St. Lawrence Stables was proud to host Lisa Eklund this past weekend for a clinic on Mindfulness while riding. Her teaching on breath work, body scan, deep connection between horse/rider, mindful riding and more created major “ah-ha” moments for each rider and auditor during their time with Lisa on Saturday. Our riders now have new tools in their tool box to use while riding at home and in competition, and a new outlook on their time in the saddle. What a great day of barn friends, excellent conversations and new learning! We highly recommend her to every discipline of riding!

By signing up with the program, I was hoping to become more present and aware with my riding and with my horse. I was hopeful to work on not being such a perfectionist and accepting where we were at, in peace. I feel I have gained a better acceptance for being where I am at with my horse. I don't feel that intense stress or pressure to be perfect and honestly, I am able to enjoy my time at the barn and riding so much more. I also loved your guidance and teachings about becoming more aware and present in life and in my riding! I was able to apply many of Lisa's teachings about riding and mindfulness to my day to day and what a big help! I honestly feel like this work could benefit anyone who is struggling at enjoying their time with their horse, whether that be due to anxiety, show pressure or anything in between. Lisa's teachings go so much further than ones relationship with the horse and helps us humans turn in to ourselves to find the solution to most all of our 'issues'.

I remember telling Lisa that I thought I was doing pretty well for an old lady beginner. Her comment was keep your cup half full. Her comment really perplexed me as I thought I was being positive about my progress. It finally dawned on me that my comment was passive aggressive cup half empty. This was a turning point. No need to compare myself to others. I needed to stop making excuses about my (lack of) riding skills. I now focus more on what is getting better and on what I am actually learning. When something doesn’t go right I use it to learn from instead of put myself down. This results in less stress (mentally and physically) and a lot more fun as I learn to ride AND in everyday life. Concrete results- I see the progress in myself and my horse and continue to have a blast! On the days when things aren’t going well, or there is a frustration, feelings of doubt, I remind myself, “cup half full” which keeps me from falling into a funk of hopelessness and/or failure. I am more relaxed, less self-conscious, laugh more and am a much happier rider person. Thanks Lisa!

My main problem is self-confidence. The feeling that I can always do better, and need to make things perfect. Also, I have anxiety when riding my leased horse in the winter/spring, when he is more “exuberant”, versus during the summer/fall when he is an angel (for the most part). I began to focus on the good or positive things and not zero in on the negative. Learned to take a deep breath and slow everything down, in order to change negative outcomes, or make them less negative (if that makes sense) . My riding has become much better, and my outlook in general. There are times I find myself using some of your techniques on others that are having a negative/depressed moment. (Think about the good things, etc.) This program would work for all types of people. It’s interesting to see how others work through their struggles each in their own way. We may all have a similar struggle, but we work through it in a different way, and that’s ok.