Well, it is 7:25 am and today is our last day at the Zoo with the Giraffes and with this most impressive and extraordinary group of people.  It is hard to believe that we are on our last day already.  The time has flown!

Today we are going to meet Anna Wise. What an incredible treat and honor!  I have been hearing about Anna and her work through Linda since I began this work with TTEAM & TTouch 20 years ago!

Robin, Jessica and I will be leaving shortly to go work once again with Tiki and her trainers and keepers.  I am just going to continue saying that the group of people who work with Tiki are the most incredible people!  I am so deeply impressed with how they work, their level of integrity, respect and consideration for these animals, their deep compassion and their SKILLS!  They are just superb.  I will likely continue gushing with accolades about them over time!  The more time I spend with them, the more I am impressed!  And it looks like we will have the opportunity to come back!  Yesterday we were invited to return to continue with this collaborative work!

I am needing to zip off now, but wanted at least to check in since I was unable to do so last night…..We had an extraordinary collaborative meeting with Ellen Gerhke who ahs done such incredible Heart Math work with her horse, Lisa, a good friend and supporter, James who work works with Anna Wise, Jessica and myself.  We spent the evening getting EEG, Heart Math Freez Framer for Heart Variability, Mind Mirror and ESR which measures skin conductance.  This was so we could begin talking about how each of our ways of measurements relates to one another.  It was so incredible exciting to begin this conversation in this way!  Robin and Jessica and I have been talking and dreaming of this for years!

Linda just came in to meet with us so we can review the day and what will be doing so I need to take off now.

So long for now, keep checking back
Sandy

Momma and Baby Giraffe taking a walk

I said to Robin that things just keep getting better each day, if that is even possible. We had the opportunity to watch the trainers in two training sessions with Tiki today. This was like watching poetry in motion with Amy and Lisa and of course Tiki. I am so very impressed with how they are training and being with Tiki.

I am in love, with giraffes, and these animals. Totally in love.

On the feeding platform

And so here I am on the first day. My first experiences with these tall, graceful, extraordinary beings called Giraffes. I am postively giddy here, in awe, amazement and excitement as I am feeding them. We had the opportunity to hang out here with the crew for quite some time on the first day. This gave me a chance to begin to get familiar. Looking into their eyes is falling into some delightful liquid unending beauty with their soft long eyelashes. I just want to hug them, but of course they cannot gt hugged, would not like this at all, do not actually like to be touched too much. They do however like treats, a lot!

I am just going to let a few pictures do the talking……..

Khalid, the baby

Ahhhhh, those eyes!

Khalid, the precious one

Not quite tall enough to reach all the way up to the Platform yet…….he gets his food from a lower area so he can reach.

Such grace and beauty

See what I mean? Isn’t he incredible? Majestic, noble, beautiful, grace exemplified. I do not think there is a way to get a bad picture of a giraffe, they are the most photogenic animals I have ever met.

More notes tomorrow…..and more pictures to come in the upcoming days……and most likely weeks……I must have taken hundreds and hundreds of pictures, and have so many stories to tell from these 3 days at the Zoo. It was weeks of adventures compressed into 3 of the most glorious days of my life.

Did I mention we got to go see an elephant today? Watched Linda do some TTouch with him, and then watch Colleen do some beautiful target training with him, and then we each got to offer some food and have him take food from our hands with his trunk!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and I was the lucky recipient of TTouch from Linda while both of us were hooked up to Anna Wise’s Mind Mirror to see what our brainwaves were doing while giving and recieving! And then, I was TTouching Linda also while the Mind Mirror was hooked up to both of us…..Just a small peak into yet another extraordinary time here with each day adding to the rest of phenomonal times. Ok, I really have to go pack, eat, and get some rest. We leave bright and early in the morning to fly back home.

Sandy

Sandy

3-4-09

Well we are on our way to California!  I am traveling with my good friends and colleagues, Robin Bernhard and Jessica Eure of the Virginia Neurofeedback, Trauma and Attachment Center.  Tonight we will meet with Linda Tellington-Jones, Founder of Tellington-TTouch Training and a group we are collaborating with for our special project at the Oakland Zoo.

Am I excited?  You bet!

10:30 pm 3-4-09

Tonight we met with an extraordinary group of 14 people for dinner. Linda Tellington-Jones spoke about her meeting with Anna Wise 30 years ago to measure Brain Wave patterns using Anna’s Mind Mirror Program to assess what was happening in Linda’s brain while she was using TTouch.  (www.annawise.com)They also measured the horse’s brain and various handlers.  The results were profound and showed that with the use of TTouch the brain came into ‘An Awakened Mind State’ where both hemispheres of the brain became more balanced.

One of the many highlights for me was to hear Amy Phelps speak about “Team Tiki.”  Amy is the primary Giraffe keeper at the Oakland Zoo in California.  And Tiki is one of the 10 giraffes at this zoo.  She is a very special 20 year old giraffe.  The work Amy is doing is extraordinary from my perspective.  She has gathered a team of incredible people to help give Tiki a very comprehensive support system for optimal health.  They have a brilliant lead trainer who is using extremely refined operant conditioning with many. Tiki has a Homeopath, an Acupuncturist, and another TTouch Horse Practitioner who has done several Cranial Sacral sessions with Tiki.  You can google Oakland Zoo Tiki for info and pictures about them.  Tiki is well known around the area!

Amy first came to TTouch after a young Giraffe got injured and had to have multiple surgeries. Amy was at first very skeptical of TTouch.  But as soon as she watched the giraffe’s pain diminish and watch Linda work, she said she was hooked.

Amy relayed a story about this young giraffe having had a cast on his leg.  It was difficult to touch him and they had to take extremely small amounts of the cast off at a time over a period of many days.  As soon as TTouch was introduced, they were able to take the cast off with him being so much easier to handle. Now, years later, the giraffes are fortunate to have TTouch integrated into their regular care.  Amy spoke passionately about TTouch helping the giraffes to be much easier to handle and how it helps to decrease their stress levels.  With the inclusion of TTouch Amy said that the Giraffes learn more easily and are able to deal with the day-to-day care and routine medical procedures with less stress and more comfort.

Also on ‘Team Tiki,’ is a brilliant Lead Trainer, an Acupuncturist, a Homeopath, and a Cranial Sacral Practitioner who also happens to be a TTEAM Horse practitioner.  I think this qualifies for the Holistic Animal!!!!!!!!!  WOW.  Isn’t that impressive?  The trainer uses operant conditioning that is extremely refined.  She watches not just for overt behavior and body signals, but also for muscle contractions!  I asked her if we would be able to talk and learn more – she will be joining us daily.  Hooray!  I am incredibly curious about how she works and to learn more about what she is doing.  There is so much we can learn from her that will translate to better training with the dogs and horses!

We have a full day ahead of us tomorrow.  We will be meeting at the Zoo in the morning.  Our first tasks will be to begin measuring the brain wave patterns of Linda at a resting state, and then while she is administering Clouded Leopard TTouches with Tiki.  At the same time, we will be attempting to measure the brainwave patterns of Tiki.  This is a very gentle method we will be using.

Since I don’t have direct Internet access all the time, I will most likely be posting at night.

Good Night all!  Much more will follow!  Keep coming back.
Sandy

3-6-09

Well, it is in the wee hours of the morning and we are just now finishing up our work for the day!  We had the MOST exciting and incredible time today at the zoo.  Wow.  I am in awe, wonder and am spellbound by these majestic Giraffes.  They are of course SO TALL.  With their loooong and beautiful necks upright, they stand 15-18 feet high.  Did you know that the heart of a Giraffe weighs 25 pounds?

I am so very impressed with ‘Team Tiki” and everyone we have met today.  These people truly know the meaning of teamwork.  They move around like a well-oiled group who knows seems to really know ad respect one another.  I commented on this to Lisa, the lead trainer and she proudly said they spend a lot of time clarifying their communication.  And after we finished for the day, Amy exclaimed, We have the BEST volunteers! Initially I thought that surely these people I were all staff.  They were so completely committed, clear and cohesive together.

Today we all met to discuss brainwaves and to discuss the plan in some detail of working with Tiki.  We then head the opportunity to go back into the giraffe area!!!!  There is a feeding platform where we were able to go visit in a manner that was very safe and protected yet still allowed us access to meet, visit and feed the Giraffes. I am still in wonder and spellbound.

At this point, Amy the primary giraffe keeper Robin, Jessica and Linda went into the back area accompanied by Amy and Lisa.  There is a safe protected area where they were able to set up their equipment and work with Tiki.  Meanwhile, I was able to head back to the feeding platform to spend additional time with the rest of our group and the Giraffes!

Once Robin and Jessica got everything set up and Lisa and Amy had worked with Tiki, We were able to go the back area to safely observe and take pictures. Linda was hooked up with electrodes so we could measure her EEG brainwave patterns while TTouching Tiki.  She did this on one side a fence where she was protected but could reach through the enclosure to do the TTouches on her shoulder.  With Tiki towering above, Zach was up on a ladder feeding.  Tiki knows directives to step up and move to the side among others.  It is really quite impressive to see a wild Giraffe choose to work together with Amy in this manner.  Actually, before Linda did some TTouches, Amy reached up and praised Tiki, stroked her shoulder with such care it was palpable.  She followed with some Coiled Python Lifts along her shoulder region.  Tiki moved into her hand.  She stood calmly, occasionally looking at us with curiosity, and then went back to munching her food.

Once all this was complete, we had a wonderful lunch, followed by some additional zoo activities afterwards.  Then for us it was off to the hotel.  Robin and Jessica to reviewed all the data. And I was able to review and edit all the video and pictures.

I will be posting pictures and video clips after I have Amy review them for posting.  I will have some as soon as I am able to!

I have very limited times that I can have access to post on the Internet, but I hope to have another post tomorrow night or by early Saturday morning.

Have a great day!

Sandy

I have just gotten back from a trip to the Apple Store and yet another wonderful training about video movie making and editing. I Love my Apple!  I never, ever would have thought that I would become a techno type geek or anything even close to it. I am the intuitive who hated Math and most things of a concrete, linear nature.  Except when it came to horses that is.   Yet here I am, suddenly lapping up everything I can about how to use this ‘ol computer and the internet.  But then again, I never thought I would be doing healing work with people, so you just never know what is in store.

Like taking this fantastic Intro to Internet Marketing course with the wonderful Marilee Tolen, The Home Spa Lady, www.homespalady.com and voila, on the first class along with 20 other Holistically oriented Practitioners from around the world, we all got walked through setting up a Blog!

People have suggested that I begin Blogging for quite awhile. I resisted.  I balked like a horse not wanting to leave home and go on the trailer to some great new adventure down the road.  Yet, now that I finally got in the “trailer’ and traveled down the road a short bit, I am loving the scenery and very happily exploring the territory!

I have been diligently on this video movie making learning venture with a VERY big learning curve so that I can put together some video clips that were taken about a group I lead for a year.  I taught/offered a small group of people with Traumatic Brain Injuries how to do do TTouch for themselves.  What is TTouch? Well, it is a very gentle type of bodywork that uses circular touches that was developed by Linda Tellington-Jones over 30 years ago. For more on TTouch go to TTouch.com

My friend Robin got a new filly named Faith in December.   I practiced with pics and video of her on their first meeting. It is called “Meeting Faith.” My first video, editing and You Tube venture is now posted, please check it out and let me know what you think.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjSTmxwfmPc

You may have wondered, “And what do computers, video-movie making and brain injuries have to do with animals or the Holistic World.  Well, I first got into TTouch through my horse, Ibis, 20 years ago a year after he came into my life.  It is primarily through TTouch and horses that I first got into this Holistic World.

Over the years I have seen and experienced profound changes through TTouch. First with my own horse, Ibis; then with the horses of my Riding Clients; and then with many other species, including the 2 legged human variety. I saw over the years that TTouch had so much to offer horses with neurological impairments like EPM.  This is where a parasite attacks the myelin sheath of the spinal cord and effects motor function.  After speaking with a few people who had had various kinds of Traumatic Brain Injuries and  hearing about the neurological impairments that they had been experiencing I thought that TTouch ought to be able to help somehow.  So, I put together this group as a pilot study to see in what ways TTouch might help them.

I rounded up my good friends and colleagues Robin Bernhard, LSCW, of the Virginia Center for Neurofeedback, Attachment & Trauma and Jessica Eure, M.Ed., Ed.S.,  another collegue who works with Robin.  http://www.virginianeurofeedback.com/ With their help, we met for 6 two hour sessions and then continued with a series of follow-up sessions for a year.  The experience was incredible, rewarding, and continues on even since we completed the class.  I will talk more in more detail about the class and what we did at a later time.  Meanwhile if you would like to read a little bit more please go to my website to the articles tab.  http://www.onehearthealingcenter.com/

Since we did video-tape most of the classes we have been trying to get these silly little disks to convert to a program were we can edit them!!!!!  I am chomping to be able to edit all these hours of video that we took.  We have some great footage watching people change as they practiced, learned and received TTouch!  We heard hope springing forth from people who were told by the medical profession that where they were in their recovery from the injuries was as far as they would go, that they would not experience any more recovery!  And then, even within the very first class, people exclaimed with wonder that they felt different, felt clearer, had less pain and had improved motor function.  Hope springing up like the first yellow Crocus that I saw yesterday along my driveway.

Now I have encountered yet another seeming roadblock to being able to edit these tapes.  In the conversion process the sound track is totally off and the visual has distortion.  So we are going back to the drawing board.  I will keep you posted.  I will work on a suggestion that was given by the Helper at the Apple Store. After many prayers asking for help with this process I got a new idea on the drive home.  I will try it out tomorrow and keep you posted on the progress.

Do you have any questions or comments?  I would love to hear from you!

That is it for  now.  Hope you have a great night.

Sandy and the Critters…..

Ibis and I laughing!

It was a blustery day with the wind gusting this way and that and the air was nipping. We were all a little bit excited as we had not been out for a walk in a month or so.

When Zoey popped her head up to look at the leaves blowing or something in the distance, I decided to begin asking them to use the Clicker Training to help them refocus on me. Each time I asked them to do something their heads came down a bit and their breathing began to slow. Within 15 minutes they became very relaxed. I asked for combinations of half walks and lengthening their strides to help them soften, engage their backs more fully and elasticizing them. I love using this kind of engagement for increasing flexibility in mind and body. We practiced turning in a small radius with the horses in tandem. This was really cool as they got the gist of what I was asking.

When we were a half mile down the road, our neighboring horses picked up and ran across their field to greet us. Ibis and Zoey love to walk down here to see the other horses. Even though they do not greet directly over the fence, they are clearly interested in seeing what the neighbors were up to today. I we hung out for awhile and then we continued on our way. I was relieved when the wind began to slow down and we could feel the warmth of the sun. The horses and I calmed down a few more notches once the wind settled down. I am always amazed at just how much the wind effects the horses energy levels! They seem to want to race around and keep up with the speed and shifting directions of the wind.

When we returned home, I took off their halters and we went into the labyrinth. A set of 8 poles set up in a pattern developed by Linda Tellington-Jones as part of the Confidence Course. Today we put together multiple skills. Without their halters, free to do whatever they pleased on their own, they chose to join me and walked and turned in tandem and go around the labyrinth with all of its tight turns. I was impressed and over the top excited at our growing partnership together!