It was August 2005 and this was my wake up call.

 

A few hours earlier I had been galloping an ex-race horse across a pristine meadow. As we came over the brow of the hill danger loomed in the form of newly dug woodchuck holes. It was too late to change course and as the horse stumbled I was catapulted through the air. I bounced twice and came down with a sickening thud on the small of my back, imploding like the ill-fated space shuttle.

 

At the time I was working in the fashion business and coming to terms with a broken heart and two unsuccessful marriages. Of course I knew that things had gone horribly wrong with my life but I just didn’t know what to do about it and I spent my time trying to avoid the painful realities.

 

Then something strange happened: As the Doctor was filling out my discharge papers she gave me a hand-written note. I remember stuffing it in my pocket as I left the hospital on a wave of morphine. When I read it weeks later it said. Read “The Anatomy of the Spirit” by Carolyn Myss.

 

Once I was able to get out and about I went to the bookstore and “The Anatomy of the Spirit” was the first thing I saw. Feeling particularly broken, I was intrigued by the subtitle “The Seven Stages of Power and Healing”. I started reading the book as soon as I got home and didn’t put it down until I finished it. It was packed with inspiring ideas and great wisdom but at that time the concept that excited me the most was the idea that we can’t look to others to make us happy: All we need is within us.

 

This philosophy helped to ground my normally scattered ways and allowed me to focus on a journey of self-discovery. Many things began to happen once I was committed to this new course. As part of this yellow brick road adventure I went back to school and graduated from The Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York in 2008 and started my Holistic Health Coaching practice.

 

I became trained in Equine Assisted Learning and became a facilitator at The Horse Institute in Ancramdale, NY. Facilitating feedback from horses to help people understand and improve their communication skills, working environments and personal lives has been a particular joy to me. Our Elegant Equines have much to teach us about living in the moment and communicating with one another with kindness, clarity and consistency.

 

I met Emmy Award winning writer and filmmaker Dennis Watlington and despite coming from such diverse backgrounds (he from the projects of Harlem and me from a farm in England) we discovered much in common. We became life partners and there was much to learn from his inspiring life, which was rooted in integration, diversity and civil rights. Dennis, for his part, was intrigued by my mind, body and spirit work, incorporating many of my ideas into his own life and work.

 

In 2011 I produced Dennis’ off-Broadway play “Bullpen” in a high security Correctional Facility using twenty-five year to lifers as cast and crew. Meeting the men of Woodbourne was an eye-opener for me. They displayed such grace and elegance under impossible conditions that I came to think of them as “wounded healers” and have been inspired by their tenacity and courage ever since. On May 6th we staged the play for an audience that included the Commissioner of all New York’s prisons and it was a total triumph. Six weeks later, Dennis suffered multiple strokes. We were in the fight of our lives.

 

Dennis nearly died twice. The superb staff at Albany Medical center saved his life but he was left virtually paralyzed and barely able to speak. I have spent the last three years putting him back together. Although he is still in a rehabilitation center, he is making amazing progress in every way.

 

It’s been quite the experience to go the cliff edge of life’s experiences and return with the story.  One thing I’ve come to realize is that specific tools are needed to mine the wisdom from the dark side of life but if you dig deep its there in plenty.

 

Exploring Inner Elegance has been inspired by this journey and I hope to be able to share some of these experiences with you as you share yours with mine. Together we can make the world a more Elegant place.