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Rattles
11,307 M Pacing Forward 5
PathStep 4 Compassion hearts481 Forum posts113 Forum upvotes101 Current upvotes101 Age GroupAdult Last activeJanuary, 2020 Member sinceDecember 18, 2017
Recent forum posts
Anxiety when speaking
Anxiety Support / by Rattles
Last post
July 27th, 2018
...See more I've ony enocountered one other person with this issue, and no one with any idea on how to solve it. When speaking, I will become overwhelmed with anxiety so that my voice breaks and if I continue I may be reduced momentarily to tears. This can happen even when speaking to someone I'm normally comfortable with, and it's horribly embarrassing because they then think I'm overly emotional about the subject matter. When I can, I try to disguise it as excitement or laughter, but those are not always appropriate, so not always useful. My work with snakes is creating increasing demands for me to do public education and to deal with law enforcement officials who stop to check on my suspicious behavior (rescue work calls for slow driving, abrupt stops or swerves, scrambling up roadcuts or into ditches in the dark). I'm wondering whether anyone else here has this issue and has found a solution.
What's the coolest thing that happened to you this week?
50 & Over Community / by Rattles
Last post
August 28th, 2018
...See more I just had the week from hell, and the hell part didn't end with the week. But, I also had an incredibly cool moment in the field that gave me a much needed boost. So I had this idea to start a thread where we share the coolest moment of the week. If we can come up with one cool moment, we can say the week wasn't all bad, right? So here's my cool thing to start it off. Two nights ago, while on my regular snake rescue patrol, my partner and I came across a big male rattlesnake who we've moved often enough to recognize him. We both jumped out of the SUV to say hello and move him on his way. He's a big boy, and it was hot, so he had the energy to really MOVE. When my partner reached for him with a hook, he zipped striaght to me and cuddled up againt my leg, behind my foot, as if expecting me to protect him from the scary hook! Then he noticed his tail was still hanging out, so he pulled that in, but that was a lot of snake to hide behind my small foot so he ended up all piled up, squashed up against my leg. Of course he wasnt really cuddling with me. I was just a convenient thing to hide behind, but still sweet, We let him just hang out there until he started nosing at the opening to my pant leg and pushing the denim aside, clearly considering climbing up inside the leg of my jeans. At that point we reluctantly decided it was probably time to pick him up and send him on his way, so we did, but... cutest rattley encounter ever!! Your turn!! Anything cool happen to you this week?
Feldenkrais
Mindfulness Center / by Rattles
Last post
June 19th, 2018
...See more I have ADD, so mindfulness really doesn't happen much for me except when I'm working with rattlesnakes, but I've recently started taking "Awareness Through Movement" classes with a Feldenkrais instructor, and to my amazement, I remain fully present throughout the hour-long lessons. The basic idea is that you're going through very slow, gentle movements intended to make you more aware of HOW you're moving... When you move your leg in this way, how does the hip joint get involved, or the spine? That sort of thing. There are lots of YouTube bits about it. Thought I'd mention it because it's inexpensive (my practitioner charges $12 per lesson if you do a full 6 weeks, or $15 for drop ins), and really helps me.
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