Meet Michelle-A Pilgrim of the Heart and Horse |
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All my life, I have taken the path less traveled. Lead from my heart, I saw that there was more to this life than the surface appearance, and found the richest expressions of this essence of life whilst being with horses and nature. As a young girl into my teens I spent a great deal of my time at the horse barn riding and working with the 'troubled' horses for their owners. I would lay in the fields and study horses and how they interrelated out of a deep desire to know them, and be close to them. They were and are, my heart.
I began my studies in horsemanship at the age of nine and continued on with an instructor at my side up until my late teens and began training horses at the age of fourteen on. Training to me, was understanding the horses story, and learning how to work with them in a peaceful, gentle way. Again, lead by the heart. Horses respond quite amazingly if you show up as you are, with your heart leading, and allow them to show you who they are-rather than the human imposing their will upon the horse, which is a paradigm I always instinctively rejected.
My work with horses is very much like my walk. I believe in following the path of the heart, and not allowing fear to control our walk or how we choose to live. I went to University of Massachusetts Lowell with the intention to become a Psychologist because I always wanted to help people. After completing my Associates, and close up to my Bachelors, it became evident to me that this was not my path, and I went down the path of spiritual growth & coaching became a Reiki Master, and then a student of energy medicine and life coaching with my firs t mentor Cheryl Bourget who took me under her wing for many years. I did a one year long apprenticeship with Psychotherapist Ann Drake in Shamanism and the Psyche. Took an Equine Inspired Learning training with Nicole Birkholzer of Mindful Connections, and continued to expand my horsemanship and work with horses with my own business called Seeing I to I in which I would help humans better understand their horse companions. Soon after I moved across the country from the East Coast to Arizona to study with a healer and that is when my path really got dynamic! I have also worked with true indigenous medicine people, experienced intensive work in the Amazonian jungle with Maestros and the plant medicine ayahuasaca, studied herbalism both in Aviva Romm's Herbal Medicine for Women program as well as with lay, back woods herbalists. I have trainings in many veins of self awareness, and personal growth, all lead by the same root-the heart. I have hundreds of hours working with a personal coaching mentor in my personal life, as well as my primary horsemanship mentor Buck Brannaman, who's clinics I attend whenever I am able either with my horse or without.
I am a horsewoman. I am also a mother foremost, and my two boys inspired me to create a postpartum program during my postpartum window to support myself and other mothers which lead to becoming a published author through Praeclarus Press. This is another product of my heart and you can find my book here.
People often ask me what my coaching training is and where I 'learned this method'. I will tell you, I learned it from my experiences with the horse and it is a 'method' that I developed with horses on my own. What is unique about what I offer, compared to a lot of the equine guided coaching experiences I have explored, is that I have a rich background in understanding both horsemanship and horses, as well as the therapeutic setting, coaching, and how to walk with people through deep, harrowing, sometimes painful emotions.
My gift is the ability to hold space for truth to arise, for people to find the answers living in their hearts, all the while recognizing what horses are mirroring and paying attention as well to my horse's communications and needs.
This work is a reflection of my walk, and my heart. Many years of following the path less traveled, has lead me to this moment now, where I feel blessed and grateful to share what I have learned with you, and also learn, together.
Outside of my work, my children, my partner and the horses are my life. My partner and i are working together on our Peace Riders project which will launch into a documentary being created in 2020. Learn more about this incredible offering we are sharing with our community here.
I began my studies in horsemanship at the age of nine and continued on with an instructor at my side up until my late teens and began training horses at the age of fourteen on. Training to me, was understanding the horses story, and learning how to work with them in a peaceful, gentle way. Again, lead by the heart. Horses respond quite amazingly if you show up as you are, with your heart leading, and allow them to show you who they are-rather than the human imposing their will upon the horse, which is a paradigm I always instinctively rejected.
My work with horses is very much like my walk. I believe in following the path of the heart, and not allowing fear to control our walk or how we choose to live. I went to University of Massachusetts Lowell with the intention to become a Psychologist because I always wanted to help people. After completing my Associates, and close up to my Bachelors, it became evident to me that this was not my path, and I went down the path of spiritual growth & coaching became a Reiki Master, and then a student of energy medicine and life coaching with my firs t mentor Cheryl Bourget who took me under her wing for many years. I did a one year long apprenticeship with Psychotherapist Ann Drake in Shamanism and the Psyche. Took an Equine Inspired Learning training with Nicole Birkholzer of Mindful Connections, and continued to expand my horsemanship and work with horses with my own business called Seeing I to I in which I would help humans better understand their horse companions. Soon after I moved across the country from the East Coast to Arizona to study with a healer and that is when my path really got dynamic! I have also worked with true indigenous medicine people, experienced intensive work in the Amazonian jungle with Maestros and the plant medicine ayahuasaca, studied herbalism both in Aviva Romm's Herbal Medicine for Women program as well as with lay, back woods herbalists. I have trainings in many veins of self awareness, and personal growth, all lead by the same root-the heart. I have hundreds of hours working with a personal coaching mentor in my personal life, as well as my primary horsemanship mentor Buck Brannaman, who's clinics I attend whenever I am able either with my horse or without.
I am a horsewoman. I am also a mother foremost, and my two boys inspired me to create a postpartum program during my postpartum window to support myself and other mothers which lead to becoming a published author through Praeclarus Press. This is another product of my heart and you can find my book here.
People often ask me what my coaching training is and where I 'learned this method'. I will tell you, I learned it from my experiences with the horse and it is a 'method' that I developed with horses on my own. What is unique about what I offer, compared to a lot of the equine guided coaching experiences I have explored, is that I have a rich background in understanding both horsemanship and horses, as well as the therapeutic setting, coaching, and how to walk with people through deep, harrowing, sometimes painful emotions.
My gift is the ability to hold space for truth to arise, for people to find the answers living in their hearts, all the while recognizing what horses are mirroring and paying attention as well to my horse's communications and needs.
This work is a reflection of my walk, and my heart. Many years of following the path less traveled, has lead me to this moment now, where I feel blessed and grateful to share what I have learned with you, and also learn, together.
Outside of my work, my children, my partner and the horses are my life. My partner and i are working together on our Peace Riders project which will launch into a documentary being created in 2020. Learn more about this incredible offering we are sharing with our community here.
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