Equine therapy is a unique and powerful form of therapy that incorporates horses into the healing process. Horses are incredibly intuitive animals and are able to mirror our emotions and energy. Annie’s guest is Tyler Thompson, certified life coach at Enlihten and Equine Facilitator and Supervisor at Miraval Arizona. Tyler centers on the emotional and spiritual bond between humans and horses, highlighting authenticity, mutual respect, and understanding. Through his compassionate and intuitive approach, Tyler has helped countless individuals develop increased self-awareness, improved communication skills, and a deeper sense of empathy.
The Path to Authenticity
[00:26:18] “And then the next eight hours we had to spend on that horse was going through the canyons, so hundreds of feet up. It was terrifying. And that's where I learned I have to trust the horse. I don't know what I'm doing, but the horse does, and I don't want to fall, and neither does this horse.”
[00:29:30] “It's changing how we communicate. It's changing how we relate. It's changing everything. From the moments where we think the horse is stubborn or it doesn't like us because it's not working with us. Maybe that's true, maybe it's not. But if that's what we're perceiving…it's changing everything. So, when we start to question those patterns and where we have learned these things, everything seems different. Even though the horse didn't change, nothing really changed externally, everything changed internally.”
[00:52:33] “As a kid, all of your growth happens through play. You're on the playground. There's no anxiety to it. There's no agenda. You're just playing for the sake of playing. But at some point, life, obligations kick in, the responsibilities, the expectations, and you leave the playground, and you enter a battleground or proving ground. And that was like, wow, yes. Let's get back to the playground where it doesn't matter whether the hoof comes up or not. I'm having fun with this nonetheless.”
Connect with Tyler Thompson
Website - https://www.tylerthompsonpsychotherapy.com/horse
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-thompson
Audio/video editing and show notes by Podcast Abundance. Find out how they can help you too by visiting www.podcastabundance.com/services
00:00:04 - Annie Dickerson
Hey there. I'm Annie Dickerson, and on today's episode of the Life and Money show, we've got a really special treat for you. This was one that I've been looking forward to quite some time. So on this show, our special guest, his name is Tyler Thompson. I met Tyler not that long ago.
00:00:24 - Annie Dickerson
During my 40th birthday celebration at Miraval Arizona, which is a wellness resort in Tucson.
00:00:31 - Annie Dickerson
I had been drawn to the resort because of their equine experience, also known as horse therapy. I don't know if you've seen the movie 28 Days with Sandra Bullock. I saw it years ago, I think, as a teenager, she goes to rehab and as part of her experience, at the beginning, at least this is what my memory says, her task is to try to lift the horse's hoof. And the idea is that you have to be fully present for the horse.
00:01:03 - Annie Dickerson
To trust you and to know what.
00:01:05 - Annie Dickerson
You'Re asking them to do. So at the beginning of her journey, she tries to do it and she can't do it. And she's all like, ugh, this is all the horse's fault.
00:01:15 - Annie Dickerson
The world's against me.
00:01:16 - Annie Dickerson
You know, I'm sure we've all been in that place. She goes through her recovery journey, and.
00:01:22 - Annie Dickerson
Then by the end, as she's leaving.
00:01:25 - Annie Dickerson
She goes to do it one more time. And now that she's gone through all of that work on herself, she goes and the horse picks up its hoof. And so I had seen that as a young person, and I thought, oh, I want to try that someday. See if I can do that too. So I had found out through a friend who had gone to Miraval, that they had this equine experience. I brought all my friends, five of.
00:01:51 - Annie Dickerson
My closest friends from college whom I.
00:01:53 - Annie Dickerson
Had known for over 20 years, I wanted to take them so that we could experience this for the first time.
00:02:01 - Annie Dickerson
This is where we met Tyler Thompson, who is the equine facilitator and supervisor at Miraval Arizona. And he's also a certified life coach.
00:02:12 - Annie Dickerson
He's a very unassuming guy.
00:02:14 - Annie Dickerson
He shows up with a cowboy hat.
00:02:16 - Annie Dickerson
Of course, he gives us a ride to the ranch. Then he becomes our leader, our guide.
00:02:22 - Annie Dickerson
Our facilitator for this whole experience.
00:02:26 - Annie Dickerson
And when I tell you it's a life changing experience, it is no understatement. It really changed so much, not only.
00:02:34 - Annie Dickerson
For me, but our whole friend group.
00:02:37 - Annie Dickerson
We started to unearth some things, some truths that we haven't really had the chance or space to say even in 20 years.
00:02:46 - Annie Dickerson
Of friendship.
00:02:46 - Annie Dickerson
You know how it is. You get together with friends and you.
00:02:49 - Annie Dickerson
Catch up on spouses and travel and.
00:02:52 - Annie Dickerson
Kids, kind of the surface level stuff. But you don't have really the space to say the deep, uncomfortable, hard truths, like, I feel like I'm outgrowing this group, or I feel like I'm not getting what I need out of this group, or I feel like I'm being.
00:03:09 - Annie Dickerson
Pigeonholed in a certain way.
00:03:12 - Annie Dickerson
Or any number of things that maybe.
00:03:15 - Annie Dickerson
You'Re holding inside that you don't have.
00:03:17 - Annie Dickerson
The space to say because you don't.
00:03:19 - Annie Dickerson
Want to alienate yourself from the group.
00:03:21 - Annie Dickerson
You don't want to offend people. But this gave us a safe space.
00:03:26 - Annie Dickerson
To share a lot of those things and to really unearth a lot of those things.
00:03:30 - Annie Dickerson
Some things that we hadn't really come to terms with ourselves. And so it was a very powerful experience.
00:03:37 - Annie Dickerson
And so I invited Tyler here because.
00:03:39 - Annie Dickerson
I've been telling this story of my experience with work with Tater Tot. I've been telling this story to everybody that I know because it changed my life. During the experience, I shared the full story in this conversation. But part of the unlock for me during this session with Tyler and Tater Tot was Tyler suggested that I approach the horse after first failing to lift the hoof. But then he suggested that maybe I do it with a little bit more playfulness. And if you listen to the last.
00:04:18 - Annie Dickerson
Episode featuring Jen Briggs, where we talked.
00:04:21 - Annie Dickerson
About the masculine and feminine energies, that's also what I've been exploring. I recently was on retreat in Tulum, and we did big work, moving big emotions and big energies and really getting into the feminine. I realized that so much of my.
00:04:38 - Annie Dickerson
Life I've lived in this distorted, wounded, masculine energy where it's all about productivity.
00:04:45 - Annie Dickerson
And go, go, go and create more.
00:04:47 - Annie Dickerson
And do more, and it's okay to be exhausted. Being exhausted is a badge of honor. Keep going.
00:04:53 - Annie Dickerson
I've realized I've lived in that energetic.
00:04:55 - Annie Dickerson
For all of my life.
00:04:56 - Annie Dickerson
And when Tyler suggested that I be playful, it got me into a completely different headspace. All of a sudden, I said, I can do this. I know how to be playful. And as I've gone further into the feminine, I've realized that's the feminine energetic is this playfulness, this creativity, this presence. So that's what I am personally moving.
00:05:22 - Annie Dickerson
Into and exploring further and diving deeper into.
00:05:26 - Annie Dickerson
It was great that this was such.
00:05:28 - Annie Dickerson
A meaningful micro moment to show me the journey that I'm on and the.
00:05:34 - Annie Dickerson
Work that I need to do for myself.
00:05:38 - Annie Dickerson
Before we dive into this conversation with.
00:05:40 - Annie Dickerson
Tyler, I've always said that community is such an important thing.
00:05:45 - Annie Dickerson
Whether you're going to a wellness resort or you're learning to invest, learning to paint, anything.
00:05:53 - Annie Dickerson
You want to be around people who are doing the thing that you want to do, or at least are passionate about the same things. When I first got into real estate investing, I sought out as many people as I could who are doing the same thing. And once we launched Goodegg Investments and we started to help people to invest in real estate, we decided to put together a community of people to help.
00:06:19 - Annie Dickerson
Them get to know each other and to learn about these opportunities and to invest together.
00:06:25 - Annie Dickerson
If that calls to you, then we invite you to join. It's called the Goodegg Investor Club. To join, it's completely free. You just go to goodegg investments.com invest. All right, with that, let's dive into.
00:06:41 - Annie Dickerson
Our conversation with Tyler Thompson.
00:06:47 - Annie Dickerson
Tyler, welcome to the show. How are you?
00:06:51 - Tyler Thompson
I'm doing well. I'm really excited to be here.
00:06:53 - Annie Dickerson
I am so excited. I cannot tell you how long I've been waiting to have you on the show. All of my friends who are listening who have heard me talk about our equine experience, our horse therapy experience at Miraval, they're so excited for this episode because it was just a life changing experience for all of us. And I'm definitely. We're going to get into that, but first, I want to jump into a little bit of your story and how you got to where you are, because I know that you had been taught earlier on a different way to be with horses and to work with horses.
00:07:30 - Annie Dickerson
But there was a certain moment in your journey that really opened your eyes and changed everything for you and led you down this different path that you.
00:07:39 - Annie Dickerson
Never expected, which then led you to where you are now. So take us to that moment.
00:07:44 - Annie Dickerson
Tell us a little bit about how.
00:07:46 - Annie Dickerson
You got to where you are today.
00:07:48 - Tyler Thompson
I was working at a dude ranch at that time. Everything I'd been taught was, you know, you just kind of make the horse do it. You never really thought of the horses. And I never questioned that. It's kind of what everyone around me was doing. It was very normal at that point. And it wasn't until about a year into that job, a new guy started. I remember everyone telling me, he's a jerk. Don't listen to him. He's going to yell at you and tell you you're doing everything wrong. Just ignore him and walk away. And these were friends of mine at the Time. So for about two weeks, I'd hear him yelling and asking different questions. Who's done this? Who's done that? There was a day that he was yelling about, whose horse is this? There was a couple of bleeps in there, and it was my horse. This was that moment where I was like, do I just walk away? There's almost like a defensiveness on my part where I was wanting to step up. And I told him, you know, that's my horse. He asked me, do you know what you're doing? I said, I think you're about to tell me. I don't. He's like, you're right. You don't. There was a knot that you tie on the horse's halter. There's a very specific knot you tie. I just tied an ordinary knot. I didn't know any different. And he had told me. He's like, look, you tied this knot. The horse has pulled it. It's now super tight, and I can't undo it. Now I've got to take a knife to the horse's face to cut this off, and I don't like doing that. This really changed my perspective of him. This wasn't necessarily a jerk. It sounded like he actually really cared about the horses. So that's when I was more open and curious of like, okay, tell me more about this. He showed me how to tie the simple knot, and that was the moment everything changed. This guy actually knew what he was talking about and was willing to teach me. So I spent some time with him, and he taught me about natural horsemanship. You can ask the horse to do things. You don't have to force him.
00:09:28 - Annie Dickerson
I'm thinking about all the people in.
00:09:29 - Annie Dickerson
My life that I've made assumptions about.
00:09:32 - Annie Dickerson
That I thought they were a certain.
00:09:33 - Annie Dickerson
Way for a certain reason. Whatever story I was telling myself about.
00:09:37 - Annie Dickerson
Who they were or what they were after, what they needed from me, that.
00:09:42 - Annie Dickerson
Precluded me from really getting to know.
00:09:45 - Annie Dickerson
Who they were and what they really were about. And it sounds like in this case, even though it was maybe unintentional at.
00:09:54 - Annie Dickerson
The time, but you were open enough.
00:09:55 - Annie Dickerson
First of all, you had the courage to step up and take ownership. That's the first piece. Not everybody would have done that.
00:10:03 - Annie Dickerson
Somebody else in your shoes might have.
00:10:04 - Annie Dickerson
Just said, I don't know what he's yelling about. I'm just going to go over here and pretend I don't hear anything. But you owned up to it, and you said, that's my horse. I tied that knot. And in listening and being open, you realized that your assumptions, or maybe the assumptions of your friends that had been passed on to you were completely different from his motivations and what was driving him. Which is such a great lesson for.
00:10:33 - Tyler Thompson
All of us, truly, because it wasn't even my experience of him, it was everybody else's. And we can take those experiences on. I like that you call it courage to step up and take that accountability. Because at the time, that wasn't necessarily what I was thinking. But looking back. Yeah, I agree. Yeah.
00:10:50 - Annie Dickerson
I mean, to go up to somebody who's yelling and clearly upset about something, who has a track record and a reputation, and to put yourself in that situation and own up to it, whatever consequence may come from it, I think that's huge courage. So it led you to this then, introduction or curiosity about natural horsemanship.
00:11:14 - Annie Dickerson
So tell us a little bit about that.
00:11:15 - Annie Dickerson
What does that mean and how has that gotten you to where you are now?
00:11:19 - Tyler Thompson
So natural horsemanship, to me at least means we're looking at the horse's perspective of things as well. How are they responding to us and what is it that we are doing? It's not just solely focused on the horse being stubborn or resisting. So I like to think of it as more about asking rather than telling and demanding, which is more the common theme with horses.
00:11:41 - Annie Dickerson
Yeah, there are lots of animals that you could work with for animal therapy. But what's so special about horses?
00:11:50 - Tyler Thompson
There's a lot of different things about horses. One of them being they're prey animals. They're not like your average cat or dog that people want to associate them with. They're a herd animal, they're a social animal. They really need connection. That's how they feel safest together. So I think that's part of the dynamic we can really relate to. We're also social creatures. We now in our society, can for the most part, survive on our own. Back in the day, we used to live in villages. We needed each other. So I think it can really bring us back to those roots. They're very intuitive, they're very sensitive beings. Something I've always really thought of myself as. Well, intuitive and sensitive. For better or worse. Horses also have a way of co regulating when they get upset, when they are freaked out, they'll actually rely on each other to bring themselves back to a neutral state. Just being around them, as long as we're present, we can actually have some natural therapeutic moments. We'll sync up heart rates and their heart rate is about 30 beats per minute.
00:12:50 - Annie Dickerson
Oh, wow.
00:12:50 - Tyler Thompson
So just being around them can naturally lower our heart rate. That's a little bit of the heartmath Institute studies, if you haven't heard of them before.
00:12:57 - Annie Dickerson
Yeah. Were you always drawn to horses, even.
00:13:01 - Annie Dickerson
As a kid, or did this come later in your path?
00:13:04 - Tyler Thompson
No, it came later in my path. I was actually very scared of horses.
00:13:09 - Annie Dickerson
Ah, interesting. I mean, they're very big creatures.
00:13:13 - Tyler Thompson
Yes, they are. And powerful, as most know. Unpredictable or uncontrollable. Those are some of the themes I hear a lot of fear around horses oftentimes isn't actually about the horses. It might be more about our experience with those things in life. So I had a fear of horses. I'd been in the boy Scouts, so I had ridden a couple of times. But I remember just kind of going through the motions of it, just sitting there. Didn't really enjoy it. I even remember my mom asking, do you want to go to this horse camp? I was like, no, that sounds awful. Funny enough, I ended up running a horse camp for kids later on.
00:13:51 - Annie Dickerson
How did that happen? I mean, was there a turning point where all of a sudden you had.
00:13:56 - Annie Dickerson
Experience with horses that you enjoyed more, or how did you overcome that fear?
00:14:01 - Tyler Thompson
There was a stair stepping moment. I was working towards moving into real estate, being a real estate agent, and this really wasn't my calling. I remember a lot of resistance to it. I was just kind of going through the motions of life. There was a breakup that involved this pivotal moment for me that I asked myself, what do I want out of life? And the answer at the time came, like, electric through my body was, I want to have fun. I want to be happy. I want to enjoy where I spend my time every day. I didn't really have an idea for what that looked like, but I just went online. I started looking at different opportunities, and what stood out to me was wild west stunt performer auditions. It was totally different.
00:14:40 - Annie Dickerson
You knew it was not real estate, though. That was the one. You were like, there's a reason I'm asking this question. And so it's not what it is right in front of me. And, wow, that's so fascinating. So you searched.
00:14:52 - Annie Dickerson
I mean, you must have been looking.
00:14:53 - Annie Dickerson
At all sorts of different things to come across wild west stunt performers.
00:14:59 - Tyler Thompson
Yeah, it was not something I had ever looked into. I didn't even know that was much of a thing. I grew up going to old Tucson here in Arizona. And my mom actually reminded me that when I was about five or six years old, I told her, I want to be a cowboy someday. Because my idea of what Cowboys did. They jumped off. Building fist fights, gunfights. Again, that electric shock through my body as soon as I saw the title just tug pulled me towards it. So I listened. I showed up to the audition. I had absolutely no experience with it. I was athletic, so I was like, I could get by. And lo and behold, I got the part. I spent about a year jumping off buildings and rolling downstairs.
00:15:38 - Annie Dickerson
Wow, that's crazy.
00:15:41 - Tyler Thompson
That was the first passion I really had. I thought I was actually going to follow that path. I was going to go to stunt school. I wanted to move to Hollywood, get into the movies. That was the idea at the time. Then I had a bad fall, and that led me to find out I had scoliosis. So there was that pivotal moment again. It was like, I've got to rethink what I'm doing, but I know I still want to have fun. I want to be happy and enjoy where I spend my time. Back online. And I found a summer job in Mexico. That summer job is where I met horses. I was going for the natural part, the hiking, the kayaking, the fishing, and they did horseback riding.
00:16:16 - Annie Dickerson
So when you were working as a.
00:16:18 - Annie Dickerson
Stunt performer, you didn't work with horses at that point.
00:16:22 - Tyler Thompson
It was all on the ground.
00:16:23 - Annie Dickerson
So that's what allowed you to get into it. You weren't like, I'm going after horses first round. You were like, I think I can jump off buildings. That seems fun.
00:16:33 - Tyler Thompson
Exactly. It was that adrenaline factor, if you will.
00:16:36 - Annie Dickerson
Jeffrey R. Have you seen that movie Fall Guy with Brian Gosling?
00:16:40 - Tyler Thompson
I haven't, but I want to.
00:16:41 - Annie Dickerson
Oh, you should add it to your list. It's pretty great. It's all about the stunt world, which is fascinating. Tell us a little bit about that moment, because I'm sure at the point you were envisioning, okay, I've got this future. Okay, well, I like this.
00:16:56 - Annie Dickerson
I'm having fun. It's meeting my criteria. So next step is to go to stunt school. Next step is to apply for this.
00:17:02 - Annie Dickerson
And that's.
00:17:03 - Annie Dickerson
And then you have a fall, which.
00:17:05 - Annie Dickerson
Leads to you discovering that you have scoliosis. That must have been a devastating moment.
00:17:11 - Tyler Thompson
It really was, actually. A friend of mine at the stunt show, him and I were looking at apartments, move in together and move to California. So we were really pushing this. And then after falling on my neck, fell from the building onto my neck, and was in the middle of a show, and I had to get up and be like, I survived. And I remember being like, oh, my God, I really did survive.
00:17:33 - Annie Dickerson
Yeah.
00:17:34 - Tyler Thompson
And I remember just Laying in bed with the ice pack after I'd seen the chiropractor. And he told me, you really need to rethink what you're doing. You're damaging your body. And I'm not going to tell you not to do it, but if you want to have any kind of valuable life left, take a second guess.
00:17:53 - Annie Dickerson
Yikes.
00:17:54 - Tyler Thompson
So I remember being really upset and I remember talking to my stunt director at the time and telling him, look, I can't keep doing this. I got to do some light duty stuff where I wasn't actually in the show anymore. I was more behind the scenes. And that's when I started looking again. Okay, what am I going to do? Like, this isn't the end. This is just another step. And that's when I found that job in Mexico. My words to the stunt director at the time were, you know what? I'm going to drop the false cowboy thing. I'm going to go try the real cowboy.
00:18:24 - Annie Dickerson
The real cowboy. It reminds me a lot of the book the Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer. He wrote the Untethered Soul. That was his more famous book. But I like the Surrender Experiment better.
00:18:37 - Annie Dickerson
Because it's his own personal journey of surrendering to everything.
00:18:41 - Annie Dickerson
And he's gone through some crazy things himself of things not going his way or unexpected twists and turns that have.
00:18:49 - Annie Dickerson
Led him to where he is.
00:18:50 - Annie Dickerson
And it reminds me a lot of your story where there were certain points.
00:18:54 - Annie Dickerson
Where you were like, wait, this isn't.
00:18:56 - Annie Dickerson
Quite right, but you didn't really know. You just opened it up so to.
00:19:00 - Annie Dickerson
Give room for the universe to come.
00:19:03 - Annie Dickerson
In and co create with you. And I think that's where so many people shut down. They say, well, this isn't working, but.
00:19:10 - Annie Dickerson
I'm going to force it to work.
00:19:12 - Annie Dickerson
Or I'm going to choose something else that is close. But you kind of opened it up in more than one occasion to really just see what would come in.
00:19:22 - Annie Dickerson
And that's where the magic really happens.
00:19:24 - Tyler Thompson
I think that's spot on because being open, that was my big thing. I have no idea where I'm going. I'm just going to follow these tugs that I feel like it's worked thus far. Why am I going to question it?
00:19:35 - Annie Dickerson
Exactly. So you go to Mexico and you're going for the nature and the boating.
00:19:40 - Annie Dickerson
And the fishing and the hiking and.
00:19:42 - Annie Dickerson
Whatever, and you realize there's horses there. So at this point, were you still fearful of horses? Or at this point were you like, no, give me that horse, let me get on that horse.
00:19:52 - Tyler Thompson
This is actually Where I realized I had my fear of horses again, because I had totally forgotten about that until we get there. And the other guide that's there is helping me learn about how do you bridle a horse? How do you put a saddle on? I remember going to put the bridle in the horse's mouth, and I was shaking. I was so scared it was going to bite me. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't want to lose a finger.
00:20:17 - Annie Dickerson
This is the part that goes in the mouth and attaches to the part behind the head.
00:20:22 - Tyler Thompson
That's right. So that was the moment it all came flooding back. I was like, oh, my God, I'm afraid of horses. I forgot about that. And the next eight hours we had to spend on that horse was going through the canyons. So hundreds of feet up, hundreds of feet down.
00:20:36 - Annie Dickerson
Wow.
00:20:37 - Tyler Thompson
It was terrifying. And that's where I learned I have to trust the horse. I don't know what I'm doing, but the horse does. And I don't want to fall, and neither does this horse. So I just knew I'm going to keep my balance. I'm not going to restrict this horse by any means. I was in a very, as you would say, beginner's mind place of, it's okay not to know what I'm doing. I'm just going to experience this. And that little horse led me everywhere safely. I fell in love with this little horse. His name was Tesoro, and he certainly was a treasure. That's when I knew, like, I kind of like horses, even though I don't know what I'm doing. And the guy doesn't speak English, nor did I speak Spanish. That's when I was like, okay, I want to work with horses.
00:21:20 - Annie Dickerson
Wow, What a 180. I mean, first of all, for you to remember that fear of horses and then to still go anyway to follow through with it. And this sounds like quite an immersive experience, too. Not just like, we're going to ride.
00:21:38 - Annie Dickerson
Through the park and come right back.
00:21:40 - Annie Dickerson
This is like no many hours, a quite harrowing journey, I imagine it was. But it sounds like you had no choice but to trust the horse.
00:21:49 - Annie Dickerson
Literally. All your other resources, the language too.
00:21:53 - Annie Dickerson
The location, this experience, you had nothing except your trust in this horse. And sounds like it was kind of a perfect experience for that.
00:22:02 - Tyler Thompson
It really was. And like you said, moving towards that fear rather than away from especially being. I'm kind of hired by this place. Can't really be like, you know, the horse thing's just not for me.
00:22:14 - Annie Dickerson
So let's fast forward to now for the listener.
00:22:19 - Annie Dickerson
Give us an overview of what you.
00:22:20 - Annie Dickerson
Do now with horses.
00:22:22 - Annie Dickerson
Because I know it's not riding horses.
00:22:24 - Annie Dickerson
As some of my friends thought when I brought them, but how do you work with horses and with people?
00:22:30 - Tyler Thompson
We have a lot of different activities that we do with people, from cleaning their feet to walking them around the corrals. What's called round penning, where you're moving the horse without touching them. That's how we exercise them. The emphasis is not on the activity, it's not on the horse. It's on how you show up to it, how you advocate for your own wants and needs. How do we not attach ourselves to the expectations of who we are or what we should be able to do? Very much like you said, that open place of possibility. So with working with the horses, a lot of different things come up. And a lot of the times it's emotional stuff from the past, or having people pay attention to what they think, how they feel, how these two things are coming together to create their behavior and their reality. As we kind of talked about earlier, a lot of the fear around horses, that unpredictability, the out of control, that's not their first time experiencing that. Somewhere in their life, they've experienced that and learned to fear that. And that's what's coming in and distorting the interaction with the horses. It's changing how we communicate. It's changing how we relate. It's changing everything from the moments where we think the horse is stubborn or it doesn't like us because it's not working with us. Maybe that's true, maybe it's not. But if that's what we're perceiving, it's changing everything. So when we start to question those patterns and where have we learned these things, everything seems different. Even though the horse didn't change, nothing really changed externally. Everything changed internally. That's a big shift in focus from the external to the internal. What's going on for them? No, what's going on for me. That's something I think we've been tuned out of.
00:24:09 - Annie Dickerson
I just want to set the stage for the listener of what my experience was with this equine experience that we had with you. Because it's not an overstatement to say that it changed my life. I can drop right back into that moment and I remember what transpired, and.
00:24:28 - Annie Dickerson
Not only for me, but for my friends as well.
00:24:31 - Annie Dickerson
So this was for my 40th birthday, not that Long ago. And I decided I wanted to invite my five closest friends from college to Miraval in Tucson.
00:24:42 - Annie Dickerson
And little did we know that we.
00:24:43 - Annie Dickerson
Were going to have this life changing experience with Tyler. And part of why I was drawn.
00:24:50 - Annie Dickerson
To Miraval was because of this equine experience.
00:24:53 - Annie Dickerson
So I wanted to bring all my friends to experience it with me because I had never done it before. But I didn't tell them very much about it. Like, do we need to wear long pants?
00:25:02 - Annie Dickerson
Are we going to be riding the horses?
00:25:05 - Annie Dickerson
I kept it very open ended.
00:25:07 - Annie Dickerson
It was amusing to me at least.
00:25:09 - Annie Dickerson
So we're walking up to the. Would you call it an arena or.
00:25:13 - Tyler Thompson
Yeah, that's our round pen.
00:25:15 - Annie Dickerson
The round pen. I remember we were walking up and.
00:25:18 - Annie Dickerson
There were some benches along the side.
00:25:20 - Annie Dickerson
Where my friends and I were going.
00:25:21 - Annie Dickerson
To sit while you gave the orientation.
00:25:24 - Annie Dickerson
And introduced us to the horse. We're walking in, grabbing our seats, and.
00:25:29 - Annie Dickerson
My friends notice there's boxes of tissues.
00:25:31 - Annie Dickerson
And they're like, huh, what are these tissues for? And I'm like, oh, yeah, it's about to get real. I don't think they really realized what we were going to experience, but what transpired over the following couple of hours, I think it opened up a completely new chapter in our friendship together.
00:25:52 - Annie Dickerson
These are friends that I had known for over 20 years.
00:25:55 - Annie Dickerson
Some of the things that came out through this experience were things that we.
00:25:59 - Annie Dickerson
Hadn'T had a chance to say to each other or to really confront within.
00:26:03 - Annie Dickerson
Ourselves in probably five, ten years or more that we were able to really sync up on and have the place and the courage to share with each other. So I'm going to just share my experience first and I want you to weigh in because I've told this story now many times, but I didn't have your perspective. So I want you to add in what you remember. I know you do these all the time, but I'm sure there's patterns, there's common patterns that you can bring in. Because it was my birthday, I volunteered to go first.
00:26:38 - Annie Dickerson
So I stepped into the pen with.
00:26:40 - Annie Dickerson
You and the horse, whose name I think was Tater Tot. That's right, Tater Tot. The horse will always have a special place in our heart for him. I stepped into the pen. I remember thinking as I stepped in, I was like, okay, I've seen this before in a movie.
00:26:55 - Annie Dickerson
I'm interested in the one where I try to pick up the horse's hoof.
00:26:58 - Annie Dickerson
And I'm just going to pick that one.
00:27:00 - Annie Dickerson
He already showed us the steps, so I'M going to probably be able to do it, and I'm pretty good at most things. It's probably going to work for me.
00:27:06 - Annie Dickerson
First time, and my friends might have.
00:27:08 - Annie Dickerson
Trouble, but I'm going to probably be.
00:27:09 - Annie Dickerson
Able to do it. So I step into the ring, and what blew me away was first, before we even approached the horse, you have this natural way about you where I think you just naturally, without even thinking about it, kind of disarm people. So you're just like, how's it going?
00:27:28 - Annie Dickerson
How are you feeling?
00:27:29 - Annie Dickerson
And maybe because of that place we were in and how open we all were, it's like, you know what? I'm kind of feeling nervous. And normally I wouldn't say that. I would say I'm feeling great. I'm so excited to do this thing. But for whatever reason, I felt I.
00:27:49 - Annie Dickerson
Could be a little bit more vulnerable. So I said, I'm kind of feeling nervous.
00:27:54 - Annie Dickerson
And you said, great.
00:27:55 - Annie Dickerson
Well, where do you feel that in your body?
00:27:58 - Annie Dickerson
It took me some time to realize where I was feeling it in my body. And even this, I feel like you.
00:28:03 - Annie Dickerson
Had an intuitive hit about.
00:28:05 - Annie Dickerson
Because at first I said it was.
00:28:08 - Annie Dickerson
Kind of in my solar plexus region.
00:28:10 - Annie Dickerson
And you didn't stop there. You said, well, where else do you feel it? And I said, my throat area. And I don't know how you knew it, but my throat chakra is the area that I have always had trouble with my entire life. So you kind of left the solar plexus and you were like, let's focus on the throat. And throughout the whole experience, you seem to have these intuitive knowings. I don't even know what questions you asked, but within five minutes or so, I remember I was totally breaking down crying, and all my friends were crying, and I was like, I just feel like I always have to have it together, and it's so exhausting.
00:28:55 - Annie Dickerson
Within just a few minutes, I was able to. And this was even before getting to the horse.
00:29:00 - Annie Dickerson
I hadn't even touched the horse yet at this point. I mean, share with us a little bit about your perspective. And I know you've said this and your mentor's book from Wyatt Webb. It's not about the horse is what we've learned. So tell us a little bit, what's your take on that scenario? Or just in general, when people approach the ring and what they expect versus what actually transpires?
00:29:26 - Tyler Thompson
A lot of the times when I first meet, people are like, oh, it's just a cowboy.
00:29:30 - Annie Dickerson
Yeah.
00:29:32 - Tyler Thompson
They don't expect. Because granted, the 50 word description doesn't leave a lot of room for knowing. And I don't know what to expect either. I don't know what you're going to bring to this. I don't know how open you're going to be. So I have to meet people where they are. I know I can't pull them to my expectation of this is what you're going to do. I do remember you actually came in very intentional, that you wanted to be vulnerable, you wanted to be open. That was the whole reason you were there, Amiraval. So I think that allowed for everybody else to also feel the same way. Whether you want to say it was the space or not, there was something in you that allowed for that. So I want to acknowledge that part first. A lot of the times we're disconnected from our body, and that's where our feelings, that's where our emotions happen. So when we get in touch, typically it's going to be in the gut, it's going to be in the chest, But I can hear emotion coming up and it gets stuck right here. When we're trying to push it down, we're trying to keep it together, as you said. That's why I would always say keeping your shit together looks like being buried up to your neck in it. And that's the truth, because this is where we've closed down our voice. We don't want to express what's happening, and you can just hear the words start to get clenched. That led me to ask, well, there's a little bit more than what's being presented like. You're being pretty vulnerable, but I'm going to give you a little gentleman nudge. And you went straight to it. And he started opening up. And like you said, the tears, the breakthrough, I'll call it, that started to happen. So I think that's the most important thing is just simply being present, connected to myself, connected to you in that moment, and not necessarily buying absolutely everything that you say in that moment.
00:31:12 - Annie Dickerson
Maybe here you can share with us a little bit of when you decided to work with horses in this way, how you got from stuntman to riding that horse that first time in the canyon to where you are now. Because I know this doesn't happen by accident, this being able to be so present with the person who's right there.
00:31:34 - Annie Dickerson
In front of you.
00:31:36 - Annie Dickerson
That takes a lot of work on yourself as well as training and practice. So as you got into this, first.
00:31:46 - Annie Dickerson
Of all, how did you discover that that was something you were interested in?
00:31:50 - Annie Dickerson
And then how did you Start to do that work on yourself and for others to get to this point, a.
00:31:57 - Tyler Thompson
Lot of it came from Wyatt Webb. When I landed my job at Miraval, I was simply there to learn to work with horses in a different way. I didn't even know what the program really involved at the time. We were doing trail rides at that time. I think I was hired more as the guy who could get the stuff done, who could take out the trail rides. And Wyatt was going through some health issues at the time. He was 76, 75 years old. And they needed somebody to be able to get him water, get his people, grab his horse, do the safety demonstrations. At the time, nobody really wanted to do it. They'd all been there for many years. They'd heard the whole song and dance. So I just took on the opportunity. I sat in on his classes, and I remember the first class being like, this is amazing. Watching 10 to 12 people that didn't know each other open up and connect on a deeper level than maybe they had experienced in all their life. It was beautiful. And I knew, okay, there is something more to this. All of the lessons that everybody would either learn about themselves or that why it would talk about it spoke to me. So that's where I started looking at myself a little more. I always like to say, you know, I thought I went to Miraval to learn about horses, and, yeah, I went to Miraval to learn about myself.
00:33:16 - Annie Dickerson
Yeah.
00:33:16 - Tyler Thompson
So that kind of sparked this. I want to learn more. And from that moment on, for the next three years, while Wyatt was still there, I sat in on his classes three times a week, where it was Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. I was like, these are the three days I want to work. I will take his class. I remember he would stay after for a little bit, and he would let me ask questions and pick his brain and be like, how did you see this? Where did you get that? What books do you recommend? He was very open and honest with me, and we created a really strong connection that led me, during COVID to actually seek out being certified as a life coach. At that time, I felt like I didn't have enough qualifications. There was a little of my own securities at the time. And I remember everything that they taught in the class had already been taught to me. I was really good at all of it, but just reinforced everything Wyatt taught me. And that continues to follow in each book that I read or each course I take. It just gives me a different way to talk about it. I fell in love with kind of like what you experienced the vulnerability that everybody offered, which I had always seen as a weakness in myself.
00:34:24 - Annie Dickerson
I'm curious. You do this almost every day. You work with groups of people and horses, and are there certain people who.
00:34:33 - Annie Dickerson
Are not right for these sorts of.
00:34:35 - Annie Dickerson
Experiences who come in, and for whatever reason, you're not able to break through or get there with them?
00:34:43 - Tyler Thompson
Oh, yeah. Especially because either they weren't expecting it, or they're just simply not able to. I wouldn't say that they're not a good fit for it, because even if they themselves don't open up to it, there's a good chance they're going to pick up something from somebody else. I would say it's great for anybody, but I never want to push somebody into the red zone. I think I might have said this in the class. I'm not here to throw you off a cliff. I'm here to jump with you. Yeah, that part's up to you. There's no judgment about that. You want to give the horse a hug and get a picture for Instagram? Cool. I'll take some angles for you. But at the end of the day, this is up to you. And that's something I had to learn, because in the beginning, having those experiences with people can really inflate the ego, can really add validation to who I am and what I do. I really had to look at that. Why am I, in some ways, pushing people to have those experiences so I can feel better having that agenda made all the difference in the world. It's been a lot of growth through the last seven years.
00:35:43 - Annie Dickerson
I can imagine. I mean, I've coached some people as well in the past in teaching them to do what we do as far as raising capital for real estate syndications. And when I've stepped into that coach seat, oh, my goodness, so much of my own stuff comes up for me.
00:36:03 - Annie Dickerson
Even though the stuff that I'm teaching.
00:36:04 - Annie Dickerson
Them I've done over and over again. I know the nuts and bolts of it, but the stories around, am I being of value?
00:36:13 - Annie Dickerson
What are they getting out of this? What are they thinking about when I'm teaching them or the way that I'm.
00:36:18 - Annie Dickerson
Teaching them, all of that comes up, which is why it was so refreshing.
00:36:23 - Annie Dickerson
That you were so present.
00:36:25 - Annie Dickerson
And it was very clear to all.
00:36:27 - Annie Dickerson
Of us that you didn't have an agenda.
00:36:30 - Annie Dickerson
You were just there to be there with us, whatever we wanted to make out of that experience. Speaking of which, I had my breakdown moment where I was like, I feel like I have to have everything all together. We Made it through that. And then it was finally time for me to approach Tater Tot. I remember there were three different things.
00:36:51 - Annie Dickerson
That we could choose to do with the horse.
00:36:53 - Annie Dickerson
One was brush the horse. One was to walk the horse around the pen, and the other was the one that I wanted to do, which was to pick up one of the hooves and to clean the bottom. So that was the one I chose. This was my thinking back on it. And I've told this story many times. This is the experience that I had. Okay, it's time now. I'm going to go.
00:37:16 - Annie Dickerson
And I remember Tyler told us, step one, do this. Step two, step three, step four.
00:37:20 - Annie Dickerson
And I'm mentally rehearsing it as I'm walking up to the horse, and I'm like, I've got this. All my friends are watching. I can do this. No problem. I was so zoned in, I didn't.
00:37:33 - Annie Dickerson
Bother looking at anything else in the environment.
00:37:35 - Annie Dickerson
I didn't think about maybe the horse.
00:37:37 - Annie Dickerson
Can move or come to me.
00:37:39 - Annie Dickerson
I went to go try to pick up the front hoof that first try. I bent down, I squeezed where you had showed us. Nothing happened. I'm like, okay, that's okay. That was my first try. I'm going to try it again. I'm, like, going through the steps again. I'm like, okay, I'm going to try again. Squeeze a little harder this time. Still nothing. And now I'm like, oh, now I'm.
00:38:03 - Annie Dickerson
Looking like an idiot in front of my friends.
00:38:05 - Annie Dickerson
Okay, I'm going to give it one more try. I tried it again. Not even a slight budge. Nothing.
00:38:11 - Annie Dickerson
So I remembered you had said you weren't going to help us unless we.
00:38:15 - Annie Dickerson
Asked for help because you didn't want to interfere with our experience. You wanted us to make it what we wanted. So at this point, and I normally wouldn't ask for help. I would just keep going until I could figure it out. But I thought, okay, I'm out of ideas. So I asked you for help, and I would definitely want to hear your perspective on this. But two things that I remember. One was, first you pointed out that.
00:38:40 - Annie Dickerson
There was literally a pile of poop sitting right next to where I was.
00:38:44 - Annie Dickerson
Standing, that I hadn't even noticed that that was in my way.
00:38:48 - Annie Dickerson
And I had wedged myself in this.
00:38:50 - Annie Dickerson
Tight little spot between the pile of poop and the horse.
00:38:54 - Annie Dickerson
So obviously I wasn't taking care of.
00:38:57 - Annie Dickerson
Myself and I wasn't really noticing the environment.
00:39:01 - Annie Dickerson
Then you said, well, who could we.
00:39:02 - Annie Dickerson
Get to clean this up? And I looked around and I said, well, my friend Monica, she's in the pen with me. Let's get her to clean it up. And you're like, okay, yes, Monica can clean it. Who else can clean it? And I said, well, I guess I could clean it. I mean, I don't really want to, but I could.
00:39:23 - Annie Dickerson
And then you paused and you said, well, what about me?
00:39:25 - Annie Dickerson
Why didn't you ask me to clean it up? It was this moment where I was like, oh, yeah, Tyler works here.
00:39:33 - Annie Dickerson
He has experience with horses.
00:39:35 - Annie Dickerson
Clearly, I could have asked him, but it was a micro moment that showed me it's not about the horse.
00:39:41 - Annie Dickerson
It's about your relationships with people. It showed me, wow.
00:39:45 - Annie Dickerson
When I think about delegating or asking somebody else, what are those stories that I'm telling myself about Tyler's somebody in authority?
00:39:55 - Annie Dickerson
I couldn't possibly ask him. I'd ask anybody else before I asked.
00:40:00 - Annie Dickerson
Somebody who I perceived to be higher up than me. So that was a big unlock for me.
00:40:07 - Annie Dickerson
After that, you made a very simple suggestion.
00:40:10 - Annie Dickerson
You said, well, why don't you try it again?
00:40:13 - Annie Dickerson
But this time, don't try to be so serious.
00:40:16 - Annie Dickerson
Because I remember after the poop was.
00:40:19 - Annie Dickerson
Cleaned up, there was a series of.
00:40:20 - Annie Dickerson
Questions, and you always brought nine questions, but they led to such profound breakthroughs. You asked me how it felt for me that the horse didn't lift its hoof. I kind of thought I would be a natural. And you said, well, that's not a feeling. That's a thought. And it took me multiple rounds to even access the feeling of the sadness and the grief of having to let go of this moment, and it playing.
00:40:48 - Annie Dickerson
Out very differently than I thought it would.
00:40:51 - Annie Dickerson
So after that, you suggested that I just be playful. I was like, oh, playful. I could do that. I'm a playful person. And it took all the pressure off.
00:41:01 - Annie Dickerson
So I went up to the horse again.
00:41:03 - Annie Dickerson
I picked the hind leg this time, and I tried it again. But if you remember, Tater Tot didn't lift his hoof the whole way, just.
00:41:13 - Annie Dickerson
The bottom of the hoof. And I was like, well, this isn't quite all the way, but let me give it one more try. So I walked all the way over to his head.
00:41:22 - Annie Dickerson
I was like, come on, buddy.
00:41:24 - Annie Dickerson
It's just you and me. We're just playing here.
00:41:27 - Annie Dickerson
And of course, he doesn't care. He has no idea what I'm saying.
00:41:31 - Annie Dickerson
His energy is exactly the same. But what changed was my energy.
00:41:35 - Annie Dickerson
So I went back one last time, barely touched him, and his hoof popped right up in that simple interaction. It just opened so much for me. So, I don't know, I'd love to hear your thoughts, your perspectives. Anything you want to add to that?
00:41:54 - Tyler Thompson
Yeah. One of my favorite sayings. I don't remember who I heard this from, but it was talking about as a kid. All of your growth happens through play. You're on the playground. There's no anxiety to it. There's no agenda. You're just playing for the sake of playing. At some point, life, obligations kick in, the responsibilities, the expectations, and you leave the playground and you enter a battleground or a proving ground.
00:42:20 - Annie Dickerson
Yes.
00:42:20 - Tyler Thompson
And that was like, wow. Yes. Let's get back to the playground where it doesn't matter whether the hoof comes up or not. I'm having fun with this nonetheless. And so I think for myself, my own perspective, that first time you went in, there might have still been a little bit of expectation, like getting this hoof up.
00:42:35 - Annie Dickerson
Oh, yeah.
00:42:36 - Tyler Thompson
Versus that second time. You're like, you know what? We're just here to play. And it just popped right up. It's not uncommon for people to not want to ask me for help. I don't know how many times we finally get to that point. Because you were good about asking for help. Not everybody is. They forget that's an option. That I even said, I'll be there to help. They'll go to ask somebody who has no clue what they're doing. They'll be like, hey, what could I do? And they're like, I don't know. I've never done this. Or same thing with poop. Like, they don't want to put somebody else out that they see in authority. And again, these things crack back. So looking at it, you know, how is that stopping us from asking for help outside of there? What is that saying about who we are when we're not getting what we need or what we should be doing when we have no help? Who are we in those moments? Those are really important things to pay attention to. So I think it was great that you even asked for help at all.
00:43:27 - Annie Dickerson
Well, thank you.
00:43:29 - Annie Dickerson
I'm curious.
00:43:30 - Annie Dickerson
When I asked you for help, how did you know that what you were going to say was going to be.
00:43:34 - Annie Dickerson
The thing that would magically unlock it?
00:43:38 - Tyler Thompson
I never know what question to ask. What's going to be that thing that gets you there? That's part of that being present and intuitive.
00:43:46 - Annie Dickerson
You're just a channel.
00:43:47 - Annie Dickerson
You're an open channel.
00:43:48 - Tyler Thompson
Exactly. So that's something I like to think about, is like, this isn't me. Doing this. This isn't like, I'm powerful. It's like, no, this is something coming through me. I've got to be present to that. Definitely. Ego can get in the way. And I can tell when I'm not in that present state for whatever the reason, because nothing is happening, nothing is working. And I'm in my head trying to figure out that thing. And now I'm actually in that same hole with you. So I had a colleague ask me, how do you know what questions ask? I don't. And that's okay.
00:44:19 - Annie Dickerson
And that takes so much work and so much courage to clear your own channel enough to not have to worry about that, to be able to be present. I perceive that to be extremely challenging. You make it look very simple, but I'm sure there's a lot that goes into it.
00:44:39 - Tyler Thompson
I wish I could say I am that present in every area of my life. I'm not a complete human being either. I'm still a work in progress.
00:44:48 - Annie Dickerson
Yeah. One more question I wanted to ask you was we had talked about going from stunt guy to. You then went to Mexico, and you explored the outdoors. You kind of overcame your fear of.
00:45:04 - Annie Dickerson
Horses, and you realized that you wanted.
00:45:06 - Annie Dickerson
To work with horses in a different way. I assume that there's not that many jobs out there for exactly what you were looking for. So how did you end up finding.
00:45:17 - Annie Dickerson
The path to where you are now?
00:45:19 - Tyler Thompson
Went from Mexico to the dude ranch, and it was just like a recommendation from a friend at the time. Said, hey, I was a server at this ranch. They're always hiring. Check it out. I landed that job at the dude ranch really easily, put the application in it, and got the call the same day.
00:45:35 - Annie Dickerson
That's a dream come true. Most people are here for months, same day. That's great.
00:45:42 - Annie Dickerson
Everybody go apply to work on dude ranch.
00:45:44 - Tyler Thompson
I think that also says something about the place.
00:45:46 - Annie Dickerson
Yeah, that's true. That's a fair point.
00:45:48 - Tyler Thompson
Always looking for people.
00:45:50 - Annie Dickerson
Yeah.
00:45:50 - Tyler Thompson
But after having met that guy who taught me about natural horsemanship, that's when I was like, I can't be at this place anymore. I need to leave. Didn't have a job lined up. I ended up having to actually move back home. I was living at that ranch, and it was quite an abrupt ending. A whole different friend was helping me move out of the ranch, and he was telling me about Miraval. He was a chef there. He said, hey, Miraval has a horse program. Maybe you should check that out. And so I went online, I saw the horse program. It looked pretty amazing. And I went online to go find the job application. I couldn't find anything, so I just picked up the phone and I called the ranch. And I remember the supervisor answering the phone and said, hey, my name's Tyler. I've got a year's worth of horrible horse experience. I just found out this could all be different and I really want to learn to do this different. A friend of mine said, you might be hiring. And she said, that's an interesting story. And no, we're not hiring. But I'm curious. Tell me a little more. So I told her about my experience in Mexico and the dude ranch. And something in that call inspired her to say, well, come on in for a ride. I'll teach you a couple things. So impromptu, I came into the ranch. We went out on a trail ride, and even just the first five minutes, she taught me so much, it blew my mind. You can ask the horse to walk with just the tilt of your pelvis and inhale of your breath. It was nothing I'd ever heard. I spent about three hours there. We had great conversations, said, look, I don't have a job to offer you, but thanks for coming in. Two weeks later, I get a call from her saying, hey, I was able to get an on call position opened up for you. If you're still interested, we'd love to have you. I took it and I made myself fully available. My mom's like, you found a dream, you want to chase it, go ahead, I'll support you for now. And so any hours that I could get, I would be there. I started just one day, two days here, there, slowly worked into a part time and full time job. And before you knew it, I became the supervisor of the place. It was something I kind of had to create for myself.
00:47:54 - Annie Dickerson
Wow, you kind of worked your way up from the metaphorical mail room. What strikes me about that story is.
00:48:02 - Annie Dickerson
You were living in your truth.
00:48:04 - Annie Dickerson
You knew what you wanted and you hadn't glimpsed it. You didn't quite know how you were going to get there, but you trusted that somehow, some way, you were going to be able to make it there.
00:48:15 - Annie Dickerson
You did everything that you could. Even though there wasn't a job application. You said, well, I can just call and see.
00:48:22 - Annie Dickerson
And then you showed up and you learned as much as you could in those few hours. But because you were so authentic and.
00:48:28 - Annie Dickerson
You had such an interesting story because.
00:48:30 - Annie Dickerson
You had followed your dream, your path. So you had this great story which I'm sure resonated so deeply with these.
00:48:40 - Annie Dickerson
Other people who are also passionate about horses.
00:48:43 - Annie Dickerson
So one thing led to another and here you are. But I fully believe there are no accidents. And it sounds like everything that transpired.
00:48:53 - Annie Dickerson
In your path happened for a reason.
00:48:56 - Annie Dickerson
From the real estate agent to stunt.
00:48:58 - Annie Dickerson
Guy to scoliosis to dude ranch to the guy yelling at you about the.
00:49:03 - Annie Dickerson
Knot to now Miraval and all the people you're able to meet and to impact. If somebody's listening to this and they're like, I don't know if I can get out to Tucson to work with the horses, is there another way that they could work with you if they were interested?
00:49:22 - Tyler Thompson
Yeah. So I do virtual stuff without horses. It's my own life coaching program. I started outside of miraval, so it's enlighten.come n l I H T E N. It's a old English spelling variation. So I take on new clients there. I focus mostly with men, but I do keep my scope open.
00:49:43 - Annie Dickerson
Good to know that the listener, wherever they are around the world, if this any part of this story or your beingness resonates with them, they could reach out to you with that. Tyler, we're going to move into the final part of our show.
00:49:57 - Annie Dickerson
It's the life and money show spotlight round.
00:50:00 - Annie Dickerson
We're going to ask you three questions.
00:50:01 - Annie Dickerson
We ask all our guests.
00:50:02 - Annie Dickerson
You ready?
00:50:03 - Tyler Thompson
I'm ready.
00:50:04 - Annie Dickerson
Great. The first question is around your life and money.
00:50:07 - Annie Dickerson
So share with us one thing you're.
00:50:08 - Annie Dickerson
Doing to live a meaningful and intentional life by design.
00:50:13 - Tyler Thompson
I never want to show up to a place I don't want to be at unless there's an absolute need to. I'm always intentional with where I show up and where I spend my time. If it's somebody saying, hey, let's go do this thing, and it's not something that resonates with who I am. I'm not going to just follow the crowd. I want to be very intentional with my time, Whether it's with my family, with my friends, with my work. I'm going to make sure it's on my realm.
00:50:38 - Annie Dickerson
Yeah.
00:50:39 - Annie Dickerson
That it's a full hundred percent yes for you. If it's not, then it's not for you. And the next opportunity will come. But then that reserves your time to fill up your own cup in ways that are more meaningful for you. I love that. I don't think anybody's ever said that on the show, so that's a really good one. Simple, but not always easy to follow through with to maintain those boundaries.
00:51:04 - Tyler Thompson
And it might sound a little selfish, but you know that's okay.
00:51:08 - Annie Dickerson
I mean, at the end of the.
00:51:09 - Annie Dickerson
Day, I'm learning there's nothing wrong with being selfish because you got to take care of yourself.
00:51:15 - Tyler Thompson
That's right. And that's one thing horses are very good at doing.
00:51:18 - Annie Dickerson
All right, second question is about others life and money.
00:51:22 - Annie Dickerson
So share with us one life or money hack. By hack, we loosely mean a tip, a tool, a resource, a book, anything.
00:51:29 - Annie Dickerson
That'S really helped you on your journey that you think might help the listener as well.
00:51:33 - Tyler Thompson
I would always say pay attention to your judgments of other people or even of yourself, because your judgments of other people are actually something you don't like or see within yourself. And that's a great opportunity to learn. What is it that I'm judging this person for and what does that say about me? Pay attention to your judgments.
00:51:52 - Annie Dickerson
That's such a good one.
00:51:54 - Annie Dickerson
One of my guilty pleasures that I've developed is watching the Bachelor and Bachelorette shows with my mom.
00:52:02 - Annie Dickerson
She absolutely loves them. And now they have the Golden Bachelor.
00:52:04 - Annie Dickerson
And Golden Bachelorette, which, oh, are so much more amazing. I love them way more because there's.
00:52:10 - Annie Dickerson
No fighting, there's no drama. They're just all supporting each other, and.
00:52:14 - Annie Dickerson
It'S the friendship together with. It's a great extension of the franchise. But anyway, I noticed over the years.
00:52:21 - Annie Dickerson
That as we would watch the show.
00:52:23 - Annie Dickerson
And my mom's English is her second language, she'd kind of get to know the people, and she'd be like, who's that? Oh, that one that went, I don't like her hair. Like, mom, what are you?
00:52:35 - Annie Dickerson
She was so critical about so many.
00:52:37 - Annie Dickerson
People that over time, I started to.
00:52:39 - Annie Dickerson
Try to open her up to see.
00:52:41 - Annie Dickerson
Maybe you could have a little bit more of an open mind, because those.
00:52:46 - Annie Dickerson
Judgments that you're making about them, those are the same voices that are inside.
00:52:50 - Annie Dickerson
Your head about yourself.
00:52:52 - Tyler Thompson
Exactly.
00:52:52 - Annie Dickerson
It was such a big lesson for.
00:52:54 - Annie Dickerson
Me to learn and to be mirrored to me through my mom. And now, I'm glad to say, as we watch, it's much quieter, but once in a while, she's still like that one. They should go home. I don't like that one.
00:53:07 - Tyler Thompson
That's funny how we'll judge her for judging. Right?
00:53:10 - Annie Dickerson
Right. I know. Yeah, totally.
00:53:13 - Tyler Thompson
I love the saying, it's my perception of you that's a reflection of me.
00:53:16 - Annie Dickerson
Yeah, 100%. Final question is around life and money and the world. So share with us one thing that.
00:53:25 - Annie Dickerson
You'Re doing to help make the world.
00:53:27 - Annie Dickerson
A better place, Whatever that means for you.
00:53:29 - Tyler Thompson
I'd like to think the work that I do with people and horses is making ripple effect and not just their lives, but the people around them. And if they're more compassionate to themselves, they're more compassionate with everybody else. So I'd like to think that's how I'm making an impact on the world. Outside of that, my daughter and I like to go pick up trash. So that's. That's another thing.
00:53:48 - Annie Dickerson
That's great. Once, when I was in third grade.
00:53:51 - Annie Dickerson
My friend and I started a trash pickup club. We were living in New Jersey at the time. So as you can imagine, there was a lot of trash.
00:53:59 - Annie Dickerson
We had shopping carts full of trash.
00:54:01 - Annie Dickerson
And not enough of us are taking care of Mother Earth the way that we should. So that's beautiful. And also, I take so much inspiration from the work that you do, because for a long time, especially in my young adulthood, I think this was my ego speaking, was, I'm gonna make something big. I'm gonna have an impact.
00:54:21 - Annie Dickerson
I'm gonna change the world.
00:54:23 - Annie Dickerson
I'm gonna become a household name.
00:54:25 - Annie Dickerson
I'm gonna make a name for myself.
00:54:27 - Annie Dickerson
I'm gonna create something big.
00:54:29 - Annie Dickerson
And I did start going down that path.
00:54:32 - Annie Dickerson
And I think I'm at a point now, now that I'm 40, I'm rethinking all of that. And I'm thinking, was that really the life that I want? And what does impact really mean to me? And if I can just touch somebody.
00:54:47 - Annie Dickerson
In a meaningful way and uplift them and help them see something in a different way or open up some small.
00:54:53 - Annie Dickerson
Thing that they've been stuck on, that's.
00:54:56 - Annie Dickerson
What impact means to me now.
00:54:57 - Annie Dickerson
And you're right, that ripple effect, I.
00:55:00 - Annie Dickerson
Had discounted that before, but it just. When they go back into their communities and their friendships and their families, some small change could change everything.
00:55:09 - Annie Dickerson
And then that ripples out and ripples out. So I think that's beautiful.
00:55:14 - Tyler Thompson
I can certainly relate to you in that I want to make something big, something grand, something that makes me stand out. That was for me.
00:55:22 - Annie Dickerson
Yes, exactly. All right, Tyler. Well, this has been a beautiful conversation, and I'm sure that many of our.
00:55:30 - Annie Dickerson
Listeners may want to follow up with you, learn more either about coaching with.
00:55:34 - Annie Dickerson
You or through about the experience at Miraval.
00:55:37 - Annie Dickerson
So tell them if they wanted to follow up or if they wanted to learn more. Where can they go?
00:55:42 - Tyler Thompson
Ask an email. Tylernlighten.com T Y L E R E N L I H T E N dot com. That's a good way to get a hold.
00:55:52 - Annie Dickerson
Fantastic.
00:55:53 - Annie Dickerson
Well, Tyler, this has been fantastic. Tyler Thompson, certified life coach at Enlighten and equine facilitator and supervisor at Miraval Arizona.
00:56:04 - Annie Dickerson
Tyler, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and just your knowing and your way of being with us here today.
00:56:13 - Tyler Thompson
Absolutely.
00:56:15 - Annie Dickerson
All right with that, that's our show for today. Thank you for listening to the Life and Money Show. The show all about helping you to create a meaningful and intentional life by design. For more information about how to invest with us here at Goodegg, create passive income and build wealth for your family, go to goodeg investments.com if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend.
00:56:40 - Annie Dickerson
Till next time.
00:56:41 - Annie Dickerson
Remember that your financial journey is a lifelong adventure and we're here with you every step of the way. Not just for the money side of.
00:56:48 - Annie Dickerson
You, not just for the life part of you, but all of you.
00:56:53 - Annie Dickerson
Thank you for listening and we'll see you next time.
00:56:59 - Annie Dickerson
Sa.