Scientific study of the Tellington TTouch^® for You Method demonstrates clinically significant effect on emotional states

On May 15-17, 2010, a scientific study was held in Bad Vöslau, Austria, to evaluate the psychological effects of the Tellington TTouch^® Method on the well-being human participants.

The project was planned by Dr. Susanne Liederer, a biologist, in cooperation with Tellington-TTouch Practitioner Tanja Lasser and executed together with Linda Tellington-Jones, PhD.

In this study, 58 subjects were requested to answer questions related to their psychological and physiological well-being prior to, directly after and 3 days after a 20-minute "TTouch-for-You^®" session. All subjects were treated exclusively on their backs and arms using a defined selection of Tellington-TTouches.

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Study of TTouch^® with Anna Wise
Boulder Institute of Biofeedback, Boulder, Colorado

During this study the Mind Mirror showed activation of all four brain waves in both hemispheres, illustrating how TTouch activates both the logical and intuitive parts of the brain.

News from Linda

(Reprinted from TTEAM Connections Newsletter, February 2003)

If you've done much work with TTEAM and TTouch^® you have most likely discovered the benefits for animals - not only for horses, but also for dogs, cats, small critters, zoo animals and wildlife rescue. You may have discovered improvements in health and well-being, a reduction in stress, and often, miraculous changes in behavior. And in horses and dogs you will have been rewarded by enhanced performance and a more flexible, intelligent four-legged friend. Many, who work with TTouch^®, report an unexpected deepening of relationship that gives you the feeling you are Dr. Doolittle with the ability to communicate without words, and understand each other in a way you didn't think possible.

However, what is often unrecognized or unspoken, are the effects on the mensch. That means you! In this work there is often experienced a transformation in the people using TTEAM and TTouch^® as well as their animals. We become more flexible and balanced mentally and physically, as well as emotionally. Many adults report a sense feeling of being smarter and more confident.

In classes of school children practicing TTouch^® on their companion animals, teachers and parents describe similar changes - improved ability to focus and concentrate (just like horses and dogs) with heightened confidence and more tolerance. Children with a tendency to lose their tempers or bully other kids increase self-control and another level of understanding that allows them to adapt and be less reactive. I believe TTouch^® teaches children what I call "compassionate empowerment®".

What causes these transformational changes in the two-leggeds? I believe the reasons are two-fold.

1 . TTEAM and TTouch^® activate both hemispheres of the brain-resulting in Whole Brain learning. The left side of the brain is commonly referred to as the logical side, and the right side is thought of as the creative or intuitive side, although in reality that is not so. The brain is actually an integrated whole. The left hemisphere is more linear and the right is oriented to spatial issues and understanding the big picture.

You wonder how TTouch^® affects the whole brain?

Each time you push the skin in a circle imagining the face of a clock, the intuitive side is engaged, because imagining or visualizing as well as the actual movement have to do with the intuitive. When you "see in your mind's eye" the numbers on the clock, the logical is activated because numbers have to do with logical thinking.

When you're practicing leading exercises imagining the "Elegant Elephant's" trunk as the end of your "wand" or whip, the movement itself, and holding the wand and chain in both hands, affects the right brain. And the logical way of holding the wand and chain in two hands awakens the thinking side.

2. The second indication of this whole brain effect comes from the two studies I did in the summers of 1987 and 1988 in cooperation with Anna Wise of the Boulder Institute of Biofeedback. Working with a "Mind Mirror" developed by her mentor, British psycho biologist and biophysicist Maxwell Cade, produced some fascinating results. The Mind Mirror is an EEG that differs from the traditional EEG in that it used spectral analysis to simultaneously measure eleven different frequencies in each hemisphere of the brain. Unlike the normal EEG it has the unique ability to measure beta, alpha, theta and delta brain waves in both hemispheres of the brain.

We measured over a dozen students to determine their brain wave activity while being TTouched, rubbed, petted and massaged. Surprising was the fact that consistently, whether our students were being TTouched or TTouching a horse or a person, there was an activation of all four brain waves -beta, alpha, theta and delta - in both sides of the brain. When the person being measured was petted, stroked, rubbed or massaged, the relaxing alpha brainwave pattern was present, but never beta - the problem solving potential. Only with the circular touches were the beta brainwaves present.

As you may already know, we have email discussion lists for TTEAM and TTouch certified practitioners that are hosted by Maggie Moyer, Peggy Rouse and Judi Trusky, bless their buttons!! The discussions are often fascinating and educational, and sometimes there is a question directed to me. The following question that arrived over the Internet could be of interest and help to you.

Carol Bryant, a Tellington TTouch Apprentice in Oz (Australia) wrote the following. Stop! I need to know more about the "Mind Circles" you wrote about. What are mind circles? Are the TTouch circles done mentally on animals you are unable to touch and if so, can you tell me a little more about.

Hi Carole, Yes, these are circles done in the mind, directed specifically where you want them. We have some fascinating cases of beneficial effects which are described in my new TTouch book for humans. Until the book is published, just begin by visualizing them. I've used these imaginary Mind Circles in the air a few feet away from a terrified, aggressive tiger while visualizing/imagining that they were being done directly on the tiger's body and I could see a change occur right in front of my eyes. In the case of the snow leopard reported by Dr. Isenbugel in the forward to my Tellington TTouch book, I imagined doing circles on the second snow leopard who was watching me work her sister. The snow leopard I worked on, and the cub mate I visualized working on, recovered overnight from a respiratory disease that the zoo people expected the leopards to die from. You can visualize the circles while in the presence of an animal, or you can imagine you are with an animal that is not in your presence, and have this help. In the memory of Jonathan Livingston Seagull asking why seagulls can fly the answer is: "They think they can." Enjoy the journey!

So the next time you head out to the barn remember that TTouching your horse a few minutes a day can reduce your stress, clear your mind, deepen the connection with your horse and dog, and make you smarter. That's why the phrase "The Touch That Teaches" came into being.

Background Information

Follow-up to "News from Linda"

The February, 2003 TTEAM newsletter prompted several people to ask me for more information about the Mind Mirror studies. The most common question was asked about the difference between the Mind Mirror measurements of brain waves and standard EEG's. Here are some more details.

In the summers of 1987 and 1988 Linda worked with Anna Wise, founder of the Biofeedback Institute of Boulder, Colorado. After monitoring Linda's brain waves of while working with TTouch and discovering that she was working in the awakened mind state, Anna thought it would be interesting to check out TTouch students to see if they would have these same brainwave states.

Anna had worked with Maxwell Cade in England for 8 years before coming to the United States to continue her work with people using the Mind Mirror to develop insight, healing and creativity.

The following notes are exerts from The Anna Wise Center for Awakened Mind Training website and from her first book, The High Performance Mind: Mastering Brainwaves for Insight, Healing, and Creativity (Tarcher/Putnam, 1996, 271 pages)

There is major difference in EEG machines developed for medical use for diagnosis of brain dysfunction. The use of EEG to understand the pathology of the brain has been very thoroughly explored over the last few decades. The Mind Mirror was developed by Maxwell Cade to study states of consciousness.

"The study of states of consciousness was undertaken by C. Maxwell Cade, a distinguished British psychobiologist and biophysicist and one of the few nonmedical members of the Royal Society of Medicine, and Geoffrey Blundell, an electronics expert in the late 70s. They studied the brainwave states of yogis, swamis, healers, ministers, and masters of many traditions to develop the Mind Mirror series of educational EEGs. The process was interactive – with many revisions to the hardware as Cade and Blundell discovered how to measure brainwave states that correlate to subjective states of mind. What emerged was an "awakened mind" brainwave pattern. Cade continued to find confirmation of this lucid state in the highly evolved minds that he studied, and learned how to help his students develop it. (p. 11)

"The high-performance mind – the awakened mind possesses a potential for using optimum states of consciousness for greater creativity; self-healing; better general health, relaxation, and stress management; solving emotional problems; more productivity in the workplace; understanding and improving relationships; greater self-knowledge; and spiritual development.

This state of mind is clearer, sharper, quicker, and more flexible than ordinary states. Thinking feels fluid rather than rigid. Emotions become more available and understandable, easier to work with and transform. Information flows more easily between the conscious, subconscious, and unconscious levels. Intuition, insight, and empathy increase and become more integrated into normal consciousness. With an awakened mind, it becomes easier to visualize and imagine, and to apply this increased imagination to one's creative processes in many areas." (p. 2)

Anna Wise's Description of the Brain Wave Functions:

"BETA is your normal thinking state, your active external awareness and thought process. Without beta you would not be able to function in the outside world.

ALPHA brainwaves are the brainwaves of relaxed detached awareness, visualization, sensory imagery and light reverie. Alpha is the gateway to meditation and provides a bridge between the conscious and the subconscious mind.

THETA brainwaves are the subconscious mind. Theta is present in dreaming sleep and provides the experience of deep meditation when you meditate. Theta also contains the storehouse of creative inspiration and is where you often have your spiritual connection. Theta provides the peak in the peak experience.

DELTA brainwaves are your unconscious mind, the sleep state, but when present in combination with other waves in a waking state, Delta acts as a form of radar – seeking out information – reaching out to understand on the deepest unconscious level things that we can't understand through thought process. Delta provides intuition, empathetic attunement, and instinctual insight."

"Someone in the Awakened Mind brainwave state (specific activation of beta, alpha, theta and delta in both hemispheres) has access to the unconscious empathy, intuition, and radar of the delta waves, the subconscious creative storehouse, inspiration and spiritual connection of the theta waves, the bridging capacity, lucidity and vividness of imagery, and relaxed detached awareness of the alpha waves, and the ability to consciously process thoughts in beta – all at the same time!"

"The work I have done with interspecies communication and brainwaves involves horses and their riders or trainers. I fell into this work by accident when I met Linda Tellington-Jones. The first time she came to me for a brainwave profile I monitored her while working on people. In this state she produced a form of awakened mind brainwave pattern that was heavily weighted with theta brainwaves.

"I was interested to know if her students had a similar pattern, so we set up a test during one of her workshops at a Colorado ranch. I observed that all of the students who had studied TTouch over a period of time tended to have strong theta and delta brainwaves in a normal resting waking state. Six out of the eleven people I measured had near awakened mind patterns in the left hemisphere, and one person had an awakened mind as coherent as Tellington-Jones'."

Our next step was obviously to attempt to monitor horses' brainwaves and then to see if we could observe any effect from TTouch. We fond that the basic resting state of the horses was primarily theta and delta with occasional flares of alpha. When TTouch was administered we got an activation of all four categories of brainwaves on the horses. We say that alpha especially was consistently activated during TTouch, as well as some beta.

I simultaneously monitored the brainwaves of Tellington-Jones and a horse she was working on, and found a high level of entrainment occurring between the horse and the trainer.

Perhaps the most startling experience that we had took place while working with a two-year-old thoroughbred mare that the owner thought was crazy. Initially, this horse had scattered brainwaves and out-of-control, high-amplitude flares. She had exceedingly strong theta and delta and not as much alpha and beta as we thought there should be, according to the other horses' brainwaves. Tellington-Jones then spent some time doing TTouch on her.

Afterward I was standing in front of a group of people talking about our discoveries and discussing this particular horse's difficulties. I explained that this horse could produce only theta and delta and was unable to produce alpha – whereupon the horse immediately produced strong alpha. When everyone laughed, I said, "O.K., but she can't produce beta." When she immediately produced beta, no one laughed, because our mouths were all open! Time prevented us from experimenting further with this particular horse. I still wonder what would have happened if I had said "O.K., but she still can't produce an awakened mind." (p. 213)

These studies on multiple horses on two separate occasions were fascinating from the point of view of considering that horses demonstrated an activation of beta – indicating logical thinking in the mind's of humans.

However, the brainwave studies done on TTouch students were even more interesting to me than the results shown with horses.

The Mind Mirror showed a consistent activation of all four brain waves in both hemispheres of the people doing TTouch and those being TTouched. It is my belief that this explains the reports from people TTouching their horses, dogs, cats, other animals as well as two-leggeds, that they feel more alive, more balanced emotionally as well as physically, more focused, happier. This has been true for both children and adults. So that the time adults spend TTouching their animals is as much benefit to them as to their animals – in addition to the wonderful bonding and opening of the heart that occurs.

It has been demonstrated that activation of both hemispheres of the brain– to include both logical thinking and intuitive knowing– is important for "Whole Brain Learning". TTouch^® can be a powerful tool for this enhancement and at the same time healing for the body, mind and soul.

Anna and I have been in discussion regarding further studies and hope to get together later this year. My vision is to measure the brain waves of children TTouching their companion animals. I believe this would be a powerful tool for Whole Brain Learning and "High TTouch" in this age of "High Tech". With TTouch children can learn "compassionate empowerment" and a sense of kindness that is sorely needed in our modern world.

Aloha, LTJ

NOTE: TTEAM is an acronym of "Tellington TTouch^® Equine Awareness Method." Since this article was written, the brand name for all the facets of the TTouch^® organization is Tellington TTouch^® Training.

Impact of TTouch^® Pain Severity of Patients with Angina Pectoris
Sadegh Mahdavi Pour and Ali Akbar Vaezi

Introduction: Heart pain may cause change of vital signs, increasing of the heart oxygen need and increasing of mortality of patients with heart diseases. There are many on-medicinal methods for pain control, such as massage, and massage if continues by stimulating thick fibers and local provocation of endorphins prohibits pain transfer, so this study was conducted with the aim of determining the impact of frontal chest massage by the nurse on pain severity of men hospitalized patients. 

Published in the World Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research   www.wjpmr.com

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"Up until four years ago I did therapy visiting with my Golden Retriever in a residential home for the elderly. One of the ladies could not communicate with people using language; she had suffered a stroke and certainly had some dementia. This lady would hang around the neck of Jim (my Goldie) for as long as we would let her. Jim was very tolerant and would nudge this lady very gently.

"When this process had ended Jim would be totally exhausted and I would TTouch to help him recover. But the care workers always reported to me that for two days after Jim's visit this lady could interact with people more than she had been able to before our visit. What I found interesting was that this lady would recognize Jim but not me and she seemed to gain so much from the affection/touch shown by Jim towards her. This may be an example of how touch-starved ill people can be and the benefit that they can gain from simple touch.  Good luck with exploring the research opportunities."
–  Jeanette Atkinson, Practitioner in the UK

"The TTEAM Newsletter is my “life line” to keep in touch with all the stuff you people get up to. Every now and again there is a surge of interest here in New Zealand, but for me it just keeps on getting better and better. Results mostly happen in minutes for me now, and people are amazed.

"I am always getting asked when I am going to compete my horse even though people cannot believe his age is 24 years old. Tellington Method had done so much for him.  He had an accident 12 years ago that left him quite crippled and without the Tellington TTouch method, he would not be with me. He has taught me so much and given me some amazing experiences and may lovely rides.

"Thank you for sharing TTouch with me and many other people too.  Animals, worldwide, love what the Tellington TTouch Method brings to them.  And never let us forget the great job Robyn has done for so long bringing the written word to all of us TTouch people."

   – Coral Boulton in New Zealand

"After seeing Instructor, Edie Jane Eaton’s demonstration, I have been using the Tellington TTouch exercises for two weeks and my l9 year old advanced dressage thoroughbred’s back is definitely more supple. And engagement is becoming elastic. He was stiff, and I have had problems getting him to use his hind-end to engage without getting stiffer in his back. No more!"

   – Philippa Morrell in the UK

A Practitioner finds uses for TTouch^® in Daily life, especially to relax and relieve anxiety.

"I do the TTouches on myself almost everyday, but usually only a few quick circles when I bump my head or stub my toe. I find that the TTouches help me to relax and breathe despite my pain. This benefit alone is enough to make me feel much better. In fact, sometimes I do the TTouches on my stuffed animals in order to bring myself into a calm focus. However, I also find that they help in speeding the relief of pain, reduce swelling, and prevent bruising. I use different TTouches based on how they feel and the area of injury, but I usually find the Clouded Leopard, the Abalone, and the Raccoon TTouches to be a good starting point. For tight muscles or sore limbs, the Python lift has also often brought great relief to me.

"One of the most useful TTouches for working on myself has been the mouth work. I have a lot of anxiety over testing, my heart pounds, I sweat, and I lose my ability to concentrate on the exam, so I decided to try mouth work. I figured if it works on animals' limbic systems and helps their emotional balance, then maybe it would help me. I did circles all over the top of my upper lip, then moved a finger to the inside of my gums, doing small circles all over the upper gums. To my delight I actually felt better. In fact, I survived final exams by doing this work before and during testing and did not even care if people thought I was strange. Now that I no longer have exams I still use the mouth work during times of great emotional stress, and generally get good results. The hard part is remembering to do the work once I am already upset."   

   -  Dawn Costerisan, TTouch^® Practitioner

"I was sitting fairly close to the front of the plane. The woman in the seat kitty-corner behind me complained of feeling ill. She felt nauseous and had pale, clammy skin. The nausea came on very suddenly sometime after we were aloft.

"The stewardess went looking for a Doctor. I got up and went back to her and asked her how she felt, etc. She was pretty uncomfortable and a little out of it. I asked her and her friend that was flying with her if it would be ok if I tried something that might make her feel better. They said "ok." I stroked long ear slides over both of her ears from lob to top of ear for a couple of minutes. She was starting to look and feel a little less nauseous and a little more clear-headed. By that time, the stewardess had returned with a Doctor that she had found in the back of the plane.

"To be honest, I don't remember exactly what the Doctor did, except maybe look at her pupils and probably take her pulse. I had moved back to my seat to get out of the way. He didn't stay with her very long; it seemed as if she was feeling better, so he went back to his seat. Maybe, a half hour to forty-five minutes later, the lady started feeling the same way again and she had her friend immediately ask me if I would try to help her.

"I went back and sat in the friend's seat and she took mine and I did more ear TTouches as well as some circles around the temple area. I still didn't work on her more than a very few minutes, but I did stay and talk to her and her friend. They thought that it had been something that she had eaten earlier.

"After a bit, she said that she felt much better (she wasn't as pale or clammy any more either). Sometime after I was back in my seat, the stewardess came and asked me what I had done. I told her briefly about TTouch^®. She took my name and address for their records and a couple of months later, I got a nice thank-you letter from Southwest and a free ticket."

   - Tom Equin, Tellington TTouch^® Practitioner for Companion Animals shadowhawk@nunntelwb.com

By Robin Bernhard LCSW, MED

The universality of Linda’s methodology is unique to TTouch. Linda didn’t have to develop different techniques to teach horses, whales, snakes, parrots, cats, dogs or humans. TTouch works for all species. Through touches that are universally understood, Linda and her students of TTouch, invite their animals to participate in harmonious mutual communication; cell to cell and heart to heart. In her book, Tellington TTouch, Linda states: “Instead of seeing the TTouch as something that I do to animals, which would create separation between us, I view the circles as a way to come into cellular harmony with them, a way of allowing my cells to speak to theirs. At a cellular level, no living thing is alien to any other, and so the sense of connections remains the same whether I’m working with a gerbil or a lynx, a kitten or an elephant.” Both the practitioner and the animal benefit from the mutual communication.

Linda believes that the TTouch practitioner’s intention for healing is communicated from the person to the animal (or person to person) on many levels. These intuitive ideas are now being scientifically documented by The Institute of HeartMath with new research about mind-body communication and the heart. Research at The Institute of HeartMath has shown that we can regulate heart rhythm coherence by holding positive feelings and intentions. Increased heart rhythm coherence produces more alpha brainwaves, enhanced awareness and improved cognitive performance. Alpha frequencies induce a state of tranquility, not unlike the tranquility experienced during TTouch, and interestingly, alpha brainwaves are associated with peak performance. The results of the research at the institute of HeartMath supports the hypothesis “that the changes in brain activity that occur during states of increased psychophysiological coherence lead to changes in the brain’s information processing capabilities. Results suggest that by using heart-based interventions to self-generate coherent states, individuals can significantly enhance cognitive performance.” It would be very interesting to see if TTouch enhances heart rhythm coherence. I suspect that it does.

The heart produces an energy field that can be measured for five feet in all directions. It is quite possible that all species are able to perceive influences from another being’s heart from a short distance. When humans communicate and touch is involved, the brain registers the heartbeat of the other in the EEG, physiological evidence that we are influenced by another’s heart rhythm chaos or coherence. Research has shown that horses are sensitive to the heart energy fields produced by humans and that humans are sensitive to the fields produced by the horse’s heart. The practitioner of TTouch knows well the experience of peace that comes while engaged in the practice of TTouch. Scientific knowledge about the energetic communication from the heart suggests that TTouch practitioners are energetically engaging their animal partners at the deep level of the heart. When the TTouch practitioner consciously holds the intention of healing and a compassionate attitude to generate heart rate coherence within the self, the person or animal being touched benefits from the calming influence of the energy field created by the practitioner’s heart. The research at the Institute of Heart Math suggests that the heart to heart engagement is reciprocal and thus, we have the beginnings of scientific documentation for the experience of healing intention, compassion, respect and positive regard that is part of TTouch practice.

There are more neurons running from the heart to the brain than from the brain to the heart. Some research suggests that the heart directs brain regulation and not the other way around. Linda has stressed the importance of holding a compassionate attitude coupled with the desire to support healing as the correct mind-set for the TTouch practitioner to allow the heart to influence the work. The research on the power of the heart from The Institute of HeartMath documents the scientific basis for what Linda understood intuitively about the heart’s influence on TTouch outcome and the mutual benefit for the practitioner and the animal when the practitioner intentionally generates a genuinely positive heart felt connection between the self and the animal during a TTouch session.

On the other hand, forceful methods generate fear and impede “thinking” as the horse moves into its instinctual fight/flight survival mode. During fight/flight activation, thinking is shut-down in favor of split-second non-thinking reflexive reactions that the horse can’t control. It is often in this fear driven state that horses can’t meet the demands placed upon them, for which they are frequently punished and pushed further into fear, pain and freeze responses. Instinctual reactions may be activated through a dominating relationship, and animals can be managed through such training methods. TTouch does not elicit instinct driven behavior mediated by the limbic system, rather Linda seeks to calm the limbic system and stimulate learning that is mediated by the cortex through a relationship infused with a heart-felt connection.

TTEAM News International August, 1988 Vol 8 No 3 Pp. 1-2

An Animal Ambassador^® connection made the front page news in Meridian, Idaho. In the last newsletter I reported that I had sent 30 letters from the school children to whom Ann Finley had taught an Animal Ambassador week-long program. The letters went to Moscow with Nancy Grahame, Assistant Director of the Institute for Soviet/American Relations, to be given to three different groups with whom I have worked in Moscow.

The problem was, however, that no answers to the letters could be sent back to the US before the end of the school year the last week of May. The Idaho children were excited about a connection with the Russians but many of them thought it improbable that they would hear anything back. Whoever would think it possible to have a Russian connection with a small town in Idaho? Ann felt it was important that we got some acknowledgment for the kids before they finished the school year. She was attending the advanced training program in Oregon with us and there were only four days left before the kids finished school for the summer.

I put on my thinking cap and called Andre Orlov in Moscow. Andre is the Russian free-lance journalist who has spent many hours showing me around Moscow and has assisted me so many times by translating for my TTEAM clinics that he often receives calls for help with horse problems when I'm not there although he has no other connection with horses. He is responsible for introducing me to the Club Healthy Family back in 1985 and interpreted for me the first time I conducted an Animal Ambassador program in Gorky Park. Andre also created the TTEAM logo - the flying horse with a hand for a wing.

Well, I called Andre and asked him if he could meet with the Club Healthy Family, or one of his other school clubs, in time to give them the letters from the Idaho school children and have them draft a telex to the American kids assuring them that their letters and drawings had been received and that replies would be waiting for them in September when they returned to school.

Andre said he would go one better. That he would meet with a group of children - tell them about the Animal Ambassador program and give them the letters and then telephone the Idaho class the day before school ended. We only had to set up an agreed upon time for them to receive his phone call. Ann called the Idaho school and we agreed upon 10:30 A.M., which was 8:30 P.M. in Moscow. The Idaho teachers were warned that it could take some time to get through by telephone, particularly since it was the week before the Soviet/American summit meeting with Reagan and Gorbechav in Moscow.

Ann and I were waiting on pins and needles on Thursday morning. Sure enough the call came through, and everyone in the whole school heard a 30 minute conversation with a Russian talking to several of the teachers and kids. The local phone company had wired all the classrooms so the kids could hear the conversation over loudspeakers. The local TV station televised the kids waiting excitedly for 45 minutes since the phone lines between the US and the USSR were so blocked with summit business.

The call was a great success and was reported on the front page of the local paper next to the summit news. It was great for me too, because when Ann started teaching the program in Idaho she felt great about the results of teaching the kids the TTEAM work but couldn't see how the Soviet/American exchange could ever work. It was too much of a dream. I had no idea when this phase would materialize but I just kept trusting that when the time was right it would. The following is a letter which Nancy Grahame brought back with her and translated for us.

To Adam Nimmo 1327 W. Carlton Meridian, Id. 83642

My dear friend Adam,

My came is Anya. I live in Moscow. I was very happy when I received your letter. I don't know English yet, so my papa translated your letter for me. I am very interested to find out about your life. I think that it will be interesting for you to learn about me. I am eight years old. I study in school. I finished second grade and can now read and write, and I am going into the third grade. What grade are you in? Like you, I also love animals very much. We don't have any pets at home yet, but mama and papa promised to buy me a kitten or a puppy. But I would also like to have a parrot. I love to draw, and in the fall will start attending art school. We are part of the "Healthy Family" club. In the winter we swim in an ice hole in the river, but in the summer just in the river. We go to the public steam baths and to the swimming pool.

Write me about yourself. I'll be waiting for your letter.

All the best! Anya

This letter is for me another step in the realization of the Animal Ambassador vision to connect children, and adults, from various countries for a better understanding between us, with the animals as a focal point.

I've had many school teachers, and TTEAM people, wanting to know bow they can teach the Animal Ambassador program in their schools. We're working on a brochure and I intend to eventually make a video. Patience, patience! The Animal Ambassador vision has been unfolding for years and has had its own rhythm since I got the first piece of the puzzle in 1969. It's fascinating to see how the parts manifest.

NOTE: TTEAM is an acronym of "Tellington TTouch Equine Awareness Method." Since this article was written, Linda decided to use a brand name for all the facets of the TTouch organization. Currently, that is Tellington TTouch^® Training.

I've just been through a remarkable experience. It actually began last fall, when I did a pilot program introducing Animal Ambassadors International^® and TTEAM to elementary school children in my home state of Idaho. The TTEAM portion of the program was exciting and well received. We could see a wonderful thing happening: children becoming more responsive, more caring. We did not so much teach the children as awaken something they already had within themselves, something that can be very beautiful in a child. I say "we" because it was the animals who were the teachers. The TTouch was the connection that made it possible, but I was as surprised as anyone at some of the "lessons" the animals taught us.

We also demonstrated how an Animal Ambassadors International unit can be used to teach natural history and science. Each child chose an animal to befriend, protect, and learn more about. Many of the children also wrote a poem on behalf of their animal.

The content was rich, the program was successful and yet something was missing: the cross-cultural element Animal Ambassadors International began as an international celebration of the importance or animals in our lives. Linda Tellington-Jones invited American children to send pictures of their pet to her to take to Russia. Many children responded. The pictures were displayed in Gorky Park and the Russians were deeply touched by this expression of friendship.

I tried to introduce an international awareness into my school program, but it just didn't have the energy of the other elements of the program. In trying to analyze it and discover what was blocking the flow I realized pretty quickly that it was myself. I could not project interest in what I knew so little about. I could not make it real for them.

Fortunately a chance came to remedy the situation a little bit. On January 5, Linda organized an Animal Ambassador day for 15 Russian children who made a whirlwind tour of the US with Youth Ambassadors. Out of this experience grew the past two days and some exciting suggestions from teachers that I can hardly wait to pass on. But first let me describe what we did and what happened.

Most of the children had had at least a brief introduction to TTEAM last fall. A few had earned Animal Ambassadors International certificates. So it was a heartwarming reception I got from these children when I returned. The age range was 7 through 13, with most being 8 or 9. They were quite a bit younger than the Youth Ambassadors. But I was to find out they still responded to the Youth Ambassadors as one child to another.

I began by telling them about the Russian Youth Ambassadors in San Francisco. I told them everyday things, for example some of the comments the Russians had made about our food in the Youth Ambassador newspaper, "The Bridge." We looked at a globe to see what an immense country Russia is, and I talked about how the Soviet Union is actually many countries in one. We traced on the globe to find a Russian city exactly opposite us, only to find a city with a name we couldn't pronounce. After a few minutes' discussion I put on a record of Russian music -- explaining"balalaika" as best I could -- and then I taught the kids the dance the Russians had done the night of the concert at the Dakin home in San Francisco.

Fun? The teachers couldn't stand it. Soon teachers and aides -- everybody -- was whirling around. Nobody wanted to stop. The kids could do the difficult steps so easily it was amazing. We all had a grand time. This happened in class after class. In one class it was super because after we stopped the dancing one child said, "I wish we could write to some Russians." What a lead-in. We left the Russian musician and they wrote their letters.

The next day was thrilling because the kids had been doing some thinking on their own. They wanted to know about the Russian alphabet, why we spell their country U.S.S.R. and they write it C.C.C.P. One boy wanted to write his letter not about animals at all but about stopping nuclear warfare. I told him to give it a try if he wished, but he decided on his own that maybe his first letter should be about animals because he really had a super animal story to tell. Last fall he had adopted wolves as his totem animal and this winter he had had a chance to help a wolf. He would save nuclear disarmament for another letter.

It's important to remember that some of these letters are from kids who have never written a letter before. Many of these kids are what they used to call "under-achievers." They don't try. Well, today they tried. They tried so hard. I think they did a beautiful job. I hope it comes across how genuine and honest these letters are. The kids were not being creative, they were just being. They put their hearts into these letters and they did it in their own way, trying to be neat and readable, trying to spell the words correctly to make it easier for the Russian child who would read it. I'm not sure the Russians will understand what kind of dog a "cocker spaniel" is, but otherwise...

I wish I could put into words how important I feel this program is. These kids are not the privileged, some come to school in rags. They may never have another chance to make this connection. Yet in 10 years most of them will be voters. Will they still care about wolves and nuclear disarmament, and will they still be capable of signing "Your best friend" in a letter to an unknown Russian?

NOTE: TTEAM is an acronym of "Tellington TTouch Equine Awareness Method." Since this article was written, Linda decided to use a brand name for all the facets of the TTouch organization. Currently, that is Tellington TTouch^® Training.

TTEAM News International May, 1985 Vol 5 No 2 Pp. 13-14

It's only been nine months since I conceived the idea of Animal Ambassadors International^® sitting in the restaurant of the Intourist Hotel in Moscow. The idea has been received with delight and wonder in Europe and North America. Delight that the importance of our animal friends be acknowledged in their role of bridging communication and under standing with the people of the Soviet Union, and wonder that this communication is even possible.

I had dinner with Alexander and Nana Zguridy in Moscow. We had met on the last trip and had exchanged Christmas cards and postcards. They are film producers of major motion pictures with animals and could be called the "Disneys of the Soviet Union." We watched the San Diego Zoo video of me working on Louis, the two month old orangutan, and they read the Animal Ambassador proposal in the February newsletter. We were all so excited about the catalytic affect of our meeting and our common vision of the importance of animals in our lives that we didn't want to part at midnight and could hardly sleep. The next day Alexander called me to say that we must meet again to discuss the idea further and so that I view one of his films. The next afternoon I saw the film at the Soviet Film Makers' Union. It was a lovely film based on a true story of a famous trotting horse. The horses spoke to each other when there were no humans around.

Alexander is 82 years old and highly respected. He and Nana work together on the films, both sharing equal title credits on film titles. They are a wonderful team. Alexander said that he would like to present the idea of Animal Ambassadors International® in a speech to UNICEF which he is delivering in July in Italy. They are both excited about making Animal Ambassadors International official in the Soviet Union and having the concept supported by some of their leading poets and others who realized the importance of animals in our lives as well as interested in the connections for peace.

So many other exciting things happened on my 18 days in Moscow, and my perceptions continue to change and expand. I worked two times at the old Moscow Circus with the veterinarian who participated in the TTEAM training each day. The two articles which Andre Orlov wrote about my work for Moscow newspapers, Izvestia and Moscow News, are posted on the bulletin board at the entrance to the National Horse Museum – a nice connection to my grandfather's horse work in Moscow from 1902-1905. I met with a film maker who has dedicated his life to recording the sacred ceremonies of the native peoples of the northern USSR and was fascinated by how some of the stories about their communication with animals corresponded with my "messages" which I receive from the various kingdoms.

It has only been one year this month since I had the vision of taking the TTEAM work to the Soviet Union to share. The bridging which has occurred has opened doors to many new perceptions on both ends of the bridge. I have now been officially invited by the director of the Bitsa Olympic Horse Union Complex to continue teaching TTEAM work in programs planned for the next year. It gives me an indescribable feeling of appreciation and joy to see the vision expand and unfold; and a great appreciation for all of the TTEAM members for support of the vision and for spreading the understanding between humans and our animal friends.

TTEAM work is now being used in 14 countries. Between the TTEAM work and Animal Ambassadors International, I feel that TTEAM members spreading the work are indeed taking the word to the four corners of the world. And I feel a great appreciation and feeling of Oneness with you all.

Linda

NOTE: TTEAM is an acronym of "Tellington TTouch Equine Awareness Method." Since this article was written, Linda decided to use a brand name for all the facets of the TTouch organization. Currently, that is Tellington TTouch^® Training.

TTEAM News International December, 1987 Vol 7 No 5 P. 6.

The following article appeared in Bear Tracks - The Journal of the Good Bears of the World. The article is charmingly written and presents a side of Animal Ambassadors International^® which recognized animals as our friends and teachers. However the reporter failed to state why the children brought their stuffed animals to class to learn the TTouch on them. Including stuffed animals as a part of teaching the TTouch in the schools recognizes the importance of stuffed-animal-friends for children who don't have animals at home. Just because stuffed animals don't need to be fed doesn't mean they don't have individual personalities.

The idea of having a stuffed animal to demonstrate the TTouch came to me several years ago in Los Angeles when I was asked, at a social gathering, how the TTouch worked. There was no cat or dog in residence, but a lovely soft stuffed polar bear was lying on the couch. I demonstrated a few minutes of circles on him and someone said delightedly, and maybe kiddingly, "look his eyes are softening." Since that day we have had many stuffed animal volunteers. How many of you have teddies and other stuffed animals in your house?

ANIMAL AMBASSADORS
by John Watson

In our last edition, Teddies to the Rescue by Alexandra Kurland was reviewed in the "Bears and Books" section. While it's a charming and beautiful book in and of itself, there is much more than meets the eye here! Author Alexandra Kurland has been using this book, along with her real life teddy Kenyon Bear, in a wonderful program that encourages understanding between people and animals around the world, the Animal Ambassadors International® Program.

Teddies to the Rescue tells the story of Kenyon Bear and his bear friends who live at the Shuttle Hill Herb Shop, (Alexandra notes that the bears and the herb shop are indeed, quite real.) The book, beautifully illustrated by Mark Kenyon, finds the teddies rescuing a fellow bear from a home where he is unloved. During the rescue mission real animals assist the bears in their efforts and friendships are formed.

We all know the importance of animals in our lives. Many of us find friends and teachers in our pets. From our childhood pets, we learn love, loyalty and responsibility. The Animal Ambassadors International Program is an international cultural exchange organization whose primary goal is to celebrate the importance of animals in our lives while encouraging intercultural understanding.

Here's how it works: school children bring their own stuffed toys to meet Kenyon Bear when he and Alexandra Kurland visit classrooms. Alexandra uses the book and the bears to guide the children through the story telling process. Kenyon takes the children to many lands where different animals are met through the children's own imaginations. The children ask each animal if they have any stories, words or songs for them. By the end of the session each child has his/her own special animal friend.

"I end by telling them that their animals would always be with them to tell them stories," says Alexandra. "All they had to do was listen." She adds that there is something the children can then do for their animal friends. "Many of the animals who come to us need our protection. They're having a tough time surviving, and one way we can help them is by learning more about them." She then asks each child to read a book about the animal who came to them.

Kenyon Bear acts as a story collector for the Animal Ambassadors International Program. There are story collectors in other parts of the world. The all collect animal stories. So, Alexandra asks the children to send in the stories that their animal friends have shared with them to Kenyon at the herb shop. Kenyon then sends each child an Animal Ambassadors International® Certificate.

The stories are then sent on to Animal Ambassadors International® headquarters in San Francisco where they are compiled into newsletter form and sent to children participating in similar programs as far away as Australia and the Soviet Union! Stories from the children overseas are sent back to San Francisco to be shared with the American students. Thus, not only are stories and information exchanged, but an international goodwill link is made between children of many countries.

Alexandra adds that the program is not limited to school groups. "Anyone who loves animals can join in the sharing," she says. In fact, wouldn't our own Good Bear Dens be just the perfect type of folks to join in? "Bear Dens could spend a wonderful evening telling animal stories which could then be compiled and sent on the Animal Ambassadors International®," says Alexandra. We couldn't agree more, Alexandra and we'd love to hear from any of our dens or bears-at-large who decide to participate. We would love to have our Good Bear Dens associated with such a worthwhile project.

Reprinted with permission.

 

TTEAM News International December, 1986 Vol 6 No 5 Pp. 3-5

One of the highlights of my October trip to Moscow was awarding the first Animal Ambassadors certificates. In Moscow a translation to Russian had been prepared so I took 100 blank certificates to have them printed in Russian, but the Club Healthy Family thought it would be nicer to receive them in English. Many of the same children who participated in the very first meeting for Animal Ambassadors International® attended the gathering. I had thought I would give certificates to all the children who had chosen their animals to protect, but the club adults felt they should have to earn them and are making a proposal for me to consider on my next trip.

We did agree, however, that two of the children there had earned them and the first certificate was given to the 10 year old boy who had chosen a type of tiny snail to protect. His sister received the second certificate, and interestingly enough had chosen horses as her animal.

I was so pleased to show the certificates to our American Ambassadors in Moscow, Arthur and Donne Hartman, who have followed the unfolding of the concept since the beginning. Ambassador Hartman was very pleased with the name Animal Ambassadors. He chose the fox as his animal (one of my totems, as those of you who have seen my fox ring know) and Donna Hartman chose the bear.

At the meeting I had with the Club Healthy Family one of the adults, who is a teacher, asked some important philosophical questions about animals. "What should a child do if they find a stray or injured animal on the street?" I was reluctant to give an answer without more thought so I answered that it was a question which needed consideration. On Friday afternoon I taped an answer to be translated for their club.

I find it always best for me to answer from a personal base of experience instead of from the theoretical. I often see stray animals on the streets and have no opportunity to take them with me. To turn away and ignore them would be a way of protecting my feelings of helplessness or sorrow, but I do not think that is a good idea. That kind of reaction tends to harden our hearts. I like to take some minutes of my time and sit and visit with them. It may mean momentary pain, but then that is a part of the path to appreciation of joy.

I have been greatly influenced by the philosophy of The Little Prince who advises that it is much better to have a friend and leave him than to never have experienced that connection. Khahil Gibran's chapter on Sorrow and Joy has influenced the past 25 years of my Life. As I remember it, "The self-same well from which your sorrow flows, will also flow your joy." When I read these words during a very challenging time in my life I was exhilarated. "Come on tears," thought I. "The more sorrow I experience, the deeper this well will some day be filled with joy."

I have not been disappointed. Realizing that an experience that may hold sadness can also nurture appreciation of Joy is a gift worth receiving.

The image of a small dog on a cold night in Tblisi, Georgia in the southern part of the USSR, often finds its way into my mind. I saw her huddled up on a piece of newspaper late one night as I was returning by foot to my hotel. I squatted an the deserted, windy street and visited for a long while, gently working on her ears, talking to her and doing the TTouch over her whole body to strengthen our connection and companionship. I wrestled with the possibility of taking her with me somehow, considered the difficulties of getting her veterinary papers through friends in Moscow and realized it was impossible for me to keep her since I am on the road constantly. I mentally flipped through the names of friends who might be willing to adopt a Russian animal ambassador.

The difficulties finally became too obvious and I resigned myself to simply enjoying our camaraderie. I think of her frequently and send her my love through thought-form. I can be as strong a connection as a physical touch, with practice.

NOTE: TTEAM is an acronym of "Tellington TTouch Equine Awareness Method." Since this article was written, Linda decided to use a brand name for all the facets of the TTouch organization. Currently, that is Tellington TTouch^® Training.

TTEAM News International May, 1985 Vol 5 No 2 P. 13

I had so many highlights in this trip, I can’t say which is the highest, but the thrill of the self initiation of 150 children and adults into the Animal Ambassadors International^® concept is impressed most deeply in my mind. On Sunday, April 14th, 1 gave a three hour presentation of my interspecies work to members, of all ages, of the Gorky Park Family Club. They had been well prepared for my visit by freelance journalist Andre Orlov. The month before my visit, Andre had presented the dolphin legend to the group and had them accompany the flute of Paul Winter and the howling wolves which Andre had from a personal interview with Paul in Moscow. The universe works in amazing ways. The same week that I had written my vision of the second phase of Animal Ambassadors International - that we humans should be ambassadors for the animal kingdom and speak for them - Andre had presented the same idea in a different way to this group. He told them that American Indians in the past had chosen various animals as protection for themselves. These were their totems. Andre suggested that now we become the totems for the animals. In junior high school Andre was an Indian as part of their school function. He had an American Indian name and his class had a private, locked room which was filled with Indian artifacts and officially recognized by the teachers. Only members of the Indian council could enter the room and the responsibility was passed along very seriously.

That custom still exists in his school today in the central part of the USSR and I intend to take some Indian artifacts back with me to send to the school. If any of you have any Indian books or other material you'd like to send with me to Moscow in July, it would make a wonderful connection.

In my presentation I led the group in doing the TTouch on each other. Since this was not a horse group, each person being worked on decided what kind of an animal he or she would be. I also shared the idea of Animal Ambassadors International and we all closed our eyes and did a dolphin breathing meditation together during which each person chose an animal that they would like to protect. We shared animals and one six-year old asked if I thought a type of minute snail was important enough and if so, how could he do the TTouch on it. I said small beings are as important as the large ones. You can touch these snails with your "mind."

I wore my Indian ceremonial dress and of course shared with them that I am adopted Cherokee Indian, having felt the spirit of an Indian in me all my life. Andre translated the messages from Orca whales which I received last year. Because he has written so much about my work in the Soviet media, he knows the whale messages almost as well as I do. There was an easy feeling of flow as though the translation was almost a non-verbal communication with the group.

I finished my presentation by reading an Indian 'give-away' poem. During the reading everyone closed their eyes and I had them visualize that they were American Indians sitting on the central plains 100 years ago - feeling the whisper of the wind stirring the grass and their hair - feeling the rhythmical breathing of Mother Earth under their haunches as they say upon her - feeling the stirrings of memory in their beings of that American Indian connection to the forefathers who came across the Bering Strait from Siberia many generations ago. Our connections were very powerful and Andre is translating the poem to Russian.

NOTE: TTEAM is an acronym of "Tellington TTouch Equine Awareness Method." Since this article was written, Linda decided to use a brand name for all the facets of the TTouch organization. Currently, that is Tellington TTouch^® Training.