I found out recently that the phrase “heart on your sleeve” is, in part, from Shakespeare’s play Othello-- we have just conveniently lopped off the other half of the sentence which goes on to say “…for the daws to peck at”.

 These words are uttered by one of the most villainous characters in the play, who, in the process of confessing to treacherous acts, remarks that by wearing his heart upon his sleeve, which he says to mean the act of truly exposing himself or opening himself up, he would be inviting crows to peck away at him. As a consequence, he opts to keep his true emotions and intentions hidden.

While the treachery might not be entirely relatable, the idea of opening yourself up to the crows by speaking the truth of your insides might hit closer to home.

In JoyRide this morning, I asked if anyone had anything they would like me to speak to on the podcast, and Leana posted:

Ways to feel safe within vulnerability

I love this as a conversation launch point because there is so much to be said for safeguarding practices around vulnerable experiences and the process of ‘opening up’, the depth of which I only skim the surface of in this episode. Vulnerability has become somewhat of a cultural catchphrase, but the reality of what it takes to be vulnerable- and for that to be truly held- is much more complex and nuanced than perhaps we consider or allow for.

The world is hungry for vulnerability- on social media, in the arts (music, writing, music) etc, in life- but in the midst of the desire for its production and consumption, there is sometimes little to hold it at the other end. In some instances, vulnerability has become yet another commodity, another product ready for consumption without wider conversations around what our collective and community responsibility might be if we find ourselves on the receiving end of vulnerable expression.

On a personal level, vulnerability needs to be shared with discernment. Our energy is precious and to be vulnerable is another level of energy cultivation that can be depleting if not experienced in a context where that same energy is contained, and then beyond that offered back.

In this episode we touch on this in conversation.

What does it mean to be vulnerable?

How do we share our vulnerability with discernment?

And what is our collective and community responsible for both the vulnerable and vulnerability both?

I hope you enjoy it!

❤️ Jane

Links referred to in this conversation

JoyRide: www.confidentrider.online/joyride

Substack & Interwoven: janepike.substack.com 

Lovely people, I’m back-- Both on the airways with the Confident Rider Podcast more generally speaking, and with two of my favourites, the incredible Tania Kindersley and Kathy Price. If you are familiar with our catch ups from the past you will know that the usual format runs to something like the following:

 What do you think we should talk about?

I’m not sure, what do you think?

I’m not sure either?

Shall we just hit record and see what happens?

Yes, let’s.

 So here we are, hitting record and seeing what happens!

 Given the nature of good friends, similar interests and desires for conversations that do more than skim across the surface level, we inevitably find things get interesting quite quickly.

 Over the course of our meandering conversations, we discuss:

• What is it we mean when we say that we are always learning from our horses?
• What does it mean to live a live that feels spacious?
• What is your relationship to time? How does it differ between horses and humans?
• How might the creative process apply to our relationship with our horses?

 I hope you enjoy it! 

❤️ Jane 

"When the old patterns arise, I will dissent. When life convinces me, it is something to be endured rather than enjoyed, I will dissent.

And I will show up here, and I will write about it, as a reminder to those wanting to hold hands and do the same."

❤️ Jane

www.confidentrider.online

A gentle reminder to let yourself be new.

❤️ Jane

https://confidentrider.online/

There’s a beautiful phrase that I hold gently in my hands, that I’ve adopted as one of my mottos for living. "Birds coast when they can". Every time I say it out loud to myself, I’m met with the glorious vision of a bird in flight, that proves these words to be true.

Birds coast where they can is a reminder to let yourself be supported. A reminder to look for opportunities for ease, and where you, yourself, may be complicating things in a way that isn’t necessary. Doing too much for what is required.

Where are the opportunities for you to coast? How can you allow yourself to be carried? And what are all the ways you argue against allowing this to be the case?

xx Jane 

www.confidentrider.online

Peeps, I'm back with one of my favourite humans, the most loveliest Kathy Price!

Kathy and I are teaching a workshop together this weekend, and in our pre-workshop prep decided we could scoop the cream off the top of our conversation and sit down and chatter with you on the podcast. 

Over the course of our meandering conversation, we talk about:

• The evolution of our work and business
• The principles that we follow that inform our life and work
• The application of energy and intention to our decision making processes

We hope you enjoy it!

If you want to join us for our workshop, you can sign up here:

https://confidentrider.online/stepping-into-lightness/

And if you want to get in touch with Kathy, you can find her here:

https://kathyprice.co.uk/

Happy listening!

❤️ Jane (and Kathy!)

The possibilities for your horse to move functionally and in a way that promotes health and wellness exist only within the range that he is balanced; our job as riders, then, is not only to facilitate balance in them in order that they can carry us without compromising themselves, and to ensure that our balance point matches theirs.

The area of study that I’ve involved myself in is really interested in the movement of the fascial trains and the path of movement that the body follows when it is in the parasympathetic, or not in fight flight. The key element that we pay attention to is the movement of the centreline and the arc that the centreline follows to produce healthy movement patterns.

In this episode, we discuss movement patterns and their relationship to the nervous system: how your nervous system manifests in movement, why understanding movement pathways is important and how we can use that knowledge to create ways of moving and riding that optimise harmony and health.

I hope you enjoy it! If you want to learn and explore more, we expand on these understandings in my membership program JoyRide. You can learn more by visiting www.confidentrider.online/joyride.

Enjoy!

❤️ Jane 

The interwoven thoughts of a New Year.

Happy New Year,

❤️ Jane 

Beautiful people, it's been a hot minute since we were last on the podcast airwaves. I'm super excited to be back for Season 3, and to share with you all the thoughts, musings and conversations that are swirling round my brainspace.

Before we get into that though...

At this time of year, it can be really easy to fall into "achievement energy"; the feeling that we have to set our resolutions, refine our goals and have things sorted out for the new year. The conversation I want to have with you today is an invitation to, well, not do that.

And the framework I want to offer in its place is one I stumbled upon recently and have been practicing in the moments since. 

Omen Days are an ancient Celtic tradition that were practiced in the 12 days from the 26th December to the 6th January. They rest on the foundation of bearing witness, and of deep noticing. Of the land, the animals we share it with and the greater world around us.

In this podcast, we discuss the nature of Omen Days and how we can use it as a reminder to slow down, observe and begin the new year from a place of enoughness.

I hope you enjoy it!

Much love,

❤️ Jane 

Kate Sandel is back on the podcast! In less than a week’s time, Kate and I are co-teaching at a three-day clinic called Camp of the South, in Devon, UK. Initially we had the idea to record a conversation together to send to participants of the camp as a “here’s some helpful information” type spiel but it quickly became obvious that our chattering extended far beyond the limits of those three days to encompass the broader expectations we might have in learning environments, what it takes to be open to learning and what we consider to be “the best way to show up” as a student.

In this episode, we discuss:

🌷 What is takes to develop a “teachable mindset"

🌷 The necessary mess of the learning process (and how to embrace it)

🌷 How there is no such thing as failure

🌷The benefit of honesty and vulnerability in teaching environments

🌷 Discovering the joy (and challenge) of movement for both horses and humans

 For those of you yet to discover the delight that is Kate Sandel, Kate runs a thriving equine business in the UK and internationally. She had trained for several years with French classical master, Philippe Karl, as well as honing her horsemanship skills with a variety of incredible teachers. She is also a qualified equine sports massage therapist and her background in mental health means she values the wellbeing of both humans and horses in a riding partnership.

You can find Kate at www.softandsound.org

Happy listening!

❤️ Jane 

It’s a party people! A few weeks back, I had the hankering to have a pod conversation talking about energy, the mystical and the magical, and the two people who immediately sprang to mind were Denise Elizabeth Byron and Kathy Price.

Denise I have known for a few years now, meeting her for the first time when I went to stay with Robyn Schiller and skipping along to an astrology session that blew my mind. After that, we all convened at the chocolate shop in town and well… if there’s a better way to cement a friendship, I’m not sure I’ve found it yet. 

If you are yet to be introduced, Denise is a psychic, visionary guide, and mentor with over 30 years’ experience, using astrological patterns to illuminate each client's unique pathway to embody the magic of their life purpose more confidently.

And if you’ve been around the tracks on my podcast for any amount of time, you will already be acquainted with the fabulousness that is Kathy Price- what would this conversation be without her! Kathy's business is called Point of Balance, and she has been studying and researching the world of energetic modalities for a number of years now.

The aim of Kathy’s work is to help human and animal systems that she's working with, whichever of those applies to find its own unique point of balance and to help itself come back into health and vitality on every level, be that physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

Over the course of our conversation we cover:

-       - Their different approaches to working with people, the tangible aspects of energetic connection and how information “shows up”

-       - Parsing apart “what is mine and what is yours” when working with energy

-       - Allowing time for creative expression, rest and rejuvenation

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

You can find Denise here: www.deniseelizabethbyron.com

You can find Kathy here: www.kathyprice.co.uk

 ❤️ Jane