Are You Thinking from the Shoulders Up?

Are you thinking from the shoulders up?
Our brain sits up there,
so that seems perfectly normal to answer,
“Of course, yes.”

However,
You may be short-circuiting the power of the mind!

I watched this week as young IT professional struggled
to lift his horse’s hoof.
(He was part of a group I had the honor of hosting in a Horsepowered Retreat Day here.)
It seemed a simple request and yet,
I could see,
and in fact,
even “feel” as his horse did,
that his request was not embodied.

He was thinking about the task, and
Simultaneously creating a story as to why he was not going to be successful.

Have you ever started a project or a task, thinking that the outcome was not going to be “good.” And how well did that work for you?

It wasn’t working for my young friend in this situation.
The horse, named Cadillac,
was pretty determined to stay “safe” and
keep his precious foot solidly planted,
thank you very much!

Until…
Cadillac and I were able to help our friend discover that he was “in his head.”
Before try #2…
A standing deep breath.
A reconnection to the body.
A reconnection to his horse partner
A quick visualization of success
And the man’s ask was entirely different!
It even looked different!

His body seemed to be a part of the request this time,
Even, rather unconsciously, touching the horse with his shoulder
As he bent to lift Cadillac’s hoof.

It took 10 seconds to go from failure to success.

It’s super easy to live our work days from the shoulders up
How different the day could be if
We stayed connected to our body?

Here’s the thing:
It is easier to connect to others
When we are connected to ourselves first.
Before you ask for something,