September 17, 2024 • 33 mins
Christina Marz is a holistic psychologist living in Ecuador. Originally from Bavaria in Germany, Christina promotes the connection to horses for emotional healing and personal development. We talk about fighting imposter syndrome to launch an international school, why AI copy has no sparkle, and how horses read human intentions and feed our intuition.
This episode is ideal for coaches, therapists and horse lovers.
About Christina Marz:
Inspired by her own childhood experience Christina Marz has created an international school for Horse Guided Empowerment® and shares her ideas as a speaker, author and mentor.
Find Christina Marz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marzmethod/
Website https://christinamarz.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/marzmethod
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/ChristinaMarzRing/featured
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Love & sparkles,
✨Shelley
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And sometimes as a therapist or as a coach, it's
not so easy for us to detectthat in a client.
You know what is your?
What do you really want?
Do you just say that, or do youreally want that?
And the horses, no, they canread our intention.
There's a study about thatwhere horses were tested with
(00:23):
carrots.
You know, every horse isaddicted to carrots and they had
different test groups, testparticipants, and one of the
groups was told to pretend tofeed the carrot but never do
that.
And the horses knew right away.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
They just left wow, yeah, you read your mind.
Yes, they do, they do.
Hello and welcome toRediscovering Connection.
I'm Shelley and today I'm herewith Christina Mars.
I can't say I've had anyone onmy podcast thus far who uses
(01:00):
animals to reconnect withthemselves, with their clients,
with each other, so I'mdelighted to invite Christina
here with me today.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Thank you so much for this invitation.
I'm thrilled to be here and Ineed to bring you up to speed
because horses well, animals ingeneral, but horses can do so
much for us in everythingrelated to connection and
communication, so let's have funtogether.
This will be so eye-opening foryou.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Amazing.
Well, let's kind of start.
So I imagine that, bearing inmind the work that you do, you
come from a family that wasquite horsey.
You probably got into horsesfrom an early age.
Is there any truth?
Truth in that, well?
Speaker 1 (01:45):
I did come to horses from a very early age on, but
not because my family offeredthem to me and had horses, but
because my family pushed me tofind a place where I could
experience authentic connectionand calmness and belonging.
My home was quite difficult.
It was a lot of depression, alot of social anxiety and my
(02:10):
neighbor had horses.
So we lived in a tiny villagein the Bavarian countryside in
Germany and our neighbor had aherd of horses outside in a
pasture and that was my happyplace, my calm place, my, my
connection place, and that's howit started, at like age six or
seven maybe wow, so it was inyour back garden, if you like,
(02:35):
but you really chose it yourselfand was an instant connection
for you.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Did you find it kind of feel comfortable in the
presence of horses from an earlyage?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Yeah, yeah, I did, and you know that is a question
that we ask each other in thehorse world.
You know, usually it's girls,horse girls and we kind of.
We are obsessed with horses andwe all have this obsession from
a very early age on and we arediscussing and trying to find
out, like, what is it, how didwe get there?
(03:11):
And we usually have all thesepersonal stories.
But I don't know what it isthat.
You know infiltrates, you knowthis bug.
Because I did feel comfortablearound horses right away.
I had just been on a pony oncewith my grandfather, but
observing them and sitting withthem, just sitting on the fence
(03:33):
and observing them, was sopowerful and so important for me
that I never, never, everquestioned if you know that
would be safe or if I knewanything about them.
It was just I had to be aroundthe horses and it's.
I don't know if that wasbecause I was so needy, because
(03:56):
I needed that emotional unit,because horses seek harmony and
seek that connection, and maybethey reached out and kind of
like, adopted me.
I don't know, that is possible.
But yeah, it was really calmingand helpful for me from from
the first moment on and you'renow living quite far away from
(04:22):
your roots.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yes, yes.
So why don't you tell us aboutthat kind of transition and then
how this connection with horseshas kind of come side by side,
that transition, right?
Speaker 1 (04:34):
So the connection with horses really was a company
for my entire life when I wasin university.
I kind of, you know, put itaside a little bit, but it never
left me.
I just was not in contact asmuch with horses.
And then 25 years ago I came toEcuador, in South America, on
vacation and we went horsebackriding and we visited Hacienda
(04:59):
up in the mountains in the Andes, and there were wild horses.
There were so many horses andI'm like, oh my god, this is my
place, like I belong here, Ihave to be here, and we have the
same climate almost all yearround.
It's, you know, the equator,that's why it's called Ecuador,
(05:19):
and the climate only depends onthe location in the country.
So there is high mountains andthere is coastal regions, but
within that region thetemperature kind of stays the
same, so the horses can beoutside all year round in the
pasture and it was justfascinating for me.
So I did actually come back twoyears later and decided to live
(05:42):
here and I've been here eversince and now I have my own herd
.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
So, uh, I'm super happy, my childhood dream kind
of manifested here beautiful,and just what you said there
that you, you got to that placeand you thought I have to be
here, I belong here like thatactually gave me tingles,
because I just think, gosh, howblessed you are to have felt
that, to have been there andfelt this is where I need to be.
(06:12):
And I, personally, I think I'mchasing.
I'm chasing that I want to findmy, find my place, that I need
to be right.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Yeah, come to Ecuador you know there, there is a lot
about connection here and a alot of people who I mean it's
not the primary destination forexpats, but there is quite a few
expats here all over thecountry of connection when we
(06:48):
come here and the sense ofdisconnection when we go and, um
, I've I've read a little bitabout it once that there are.
Maybe you know more about this.
So there are like theseconnection points on earth where
you can actually measure theenergy that a place holds.
And Ecuador is like a fusion, amelting pot, and then Germany
is all flat in that regard.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
I've I've heard a little bit about ley lines.
I wonder if that has anythingto do with those.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Maybe I don't know a lot about it really, but, um,
you know, it just made sensewhen somebody mentioned that
that there is like energeticcenters all over the world that
have to do with connection andand Ecuador is like a, you know,
an important one, or like thisreason.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
This is really curious because I know the ones
in the UK, like there's one atGlastonbury that's on the ley
line and also St David's inWales that's on the ley line.
So I'd be curious to maybe lookinto that yeah, yeah,
interesting, and you weretalking a little bit before
about, um, the community therewhere you are, because we were
(07:56):
talking about how closeconnections is.
It is really important to ourhealth and happiness.
I'm also feeling feeling asthough you're part of a
community, that if you were justto disappear for a few days or
a week, it's like who's gonnanotice?
Who's gonna notice this?
And do you wanna speak a littlebit to that, about the
(08:18):
community that you're in?
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, so I think that community here had a huge
influence also on my, on my path, because I am I'm an introvert
and I did not really believe in,you know, what I could
accomplish or like choose amission in life or something
like that, and I never felt Iwould belong except with the
(08:43):
horses really.
And I never felt I would belongexcept with the horses really.
And then here in Ecuador, Ididn't live in an expat
community in the beginning andas a German, white, caucasian,
blonde woman with blue eyes, Istick out right.
So there's just no way to toblend in.
(09:05):
I'm taller than everybody and Icompletely look totally
different than everybody elseand and I think that helped me
to also find what else is uniqueabout me and to be, to be
bolder about.
Well, you know, I'm sodifferent anyway.
So so, you know, let me just,let me just be a little more
different in all aspects of lifeand and I believe that inspired
(09:30):
me to start, you know, forexample, working with horses and
offering coaching and therapieswith horses, when it was not
really a thing but everybodyaccepted it, nobody questioned
it for me because, oh, you know,you probably know better, or
probably it's a thing in Germany.
I'm because, oh, you know, youprobably know better or probably
it's a thing in Germany.
I'm like oh, you have no idea,but but yeah, thank you for
(09:54):
having me Right.
So it's like a prejudice, aracial prejudice, but in a
positive sense.
For me, right, I never have topresent a CV or a certificate or
you know anything.
People just assume that I knowright, because I'm German and in
Germany.
In the contrary, you need acertificate for everything.
I teach healing and coachingwith horses and my friends from
(10:15):
Germany asked me like so whogave you the permission?
I'm like I did, because it's mymethod, like I wrote, wrote it,
I developed it and and I have aworldwide and international
school.
Right now I have students inover 30 countries and they're
like but you're not a school.
Like, yes, I am, yes, I am aschool.
(10:37):
I mean, I don't know what, whatyou want a school to be, but I
have external accreditation andstudents and the process and the
and the manual and thecurriculum.
Like, what else do you want?
But?
Um, but my, my, like collegefriends, high school friends,
they, to the day, question that.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
So I think there is a huge, it has a huge part of
being here and being sodifferent that pushed me, that
kind of allowed me, you know,brought me to myself, giving me
permission and I and I do feelthat, having moved several times
(11:19):
around the world myself, I feellike in each move, I am leaning
further and further into myauthentic self, and it's like I
went back to the UK last summerand I did wonder will I be able
to be this like most authenticversion of me whilst hanging out
(11:42):
with my old friends?
Right, yes, because I thinkwhen we stay in one town and
we're um, we're constantly withpeople who knew who we were.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
We were, evolution is able to be as rapid as it can
be when we move yeah, yeah, andand like being believing in, in
yourself, I mean for everyeveryone who's like coaching or
doing therapy or developingtheir own methods.
They know that the impostersyndrome is our best friend,
(12:15):
right?
It's our constant companion.
And I think it's easier it was.
It was definitely easy for meto overcome that, or to just not
even consider it for thelongest time, because everybody
here had such a differentsituation upbringing, background
, everything that there wasreally nothing to compare to.
(12:38):
So, you know, I just did mything and then some people were
interested in it and then like,all right, then let's do this.
So that's how it.
That's how it started.
When I gave my first course, Iwas just finding, trying to find
colleagues.
I wanted to share what I hadseen and experienced with the
horses and my clients.
(12:59):
I wanted to share that withsomebody.
And, and you know, just on a athis is so amazing, who else
wants to hear this basis?
And I thought I would do itonce.
And then you know, like 28courses later, um, it's, uh,
it's, it became a thing and umit, yeah, I never anticipated
(13:23):
that.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
And you have a family in Ecuador now.
Yes, you have three kids.
I have three kids.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Yes, I'm divorced from my German husband but he
lives close by.
I have a new partner and thenmy mom came here and that was,
you know, in a sense ofconnection, that was such a game
changer, not not only in apositive way, because, uh, you
(13:57):
know, my family is really my, my, my kids, um, are really
connected.
We are, um, we are very close.
We share a lot of things and mymother is, you know, she knows
me as the old me and I know heras the old her, which is still
her.
So, so it has been reallydifficult for me to to adapt to
(14:22):
her being here and acceptingthat she is not going to change
and that for her it's, it'sreally hard to see to meet me
where I am now, because I havegrown so much like I'm not, I'm
not the same person and, uh, andthat is quite difficult for her
(14:43):
.
So, yeah, we are, are having,you know, our challenges make us
stronger.
Yes, yes, right, yeah, but youknow this whole topic about
connections and how do they formand what influences them apart
from your character, yournationality or your upbringing
(15:04):
or something.
The surroundings have such abig role in it.
And I think the main, like it,boils down to the most important
aspect of do you want to changeit like?
Do you have an innate desire ofconnecting, learning to connect
(15:29):
, feeling connected or not?
And if you don't, then reallyyou know, not even the
environment, not even a herd ofhorses, will get you there.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
So you have to want to change your style?
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Yes, yes, and then, if you want it, a herd of horses
or a couple of horses can be anamazing catalyst because they
show you your patterns.
There's a couple of of traits,of behavioral um specialties
that horses have that make themsuch an important partner in
(16:08):
these kind of interactions.
So one of them is that horseswant to live in a herd.
They are naturally made to dothis and they in the wild they
live in very big bands, like 200horses scattered over huge
terrain.
So it's not that they all likestick together, they are really
scattered and that has broughtthem to develop a special form
(16:32):
of communication which is likean emotional telepathy.
So it's not only body language,they're not observing each
other all the time.
They send out emotionalmessages and that creates an
emotional unit for the herd andthat creates an emotional unit
for the herd.
So if everybody is in harmonyand they're just grazing and
(16:55):
there is no threat, then you canfeel that within the herd.
And that is based on the heartrhythm.
Do you know anything aboutheart math?
Have you heard about thatbefore?
I've heard of it and I haven'tdelved into it very much heard
of it and I haven't delved intoit very much, yeah, so so the
heart math institute analyzesthat, our heart rhythm, and it's
(17:15):
not if it's fast or slow, it'sabout the space between each
heartbeat.
It's called heart ratevariability, no hrv.
So depending on your emotions,your, your HRV is different.
It has a very singular patternand that translates into an
electromagnetic field that canbe measured.
(17:37):
So if you are stressed oranxious, or fearful or
passionate or friendly and calmand curious, all that has a
different field.
And if you are in somebodyelse's field, you can feel this
too, and we have all experiencedit.
So, for example, if you go to adoctor's office and immediately
(17:58):
you feel like, oh god, you know,everything here is so dreadful,
kind of.
Or you walk into a hospital orinto a church and you're like,
oh, so serene and calm andwelcoming.
Right, it's because the peoplewho are there feel that way,
because of the interaction, theycreate this field.
(18:19):
And then you walk into thatfield.
So horses have a gigantic heart.
Really.
That's five times bigger thanours.
Their field is stronger thanours.
So if you come just next to onehorse, you will like you have
to adapt.
Your heart is like I'm gonna dothe same, right, because their
(18:40):
field is so strong.
And then we work with severalhorses at a time, so that could
be two, five, ten, a hundred,right?
So if you're in that field, youbenefit from that field, energy
and horses in.
Well, you know you have to makea distinction between adequate
(19:01):
living conditions andnon-adequate.
So a horse that is in a smallbox all day with no companions
and no room to move, would nothave this effect on you, right?
But a horse that is in harmonywith their herd, is calm, is
curious they are naturallycurious and is connected.
(19:23):
It's always thinking aboutwhere are the others, what are
they doing, how is everybodyfeeling for their survival, for
their safety?
And then you feel that way too.
So that gives us a foundation, aground layer on which, you know
, you plant a seed of teaching,coaching, healing, therapeutic
(19:46):
conversations, whatever it is,and it just, you know, it just
blooms because people are calm,connected, curious, they have
this, you know, connection totheir emotions, and that makes
it so powerful, right and um.
And then there's another part,which is about intention, so um,
(20:08):
and I think that is when wetalk about today's connections
and conversations.
You know, with this chat, gptand other ais, and you know all
this virtual environment.
Does it happen to you that youread a text and you know that is
written by ai?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
not yet.
I haven't.
I haven't received a text by aiyet.
No, have you no?
Speaker 1 (20:36):
yes, so sometimes you read something and it doesn't,
it doesn't transmit the sparkle,right, so it it is just like I
don't know there's no intentionin it, because it's a generic AI
created, or you know just.
(20:56):
You know just write somethingkind of text and I think that we
can, like, we can, feeleverybody's intention if we are
one-on-one.
Right, if you meet somebody,you know, you know this is, this
is going to be my bestie orweird person, but you can also
sense it in on zoom and you cansense it even in other
(21:21):
interactions.
So sometimes, um, I have, Isometimes have people who were
victims to fraud.
Right, I'm a psychotherapist, Ideal with trauma and you know
difficult moments in life.
So sometimes I have people whohave been victims to fraud and
(21:41):
all of them will say I knew itbefore, like I had this weird
feeling and then I thought youknow what, what is going on with
you?
You just don't want to spendthe money, or or you know you're
not comfortable with technologyor whatever it is, but
everybody had this feeling.
This sense of the intention isnot what it's that to be, and I
(22:07):
think it is something that wecan really, um, we can build
this, we can learn to trust it,and I believe that that is one
of the one of the most importanttraits for, you know, these
next years or decades to come,when everything you know not
even a video.
You watch a video and it's likeis that real or is it ai?
(22:31):
Is that person even real?
Is this a chat bot?
Is this written by ai?
Um, you know you can't be sure,but then you can, because you
can feel it and the horses teachus that.
So you can practice this trait,this ability, with the horses,
because they are masters inreading our intention.
(22:53):
Okay so, now I talk a lot.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Beautiful, beautiful and I know.
Speaking to Amy Lea Tamburinion an earlier podcast, we spoke
a lot about managing difficultconversations and her top point
was before you go into thatdifficult conversation, have the
intention to communicate fromthe heart, and if you do that,
(23:19):
then you will be able tocommunicate what you need to say
with the best possible outcome,because you are going into the
heart first yeah, yeah, that'slike the, the foundation of
heart math, that our emotionsinfluence everything that we're
doing.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
And it's also I mean you find that in in placebo
effects or in manifestations, orin so many parts of life where
what you believe in is gonnahappen, what you focus on will
grow.
So if the will is there, it willhappen yes, and with the horses
, that is something that theywill teach you in the blink of
(24:04):
an eye, and sometimes, as atherapist or as a coach, it's
not so easy for us to detectthat in a client.
You know what is your.
What do you really want?
Do you just say that or do youreally want that?
And the horses, no, they canread our intention.
There's a study about thatwhere horses were tested with
(24:28):
carrots.
You know, every horse isaddicted to carrots and um, and
they had different test groups,test participants, and one of
the groups was told to pretendto feed the carrot but never do
that.
And the horses knew right away.
They just left.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Wow, yeah, you read your mind.
Yes, they do, they do, they do.
Yeah, I have.
So I have a couple of closefriends who are into horses and
I, I recall one of them.
Um, their partner wouldfrequently like drop by the
stables on the way, but shecould tell if he was in a not
(25:10):
great mood.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
By the way, the horse would react when he arrived,
yes, yeah, and and then after awhile you can, you can become
one with the horse that you'reriding or engaging with because
you are part of their emotional,you know field and unit, and
they send you these messages.
Like you'll get messages liketelepathic mind reading.
(25:35):
It's, it's unbelievable, it'sreally.
It's so fascinating for me.
And then when we are in asession and I have the horses
that I know and and I'm workingwith the client there, the
horses feed me with information,like I will suddenly know
things that I wouldn't knowotherwise.
Like your intuition just opensso much and increases and gives
(26:02):
you all these different tools.
And people can, in thesesessions, learn to analyze
themselves or to get to knowthemselves better, based on the
feedback of the horses, becausesometimes, sometimes we don't
believe it right.
So you have this gut feelingand then you think you're just
(26:22):
like making it up or right, orit was just a coincidence and
you had nothing to do with it.
Like, yeah, you know they saidI manifested this, but you know
it was just a coincidence andyou had nothing to do with it.
Like, yeah, you know they saidI manifested this, but you know
it was just a coincidence.
But then, with the horses, whenyou are focusing on something
specific that is right there andit's tangible.
You know it's a 500 kilo animalthat will come or leave or look
(26:46):
at you or lay down or dosomething, and then after a
while you're like this reallycannot be a coincidence.
There has to be something thatI'm doing actively to create
these reactions around me.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
So in person, you will host individual clients and
corporates to come andexperience this for, like team
building, yeah.
And then you have clientsaround the world that you then
teach this method so they thencan host corporate teams and
individuals to benefit.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
So my main focus now is um, scaling the certification
program.
So I have a program wherepeople coaches, therapists,
horse lovers, riders can learnhow to use this method to work
with clients one-on-one or ingroup settings and I do see
clients eventually here on myfarm, but I also have a team who
(27:46):
does that.
So I'm like focusing on the onthe teaching part, to have more
people get access to this.
And you know it's like moneywise or business wise, it's not
really the smartest decision tohave 35 countries because of
time zones and you know allthose different little things.
(28:09):
But um, but for me it'ssomething that kind of you know
it sparks my joy.
I love this when somebodywrites from Egypt or from Brazil
or from Easter Island or youknow all these exotic locations.
I love meeting them and meetingtheir horses.
So I just opened it foreverybody and um, and now I have
(28:30):
to deal with the logisticsright, right.
It sounds like you're havingenormous impact in this way yeah
, yes, I think so, yes, yeah andyeah, and everybody it's.
You know, when I started, Itold you about my first course
right when I was like this isamazing.
I just want somebody to workwith me in a team because I
(28:53):
cannot have everybody who'sinterested this and helping
others and and training teamswith horses and um, yeah, it is
that is a huge satisfaction forme.
It really is.
I love that.
Yes, and also, you know,there's a, there's a second part
(29:15):
in that, um, and maybe that isit's at least as important as
the people part, because horseslove this work too, and, and by
spreading it and by creatingawareness for it, horses have a
better life, they are morerespected, they are treated in a
(29:35):
different, more empathetic way,they are getting a voice.
So, um, it boils down to it'snot a sports object.
You don't need a whip toconvince the horse that you're a
boss and that they have to dowhat you want them to do, but
you can ask them and you canlisten to them.
And when they say today is nota good day, I don't want to go
(29:59):
out today, then you better gowith that.
Because that's also somethingwhere our intuition comes in.
Every rider, every rider, hashad an accident at some point in
their life.
I guarantee that.
And almost every rider will say, and you know what, that day I
didn't want to go out, or thatday I almost didn't ride, but
(30:23):
then trainer the program, the,whatever, the other people.
So I, you know, didn't dare tostep back to change my plan and
boom, that's when it happened.
So listening to that and andbuilding that intuition is even
a safety measure for the sportspart, for the equestrian life.
(30:47):
And, um, yeah, I, just I, youknow, my mission is that every
horse person, every rider hasheard about this knows that this
at least exists.
You know, if they don't want togo into it, fine, but but they
should know that this exists.
And it's not about having, youknow, stronger hands and better
(31:07):
whips, it's about your mindsetand regulating your emotions.
That will bring your equestriangame to a different level and
then it will also teach youbeautiful, making me want to
like go out and hang out withthe horse I got you.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
As we are wrapping up this conversation, I wonder if
there's anything that you thatyou've really learned through
your connection with horses thatyou would just love to leave
some listeners with today.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
There are so many things.
There are so many things.
I think probably the mostimportant one that everybody can
use, even if they don't have ahorse in their backyard, is to
to look into any way, anytechnique to regulate emotions
and to believe what an immenseimpact that has on everything.
(32:18):
And you know some people areinto manifesting some, you know,
from boyfriends to money, todream homes, whatever.
And it all comes down to thefeeling.
If you identify the feelingthat you have, once you achieve
whatever it is you want andconcentrate on that, it will
(32:40):
happen, like it's almostimpossible for it not to
manifest in your life.
But it comes down to thatfeeling, to that emotion, and
and giving an importance to thatand regulating it and cleansing
it every once in a while.
And, you know, focusing on onwhat you want, not what you want
(33:01):
, not what you're dreading.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Yes, positive intentions, positive mindset.
Love it, christina.
It's been such a pleasure toconnect with you here.
Thank you for coming on, thankyou for being an amazing guest
and for opening our eyes andears to a very different way to
rediscover connection in ourlives.
Thank you, yes, thank you somuch for having me.
And sometimes as a therapist or as a coach, it's
not so easy for us to detectthat in a client.
You know what is your?
What do you really want?
Do you just say that, or do youreally want that?
And the horses, no, they canread our intention.
There's a study about thatwhere horses were tested with
(00:23):
carrots.
You know, every horse isaddicted to carrots and they had
different test groups, testparticipants, and one of the
groups was told to pretend tofeed the carrot but never do
that.
And the horses knew right away.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
They just left wow, yeah, you read your mind.
Yes, they do, they do.
Hello and welcome toRediscovering Connection.
I'm Shelley and today I'm herewith Christina Mars.
I can't say I've had anyone onmy podcast thus far who uses
(01:00):
animals to reconnect withthemselves, with their clients,
with each other, so I'mdelighted to invite Christina
here with me today.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Thank you so much for this invitation.
I'm thrilled to be here and Ineed to bring you up to speed
because horses well, animals ingeneral, but horses can do so
much for us in everythingrelated to connection and
communication, so let's have funtogether.
This will be so eye-opening foryou.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Amazing.
Well, let's kind of start.
So I imagine that, bearing inmind the work that you do, you
come from a family that wasquite horsey.
You probably got into horsesfrom an early age.
Is there any truth?
Truth in that, well?
Speaker 1 (01:45):
I did come to horses from a very early age on, but
not because my family offeredthem to me and had horses, but
because my family pushed me tofind a place where I could
experience authentic connectionand calmness and belonging.
My home was quite difficult.
It was a lot of depression, alot of social anxiety and my
(02:10):
neighbor had horses.
So we lived in a tiny villagein the Bavarian countryside in
Germany and our neighbor had aherd of horses outside in a
pasture and that was my happyplace, my calm place, my, my
connection place, and that's howit started, at like age six or
seven maybe wow, so it was inyour back garden, if you like,
(02:35):
but you really chose it yourselfand was an instant connection
for you.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Did you find it kind of feel comfortable in the
presence of horses from an earlyage?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Yeah, yeah, I did, and you know that is a question
that we ask each other in thehorse world.
You know, usually it's girls,horse girls and we kind of.
We are obsessed with horses andwe all have this obsession from
a very early age on and we arediscussing and trying to find
out, like, what is it, how didwe get there?
(03:11):
And we usually have all thesepersonal stories.
But I don't know what it isthat.
You know infiltrates, you knowthis bug.
Because I did feel comfortablearound horses right away.
I had just been on a pony oncewith my grandfather, but
observing them and sitting withthem, just sitting on the fence
(03:33):
and observing them, was sopowerful and so important for me
that I never, never, everquestioned if you know that
would be safe or if I knewanything about them.
It was just I had to be aroundthe horses and it's.
I don't know if that wasbecause I was so needy, because
(03:56):
I needed that emotional unit,because horses seek harmony and
seek that connection, and maybethey reached out and kind of
like, adopted me.
I don't know, that is possible.
But yeah, it was really calmingand helpful for me from from
the first moment on and you'renow living quite far away from
(04:22):
your roots.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yes, yes.
So why don't you tell us aboutthat kind of transition and then
how this connection with horseshas kind of come side by side,
that transition, right?
Speaker 1 (04:34):
So the connection with horses really was a company
for my entire life when I wasin university.
I kind of, you know, put itaside a little bit, but it never
left me.
I just was not in contact asmuch with horses.
And then 25 years ago I came toEcuador, in South America, on
vacation and we went horsebackriding and we visited Hacienda
(04:59):
up in the mountains in the Andes, and there were wild horses.
There were so many horses andI'm like, oh my god, this is my
place, like I belong here, Ihave to be here, and we have the
same climate almost all yearround.
It's, you know, the equator,that's why it's called Ecuador,
(05:19):
and the climate only depends onthe location in the country.
So there is high mountains andthere is coastal regions, but
within that region thetemperature kind of stays the
same, so the horses can beoutside all year round in the
pasture and it was justfascinating for me.
So I did actually come back twoyears later and decided to live
(05:42):
here and I've been here eversince and now I have my own herd
.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
So, uh, I'm super happy, my childhood dream kind
of manifested here beautiful,and just what you said there
that you, you got to that placeand you thought I have to be
here, I belong here like thatactually gave me tingles,
because I just think, gosh, howblessed you are to have felt
that, to have been there andfelt this is where I need to be.
(06:12):
And I, personally, I think I'mchasing.
I'm chasing that I want to findmy, find my place, that I need
to be right.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Yeah, come to Ecuador you know there, there is a lot
about connection here and a alot of people who I mean it's
not the primary destination forexpats, but there is quite a few
expats here all over thecountry of connection when we
(06:48):
come here and the sense ofdisconnection when we go and, um
, I've I've read a little bitabout it once that there are.
Maybe you know more about this.
So there are like theseconnection points on earth where
you can actually measure theenergy that a place holds.
And Ecuador is like a fusion, amelting pot, and then Germany
is all flat in that regard.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
I've I've heard a little bit about ley lines.
I wonder if that has anythingto do with those.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Maybe I don't know a lot about it really, but, um,
you know, it just made sensewhen somebody mentioned that
that there is like energeticcenters all over the world that
have to do with connection andand Ecuador is like a, you know,
an important one, or like thisreason.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
This is really curious because I know the ones
in the UK, like there's one atGlastonbury that's on the ley
line and also St David's inWales that's on the ley line.
So I'd be curious to maybe lookinto that yeah, yeah,
interesting, and you weretalking a little bit before
about, um, the community therewhere you are, because we were
(07:56):
talking about how closeconnections is.
It is really important to ourhealth and happiness.
I'm also feeling feeling asthough you're part of a
community, that if you were justto disappear for a few days or
a week, it's like who's gonnanotice?
Who's gonna notice this?
And do you wanna speak a littlebit to that, about the
(08:18):
community that you're in?
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, so I think that community here had a huge
influence also on my, on my path, because I am I'm an introvert
and I did not really believe in,you know, what I could
accomplish or like choose amission in life or something
like that, and I never felt Iwould belong except with the
(08:43):
horses really.
And I never felt I would belongexcept with the horses really.
And then here in Ecuador, Ididn't live in an expat
community in the beginning andas a German, white, caucasian,
blonde woman with blue eyes, Istick out right.
So there's just no way to toblend in.
(09:05):
I'm taller than everybody and Icompletely look totally
different than everybody elseand and I think that helped me
to also find what else is uniqueabout me and to be, to be
bolder about.
Well, you know, I'm sodifferent anyway.
So so, you know, let me just,let me just be a little more
different in all aspects of lifeand and I believe that inspired
(09:30):
me to start, you know, forexample, working with horses and
offering coaching and therapieswith horses, when it was not
really a thing but everybodyaccepted it, nobody questioned
it for me because, oh, you know,you probably know better, or
probably it's a thing in Germany.
I'm because, oh, you know, youprobably know better or probably
it's a thing in Germany.
I'm like oh, you have no idea,but but yeah, thank you for
(09:54):
having me Right.
So it's like a prejudice, aracial prejudice, but in a
positive sense.
For me, right, I never have topresent a CV or a certificate or
you know anything.
People just assume that I knowright, because I'm German and in
Germany.
In the contrary, you need acertificate for everything.
I teach healing and coachingwith horses and my friends from
(10:15):
Germany asked me like so whogave you the permission?
I'm like I did, because it's mymethod, like I wrote, wrote it,
I developed it and and I have aworldwide and international
school.
Right now I have students inover 30 countries and they're
like but you're not a school.
Like, yes, I am, yes, I am aschool.
(10:37):
I mean, I don't know what, whatyou want a school to be, but I
have external accreditation andstudents and the process and the
and the manual and thecurriculum.
Like, what else do you want?
But?
Um, but my, my, like collegefriends, high school friends,
they, to the day, question that.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
So I think there is a huge, it has a huge part of
being here and being sodifferent that pushed me, that
kind of allowed me, you know,brought me to myself, giving me
permission and I and I do feelthat, having moved several times
(11:19):
around the world myself, I feellike in each move, I am leaning
further and further into myauthentic self, and it's like I
went back to the UK last summerand I did wonder will I be able
to be this like most authenticversion of me whilst hanging out
(11:42):
with my old friends?
Right, yes, because I thinkwhen we stay in one town and
we're um, we're constantly withpeople who knew who we were.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
We were, evolution is able to be as rapid as it can
be when we move yeah, yeah, andand like being believing in, in
yourself, I mean for everyeveryone who's like coaching or
doing therapy or developingtheir own methods.
They know that the impostersyndrome is our best friend,
(12:15):
right?
It's our constant companion.
And I think it's easier it was.
It was definitely easy for meto overcome that, or to just not
even consider it for thelongest time, because everybody
here had such a differentsituation upbringing, background
, everything that there wasreally nothing to compare to.
(12:38):
So, you know, I just did mything and then some people were
interested in it and then like,all right, then let's do this.
So that's how it.
That's how it started.
When I gave my first course, Iwas just finding, trying to find
colleagues.
I wanted to share what I hadseen and experienced with the
horses and my clients.
(12:59):
I wanted to share that withsomebody.
And, and you know, just on a athis is so amazing, who else
wants to hear this basis?
And I thought I would do itonce.
And then you know, like 28courses later, um, it's, uh,
it's, it became a thing and umit, yeah, I never anticipated
(13:23):
that.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
And you have a family in Ecuador now.
Yes, you have three kids.
I have three kids.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Yes, I'm divorced from my German husband but he
lives close by.
I have a new partner and thenmy mom came here and that was,
you know, in a sense ofconnection, that was such a game
changer, not not only in apositive way, because, uh, you
(13:57):
know, my family is really my, my, my kids, um, are really
connected.
We are, um, we are very close.
We share a lot of things and mymother is, you know, she knows
me as the old me and I know heras the old her, which is still
her.
So, so it has been reallydifficult for me to to adapt to
(14:22):
her being here and acceptingthat she is not going to change
and that for her it's, it'sreally hard to see to meet me
where I am now, because I havegrown so much like I'm not, I'm
not the same person and, uh, andthat is quite difficult for her
(14:43):
.
So, yeah, we are, are having,you know, our challenges make us
stronger.
Yes, yes, right, yeah, but youknow this whole topic about
connections and how do they formand what influences them apart
from your character, yournationality or your upbringing
(15:04):
or something.
The surroundings have such abig role in it.
And I think the main, like it,boils down to the most important
aspect of do you want to changeit like?
Do you have an innate desire ofconnecting, learning to connect
(15:29):
, feeling connected or not?
And if you don't, then reallyyou know, not even the
environment, not even a herd ofhorses, will get you there.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
So you have to want to change your style?
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Yes, yes, and then, if you want it, a herd of horses
or a couple of horses can be anamazing catalyst because they
show you your patterns.
There's a couple of of traits,of behavioral um specialties
that horses have that make themsuch an important partner in
(16:08):
these kind of interactions.
So one of them is that horseswant to live in a herd.
They are naturally made to dothis and they in the wild they
live in very big bands, like 200horses scattered over huge
terrain.
So it's not that they all likestick together, they are really
scattered and that has broughtthem to develop a special form
(16:32):
of communication which is likean emotional telepathy.
So it's not only body language,they're not observing each
other all the time.
They send out emotionalmessages and that creates an
emotional unit for the herd andthat creates an emotional unit
for the herd.
So if everybody is in harmonyand they're just grazing and
(16:55):
there is no threat, then you canfeel that within the herd.
And that is based on the heartrhythm.
Do you know anything aboutheart math?
Have you heard about thatbefore?
I've heard of it and I haven'tdelved into it very much heard
of it and I haven't delved intoit very much, yeah, so so the
heart math institute analyzesthat, our heart rhythm, and it's
(17:15):
not if it's fast or slow, it'sabout the space between each
heartbeat.
It's called heart ratevariability, no hrv.
So depending on your emotions,your, your HRV is different.
It has a very singular patternand that translates into an
electromagnetic field that canbe measured.
(17:37):
So if you are stressed oranxious, or fearful or
passionate or friendly and calmand curious, all that has a
different field.
And if you are in somebodyelse's field, you can feel this
too, and we have all experiencedit.
So, for example, if you go to adoctor's office and immediately
(17:58):
you feel like, oh god, you know,everything here is so dreadful,
kind of.
Or you walk into a hospital orinto a church and you're like,
oh, so serene and calm andwelcoming.
Right, it's because the peoplewho are there feel that way,
because of the interaction, theycreate this field.
(18:19):
And then you walk into thatfield.
So horses have a gigantic heart.
Really.
That's five times bigger thanours.
Their field is stronger thanours.
So if you come just next to onehorse, you will like you have
to adapt.
Your heart is like I'm gonna dothe same, right, because their
(18:40):
field is so strong.
And then we work with severalhorses at a time, so that could
be two, five, ten, a hundred,right?
So if you're in that field, youbenefit from that field, energy
and horses in.
Well, you know you have to makea distinction between adequate
(19:01):
living conditions andnon-adequate.
So a horse that is in a smallbox all day with no companions
and no room to move, would nothave this effect on you, right?
But a horse that is in harmonywith their herd, is calm, is
curious they are naturallycurious and is connected.
(19:23):
It's always thinking aboutwhere are the others, what are
they doing, how is everybodyfeeling for their survival, for
their safety?
And then you feel that way too.
So that gives us a foundation, aground layer on which, you know
, you plant a seed of teaching,coaching, healing, therapeutic
(19:46):
conversations, whatever it is,and it just, you know, it just
blooms because people are calm,connected, curious, they have
this, you know, connection totheir emotions, and that makes
it so powerful, right and um.
And then there's another part,which is about intention, so um,
(20:08):
and I think that is when wetalk about today's connections
and conversations.
You know, with this chat, gptand other ais, and you know all
this virtual environment.
Does it happen to you that youread a text and you know that is
written by ai?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
not yet.
I haven't.
I haven't received a text by aiyet.
No, have you no?
Speaker 1 (20:36):
yes, so sometimes you read something and it doesn't,
it doesn't transmit the sparkle,right, so it it is just like I
don't know there's no intentionin it, because it's a generic AI
created, or you know just.
(20:56):
You know just write somethingkind of text and I think that we
can, like, we can, feeleverybody's intention if we are
one-on-one.
Right, if you meet somebody,you know, you know this is, this
is going to be my bestie orweird person, but you can also
sense it in on zoom and you cansense it even in other
(21:21):
interactions.
So sometimes, um, I have, Isometimes have people who were
victims to fraud.
Right, I'm a psychotherapist, Ideal with trauma and you know
difficult moments in life.
So sometimes I have people whohave been victims to fraud and
(21:41):
all of them will say I knew itbefore, like I had this weird
feeling and then I thought youknow what, what is going on with
you?
You just don't want to spendthe money, or or you know you're
not comfortable with technologyor whatever it is, but
everybody had this feeling.
This sense of the intention isnot what it's that to be, and I
(22:07):
think it is something that wecan really, um, we can build
this, we can learn to trust it,and I believe that that is one
of the one of the most importanttraits for, you know, these
next years or decades to come,when everything you know not
even a video.
You watch a video and it's likeis that real or is it ai?
(22:31):
Is that person even real?
Is this a chat bot?
Is this written by ai?
Um, you know you can't be sure,but then you can, because you
can feel it and the horses teachus that.
So you can practice this trait,this ability, with the horses,
because they are masters inreading our intention.
(22:53):
Okay so, now I talk a lot.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Beautiful, beautiful and I know.
Speaking to Amy Lea Tamburinion an earlier podcast, we spoke
a lot about managing difficultconversations and her top point
was before you go into thatdifficult conversation, have the
intention to communicate fromthe heart, and if you do that,
(23:19):
then you will be able tocommunicate what you need to say
with the best possible outcome,because you are going into the
heart first yeah, yeah, that'slike the, the foundation of
heart math, that our emotionsinfluence everything that we're
doing.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
And it's also I mean you find that in in placebo
effects or in manifestations, orin so many parts of life where
what you believe in is gonnahappen, what you focus on will
grow.
So if the will is there, it willhappen yes, and with the horses
, that is something that theywill teach you in the blink of
(24:04):
an eye, and sometimes, as atherapist or as a coach, it's
not so easy for us to detectthat in a client.
You know what is your.
What do you really want?
Do you just say that or do youreally want that?
And the horses, no, they canread our intention.
There's a study about thatwhere horses were tested with
(24:28):
carrots.
You know, every horse isaddicted to carrots and um, and
they had different test groups,test participants, and one of
the groups was told to pretendto feed the carrot but never do
that.
And the horses knew right away.
They just left.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Wow, yeah, you read your mind.
Yes, they do, they do, they do.
Yeah, I have.
So I have a couple of closefriends who are into horses and
I, I recall one of them.
Um, their partner wouldfrequently like drop by the
stables on the way, but shecould tell if he was in a not
(25:10):
great mood.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
By the way, the horse would react when he arrived,
yes, yeah, and and then after awhile you can, you can become
one with the horse that you'reriding or engaging with because
you are part of their emotional,you know field and unit, and
they send you these messages.
Like you'll get messages liketelepathic mind reading.
(25:35):
It's, it's unbelievable, it'sreally.
It's so fascinating for me.
And then when we are in asession and I have the horses
that I know and and I'm workingwith the client there, the
horses feed me with information,like I will suddenly know
things that I wouldn't knowotherwise.
Like your intuition just opensso much and increases and gives
(26:02):
you all these different tools.
And people can, in thesesessions, learn to analyze
themselves or to get to knowthemselves better, based on the
feedback of the horses, becausesometimes, sometimes we don't
believe it right.
So you have this gut feelingand then you think you're just
(26:22):
like making it up or right, orit was just a coincidence and
you had nothing to do with it.
Like, yeah, you know they saidI manifested this, but you know
it was just a coincidence andyou had nothing to do with it.
Like, yeah, you know they saidI manifested this, but you know
it was just a coincidence.
But then, with the horses, whenyou are focusing on something
specific that is right there andit's tangible.
You know it's a 500 kilo animalthat will come or leave or look
(26:46):
at you or lay down or dosomething, and then after a
while you're like this reallycannot be a coincidence.
There has to be something thatI'm doing actively to create
these reactions around me.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
So in person, you will host individual clients and
corporates to come andexperience this for, like team
building, yeah.
And then you have clientsaround the world that you then
teach this method so they thencan host corporate teams and
individuals to benefit.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
So my main focus now is um, scaling the certification
program.
So I have a program wherepeople coaches, therapists,
horse lovers, riders can learnhow to use this method to work
with clients one-on-one or ingroup settings and I do see
clients eventually here on myfarm, but I also have a team who
(27:46):
does that.
So I'm like focusing on the onthe teaching part, to have more
people get access to this.
And you know it's like moneywise or business wise, it's not
really the smartest decision tohave 35 countries because of
time zones and you know allthose different little things.
(28:09):
But um, but for me it'ssomething that kind of you know
it sparks my joy.
I love this when somebodywrites from Egypt or from Brazil
or from Easter Island or youknow all these exotic locations.
I love meeting them and meetingtheir horses.
So I just opened it foreverybody and um, and now I have
(28:30):
to deal with the logisticsright, right.
It sounds like you're havingenormous impact in this way yeah
, yes, I think so, yes, yeah andyeah, and everybody it's.
You know, when I started, Itold you about my first course
right when I was like this isamazing.
I just want somebody to workwith me in a team because I
(28:53):
cannot have everybody who'sinterested this and helping
others and and training teamswith horses and um, yeah, it is
that is a huge satisfaction forme.
It really is.
I love that.
Yes, and also, you know,there's a, there's a second part
(29:15):
in that, um, and maybe that isit's at least as important as
the people part, because horseslove this work too, and, and by
spreading it and by creatingawareness for it, horses have a
better life, they are morerespected, they are treated in a
(29:35):
different, more empathetic way,they are getting a voice.
So, um, it boils down to it'snot a sports object.
You don't need a whip toconvince the horse that you're a
boss and that they have to dowhat you want them to do, but
you can ask them and you canlisten to them.
And when they say today is nota good day, I don't want to go
(29:59):
out today, then you better gowith that.
Because that's also somethingwhere our intuition comes in.
Every rider, every rider, hashad an accident at some point in
their life.
I guarantee that.
And almost every rider will say, and you know what, that day I
didn't want to go out, or thatday I almost didn't ride, but
(30:23):
then trainer the program, the,whatever, the other people.
So I, you know, didn't dare tostep back to change my plan and
boom, that's when it happened.
So listening to that and andbuilding that intuition is even
a safety measure for the sportspart, for the equestrian life.
(30:47):
And, um, yeah, I, just I, youknow, my mission is that every
horse person, every rider hasheard about this knows that this
at least exists.
You know, if they don't want togo into it, fine, but but they
should know that this exists.
And it's not about having, youknow, stronger hands and better
(31:07):
whips, it's about your mindsetand regulating your emotions.
That will bring your equestriangame to a different level and
then it will also teach youbeautiful, making me want to
like go out and hang out withthe horse I got you.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
As we are wrapping up this conversation, I wonder if
there's anything that you thatyou've really learned through
your connection with horses thatyou would just love to leave
some listeners with today.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
There are so many things.
There are so many things.
I think probably the mostimportant one that everybody can
use, even if they don't have ahorse in their backyard, is to
to look into any way, anytechnique to regulate emotions
and to believe what an immenseimpact that has on everything.
(32:18):
And you know some people areinto manifesting some, you know,
from boyfriends to money, todream homes, whatever.
And it all comes down to thefeeling.
If you identify the feelingthat you have, once you achieve
whatever it is you want andconcentrate on that, it will
(32:40):
happen, like it's almostimpossible for it not to
manifest in your life.
But it comes down to thatfeeling, to that emotion, and
and giving an importance to thatand regulating it and cleansing
it every once in a while.
And, you know, focusing on onwhat you want, not what you want
(33:01):
, not what you're dreading.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Yes, positive intentions, positive mindset.
Love it, christina.
It's been such a pleasure toconnect with you here.
Thank you for coming on, thankyou for being an amazing guest
and for opening our eyes andears to a very different way to
rediscover connection in ourlives.
Thank you, yes, thank you somuch for having me.
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