Thursday, 22 March 2012

Tales from a nervous rider - Part 2


GUEST BLOGGER: Vicky Smith
TALES FROM A NERVOUS RIDER PART 2

For anyone who's ever had a bad experience whilst riding, here's the 2nd part of my story, demonstrating how I overcame my fears & anxiety using NLP and hypnotherapy. Yes, that stuff really works!

I always believed I was a rubbish rider and that something bad would happen every time I went riding. I only had to think about riding - I didn’t need to be anywhere near a horse - to feel the fear! Weird, huh? 

Through lots of training, I understood why I was nervous, but what I wanted to know was how could I stop it. How could I go from ‘Nervous Nellie’ to ‘Valiant Vicky’? 

I’d created a niggling voice in my head that said ‘the horse will bolt’ or ‘something will go wrong’. You know that voice, we all have it! The voice was linked to the limiting beliefs my brain had created and was almost paralysing me with fear. 

How did I turn that around?

 Using a variety of powerful and effective NLP tools & techniques, I was finally able shut that voice up once and for all. I went from being a nervous wreck, to someone who would gallop across fields, enter competitions, explore the countryside for hours on horseback - there was no stopping me. NLP cleared those limiting beliefs and gave me new strategies for dealing with negative emotions. It wasn't that I was never going to feel fear or anxiety again (that wouldn't be safe), but I was able to deal with it realistically - to see it for what it really was and not allow it to change my behaviour and stop me doing what I loved - horse riding.

 After owning Ted for 6 years, we were finally having some real fun together. I freed him from the doldrums of the indoor school and started doing things we both loved. We had an amazing couple of years, then sadly Ted's back gave in and he had to be put to sleep, at the grand old age of 21. He was an amazing character & a real gent, everyone loved him.

I'm back in the saddle now riding a beautiful 17.2 dressage horse. I use my experience to help other nervous riders overcome their fears. You can get lots of free riding/coaching tips to help you overcome your fears at: http://www.inspirationalridingsolutions.com/ or on: facebook.com/InspirationalRidingSolutions

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