The Biology of Perception and The Psychology of Change Retreat will be taking place next month in San Francisco.
Fondly known as the Rob and Bruce Show, this 4 day workshop will feature meta learning about the biology of perception and the psychology of change as presented by Rob Williams, the originator of PSYCH-K, and Dr. Bruce Lipton, pioneer, researcher and author of The Biology of Belief.
Discoveries in cell biology, epigenetics and physics suggest that we are not victims of our genes but instead have an unlimited capacity to live a life overflowing with health, happiness and success. Infusing his pioneering stem cell research with insights from frontier cell biology, quantum physics and fractal mathematics, Lipton argues that our thoughts, attitudes and beliefs create the conditions of our body and our place in the world.
Williams further inspires the audience as he shares a simple yet profound process that allows you to identify and change beliefs at the subconscious level of mind. This process is known as PSYCH-K and as an Advanced PSYCH-K Instructor, it is near and dear to my heart.
Below are two links to the interviews done by Doug Parks, one with Rob Williams and one with Bruce Lipton.
Interview with Bruce – Press Ctrl and Click to follow link
Interview with Rob – Press Ctrl and Click to follow link
Enjoy.
My dear friend Kim McElroy and I just returned from our Drawn to Wild Horses workshop benefiting the wild horses and burros at Return to Freedom, located in Lompoc, California. I admit to feeling like I got most of the benefits 
We had so many incredible experiences that I didn’t know which one to write about first, however… yesterday, while humming and hawing, I got an email from Lee Harrigan, a member of the Drawn to Wild Horses human herd, and in it she shared a photo she took of one of the masterpieces she created while at RTF. This particular piece is an example of the kind of visual expression that can be created using one of my favourite expressive arts activities called Leonardo’s Device. As I upload my photos from the trip I will share more examples of how Leonardo inspired us, inviting our creative nature to run free in the company of wild horses.
Visual images have always been an important part of how we communicate and they have often been used as a form of language in many cultures. The use of images as words birthed the long history of using art to tell stories. By nature, we are storytelling beings. To be human is to have a story to tell. The images we create are reflections of our experiences, of ourselves, and contain the stories of our lives.
LEONARDO’S DEVICE
The Leonardo Device is a deceptively simple technique that can help us tap into the creative and healing images of our own stories. The device came to Leonardo one day when he was looking at a wall spotted with stains and cracks. The lines and shapes inspired him to imagine landscapes with mountains, rivers, rocks and trees, and fantasy scenes with strange figures and faces. Leonardo observed that these random lines and shapes on the wall were like the sounds of bells in whose ringing one might hear a word or name. When I describe this technique to children, I akin it to looking for pictures in the clouds, a game so many of us played while growing up. What Leonardo discovered was a way to enter and use the unconscious as a creative source for spontaneity, self-expression, and inner knowing. This technique can help us reconnect with our wellspring of intuition and imagination, symbolic and synchronous images, and our artistic creativity even if we have never created with art materials before.
Feel free to experiment with a variety of media. I used pastel for the first time during Drawn to Wild Horses and I just loved the way the colour could be blended and added to. Such a freeing media and so tactile and fun.
If you’re like me, you’ll find that after doing just one Leonardo, you’ll never look at things the same way for every surface or pattern contains imagery. It is also interesting to pay attention to whether or not the same images appear over and over… do the images relate to each other in a certain way… is there a recurring theme in what you see or is there a life span to certain images? Have fun becoming a child again and make art for the pure joy of it – and if you can get creative in the company of horses… well how does it get better than that?
My friend Kim McElroy and I have just finalized our outline for Drawn to Wild Horses taking place this September at Return to Freedom: The American Wild Horse Sanctuary. We’re so excited to be returning to this amazing sanctuary and for me personally, I can’t wait to see how much the Choctaw babies have grown.
Kim just sent me an email from a lady who wants to come to the class but wonders if her lack of art training would exclude her from the roster. She said she can’t even draw a stick figure but… ” it sounds like such a neat experience, just to be in the presence of the horses in their truly natural state and to watch what inspiration and flights of imagination that brings up. I bet it will be a fabulous experience for those in attendance.”
Kim replied, “Well guess what — you don’t even have to know how to draw stick figures to “qualify” for this class – a love of horses is the only prerequisite – that and the willingness to open your imagination to the wonder of being a child again in the company of wild horses, just like Carolyn Resnick’s Naked Liberty stories… ”
So for those of you who are drawn to wild horses and feel your heart stirring at the idea of letting your creative spirit run free in their company, please know that NO ART or horse experience is required – WE PROMISE
There will be a wide range of expressive and creative activities designed to deepen the experiences we have with the horses and without fail, no matter how we feel about our creative “abilities”, by the end of our 4 days, we will have created inspired and inspiring masterpieces that reflect the beauty of the horses, and also the beauty within ourselves.
Here is a link to an album from our Drawn to Horses Workshop here at Chiron’s Way this June and below are a few photos to show what fun we had.
It seems the Buck is not stopping here.
Having spoken with the film team about release dates for Canada, they inform me that the film has not been picked up here by a distributor, and until it is, it can’t be shown.
BUT…
THERE IS HOPE IF YOU WANT TO SEE THIS FILM…
My friend Carla Webb just sent me an email, letting me know that the film is being shown in Bellingham at the Pickford Film Center as we speak. We are planning a road trip tomorrow, July 26th, and hope you’ll be able to join us. Here is the link for the show times. Thanks Carla!
I went to a confidence building clinic with Xen and Chiron a few weeks ago. The flyer talked about trust and understanding – 2 things I’m all for. What I wasn’t ready for was the aggressive way the clinician handled Xen during the round pen demonstration.
Xen was confused by the clinician’s methods and tried to jump out of the too tiny circle. I watched in horror as he got tangled in the 6 foot panels with one hind leg and one foreleg stuck between the bars. He dangled there patiently for over 5 minutes while an exit plan was devised. When the panels were unhinged, they all flipped over and Xen extricated himself from his prison. He had some lacerations but by all accounts, it was a miracle he did not break his legs.
Last night I received an email from the sponsor of the clinic outlining a perspective that is in stark contrast to mine. I saw a horse who was confused by contradiction and violence. She saw a horse who left the round pen not because he was scared but because he saw it as an easy way out. She continued to say that when we came to Xen’s rescue we did him a huge disservice by getting him free, fixing him up and then not addressing the situation that caused him to jump in the first place.
I know there many opinions about how to work and BE WITH horses but I don’t understand how someone can think that a horse who chooses to leave in the face of violence instead of meeting it with the same is unworthy of our care? I’m saddened that round pens are being used as mini coliseums and hope that one day soon, more and more people will hold their thumbs up so the voice of the horse can be heard.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
P.S. When I went out to share how I was feeling with Xen, he stood tall and looked into my eyes. In his great exhale I heard, “Being hopeful is an intuitive call. Do what feels right in the service of love and only then can you beat the odds.”
When the native peoples of America’s southwest were relocated from their homelands in the late 1800′s, they traveled a route that the Choctaw people called The Trail of Tears. The Choctaw were amongst those who were transferred and they traveled this sorrowful trail on and with their beloved horses.
There are very few Choctaw horses remaining and organizations like Return to Freedom are doing their best to preserve the breed, which as you can see by this photo, they are very happy about
Click here to learn more about the Choctaws and Return to Freedom.
Although I can’t reveal the entire article yet, I wanted to share the beginning of The Wind Horse’s Prayer, which will be published in the summer edition of Horses in Art Magazine. I had lots of fun with this story as I reflected back to my time at Return to Freedom: America’s Wild Horse Sanctuary in June of 2008. The horses there were unlike any I had ever met and I hope to get back to visit them again this fall.
Here is the beginning of the story – I hope you enjoy it.
Warmly, Sandra
… Return to Freedom… Don’t you just feel your heart skip a beat when you read those words? Mine sure did, and does, for I know within the loving and protective embrace of America’s Wild Horse Sanctuary awaits the stuff that dreams are made of… MUSTANGS! So when I read about Tony Stromberg’s photography workshop there in June of 2008, I knew I had to go.
Interestingly enough, though I knew the story of Spirit the Kiger Mustang, and had seen pictures of Freedom, a poster horse for equine power and beauty, I was unexpectedly drawn to a breed of horse I had never heard of. The Choctaw horses, also known as the Trail of Tears ponies.
My husband would tell you there was nothing unexpected about it. He would tell you that once I discovered there was a connection between actor and renaissance man Viggo Mortensen and the Choctaw horses, there was no reining me in. I will admit to some kernel of truth in his words but what really caught my heart were stories of the relocation of America’s native peoples along what came to be called the Trail of Tears, and a touching Choctaw Legend I read online…
Here we go! New website and a Facebook Fan page. Please click the link above and then the [Like] button on my Facebook page to connect with me.
