Meet Meg Vanderbilt

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Meg Vanderbilt a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Meg , so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Confidence is an important emotional marker as it can gage how we move forward in life. It is a “fear detector” that can evaluate areas that are blocking us from growth and success. When we believe that we have the ability to meet life’s challenges, we will embark on positive choices. When we feel a lack of confidence, we connect to a scarcity or fear based belief that causes us make negative choices.

To have confidence, we need two things.
1. We must understand who we REALLY are. We are spiritual beings having a physical experience. Our spirit is divinely inspired and has the ability to move mountains. I have a grounding faith in God that reminds me that I am made in His image. I can co-create with Him. This is an empowering belief that can give courage to do the next step.

2. We must be willing to look in a mirror to see what we are carrying in life. Imagine living 30 years on this earth and never checking out your reflection! Once you see your appearance from the outside, you are aware of things in your life that you need to change. This act of releasing gives you the freedom to move forward into the more of the real you. This may cause you to pursue a different job, education or relationship.

Animals can be a “mirror” that helps us see things that we cannot see about ourselves. Horses have always played that role for me. They cannot lie so their reactions to my actions are authentic. It is clear when a horse distrusts your intention or does not want to connect with a person. Because they are prey animals, they are hyper alert to situations that are not in a state of harmony. When our outside self does not match our inner self, we are ‘”incongruent”. Horses (and other animals) are aware of this disunity within ourselves. The phrase, “don’t let the horse know you are scared” comes from a place of good intention. But the truth is…the horse already knows you are scared. You cannot hide it from them. Every time I work with a client using Equine Assisted Therapy, I see the “mirror” that the horse provides for each person. Once we know and see what needs to change, we then have a choice to make that change.

Each time we remove a negative belief from our life, we become more emotionally intelligent. That means it becomes easier to recognize the areas that trigger us and the belief systems that sabotage us. We recognize more of the real self and that breeds confidence.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am passionate about helping people find their true selves and what they are created to do in this world. In 2007, I started an Equine Assisted Therapy Center (Bit of Hope Ranch) that uses rescue horses to help people that are victims of trauma, neglect and abuse. Because horses are “mirrors”, they helped clients unearth the negative belief systems that kept them stuck in cycles of fight, flight or freeze.

Due to the success of these programs, I founded the Herdmanship University, an online learning program that teaches these therapy modalities. The HALT model is ground based therapy where the horse is at liberty in the space with a client. The therapy team tasks the client to use obstacles in the arena to represent areas of their life. The horse is then invited to be part of that space or perform a task. Together they work through disappointment, frustration and hurt. By having the confidence to take a look at what is not working in their life, the horse and human can make life changing transformation. The second Module is the CON^NECT program. This program also uses the horse at liberty, but focuses on the client’s relationship building skills. Once the horse is connected, the client can ask permission to mount the horse. For clients that have experienced violating circumstances, these sessions help them rebuild trust in themselves again. When mounted, the horse’s bilateral gait works to regulate the right/left side of the brain. This is similar to EMDR process and can help rebuild connections in the brain that have been shut down due to trauma or injury. Clients leave feeling more connected to themselves and have the courage to try new things in their healing journey.

Last year, I also became a MACE Energy Practitioner (MEM). This method approaches emotional health with the same concept. It’s what we cannot see about our selves that is the source of the problems we experience. John Mace discovered that we are mind, body, spirit…and identities (0r roles). The positive roles help us perform well in life. The negative ones are the source of all unwanted feelings, depression/anxiety, phobias, addictions, etc. When we have an upsetting event in life, we experience unwanted feelings. We resist these unwanted feelings at the subconscious level. What we resist and do not allow to process…persists! At the same time, we make a decision about ourselves: “I am unlovable unworthy, pitiful, etc.”. These become buried in our psyche and become self fulling as they gain control over lives. The MEM is designed to help the person find and focus on these negative identities. The mind will create an image to represent it and the power of focus in the imagination will allow the client to discreate the negative identity. Once the image is gone, then the identity is gone. This puts the person back in charge of their life instead of being under the influence of unwanted feelings and reactions. This method originated in Australia and I was the sixth practitioner to be certified in the US. Bit of Hope Ranch is the only equine center to also offer this fast and effective therapy. Clients that struggle with PTSD, anxiety, phobias or just feeling stuck in life can now be free of these effects in a matter of a few sessions.

Also, due to the nature of this method, we can use another person as a surrogate to help clients that are very young, the elderly , clients with special needs that are non verbal and even pets! I have expanded my training to become a Specialized MEM practitioner which allows me to focus on a variety of challenges for clients as well as girding me with the skills to handle difficult cases.

Along the journey of helping people discover their true selves, I also discovered the Emotion Code and the Heart Wall clearing. We are designed to handle negative emotions, but sometimes they do not process correctly and can become lodged in our energy and body systems. These can be the size of a baseball and will cause imbalances in the body. Often physical or chronic issues stem from a trapped energy or emotion. The Heart Wall is also our way of protecting ourself when faced with overwhelming circumstances. Similar to the MEM, we will make a decision to protect ourselves. Often, that can mean putting up a heart wall that is made from negative trapped energy. The problem is that this wall will keep us from forming healthy relationships and accepting abundance in all areas of life. We use the laws found in quantum physics for muscle testing to identify these energies and to release them through focused intention. Clients can release anywhere from 5-12 in each session. They often report a reduction in pain, improved sleep and relaxation. Released heart walls offer clients a lighter feeling in the chest and stomach region. This method is also effective for people of all ages, abilities and even pets. I use this weekly on our rescued animals and any stubborn health issues.

Equine therapy is limited to a location of course, but the MEM and Emotion Code sessions are done remotely. Also, both of these sessions do not require reliving or retelling details of the trauma. We only need to know the feeling that was experienced. This brings a huge relief to clients as they can keep the embarrassing details private.

All three of these modalities have been part of my personal healing journey as well. I am thrilled to offer pathways to freedom for clients that are seeking to regain confidence in their life. It’s what we don’t know about that is holding us back! Using horses, a MEM session or an Emotion Code session is the mirror that we can use to see what needs to change in our life. Having the power to discreate negative beliefs gives us the confidence we need to step into the next season.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Reframe the challenges that rise up.
When faced with a challenge, you can have the mindset of a victim or victor. Sometimes challenges will cause us to freeze and shut down. This underlying fear prevents us from moving forward. With the same challenge, we can pivot and make other choices. If you find yourself “frozen”, don’t be discourage. Breathe. Find someone with a “mirror” that can help you see the situation or yourself differently.

2. Don’t be afraid to fail. Mistakes happen.
When you realize who you really are, mistakes will lose their power over you. When you tip toe thr0ugh life afraid to make the wrong decision, you are living in a fear based reality. Set your intention to make wise choices, but do not be afraid to fail. No one jumps to success without stepping over failures.

3. Believe in something bigger than yourself.
We were never designed to life life alone or without a power source. Personally, my power source is Jesus Christ. I have aligned my life to seek His direction and protection in my life. Did you know that your brain (and other organs) are designed for love. Love is a very high vibrational energy (compared to fear and shame that are low vibrations). As we shed off the negative identities and beliefs, we allow ourselves the opportunity to receive and share love. Focusing on other people, projects and worthy missions is also a great reminder that we need something bigger than ourself in order to be fulfilled.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

Mind over Matter by John Mace led me to re-evaluating the mind and the powerful imagination that was given to us.

We often forget that we are a spirit being and are affected by the negative belief systems that we adopt. Although I don’t agree with all of this theology, I appreciate his scientific approach to solving the problem of feelings that are buried alive.

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