I have been watching a video by horse guru and Aikido master Mark Rashid.  Today he demonstrated a centering concept from Aikido, and showed how by centering energy at a point just below the belt buckle (about a hand’s breadth below the navel), one could become unmoveable, steady, grounded.  The reason for doing this is to connect to and develop one’s softness, rather than relying on pure strength or muscle.

So today I rode from that place and the results were really surprising.  Both Sanne and Capprichio immediately reflected to me that I was doing something different, something that allowed them to relax and focus rather than brace.  I was amazed at the difference that it made to my sitting trot and my seat.  The image that I had was that my hips and pelvis were like the bulb of a big lotus, with roots traveling down my legs into the ground, and the leaves and stem rising up from the rich nourishment of the bulb.

Rashid also suggested looking at how much effort we expend for any given task, and see if there is a way to do less – use less muscle –  and instead harness our inner softness.  I realized that almost everything that I do has a higher, more muscled vibration than is necessary, and that when I drop my awareness and breathing into my center, I can do more with less effort.

Try it!

While at Equine Affaire, I had the opportunity to hear Mark Rashid, the brilliant horseman, author and Aikido master talk about the “alpha” myth.

Here is a point that he made that I think is worth repeating (probably many times).  He said that many people think that when their horse does something that they don’t want them to do, something that we would consider disrespectful, in fact the horse is demonstrating respect.

Here is why.  The horse learns things through both intentional and inadvertant teaching.  Those “bad” behaviors are often the result of inadvertant teaching – the horse learning something that we are unconscious of, but inadvertantly reinforcing!  So when the horse does those “bad” things, they are in fact showing respect- they are doing what they have been taught!.

For me, still working to get softer, clearer and more successful with my complicated horse Amadeo, this felt like a big new window.  I am pretty sure that I have done more inadvertant teaching than intentional, or inadvertant masquerading as intentional.  And that what feels like intentional probably has a lot of unintentional lessons laced through it.

That got me to thinking about what I am inadvertantly teaching others – kids, students, even myself.  When I am not taking time to eat consciously, to do my yoga practice, or breathe, I am inadvertantly teaching myself that those things are not really important, as well as making those habits of oversight and carelessness stronger.  I am reinforcing my own “bad” – unconscious – behaviors.

How do you see it?

As a movement analyst, it has been interesting to observe Willard Mitt Romney.  There is a clear contradiction in his movement behavior – a kind of subservient aggression – a simultaneous retreat and advance in his body that is a give away to the contradiction in his wildly wavering positions.  As I watched him advance on Candy Crowley during the last debate, I was surprised by the postural retreat in his body at the same time that he was propelling himself forward with self-righteous aggression.  Romney appears posturally brittle and lacking in flow.  By contrast, the president expresses a more free flowing, connected and articulate core.

The other day I wrote about the diagnosis a horse would make of the two candidates.  Because horses are so attuned to our movement, and to the coherence or lack of in our emotional-physical expression, they can immediately sort out the truth-tellers from the liars.  They also sense danger from predators, particularly when there is a clear discordance between inner and outer.