Hello Reader,

I know this might seem like a random question, but what do you think it means to be WISE?

No seriously, I'm curious as to your thoughts.

Go ahead and hit reply and let me know.

I've been mulling over what it means to be WISE ever since participating in my friend, Andrea Wady's, webinar series hosted by HorseClass.com that aired back in September.

{By the way, you can catch it for free for a limited time!}

Andrea creatively turned WISE into a formula designed to help mature (haha, that is code word for those of us over 50) riders to find their way forward. The thing is, WISE is great not just for riders but for anyone who is stuck! Seriously, watch this to find out what I mean, even if you're not an equestrian.

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The other reason I have been thinking about WISE is because I've been working through a powerful workbook, Transforming the Living Legacy of Trauma, by Janina Fisher, and it has been and absolute game changer for me and my clients.

As you likely know, I am a survivor of emotional and physical abuse.

Funny how those words still feel like they don't fit.

That's what trauma will do.

Trauma will make you feel like you're the crazy one.

This workbook has helped me see in a very simplistic way how trauma changes the way we think, feel, and see the world, others, and ourselves. When trauma has impacted our lives, instead of living in our thinking brain, our survival brain takes over.

The symptoms of trauma are so normalized that we don't even realize what is happening. But once we recognize those symptoms we can begin to notice the patterns of response to daily triggers. Then we can begin another layer of healing!

But what does this have to do with being WISE?

Fisher explains that "To heal--to feel safe now and to know we are safe--requires restoring activity to the prefrontal cortex so that we can observe, reflect, see ourselves and others in perspective and have access to curiosity and compassion. Wisdom requires this part of the brain. When we use the expression, wise mind, we are actually referring to the medial prefrontal cortex, located right behind the middle of the forehead. Its job is to help us observe the environment, ourselves, and those around us, to literally see the big picture" (p. 31-32).

Okay, so where I am going with all this? Well, isn't it interesting that Andrea chose the word WISE to speak to the struggle older riders have both in and out of the tack? Yet the reality is that many of us are struggling in numerous areas of life because we generally feel unsafe emotionally, physically, and relationally.

Whether that lack of safety is caused by a spooky horse, critical colleague, ill-tempered partner, or a culmination of experiences over the decades, the fact is that the wise mind we are hoping to use is actually shut down if survival is the overarching demand.

Unless we can find safety in the environment we're in with the people who surround us, the body will not be able to step out of survival mode and the thinking part of our minds will stay offline.

So what is the way forward?

We need to find safety -- emotionally, physically, and relationally -- so that we can heal, grow, and live fully present in the mind and body, embracing the passions and purposes in our lives with calm and confidence!

For riders, the HorseClass.com community and the new Wise Riders Club, that is most certainly a place for growth.

For the rest of us, it is time to explore how we can find and cultivate the kinds of community and connections that are defined by a commitment to safety.

If that is an area you feel stuck in, let's hop on a Discovery Call and begin exploring your options together.

Growing together,

Lisa

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P.S. For those of you who want a biblical take on this, soak up this little ditty from Proverbs 29:11 which states that "Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end." Interesting don't you think that rage is a fight response, and a fight response happens when the brain stem is lit up in survival mode? Whereas wisdom -- or that wise mind response -- can only occure when safety and calm prevails. I love it when we can see science in the scriptures and scriptures in science.