Positioning

A "must know" for optimum training success
with alpacas and llamas

Page 1

By Cathy Spalding
www.gentlespiritllamas.com

Positioning is used most every day in nearly every arena. To position ourselves means to place ourselves in the appropriate and most advantageous place known to us for the desired results. Advertising agencies have conducted extensive research regarding the most successful positioning of ads. We position ourselves for the best views when attending various events. We use positioning in building our homes, in the arrangement of our furniture, in where we hang our paintings and in the location of our gardens. Positioning is critical in the sports world. It can mean the difference between a win and a loss. Without knowledge of the proper positioning of the sails, a sailor may stall or even capsize his sailboat. Proper positioning by a captain flying an airliner full of passengers could literally make the difference between life and death. We use positioning when sunbathing, at parties and when pointing a telescope to the heavens. Positioning has long been a strategy in battle - position the guns, position the troops... and, of course, in politics!

Positioning is nothing more than taking a position. A position is many things. It can be a place or location, an arrangement of objects or an arrangement of our body parts in the form of a stance, posture or pose. It can be mental through our point of view and beliefs. And, it can be all of these things at once.

So what does positioning mean to each of us in very basic terms within our daily lives? Simply that we all "place" ourselves in the best position we know for optimum success at whatever it is we are attempting. Though we do not normally think in terms of "Now, I am going to position myself to..." this is exactly what we do on an unconscious level. And so it is with the herd management and training of our llamas. Positioning is the underlying key for optimum success in understanding and communication. Where we physically stand combined with our mental/emotional stance and body posture can truly make the significant difference in understanding and communicating with our llamas. In turn, our llamas are constantly communicating with us hoping for our understanding by positioning themselves in how and where they might stand in relation to us, each other, their surroundings and in their mental/emotional attitudes and body posture. Without a spoken language, positioning provides the cues for communication. Positioning exists as a constant in both humans and llamas whether we are specifically training, doing routine herd maintenance, crisis intervention, showing or just observing and having fun. And, it exists whether or not we are conscious of it.

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