Earlier Posts in Category 'Mind-set'

by Lori Albrough

One of my subscribers wrote to me with a question the other day. She started out by telling me that she is enjoying the eZine and appreciates getting my tips, and that she often feels inspired to follow some of the practices I share.

Her problem, she says, arises very soon into her new resolve when, despite being motivated for all the right reasons and having the very best of intentions, she finds her newly minted complaint-free status has deteriorated into a twenty minute gripe-fest, or her planned four times a day stretch breaks have not happened a single solitary time this week!

“So,” she asks, “what is up with that? I’m starting to think I just can’t change!”

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by Lori Albrough

Your success as a rider rests upon the foundation you build for yourself through your physical and mental training efforts.

Each building block that you add as you move up the levels of riding is laid upon your foundation, which needs to be stable and secure to continuously support your advancement as far up as you want to go.

I characterize a rider’s foundation as resting upon three pillars: Focus, Fundamentals, and Fitness.

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by Lori Albrough

I find the subject of happiness endlessly fascinating.

I love to reflect on what makes people happy, why we think some things will make us happy, but then they don’t, and some of the apparent paradoxes of happiness, such as how taking on a new challenge can cause a lot of discomfort — both mental and physical — in the short- and medium-term and then subsequently a lot of happiness once you’ve met the challenge, risen above, and mastered it.

In fact, over fifteen years ago, we named our Fjordhorse farm after the bird which is the symbol of happiness in poetry and song, the Eastern Bluebird. Bluebird Lane, and the Fjords which live here, have been a very big source of happiness and purpose in my life.

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by Lori Albrough

Do you ever wonder if you are getting in your own way? You know, wonder if you’re actually making things harder than they need to be?

Could you unconsciously be pushing your own success away, by expecting things to be hard (so they are)? Or maybe by needing to be in control of every little detail every step of the way before you allow things to happen (so they never do)?

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by Lori Albrough

When it comes to making a change for the positive, a lot of times we can get all fired up initially, only to come up against internal blocks or blindspots later. Or we can begin to allow external factors to drag us back down into negativity. The important thing to know about this type of work, is that you decide to do it daily.

Becoming Complaint-Free is both a practice and a process. There is no arrival. That may seem faintly discouraging, until you flip it on its head. That means there is no failure, either. We do this work because of who we are becoming in the process, not because of where we end up. So if you slip up, forgive yourself and move on. Just know that every time you succeed in not complaining, you are training yourself to look for solutions within, and to find your own power.

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by Lori Albrough

A while back I was in this seven week program on creativity, and on day one they started off by presenting us with a challenge. It was a contract to sign, and the contract said that for the forty-nine day duration, we would commit to totally giving up the following:

Complaining, Criticizing, Gossiping, and Whining.

Whoa! Stop and think about that for a moment.

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by Lori Albrough

Sometimes it’s hard not to bring your day (or your week!) with you into your interaction with your horse. You get to the barn and the irate customers, looming projects, unreasonable co-workers, and that cop who pulled you over for speeding on the way, well, they all show up with you! And maybe as your horse comes face to face with this vortex of mixed feelings, he starts giving you even more challenges to cope with!

So, I want to share with you a four-step process I have learned, that you can use before going into a situation with your horse. By following this simple process of setting intention, or mini-intention as I call it, you will change from being in a reactive position to instead creating the situation that you would prefer to have.

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by Lori Albrough

I love to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of people who inspire me!

I’m guessing you’re probably a lot like me, and want to get better at riding and communicating with your horse, play a bigger game, and stretch out of your comfort zone. So, when I see someone who rides with correctness and sensitivity, and puts the best interest of the horse first, having big success on the world stage I think it lifts us all up!

Successes like these give us a model we can all learn from. That’s why I am so excited to share today’s podcast with you. In it, I interview Canadian dressage rider Tina Irwin.

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