "new deeper me" in my new state and we have had a completely different experience! Almost immediately we opened up a whole new level- I just kept to my clean questions without thinking about the next thing - I focused on one step at a time and being in the moment with him. He has always had a challenge with being very "open" but appearing very "closed" to others. We had a major breakthrough as we modelled what happened when he does this, how he does it and what is going on for him at that very moment and before the moment.
I worked with him on a parts integration and I took him through a real "study of experience" because I provoked him and then I experienced the "closed" side (provocative)! It was a major breakthrough... I was thinking as I spoke to him I wonder if this translates into Hungarian, then I stopped my self because I was no longer in the moment! AND of course it translates. He did ask me afterwards if this was coaching or psycho therapy! Anyway I know I made a difference and really helped him and I feel fab about it toooooo!
Two weeks later…
The dressage was excellent last week I had a fab 2 days. It hit me that it has always been my dream I have trained for 8 years for it and I have got to this extremely high level. The whole family came and the atmosphere was electric. As I was completing my dressage test a helicopter came over - horses don't like helicopters - However I was so in the moment and so "in tune" and focused with the horse that I didn't notice it at all! ( Turns out it was Jordan, Katie Price who came to present some prizes!)
I performed really well, I was really proud of my accomplishments - I came 12th in the country which was more than I could have wished for. I came away feeling a great sense of achievement and a little sad. Sad because I have done it so- what now! I have to work out what is next in the dressage world for me - this was such a huge event for me .. It is not clear to me at the moment what is next ... It will come
Today I worked with the CFO of a large Financial worldwide company and her team. I decided to stay in the moment and do a modeling exercise with the team - So I imagined myself as SUE in France and I asked for a volunteer and worked with him- I asked the team to say what they would model in him! Then I explained modeling, I asked them to think of questions to ask him to find out his strategy - I then interviewed him in front of the team and debriefed with them and then they got a chance to model each other !
It was a truly amazing experience - I felt so energized , it was highly successful, I surprised my self with my extensive knowledge! They commented on how I was so good at keeping it focused and asking critical clean questions- They learned so much about themselves - This just clarified for me - that this is what I want to do more of!
Previously I would not have tried this method with a team of this seniority and with this level of awareness - so I trusted my self and decided to work with them at a deeper level ! The results were awesome I made a difference to 14 people! Thanks for helping me with this .....it feels so much better!
Keep in touch ...
Another awesome week
Mandy