Meditating with horses, equine facilitator training, life coach and women's retreats
A Sanctuary for Quieting the Mind and Opening the Heart ...
Testimonials
In gratitude, Barbara
Experiences at Epona Ridge
Wow I just finished the intensive week there at Epona Ridge with the Horses, cats and of course Barbara.......Thank you, I wasn't sure before I started working with the horses that they could possibly react to me in ways that were significant only to me..........Much to my amazement they did over and over give me exactly what I needed...........It could be the same horse with different participants and each participant was given exactly what they needed, different behavior for each of us........I am amazed and grateful to experience this for myself....I felt safe and Loved and comfortable in every way.
I was the only man there this time but I hope to see more in the future. I will be there again that is for sure..........Barbara was wonderful and gentle and loving and helpful. The horses, Zorro, Cierba, Magic and Bodie are wonderful to work with or play with might be more like it, even though I know I peeled away some more layers of this old onion there is more to go. I look forward to getting some more help in that process at Epona Ridge.
Bob Damiani, Weaverville, NC
I am deeply grateful for you and your horses and the experience you are offering there at Epona Ridge.
My last session with you and Zorro was particularly profound. I am experiencing more present-moment awareness, inner peace, flow and something I call "self-referral" than ever before.
Each time I've worked with Cierba or Zorro they have taught me lessons about boundaries and heart connection AND something much deeper has transpired. I don't know how to describe it and I know it's not necessary to figure it out. What I do know is that it is affecting my life in a wonderful way. You and they are a blessing in my life!
Fondly and gratefully,
Joy L. Weaverville, NC
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Just over a year ago I started a new path of honoring myself. After attending several workshops at Epona Ridge I decided to commit to the 2008 Epona Ridge Mentorship program, even though my life's work path was still not clear to me. It was a great decision!
I just graduated and it was/is a wonderful program. It helped me strengthen my connection to my inner wisdom, get clarity on the direction of my life's work path, and provided wonderful training in facilitating Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning workshops and information & tools regarding building a new business. Barbara... is a dedicated, caring and effective mentor.
Lynne Sullivan, Brevard NC
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I am convinced of the healing power of both the horses who share their wisdom and grace, and of the sacred space that is always here waiting at Epona Ridge."
Sandra Sherrill
This workshop has enhanced my awareness of our connection with all beings to a level I have never felt before. It has opened doors to emotional issues and allowed me to release the resistance. I am ever in gratitude for what you and the horses have done for us all. Thank you.
Diane G. Waynesville, NC
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I completely loved the workshop. I loved the safe and gentle space you created so that each of us can honestly be ourselves and reach for more. I loved how you designed the flow of exercises, rituals, and experiences and I felt so supported by you and the horses to live in my heart. I loved the joy of connecting and sharing each morning. I love how you created an energetic field of strength and beauty to resonate with. You are so gentle and powerful in your presence and as a guide/teacher/healer and facilitator. It was such a beautiful opportunity to take my spirituality and live and experience it in a different dimension with the horses. I know energetically I have been changed profoundly.
I loved loved loved how you stood with me as witness for my first real experience (in the round pen). Knowing you were there really allowed me to let go and open to such an amazing and beautiful experience. And to have you validate what I truly believe happened and was happening allowed me to take it deeper and make it more real.
Your workshop (Sacred Choices and Choosing Joy) truly allows for individuals to experience and understand what is really important… to make the choice of what really matters to them. I think in a lot of ways you help to give voice to those who may not be as in touch with that, while for others it is an opportunity to take that (Mattering) deeper and allow it to be more far reaching. I just loved all the time and experiences with the horses. Formal or informal by myself I was touched and changed every time.
You wouldn't understand unless you've been to one.
Barbara is a shining example of all she teaches. She gives enough guidance, direction, input and feedback so as to truly create a sacred space. Each personal journey is their own unique and individual with their own cadence. Barbara creates an environment and structure within which each person can feel safe and free. She is a beacon.
The full range of emotions that was experienced by the weather and the fluidity with which the different techniques and sharing times moved into each other was wonderful. Barbara’s picture should be in the dictionary next to the word :facilitator:…warm, genuine, inclusive, respectful, knowledgeable- all these words are part of who Barbara is but she is so much more… an alchemical synergistic experiential of this and more… an inspiration ... not necessarily to be like her but to reach to be more of who YOU are. To be the more of you.
The experiences with the horses is and was more then I can say ... truly beyond words. They can take you to a place of peace, healing, dreaming, forgiveness and joy… emotional release that is life altering and live changing. All it takes is a bit of willingness, asking and magic. The group of women were so supportive, respectful, interesting and fun…spiritual, mystical, willing... a transcendent time for me.
Barbra McPike
Sacred Choices…. For me, choosing the authentic, the truer self and allowing the false self to be smaller, less real. The process and spiral of these experiences allowed new vistas and horizons of possibilities to blossom and expand. It was beautiful... more than I could have ever imagined...– the environment, the space…
While there, I left behind my old ideas and felt the peace of knowing that I will be instrumental in changing the thinking and way of interacting with our magnificent equine--one student at a time, through the Way of the Horse. How my God has blessed me! Everything has changed - in my teaching, the horses, my students (their lives and relationships because of what they are learning from the horses), my family, my faith, and myself.
Amy-Leigh Kubicki
Raleigh, North Carolina
I have come to know that no two of your workshops will ever be in any way similar. It reminds me of the preparation of food; the end result is based on the ingredients and their intensities are never the same. It is so valuable that YOU honor the moment. It has been my experience that some meaningful thoughts can only be expressed sometimes at a seemingly unthreatening moment. Some words left unspoken may never have sound. And expressing is contagious! Thanks for creating that space!
Ann L. Asheville, NC
...this workshop became truly magical for me. I was able to be entirely present to witness the beautiful rhythm of Barbara building the safest sacred space of possibility and authentic community I have yet to experience. The possibilities were infinite in this group and absolutely incredible things happened. It became clear that everyone felt safe, even the animals as a hummingbird hovered near my ear in our circle, bringing me great joy and affirmation. Horses lay down with us and dreamed in true connection and affirmation of our truths and emotions. Even Mother Nature joined our connection as she swiftly whipped up some swirling winds and dark clouds in response to our emotions and just as quickly cleared the skies and warmed us with the sun as we worked through it all. And, Barbara's singing crystal bowls brought all of our vibrations into synchronicity with the group and the Universe. Needless to say, I left there reeling and vibrating with the Universe in pure connected ecstasy for months. And I can still go there easily.
Barbara is extremely gifted in the soft and magical dance she has taken up with her horses and with the Universe and to all who reach out a hand. Any who may be privileged enough to experience her magic will be forever grateful as I will always find myself. It TRULY changed my life!
Tammy Wilbur
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I loved how you designed the flow of exercises, rituals, and experiences and I felt so supported by you and the horses to live in my heart. I know energetically I have been changed profoundly.
D. Clements Mamaroneck, NY
Wow I just finished the intensive week there at Epona Ridge with the Horses, cats and of course Barbara.......
Thank you, I wasn't sure before I started working with the horses that they could possibly react to me in ways that were significant only to me..........Much to my amazement they did over and over give me exactly what I needed...........It could be the same horse with different participants and each participant was given exactly what they needed, different behavior for each of us........
I am amazed and grateful to experience this for myself.... I will be there again that is for sure..........
Bob Damiani
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