Happy Natural New Year!!

As we moved into 2012 - it was a natural time to reflect on the previous year and look forward to all that the newness of another year will bring.  A few of us on Parelli Connect and my local playgroup took the time to come up with a list entitled "10 Things" - 10 things we are most proud of accomplished in 2011 and 10 things we are setting as goals for 2012.   While I did post this list on PC on January 1st - I am going to post it again - one would maybe wonder why I find this exercise important enough to post twice ... but my reason is this.  I discovered last year that stating your goals and putting them out into the world for others to see, makes them easier to achieve.  If you have a goal and only you know about it - if it doesn't get accomplished, you can slide it under the rug as if it never existed in the first place!  Stating goals aloud makes me more accountable!   So here it is:

10 Accomplishments from 2011

1.    I can't remember what fear feels like!
2.    I strengthened my existing Parelli friendships and made lots of new friends!
3.    I connected with instructors and a doorway to unlimited opportunities for learning.
4.    I got better with the 45' line and learned how to use it safely.
5.    I rode with Walter Zettl.
6.    I have ridden Tido enough without a bridle that if seems "normal".
7.    I played more at Liberty than ever - not enough to be truly passionate about it, but enough to respect
          why it is an important savvy.
8.    My relationship with my horse was stronger at the end of the year than at the beginning.
9.    I learned I am an RBI (axis point) and that my Humanality isn't a negative condition.
10.  I am right where I should be.

10 Goals for 2012

1.   Work to get proper facilities at home so that my Tido can be just outside my door!
2.   Physical Fitness - improve my balance, flexibility and endurance by being savvy with myself.
3.   Learn from Walter Zettl again!
4.   Ride a flying lead change.
5.   Trailer load, at liberty, while sitting on the roof of the trailer.
6.   Ride an experienced dressage horse to gain a better understanding of how some of these more
        advance movements feel when performed correctly.
7.   Renew my old passion for jumping.
8.   Trail ride regularly with a confident Tido and a confident me.
9.   Start my young Jessie while always having her stay calm and confident.
10. Take advantage of every learning opportunity that comes my way!

Sending out all my best wishes and hopes to everyone for a peaceful, successful and fun filled 2012!

Breaking Down My Preconceptions & Assumptions

I've made it no secret that I have dealt with my weight for many, many years.  It has been the #1 thorn in my side for the last decade or so.  I know that I originally gained the weight for two main reasons ...
#1 I gave birth to a set of twins in 1999 and my life unequivocally changed forever - from being an active, working out of the house newly wed to a homebound, stay-at-home mom of two tiny babies - a drastic life change that caused me to head straight to the fridge and my exercise level to drop to almost nothing!
#2 I started dealing with some major medical issues with my reproductive system that left me in chronic pain and suffering from exhaustion 80% of the time.
So today I am in a place where the reasons that caused me to gain weight all those years ago are no longer a factor - my kids are old enough to not even require a babysitter any longer and I had a hysterectomy in 2008.  The time is right and I am ready to start pursuing the thinner, fitter body I once had.

So how to go about it.  Weight Watchers has worked for me .. somewhat.  But my reality is that certain foods, the foods that I really love, cause me digestive upset and increased cravings for unhealthy foods.  These foods, any foods are perfectly acceptable on Weight Watchers as long as they are accounted for.  But I know that they do me harm.  So for the last few months I have been searching for a weight loss program that will not only cause me to lose weight but help me identify what foods are best for my body.  Last year, the Parelli world watched as Pat & Linda slimmed to shadows of themselves on a diet Pat talked about as the "HcG Diet".   Several weeks ago, I decided that I would look into this HcG diet.   Going straight to the source,  I called the Body Shop in Pagosa Springs, Colorado for the details.   Needless to say, after some research and concluding that I wasn't going to harm myself on a 500 calorie per day diet - I signed on with Linda at the Body Shop to give it a go.  First, my inbox filled with document after document that I needed to read (the food lists by blood type is amazing and spot on for me!!).  Then just this morning a shipment arrived filled with bottle after bottle of supplements, tea, soap, toothpaste - even deodorant!!  Everything I need to get going ... and ...... I am petrified!

Why am I so nervous of this??  I am nervous of anything referred to as "all natural".  My vision of anything produced naturally is that someone went out in the field, picked something that looked like weeds, ground it up, put it in pill form and expects it to be the next cure of the century.  All right - I am sceptical of the homeopathic/natureopathic movement.  My impression is that the products work "o.k" - not really very well but the consumer mentally feels better in the knowledge that they are natural.  Alternative therapies and medicines make me think that they are second best, a choice when you don't have access to the best option - that from the medical community.  So where did this mindset come from?  Why am I so sceptical of something that comes in a plain brown packaging?  I don't really know.  But I need to open my mind to the possibilities and accept that what I have done so far really hasn't worked that well - so why not?

It is the same thing with me and the red light therapy - for horses and humans.  I am sceptical maybe because it seems so easy.  And because I can't for the life of me figure out how what looks like a red Christmas tree light mounted in a flashlight can possibly make a difference to a 1200 lb animal.  But you know, I was once sceptical of Parelli too.  But I went to that first Level 1 clinic with an open mind .. and now look where I am!!  Time for me to drop the preconceptions and assumptions that block my vision and try.  Maybe while I am busy sorting supplements and getting underway with the HcG diet,  I should take the course and learn more about the red light therapy too.  Who knows maybe the outcome will be like that of my first Level 1 Parelli course and my life will be forever changed.

Wish me luck!! I don't think I'll be eating organic granola and wearing hemp clothing anytime soon, but I just might learn more about my body and what it really needs (instead of what I think it needs!).   I'll update 45 days from now and revisit this topic again!  Stay tuned!