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© 2025 Mary Debono
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Do you want to create a life of movement, connection, and well-being for you and your animals?
Whether you’re an equestrian, a dog lover, or both, this podcast is for you! In Easier Movement, Happier Life: For You, Your Horses & Dogs, Feldenkrais® teacher, international clinician, and bestselling author Mary Debono shares insights, tips, and techniques to help you improve movement, mindset, and connection for yourself and your animals.
Each week, we explore topics like body awareness, flexibility, and balance, focusing on how these elements impact both you and your horse or dog.
We’ll dive into how anxiety and tension affect both species and share gentle strategies to promote relaxation, confidence, and well-being for everyone involved.
Your thoughts and emotions influence not only your own body but also your animal’s. That’s why we’ll also explore emotional awareness, mindset, and intuition, helping you build a deeper, more harmonious relationship with your horse or dog.
Whether you’re helping your horse become more balanced and fluid or supporting your dog’s mobility and comfort, this podcast will provide the tools to nurture a thriving connection with your animal, improving their quality of life—and yours.
Join Mary every week as she brings over 30 years of experience to help you and your animals live with greater ease, joy, and connection.
136 Episodes
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Discover why real improvement for your horse or dog isn’t something you can make happen. Force tries to impose change from the outside. True power creates the conditions for learning, so your animal's nervous system can discover safer, easier ways of moving and being. This gentle, respectful process not only improves comfort and mobility but also deepens trust and connection—for your animals and for you. Resources: Grab your FREE video training to help your dog. 🐕 https://www.marydeb...
Learn why even well-fitting dog harnesses and horse saddles can exacerbate movement restrictions. Discover a practical two-phase approach to help your animal move comfortably with their gear on, reducing stiffness and improving mobility. 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/r...
🚨Want to help your dog move more easily and feel their best—at any age? There's just a few spots left in our Easier Movement, Happier Dogs program starting Sept. 4, 2025! Click here to join. 🐶 What if your dog's mobility challenges, anxiety, or behavioral issues are connected to hidden physical tension? Mary Debono shares her 3-step framework that's helped dogs with mobility difficulties, stroke survivors, and anxious rescues find both physical ease and emotional calm. Resources: 🚨Wan...
Your attention is priceless — and often stolen by constant distractions. Learn how Feldenkrais® and Debono Moves help you reclaim focus, deepen your bond, and improve movement for both you and your horse or dog. Your horse or dog doesn’t care about fancy equipment or your bank balance. What they crave most is your attention — a resource constantly pulled away by modern distractions, yet it’s the foundation of trust, connection, and better movement. In this episode of Easier Movement, Ha...
Whether you’re helping a senior or injured dog regain mobility, encouraging your horse to move more freely, or looking to ease discomfort in your own body, real, lasting improvement begins with curiosity, comfort, and a sense of safety—not with pressure or force. In this episode, you'll discover how to engage your animal’s (and your own) nervous system in a way that sparks curiosity, builds confidence, and opens the door to joyful movement. Whether you're helping a dog recover from s...
Mary Debono reveals why traditional "fixing" approaches often backfire and create resistance in both animals and humans. Drawing from the Feldenkrais Method® and her innovative Debono Moves approach, Mary explains how supporting the direction of ease—rather than opposing it—builds trust and creates lasting positive change. You'll discover the neuroscience behind why gentle, supportive approaches work better than forcing change, and learn practical ways for working with your horse's, dog's, or...
Discover how automatic stress responses create feedback loops between you and your dog. Learn how to shift nervous system patterns through a simple breathing practice, so grooming, walking, and everyday life feel better for both of you. Mentioned in this episode: An Akita Overcomes Hip and Knee Pain - and Changes His Behavior Too Resources: Grab your FREE video training to help your dog. 🐕 https://www.marydebono.com/lovedog 💥 Want to help your dog move more easily and feel their...
What do you do when you see someone chasing terrified horses with a whip? If you're Mary Debono, you teach your horse to chase you with a whip—and discover something joyful in the process. In this episode, Mary shares the surprising story of how a simple liberty game became a lesson in trust, body awareness, and learning to learn. You’ll hear how she transformed her horse Breeze’s traumatic past into a partnership built on joy and curiosity—and how their years of playful exploration allowed B...
![Tack, Tension, and Transformation [Horses]](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/6ija9cycq1eyc6y20562wklc201k?.jpg "Tack, Tension, and Transformation [Horses]")
Tack isn’t just gear—it’s a powerful signal. It can trigger old patterns of tension in both horse and human. In this episode, discover how to gently shift those habits using awareness and Debono Moves—so you and your horse feel more at ease, right from the start. Resources: Girthy Horse? Simple Steps Make Saddling a Pleasure (blog post) 💥Learn how the Feldenkrais MethodⓇ can help improve your seat, position, and balance on your horse! Free rider videos: https://www.marydebono.com/rider 💥 Gra...
Discover how a simple humming practice can transform your connection with animals by regulating your nervous system, reducing tension, and communicating safety through presence rather than actions. Resources: 💥Learn how the Feldenkrais MethodⓇ can help improve your seat, position, and balance on your horse! Free rider videos: https://www.marydebono.com/rider 💥 Grab your FREE video training to help your dog. 🐕 https://www.marydebono.com/lovedog 💥 Want to help your dog move more easily a...
Did you know your horse or dog might be bracing before anything even happens—because their brain is predicting discomfort? In this episode, we explore the fascinating science behind predictive brains and how both humans and animals can get caught in loops of fear, tension, and restricted movement. But here’s the good news: prediction errors are learning opportunities. You’ll learn how gentle, supportive touch—through Debono Moves for your animals and the Feldenkrais Method® for yourself—can u...
Movement specialist Mary Debono reveals why forcing change in your horse, dog, or yourself often backfires—and what to do instead. Drawing from the Feldenkrais MethodⓇ and the Debono Moves approach, Mary explains how the nervous system's primary job is protection. When we try to "fix" movement patterns, we trigger defensive responses that reinforce the very habits we're trying to change. "Change isn't something you impose—it's something you invite." - Mary Debono Resources: 💥L...
Discover the counterintuitive "do the easy side badly" strategy that transforms movement without forcing change. Learn why intentionally making your easy side feel difficult helps your challenging side improve naturally through neuroplasticity and contrast learning. Have you ever noticed that one side of your body moves more smoothly than the other? Maybe your right leg slides effortlessly while your left feels sticky, or you turn more easily in one direction than the other. Your horses and...
This episode shares inspiring stories of transformation through Debono Moves—where presence, support, and gentle guidance invite nervous systems to relax, horses to soften, and freer movement to emerge naturally. A shift in you creates change in your animals. Resources: Get your free videos on Connected Breathing and Rhythm Circles with your horse. 🐎https://tinyurl.com/equine-videos Interested in learning more about our Move with Your Horse program? Click here to join our no-obligatio...
Discover how to shift from the conventional "fix-it" approach to animal bodywork to creating a tactile conversation with your animal's nervous system. Rather than attempting to stretch, release, or realign body parts, Mary Debono reveals how supporting the nervous system—the body's true control center—creates profound, lasting change. Mary shares case studies of horses with chronic back pain and dogs with spinal issues, demonstrating how gentle, respectful touch that honors the animal's innat...
What if the way to connect more deeply with your horse or dog wasn’t by doing more—but simply by noticing more? In this episode of Easier Movement, Happier Life, Mary Debono explores how mindfulness, the simple act of noticing your present experience, can radically transform your life and the lives of your animals. You’ll learn how slowing down—even just for a moment—can awaken you to new possibilities. Discover how mindful movement, shared awareness, and practices like Connected Breathing an...
What if a simple, mindful touch could improve your dog’s or horse’s movement, comfort, and even emotional well-being? In this episode, Mary Debono shares how to use your hands and your heart to do a gentle “scan”—a profoundly simple practice that awakens awareness, fosters mobility, and strengthens your bond. You’ll learn: Why your hands act like a kinesthetic mirror for your animal’s bodyHow curiosity (not correction) supports nervous system changeWhat to feel for: structure, temperature, re...
Confusion isn’t failure—it’s a signal that your brain (or your animal’s) is learning something new. In this episode, Mary Debono shares how embracing confusion can improve your movement, mindset, and connection with your horse or dog. Key Takeaways Confusion is a natural and valuable part of the learning process.Your nervous system—and your animal’s—needs time and space to process new information.Novelty and variation disrupt habitual patterns, leading to more efficient movement.Asking ...
Would you like to use your imagination to deepen your connection with your horse or dog? In this episode, you’ll learn how to use your imagination to not only deepen your connection with your horse or dog but also increase the effectiveness of bodywork and training sessions. Key Takeaways: Your brain doesn't strongly distinguish between vivid imagination and physical experience—"what you imagine, you embody."Visualizing a connection of light with your animal creates real physiologica...
In this episode, Mary Debono shares how cultivating resonance—a felt sense of connection between you and your animal—can profoundly transform your relationship with your horse or dog. Whether through hands-on Debono Moves, quiet companionship, or simply breathing together, resonance helps you tune in more deeply to your animal—and yourself. Mary explains how subtle shifts in attention, gratitude, and gentle support can activate your animal’s nervous system in a healing, trust-building way. Th...
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