Epona Advanced Study Experience (EASE)

For over a decade, the EASE program has been one of the cornerstones of Eponquest’s advanced equine-facilitated human development offerings. This two-part intensive program is an in-depth exploration of the Eponaquest Way of the Horse as a profound journey of self-discovery and transformation. With horses as your inspiration and guides, you will learn skills for increasing self-awareness, moving out of harmful repetitive patterns, moving forward with your dreams, accessing inner peace, and developing an approach to life that enables you to live deeply, and fully awaken to your life’s purpose.

The EASE program will meet for a week on two occasions. Prior to acceptance in the program, applicants must complete an introductory level Eponaquest Approach™ workshop. Please see the listings on the Eponaquest website at http://eponaquest.com/introductory-workshops-usa/ or http://eponaquest.com/introductory-workshops-international/ to find an introductory workshop facilitated by an Eponaquest Instructor near you.

Preference will be give to participants who resonate deeply with the Eponaquest Approach™ to Equine Experiential Learning. The EASE program will further define and integrate the Essential Skills for Authentic Community Building through reflective, active, and mounted work with horses and through group process work with two-legged herd members. This advanced experiential learning program will also include the use of music, art, and Holotropic Breathwork to enhance your inner exploration and help you define your place in the world and your purpose in life.

The overall theme of the program is beautifully described by Sue Monk Kidd in her book, When the Heart Waits:

Is it possible, I asked myself, that I am being summoned from some deep and holy place within? Am I being asked to enter a passage in the Spiritual life, the journey from false self to true self? Am I being asked to dismantle old masks and patterns and unfold a deeper, more authentic self, the one I intended to be? Am I being compelled to disturb my inner universe in quest of the undiscovered being who clamors from within?

In response to those questions, The EASE program will focus on teaching you how to take new tools and expanded self-awareness back into your life, family, relationships, and community. You will learn how to be more authentic, develop your leadership skills, set healthy boundaries, and actually live from a larger perspective of who you are and what’s possible for you. You will learn how to apply Eponaquest principals to everyday life: congruency over conformity, authenticity over perfection, and adaptability and inquisitiveness over methodology.

Read what Lucinda Vette has to say about her experience in the EASE program:

I can say without reservation that the concepts, ideas, ideals and skills I learned – the entire EASE Program itself – have altered the course of my life in ways I could not have imagined at the time, but that I now can’t imagine being without. Perhaps the biggest gift was that amongst all that deep learning and exploring, I experienced myself as the person I’ve always wanted to be. The EASE Program provided the road map to navigate my own inner landscape and meet a pretty amazing, powerful, loving adventurous soul deep inside my heart.

During the first week of the program I experienced a transformational joy and some new ‘ways of knowing’ that extend well beyond the intellect. It felt like a gateway to a new and more meaningful world, where we each have a path that is vitally important to the world.

Through EASE, I’ve received the tools and skills to continually experiment with navigating that path- using the intellect I developed as an attorney, now coupled with the intuitive, instinctive, sensory ways of knowing EASE helped me tap into. This combination has brought new texture and depth to everyday life because even the simplest exchanges are now an adventure in making my own unique contribution to the world.

The EASE Program ended up being a catalyst for me to make some major changes to the external ‘trappings’ of my life. But most significantly, I was introduced to skills and ideas that give me access to the miracle of my own inner landscape. I am filled with a perspective now, of knowing that everything I have is just enough, and I walk around these days in a constant state of gratitude. For everything.

The EASE Program was not necessarily easy in every moment. There were moments that challenged me to grow through what at the time seemed hard. When presented with the possibility of deep happiness, I had to first realize deep happiness comes in it’s own form. The one that is just right for me, but not necessarily the one I’d envisioned. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity I had to study with Carol Roush in the EASE Program, and that I found the willingness to accept the gifts that have surfaced as a result.

It feels an impossible honor to justly give words to the experience of this program and all I gained. I guess it comes down to thank you. Thanks Carol for lighting the path, for teaching the process, and for the beautiful, supportive way in which it was all presented.

Lucinda Vette is an attorney and an experienced horse trainer/rider. She completed the EASE program in May 2012 and graduated as an Eponaquest Instructor in May 2013 and is currently managing the fitness and well-being of the Eponaquest herd in Amado, Arizona.

EASE Faculty

This Epona Advanced Study Experience will be facilitated by Eponaquest Senior Faculty member Carol Roush, with special presentations by founder and author Linda Kohanov, Senior Faculty member Mary-Louise Gould, and musician and recording artist Steve Roach.

Carol Roush has long been interested in studying the mind-body connection, beginning in 1983 when she began her journey in the study of shamanic practices. Carol went on to formal education in massage and the mind-body connection at The Institute of Psycho-Structural Balancing in San Diego, California, and advanced programs at the Desert Institute of Healing Arts in Tucson, Arizona. Carol has partnered with physical therapists, chiropractors, doctors, and psychiatrists to provide body–mind awareness therapy for their patients. She has worked with a variety of emotional issues related to amputations, mastectomy, disfiguring burns, addictions, accident rehab, and survivors of childhood traumas.

In 2003 Carol combined her life-long love of horses with her healing practice by graduating from the first Eponaquest Apprenticeship program. Carol has continued to study with Eponaquest founder and author Linda Kohanov and due to her outstanding accomplishments and support of Eponaquest programs, now fulfills the duties of Eponaquest Senior Faculty.

Carol currently teaches Eponaquest advanced programs at Eponaquest at Eagle Way in Amado, Arizona, around the US and in Europe. Carol has been a true trail-blazer in creating an international advanced study program titled NOW and international apprenticeship programs conducted in French and German languages.

“My goal is to make the life changing Eponaquest tools available to as many people worldwide as possible; this is my way to be the change I would like to see in the world. I feel honored to be a part of the ongoing evolution of the Eponaquest work and the opportunity to support Linda as she takes the work to higher and higher levels, especially with her most recent book, The Power of the Herd.”

In collaboration with Steve Roach, Carol has recently released her first guided meditation CD titled “Be the Change” available for download at www.carolroush.bandcamp.com.

“Many who have attended the EASE program have described the experience as nothing less than life changing,” says Linda Kohanov. “Over the last decade, the program has continually evolved and improved under the direction of Carol Roush. The two week experience allows participants to exercise and integrate body, mind and spirit, as well as learn concrete skills for excelling in their professional and personal lives, and ultimately accessing the vision, courage and support to follow their dreams.”

EASE Endorsements

My life will never be the same. EASE is a sacred and profound body of personal growth work. Carol’s magnificent facilitation and the power and wisdom of the herd, has opened the door to my heart in unimaginable ways. Carol Roush is a guide and mentor who will stand by your side as you uncover the truth of your shadows and the brilliance of your light. I am forever grateful to her for the gifts she has brought to my life. I’m so proud to be a part of her herd.

Sheri Gaynor is a Colorado-based author and expressive arts therapist who went on to complete the Eponaquest Apprenticeship Program to add to her equine-facilitated therapy practice.

This is a truly life changing program – not for the faint of heart, to be honest. Not that there isn’t tons of support there. It’s more a matter of how much it matters to you. How much does it matter to you to connect with your Inner Flame of Passion and Purpose? How much does it matter to you to be aligned with your heart? Because if it only matters half-ass, then don’t go there. You are only going to torture yourself. But if it really truly matters for you to step into your Authentic Power, then be prepared to be vulnerable and uncomfortable. Be prepared to take the next step without knowing if the ground will rise in front of you to meet your foot. Be prepared to meet your own Powerful Self.

One thing I know for sure: you will get the best, top notch, high-end facilitation this world has to offer: four- and two-legged. Carol Roush is gentle, strong, encouraging, always assisting in connecting you with your very own Inner Healer, your own Inner Wisdom, your own Inner Guidance and Knowing.

If you are looking for a crutch or a guru, please stay home and wait for another bus. As I said at the beginning: not for the faint of heart. This course is for those of you who have lion hearts, filled with courage and gentleness, with passion and peace.

A strong longing for freedom is a necessity. The reward? Unlimited possibilities.

Martina Danzer, Kimberley BC, Canada went on to complete the Eponaquest Instructor training and has created her own successful equine-facilitated learning practice and leadership training program.

2014 EASE Dates and Enrollment Information

Enrollment is open for the 2014 program with several spaces still available. If this sounds like the right program to take you from where you are to where you want to be in your life, EASE registration information can be found on the Eponaquest web site at: http://eponaquest.com/workshop-details/?event=175

You can also Contact Carol Roush at: caroljroush@gmail.com or call 520.360.5740

• Week 1: February 1 – 6, 2014
• Week 2: April 8 – April 13, 2014

The EASE program meets all the prerequisites for those participants who may be interested in applying to the Eponaquest Apprenticeship program to learn how to become Eponaquest Equine Experiential Learning Instructors. The next apprenticeship program will take place as follows:

• Session I: Saturday, May 10 – Sunday, May 18, 2014
• Session II: Saturday, October 4 – Sunday, October 12, 2014
• Session III: Saturday, December 6 – Sunday, December 14, 2014

Please see our web site for more information: www.eponaquest.com.