I have all but one of my lessons with Jossy Reynvoet and Bent Branderup from my last trip to Europe on video.
Back home watching the video’s my first reaction was disappointed. I could not believe how bad I was “performing”. Why was I so out of balance, why could I not walk a circle and why did I made the same mistake over and over again?
I had this “perfect” picture in my head and I was very disappointed that I was so far away from that self-image.
But by re-watching the first video several times, I was able to get myself in a different mindset. I was able to observe from a more neutral place, from a place where the observation became the lesson, with result that this one lesson became 100 lessons within itself.
I was able to let go of negative (or even sometimes positive) emotions and witness what I was doing and how the horse responded.
This gave a true sense of freedom.
The need to be perfect or to perform well is so ingrained in our lives. But the only thing it really does is limit us.
Then 3 words came up in my mind that Bent used in his theory session, Sympathy, Respect and Empathy.
If I can watch these video’s (or everything I do in life) with Sympathy, Respect and Empathy then I will “perform” from a much better place.
My videos have now become a whole on-line course in itself. So far I have only watch the first lesson with my new mind set. Let’s see if I can use my new found “neutral observations” with the rest of them.