Author Linda Kohanov Launches an In-Depth Online Course
Happy 2021!
It certainly has been a strange time, especially as COVID-19 continues to limit so many aspects of our lives and our work. Yet, as author and Eponaquest founder Linda Kohanov learned, there are both challenges and unexpected gifts in the midst of this pandemic.
“A huge gift for me was the opportunity to create an online course that brings the personal and professional development skills I teach to a much wider audience,” she says. “For years, people have been asking if I could offer an online option for learning some of the basic skills that are difficult to convey through my books alone. Many people lack the time or funds to travel to attend my in-person workshops. Some have issues leaving small children; others have such a heavy work schedule that it’s hard to get away. However, due to all the seminars and lectures I’ve been leading around the world these past few years, I simply didn’t have the time to create an online video-based training with real production standards. Then, COVID came along, and I had to postpone all workshops. That meant I had a lot of time to develop this new way of teaching. The resulting course, Connections 101: Life Wisdom from the Herd, features skills you can learn at your own pace, with lots of images and video of the horses who were in essence, my teachers. They changed my life in so many ways.”
To gain more insight into the course and to sign up: https://nelda.tv/connections-with-linda-kohanov/
Continue reading this newsletter to learn how to receive 15 percent off until February 15.
A Dream Come True
Linda and her production team at Nelda TV have created a professionally edited course with nearly 7 hours of self-paced video lessons, complete with handouts, suggested readings, even a relaxing and inspiring music video composed by Linda and her husband, Grammy-nominated ambient music pioneer Steve Roach.
“Creating Connections was a dream come true in so many ways,” Linda says. “It was in some sense harder than writing a book, but so much more fun. I get to share research on emotional and social intelligence, leadership, and some of the more adventurous aspects of consciousness through the lens of horse behavior. I get to teach skills that you can immediately use at home, at work, and in larger community contexts, skills that enhance all your relationships, help you manage stress, and allow you to help others manage their emotional and behavioral responses.”
These skills are also useful in working with horses and other animals—and very helpful with rescue animals.
“I’m most surprised and delighted by the music video my husband Steve Roach and I created especially for this course,” Linda marvels. “Titled Breath Connection, it features original music and images specifically designed to help people get into what’s called a ‘coherent’ state, a state of relaxed alertness that regulates the nervous system, helps you manage stress, think more clearly and creatively, and go back to a calmer centered place more easily when strong emotions arise. This immersive experience features slowly evolving images of the horses, the mountains, the desert plants, and the stunning sunsets all taken at my ranch here in Arizona. For those who have studied here, it’s a nice way to visit again at a time when travel has been seriously curtailed. For those who’ve read my books, it really brings the horses and the desert to life.”
After much research and development—and a huge learning curve in how to produce visually and sonically engaging video—Linda created a self-paced course that teaches some core Eponaquest tools and principles, combined with new research and ideas that have never appeared in any of Linda’s five books. People who have attended previous workshops will not only get the stories behind many of the innovative skills she developed over the last 20 years, they will also learn new skills and principles from the comfort of their own homes and workplaces.
There’s an added benefit as well: “Many people who have attended my workshops, or those with my Eponaquest Instructor colleagues worldwide, find that they would love to have their spouses, children, friends, parents, co-workers, and bosses learn the same skills,” Linda continues. “It is quite a learning curve to gain the ability to teach these skills to others. Connections 101 is a great way to bring others into the fold effortlessly, so that they too can boost their emotional and social intelligence, stress management, and relationship skills. That way, you’re all on the same page, and you can really begin to support each other during challenging situations.”
No Horse Experience Needed
While Linda brings a healthy dose of horse wisdom into the mix, no horse experience or even previous interest in horses in needed. “Some of the people who beta-tested this course commented that learning ‘people’ skills through the lens of horse behavior made them much more receptive to exploring the meaning behind their own emotions,” she reveals. “Additionally, when you see the same kinds of fearful or aggressive behaviors in horses as you do in people, all of a sudden it’s much harder to take human misbehavior personally. As we illustrate in the course over and over again, many of the skills that I learned from working with horses translate to working more effectively with people. With Connections 101, some of these skills can now be successfully learned online, and they will truly change your life.”
Connections 101 is not a Zoom meeting style course. It is a fully produced series of 33 shorter sessions (between 7 and 20 minutes each) that build on each other to teach skills related to managing emotions and instinctual responses in yourself, using breathing as a language, managing stress, and managing others’ emotions and behaviors. Linda brings in some pivotal research on the Polyvagal Theory, heart rate variability, coherence, emotional and social intelligence, and other topics that enhance our understanding of physiological and psychological processes that lead to optimal states of wellbeing. Some of this research also explains why work with horses in the fields of Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL) and Equine Facilitated Therapy (EFT) is so effective for people from all walks of life. In this respect, the course is also useful for therapists, coaches, and professionals already working in fields that employ horses in the work of human development. (See the testimonials from two leaders in the EFL/EFT field at the end of this newsletter.)
15 Percent Off
In the meantime, people signing up for the course can receive a limited time offer of 15% off the course tuition. There are several payment options, including monthly payments as well as a discount for full payment. Here’s the link to more information on the course: https://nelda.tv/connections-with-linda-kohanov/
And as a reminder, if you sign up, make sure you use this code at checkout to receive 15 percent off: 15NEWSLETTER. This discount expires on February 15.
Subtitles in Multiple Languages
The Connections 101 course is currently available with closed captioning subtitles in French, German, Dutch, and English (for those with hearing challenges.
“I’m very excited to share this innovative new way to learn remotely, and I’m also thrilled to find a way to communicate some new insights and research that were not included in my previous books,” Linda says. “I’m so thankful that our investor Nelda Sue Yaw saw real potential in the Eponaquest work and wanted to support a wider awareness of this work. Over two years ago, Nelda attended a four-day intensive with her business team, and then brought her family for another four-day intensive. Nelda is a philanthropist, former teacher, Broadway producer, and supporter of projects that make the world a better place. I’m so thrilled that she has taken Eponaquest under her wing to launch this online training series, especially at a time when people could really use some remote support to handle the stress of political and civil unrest, and of course, stress unique to the virus and the interpersonal challenges that are arising in many households under quarantine and social distancing.”
Testimonials for Connections: Life Wisdom from the Herd
The following is from Laura Brinkerhoff, MA, who taught courses in EFL and EFT at Prescott College, and led an EFT program at a major treatment center.
Linda’s new virtual training, Connections: Life Wisdom from the Herd, presents the science of connection to explain the “magic” of Equine Facilitated Mental Health work. In this course, as in her books, she provides a user friendly, accessible understanding of complex concepts from neuroscience, psychology and emotional intelligence through the lens of equine wisdom. With personal stories, client experiences, mythology and essential tools and practical exercises, viewers can benefit from Linda’s extensive research and application of her vast experience and wisdom.
This series is ideal for clients and colleagues, for anyone in search of increased emotional/mental wellness. Linda provides a language through which to help people connect to their body’s intelligence, finding the messages behind the emotions and sensations, without judgement, with an open heart and acceptance. We can learn so much about being human from horses and Linda gives us the map.
I absolutely loved this series. It was as if Linda was literally in my living room, sharing her life’s work. In her unassuming, humble way, Linda continues to provide folks around the world with an understanding of the human/equine connection. Perhaps best captured throughout history through poetry, art and myth, Linda brings all of us a deeper, more contextual understanding of the profound life changing gifts that horses are bringing to humanity.
Furthermore, the session focusing on the distinction between fear and vulnerability feels especially helpful and timely given the current atmosphere in the United States as well as the worldwide effects on the human psyche from Covid-19.
This series is ideal for newbies as well as the most seasoned students of Linda Kohanov.
The following is from Bob Wall, author of Working Relationships and Coaching for Emotional Intelligence.
Are you an educator, therapist, or in any kind of leadership position? Are you responsible for helping others achieve their full potential in their personal and professional lives?
Do you sometimes find yourself at a loss for how to help when emotions make it difficult for people to make appropriate choices and respond adaptively to life’s challenges?
If so, Linda Kohanov’s Connections is just what you’ve been looking for.
Over the past twenty years or so, emotional intelligence has been recognized as the primary factor in developing healthy relationships and achieving our potential on and off the job. While there are a number of different models of emotional intelligence, there is one thing they all have in common: They all stand on a foundation of self awareness and adaptive responses to our emotional experiences. Easy to talk about but leaders and developmental professionals are often at a loss for how to assist others in seeing themselves more clearly and supporting them in making healthier, more productive responses when emotions cloud their vision.
That is where Connections can be of assistance to you. Rather than just talk about the importance of self awareness and emotional regulation, Connections offers tools that will assist you in your quest to help others sort through emotions that might be intruding on their ability to see things clearly and make healthy, productive choices. The course’s principles and techniques are the product of Kohanov’s long career of working with thousands of leaders and helping professionals in all walks of life.
As followers of her work have come to expect, Kohanov’s Connections a remarkable achievement. The production is fascinating to watch. It is punctuated by stories that develop the material being covered while maintaining a high level of engagement and interest for participants. Filmed in Arizona, the course includes work done with horses to further bring her material to life. The experience is one that is entertaining and a visual treat not often found in an industry filled with talking heads and overly conceptual presentations.
This I can promise you: As you watch Connections, you will develop new insights into situations you’ve experienced with your clients or team members. More importantly, Kohanov will provide you with practical information and tools that will allow you to put these insights into action.
When it comes to educational experiences, this one is hard to beat: Engaging. Interesting. Practical information you can apply in the real world. Connections is not to be missed.
The following is from Barbara Rector, MA, founder of Adventures in Awareness, and a true pioneer in the field of EFL/EFT. She co-founded the Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association in the 1990s, officially launching the field at that time.
For the discerning practitioner of Wellness Work with Horses focused on personal growth and development of both human and horse, Linda’s Connections: Life Wisdom from the Herd offers an enormous amount of well researched and documented material containing practical applications in this era of shifting cultural norms and consciousness. The robust material on Body Scan technique gives illuminating process for one to assess one’s own physical, mental and emotional states as they change throughout the day. It’s also useful for noticing how other people and even life circumstances are affecting you. I sense this technique and the accompanying information on how to decipher and manage emotions is also useful for discovering what it means to be functionally autonomous with global pandemic COVID mandated isolation, mask wearing and hand sanitizing.
Linda’s impeccable scholarship permeates the informative text of her remarks. While this course is for anyone interested in personal and professional development, these lessons are sure to be appreciated by seasoned equine facilitated educators, instructors, equine specialists, growth and development coaches, trauma recovery therapists and those involved in Therapeutic Riding, Hippotherapy, Veterans Rehabilitation and corporate team building. The clarity of Linda’s teaching allows the beginner in this field to make sense of foundational principles underpinning wellness work with horses and Equine Facilitated Learning in particular.
It isn’t necessary to have horses or even be interested in horses to benefit from this course. The stories about horses and horse behavior make the learning both fun and pertinent really helping us see human behavior from a new perspective.
I believe Program Directors, Managers, Administrators and those whom I label “weavers” responsible for ‘weaving’ various strands of residential hospitals, assisted living and rehabilitation care facilities domains into integrated function (right hand knows and communicates with left hand activities) will discover these video courses to be spectacularly helpful for them and their staff.