My Lesson in Relaxing

Success! I started the New Year off with something that was going to be very challenging for me- a vacation.  No work, no plans, and not a thing in the world to do.  I had to work very hard to let go of worry, anxiety, guilt of not working, and the need to be moving, working, and planning.  At the beginning of last summer I made it a point to give myself one day a week off from teaching and riding and now I’ve successfully completed a five day vacation!

Believe it or not I actually learned a lot from the people who live and work on the island of St. Lucia, rather than other vacationers, about relaxing.  The beautiful people of St. Lucia live on “island time.”  Island time means you have all the time in the world to get done whatever it is that needs to be done and you therefore never have to worry or fret because things will be done when they get done.  No worries.  I don?t mean to imply that they don?t work hard or
efficiently- they most certainly do!  Perhaps they are so efficient because they are not burdened with the worry or fear of not accomplishing their tasks.  When their work is completed they know how to truly soak up and enjoy their down time. Read more

Putting it to the Test

One of my big personal goals in 2009 was to give myself a day off and learn how to relax and to let go of the guilt of not working.  Well so far I’ve gotten much better about at least taking a couple of hours in the afternoons on my day off to rest, read, and take time to myself.  But 2010 is going really test my ability to let go, relax, not work, and not feel guilty.

I am starting the New Year with a vacation. Sigh. Now that might sound fabulous to most people but it is really going to be a challenge for me.  Especially because I’ve already caught myself going online and trying to plan activities (like riding a horse on the beach, does anyone truly believe that I can go five days without getting on a horse?!) and things to do  while I spend a few days at a relaxing resort on the beach. I will probably be the only one up at 5am looking for something to do rather than simply enjoying the fact that I can sleep in, not have to put on ten layers of clothes and hike down the barn through a foot of blowing snow and feed horses in single digit weather. What is wrong with me? Why can’t I just sit still, not plan, and just be? Read more

Choice

Life itself is not a choice. We didn’t choose to be born and we don’t get to choose when we die. What we can do, is choose everything else in between. We can choose our job. We can choose where we live. We can choose our friends and lovers.  We can choose to smile and not frown. We can choose to laugh and not cry.  We can choose to be grateful and not complain.  We can choose to see the bright side instead of the dark side.  We can choose to be helpful and to be friendly.  We can choose to follow our dreams and make them come true.  We can choose to be confident and inspired and happy and joyful and kind and enthusiastic and to believe.  We can choose to sing and dance and to smile.  We can choose forgiveness and love. Read more

Next On My List

This year I’ve been focusing on some personal goals.  The first goal I committed myself to over the summer was taking a day to not work, relax and rejuvenate.  I had to really work on letting go of feeling guilty for taking time to myself.  I have to admit that with practice this has gotten much easier! I really look forward to my days off now.  And what’s really great is by the end of my day off I am excited and looking forward to my work the next day.  I think I’ve found a nice balance between appreciating a day of rest and loving my work.

This fall I decided to focus on abundance.  Often my business slows down in the winter time but this year I’ve been focusing on maintaining my lessons throughout the fall and winter, on keeping a barn full of great horses in training, and keeping my fall/winter income up to par with what it is in the summer time.  In order to help myself in this department I’ve really tried to keep a positive and grateful mindset. I focus on being grateful for what I already do have, therefore attracting more like things to myself.  I have to admit, this fall I’ve had more new lesson students sign up than any other previous year.  I also have a full barn of horses in training and a barn full of above and beyond helpful and supportive friends.  Read more

Riding Lessons for Life #19

The Half Halt:
In a riding lesson that I, myself, was taking the other day, I was discussing half halts with my trainer and he said, “The most important part of the half halt is the letting go.”    The half halt is when the rider pulls back on the reins in order to slow the horse down without stopping entirely or to shorten the horses stride without losing momentum.   In either case, the rider checks the reins back for a stride, and then immediately releases the pressure on the reins.  The reason the letting go is so important in the half halt for several reasons. First of all, if the rider maintains a constant hold on the reins the horse will get annoyed, often to the point of the horse pulling against the rider’s hands in order to try to get away from the constant pressure, and the horse will learn to ignore the pressure so that it eventually becomes meaningless. Another reason letting go is so important is because we want the horse to learn to maintain its own rhythm and to go along without constant dictation from the rider. Read more

Riding Lessons For Life #18

Balancing Energy:
I’ve observed something interesting in the relationship between horses and riders.  Horses and riders create harmonious partnerships; they tend to balance one another out.  Riders that have very active, energized personalities do very well on calm, relaxed horses.  The relaxed horse needs an energized rider to get them motivated!  Riders that are very calm and relaxed themselves do well on highly energetic horses because the calm rider tends to relax the energized horse.

Balance.  The different personality types balance one another so that horse and rider are in harmony. I’ve also observed this same balance in humans.  When you’re feeling down or unmotivated, you seek out those people in your life that will energize and lift your spirits up.  When you have a hundred things happening at once in your life, you seek those that will help calm and relax you.  We all balance each other in life.  Read more

Video: Dr. Rob’s October 2009 Walk & Talk

It was a beautiful day at Claire Affleck Training on our most recent Walk & Talk presented by Dr. Rob Kiltz. If you didn’t make it that day you can watch the video’s below to enjoy the spirit of the day.

PART 1:

PART 2:

PART 3:

PART 4:

Transcription: Read more

My Progress Report

I have been maintaining my focus on abundance, gratitude, and taking a day to relax, rejuvenate and let go.   Before I share some fun stories about my focus on abundance I’d just like to say that the past couple of Monday’s I have been very good at taking some time to relax.  I read a great book and took naps!  As with anything, its practice, practice, practice and the more and more I take time for myself on Mondays the more habitual it becomes.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my latest focus being on abundance and gratitude.  Well, I must say that the past couple of weeks have been amazing!  I’d like to share with you some fun examples of what has happened in my life since I’ve been really taking the time to focus my energy, my thoughts, and my intentions on abundance.  Read more

Surround yourself with love

Each day we choose who we surround ourselves with.  By emitting a positive, loving energy we in turn, attract other people who are also positive and loving to be around us.  Being surrounded by loving people gives us comfort and support, through our all of our ups and downs in life.  When we have this loving sense of community it provides us with an overwhelming sense of peace, harmony, and well being.

We can build our communities of love all around us, each day.  Our families are one loving community that we belong to.  Families love, comfort and support us unconditionally.  It is important to foster family bonds, but we often get so busy with our daily routines that we neglect to do this.  Take time out today to call or write a family member that you haven’t spoken to recently and let them know you are thinking of them and that you love them.  It’s guaranteed to bring a  smile to their face!   Plan a family dinner or family reunion to bring everyone together. Read more

My status update

Awhile back I wrote on vowing to value my time off, vowing to take one day a week to rest (Monday), vowing to relax and be rejuvenated for the upcoming week.  I’m going to be honest here. Within 48 hours of writing that article, I broke my vow.  But, I didn’t let myself feel bad about it.  Since then, I have been better about truly taking a day to rest.  The most challenging part is letting go of the guilt that I feel for NOT working, however I consciously make an effort to let that go and I am proud of the progress I’ve made in that department.

Now I am working on focusing on ABUNDANCE in life.  Although my business is equipped to continue through the winter, things often slow down a bit when the weather gets cold and the snow begins to fly.  It becomes harder for people to travel in winter conditions, money becomes tight with the upcoming holidays, kids are busy with school and school related activities, and not to mention that it is pretty darn cold in the barn!  So the trick is for me to think of abundance of business throughout the winter and the entire year.  Each time I start to get that negative or nervous feeling in my gut about it I take a deep breath and tell myself, “Don’t think that I am “lacking” think  that I have an “abundance” and the Universe will deliver that to me.” Read more