Tellington TTouch Training™

From Linda's Desk

Linda Tellington-Jones, PhD (Hon)

TTEAM Connections Volume 11 Issue 3 July-September 2009

I’ve spent seven heavenly weeks at home in Hawaii after 110 days on the road feeling incredibly inspired by the remarkable quality of people who are drawn to TTouch. I was very impressed by our practitioners in South Africa and Germany and Virginia and New Jersey, and thrilled by the work so many are doing in shelters and with rescue groups. And I very much enjoyed the participants who came to my weekends for TTouch for You in Virginia and Minneapolis. I will share some of their experiences in this report.

I sit here on my computer on an island that is the farthest from a continent of any island in the world, and yet I feel so close to all of you who read these words and who TTouch the lives of animals and their people on all the parts of the world. Amazing! We are really making a difference in the world. I feel like I live vicariously through the activities of so many of you! And thanks to the internet we can stay in close touch while spanning the world.

This following article was recently sent to me and it's evidence of the value that the Heart- Math Institute's EmWave can have for riders learning to control their breath and heart coherence.

An example will follow this Swedish study.

Horses React to Human Heart Rates, Study Finds

by: Nancy Zacks

July 01 2009, Article # 14464     Reprinted from The Horse.com

An increase in a human's heart rate affects the heart rate of the horse they are leading or riding, researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences recently reported.

Linda Keeling, Ph.D., and colleagues tested horses and riders to see if humans inadvertently communicate fear and anxiety to horses. Using heart rate as a fear indicator, the re- searchers asked 20 people with varying levels of horse experience to walk and ride 10 horses from Point A to Point B four times. The researchers told participants an umbrella would open as they rode or led the horse on the fourth pass. The umbrella never opened, but heart rates in both horses and humans increased during the fourth trip between the points, when the human expected the umbrella to open.

"The increase in the horses' heart rates probably means that they are more alert and prepared to react to any potential danger," Keeling said. "In the wild, horses are adapted to respond to other animals in their group. A startle reaction is more likely when the horse is very alert."

If you are a nervous person leading or riding a horse, your nervousness might increase the likelihood of the "spook" that you are anxious to avoid. The study, "Investigating horse-human interactions: the effect of a nervous human," was published in the July 2009 issue of The Veterinary Journal.

A Rider Uses The EmWave To Encourage Regular Breathing

TTouch Practitioner Pam Woolley is a very modern riding instructor in Middleburg, Virginia. On the last day of my TTEAM Training at Pam's in May, I asked her to show me some of her high-tech teaching aids. One of her student's Kim Ginn, demonstrated the pocket-size EmWave that measures heart coherence and wrote me the following re- port:

Kim Ginn's e-mail: Being in professional services, I am a very busy person who is often pulled in many different directions at work depending on the needs of my clients. I love this aspect of my job, however, it brings along stress and distraction which does not carry over well into my equine world.

One of the most amazing talents of a riding instructor is to recognize when his/her students are not breathing....it is so funny to me that so many riders need a reminder from their instructors to breathe.... breathing is such a natural thing for most of us! It is more amazing to me how much this affects the horses....who is to blame them? When riders don't breathe their bodies get clenched and what horse wants a super clenched human pinching their backs at a trot? I, for one,   was not doing a good job of leaving work at work and carry a lot of stress into my riding....and for some reason I could not ask for a trot and breathe all at the same time! Pam has been working with me on breathing and heart coherence (doing heart hugs which I really enjoy) and recently started using the EmWave in our lessons. The EmWave allows me to work on my breathing and get into heart coherence before I ride and monitor my coherence during lessons. My horse, Sunny, really appreciates it too --   It is so amazing that once I breathe and my body relaxes that Sunny does as well. How about that? We have been especially successful in using the ear piece and riding with the EmWave in my pocket. I can hear the dings and dongs and know that I am breathing well.....if I don't hear them then it is a reminder to work on my breathing. Also, this allows me to see how Sunny reacts when we are in and out of coherence.   This is a great lesson for all riders to experience.

Pam will be demonstrating some of her high tech tips at the CELLebration!

Victory

I just received great news from TTouch Prac 3 for Companion Animals, Pam Wanveer who lives just a couple of miles up the road from the White House. She had attended a hearing that concerns us all. Some of you may not be aware that in many states it is illegal for anyone other than a veterinarian to do anything that affects an animal - any animal - mentally, physically or emotionally. This does not make sense because the way it is written would prevent dog groomers, and trainers, not just massage therapists from practicing. We have never had a problem but there has been much concern about it. When the law was first passed I, along with several others, did everything possible to alert owners to the problem, to no avail. We finally had to give up. Now we have good news. Pam said The Institute for Justice has offered to help anyone who is cited. Read on:

Yesterday I went to a hearing about Mercedes Clemens's right to massage animals in the state of Maryland. She had received a "cease and desist" order from both the Maryland Veterinary Medical Board and the Maryland Chiropractic Board (they oversee Massage Therapy here in Maryland). Mercedes found the Institute for Justice to help her, a civil liberties law firm who "Simply put, we challenge the government when it stands in the way of people trying to earn an honest living".

When Mercedes, with the help of   the Institute for Justice, filed suit challenging the order, the Maryland Veterinary Board backed down immediately but the Chiropractic Board pursued and for 17 months would not rescind the "cease and desist" order even though they admitted in writing and verbally that they had no jurisdiction over animals. Yesterday the Judge made a "Summary Judgment" that Mercedes has the right to massage animals in Maryland. That her Massage license covers people only not animals. This does not mean that the Chiropractic Board can't appeal, they really were not happy with this decision, but this decision will make it more difficult for them to proceed to try and hinder her right to work with animals.

The Institute for Justice is open to helping others, like us, to practice what we do. I spoke with the lawyers representing Mercedes yesterday and they said that if I should be challenged, give them a call and they would be happy to represent me which is like a breath of fresh air. We still need to watch our wording so as not to cross the Veterinary Boards line but I think we have found a friend in the Institute for Justice. The Institute for Justice is a national non-profit organization.

This ruling does not change the problematic language of the definition of the Maryland Veterinary Practice Act, and the Practice Acts of other states, but it is a HUGE step in the right direction toward having the freedom to choose what we wish for our animals. The fact that the Maryland Veterinary Board backed down when challenged is a good sign. The Institute for Justice has a national reputation so I think that helped too.