Meet Johanne
Johanne Gentlebread received a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, with an emphasis in Sociocultural Studies, from Bethel University. She received her Equine-Facilitated Learning & Coaching certification through the Academy for Coaching With Horses, is certified as a Somatic Mind-Body Healing Practitioner through Inner Wellsprings Academy, and has over two years (and counting!) of training in shamanic practice with The Foundation for Shamanic Studies.
With over 15 years working as a generalist social service practitioner, providing a variety of services to a vast array of demographics, Johanne understands the energetic nuances of the human experience. It was this understanding combined with her experience of the transformative presence of horses that led her down the unique path of equine-guided somatic coaching and, ultimately, the formation of Turquoise Horse.
In 2022, Johanne & her family moved to a 50 acre property in River Falls, Wisconsin, with the goal of establishing a coaching practice. However, the horse spirits had different plans, and she ended up establishing Abiding Sunday, a 501(c)(3) non-profit broodmare retirement sanctuary, first. This marked the beginning of her exploration into the space of sacred sanctuary.
Johanne’s desire is simple: to provide a safe & inclusive space - a sanctuary - for horses to guide humans towards a more comprehensive awareness of what it means to be completely, wholly, & authentically themselves in the present moment.
By offering the opportunity for individuals to partner with horses in a sanctuary setting, Johanne helps the individual to
experience emotions as energy through sensations, achieved through conscious body-centered processing
learn how the energy of emotions uniquely moves through their body
understand what that energy is expressing & where it wants to guide the individual
Johanne’s desire for those who work with her is for them to possess an integrated awareness of Self that includes mind, body, & spirit.