Personal development workshops for groups & individuals.
Workshops
Workshops
and individual instruction at Medicine Horse Ranch meet the Epona
Equestrian Services requirements for basic and advanced study. They are
facilitated by Carol Roush, Epona Advanced Facilitator (AF).
Along with the outstanding human development experiences, Medicine Horse Ranch also offers exceptional Horsemanship for Safety
and Horse Awareness skills for the beginning equestrian. If you don't
see an awareness adventure workshop on the schedule that suits your
needs, please contact Carol directly.
Customized Workshops:
If you have a group of 2 or more and you'd like to arrange a private,
customized workshop with a particular theme, please contact us and we
would be happy to discuss your needs.
We offer therapeutic workshops for special interest groups such as
mother-daughter pairs, couples in therapy, nurses, individuals
recovering from eating disorders, etc. Please call the number below,
or write to info@medicinehorseranch.com.
The Way of the Medicine Horse An Introduction to The Epona Approach
2011 Program Dates
February 3 – 8, 2011
March 10 – 15, 2011
April 7 – 12, 2011
The Way of the Medicine Horse workshop is presented by Carol Roush, LMT, AAI, and Senior Faculty Member. This is an introductory-level workshop and it meets the Epona prerequisite for individuals wishing to do advanced work at Epona, including the Apprenticeship Program. Created by best selling author Linda Kohanov, who wrote The Tao of Equus and Riding Between the Worlds. The workshop will include the following basic Epona philosophies, skills and activities:
- Message Behind the Emotions: The Emotional Message Chart - Congruent vs. incongruent emotional messages - False Self (Conditioned Personality)/Authentic Self Metaphor - Boundaries: Establishing and maintaining clear and consistent personal space - Body Scan: Full body scan to determine baseline emotional and physical state - Meet the Herd activity - Reflective Round Pen Work - Eight Essential Skills for Building Authentic Community (an introduction)
This workshop is designed to improve horse/human relationships, strengthen connection to the intuitive authentic self, and bring awareness to old survival patterns of behavior that block our natural desire to move from surviving to thriving.
Cost is $595 per person and includes lodging, meals, bottled water and workshop materials.
Sky of Mind: Exploring the Heart of Consciousness the Horses' Way
Dates: Thursday, February 17 through Sunday, February 20, 2011 Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, includes lunch.
When you become the master of your own mind, troubling thoughts come and go like clouds moving across a clear blue sky, making space for even higher, deeper, more creative forms of consciousness.
This Introductory workshop is designed to enhance and deepen self-awareness and confident presence. Through the non-verbal experiences of Holotropic Breathwork (HBW) and insightful engagement with horses, you’ll feel what living is like as an improvisational art as opposed to a conditioned formula. The workshop experiences will open doorways to Mind, Heart and Body that enhance a sense of peaceful, purposeful and joyful living that may simply be waiting for the appropriate stimulus for awakening. To manifest anything significant, you must distinguish between fantasy and imagination. Attachment to the fantasy of what life SHOULD be obscures important information in the moment, leading to disillusionment and disappointment. Imagination, on the other hand, enhances reality, not so much changing it as expanding our perception of its possibilities and revealing a higher order
HBW is a non-traditional, experiential modality for deep personal self-discovery and healing developed by Stanislov Grof, MD. HBW has been taught and practiced all over the world for over 40 years and is now combined with Equine Experiential Learning in this Epona workshop.
As a long time students of various mindfulness practices, such as Vipassana, Metta, and Eckhart Tolle’s model, the facilitators bring to the workshop a deep trust in the healing potential of expanded states of consciousness and of the innate wisdom of the Life Force within each human being, these states being activated in Holotropic Breathwork and in guided reflective and active interactions with horses. Because horses are hard-wired for states of expanded awareness and non-attachment, they can model and communicate non-judgmentally these qualities to us through their embodied presence, acting as a kind of personal mirror for our self-discovery. In the end you will find that becoming more horse-like in your thinking is a shortcut to freeing your mind from misguided habits that keep you from living your dreams. Between the time with horses and HBW, you will develop new skills for heartfelt self-awareness, self-confidence and self-soothing, and open to greater peace, balance and joy in your life.
This workshop fulfills one of the prerequisites for application to the Epona Apprenticeship Program. View the prerequisites at http://taoofequus.com/ap_prereqs.html
Cancellation Policy: Cancellation up to 30 days prior to the event start date results in a credit of one-half the workshop tuition. There is no tuition credit for a cancellation 30 days or less before the event start date.
EASE Epona Advanced Study Experience Medicine Horse Ranch Sonoita, Arizona
Week 1: March 21-27, 2011 Week 2: July 25-31, 2011
AWAKENING TO YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE THROUGH THE WAY OF THE HORSE Facilitated by Epona Approved Advanced Instructors Carol Roush and Mary Louise Gould.
This two-part advanced intensive program is an in-depth exploration of the Way of the Horse as a profound journey of self-discovery and transformation. With horses as your inspiration and guides, you will learn skills for increasing self-awareness, accessing inner peace, and developing an approach to life that enables you to live deeply and awaken to your life’s purpose .
In this program, sixteen (16) carefully chosen individuals will meet for a week on two occasions. Preference will be give to participants who resonate deeply with the Epona Approach. The sixteen (16) individuals accepted into the program will be divided into smaller groups and each group will be assigned a facilitator who will act as a guide and advisor, both at Epona and during the months between sessions. (Group facilitators are Epona Approved Instructors who have successfully completed the apprenticeship program and are actively engaged in their own practice of assisting individuals through the Way of the Horse.)
The overall theme of the program is beautifully described by Sue Monk Kidd in her book, When the Heart Waits:
“Is it possible, I asked myself, that I am being summoned from some deep and holy place within? Am I being asked to enter a passage in the Spiritual life, the journey from false self to true self? Am I being asked to dismantle old masks and patterns and unfold a deeper, more authentic self, the one I intended to be? Am I being compelled to disturb my inner universe in quest of the undiscovered being who clamors from within?”
In response to those questions, The EASE program will focus on teaching you how to take new tools and expanded self-awareness back into your life, family, relationships, and community. You will learn how to be more authentic, set healthy boundaries, and actually live from a larger perspective of who you are and what’s possible for you. You will learn how to apply these Epona principals to everyday life: congruency over conformity, authenticity over perfection, and adaptability and inquisitiveness over methodology.
The program will offer experiences in the following areas:
* Distinguishing False Self from Authentic Self Beliefs and Behaviors * Advanced Reflective Round Pen Work * Energy Boundary Work * Active Round Pen Work * Mindfulness Practices * Intuitive Communication * Horse Dancing * Consensual Leadership Techniques * Reflective Riding * Holotropic Breathwork
In the end, what horses know is that everything changes...constantly. They teach us to be mindful of the present moment, free of preoccupation and judgment. It is then that we are automatically imbued with lightheartedness; it is then that we can step far enough from our old survival beliefs and behaviors to make room for a sense of humor, self acceptance, and loving kindness that are at the core of our authentic selves. It is from this connected place within that we discover the true nature of who we are, create authentic relationships, and live in peace. In the safe and congruent environment of EASE you will have the opportunity to explore what feels emotionally, physically, spiritually, and intellectually expansive for you and become truly awake to your life’s purpose!
We will take as our texts for the program all three of Linda Kohonov’s books; The Tao of Equus, Riding Between the Worlds, and Way of the Horse, as well as Eckhart Tolle’s, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, and from the Institute of Noetic Science, Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life.
Tuition: $4560 USD
PAYMENT SCHEDULE $80 (USD) non-refundable application fee $500 (USD) deposit due upon program acceptance $1990 (USD) due February 12, 2011 $1990 (USD) due June 25, 2011
Please contact carol@medicinehorseranch.com to begin the application process for this advanced personal development program. Completion of the EASE program qualifies candidates to apply to the Epona Apprenticeship, a training program for those interested in perusing a career in Equine Experiential Learning.