If you are anything like me, you have been wrestling with this question lately – and honestly have been wrestling with it for years, as news reports plague us with stories of violence across the country, and across the world.  

I am writing to you, our NL community, and beyond, to those of us who have not been directly affected but are wrestling with ‘what to do’ – this is a time for us to dig into what it means to be a community.  What it means to be trauma informed.

What it means to truly connect 

The families involved in this latest tragedy and all the violent tragedies that have come before are suffering profoundly – I don’t expect them to do anything but grieve.  But as observers, as helpers and healers, it is time for us to hold, and practice, a truth.  

Connection is hard, painful even, and it is so so necessary.

It has been one week since the devastating event in Uvalde where over 20 individuals, mostly children, were killed by an armed shooter. While I struggle with my own grief and fear, I see countless others in my community doing the same.  Debates have broken out about how to prevent something like this in the future – what actually would work to keep us from having to live this again and again? To keep families like those in Uvalde, Sandy Hook, and frankly, hundreds of other communities, from experiencing the worst losses imaginable?

There are no simple answers  

I suspect the solutions are much more nuanced and complex than we all want to admit. When we are afraid, we want clarity, we want to do something.  It is normal to feel strongly, to want to take action, to think of ourselves and our safety.  Bettina and I wrote about this in our first blog after the shooting.

Unfortunately, nothing is as clear cut and simple as we would like it to be.  

But there are, and will be, things we can do – individually and as a community.  As a bit of an outsider to Uvalde, I find myself wanting to understand the situation more deeply – it feels like a responsibility to those who are within the community, suffering so acutely.  A deeper understanding offers me clarity of purpose when I think about “what can I do?”.  

While the logistics of what occurred on May 24th are important of course, I see what happened through a trauma lens.

I believe, without a doubt, that a ripple of trauma is at play when these episodes of devastating violence occur. It breaks my heart, and yet, it also gives me hope.  I am broken hearted because understanding how trauma works means that I know, for a fact, that the young man who committed this horrible crime (and the others who have come before him) was in terrible pain – and without any other way of managing his pain, he gave it back to his community.

“The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.” 

-African Proverb

Stories about the Uvalde shooter are emerging, and they are sad ones.  

I sympathize that compassion for this young man may be hard to come by – some of us may be feeling a revulsion, or downright hatred, for a person who could commit such an act. Admittedly I recognize it is very soon after the event to ask you to consider anything else. I do not mean to side-step the overwhelming horrors the children in that elementary school faced, or what the families and community members who survived are now dealing with.  

I wonder, though, if we can bear to hold both – the bottomless suffering of those who have lost so much AND the deep suffering of a young man, a child still really, who felt so alone he was motivated to act the way he did.

Can we hold both?  

It is a lot to ask. I understand if you are not ready. If this is where you are, it is ok, it is human to feel this way – and I hope you will continue to consider the rest of my letter.

Consider that hating this boy only brings more pain and isolation. More trauma. It does not contain our solution. Consider that connection is what we are made for, it is who we are, and when an individual resorts to violence it is because they felt so little connection that violence seemed the only way forward for them.

“Love me when I least deserve it because that is when I need it the most” (this anonymous quote hangs in Bettina’s office).

The young man in Uvalde was raised partially by his grandparents, as his mother battled heavily with drug addiction. A father or father figure was not mentioned in accounts of his life, though it seems a neighbor tried his best to be a role model. This young man was bullied horribly in school for being different – for having a speech impediment. He was often in fights. He was teased for wearing old, worn clothes. He committed acts of self-harm and threatened aggression toward animals and other humans. He lived through domestic violence, with police making a frequent appearance outside his home he shared with his mother.

This is an old story. It is not just about the young man in Uvalde. It is about all the people across our country, in our very own communities, who suffer from lack of support, lack of connection, lack of love. There is no single person, no single village to blame for it, because disconnect is passed down from generation to generation, and ripples far and wide. Our culture suffers from a profound problem with connection or the soul-crushing lack thereof.

What Can We Learn?

We are a community of trauma professionals, and understanding the humanity inherent in each and every one of us is a significant aspect of calling ourselves “trauma informed”.  The science of neurobiology tells us that we are all a blend of nature and nurture, and that our nature is in fact highly influenced by the nurture that occurred in previous generations.

We are the outcome of our relationships, our environments, and our support systems over the generations and most acutely, during our own developmental years.  To arrive at age 18 being a violent “loner” with an unstable home life and an aggressive thirst for vengeance is not a fluke, but a result of layers and layers of wounding.  This is not just in Uvalde, this is everywhere.

No one is immune from pain so deep we lash out.  It feels like a heavy responsibility, but a necessary one, to remember that each and every one of us could become cruel under the right circumstances.  

We are human.  

This young man was human.  

To cast him out into any other category does us all a disservice. There is no “us” and the cruel/evil/murderous “them”. There is only “we”.  

When we reject someone in pain, when we hate him, we exacerbate the very problem that created him.

How Can Adverse Childhood Experiences Help Us Connect?

I understand if you are not ready  to hear what I am trying to say. It is a hard truth. It asks us to feel deeply, and rise above our survival instincts. Again, listen to your body––allow yourself to grieve and feel it all – anger, rage, sadness––when you are ready, maybe you can revisit this conversation with me. If your body tells you that you are ready for this discussion I ask that you allow me to offer a little more, to help us sink a little more into understanding.  

Let’s take a look at a simple measure, that of the Adverse Childhood Experiences survey. This measure looks exclusively at home life, and has 10 measures. For each adverse childhood experience, an individual receives a score of one. The closer to 10 adverse childhood experiences a person is, the more dire their adulthood experience can be – including significant physical and mental health issues.

​​The 10 ACEs are defined as the following childhood experiences:

– Physical, sexual or verbal abuse

– Physical or emotional neglect

– Separation or divorce

– A family member with mental illness

– A family member addicted to drugs or alcohol

– A family member who is in prison

– Witnessing a parent being abused

Based on the accounts of the Uvalde shooter’s life leading up to the shooting, and looking at the quiz questions to measure the number of ACEs possible in his home life, it is safe to estimate that this young man experienced at least 7 of 10 ACEs. (For reference, a score of 6 or higher is said to take at least 20 years off your life, not to mention cause marked difficulties in daily living).

For the possible childhood experiences considered “adverse” and damaging, he experienced at least 70% of them. 

It is also important to note that the ACEs cover a range of adverse experiences within one’s own home, but do not include community based experiences a youth can experience like bullying at school, the general stress and risks of poverty, lack of a support system/friendships outside the home, lack of support within the school system (the young man in Uvalde skipped frequently and was not on track to graduate with his peers), and the myriad unsupervised online encounters that are possible. 

ACEs also do not cover the wider struggles our country is facing culturally and politically. Our country is divided, angry, and wanting to place blame somewhere. It has also become common practice to shame others for not living up to certain expectations. There is a far-reaching disconnect between us on a grand scale.

Trauma Isn’t Always Obvious

There are multiple facets of trauma that we could consider, the ACEs being one of them that is easiest to wrap our brains around, perhaps.  But when we consider the subtler neurological development and attachment development aspects of trauma (which we discuss at length in our trainings, especially the Fundamentals of NL), there are likely many other ways this young man’s brain and body were traumatized.  

We can only speculate at this point, so I won’t go beyond a general wondering – but based on the little history we have now, we might hypothesize that the intrauterine experience and early childhood experiences of this young man may have contained significant amounts of stress, or at least numerous deviations from the optimal. His brain and body may very likely have been primed for survival, with muscled up and disorganized lower regions of the brain. Survival is inherently selfish, and sees threat at every turn.

This can happen to any of us

With the amount of conflict he experienced in his home life, later followed by the amount of distress he experienced in his peer groups – I truly wonder if connection, and relationships in general, mostly set off alarm bells throughout his system, feeling like threats rather than safety.

I will stop there, as I do not wish to speculate further about the story of a young man I didn’t really know – who was in so much pain, who was so alone, he turned to inflict devastating pain on others. Now his trauma has been passed on to the families of Uvalde – so many more ACEs to add to the list. Parents, teachers, families, neighbors, will never be the same, perhaps for generations to come.  

As hard as it can be to find, being trauma informed means I can catch enough of a glimpse of this man’s world, and the lens through which he saw this world, that I will not call him evil. I will not call him “other”. I will grieve him as I do the children and the ones whom he killed. I will grieve the isolation, the fear, the pain, that everyone in that community, and countless communities across the country, are feeling.

Finding Hope

And, I also have hope – because I know there are thousands of us out there working tirelessly to prevent and heal trauma Every. Single. Day.  

I know this community in particular, of Natural LIfemanship professionals, understands that trauma is a beast, but one that can be prevented and healed. So, we grieve. And then we roll up our sleeves and go back out into the world to do what we can, here and now. This will likely mean policy change, holding leaders accountable, and a dedication and perseverance to penetrate the helplessness and apathy that occur on a grand scale.  

And, we do what we can in the small choices we make every day.

We connect with those who need connection. We reach out when we need connection. We don’t look away. We don’t pretend the answers are simple. We don’t let fear drive us. We take a deep breath. We let fear and grief move through our bodies. And then we remember that healing takes place in the context of a healthy relationship…and we know how to do that. 

The hard truth, the utterly simple and yet excruciatingly difficult truth is that we prevent things like mass shootings, suicides, and violence by being the village that loves the child.

To honestly call ourselves trauma-informed, we must find our way to embodying this truth.

I only wish this particular child had been surrounded by the amazing hearts and minds that I know belong to this astounding Natural Lifemanship community. Maybe then he would have felt the warmth of his community that he truly needed, rather than pass on the pain, like so many others.

I feel hope because I know you all are out there. I feel renewed passion in our mission here at Natural Lifemanship. Pain may be inevitable in life, but the lasting effects of trauma can be tempered. Connection prevents and heals pain over and over again. It is not always easy – in fact, loving through fear, grief, and anger may be the most difficult thing we do. But we can do it.  

This is something we can control.

Sitting with you in grief, and holding onto hope. 

In connection,

Kate

If you feel called to learn more about how to help people heal from the effects of toxic stress and trauma,  join our amazing community of helpers and healers.

Natural Lifemanship is composed of people just like you, who want to make this world a better place —a world where connection and the value of healthy relationships is seen and felt in everything we do!

The post Uvalde, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and the Power of Connection appeared first on Natural Lifemanship.

A lovely new resource is now available for a variety of practitioners – Nourished: Horses, Animals & Nature in Counselling, Psychotherapy & Mental Health, edited by Meg Kirby, is out now!

Not only do we share our lives with nature and animals, they are an integral and influential part of our well-being. Within the pages of Nourished is wisdom collected from respected professionals across the globe (of whom we are honored to be a part!) on how we can intentionally incorporate the natural and animal world into mental health, wellness, and personal growth.

Working With Horses to Develop Secure Attachment

Natural Lifemanship’s CEO and co-founder Bettina Shultz-Jobe and  I are thrilled to have contributed a chapter in Nourished titled “Working With Horses to Develop Secure Attachment”. In this chapter we offer theory as well as a case study discussing how attachment wounds can be brought into awareness, gently explored, and healed through authentic engagement with equines.  

We ventured not only into the cognitive aspects of attachment, but the embodied ones as well – for much of our relational patterns are held in the body. As this NL community knows, being in relationship with horses is a unique opportunity to transform ways of being, even when deeply held in the unconscious body.

If you are a practitioner in the field of equine assisted services, this is a chapter, and a book, not to be missed!

Psst…when you order the book through the links in this article, we earn a small affiliate commission. This transparency is important to us, but since we contributed to the book, you know we recommend it whole-heartedly!

The post Just Released: Nourished by Meg Kirby appeared first on Natural Lifemanship.

Natural Lifemanship is a training and mentoring institute focused on the science and healing of trauma. We see trauma each and every day, and yet, we will never get used to it.  

We are heartsick over the deaths of so many people in Uvalde, TX this week. It is all too easy to imagine the complete and utter despair of the families that are left to pick up the pieces. A devastated community is reeling. As mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, siblings, and chosen family ourselves, we at NL have struggled to absorb the news.

To withdraw, to feel helpless, to hide from the scary reality of our world would certainly make sense – and we will all do it at times. It is simply a part of being human and experiencing deep grief and fear.  

We all crave safety and when that sense of safety feels out of our reach, the brain and body go into a survival mode. We will all need to be gentle with ourselves.

Granting space for grief

The truth is, the reason we as an organization haven’t said anything publicly about Uvalde yet is because most of us have been grieving, crying our own tears, and at a loss for words.  When we encountered the words of the San Antonio Mennonite Church from 2020 we were reminded of why.

“There are not adequate words of consolation or outrage.
There are not ideas or concepts or explanations.
So first we have to go ancient.
We have to go into the ancient old prayers in a language we don’t know
We have to go to ancient truths and trust our mortal and mourning hearts there.
It begins with tears.”

Do you remember the webinar Bettina and Kathleen gave on the concept of embodiment?  Here it is if you missed it.  In this conversation, the big take home message was that in order for us to fully grapple with something as profound as grief we must allow space for both being and doing.  One without the other is incomplete, we are incomplete.

Honoring liminal moments

Once again, we find ourselves in a moment when the way forward isn’t either/or, it is both/and.  We need significant contemplation and deep feeling; AND then our actions can be informed by our embodied experience.

In these liminal moments – this “great inbetween” where the tragedy has already happened, but the impact is only beginning to be fully realized – we have a responsibility as healers and trauma informed professionals to pause. 

This doesn’t mean we don’t take action – we know we have a responsibility to say and do something, and we have clients who need the support that we offer. However, action without intention can do more harm than good. 

Grief is a powerful motivator for action – but if we jump into action before we truly allow ourselves to grieve, to avoid the recognition that pain is the inevitable bedfellow to love, then we move into action from a place of survival.  At times a selfish place, it is reactionary and lacks the well of compassion and humility needed for truly seeing the complexity of our own internal experience, as well as the complexity of others.

Pausing allows us to feel what is arising for us in our shock and sadness. When we feel deeply but cannot move into action eventually, our feelings remain stagnant and unproductive.  In fact, this thwarted action can become trauma stored in the body.

You are not alone

We love our NL community, and we remember that moments of utter darkness offer us something, if we can bear to accept it.  When others are suffering, we can offer connection and remind them that they are not alone.  When we are suffering, we can seek connection and remember that we too, are not alone.  

It is a simple, yet profound, gift.  It is thoughts and prayers, deeply felt, plus action that is fully embodied. 

Some wounds cannot be fully healed, but connection can be like a salve, making wounds more bearable – we do not have to carry the experience of grieving alone.

Do not look away

At a time like this, we are reminded of Brené Brown, and her words about suffering, pain, and the power of human connection.

“My mom taught us to never look away from people’s pain.

The lesson was simple:

Don’t look away. Don’t look down.
Don’t pretend not to see hurt.
Look people in the eye.
Even when their pain is overwhelming.

And, when you’re in pain,
find the people who can look you in the eye.

We need to know we’re not alone – especially when we’re hurting.

This lesson is one of the greatest gifts of my life.”  BB

This is, of course, not always easy.  But remember that connection exists on a spectrum, and we each have kindness to offer in some form.  When helplessness creeps in, remember that small acts of kindness (a meal, a hug, a listening ear) done intentionally, make an impact.  NL trainer and co-founder of Pecan Creek Ranch, Rebecca Hubbbard, has written an important children’s book about this called, Kindness in a Scary World, that we highly recommend for children and adults alike.  

As trauma informed professionals, it is important for us to remember that we must find connection and care for ourselves so that we can offer connection and care to others. 

The ripple effect of our own healing 

Because we are a community of trauma professionals – we will be holding the hands of those who suffer, who grieve, who fight back despair. It is a very real and tangible experience for those of us who do this work every day.

Offering connection is our human responsibility, and even more so as trauma professionals – we are called on to help shoulder the burden of suffering.  This is something we can do, even when the world is a scary place.  And when we take action from a place of thoughtful, intentional self-awareness and self-connection – we are doing something profound for others, and for ourselves.

As hard as it is to accept, as our respected colleague, Dr. Veronica Lac, Executive Director of The HERD Institute®, articulates so clearly in her poem, we are indeed in the same room where this pain is happening.  We cannot look away. 

In the Room Where It Happens

I never want to be in the room where it happens.

These tragedies that keep replaying.

Again, and again.

I never want to hear the screams of terror, grief, and anger in the aftermath

of these atrocities that keep repeating. Again, and again.

I never want to feel the anguish and fear of the first responders who rush to the scene,

nor of the teachers acting as human shields,

nor of the parents whose precious children

are in the room where it happens.

No one wants to be in the room where it happens.

But we all are.

____V. Lac, May 2022

We want to know, what do you need in order to keep going?  What do you need in order to not look away? How will you sit with your pain, so that you are better able to take action that comes from a place of service and connection?

The post Intentional Action in the Wake of Tragedy appeared first on Natural Lifemanship.

“Practice what you preach”                                       

“Say what you mean and mean what you say”

                                                                      “Actions speak louder than words” 

“Put your money where your mouth is”

Idioms about the importance of being congruent in both speech and behavior abound.  

Our spoken words, no matter how sincerely we mean them, become untrustworthy when they are not supported by our actions.  

Similarly, our actions feel incongruent and insincere when they are not consistent with our intention and motives.  We have all been on the receiving end of an interaction that appeared or seemed intended to be helpful or friendly, but instead felt empty at best and manipulative or exploitative at worst.  Both our actions and our words, no matter how well intentioned, can leave us feeling confused and disconnected from each other if they are not congruent with our internal state of being, and can result in relational rupture.
 

Embodiment Defined 

Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “embody” in this way: to be an expression of or give a tangible or visible form to (an idea, quality, or feeling).  

Embodiment entails a sense of internalizing and integrating a way of being in the world that moves beyond our way of doing or behaving.  Beyond acting as guidelines for behavior, embodied principles and beliefs become woven into the fabric of our identity and sense of self, and flow naturally into the ways in which we connect with self and others, both human and animal, and the larger world, including nature and our conceptualization of the divine.  

We can sense the difference when someone is “acting kind” as opposed to “being kind.”  Kind acts can be done for a variety of both honorable or self-serving motives. However, experiencing true kindness from someone who embodies the truth of their character in serving and caring for others because this is who they are engages our limbic system in an entirely different way and offers a rich relational opportunity for connection on a level so deep and healing that it is felt at a cellular level.  

This kind of connection requires genuine presence, being in this moment and being with yourself and the one who is in front of you. We try in various ways to derive “being” from “doing,” but “doing” actually flows from our “being.”  

WHO we are shows up in WHAT we do and HOW we do it.  

A society of task managers

In our task-focused, accomplishment-driven society, our obsession with productivity and output leaves little room for the rich, satisfying, deeply healing experiences of connection that are only possible when we slow down and focus our complete attention on this interaction at this moment with this being, whether horse or human.  

When I work with a client in the round pen who is asking for their horse’s attention while preoccupied with the outcome, so focused on the task of getting the horse to look at them, or turn and walk to them that they have reduced the interaction to a project whose success is measured by achieving a certain behavior, the principle of embodied connection is completely lost in the transactional nature of this exchange.  

When the client shifts to a more genuine, present state, connecting with their deep longing to be seen and felt and valued, and sees and feels and values their horse as well, the change in energy is palpable.  The quality and depth of the connection available in this type of relational exchange defies language, as it is felt on a somatic level between the two as an energetic exchange.
 

Embodiment requires breathing and processing space. . .

 As a trauma survivor, I learned to “behave” appropriately in relational interactions by accurately assessing expectations and how to meet them in order to avoid rejection and abandonment.  When I was first introduced to the Natural Lifemanship model of Trauma Focused Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, I approached it the way I did everything I wanted to learn about: in a cognitive manner.  I studied the model, memorized the principles and then practiced applying them in the round pen with horses in a task-focused, outcome driven way.  

It soon became clear to me that I could ask a horse to attach and detach from me without any true connection whatsoever.  I did not feel the warmth in my chest, or energetic exchange between myself and my horse that other people described when their horse connected with them.  I spent hours in the round pen practicing making requests for interaction and felt despair about ever moving beyond the behavioral stage of it “looking right” without it ever “feeling right.”

Then I took the Natural Lifemanship Intensive Training, which focuses even more on embodying the relational principles of this model.  I learned that the healing work we do with humans and horses is a way of “being” in the world, not only a way of  “doing.”  Embodiment requires breathing and processing space, which is why Natural Lifemanship trainings are designed in a combined video and live learning format that offers not only plenty of time to learn and master essential principles but also skilled and knowledgeable instructors to guide your learning by giving personalized feedback on the specific ways to practice these principles.  

To read more about my experiences early on with Natural Lifemanship read here.
 

The secret to success

Malcolm Gladwell popularized the “10,000 hour rule” in his book, Outliers, based on a research study that found it takes about 10,000 hours of intensive practice to achieve mastery of complex skills and materials like playing the violin or learning computer programming.  A surprising nuance in this discovery revealed that it is not simply the amount of hours spent practicing but how you practice and who guides you in deciding what to focus on during that practice time that determines the level of success achieved.  This idea of “deliberate practice” under the guidance of a skilled teacher who is able to assess each student individually and outline specific steps to help them improve then tailors the time spent to focus on what would be most helpful for that student’s growth and development.  

How you use your practice time and who guides you is what matters most.  

I spent hours in the round pen doing the same thing over and over, getting the same results, until I received the personalized attention and guidance I specifically needed to let go of my task driven focus and learned to embrace and embody the principles and nuances of true, heart-felt connection.  I discovered the power of presence from trainers who embodied this with and for me so I could hone in on what was missing in my learning and start practicing in a way that actually led to transformational change. 
 

How the NL Intensive training can help you embody connection

The Intensive Training is set up to enhance your learning with guidance and support specifically tailored to the areas you want and need to grow.  It helped me refine my understanding of connection in relationship and led to powerful shifts in my perspective on my relationship with self and others, both horse and human.  

This is a powerful opportunity to take the next step in your journey of personal and professional growth!
 

Practice Embodied Connection at Home

To practice feeling a sense of embodiment through connection, try taking a walk with a trusted person.  Orient to your environment and do some mindfulness and grounding to become fully present in your body as you walk beside each other.  Then start to notice if you can fall “in sync” with your partner, matching their stride by sensing their movement without looking at them.  

Take turns lengthening your stride, speeding up and slowing down, and changing direction.  Can you feel these shifts without looking at your partner’s legs or body with your eyes?  Can you sense the energetic exchange between the two of you as you become entrained in your motion and your connection deepens through this rhythmic shared movement?  Be playful with it!  You can also try this with your horse or dog.

Want to learn more?  Attend our upcoming webinar on embodiment and sign up for the Natural Lifemanship Intensive Training!  Keep growing and learning with us.  

We look forward to seeing you!

The post Paving a Path to Embodiment appeared first on Natural Lifemanship.

Outside my window, I hear Abilene take three deep horse breaths. She is sunning her mud-caked body at the very spot where Annie stood 48 hours ago experiencing the discomfort of the unknown ailment to which she succumbed hours later. The story of that day replays vividly in my mind, although that is not the story I wish to tell right now. She died in the trailer on the way to the vet, and this story begins once Tim and I brought her body back to my place to rest in the trailer overnight so that Abilene could say her goodbyes.

The night Annie passed we got a good amount of rain. Abilene stayed with Annie’s body at the trailer for much of the night it seems. My housemate and I went out several times to check on her throughout the night, and she was always by the trailer. Sometimes poking her nose in and sniffing Annie, sometimes standing a few feet away attentively looking at her still body. Sometimes when we would walk up in the pitch black night, she would quickly come up to us only to turn away and return to the trailer once recognizing that we were not Annie.

That night the pain and shock of Annie’s passing was all consuming. It surrounded me even as it swallowed me from within. It poured forth from my body as though the very ground of being opened up beneath me and gravity took care of the rest. I now rest on a subterranean ledge quite a bit further down, getting my bearings. I’m so thankful for Abilene – for her presence in this space we share.

Grief, I’m noticing, has different textures. There is the resounding, thunderous experience of loss – immediate, vibratory – much like being suspended in the hollow of a drum as it’s forcefully struck. All that exists is the vibration, and it plays you through and through. In this texture of grief my body experiences only the loss – the pain of separation – the awareness of absence. Nothing else exists. This was my immediate experience. There was no way to talk or even think in the clamor. There were some escape hatches I could see in the haze of the moment – the illusory promise of distractions of various sorts – but I fell for none of them. Didn’t want to be distracted because this now is my experience of Annie. Even an experience of her acute and sudden absence, painful and overwhelming as it is, is better than no experience. This is grief number one. Raw, immediate, kinetic.

And then there is the pain of memory. It has a different quality and it lives in a different place. It’s less like a sound and vibration, and more like a storyboard. It is a string of images – snapshots tied to my heart, which tugs them like kites as it softens and constricts, softens and constricts. Images of Annie and the memory of her warm, sweet breath, her head on my shoulder, her neck stretching up so that I could scratch under her chin, her asking for butt rubs, her curiosity and gentleness and sometimes impatience, especially at mealtime. These images swell up in waves of moans and tears – stuck in the throat and then bubbling out of the silence. This is the pain of the past. The pain of remembering. The pain of the stories we compose and relive, again and again. I am deeply thankful that Abilene, at least I assume, does not have to experience this kind of grief. I’m pretty sure it’s mostly the first kind she experiences, but I guess I don’t really know.

Finally, there’s a third kind – closely related to the second. It’s future grief. Future grief is like past grief but instead of being triggered by memories or images of what was, it is prompted by the discovery and the rediscovery of what-will-no-longer-be, or variably, of what-could-have-been had past events unfolded differently. Expectations and hopes do not come with expiration dates. And yet, they expire. Just like that. Hope has an open quality and when it expires due to loss, it produces a grief for the un-lived future. This is experienced in the eyes and the face, wrinkling with tension as though straining toward a distant horizon in which one finds no trace or shadow of the departed.

I guess future grief is the most lonely kind of grief. Past grief isn’t lonely because I will always have the memories of the time and space and connection Annie and I actually, physically shared. There is a fullness there. Present grief is more fluid. The vibration of loss is not always present. It gives way to other connections in the here and now. The thunderous, wordless kind of loss – the grief of the present – overtakes you but flows right on past so long as you don’t resist it or avoid it. Thankfully, the present is the present.

One must make a conscious choice to stay with the grief of the present and to honor the grief of the past – the grief of the “what is” transfiguring into the “what was”. It is worthy of enshrining. Annie lives in a golden place within my heart. This is that enduring sense of connection with detachment. She is not physically here but she lives very much alive within me. I will treasure this. Visit this place daily. Allow the waves of this type of grief to swell and crash in my heart without resistance. I think the best offering we can place on this altar is gratitude.

Gratitude is protective against the rages of the one kind of grief we must choose to let go – and that is the grief of the future. This kind of grief can keep us stuck. We cannot fully live without hope. Nor can we live fully if we dwell in a world of what-ifs. Hopelessness is a kind of suicide. Of course, we experience it at times but we mustn’t enshrine it, or revisit it too often, I think. It’s like a riptide or quicksand. If we find ourselves in it, we’ve gotta get out. Friends, present connections, mindfulness of the present, and meaningful, intentional gratitude – these keep us from drowning and perishing in the grief of the un-lived future.

I’m thankful for my wonderful, supportive friends, both two-legged and four-legged. I’m thankful for the Christmas break and the time to digest and metabolize this trauma. I’m thankful for dear, sweet, resilient Abilene, who is already teaching me so much about what it means to “surthrive”. And I’m so, so very thankful for Annie, who blessed me in countless ways with her beautiful presence in my life for over a year, over two actually. I am where I am because of her.

I’ve been spending a lot of time with Abilene the past couple days. This evening just before sunset I found her in the front standing on the exact spot where the trailer had been parked. She saw me coming and walked toward me. I sat with her under the cedar tree where she and Annie liked to sleep. We silently stayed there, gazing out toward that spot and taking in all that remains. I wonder if Abilene sensed Annie’s presence as I did, ever so lightly.

Thank you sweet girl. I miss you so much. My heart is yours. May you run free in the green pasture of my heart, always.

Interested in learning more from Laura?

Laura shared this blog at the start of our 2021 conference in a workshop called The Somatic Experience of Grief and Love.  Check out the conference replays here.  

She will also be teaching an upcoming workshop called Where Feet May Fail:  Finding Connection in the Dark Night of the Soul.  

The conference replays act as a stepping stone into ongoing workshops and powerful conversations centered around life, love, loss, and death. They will equip you with the tools for finding light in the darkest of times. 

Join us as we journey through conversations centered around love and loss (of all kinds), and participate in “Grief, Love, and Life”, a series of experiential workshops that will take place throughout the rest of the year. 

Each workshop is designed to build upon your foundational experience from the recorded conversations.  Learn more here!  We look forward to walking this path with you!

The post The Three Kinds of Grief appeared first on Natural Lifemanship.

 “Love, where it ever existed before, doesn’t cease to exist. To speak of love in the past tense is not to know love at all. Love goes on, being always a continuation and an extension of love. Your grief is but the continuation of the love you once experienced, and will always experience. Grief is another name for Love.”  (Jennifer Williamson)

Western culture has always had a very uneasy relationship with grief.  Where other cultures and ethnic groups have integrated the inevitability of loss into the fabric of their society, providing structure and support for a grieving process, in the West we are given but weeks to attend to the emotions and details of the loss, such as planning and attending the funeral if a death was involved, and then encouraged to “move on,” whatever that entails, depending on what it is that you have actually lost (a relationship, home, job, person, or pet, for example).  When losing a loved one, this may look like planning and attending a funeral with the minimal bereavement time allotted by your employer. When losing a home or job, this may look like encouraging words from well meaning family and friends that typically end with, “it’s time to move on.”

The COVID 19 pandemic afforded us many opportunities to experience grief. These included routines and activities we were accustomed to, like our gym workout, dining out, popcorn and a good laugh or cry at the movie theater, hugging friends and family, and attending live events like church, school, work, concerts and other outings that we used to take for granted.  Amidst toilet paper, mask and laundry soap shortages, other things were also in short supply: concise, trustworthy information and reliable leadership.  We became fearful of the future, and even each other.  Breathing the air and touching each other became potentially dangerous. Many of us lost loved ones.  Some of us lost livelihoods, a sustainable income, our health or our home. We all lost a sense of safety and security.  

We are now emerging from a time of uncertainty and upheaval in different ways depending upon our particular experience of the pandemic, and need to develop fresh pathways to engage in the necessary grief process of adjusting to “a new normal.”

According to Stephen Jenkinson, Creator and Principle Instructor of the Orphan Wisdom School, (and keynote speaker at our conference this year!!)  grief is “a way of loving that which has slipped from view, and love is a way of grieving that which has not yet done so.” He believes that grief is not a feeling, but a state of being that holds true throughout our lifetime, and that we must become “practitioners of grief” in order to truly participate in the experience of deeply loving another. 

Grief acknowledges the impermanence of love, a recognition of its temporariness:  the baby we are rocking and holding today becomes the adolescent who rebuffs a hug, a beloved canine companion on our daily walks becomes crippled with arthritis and lies on his bed watching us lace up our shoes to go without him, a long awaited trip ends in a series of photographs that barely do it justice, a loved one’s spirit nestles in our heart rather than on the couch as a physical body next to us at the end of the day. 

Grief does not necessarily need to be a traumatic experience, but becomes so when experienced in isolation, without understanding and support in the context of connected relationships.  

Grief becomes embodied as trauma when we walk its path alone.  

Jenkins asserts that if your love includes another being, grief is part of love.  They are twins that reveal each other, two sides of the same precious coin. One does not and cannot exist without the other.  Just as we need other beings to experience love, we also need other beings to help us navigate grief.  He concludes:  “You don’t get invited to many parties if you become a practitioner of grief, but your understanding of love is renovated for all time.”

In the upcoming virtual Natural Lifemanship Conference,  A Natural Life:  Love and Grief are Connected, a community of helpers and healers from all over the world will provide us with many rich opportunities to become better practitioners of the inevitable intertwined experiences of love and grief that accompany us on our life’s journey.

Those who participate in this conference will embark on a  journey that we have carefully and artfully designed.  Each presentation will prepare you for the next as the conference culminates in a very special community Rite of Passage to honor change with ceremonialist Katie Asmus.  It is our intention to create a sacred space for you to navigate the challenging road of grief while experiencing the vast love that is, indeed, grief’s twin.

Our upcoming conference was purposefully designed to give you the education and the experience needed as you travel the path upon which you hope to accompany your clients.

Grief, love, and life is a journey to be walked in the company of others. 

Please join us.

Register Now

The post The Twinship of Grief and Love appeared first on Natural Lifemanship.

We know that Interconnected 2020 will take place online. 

We also know that too many hours spent online without a break could cause serious mental fatigue. 

So, we put together this playlist of videos and resources to give your mind and body the rhythm and connection needed to regulate and learn. They are intended to be watched as “Brain Breaks” during the conference—to ensure the conference experience is rejuvenating and FUN.

Still need a ticket to the conference? Get it now!

Get Tickets

This playlist was carefully chosen to deepen your experience at Interconnected 2020. 

All of these things bring us rhythm––visual and auditory rhythm, specifically––which helps to regulate, organize, and integrate the entire brain. These videos are intended to regulate the most lower regions of the brain so that our brain and body can connect with self and others and are capable of concrete and abstract learning and thought.  With so many options you can “choose your flavor” – we hope you enjoy!

Deep Breathing Shapes Animation 

Rapping Dr. Seuss

Drumming flash mob

Bob Ross painting

Relaxing music and underwater scenes

Virtual Nature Walk

Newsies live on the New York Streets

Wheel Dance

Tongue Drum Binaural Beats

Idina Menzel “Defying Gravity” 

“True Colors” by Camden Voices choir

Evolution of Dance video

Lord of the Dance, Michael Flatly

Anna Kendrick “Cups”

Family Lockdown Boogie

Funky American Woodcock

Virtual Train Ride

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, distance symphony

Acapella “I wanna dance with somebody”

OK GO “This Too Shall Pass” music video 

Frozen II “Show Yourself”

Redwood National Forest Virtual Hike

Buddhist Monk, The Beatles “Yellow Submarine” 

Jimmy Fallon, found sound, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”

Hania Rani on the shores of Iceland

Anderson Paak “Don’t Slack” music video

“The Rhythm of the Horse” by Thomas Newman

Frozen II “The Next Right Thing”

Proposal flash mob 

Crackling fireplace

Natural scenery and sounds

OK GO “I won’t let you down”

Kaleidoscope

Rain Drums

We hope that this playlist sets the stage for your inner healing and the deep connections you will build at Interconnected 2020.

Still need a ticket to the conference? Get it now!

Get Tickets

The post A Playlist for Rhythm and Regulation appeared first on Natural Lifemanship.

While this makes attending the conference more convenient, it may cause you to experience symptoms related to Zoom Fatigue—exhaustion that comes with focusing intently on a computer screen for too long. 

Don’t worry…we’ve got a plan for that!

This entire conference was designed with you in mind, and that includes avoiding Zoom Fatigue. We’re going to keep you moving, engaged, and connected the entire time! Here’s how.

Keep Moving

Many of the presentations were designed to keep your body and mind flowing through rhythm and regulation. So we highly encourage you to participate as if you were right there standing in front of each live presenter. Stand up, sit down, and keep moving! This will allow you to stay engaged and invigorated throughout the conference. 

Unplug

This is YOUR time. Therefore we advise you to unplug from outside distractions during conference hours. As we would in person, we are asking you to turn off/ silence your cell phone. The more you treat your environment as you would a conference hall, the more you will receive from this life-changing experience. 

Get Grounded

Our Daily Healing Practices provide you with an opportunity to move, stretch, and connect deeper to yourself and those participating in the conference with you. We encourage you to attend each morning and evening to SHIFT your mind and body’s focus from the computer screen, inward. 

Connect with Living Beings

If possible spend time with other living beings! A person, an animal, a tree––we need others to regulate. Co-regulation is a biological imperative and will absolutely combat Zoom fatigue! If you can, take moments for physical closeness with a friend, an animal companion, or in nature. A plant, a tree, your God…these connections matter so much. 

Bonus Tip 

Turn off your video or use your speaker view during the conference. Only “be seen” when you want to see your body. This can help you to shift your focus away from watching yourself, to healing yourself. 

You can turn off “self view” – turn on your camera to ensure your lighting is good, and then hide “self-view”.

Together, we will transform the virtual experience into one of greater mindfulness, connectedness, and transcendence.

There is still time to register for Interconnected 2020!  I hope you can join us!

The post How to Avoid Zoom Fatigue During the Virtual Conference appeared first on Natural Lifemanship.

At first, I would become confused about which pose to do next without her spoken directions, and found myself constantly checking to see if I was doing the same pose as she was (which sometimes involved awkwardly craning my neck and twisting my body to observe her next move.  Yes, I did fall over a few times.  This is less painful than falling off a horse but no less embarrassing).  Over time, however, I began to trust my muscle memory, realizing that after a few passes through the sequence, my body truly did “know the way.”  I could close my eyes and allow myself to flow through the series from one pose to the next without having to constantly glance over at the instructor.  

I also accepted that sometimes I was out of sequence or off the pace but that this really didn’t matter so long as I was matching my breath to my movements and staying centered and grounded in my own practice of being mindfully present in my own body and in my own space on my yoga mat.  

Something about this phrase “you know the way,” caught my attention early on and kept me coming back to her class despite the initial awkwardness involved in her lack of cueing (I am a rule follower and want to “get things right.”)  

As a young immigrant with Dutch parents, I often found myself ignorant of the customs, idioms, and cultural knowledge that my American peers took for granted.  Halloween was a mystery (but a fun one. Who can beat the combination of costumes and candy?)  We opened presents on the 5^th of December (Sinterklaas) instead of the 25^th.  We put mayonnaise on our French Fries and chocolate sprinkles on our sandwiches (both are delicious, by the way).  I often found myself looking around to see how others were behaving, speaking, or dressing to try to fit in and not inadvertently relegate myself to social Siberia.  

In other words, I did not learn to trust myself to “know the way.”  Developing an eating disorder early in life further disrupted my ability to listen to and trust my body or my brain.  It has taken me years of healing and recovery to discover that I can know what I need and want and have enough value to take steps to seek for those needs and wants to be met.

Many of us are finding that we currently do not “know the way” forward due to conflicting information and differing opinions on how and even whether to re-open the economy and resume activities previously banned due to the coronavirus restrictions.  People are passionately divided over how to best pursue safety and sanity during these uncertain times.  The news coverage is full of angry confrontations between those with conflicting belief systems.  The confusion, chaos, and lack of clear direction can lead us to feelings of overwhelm, hopelessness, powerless, and even despair. No matter where you land in this ongoing debate about the collective good vs. individual rights and freedoms, however, there are certain principles that can help us “know the way” during this challenging time:

Compassion for ourselves and others.  Chronic stress can overwhelm our coping mechanisms and cause us to behave and speak in ways we normally wouldn’t.  Be quick to apologize and quick to forgive both ourselves and others.  

Kindness towards ourselves and others.  Now, more than ever, we need to have patience and grace as we all struggle to adjust to a new normal that we don’t always understand how to navigate successfully.

Patience towards ourselves and others.  Learning new skills and alternate ways of doing tasks takes time.  We learn everything new by trial and error, from walking to multiplication to riding a bicycle. We learn more from our mistakes than our successes.  Learning to ask for help and to laugh at ourselves can help defuse a potentially frustrating or defeating situation.

Acceptance of ourselves, others, and our new circumstances.  Acceptance is sometimes mistaken for liking or wanting or being “ok” with someone or something.  Actually, acceptance is simply acknowledging that the current situation “is what it is.”  It doesn’t mean we like it or want it that way, just that it is that way.  Until we accept that something is currently true, we cannot put any energy or attention towards trying to make any changes, because all of our energy is being channeled into defense mechanisms like denial, or minimization, or avoidance (my three favorites, personally).  Only once we accept, or acknowledge a problem, can we begin to consider ways to tackle it and make things better.  This extends to accepting ourselves, as we currently are, and others as well.  Acceptance is not resignation.  It is the beginning of empowerment for change.

I had to learn to stop looking around to see what everyone else was doing in order to fit in.  I realized my nervous system was designed to keep me safe and help me make decisions and take actions congruent with my own values, beliefs, needs, and wants. While it is important to consult trusted sources for guidance in areas outside of our area of expertise, is it also important to check in with yourself to see what feels right for your particular wiring, personality, moral compass, and situation, as well as considering your emotional, mental and physical capacity.  

Turn off the news, find a quiet place, close your eyes, and check-in with yourself (and your Higher Power if this is part of your belief system).  Don’t just look outward.  Look inward.  You know the way.

Kathleen Choe is an LPC-S and NL Trainer.  Learn more with her at the Natural Lifemanship Conference, Interconnected 2020!

The post Finding the Way appeared first on Natural Lifemanship.

But what happens when that frustration and anger enters your own home?   What happens when the folks living inside those quarantined walls are looking at the same data, having the same discussions turned arguments and come up with totally different answers?

Yep, that happened. 

A simple and lovely party invitation was the final straw.  Conversation over breakfast quickly turned into what felt like a feral cat thrown into a pillowcase with another feral cat.  There was nothing but teeth and claws and no way to get out.  

In this household, we know how to use regulation skills.  We understand what happens to the brain and body when old patterns of fear, control, and anxiety take over.   And here we were, in our own kitchen, living out the state and national paradigm of figuring out how to move on.   Literally, the following thoughts and ideas were either said or implied:

• You are an idiot
• You do not understand what is happening
• You do not see what is happening
• You do not care what has happened
• You are too fearful
• You are not a risk-taker
• You are a risk-taker
• We need to get over this
• We need to move on
• It is too soon to move on
• We can’t live in constant fear forever

Clearly this was not about the party invitation.  Over the past months of lockdown, we have expressed our thoughts and concerns.   We share, mostly, similar political beliefs and have followed the national, state, and local safety guidelines.   

But somewhere in our breakfast “bag of cats conversation” it became clear that we had not HEARD the depth of each other’s concerns.   What we did hear was filtered by our own internal fears, and righteous thoughts about pandemics, shut-downs, and even the “American way”.

The foundation of our work at Windows To My Soul is deeply rooted in the Trauma Focused Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (TF-EAP) process of Natural Lifemanship, which is based on contemporary trauma research and greatly influenced by the work of Dr. Bruce Perry and many other experts in the trauma field.  We believe the path to healing the effects of trauma is through healthy, good for both, relationships.  This is because trauma and toxic stress can cause very real biological changes to our nervous system and brain.  Inherent in these changes is the loss of connection to self and others limiting our ability to have healthy relationships.  Building healthy relationships mandates that we maintain regulation (calm during stress) and causes us to rebuild or reorganize healthy neural pathways in our brain.

The question of good for both gets tricky when you are learning to communicate your thoughts or needs and/or are fighting to be heard.   

That personal struggle makes it even harder for us to HEAR what the other person is fighting to communicate.  Pretty soon both are frustrated and find themselves in a bag of feral cats.   Many have said it – this is a traumatic time across the globe.  To many, our very personal economic and professional survival is being questioned.  This is trauma.  In this state, we are only using the parts of the brain that are geared towards keeping us safe and protected.   We are in fight or flight mode and may not have full access to the parts of the brain that allow us to empathize with others or think logically and thoroughly through issues.  We may only hear our own scattered and fearful thoughts screaming through our head.  Or, there is nothing at all. There are no thoughts, no fears, and no feelings.   We are completely checked out.

When survival is at stake there are no easy answers.  Even if the prescription for moving forward is given by others, we still must make decisions for ourselves, find our own answers and yes, find a way to move forward both individually and collectively.   To do this, we are required to release ourselves from that bag of teeth and claws.  But how?

STOP!  

Slow down. 

Feel your activated nervous system.  

Feel your heartbeat. 

Feel the tingles or tightness in your stomach.  

Notice your feet touching the ground. 

Start to see the details of your surrounding environment. 

Hear the sounds.  

Search for physical sensations. 

Feel the need for a deep breath and then take one.   

This is the moment when the cats in the bag realize that nobody is getting out alive unless another path is chosen.   This is the moment when we start to feel connection with ourselves.   

The journey from this point is clear, but not easy.   It goes something like this:

In order to stay calm in stressful situations, I must learn regulation skills.   In order to get good at regulation, I must practice those skills regularly so just like muscle memory, they kick in automatically when things start to get rough.  Because I am able to stay calmer for longer periods of time, I can now stay present in this current moment without fear from my past or fear for the future.  Presence in the moment allows me to better connect with my thoughts and feelings.  

This connection breeds confidence in self and allows me to ask for what I need and stay committed to being heard.   With that confidence, my need to control lessens and I am able to HEAR others without fear of losing myself or not being HEARD.   When I can really HEAR others, I start to attune to their needs and concerns and our connection grows.  Together we can start to consider what is good for both.  In this moment we have created a new healthy neural pathway that allows us to consider more than just ourselves without losing ourselves.  We are working on our healthy, good for both, relationship.

Of course, it doesn’t happen fluidly like that.   This is why a trauma-informed trainer of Natural Lifemanship and Founder of Windows To My Soul and her husband end up like two feral cats in a bag.  

Trauma happens to all of us.   Our past and current circumstances determine how we react and what we need to heal.  The process is bumpy and requires choosing a new path and sometimes it is just easier and more comfortable to stay on the current path.   Sometimes we can’t even see that a new path is necessary or possible. 

As for this cat and her husband, we had that STOP moment.  We reengaged our regulation skills and we started to HEAR each other.   We learned that both of us have very real concerns for mental health, professional and physical survival.  We decided not to attend the party.  But we will get to have the conversation of moving forward in the world of Covid-19 many more times, hopefully, a little more regulated and attuned to each other.  We have a family reunion scheduled in June. ☺

The post And I thought going into quarantine was hard… appeared first on Natural Lifemanship.