Episode 319-The Gift of Seeing-Finding Magic in the Rewatch.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Speaker1:
So although I can't come to your house and do this for you, I would highly encourage you to consider giving yourself this gift this year.
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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.
Speaker1:
Hi, I'm Stacy Westfall and I'm here to help you understand, enjoy and successfully train your own horses. This episode comes out on Christmas Day, but no matter when you listen to it, it will be relevant because I want to share with you the one gift I would give you if I could. But since I can't show up at your house and do this for you, I'm going to explain what it is, why it's important, how to identify where you're at in the process and what to do next. Ready? Okay, it is the holiday season, and most people have traditional seasonal habits that they mostly look forward to. For example, setting out decorations, baking, gift giving, getting together with family and friends. One thing that I've noticed is that rewatching movies is also a common thing. If you look at something like Netflix, they bring back the holiday classics. Do you have a must watch holiday movie? I have a couple, but one that I really like to watch every year are a couple different versions of The Grinch. The question becomes, why do you rewatch something? You've already seen? Kids do this all the time. Rewatching is very common with children. I was googling it and it finished the sentence for me when I said, why do children rewatch? And it it took off and filled in rewatch TV rewatch movie. And it was really interesting to learn that there's a process that children go through when they're rewatching a simplified version of this is the first time that they watch it.
Speaker1:
They've got excitement because it's new and nervousness because they don't know where it's going. And then as children watch the movie or the TV show or reread a book, the multiple exposures gives them a deeper appreciation. And the more they do it, they notice new details. So a different way to look at it is the first time they watch it it's new. The next times that they watch it, it's deeper. They understand more, and as they watch it even more, they begin to see more details. I actually think understanding on an even deeper level why kids do this is important. So I'm going to share seven more reasons why children do this. Number one, children cannot fully process everything in a movie's first viewing. Their attention span and cognitive processing can't keep up with the even slower paced children's content. Number two each rewatch allows children to capture new details they've missed before, as their brains can only focus on a limited amount of information in each viewing. Repetition provides children with a sense of security and predictability in their otherwise chaotic world of constant new Experiences. Number three children feel empowered when they can accurately predict what happens next in a familiar movie, giving them a feeling of control and mastery.
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Number four the cognitive load decreases with each viewing, allowing children to move from basic plot understanding to noticing more subtle elements like emotions and background details. Number five repeated viewing helps build neutral connections and strengthens memory formation and developing brains. Number six as cognitive effort decreases with familiarity, children's emotional connection and enjoyment of the content often increases. Number seven. Children naturally use prediction during rewatching, which helps develop logical thinking and understanding of cause and effect relationships. I think it's pretty fascinating that all of that is happening when children have a natural inclination to watch and rewatch, read and reread, to look at material over and over again. They intuitively understand that this is what they're doing. And I also noticed this year when I went on a hallmark movie, kick, that these really common, repetitive elements are very present in a lot of holiday movies. I started noticing that it's very common at the beginning of a holiday hallmark movie for the main characters to bump into each other, and I actually mean physically collide with each other in the first 10 to 15 minutes of the movie. In one movie, the people came around a corner in a hotel and they ran into each other. In another movie, one was coming and one was going in a coffee shop and they bumped into each other in another movie, one bumped into a ladder that the other one was standing on.
Speaker1:
So even when adults think they're watching new movies, a lot of times if you look at some of these comforting, familiar type movies, you'll start to see really common or repetitive themes that are in there specifically to make you have that same childlike experience. Okay, what does any of this have to do with the gift that I would give you if I could? If I could snap my fingers and give you a gift, it would be the willingness to record five minutes of your work with your horse and rewatch it with childlike curiosity. Children instinctively know something that we often forget as adults, that the first time we watch something, it can feel overwhelming. And it's through rewatching that we begin to notice more of the details, more of the patterns. So if I could give you the gift of five minutes of your riding recorded once a month or once a week through the entire year of 2025, I believe it would be one of the greatest gifts you've been given. So although I can't come to your house and do this for you, I would highly encourage you to consider giving yourself this gift this year. I know that this process of recording and watching has been very transformative in my own riding, and I also know it's been transformative for other riders also.
Speaker1:
So Elizabeth said that when she first started watching her videos, she didn't have a problem recording. She just didn't know what to look for. And another rider said, and I'm going to go ahead and read it. I really value having learned to video myself riding and doing groundwork through your course. I recorded several videos riding this summer, and I plan to do more when I resume riding next summer. Other sites occasionally mention videoing yourself, but do not provide the support and guidance in how to get started and emphasize the value like you do. And the reason I bring this up is because you could be where Elizabeth was at, where you're open to watching you record and you look, but you simply don't know what you're watching for. And that's good information to know. It's different information than if you're really, really resistant to even recording at all. Which brings me to the three R's of recording. The three R's of recording are number one. Resistance. Not recording at all. Number two reaction. This means you're recording, but you're probably avoiding because you know that when you watch, you're going to have a reaction, probably a negative emotional reaction. And then number three reviews. This is where you're recording and you're learning. No matter which stage you're at I have some tips for you if you're in the resistance not recording stage.
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One approach you could try is record 30s and delete it without ever watching it. You heard me correctly. Your assignment, if you're in the resistance, can't bring yourself to record it at all. Your solution is to set it up, balance it on something, rubber band it to something. Whatever you need to do, record 30s and do not allow yourself to watch it. Delete it. Why is this a win? It's a win because it will prove to yourself that you can record it. And I promise you, there's something that happens if you don't force yourself to watch it. Number two, the reaction stage. If you're in the reaction stage, that means you've recorded it. But maybe you're avoiding watching it and you've already done a number of deleting like I just suggested. Or you're recording it and you've watched it once, but you're avoiding watching it multiple times. I've got a couple different things for you. If you're recording it but you're avoiding watching it, consider giving yourself the goal of finding one frame that you like in the video. This comes from a student who was reporting to me that when she was really struggling to watch her videos, she decided that she was going to find one frame where she paused the video on something that she liked, and she was going to look at that paused video screen throughout the day.
Speaker1:
So if you're really having trouble watching it, don't think about watching the whole thing. Don't even think about analyzing all of it. Just find one frame that you like and screenshot, or take a picture of that and show yourself that this does contain Something good. Or if you've watched a video of yourself in the past and you notice that you really don't want to watch because your mind just attacks you. I also think it's really interesting in that situation to do a little thought experiment and go find a video on YouTube of someone doing something similar. So if you're doing groundwork with your horse, find someone doing groundwork. If you're doing something riding, find something similar riding and watch somebody else riding and see if your brain offers a similar thought process. If your brain does not, let's say you're not judgmental of the person on YouTube, but you do notice that you're judgmental of your own video. Try this. Watch the YouTube video. Watch the video where you're not judgmental and write down your thinking process. Write down literally what you're noticing. Notice if your focus is on the rider or the horse, is your focus on the pattern or the technique, their hands or their legs. And then because you're already able to do that more neutral observation over there, try taking that thinking process and overlaying it with watching your own video.
Speaker1:
And if it doesn't work, you're still winning. Because if it doesn't work now, you have the chance to write down what your brain is offering you. That's different than when you were watching the person on YouTube. Number three reviews. This means you're recording and you're learning great work. If you've gotten here, this means that you have developed the skill of watching from a neutral stance. This means a couple of things, particularly to me. I have observed that riders that get here will We'll be able to do two things better. Number one, they get better faster at being able to pick up on their own habit patterns. They can actually see themselves more clearly. And the other thing I really noticed is they can gain more from a coach's perspective. Keep in mind, if you're struggling with recording or watching the clips of your own rides, you are not alone. This is a very common challenge until it becomes a habit, as it becomes easier for you to watch your ride and say, sure, I would change some things, or yes, I did this or I wish I had done that. As you become even slightly more neutral, you can still think that you want to change things. You don't have to love what you see. But if you can become able to be neutral as you watch like you were if you were watching somebody else riding.
Speaker1:
This is when you really start to be able to make progress in your riding. And keep this in mind if you're in step 1 or 2. This doesn't mean you need to go alone until you on your own, get to step three. Oftentimes, these things are easier to do when you're watching other people doing it. When you're watching other people learning to develop this skill, it's often easier. So surround yourself with people who are willing to do this type of work. This is why if I could just snap my fingers and give you a gift, it would be this gift because it unlocks and opens up things. But it's also kind of a big deal. So this would be one of those little boxes under the Christmas tree that contains something tiny but very, very valuable. What if just like you can return to watching your favorite holiday movie every year. What if a year from now, the gift you could unwrap from yourself is a video record of your writing journey? What if next December you could open up and watch videos from a year or more ago, and you can see how far you've come. That's the gift I would give you. Please, please, please in 2025. Give it to yourself. Thanks for listening and I'll talk to you again next year or in the next episode.
Speaker2:
If you enjoy listening to Stacy's podcast, please visit Stacy Westfall. Com for articles, videos and tips to help you and your horse succeed.
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