One of the games I used to play with my ‘special’ – read emotionally unstable – dog, Lani, was the ‘switch up, switch down’ game. I’d play something fun and exciting – tug or a racing about game – then I’d stop. I’d invite her over to sit with me, and wait for her to […]
A lot of what I teach in lessons is essentially: How to change muscle tension that’s hard to shift; reliably for yourself. How to get a joint or area moving that doesn’t like to move, that’s guarded from pain, past or present. What you are doing in these cases is teaching your nervous system. That
Hands up who’s overdone it in the garden? Is it inevitable? No, but it needs to be thought about differently
When I see people trying to sort out their pain, I see them making their lives harder. Doing core exercises. Correcting their posture. Going to endless appointments to be fixed. This is what I did for a long time too. I was following advice. It was stuff that ‘made sense’, but it was always more
It is easy to get stuck in the serious business of trying to relieve your pain. Like: Training one abdominal muscle to fire more quickly ‘Correcting’ your posture. Doing a exercise you hate because it is supposed to help. But how do mammals learn best? Through play! Getting out of pain* involves a lot of learning
I was reading a post from a reward based horse trainer the other day (I don’t have a horse, but I love watching happy horses enjoying their training) This trainer wanted to improve her jumping position, but was struggling. It’s all over in a moment, so it’s tricky to make changes! So, she applied her
