Episode 211_ Starting energy vs. Re-starting energy.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Stacy Westfall:
There's an energy that gets you started when something is new that is different than the energy of restarting.
Announcer:
Podcasting from a little cabin on a hill. This is the Stacy Westfall podcast. Stacy's goal is simple: to teach you to understand why horses do what they do, as well as the action steps for creating clear, confident communication with your horses.
Stacy Westfall:
Okay, here we go. Let's record a podcast, guys. I'm recording this podcast today while I'm riding for a couple of reasons. The number one reason is because I am in the middle of doing what I'm going to be talking about. And I think that when I'm in that situation, it gives the podcast a completely different feeling because it puts me into the spot that I'm talking about, which is different than me talking about a situation that I'm not currently in. So right now I am riding around the arena on Gabby and my puppy shadow is running around playing. And the reason I wanted to record this podcast is because to me, this feels like a new beginning. It feels like I'm restarting something that I have done a thousand or more times before. But at the same time, this feels like the new beginning. And what's been going on if you're not on my email list, if you are, you'll know. But if you're not, then what you don't know is that I was sick about five weeks ago and I just haven't been able to shake it. And part of the original getting sick had like the classic, you know, I'm sick and I don't feel good and I don't want to do anything. But then it turned into weeks of being stuck in this in-between world where not super sick, but also not well enough to fully be able to do the things that I want to do, like riding my horses because every time I come out here, I start getting either in really cold air, which irritates my lungs, or even when there's not enough dust for me to be able to see it, my lungs detect that the air quality is not quite as pure as it is when I'm inside with an air purifier. So for those reasons, I haven't been riding. And when I think about coming out and getting started, it is just after Thanksgiving. This has traditionally been a time of year where I might not be revving up at this time of year. So now I'm doing this restarting process and what I'm noticing about it and it's got me thinking is that restarting for me actually came with recognizing while I was sick how much I was longing to do certain things. I wasn't longing to do laundry, so I didn't do as much laundry. Although eventually when I was bored enough, I started doing all the things inside the house. But the things that I really longed for when I was sick were part of the energy that I'm going to now use to get myself going on this restart.
Stacy Westfall:
I'm going to pause that train of thought for just a second to say the reason I want to talk about this is because I find that people either have a start energy that's like, Yay, I got this brand new thing for Christmas or whatever the event is, and now I've got it and I'm never going to put it down. And there's an energy that gets you started when something is new that is different than the energy of restarting. And the reason I think this is such a valuable thing to recognize, because if you think about it, you're going to start to see that you have particular patterns. Some people are really good at starting things. Some people are really good at finishing things. Some people really enjoy the process of the middle and all that work in the middle, but they have a little bit more trouble getting started. So there's all kinds of different ways that we can present in our untrained, unintentional way of being. And I think highlighting the idea of starting and restarting will bring up the idea of which energy do you expect to be operating from. So let's just say that it's like I got a brand new something or other for Christmas energy. That is a tough energy to try to look for when you're restarting. And to me, starting is huge, but the ability to restart is going to be something that you're going to need over and over and over again. Any time that you set a long-term intention, plan, goal, dream you're pursuing, all of these require you to have the ability to restart. Because in that situation, let's say that you have a three-year goal, a goal that you think is going to take you three years, a year. Two years. Three years. You're going to start once and you're going to restart hundreds, if not thousands of times. And you can go as literal as you restart every morning when you open your eyes. Or you can go to events like what I just had, which was an unplanned illness where I chose to take the time off and heal and not push my way through it. And now I'm in a situation of restarting some of these riding goals that I have with my horses. To me, this is a completely different energy than that brand new thing kind of an energy. And because I know that I don't expect to have that same feeling that I would have had if this was something like I just got a brand new thing and I can't wait to go outside and try it out. With that being said, the energy I do draw on is the energy that was in me when I was longing to be doing what I was not able to do. So in this example, I wanted to be riding my horses, but I was inside in recovery. So every time I felt that desire or that longing to ride, I stored it up.
Stacy Westfall:
Sometimes it's easy to look at the longing or the desiring of something as this frustration almost. But if you can begin to look at that longing as more of a type of dreaming versus an, Oh, what are the words for it? Instead of it being something that you are being thwarted or held back and you cannot have currently, and therefore you are frustrated by that longing, you can actually take that same longing and you can study it and you can really lean in and feel the truth of how much you desire that thing when you can't have it. And for me, the way that that turns out is that I'm going into the coldest part of the year here, and I'm coming off from having not ridden. So I'm actually going to feel some body soreness. I'm going to be doing reconditioning of myself for sure, and getting back into these habits. And so there are going to be things, especially with the cold weather, that would be very tempting for me to say, not today, but I'm going to go back into that little bank, that little stored-up container full of longing. And I'm going to dip into that on those days when it would be easier to just skip riding because it's cold. I think when you begin to remember why you wanted to do the thing in the first place. In my example ride, when you begin to really lean into why you want to do that, you'll actually be tapping into your bigger dream. And that bigger dream might be something that is going to take you 100 rides on your horse to probably achieve, or at least to move yourself closer towards. And so it's so easy to put off today. The one little thing, the 20-minute ride that I can come out here and do today, that's going to get me going and back on track, that restarting process, it's so easy to skip it and put it off once you've already stopped. And if you compound that with the idea that it should doing air quotes here, it should have that same excited feeling as when you very first began. I think you start to set yourself up for prolonged struggling, getting started again. Another thing that will happen when you increase your awareness of the different feeling between starting energy and restarting energy is that it might help you stay on task for longer. Because one of the things that I notice when I look around at people trying to advance themselves with horses is that a lot of times when they are feeling like it's getting a little bit dull or they're worried that it's just not that interesting for their horse anymore. Or what happens is they're actually searching for that new energy again, that starting energy again. So maybe that means that they change disciplines or they change their focus or they try to get real creative with the patterns and the way that they ride every day. And those can be things that you do on purpose and intentionally. But it's a completely different experience to choose that with intention versus I'm looking for that excitement that comes at the beginning of starting something new.
Stacy Westfall:
So I wanted to record this right now while I'm in the middle of it, because it's easiest to remember this feeling for me right as I finish something like an illness and I begin to get started again like I am now with riding, it is a little more challenging to remember the truth of this. Ironically, when I'm fully healed and I'm not recently coming off from not being able to do the thing. So there is some lesson to be learned by that inability to do the thing that you want to. And I believe that there is a feeling you can lean into that you might be labeling negative longing, that desire that you can actually store up and remember to use the next time it's dark and cold and you're having to put on the layers and go outside to do that ride whatever your example is, translate everything I just said into that. The bigger thing to remember is that it's a skill to restart. Starting comes with its natural energy. If it's something you wanted to do, then starting is going to come with a naturally excited energy. Maybe not if you're being made to do it. My kids used to call it volun-told when they were being volun-told they didn't have that natural excited energy necessarily. But if you're listening to this and you are pursuing something that you have chosen to pursue and you are going out there and there is that little bit of doubt as to whether or not you could just skip it for today. Remember to lean back into when you didn't have that opportunity. Remember the longing, remember how it felt, and take that as your Oh yeah, what an amazing opportunity I have today to go out and do this work, even though it's not the same track I had predicted when I laid out this plan however long ago. For me, this time around it was an illness. Sometimes it will be horses being lame, sometimes it will be something like a family vacation. Another time it might be a holiday. There are so many reasons why the perfectly laid plans that we think are going to get us somewhere will probably be interrupted. If you practice the skill of restarting and you get really good at understanding the different energy that that takes, different from the brand new startup energy, you will make more consistent progress toward your dream. That's what I have for you today, and more talking is going to cost me from riding. So thanks again for listening and I'll talk to you in the next episode.
Announcer:
If you enjoy listening to Stacey's podcast, please visit stacywestfall.com For articles, videos and tips to help you and your horse succeed.
Sonix has many features that you’d love including collaboration tools, enterprise-grade admin tools, automated translation, upload many different filetypes, and easily transcribe your Zoom meetings. Try Sonix for free today.
This is such a helpful podcast!
I wanted so much to ride and work with my horses, but a family member was very ill and I had a lot of responsibilities. So about a month ago, I had to ReStart after a long delay with the initial thrill of a Start that never happened. I kept procrastinating because it seemed overwhelming to start when I felt so behind.
However, I had a horse that I wanted to give to a therapy barn and she hadn’t had any attention for 6 months. This was Motivation to Restart
I started with “Whoa” I am still amazed at how that simple lesson made such a huge difference in all 3 horses!
I sent videos to the therapy barn of the 26 year old mare who responded to the voice cue of Whoa. They came out to see her this week and will take her for a 30 day trial .
As a result of using Stacy Westfall’s technique-
I had to be more patient because I realized for the first time I had to do a LOT of repetitions .
The horse slowed down because I had changed my expectations and consequently my energy.
The horse quit overstepping into me because she began to anticipate a back up
She kept her head in a better position.
The kids didn’t have to pull back with the reins because the mare was responding to the verbal cue. In response, the mare stopped with more collection.
This experience has really helped give the energy to more Restart!