Description
6-Week Course with Additional Horse Activity Day Available
Tuesdays from 6:00 – 7:30 pm
Are you ready to get intentional about your well-being?
In this 6-week educational program we’ll learn specific skills and practices to help us thrive physically, mentally, and emotionally. This novel program includes both formal educational presentations, interactive discussions, and activities with and without the horses where we put into practice concepts we have learned.
We have far more control over our “genetic destiny” that was previously imagined. The choices we make have a direct influence on our gene expression and therefore our physical and emotional well-being.
- Learn what the field of positive psychology can teach us about increasing our happiness.
- Discuss intentional changes we can make in our life to live more fully despite chronic illness.
- Learn what horses can teach us about nonpredatory power and how to lead more effectively in our personal and professional lives.
- Explore deeply held beliefs or behavior patterns that may be holding us back from living authentically.
- Recognize the important messages our emotions hold and learn to use those messages to respond productively rather than reactively during times of stress or conflict.
- Recognize early stage, and escalating, signs of anxiety in yourself and others. Develop an individual plan for responding to increasing anxiety early and productively to diffuse escalating tension.
- Practice your new skills with the master teachers themselves- the Monarch horses- in a full day of horse activities designed to help you “embody” these new concepts.
This is a great way to get a taste of what equine assisted learning is all about while learning valuable concepts and skills you can apply intentionally to create greater vitality and joy in your life. There is no riding involved and no horse experience necessary. Come join us for an unforgettable experience that will change the way you think and live!
Course Director
Dr. Nicole Artz, MD, is the medical director of Palliative Care at Unity Point Health, Des Moines. She is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Care. She previously worked as a hospitalist, started and directed a multidisciplinary program for adults with sickle cell disease at The University of Chicago and co-directed a new palliative care program at Loyola University in Chicago. She has had a lifelong passion for horses. She completed an equine assisted learning apprenticeship program in 2018 and is now a certified Eponaquest Instructor. She is the founder and director of Monarch Equine Facilitated Learning in Indianola, Iowa with a focus on building skills to improve physical and mental wellbeing.
