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.

Dear Linda Tellington-Jones, 

About five years ago I saw the your video. I had just adopted a Miniature American Eskimo "Becky" from a breeder I found in the paper. I didn't know anything about breeders, (or dogs to say the least). Live and learn...  I immediately started to use the knowledge shared on the video with Becky. It was amazing how IT ACTUALLY WORKED! I was shocked that this simple touching and breathing method really did work with Becky. Becky's submissive urination stopped, and she actually obeys our vocal commands now.

I liked the video so much I gave it to family and friends that had dog or cat issues that they were having trouble dealing with. Needless to say, the video has been passed on and on, and I haven't seen it since.

I work in a Humane Society facility. TTouch^® works quickly with many of the dogs and cats when I'm showing them to potential adoption families. It is amazing how the dogs and cats respond in their suite with the potential clients looking on! I find myself referring adoption clients, and folks that call with pet behavior issues, to the Tellington TTouch^®  website. I have been visiting the site myself to see what help is out there for people and their pets.
– Chuck Mather

When we attend a TTouch training we arrive with excitement and wonder. The common bond that all of us share and the one that attracts us to Linda’s work, is that we each believe, in our own way, that there must be a better way to be with horses, other animals, the people in our lives and with the world in general.

The knowledge learned from the Tellington TTouch Method for Horses work is accumulative. In the beginning, it seems simple and easy. As we continue year after year to learn more of Linda’s shared skills, from clinics, workshops, CD’s, and her books, we begin to see a complete metamorphosis in our approach to riding, training and in many ways, to our interactions with other people as well. At a time of such great need for balance in the world and in our personal lives, by becoming TTouch trained, we become part of the change.

Linda’s life philosophy is woven like a rich quilt and openly shared at her clinics. During the daily lunch break she shares ideas about thought provoking books and theories that open all of the participants to see that we all have unlimited potential. For most of us, there is a recognition that horses can be our teachers.

At Linda’s five-day clinics, many of us notice a personality pattern expressing itself as we work with our horses—our horses mirror this pattern back to us, many times it appears to be the root of the problem that we seem to be having with our horses, and yet it is a problem that we have in other aspects of our lives, too. The horses keep giving us an opportunity to not only get it right, but to get it better. At a recent workshop, there was a horse that was very pushy with its person. As the days went on, the person revealed how primary people in her life did not treat her with respect either. As she learned techniques to express her boundaries to her horse, she also had an awareness of different ways of being with humans in her daily life.

The work that Linda teaches at her clinics is far beyond horse training. Linda shares with her students the richness of her life journey with humans and with animals that she has finely tuned over the past fifty years. A woman always ahead of her time, she gently and humbly shares her knowledge with everyone present. The attendees at her horse clinics are of varied backgrounds from trainers, competitors, therapists, medical professionals, NARHA instructors, backyard horse owners and anyone with a desire to share with a horse in a more compassionate way. Whatever a person’s knowledge base is, Linda has a way of speaking and sharing examples directly so that they are easily understood and absorbed.

The variety of touches, leading positions, special riding equipment and connected riding techniques offer everyone something new and thought provoking to encourage and stretch skills, from professional trainer to horse lover. A questionnaire was sent to participants from a recent clinic. Christal Bannister, a massage therapist, answered, “I learned to touch a horse (and people) in a new way. I learned how to be soft and effective with the touches. I learned also how to be direct, observe and to give clear signals.”

The TTouch method offers us possibilities of dealing with our horses in an entirely different way. The depth of Linda’s work supports humans in continuing to unravel the myth of domination and ignorance in our relationship with our equine partners. When attending a five-day workshop, it is truly joyful to see horses and humans develop new ways of interacting together. In western civilization where horse ownership, racing, showing and winning have guided most peoples training background, it is so refreshing and important that we now have a choice.

Because of work like Linda’s Tellington TTouch Method, we have an opportunity to see, to learn, to try and to succeed in improving the lives of our horses and at the same time improving our lives as we see that compassion, listening, honoring and thought out techniques are available to everyone. An attendee at a recent clinic, Kathleen Aspenns wrote, “I really like seeing Linda work with challenging horses---to see what to do when they don’t like the first ten things you try---keep trying something different. Linda’s work in heartfelt—I absolutely love her respect for and her communication with the horses. It inspires me to be a more compassionate person.”

Linda and all the Instructors, support each student and help all of them to embark on their own journey filled with all of the skills that she can possibly share. TTouch work is not only about changing the way we deal with horses, it is about changing the way we see, hear, listen and deal with our lives . . . changing the way we are with each other, one horse, one person at a time.

"This line of work has opened up a new world of alternative  training which is sympathetic and supportive to the horse. The results were outstanding and immediate."
   – John

"TTOUCH has awakened me to a whole new (wonderful) world. I feel things and look at things (animals, people, etc.) in a renewed and understanding way. I myself feel different too. When in a situation I handle it much differently than before. I have stopped blaming the animal/person and begun to search for the real cause of the problem."  
   – Sharon Crement

"A novice can do the Tellington TTouch Method It's easy to make changes very quickly even for a novice person that doesn’t do the work as effectively as an experienced person. It’s not necessary to know the work perfectly.

"It's truly amazing to be able to make changes in an animal’s behavior, physical being or mental state, and have a reciprocation take place. For every animal I see being helped by TTouch, I always feel I have learned and changed in the process as well."   
   - Amanda L.

"The Tellington Method teaches me to be a partner with my horse so I can learn to be a team. It gives me the tools to LISTEN, OBSERVE, COMMUNICATE and then give back information to our animal friends so that they can teach me to become more effective. TTouch brings joy to my horse and me."
   – Amy Kendis

"This workshop has totally changed the way I view myself as a partner to my horse, our relationship and the relationship of the people and horses around me." 
   – Whitney Knauer

"The evening the clinic ended, my daughter was riding her Appaloosa mare (not at the clinic) in a drill team practice. The horse was a bit antsy and would not stand quietly. Rather than disciplining her as I have in the past, I spent a few minutes doing mouth work and some touches along her neck. She settled down immediately and stood quietly."
   – Denise Schoenladler

"Thank you for the marvelous lessons, ideas and awareness you’ve brought to my life.  My animals,  family and I appreciate what I’ve learned from your lessons, patience, carefulness etc. I enjoy meeting new horses and watching, reading and understanding them because of what I’ve learned from 'Getting in TTouch' and being able to help relax, soften and relieve tension from horses whose caretakers haven’t had the chance to study and use your methods."
   –  Terri Rexroad

"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

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.

If you've done much work with Tellington TTouch^® Training, 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 the Tellington TTouch Method, 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 you! There is often experienced a transformation in the people using 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. TTouch activates 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.

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.

Linda Tellington-Jones

TTEAM News International Spring, 1995 Vol 15 No 1 Pp. 1-2

My Israel trip was a miraculous happening, the primary purpose of the trip being an Animal Ambassador presentation to 40 Arab and Jewish children through a program sponsored by the Tel Aviv SPCA and sanctioned by the Department of Education. While I was there I did a fund-raising demonstration for the ILPH - the International League of Protection of Horses; gave a morning demo to the Therapeutic Riding group on a kibbutz south of Tel Aviv and a demo to 50+ horse enthusiasts at Galilee; worked on an orphaned elephant and chimp at the Jerusalem Zoo; and met with Avi Lourie, a senior zoologist raising and releasing endangered species into the desert of Israel.

I had a wonderful time meeting so many special animal loving people, but the highlight was the work with the children because it was expected to be difficult and the teachers were not sure of the outcome.

I taught the TTouch to 40 Jewish and Arab ten year olds at the SPCA on Sunday afternoon on January 29. The program is inspired by the work of Nina Natelson, director of a Washington, D.C. organization called Concern For Animals in Israel. The teachers were thrilled at the outcome. These kids were from two separate schools and had not interacted much at all in their first gathering a week prior. After I demonstrated on a dog, I had them work on each other - first within their own group and then interacting between the two groups. They loved it. Many came up to me to be TTouched for assurance they had it "right." Several Arab boys refused lathe beginning but ended up all lining up for their turn under my fingers. The kids got really quiet and concentrated while practicing the TTouch on each other.

After a break and work on a cat it was back to working on each other with the ear strokes. Several of the boys spontaneously lined up one behind the other and started working on the ears of the child ahead of him. Like a grass fire igniting, the entire group of kids fell into line in a circle around the room working on the ears of the child ahead and then started a snake dance -through the chairs - around and around - yelling and screaming and laughing in a Congo line as though they had known each other for ages.

The afternoon was a great success and I'm looking forward to returning. I ran into an intriguing story while on a two day break in the south of Israel at Eilat. I was told about a lone dolphin who hangs out at a beach by a Bedouin village on the Egyptian shore of the Red Sea about 90 kilometers south of Eilat. Her mate was killed several years ago and she became very friendly with a young Bedouin fisherman who is deaf and mute. They began playing in the water together and one day she followed him to shore. Now she swims back and forth - back and forth - on the same path - waiting for him to be with her on the shore of die village. Her movement is not healthy and the feeling I got was one of intense loneliness. I spoke with Maya Zilver, a trainer at the Dolphin Reef research park in Eilat about her. Maya has spent 5 days in this village on two different occasions observing her. Apparently the villagers are very protective of the dolphin, believing her to be a messenger from Allah. The Bedouins also believe that people who are handicapped are special and are honored - so it is a very powerful combination and very touching. The interspecies bond is fascinating. Those who think dolphins respond only to food reward need to take note of this story.

When three years ago I attended a WOMAN'S PRAYERS FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST CONFERENCE I followed it with a trip to Egypt. I put out a question on my trusty computer musing about what I was really doing there. The response was to bring together Arabs and Jews around horses. I felt a little like John Denver in the movie "Oh, God" and I thought "Right. GIVE ME ANOTHER ASSIGNMENT". However, I persisted step by step and made two trips to Jordan and Syria teaching that year with a very successful connection to Princess Alia el Hussein in April. She brought me back to Jordan a second time in September to teach veterinarians. Now the Israel Equestrian Federation is inviting this same veterinary school to my demonstration in March in Galilee at the Vared Hagalil (Rose of Sharon) guest ranch owned by Yahuda Avni. I visited this ranch in 1979 on a trip around the world and was amazed that they remembered me.

It's fascinating to see how once again the animals open doors. During my visit with Avi Louri I was able to work on a hyena (one of the most responsive, heart-warming animals I ever TTouched) ; a member of the world's smallest desert fox whose ears are almost as big as his shoulders, and a very depressed mountain goat who is a member of the original species of die domestic goat. The goat is part of an extensive menagerie living on a Kibbutz near Haifa. After an injury, he had a section of bone removed from a leg and had not recovered. His hooves were too long, his thigh muscles atrophied and he was very reluctant to move. I worked on him for quite some time, establishing a connection to him, and suggesting the hoof trimming for a start with lots of TTouch to give hint a new lease on life. I'm hoping to bring him to my horse clinic in Galilee when! return so we can give him some real attention.

I also did two sessions on an African grey parrot belonging to a veterinarian who had come to blows (bites) with each other. "Max had been raised from a chick by Gaddy Follweiler and they had been bosom buddies until Gaddy went to Europe for an extended stay. Upon his return Max was very aggressive and bit badly and refused to be handled. The two had never resumed their friendship.

I recognized this behavior as Max being ticked off that Gaddy had left him and he wanted to express his anger. That is exactly what my cat Sybil used to do after I would return from a trip. First she would ignore me and when she would come she would roll on her back and bite and scratch my hand and arm until she was satisfied that I got the message of her disapproval Then we would become best buddies again.

As I did with Sybil, I suggested Gaddy wear gloves and push his finger into Max's open beak - gently - when he bit I put on gloves and wrapped him in a towel leaving only his head out. After working for 20 minutes he relaxed, stopped attempting to bite and closed his eyes. The second session he thoroughly enjoyed being once again in the towel with several of us visiting in the living room while he reveled in the TTouch.

I hope this renewal of lost friendship between the Gaddy and Max will mirror improved relationships between Arabs and Jews that will develop through the Animal Ambassador TTouch program in Israel.

The work with the chimp and elephant was intriguing. Zoologist Tamar Or was given a copy of my book, read it overnight, and called me to say she had to meet with me. Ihad not a minutes time, I replied, but when she insisted that an elephant calf and a orphaned chimp "needed me" of course I couldn't resist. So I shortened my demo at a Kibbutz which is the home of Therapeutic Riding in Israel, promised I would come back again, and headed for Jerusalem. The primary keeper for the elephant was in Thailand so all I could do was make some suggestions of the necessity of providing some company for this very disturbed and lonely elephant calf. The chimp, however, was a cinch. His problem was a lack of grasping reflex. If he wasn't held firmly by his human he would fail to hang on and fall. It looked to me as though he had been held like a baby under the buttocks and not been taught to grasp. It took only 20 minutes of Raccoon TTouches and Python Lifts up his back - over the arms - and on every centimeter of his hands and fingers until he "got the hang of hanging on". Tamar and his keeper were delighted.

There was the same feeling of magical and Divine Intervention on this trip that I experienced in Moscow when I was told the American! Russian interaction could never happen as it did. I'm looking forward to returning to Israel. The Israeli Equestrian Federation is organizing a demo for me near Galilee inviting veterinarians and horse people from Jordan and Egypt. Dr. Geora Avni, representative of the Israeli Equestrian Federation and a teacher at the school for veterinarians is organizing the trainings. He is delighted at my interest in the Arab/Jewish connection for peace and communication through the medium of horses and other animals.

I've also been invited to teach a two-day TTouch training to a group of Palestinian women in Gaza who wish to help children and adults who are traumatized by the current level of tension and fear. I was planning to return in March and teach with the assistance of Alia Gurevich and several Jewish women I worked with in Moscow and "TTEAMsters" Nena Norton and Jane Ellen Kovacevich. However, I have too much going on here in the U.S. so Jane Ellen and Nena will be working with the TTouch and the women and children's programs. Janet Kahn, who has been working in Israel with conflict resolution and Jewish/Arab interaction for many years, will be organizing the programs in Gaza and Jerusalem. We worked together on this trip and its thanks to her connections that the TTouch will be brought to Palestinian women. This is a big step as there is much fear and shutting down of communication at this point in Israel, and great fear of entering the Gaza territory.

I've also promised to do a fund raising demo for the Jerusalem SPCA who will bring together another group of Jewish and Arab children. As you can imagine I'm in a great state of gratefulness and looking forward to my return. You can make a difference by sending your prayers and holding a positive image that an improved and peaceful solution will be worked out in Jerusalem and through out Israel for an understanding and acceptance between the Jewish and Arab cultures.

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 October, 1989 Vol 9 No 3 Pp. 21-23

Bonnie Lieuwen of College Station, Texas attended a workshop with TTEAM Instructor, Copper Love who encouraged her to write about how she had been using TTEAM in her special education classroom.

FOCUS: As a special education teacher I am most concerned with my students increasing their focusing skills. As we all know, if a person can focus & concentrate their focusing skills then they can expand academically, emotionally, socially, and physically. Sort of like a snowball effect, expanding in their skills, independence, and self-esteem. In my thirteen years of experience, this was the first year that I taught at the elementary age level (ages six - ten). Due to the students' handicaps, young ages, and extreme amount of energy, focusing was not one of their strong qualities. I tried many different techniques to increase their focusing skills with very little growth for the effort that was expended. It was not until I began using some TTEAM techniques that I started to see notable growth.

Other areas that I saw results from using TTEAM with the students were: body-awareness/use/carriage, relaxation, and decrease in hyperactive behavior. Increase in socialization, increase in behavioral self-control, increased awareness of self, others, and the environment, increase of following directions skills, decrease in aggressive behaviors, increase of willingness and enjoyment of being touched and touching others, the skill of waiting, increased feelings of acceptance, increased feelings of bonding and trust between student and teacher, and more I'm sure.

In special education there are so many variables and different specialists that work with these children (speech, adaptive p.e., physical/occupational therapists, counselors) and everyone has good input into the growth of these children. It is always difficult to pinpoint the most effective techniques and many times it is a combinations of everyone's input. But I do know that when I began using TTEAM, I began seeing exciting changes and other people (plus parents) were reporting these changes too. I will not be working with these students next year so I will have no idea of the lasting effects in their growth. Please remember these are only my observations and feelings. It is my gut feeling that TTEAM had a crucial positive effect on these children.

In the following paragraphs I will briefly tell you about the TTEAM activities and adaptations I used and the five students that received the most TTEAM energy. The time span was about two months, but not on a daily basis. In fact I found myself becoming very frustrated that I did not have the time I wanted to spend doing TTEAM. I saw the benefits and ached with the thought "if I only had more time to spend individually with each student."

In a school setting I thought it might look odd to use my horse wand so I substituted the wand with a drum major's baton. I found it worked well because it has the two white rubber ends and I could remind the kids to look (focus) at the white tips (we called then marshmallows). There are many stick things that would work well (is conductor baton, a painted stick, etc.) I just happened to have the baton.

With the baton we did:

• open the gate
• walk, turns, backward walk, run
• wave to stop
• dagger; this was especially for "J" who I will tell you about later.

Obstacles: I used sticks that were about 6 ft. by 1 inch (they were light weight and easy to arrange).

• Labyrinth (varying the pattern)
• cavaletti (arranged at different heights/distances)
• star
• the "pick up sticks arrangement

Other obstacles:

• a tic-tac-toe design. I would use the baton to point to a square for the student to step into, this one worked very well for teaching them to focus on where the baton point, for increasing the awareness of space and feet placement, and for waiting in one place.
• Box Lids. (I'm sure you have seen when stores cut in half, all the way around, a case of canned soda and each box part is about 2 inches high, well that is what I used). I would arrange the boxes on the floor in varying patterns and again I used the wand to point to the box I wanted the student to step into.

The boxes and tic-tac-toe were terrific for a group because I could direct one student and while the one student learned to wait in one space I could direct another, and so on. This really helped my students that were very compulsive in their movements, They had to think in order to control their bodies. It was a great exercise!

Other things:
Labyrinth - when the students became skilled in these (in the beginning they would plow right through the sticks, absolutely no awareness of the sticks or that they were plowing through) I made the addition of two labyrinth patterns. We used chairs with wheels and without. It was really neat to see the students expand from plowing through, to thinking their own bodies through, to having enough control to push a chair through the pattern.

Flashlight - After they had learned to focus on the baton I would sometimes use a flashlight beam instead of a baton. I would turn down the lights and shine the flashlight to direct them in the obstacle patterns. This is interesting: I had used a flashlight all year hoping to increase their focusing skills, but it was not until they had learned to focus on the baton that they finally were able to truly focus on the flashlight beam.

I did not get a chance to use the following ideas but I thought they might be good.

• Rope: Take a long rope or several ropes to make varying obstacle designs.
• Tires: Substitute the large tires (used with the horses) with bicycle tires or tubes, hoola -hoops, or some other light weight circular shapes.
• Rag squares pattern.
• Pulling a wagon
• Varying the body movements through the labyrinth: while crawling, hopping and running.

And of course I used the wonderful "CIRCLES"!

Students: J., N. , K. , M. , C.

J. (10 yrs, he has a mental retardation handicap, very hyperactive) - when J. came to
my class in late October he walked with his shoulders hunched over, head down towards the ground, and his hands hold in a wrapped position on top of his head. His body language told that he was hiding within a shell. He did not talk, he only made a very occasional vocal sound (but he had Used words occasionally throughout his life). He was shy and withdrawn socially, would not focus on anything or anyone. He would not follow directions and when he was corrected on behavior he would fall to the floor with tantruming, crying and screaming. He frequently hit peers or tried to play too aggressively. He would often, just out of the blue, take off running away from staff. He was very hyperactive and easily over excitable.

I tried many techniques to improve his posture, nothing had much effect. In the month of February I tried doing circles on his shoulders, neck, and back. These areas were extremely tight, by my feel and by his own reaction. It was interesting that while doing the circles he would lower his arms but they would return minutes after I stopped doing the circles. Daily I did circles on his shoulders, back, and neck and daily the length increased that he would leave his arms down. At the end of March, after I had attended a TTEAM clinic, I began increasing circle time/ body areas and incorporating TTEAM activities. With the increase of TTEAM I began to do, J. really improved in all areas. His major growths were truly observable by the end of May. He walked upright, hands down with only an occasional verbal reminder, he learned to walk and stop which greatly helped staff because it decreased the number of times they would have to run after him. He made great leaps in his ability to focus and attend to tasks, and he began using words to state his needs i.e. water, bathroom, ball, play, others' names, bus, etc. Socially he became more aware of those around him and he was interacting non-aggressively. At lunch time all my students had a regular education student for a lunch buddy. Each of my students would sit with their lunch buddy at the lunch buddy's class table. Daily I watched J's interactions with the lunch class/ buddy become more calm and appropriate. He became more calm/relaxed and he definitely increased his ability to follow directions and to accept correction calmly. I feel sure the TTEAM obstacle activities had a great effect on his self-control, focusing, increased awareness of' his environment, and the decrease in his compulsiveness. J. loved the circles so much that he would take my hand and show me where he wanted circles, he also would try to do circles on others. It was a total joy to watch the growth he was making.

N. (6 yrs. mental handicap, slight degree of' cerebral palsy). M. had extreme baby behaviors: he refused to follow directions by excessive tantruming, hitting, spitting, crying, and throwing himself on the floor. He was extremely dependent on others to do things for him. Very low focusing abilities and very short attention span. When N. first came to my class in October I thought if this child learns to remain in his seat for five minutes it will be a miracle. Well N. passed that goal up by far. He made wonderful progress with a lot of physical guidance and verbal direction. He had already come a long way when I began doing TTEAM with him in the end of March. And once again I don't think it was coincidence that this student began to make progress more rapidly when I began the TTEAM. N. resisted the circles at first so I had to stick to the 'flick of the bear's paw" for the first week. After that he was very receptive to the circles and by the end of May he would ask for circles. I feel that N. made a lot of emotional progress in body awareness and use. It's as if he had discovered his body and its movements. N. also grew in independence and in following directions. I could see him improve and feel good about the TTEAM obstacles and learning these simple task directions seemed to carry over into following directions in other areas.

K. (7 years. Learning Handicap, hyperactive). K. was my speed student. He sped through everything just to get it done. His focusing ability was very poor. K. was in my room only in the morning so the only TTEAM I did with him was the Circles and the baton, open gate, walk, stop. I feel this greatly improved his ability to slow down and to focus. I would also let K. run in a circle around me plus focus on the baton and verbal directions. This seemed to be effective in releasing his excess energy, increasing his focusing, and increasing his following direction skills. K. seemed to react to the circles very emotionally. Some days he was very resistive to the touch. He was a child that did not feel comfortable with touch. Several times after I began circles on him he would have crying episodes (not within the circle session, but at later times). I took the circles very slowly with K. in case they were causing the crying. In time he became more receptive to the circles and the crying episodes ceased.

M. (10 yrs., Mental retardation handicap, very cerebral palsy, Used a walker to walk). M. came to my class the last month of school so he did not participate in a lot of' TTEAM. I observed some progress that I feel was a result of TTEAM. M. was not happy in our class when he first came. He had recently moved from another town where he was very happy in his class. I feel the circles helped him feel more trusting and bonded in our class at a more rapid speed than he would have without the circles.

C.* (9 yrs., regular education. student that was placed in my classroom due to severe emotional and aggressive outbursts within his regular classroom. C. is very intelligent, creative, and sensitive.) A teacher's aide worked with him in a partitioned off area of my classroom. I worked with him for 30 minutes a day. We worked on social/personal skills, breathing, guided imagery, and of course CIRCLES! C. loved the circles, especially on his face. He told me the circles made him feel relaxed and peaceful. We used the circles many times when he was feeling upset. Every time he would feel better and refrain from inappropriate or aggressive behavior.

I hope that I have at least been able to cover the highlights of what I feel TTEAM did for my students. I'm not sure who benefited the most from TTEAM - my students or me. I do know that now I have seen the benefits with my horses, with my students, with myself and I thank you for sharing TTEAM with the earth.

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.

This report comes to you direct from the Animal Kingdom! What do I mean? Well, I had planned to write a detailed report of the Pt. Reyes week-long training, the fun, the "dolphin games" we play, the steps necessary with unusually difficult horses to make the transition from the ground exercises to riding. But I ran into blocks all day while I was writing the report. My computer disk was full. Then I couldn't find an empty disk. My printer started printing some strange computer language that not even my brilliant sister could have figured out. What was going on?

Well, I finally got it. You see, I have this funny connection to the animals. Often in my mind's eye - in bright daylight - not only in dream time, I get a picture of a circle of animals sitting together concentrating on sending me messages. Actually, they send them out to everyone who will listen. But I seem to have a mainline of communication to them. How lucky it's not on AT&T or the bill would be enormous!

They were telling me they wanted the Animal Ambassador report printed. Ah, said I, as I finally got the message.

I've been getting this communication for many years. It was back in 1969 that it first began. I was giving a lecture on endurance riding at Prescott College to a very large audience one evening. Out of the blue, I had a feeling I should use the opportunity to begin with some inspirational words in appreciation of the gifts our horses bring to us - and of the gift of nature. I stepped out of the back door of the auditorium and spread my arms in greeting to the sinking sun, asking for some guidance.

A whole flood of information came to me, but did not begin to sink into my consciousness until the drive back across the desert the following day.

What came to me was similar to a dream. I saw a whole plan similar to a blue print of my life which would unfold over many years of my life and would include school programs and camps where animals would be the teachers to children.

There have been many steps along the way: the first one being to set off to Europe in 1974 to find out how I could create a program which would bring a special appreciation for the animals in our lives (all animals not just the horses I worked with all my life).

The second step was developing TTEAM. The third was returning from Europe in 1980 and meeting Peter Caddy from Findhorn. Peter said, "Linda, I know what your Mission is on this earth. You're here to explore the relationships between mankind and the animal kingdom."

Then came my trips to the Soviet Union and the magical, and at that time, unusual connections to grassroots citizen through the animals. The Animal Ambassador concept began to take form, and I saw the excitement it generated. Alexander Zguidy, a Russian film producer, immediately saw the possibilities and said he would like to take the idea to the U.N. Alexander and his wife, Nana, have produced over 20 award-winning motion pictures with animals as heroes. I know they also have a direct line to the council of animals who guide me.

The next steps are in process in the U.S. school systems. Alexandra Kurland in New York state and Ann Finley in Idaho are taking the program into schools. Alexandra likes to be known as the spokesperson for Kenyon, known to the world as a stuffed bear, but many of us know he's much more than that. He actually is one of the reps for the Animal Council. If you would like to get to know Kenyon better write to Bear Hollow Press, 110 Salisbury Rd., Delmar, N.T. 12054 for a copy of Teddy's To The Rescue by Alexandra Kurland - a lovely children's book.

Ann is coordinating the "Animal Ambassador research and development for schools" program. In January I organized an Animal Ambassador day for a group of 15 Russian school children who were invited to the US by Youth Ambassadors, headed by Linda and Ed Johnson. They were hosted in San Francisco by Henry Dakin of the Dakin Toy Company who makes many of the wonderful toys we use for teaching the TTouch with stuffed animals.

I invited Ann to join us for the day so she could get a connection to the Soviet Union to share with her children in Idaho. We spent the day with a 4-H group of children and their parents and teachers at Point Reyes Station, California. The 4-H children demonstrated their animals and explained how they trained them and I gave a short demo of TTEAM. The Russian children were given honorary memberships to 4-H, and several of the Pt. Reyes 4-H'ers spoke the 4-H pledge in 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.

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.