Why Learning Isn't Linear (And Why That's Good News for You and Your Animal) #140

We often expect improvement to happen step by step, like climbing stairs. You work with your horse or dog, and you think progress should be steady and visible. But that's not how the nervous system actually learns.

In this episode, Mary explains why real learning often looks like long plateaus followed by sudden breakthroughs. You might explore a Feldenkrais movement lesson multiple times before something finally clicks.

Or you might work hands-on with your animal, and the real improvement shows up days later when your dog suddenly jumps on the couch again, or your horse easily rounds her back and engages her hind end.

This happens because your nervous system continues processing information behind the scenes. The learning doesn't stop when the session ends. Neural connections strengthen during deep sleep. Integration can happen while you're doing other things. The nervous system is constantly adapting, constantly learning from the information you've given it.

Mary shares why what feels like failure can be an essential part of the process.  When you approach learning with curiosity instead of force, you work with your nervous system's natural design rather than against it.

Whether you're working on your own movement through Feldenkrais or helping your horse or dog through hands-on Debono Moves, this episode will help you recognize and appreciate the non-linear nature of real, lasting change. 

Resources:

Grab your FREE video training to help your dog. 🐕 https://www.marydebono.com/lovedog 💥

💥Learn how the Feldenkrais MethodⓇ can help improve your seat, position, and balance on your horse! Free rider videos masterclass: https://www.marydebono.com/rider 💥

Free FeldenkraisⓇ videos suitable for both equestrians and dog lovers. (No opt-in required.) https://freeclasses0723.movewithyourhorse.com

Get Mary’s bestselling, award-winning book, “Grow Young with Your Dog,” for a super low price at: https://tinyurl.com/growyoungwithyourdog. Demonstration videos are included at no extra cost. ⬅️⬅️⬅️

All information is for general educational purposes ONLY and doesn't constitute medical or veterinary advice or professional training advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare provider if you, your horse, or your dog are unwell or injured.  Always use extreme caution when interacting with horses and dogs.

About the Host:

Mary Debono is a pioneer in animal and human wellness, blending her expertise as an international clinician, best-selling author, and certified Feldenkrais Method® practitioner. With over three decades of experience, Mary developed Debono Moves, a groundbreaking approach that enhances the performance, well-being, and partnership of animals and their humans.

Mary's innovative approach draws from the Feldenkrais Method®, tailored specifically for horse and dog enthusiasts.  Her methods have helped animals and humans:

• Improve athletic ability and performance
• Enhance confidence and reduce anxiety
• Reduce physical limitations and discomfort
• Deepen the human-animal bond

Mary's flagship online programs, "Move with Your Horse" and "Easier Movement, Happier Dogs," provide animal enthusiasts with an innovative approach that combines the concepts of Feldenkrais® with her signature hands-on work for horses and dogs (Debono Moves). Through this transformative approach, both people and their animal companions discover greater harmony, ease, and connection.

#Feldenkrais #Debono Moves #horses #dogs 

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi. We tend to think of improvement as something that happens gradually, like step by step. We keep getting better and better. Our horses, our dogs, you know, we keep improving, but it actually doesn't often work that way. What can happen is that you, you may go through days, weeks, even months of kind of exploring and wondering if anything is improving. And, you know, maybe there's a lot of uncertainty and then suddenly something clicks and you can do something that you couldn't do before.

So let's, let's let me explain this in the context of if you were doing a Feldenkrais awareness through movement lesson. So those are movement lessons that I often teach, and they're super helpful. They can help you just feel better in body and mind, move easier, all those great things. And sometimes the movements themselves, they are like movement puzzles. You know, they're choreographed very specifically to help create changes in your nervous system, positive changes.

And sometimes the movements, because they are non habitual, might be like, well, how exactly would I do that in an easy way? So it could be quite a little puzzle. And I know this has happened to me personally and it's happened to many of my students, where it took us a few tries of doing a particular Feldenkrais lesson before. It was like, oh, like something just clicked and we got it.

And this is the cool thing. Sometimes it's not even when you're doing the lesson again that the, the learning happens. In other words, it could be you're doing something entirely different. You're driving your car and turning a certain way, or you're doing some other activity, maybe with your horse or your dog or doing chores. And all of a sudden it's like you can do something in an easier way.

And you recognize that that was learning from the Feldenkrais lesson, maybe the one that you were kind of struggling with a bit. So that's what's so cool about our nervous systems. And when I say our nervous systems, I'm including your horses and your dogs in that as well. So this is important to remember because we can sometimes get discouraged, like, oh, you know, I thought I'd be further along, or I thought my horse's, you know, performance would improve or my dog's performance would improve.

And we have to remember that these plateaus, if you want to call them that, that's actually part of the process a lot of times. So it's not something to think to avoid. As a matter of fact, in the Feldenkrais method, we encourage, you know, just failing in a way and doing things Badly because that's all part of the learning process. And we'll, we'll call it an approximation rather than, oh, that didn't work.

It's like, okay, so now I explored that approximation, now I can explore something else. And this is important to remember in other areas of your life too, outside of movement education. So you know, it's as long as obviously you're doing it with a sense of curiosity and not force. So that is the important distinction. So you know, this often happens that it's like even like frustration can be part of the learning process.

Like maybe you start to feel a little frustrated that things aren't going the way you had hoped. And, and then it's like, oh, okay, I can breathe through this. I can recognize that this is part of the learning process. And it's sort of like something just flips, like a switch flips and things become clearer. So it's so cool, and it's so cool when you see this with your animals as well.

Like there'll be maybe something, you know, I'm doing some hands on work with a horse or a dog or another animal and you know, it's like things just like the movement sequences aren't feeling that smooth and it's like we're, we're in this together. It's like it's a, it's a co creative relationship when you're doing the de Bono moves, the hands on work with animals. And it's like all of a sudden something just flows, something just clicks.

Maybe the horse or dog can round their back more easily. You feel how now the rib cage is involved and it lessens strain and wear and te and the dog just feels more comfortable. And this is also really important to remember too that you may not feel it in the moment with your animal. Just like when you're doing a Feldenkrais lesson. You may get even greater improvements later in the day or the next day after you've done it.

It's like the learning is still going on behind the scenes. Like your nervous system is still integrating it and processing it and laying down new neural connections. So same thing with our animals. So sometimes I'll do a hands on session or my students will do with their own animals and you know, they may, they, they recognize their animal feels better and seems relaxed or whatever the situation is.

Then they might find that like a day or more later they're like, oh wow. But my horse is taking these great big steps with her hind end. Like she's, you know, tracking, you know, more easily or, you know, your dog suddenly can jump on the couch where he had stopped doing that. So it's like you, you have to recognize this is all part of the process. And I just love it so much because it's, it again speaks to this idea of neuroplasticity, this idea that our nervous systems, and that includes our animals nervous systems are constantly adapting.

They're learning from the current environment, they're learning from the information we help give them. In this case, like we do it through our hands. If you're doing de Bono moves with your animals, you're doing it in the Feldenkrais awareness through movement lessons. You're giving yourself these new, you know, movement sequences that enrich your nervous system. In other words, they, they're like, they feed your neuroplasticity, they promote it, facilitate it, and then the learning continues.

The, the processing, as I said before, can happen behind the scenes. Like after the hands on work is done or after you've gotten up off the floor after your Feldenkrais lesson and you go about your day. The learning is still happening. All often happens, by the way, during deep sleep. A lot of times those neural connections are really strengthened then. So people will often tell me that they, the next day when they get up, they notice a big change.

So, you know, it's so just. I just feel like it's important to talk about this because some people do think that learning is just linear. Like they just expect, whether it's, you know, just training their horse or dog or you know, doing something with themselves, you know, some kind of improvement, some kind of learning they want to happen for themselves. They just assume this like steady, gradual progression.

But a lot of times it's not linear, right? You have even maybe feeling like a little bit of regression that can happen at times. And. But I would suggest is that if you approach it with a sense of curiosity, not trying to force something to happen, then you just trust the process. You understand that there's biological optimism. It's like your nervous system and your animal's nervous system are designed to keep you healthy and whole.

So as long as we work with them in a way that respects that, that improvement is possible at any age and any level of condition. So some improvement is possible. I've seen this over and over with very elderly humans, very elderly animals, and you know, individuals that were, you know, had varying degrees of pathology like injuries or neurological difficulties, et cetera, some degree of improvement is often possible.

So I think I'll leave you with that, that idea of biological optimism. It's one of my favorite terms. Enjoy the process, enjoy learning. Check out the show notes. So wherever you're listening to this, there'll be a like a little description of the podcast. And in the resources section there are free resources for you so you can play with this yourself and feel how you can improve. And, you know, again, just embrace curiosity and biological optimism for you and your animals.

And thank you so much for listening. I really appreciate you and I look forward to talking to you again soon. Bye for now.