Q&A with Julie Edge, Certified Equus Coach & Martha Beck Life Coach
What or who inspired you to become an Equus Coach?
My first introduction to Equus coaching was through a workshop offered by MBI coach Trish Lemke before the Martha Beck Wayfinder conference in April 2016. I was blown away by what I experienced in the ring with Ranger, a handsome buckskin gelding. I was struggling with the realities of closing down my startup company, figuring out my next career step, and healing breast cancer, and Ranger helped me see my path a lot clearer. I had no idea what the heck happened in that ring, but I had to know more. As I finished my Martha Beck Institute training, it seemed natural to enroll in the Koelle Institute’s Spring of 2017 class.
Has Equus made you a better Life Coach?
Absolutely, the concept of congruence — how our insides and outsides sync up — is a core concept in my life coaching practice. When I help my clients see when they lack congruence, it gives them a concrete concept to work on. I also have my clients “shake like a horse” whenever we work through something hard or need to shift to another topic.
It’s almost Springtime, which signifies a time of rebirth. What do you think horses have to teach us about the changing seasons of our lives, hope, and renewal?
Horses model how to ground and return to our center no matter the season or change we are going through as we evolve. Rebirth is not a quick process and requires so much patience. As we change, it helps to walk before we gallop.
What’s top-of-mind for you as a coach this year?
I’m focused on more fully blending my expertise in business and content strategy with my coaching practice to work with business owners and executives interested in growing their leadership capacity and the health of their business.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Even though my spinal cord injury altered my ability to interact and coach with horses on the ground (e.g., with a long loop in the ring), there’s still a lot I can do with horse videos and pictures when I work with clients. It’s a rare coaching session that I don’t call on my Equus training to give a client a new way to think about their issues. Getting back to the horses was a huge motivator as I learned to walk again. And therapeutic riding was a key activity that helped me heal…and still does.
If you have questions, or would like to work with Julie, connect with her at www.insideedgecoach.com