Is your breathing helping -or hindering - your seat?
We all aspire to a seat that is both stable and supple
But many riders don’t realize that it is their breath, diaphragm, and pelvic floor that create the inner support to make this possible.
We’re not here to teach you how to breathe; luckily, that comes naturally!
We want to show you how to use your breath to influence the strength, adaptability and elasticity of your torso.
3 dimensional inner support comes from understanding how to shift and expand into areas where you feel less stable, and lighten the places where you feel heavy and stuck.
The result? A seat that feels grounded without stiffness...
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A stable, balanced seat begins with internal expansion, not external contraction.
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True self‑carriage appears when you have the feeling of buoyancy from the inside.
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You will feel mentally and physically grounded and more confident.
How is this different?
While we all know that breathing is vital while riding, how many of us have ever made the association that the breath can create an inner support system that helps address imbalances in posture, asymmetries in weight, and ease any external discomfort and tightness in your musculature?
this is surprisingly simple, incredibly effective and unexpectedly beneficial
THE CENTRAL PREMISE...
Responsive, not fixed. Lively, not stiff.
When your breathing is responsive and lively rather than fixed and stiff, you can stack your spine with ease, you can quickly re-center yourself when you lose balance. Stability restored, your legs, arms and hands will be free to communicate with your horse without constraint.
How can the breath have such an impact on the whole body?
Well… get ready, because you’re in for a revelatory ride, as Catherine McCrum uses the Feldenkrais Method to introduce you to your 3-dimensional, internal support system - courtesy of the interplay between your lungs, diaphragm and your pelvic floor.
There is a concept in Feldenkrais...
When you make a change or influence one part of the body, it has a ripple effect through the rest of the body.
Your breath not only stabilises you, it has a profound affect on your posture and dynamic balance. In addition when you regain the full volume of your breath in your torso, your limbs are free to do their job. Legs that move freely and lightly through space and arms that can lift, reach and express with spontaneity and ease.
CATHERINE MCCRUM, FELDENKRAIS PRACTITIONER:
“After I fell from my horse and hurt my right ribs, I was surprised to feel that the whole of that side contracted. I couldn't breathe as easily into my right lung and it affected my confidence on my horse. I began to experiment with directing my breath to all the places that had tightened in protection when I fell - ‘massaging' myself from the inside’ and exploring how I could ease my injured ribs. I explored the relationship of my diaphragm and pelvic floor and regained my internal 'springiness'. Gradually I restored the full volume of my torso, and my balance - and inner calm - returned. I had to share these discoveries with you! ”
INTRODUCING...
A 5-Day Online Feldenkrais Workshop Experience November 3-7, 2025
with Catherine McCrum, Thomas Ritter, and Shana Ritter.
This self paced self study workshop includes 5 Days of 5-17 minute Pre-Recorded Feldenkrais Lessons (PLUS the recording of a LIVE Q&A).
- Day 0, Introduction to FeldenBreathe (5 min) - A clear, rider‑friendly tour of the diaphragm, lungs, ribs, and pelvic floor as a living cylinder of support and how internal movement creates external ease.
- Day 1, The Dimensions of the Abdomen (9 min) - Begin your journey toward deeper, more effortless breathing. In this first session, you’ll explore the dimensions of your breath with a focus on your abdomen — reconnecting to the full internal volume of your torso.
✨ Discover the power of mindful breathing — from the inside out. - Day 2, Pulling the Belly In (18 min) - Continue your FeldenBreathe journey by exploring how your abdomen shapes your posture, balance, and ease of movement. In this session, you’ll refine your awareness of expansion and contraction — discovering how the subtle act of drawing your belly in and letting it go can transform the way you breathe, stand, and move.
✨ Find new space, strength, and softness from the inside out. - Day 3, Lengthening the Right Lung (14 min) - In this session of FeldenBreathe, you’ll shift your focus from your abdomen to your ribcage — creating space, flexibility, and awareness through the right side of your body. Through guided attention, you’ll explore how breath flows in to the three lobes of your right lung, expanding your ribs in all directions to create a sense of depth, width, and length.
This session helps release tension in the intercostal muscles, improves posture, and creates balance and lightness through your whole body.
✨ Discover how expanding your ribs can expand your sense of stability, freedom, and presence. - Day 4, Diaphragm and Pelvic Floor (19 min) -In this FeldenBreathe session, you’ll explore the powerful relationship between your breath, diaphragm, and pelvic floor — the foundation of stability. Through gentle guided awareness, you’ll learn how these deep structures coordinate with each breath to support posture, balance, and internal space.
By the end, you’ll feel more grounded, connected, and supple from the inside out — with a breath that naturally supports your whole body.
✨ Restore inner strength, softness, and effortless stability through the rhythm of your breath. - Day 5, Breathing in an Arc (16 min) - In this final FeldenBreathe session, you’ll bring everything together — exploring how your breath supports you in sitting, balance, and upright movement. Through subtle, mindful exploration, you’ll sense how the flow of your breath in all directions — front to back, side to side, and lengthways — helps you feel grounded, centered, and light.
✨ Breathe your way to balance, freedom, and presence — from the inside out.
LIVE Q&A November 7th at 6:00pm GMT with Catherine McCrum and Thomas & Shana Ritter.
BONUS 1, FeldenRide: Breath in the Saddle (~15–20 min): A practical ride‑along session that explores how to direct your breath to create direction, stability and lightness for quiet, confident riding.
BONUS 2, The FeldenBreathe Podcast: An exclusive podcast of the recordings from this workshop so you can listen anytime, anywhere (especially while on your horse) with just your phone. So easy!!
Join the Community each day for discussion in the FeldenFit Facebook Group
Full, Lifetime Access to all recordings, course materials, and the Facebook Group beyond the 5 days of the Workshop.
Workshop Price = €49
*Other Currencies Available.
"I was excited to try out this Feldenbreathe series because I have already found immense improvements with Feldenfit, and I am an advocate for intentional breathing in my riding. And this series delivers all of that in spades. But I wasn’t expecting the extra depth that Catherine brings to these exercise, giving instruction on moving my breath within myself. Actually being able to change my internal volume (or at least, that is what I felt) was a revelation to me. But warning… these sessions are very relaxing and be aware that you might find yourself drifting off before the end…"
Jacky Davies, U.K.
"I absolutely love Catherine’s FeldenBreathe lessons! I discovered that I was actually blocking my own breathing without even realizing it. Through her gentle guidance, I’ve learned how to release those patterns. It’s made a big difference in my overall body awareness and my breathing. Catherine has such a wonderful way of guiding the process, her use of mental imagery helps me sense and connect with parts of myself I didn’t even know I could feel. The experience has opened up a whole new level of awareness in how I breathe and move in general. I highly recommend her courses, especially for riders. They bring such a valuable connection between the body, breath, and movement, both on and off the horse and have helped me immensely over the years gaining, or regaining, flexibility and improving my strength."
Terrie Douglas, U.S.
And just who is Catherine McCrum?
And her horse, QQ
ACCREDITED FELDENKRAIS PRACTIONER, GESTALT PYSCHOTHERAPIST, DRESSAGE RIDER
Catherine McCrum is an accredited Feldenkrais practitioner and has been teaching sport, fitness and movement since 1986 as first a ski instructor/coach and then as a Personal Trainer. She is also a Gestalt psychotherapist with a particular interest in working with developing awareness of how her clients embody their emotional and psychological patterns. Catherine assists in most of the Artistic Dressage Program courses by providing riders with Feldenkrais-based lessons to improve their body awareness, coordination, balance, and suppleness.
ALSO JOINING FOR THE LIVE Q&A
Thomas and Shana Ritter
We are Thomas and Shana Ritter. Thomas is German and Shana is American, now based in Portugal on our farm of mostly Lusitanos (also a few Lipizzans + one seriously awesome pony for our daughter) by the ocean. Together we run a program of online courses and programs which educate riders how to train their horses themselves, in accordance with classical principles and biomechanics. Thomas is an International Clinician and author of two books and countless articles in many publications. Shana is a USDF Bronze and Silver Medalist. We have studied with Karl Mikolka, Egon von Neidorff, Arthur Kottas, Charles de Kunffy, Hubert Rohrer, Dorothee Baumann-Pellny, and Thomas Faltejsek. Together we create and orchestrate the Artistic Dressage program helping riders all over the world to have better, happier relationships with their horses through correct, gymnastics and a thoughtful, heart-centered approach.
