Dr. Deb's "Plasma Body" concept.

Blue Flame · Dr. Deb's "Plasma Body" concept.

I noticed this concept on the ESI forums the other day. I don't know if she is the originator of this concept or not but it doesn't matter - I'm curious about it as I've seen something similar occur at a Mark Rashid clinic.

See Dr. Debs 4th post in this thread: http://esiforum.mywowbb.com/view_...um_id=1&highlight=plasma+hand

I was wondering if anyone has any more knowledge or experience with this concept . . . . if so, please share.

Clarissa

As usual Dr Deb shines again! Thanks for posting that link BF.

Her use of the term ‘Plasma’ is a new way she is trying to get her mind’s image across to ‘normal folk’ who don’t formulate images like she does. She’s much like Gaudi in that she ‘sees’ the physics but has trouble explaining it to people. I have the same problem when I talk about energy! She's trying to tell us we need to be fluid in our body because the horse is fluid in it's body as it moves along.

I guess some people will understand the essence of ‘plasma’ but it will be lost on others. DD was talking in similar terms at the clinic where I met her years ago, so she has been thinking it for a very long time already.

I could try to interpret it as moulding your energy around the horse’s body to ‘touch’ the body part you are aiming at. It’s more of an envisioned sense rather than an actual physical touching.

I would join her forum but it's better I remain a visitor I think because I would never get anything else done all day

lol

However I have made a mental note to show that particular post to the lady I am coaching now to show her why her horse is not going well.

Blue Flame

I am a member of her forum but I don't post there as I don't like being psychoanalysed - something she seems to feel the need to do to people.

I'm familiar with energy fields, auras, using yi to shape and channel chi etc. from my martial arts days so the concept is pretty clear to me. As yet I haven't used it much with horses because it is a different quality of energy from that I trained in - I think my version would be a touch overwhelming for most horses.

I just wanted to hear from other's experiences.

E.g. At a clinic, Mark Rashid told one rider to go to the far end of the arena and canter back towards us. He told her not to do anything physically, but just to keep counting the footfalls of her horse's left hind foot and picture it landing under her right stirrup. The result was a very impressive half pass.

Another rider he told to think "light feet" and her draught went from thudding hoofbeats to almost silent ones.

. . . . that sort of thing . . . .

Mandy'sMarty

Blue Flame--I don't have quite the same experiences specific to cueing my horse, but I do have some that may be related.

A couple of years ago I was in a clinic with PP Gretchen Thompson and we were working on basic stuff---identifying footfalls, coordinating posting cadence with footfalls, canter departs with lead changes, etc. She and I were riding alongside each other and I confessed that I was having an awkward time consciously measuring footfalls and matching my body in a posting rhythm. She laughed and said that I was a natural rider and not to worry. She admitted that she too was a natural and realized how awkward it was for me to quantify what I was already doing naturally.

Later she asked me to demonstrate a lead change...and then to describe what I consciously did to cue my mare. I said that I simply "threw my energy out in that direction in front of us" and invited my mare to follow. Gretchen stopped in her tracks and gave me a look...but never questioned me about it. I suspect she knew exactly what I meant.

Since then I have become much more aware of my energy and how my mare responds to it. When her mind is "with me", I can direct her with just my focus when riding cross country. I do have to remember to control my energy while riding so that I don't accidentally cue her to run full bore.

I'm still learning to refine my ground work with her so that I can simply focus my energy on those specific parts of her body that I wish for her to move away from me, rather than relying on clumsy body language.

While experimenting on her with energy as a healing modality, I learned that I could simply stand and offer my two hands along her body...and she would move back and forth to position herself where she specifically wanted the energy directed. She also taught me how to carefully direct energy from the pads on my fingers and not point directly into her. Once I was a bit clumsy and pointed 'into' her side. She immediately cried out and jumped sideways as if I had burned her. On another occasion I was sending her energy and she squealed with delight when she had received enough and slowly moved away.

Energy...directing and managing it with horses fascinates me. They are so receptive to energy.

cynthia peterson

Let me add another thing DD said about this energy. In one of her CDROMs she explains how this concept has always been out there. As you see pictures of Christ holding his hands out like there is energy coming from him. In fact all religious figures are pictured that way, Buddha, etc. Could the Spirit be that energy too? And could that be somewhat like Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt said about putting you "heart" into touching the horse? In the lesson Tom Dorrance taught Ray Hunt to change his Hondo troubled horse (that changed Ray Hunt) Tom said to stroke the horse with love under his neck. People remember the part of Tom telling him to lat Hondo down (which is part of it) but forget the most important thing he taught him, that touch.

I have seen people groom and pat their horses as if they were cleaning a rug, with no love at all.

I really like your concept Clarrisa! That was right on the spot!

Blue Flame

Interesting you mention the image of Christ. A bit off topic but . . . in my martial/meditation/chi training there was a technique known as 5 gate breathing. The gates are the palms of the hands, the equivalent places on the feet and the middle of the forehead or 3rd eye position. Now think about what was done to those 5 places during the crucifixion. Whether you believe in the crucifixion or not, the imagery exists and the methods described have significant implications in certain fields.

Anyway, back on topic.

One of my mentors asked us to hold in consideration that the experience of being in love is one of total communication (more non verbal than verbal). He also said that the experience need not necessarily be mutual for this communication to be present. Hence the way we touch our horses is the way we communicate with them.

Getting slightly more technical, for me, most of the skill involved in directing/shaping chi or energy involved visualisations of the path you want it to take, shape you want it to assume or quality you want it to have (attracting/repelling/penetrating/recieving/resisting etc.)

I think visualisation can be a very powerful tool for people when using energy - just have to find the one that works best for you. Another visualisation I've heard DD mention is the waterfall flowing over the hands as a means to express how the energy flows through horse and rider - that's a good one as water has significant meaning to the subconcious mind.

I'm really interested in what other people have found works for them and their horses along these lines. Please, keep it coming.

bit

Right now we are trying to help Gunner heal. He was started at two, in shoes at one, showing halter class in state shows at a national level. His canter is a limpy lope, his trot a western pleasure shuffle. He was valued at around 30,000.00, just because of his "great start" and all his wins at the paint shows. If he touched you with his mouth, he was smacked. His owner gave him affection, it's not that he wasn't loved. David was a great horseman, but he did do it old school, and Gunner was not a happy horse. He didn't like his job.
I was particularly looking forward to "ruining" this horse. The day he was officially mine, I taught him how to pick stuff up with his mouth. I taught him to play by nipping playfully at the side of his mouth with my hand, like another horse, and running around like a crazy two legger. After three or four attempts, he let loose. Finally. On the ground, I could help him find himself. I brought him here and introduced him to a real herd. He's still trying to work that out. He's learning. I think he's happy. We spend a lot of time grazing together, nose to boot.
In the saddle, it's a different story. I took him out with Kelsey and her horse Zyia. I cantered him for the first time and could tell he was very unhappy. I asked Kelsey to hop on, but I didn't tell her why. Just asked, "Ya wanna hop on?" She confirmed, "He feels angry." Yep, so it wasn't just me. She messed with him for a little while, and tried to stop on a good note. He had NO forward. She rode him the next day in a alfalfa field we like to play in. Better. Happier. Even got a couple of strides at the canter that were a bit more forward. Even got a little bit of an extended trot, racing Eclipse and I to the round bales that they had just baled. We were having fun, Eclipse had been in a grazing muzzel all day, so she was, shall we say motivated? First bale she took a huge bite before I could get her ripped from it's gravitational pull. We were both laughing and having fun racing from bale to bale, and I think that's why Gunner relaxed and began to find his stride. I still have rarely seen him canter or even trot in the pasture. Hawk trots and canters EVERYWHERE. That boy is a blank slate.
I believe the plasma body can be your emotional self. Kelsey was riding Gunner and keeping her mood lite, and we made a game out of it. At first he just wanted to canter circles, just like he was in an arena. Has never been cantered in a long, straight line, with the purpose of going somewhere. His whole attitude changed. We are going somewhere? It's a race? Lots of rubs and scratches and "good boys!", too. He has some clicker training so "good boy" makes him perk up and his eyes get pretty bright.
Last night we decided to take Quinn and Gunner out for a graze on line. We still have a lot of the pasture fenced off until our hay is harvested. As we walked out the gate, Eclipse asked to come along, so I said sure and she gaited along, enjoying the liberty play and stopping to graze. Quinn was on high alert when we came around the corner and could see the next door cows. Two young bulls were playing pushing games, and Quinn snorted and blew. Gunner picked right up on it, and he became very agitated. Kelsey was kept pretty busy keeping Quinn off her, and I decided to let Gunner loose so I would be a little safer. Eclipse was busy eating, head down, not real concerned. Done that been there. Gunner was so agitated he even got Eclipse to spook and run with him. She brought him right back to me, and I hooked her up on line. We were hoping her calm mind would be contagious, but it was Quinn's energy that dominated. That old plasma body, I think.
I really believe, once Quinn and Gunner are out with the herd for a while, Eclipse, Bit and Hawks calm minds will prevail. It's all about energy, and it's hard to get your energy to top a right brained horse's energy. That's why ya take a green horse out with a very calm horse on his first trail rides. Or, you go alone. Better than going out with a big group or with another horse that is spooky. I found my energy a lot calmer leading Eclipse than it was trying to lead Gunner. As soon as my hand touched Ecipse, I got calm. It's why lead mares feel so good to a herd, according to Carolyn Resnick. They are calm, they make you feel safe and just being near them helps you feel better. That's the energy I want in the saddle.
It can be a throwing of your energy forward, which is your first cue to go forward. Works great when crossing a bridge with a reluctant horse, or just to get his energy moving in the direction you want. It works great for lead changes, although I have no clue, just taking Marty's word. It works great directing six horses to different feed buckets, when everyone is on a different supplement, trust me. Horses are energy body animals. It's all about energy with them. That's their great lesson for us humans. In the moment, calm, positive energy is their gift to us. They help us change our plasma body at a cellular level. It changes us at that changes our lives.

Clarissa

[quote=”Blue Flame”]I'm really interested in what other people have found works for them and their horses along these lines. Please, keep it coming.[/quote]

OK here’s my secret! I was bandhead

trying to get through to Sonny in his teenage years. I saw the Star Wars Movie where Luke trained with Yoda. You know the phrase "use the force, Luke"? The idea of passing energy to a particular point is something I believe in, although it is a blind faith I have, because I don’t yet have any inkling to the physics of the how. I believe humans have more capacity/dimensions than we are currently using.

Just like Luke, I decided I had to learn how to use ‘energy’ get into Sonny’s head without the tension because he would ‘leave’ at the drop of a hat.

My perception of using 'the force' was that I had to breathe it in, feel it through my body & pass it out to Sonny through my fingers & toes. DD had previously told me Sonny had a sweet spot of learning that I was missing mostly & she wanted to violent1

hard to get me beyond my physical blockage!

And that’s what I did!

I can now manipulate a horse within a few minutes of meeting it. I can scoop/direct the energy over to the horse to cause it to move how I want….well on the ground anyway, I’m not very good riding yet. It’s why I say that using gear like a halter is counter productive to properly forming a relationship with your horse. The tools break or disrupt the connection & allow the person to be lazy.

I found I needed to be very clear headed & focused, things which aren’t happening lately. confused2

appellativo

Astral body
This is the subtle extension or SUBTLE SPHERE of influence of the energetical subtle body

another definition: Definition of Astral Body In occult terminology a replica of the physical body, but more subtle and tenuous. It penetrates every nerve, fibre and cell of the physical organism and is constantly in a supersensitive state of oscillation and pulsation. The psychic faculty within the astral body is impressionable to extra-sensory vibrations. The astrological concept is that of a magnetic field wherein the individual does most of his thinking, and from which he draws impressions by way of interpreting changes in the field due to cosmic radiation.

(I read that very loud music or vibrations, such as from standing next to a motorcycle which revs its engine really loud, is actually DAMAGING to the spirit, even more so than to the ears!)

It sounds like the plasma body is the same thing as the 'astral' body. I've read some stuff on astral projection too that sounds like being able to manipulate/control the energy of the spirit body, so it makes sense. Wow, we are certainly spiritual beings having a human journey! It seems to be all about awakening to our true origins.