Help with Riding & Plantar Fasciitis in one Clinic!

Hi James
I hope that you are doing well! Since your last clinic (my third), I have made amazing strides!!!! As you know, my horse is very spooky and easily startled. (Although you have never met him, I talk about him enough!) So anyways, I made a decision to go back to the basics. So, to the unenlightened eye, it looks like all I do is walk and trot! However, being able to trail ride and ride outside without it being a roller coaster ride is amazing!!! We even encountered bicyclists-and I didn't die!!!lol Anyways Thanks!
Ok, so now on to my other breakthrough. I work in a very busy and demanding Orthopaedic Office. I am an X-Ray tech and we all work 10 hour days with a half hour lunch break. All of us have had bouts with plantar fasciitis. It is a painful disease of the ligaments in the arch of the foot. There is a standard course of treatment, but non of my coworkers experienced any long term relief. I started teaching them about Standing Meditation and how to walk (the James Shaw Way) and ALL of us have had at least a change for the better. Some of us, like myself, have had complete resolution! I swear it was from the changes that I learned at one of your clinics! Thanks so much. Looking forward to working with you again soon!
Deb, NH

Two Great New Clinics in Washington!

I had the great pleasure of two new clinics in Washington this March. Both venues were beautiful and the people warm and open to learning a new way to connect with their body, mind and spirit AND their horses!

I'd like to offer thanks to all who attended the clinics as full participants, groundwork students or auditors. A special thanks to organizers and hosts:

At the Whidbey Equestrian Center I'd like to give special thanks Sharon and Lisa for all the arrangements they made and for making me feel comfortable and welcome!

At the Eros Bordeaux Stables Clinic I'd like to give special
thanks to Joyce and Charlene for all their hard work and for making my job a pleasure!
I look forward to returning to both of these groups to see the progress that's been made! Don't forget about my clinic on May 21-23 in Yelm, WA. I hope to see you there!
James

My New Awareness!

Hi James
I wanted to share my new awareness with you!
I was walking my dogs this morning and really felt for the feel of using my bones. It had lightly snowed the night before, so I had a fantastic view of my foot fall. I was working in the pedaling mode and feeling of my bone while I started opening my gates. By the time I got to the final gate my whole body was in flow, light and soft. I paused and looked behind and my foot fall in the snow was the best I have ever produced. Instead of doing just the movement and opening up the feel really opened the gates
I continued with this feel easily and now I am working on imagining the horse underneath. Wow, thanks for this new awareness.
Sincerely,
Dana

Want to Extend a Connected Trot?

I find it fascinating that even with the most accomplished riders that after about 15 min (sometimes much less time) of the sitting trot their body has tightened against the movement of the gait. When this happens the rider absorbs less of the power of the trot into the body. This causes more imbalances that the rider must further brace against to manage. Returning to the walk or the rising trot has little effect on relieving the body of this tension.

It seems the most effective way to release and recover from this tightened state in the seat is to get off the horse and do 2 simple stretches:

Kiss the Toes

Place Palms on Feet

You will be amazed at the results when you are back in the saddle!

Walking Backwards--What Happens in Your Brain!

Here's a response to a question about the benefits of walking backwards from Lynda.

Hi Lynda,
Walking backwards has very strong and positive effects on the brain. It expands your awareness, something I'm not sure we could measure even if we had a neuro research lab. Having said that, this is what I think, as we walk backwards we are reversing the order in which the muscles are being used and this has a powerful effect on the wiring and firing of electrical impulses in the brain via the nervous system. I also know that the neuro pathways involved in walking are some of the earliest and deeply established wiring paths. Just ask anyone over 3 years old if they have to think about walking? Nope, they just do it. Walking backwards does not use the same ingrained paths in your brain, it develops new ones. It's not that big a deal over all because it happens all the time in the brain. What is fascinating is that the new paths are created by the new movement in the body. Again no big deal except that the vision is not directly involved because we don't look back to see where we are stepping. This increases our need to use other senses. If you look at it from another angle, say the energy/chi angle, every time your foot hits the ground, toes first it opens the yuen cheun ( kidney channel) it then bares the weight of the body which in turn pushes earth chi into the meridian with every step that's cool! Because you can't or won't lean back when walking backwards your bones take on more force from gravity. This greatly increases the electrical activity in the entire bone structure, it's way better than milk for your bone health. This increased electrical activity heads straight for the brain and helps create more and new stimulation for the wiring. All of this could be easily tested if we had the equipment, and feeling better and more alive after walking backwards is all the proof I need. I hope that I have answered your question. Thanks Lynda see ya soon.
James

Sitting Trot

One of the major issues I observe in riders at the sitting trot is the ability to maintain the connection of the sit bones through the entire cycle of the gait. When we loose the rhythm of the cycle of movement the body has to tighten to hold on and in a preparatory reaction to the possibility of hitting the ground. This happens whether we are asking for it or not. The movement in the rider's body looks more like a rising or posting trot than it does the sitting trot.

The movement of the body at the sitting trot should be exactly like it is at the walk. The only difference being the power and the speed in which the body is moving with the horse. The movement of the pelvis, femur bones and lower lumbar mirror that of the rider walking effectively on the ground.

Thanks Florida - What a Great First Clinic!

I'm back home in sunny Arizona after a fantastic 4 days of clinic and lessons in Ocala Florida. The participants were great and Christine did a wonderful job of organizing and hosting the clinic. From the accommodations to the open minded enthusiasm of everyone, I felt right at home and welcome from the start.

We worked on becoming more aware of our breath and the many and various applications it has to riding. Along with the breath we began the process in which we receive and redirect the power of the horse through our bodies. These techniques result in nearly effortless connection with the horse.

Thanks also to Aimee - a gifted instructor and rider. It was her forward thinking that made the whole clinic possible.

I can't wait to work with this group again!

James