Interview with Asha Wolf

Asha comes from the Hunter Jumper world.  She has a Doctoratein in Physical Therapy, she is also an Animal Comunicator and Energy Healer for both people and animals.  Today she has tips & tools for co-created rides and relationship dynamics that are  MUSTS! No, not MUSTangs, MUST haves for your changing relationship with your horse  and possibly with people in your life as well. we saved some of the best for last so be sure to listen until  the end.

To reach Asha her website is: ashawolfhealing.com

I can personnly recomend her for animal communication and for human and animal healing sessions.  Her sessions are amazing.

Transcript

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This is the Horse Human Connection. A captivating podcast where we extend into the world of equine assisted learning. Horse Training. and gentleness in working with these magnificent creatures. Captivating stories from the leading professionals and ordinary people alike unravel novel ideas in being with horses. The horse human connection is an idea, a place, and a voice. The idea is to support the quiet revolution and recognize the intelligence and true nature of the horse. The place is a destination farm near the Umpqua Forest and River that slows down visitors and patrons enough to experience the shift. The Voice is this podcast. Welcome to today's episode. Hi, this is Ishii with the Horse Human Connection Matrix. I have a guest today. I have Asha Wolf with me, who is an animal communicator and energy healer. Thank you for joining me today, Asha. Thank you for having me, Ishii. I've really been enjoying the newsletter by your horse, James. Can you tell me a little bit about how that got started? Actually so James is my horse that I've had since 2014 and we're in a phase of our relationship now where I'm not riding him anymore. And it had been coming up for a while cause he had a pretty bad injury and I got little whispers from him about he wanted to leave a legacy. He wanted to be able to share his wisdom with others. And he wanted something that would, you know, would last, he called it a legacy. And then he started giving me little images of what that could possibly look like. So he actually is the one that's responsible for these weekly wisdom with James little blogs and Facebook posts. And it's something that he's been kind of pinging into my field, if you will, for a while. And it wasn't until about, I guess we're on week 29, I think now that I, so I guess 29 weeks ago, I finally said, okay, I'm ready to commit because it's a weekly commitment. So, but he is the one that is responsible for those weekly posts. And you and James have been together for a long time. So we met in 2014. And were animals talking to you before James came into your life? They were. I've been so involved with, I guess my former career or my other career that I'm still doing a little bit of, which is, you know, I have a doctorate in physical therapy and I've spent my entire life actually working with people. I started, you know, working with people and teaching when I was 18. So it's just something that I've always done. There have been times when I've gotten little messages or impressions or an image that an animal might have given me. And so I always knew that, that it existed. And I always knew that I think that it was possible for me to do. And it was something that I kind of felt like, well, You know, when the time is right, I'll delve into it more, or I know I'll do that in the future. It was kind of like part of me knew that that was coming, but I didn't push it. I didn't really get super interested in it. It was just kind of something that was there in the background, but what was so interesting was, was there would be people. that would meet me and they would assume that that's, that I could do it. Like, it's like they picked up on something and they would say, Oh, well, can you tune into that cat? And I'm like, well, I've never done that before. And they're, Oh, well, you can do that. And so then I would just do it. And I would receive a message and then I would deliver it to the person. And so there's always been something kind of interesting about that. Like, If you know, like I was obviously wearing that in my field and people would pick it up and they would, they would know more than I did about my abilities to do it. So were you working in some kind of a healing field or in some kind of a work that relied on your intuition or psychic abilities or? Or how would, I mean, I mean, I'm sure it didn't happen while you were sitting down with your accountant. I mean, you must have been in a context where people would think such a thing. Well, I was, I was in the dance world, so I grew up as a ballet and modern dancer, but I've always been interested in like what else is out there. So, you know, even though I was seriously into ballet and modern, And I was also looking at some of the fringe aspects of movement, like getting into Feldenkrais and Alexander technique and body mind centering and, you know, doing these exploratory workshops about how. movement and being in the body at, at a very young age. I remember doing these, these kind of workshops at the age of 16. So all my peers are seriously just into the ballet and I'm like, well, I love that. And I'm going to go over to this modern dance studio downtown with all these older women in their forties and fifties. And I'm going to roll around on the floor and see what's there. So I've always been that, been really interested in that. So I think that that really opened up a doorway for me of possibility. You know, I remember just doing these different workshops with, with people and we could explore things that were, I remember like being asked to dance from my blood. or dance from my bones and they would be different qualities when I would embody what I would think of as the energy of our bones in the body as opposed to the energy of our blood in the body. So sounds kind of wacky. It doesn't sound wacky to me at all. In fact, I had forgotten that we have this in common. You mentioned it the first time that we talked and I had forgotten about it and you've hit on something The dance is so important because it's missing from our culture. And as I've been studying all this stuff about primitive primitive cultures and activities that they do for brain health. And I want to say for deepening intuition and even other abilities, like dance is important to that. And the type of dance that you're talking about is not mainstream, but, but it's the type of dance that will make. Every dancer, a better dancer. And it is going inside and experiencing movement on, on that kind of level. yeah, I actually feel so grateful for that time in my life. And, you know, my parents were very open in the fact that, yeah, if you want to go take that class, that's great. And I just feel very lucky in that sense. Small town and in a Midwestern state that there were that that existed and I was able to actually experience that. It was really kind of life changing, although I didn't know it at the time. And so I, I brought that right into my dance and my choreography when I was in New York City. And I think I've always just kind of had a thirst for you know, what else is out there? You know, how else can we explore? So, you know, moving into the horse world, it was really the same thing for me. It's like, well, these are the methods that are often used. How else could we approach, you know, this subject matter with horses or how else can I approach? You know, this sentient being in front of me. I definitely see the connection and have felt it too. there's a saying in ballet freedom through discipline, and I've always thought like, well, that's true, but there's also freedom through freedom. Which is the type of movement you're talking about. And when I think about the disciplines in the horse world, you know, meaning different riding disciplines there's freedom through discipline in the upper levels, but it's not the same as, you know, communication with horses. In a way that you can form a partnership. And one of the things that has been really interesting, like my top podcast is the one about co created rides. And all of these things feed into that. Like, how do I be in my body, be in movement, be present and connect with the horse or another dancer? For that matter, you know, if we're just talking about that in general and, and create from there, like there's this essence that happens. Yeah. I was thinking about your comment about, you know, freedom through discipline. And then you said there's also freedom through freedom. And I'm like, well, if I had to stay with the freedom through discipline idea, what would that mean to me? with horses. And I was thinking about like, well, when I was asked to, you know, to move from my bones. And then move from my blood or move from my lymphatic system, like the discipline is in my, my ability to train my mind to go there to like, to, you know, journey into my bones on an energetic level that takes discipline and focus and intent. And it's like that. Oh, my gosh, this whole world opens up and I experience freedom. And I think there's a parallel to that with horses in how do I choose to approach my horse regardless of what I'm doing. And that takes a lot of discipline and patience and skill and intent. You know, to maybe not go the normal way of things with the horse and to do something a little different. Did you have a moment or a series of moments with horses and with whatever training you had as an equestrian rider where you bumped up against the tradition and said, no, I'm not going to do it that way or no, that feels wrong. I did initially. It was interesting because I was actually exposed to horses through natural horsemanship. But there was 11 individual that I was learning from. She was very young and I actually witnessed things that I didn't think were. Okay. And. And I was like, wow, I know there's another way. So I, so I did experience that. But I also learned an amazing amount of stuff of how you can connect with a horse on the ground. Like I actually had more training on the ground initially before I got really got into riding. So I did love that connection and I was like, how can I carry that, you know, into writing and into, you know, more of what I want to do with horses. Was, was that a tradition or a technique or what was the training on the ground that you're, that you're talking about? She just used a variety of techniques from different horsemen. Mm hmm. Yeah. So I just, you know, it was more just that, that learning how to connect with that horse and just how little can you move to get, to, to get what you're wanting to experience with that horse in that moment. Mm hmm. Okay. You know, that idea of less is more that, that those little invitations, those little asks. Versus telling right because that's how they talk to each other with with micro movements. So it's learning slowing down and learning more of their language. Yeah. And then it was like, just like, wow, I wonder if I can just think it right. You know, like, you know, there's moments when we're writing and we, and we feel like, oh, my gosh, I just thought it and he did it right. And we know that on some level, there's been some micro movements that have happened in the body because the body is registering learning. Yeah. Our thought and our intent. But at the same time, it's like, I just thought it, you know and those are just those magical moments. Yes, they are. And I think, I think that's what a lot of people want to know more about. How do I get there? How do I get there with my horse? And that's with the co created rides. Those are the moments that I've had that are just so amazing when, when we're able to open up, but that's not necessarily like I can say we're able to open up. But that's actually a pretty big thing to me. It's all about listening. You know, we get so busy and so big telling the horse what we want. And to me, it's all about listening. And it means listening to myself, listening to my body. So that I know, what is it that I'm really saying to my horse? I might be thinking something, what is my body telling my horse? Right. And is that the message I want my horse to receive? I've got to listen to my own body and then listening to their body. And it's not even just the body, it's the energy field. It's like when I get on a horse, like I don't want to feel separate. It's like I want, I want one body. So the images that keep coming to mind, and it popped into my head as you were talking about dance too, is contact improvisation. Have you, are you familiar? Okay. So for people that are listening that don't know what contact improvisation is, it is where, You're creating a dance spontaneously and there are a couple of small rules about touching. You stay in contact the whole time, either rolling a point of contact or creating leaning against each other so that if one person left, the other person would fall. So the reason I'm bringing this up is because at some point when I started learning about connecting with horses in this other way. I wanted to dance it contact improvisation with my horse in the round pen. And of course, horses don't move that way. They're not going to like lean into you the same way you lean into a person. But there's something about that that feels a little bit about what you're describing. Well, I've never explored contact improvisation with the horse like on the ground, but I guess I could relate that to in the saddle. You know, like the approach of how do you get there reminds me of the contact. I know I'm a little out in left field, but we, we know I'm mildly autistic, so I'm going to take that pass. I thought about the contact improvisation earlier. I just didn't bring it up into the conversation. So I'm with you. There's something about when you approach contact improvisation, you're two people and you are, or two beings and you're agreeing to come into contact and create movement together spontaneously. So I guess that's like the mindset of going on a co created ride is you're getting on, you're getting on your horse with permission, with a strong intention to go create together, to move together. Yes, absolutely. You know, like I think to me, that's what every ride is about. We have the opportunity to explore, you know, because, you know, our bodies are different every day and the horse's body is different every day and each moment in time is different. So when we, so when we get on the horse to co create together, it's like, I wonder where we are today. You know, how are you feeling? How am I feeling? You know, what's the energy in? You know, that we're playing in today. And so it's never the same. It's like, we always think about like, you know, when we're on the yoga mat, it's like no downward dog is ever the same really, because we're not the same in, in each moment in time. And that's why it can stay fresh. You know, we can do a zillion downward dogs in our lifetime, and it can never get boring. You know, if we, if we choose to be present, if we choose to explore, if we choose to breathe and, and see all that's there in the moment, and we have that same opportunity on the, with the horse. Yes, absolutely. And that downward dog analogy is so fresh for me getting back on the mat after having back surgery a year ago, because it's definitely a different downward dog. It's a different three legged dog. And I'm, I'm very much enjoying how it's it's playing in my body in the different places. So, and yeah, that's, that's a good, that's a good thing to mention because it's like, oh, well, you know, I'm thinking about like me is teaching someone in yoga or physical therapy. And it's like, you know, the common response for someone like you that has gone through back surgery and you get onto the mat. And it's so easy to, to compare ourselves to what we used to be able to do or what it, what it felt like before. Versus like, okay, this is where I am right now. This is how it feels right now. This is my downward dog right now. You know, can we do that with our horses too? You know, as our horse changes, it's like, Oh, you know, my horse doesn't do that anymore. Okay. But what is this horse offering today? And how can I partner with that? Yeah. So you mentioned that you have a new horse. Yeah. Yeah. I do. I did not grow up with horses I was one of those adults that learned to ride. And and so James was my first horse and he's definitely my heart horse or soul mate or however you want to describe it. But as he has shifted into retirement, I'm like, you know, I really would like to be able to partner with another horse. Under saddle. I really like that experience. And so I wasn't sure what I was going to do in getting another horse. I had never shopped for one before because James just was there at the barn. And there's a story there. But, you know, I, I, I wrote him before I bought him. So, but anyway, it just popped into my field to check out Colorado horse rescue. So a rescue organization not that far from where I live and I got on their website and before you know it, I, I have a horse. She's not, she's not young, but there's a journey there for me, obviously she is going to need some body work and some support that way. So and. She told me that she chose me. So I'm like, okay, so already I'm feeling a bit of a responsibility. To, to offer her what she needs so that we can thrive together in partnership. So I think as her body starts feeling better, there's going to be some, there's going to be some magic there. She's a sweetheart. How old is she? She's 15. Huh. She's, you know, she's a mare and I love it because she's expressive and she's also expressive when something hurts her body. You know, she's not going to be the gelding that just kind of pushes through it. She lets me know, you know, and I'm like, okay, so how can we do it differently today where it doesn't hurt? And let's, let's get, let's get you some body work here and get you body work there. And you know, and I've been doing some animal communication with her to find out, okay, what's, so I understand you're sore here, but can you tell me, you know, do you remember the very first time that you felt pain and can you show me where that is? Because, you know, we have this cascade of. compensatory, you know pain sometimes. And it's like, well, that's fine to treat, you know, the right side of her lumbar spine, you know, to help her with her canner transition. But is that where it's really coming from? You know, when you trace back the pain to its original injury or pain, point in the body. And so you, you're working on her yourself. Is there a tradition for horses that you use? Are you just intuitive or do you take what you know about human body work and kind of all of the above, all of the above. And then I, and then I hire people to help do like that, you know, the official acupuncture and chiropractic treatments, but I do like a lot of fascial work. craniosacral work. I know a little bit about the medicine method. I can do some chakra balancing and, and then I just, and I can do like what's called kind of like a touch point therapy. And, and then I just go with my intuition and listening to the horse and looking for her communication with me to let me know what she wants her feedback. Yeah. And then the animal communication piece is really helpful because if you can tune in and. hear it from straight from the horse's mouth, no pun intended, you know, like it's, it's so helpful. It's a lot less guesswork. Like I'm, I'm guessing my horse has not wanted me to get on her back. The last two times I've tried, she's been very like stomping her back foot. Like, no, I don't want you riding me. And I'm scanning her body, but I can't figure out exactly You know what it is. So I just do some general stuff and respect her, but it's, you know, I, I miss writing too. And it's, it's a hard place to be. So I'm glad she chose you. What is her name? Her name is Lady. Lady. Oh, that sounds like a great name. And she she was off the track way back. Oh, name was little Isabella then. Huh. Yeah. You know, and she's definitely has She has some history. She's got, I think there's a PTSD loop running. There's definitely some emotional trauma. There's definitely some trauma visible on her body. So you know, it's interesting to unpack that with time. It is. I'm, I'm my trainer, my horse trainer who is a human trauma therapist. We're not working together now, but I was, I was fortunate enough to be able to work with her for three years. Watch her rescue horses off the track and treat their PTSD. And it was amazing. It's just, I have a video clip somewhere of her taking this horse that was triggered and staying on the horse's back and riding out the whole thing. And then coming to rest. Coming to a stop and resting and self regulating together and when the horse dropped down into normal regulation, she then got off. But it was a beautiful thing to watch. It was just amazing. So yeah, you and Lady have some, some fun journeys ahead of you and some meaningful connections, I'm sure. It's very interesting. It's definitely a step up for me in, in my horse skills and abilities. James, I always just knew he just regulated his nervous system so easily and well, like self regulates all the time and, and lady struggles with that. And so it's like, okay, you know, it's, it's, it's definitely being present in a very different way with her. I don't know that much about the racetrack. But I'm just curious if there are horses that come off the racetrack that don't have PTSD. Well, you know, I, I don't know where she got her PTSD. I haven't explored it that much yet, but she did show me an image and I'm like, Oh, okay. That's, that explains a lot about being, you know, she, she can't handle even being near a place where you would tie a horse up. Like I can't even drape the rope over it, like even just walking up to a hitching post, she just goes into high alert, like she's ready to panic. You know, even if my, my energy is so calm and I'm being very careful to, you know, really regulate my nervous system, just seeing it. Knowing, knowing, you know, I'm just like, wow. Yeah. I've come across a couple of people here in the county I live in who have trained horses by tying them up or confining them and only bringing them like water, a small bucket of water once a day. Like that's going to teach them what they know to stand still. I'm like, I can't wrap my brain around that kind of cruelty, but it's an accepted practice in a lot of places. Yeah, so I think there's definitely stuff that she hasn't shown me yet, but she did show me a pretty not so great image. And, but, you know, my going back to the racetrack. It's like, I don't, I, there's no other. I don't know if it happened there. I mean, there's a lot of years. There's, there's 12 years between the racetrack and. Today, you know, so who knows what happened and, and where and when so, but you know, she's, she's a sweet girl and there's, there's definitely some try in her and there's already been a couple really pretty amazing moments, so. Yeah. So when you work with horses, when you work with people in as a healer, as an energy healer, you have a lot of tools at your disposal. And as I was thinking about our interview this morning, I was wondering, like, where did you start? Like, where did that education of energy healing start and then what prompted you to grow it? Because like a lot of people will, will take one you know, technique or tradition and just, and work in it, but you have such a variety. I've never really wanted to commit fully to any particular camp or any particular grid, we'll call it. Because I think that there's, There's beauty and validity in so many different things. And so I love to just say, Oh, I really like, I like that piece and take that piece from whatever and, and pull, you know, just pull from different things. I think that we limit our ourselves and we limit our possibilities when we only choose to go into one methodology. You know, to me that feels limiting. That's, you know, Like just take whatever we can get from different places. And if you've been at junctures where it seems like the two things are in opposition or they don't go together or there's some incongruence how do you navigate through that? Or is that not really come up? I don't think that's really come up. I'm not one to brood in my mind about something, I'll just like flow with it, and then if it doesn't resonate for me in that moment, I'll just flow with something else. Versus judging it or labeling it or trying to define it. I don't know if that makes sense. It sounds like an absorption process. Yeah, I just, I just take what resonates and, and so, so if I'm working with a horse, it's, or even when I'm working with a person or an, you know, a cat or a dog, it's, it's just, just whatever is needed in that moment. When we gather information and we gather our skills, I think there comes a point when we don't even necessarily know what came from where anymore, you know, it's, it's just what we, what we know to be our truth and what we've experienced, you know, we can go all the way back to, like, say, you know, someone's childhood, maybe that's where, you know, we first learned to be. You know, to develop a sense of being empathic, maybe because we had to, to survive, you know, the environment we were in. Right. And we learned those skills at a very early age. And then we, we, we can turn them into gifts of how we work with people or animals. You know, today there's, you know, you're, you're a very wise woman and I've appreciated so much of what you've said and, and how you see the world and all of the different things that you do and dabble in and, and how you have helped me and how you help other people. I've got, I got a thing I'm struggling a little bit with, maybe, maybe you have some words of wisdom for me about it. And it's a little about what you were just talking about. The, the way we see the world. Like the way I see the world compared to the way other people see the world. Like I, I'm pretty solid in my perceptions, but when there's so vastly different than other people's, and it causes conflict, sometimes I'm not quite sure what to do about that. I know it's not easy at all, but I always like to think about if, if about how I can just see the other perspective and with a sense of curiosity. Kind of like, huh, I really don't believe that at all. It's not my truth, but I wonder like how they got there. Like maybe it's turning it to like just being curious with how that person's life or experiences led them into that. Particular belief so that we open up our curiosity versus acknowledging that, Oh my gosh, I don't believe that at all. They're completely different than me. Like, that just kind of closes down any sort of. Place of connection. Mm hmm. Yeah. So you're saying staying in the curiosity can lead to some compassion and but still staying very strong in your own convictions and truth there. It's like, you know, I think if we if we know what we know, if we are grounded in our own truth. Then it, it, it's, it's not threatened, it's not like we don't, we don't worry about like, you know, like when someone says, Oh, I don't believe in animal communication. I'm like, yeah, cool. I get it. It's kind of weird. It's out there. It's hard to define hard to explain, you know, but I'm, I can just say it's fine. That's cool. Right, right. That helps. Thank you. I mean, just putting it in those, in that kind of context and thinking about a particular situation that, that is quite helpful. And I think also it's just, you know, like noticing if we get triggered, if it, if it riles us up in some way, you know, and, and then being able to, to turn and say, Oh, I wonder why, like just turning the curiosity, even back on ourselves. Oh, I wonder why that, that, that upsets me. Or what, you know, like exploring it in that way too. But I get it. It's hard in the moment. It's like, Oh. You know, we have our reaction or response to something. Yeah, there's some things that are definitely trickier than others for sure. And going back to horses, it's like, you know, when we when we have a moment, you know, where it brings something up for us. And it's like, oh, we get, you know, there's moments we get frustrated or, you know, we've, we've We feel like, Oh, I'm not good enough for whatever the emotion might be around the horse. And it's at that moment again, can we just step back and go, okay, I'm, I'm getting emotionally affected here. Let me take a breath. You know, this is not serving me or the horse. Let me find my feet. Let me reground. Okay, now I'm ready to step back in to the energy of the horse and see what we can do together. Yeah, that's a really good ability to constantly self reflect and self observe and call ourselves out even, you know, with compassion. They okay, you know, with compassion. Oh, you're getting triggered. Oh, you're okay. Let's just take a moment. Part of awareness and on the road to self mastery with, with all of that. Yeah. I mean, that's what it takes is being present and being aware. Horses are great teachers of that, you know, and that's a challenging journey. You know, it takes a lot of, a lot of courage, a lot of bravery. And a lot of compassion. What is your favorite thing to do? That's my favorite thing to do? Of anything? Yeah, just what's your favorite thing to do? Oh, I have so many favorite things to do. I can't choose just one. Okay. Well, in your work, what is, what is your favorite way of, Well, let me change the question. If you had a mission statement for your time here on earth, what would your mission statement be? To help, to help humanity come back into their bodies and to acknowledge and trust the wisdom of their own bodies. To feel the intelligence that resides in the cells of their body, that would change the world. Yeah, it would. Getting some goosebumps on that one. So, you've heard me talk about the quiet revolution in the horse world. Right? You've heard me talk about that? Do you feel like you're part of that? I do. I'd like to think that I am. But, yeah, I do. Because I'm always looking for another way. I'm, I'm following. You know, to my best of my ability in each moment, I'm following my breath and I'm following the horse's breath. Some really good tools, very usable tools that we've talked about today, whether it's in life or with your horse and ways of looking at things. I I just, I so appreciate our conversations. Is there anything else that you want to talk about or anything else you'd like to say? Well, when you'd asked me like, what are my favorite things to do? And then you said, Oh, let me ask you about your work. And then we went into the mission statement, but I kind of wanted to say. You know, if you ask me what my favorite part of my work is right now. Is it's when I get a new animal client and it, it's, it's just like a box of chocolates. I don't know what I'm going to get. I feel it's just, I feel like a little girl. It's so fun. I sit down with the picture that the, you know, that the person has forwarded to me of their animal, whether it's a cat, a dog or horse or whatever, a cow. I've done some interesting ones too. And it's just like, Oh, I wonder what, what they're going to share with me. I wonder what they have to tell me. I wonder what's important to them in their world. Because I, one of the first things I always ask is, what do you want to show me? What do you have to tell me? And I give the animal, the floor. And it's just I just love that those first moments when I can, I capture their personality and I hear what they have to share. And, you know, even it's always so beautiful, even those hard ones where someone's pet is nearing the end of their life, or I'm talking to a pet that's on the other side. And what messages want to come through still. It's always. So, so fun and so exciting and rewarding and humbling. Like it's such an honor. I think that's what I want to say. If people, if people want to reach you for that or for some of the other work you do, where can they, where can they find you? They can go to my website at AshaWolfHealing. com. So that's A S H A W O L F. Just like the animal. AshaWolfHealing. healing. com. Okay. Wonderful. Great. And I'll I'll put that in the, in the show notes as well. Well, I so appreciate you making time to chat with me today and also appreciate all the work we've done together. So I guess it's time to say, see you later. So much issue. This was delightful. I had a lovely time talking with you. This was great. Thank you so much for having me today. Yeah, absolutely. Bye.