Fun Classes in School Here at Home

I keep telling Wyatt Clay that home school can be fun, but he has to get the tough stuff done, too.   Lots of math these days. Strangely, I was pretty spot on with what I thought he couldn't line up in public school math, but was surprised by stuff he found easy, and especially by what he didn't know. After all of the years of driving on the rest of the world's schedule, having no time for being here at the house with the animals, and almost living in the car, we are enjoying our time here together and setting our priorities that aren't centered around standardized testing or what not.

One of the things that drives me nuts about public school is the lack of physical activity. I hadn't really thought I would push it much during football season, but when a child grows in the spurts that Wyatt does, coordination and fluidity of movement really suffer.  So he wanted extra training in the morning. I had already been building an obstacle course, this just pushed me along, and we will keep adding elements.

The tire is five feet across.  He thought it looked so easy when he helped me roll it from where it used to be a sandbox. Then he tried to flip it.  He quickly admitted that it is bigger than the ones he is used to at football, and we worked on how to work up. For now, he is flipping it up and push-rolling it down the field, then pushing a wheeled cart back with his hands flat, eventually with weight on it.

Shadow Paws rolled in the mud at the turnaround after Wyatt turned on a hose for her.  She is very happy to follow him and race him on sprints, and chase lizards when she has time.

Thursday, she was trying to help me decide whether I could work on painting the farm stand sign, or whether we thought weather would come in.

In the end, we decided the weather was far enough away to do one coat, then decide later if we could add more. Turned out to be a good choice. I used up a can of paint and knew what to buy on the way home from work Friday.

We are still getting into the swing of things, but the kids are trying new recipes regularly. With Bailey away, I found a neat recipe that involved red pepper gazpacho and pepperoni cheese toasts.  Of course, he was more interested in the pepperoni cheese toasts.  Essentially, it is a grilled cheese with pepperoni.  Wyatt did a great job learning to make them. Now if he threw as much energy into his writing assignments!

He even toasted extra pepperoni for garnish and a nice presentation!

And when his Dad got home from work, he made another one. He seems pretty proud of his accomplishments!  And he was fueled up and ready for football practice!

Just another day around here, right? 

Another day, another round of fun!

Crazy morning! Perhaps this would be a bad time to admit that  Wyatt and I slept WAY in until almost 7 this morning!  Oops! No wonder the goats were so mad at me! Bailey has them spoiled, and they all know the does eat first. I, on the other hand, often stop at my spots on the back porch first, checking on the babies who love to knock their food and water over early in the morning, where the goats have already heard the door, and then I fill up chicken feed buckets on the way to the goat pen.  I think they will be very excited for Bailey to come home at the end of the week!  Until then, they share the mama of the house =).

This is the hen who thwarted me while both children were away a couple of weeks ago. She set up shop with six eggs in the loft up above the the nesting boxes in the big pen poultry barn.  Wyatt took me out there shortly after he returned, and I really had no clue when she had set up shop up there, so we decided to let her hatch them out, if her interest remained. It has been over a week since then, so I am guessing her interest will continue.  Not a safe place for babies, though, so the babies will end up in a brooder inside.  Unless anyone wants a few very inexpensive, mixed breed babies to hand raise...

When the temps here hit 110 for several days straight, the yellow pear tomatoes drooped, and despite my efforts, they are not coming back.  That was less surprising than this pichu fruit plant, the smaller one of two we raised this year, which collapsed the other day. One section broke off, then the whole plant flopped over in a day.  It is looking like a loss, just as we are getting the first fruit off of the other one. Can you believe this plant was four feet tall and three feet wide a day before this photo was taken?

We have been experimenting with several herbs and grasses and the like in preparation to build salad bars for the chickens.  Today, they got a whole thing of wheat grass. I was going to trim more for smoothies, but with Bailey away, Wyatt has been opting for eating whole fruit more, and it seemed better to let them enjoy it than let it go overgrown first.  Again, spoiled livestock at Patriot's Dream! 

And, of course, Roja had to stand in the flat to claim it!

With the roof repair on to the next stage in the Brahma pen, I took a few minutes today to work on the obstacle course project.  This is a balance walk up.  This is pretty low, and there will be a higher/ steeper version soon, but with a flat walking board.

The stump on the left in this photo is for balancing on, one legged squats, etc.  I imagine the kids will find many options for it!  The two logs just beyond will be for lateral agility jumps.

Shadow Paws offered to serve as quality assurance inspector.

This would be my cause for complaint lately. An empty  water trough.  Rain seems to skirt right along the south and est sides of town, completely passing us by.  Please, rain, come to our house!

I set up to give a chicken a bath, but the water was too hot, and never cooled down before I had to pack up to leave for the market!  I will try again tomorrow, though.

Shadow took me back out to discuss a hole that concerned her. She promised to watch it for lizards until I fill it in.

I am working on a new planter. I lined this one with plastic as an experiment. I am thinking of starting beans in there later in the week.

Shadow climbed up on my bed to help Wyatt with his school work. I think he just encouraged her so he could ignore his math a little longer!

This would be the mess I was making, working on reworking the farm stand sign. I think I know how I want to make it work differently now. The chalkboard paint didn't work, so anywhere I want to use the chalkboard paint, I will put a middle layer of lacquer to see if that helps it last better. This pallet will be a list at the bottom of the sign, and will only have blackboard on one side.  Hopefully I get more done before the next rain, but tempting the rain isn't beneath me, either!

This portion is ready for the lacquer layer. Things take a little longer to dry this time of year, so I will do the lacquer come morning.  I like the way the white on blue stands out, so will likely repeat that in the list sign.  Do you agree?

Well, after this, I rushed off to a quiet day at the farmer's market, and still have far more to do than time to do it in.  Honestly, once Charlie's uniform is ready for the dryer, I will probably give up for tonight. The alarm will be going off early, and it is about time I got on track with a little more sleep! You all have a great night, and an even better tomorrow!

Compensating, who, me?

Do you sometimes feel as though recovering from injuries was much simpler when we were younger?  Maybe we spent more time on it back then.  After all, time was more plentiful before children, and all of the other responsibilities of life added up.  Or maybe instead of recovering, we were merely compensating.

I know I might sound crazy, but follow me on this.  I was speaking with a student after Pilates class yesterday.  She was talking about how some cues had her rethinking whether she could realign following an injury  She had been through therapy, and was doing very well in Pilates, but was beginning to think she would never be able to completely flatten and properly align through the pelvis due to the injury on one side. Somehow, during class, one or two of the cues found her a little closer, and beginning to engage the muscles to realign.  She was thinking by the end of class, that maybe patience and perseverance would win out.

She got me thinking.  I often catch myself feeling like some of these chronic issues are just here to stay, and being an older member of the fitness and wellness profession, that some of this was just meant to be.  Some of them are.

But also, when I spent those years working in knee research, folks came in for their first radiographs reporting that one side or the other was far more painful, when it was actually the opposite side which was shown in the x-rays to be more advanced in arthritis.

So maybe, just maybe, when I was training hard and working through the injuries years ago, they didn't just create chronic issues because I was working through them.  Maybe all of that compensating for the injures is catching up to me, too, and if I slow down, and use the power of the knowledge and experience all of this has given me, I can heal as well as I did back then.  Or almost, anyway.

Sure, this doesn't apply in all cases.  But the concern for the long term effects from compensating for the strong or week or tight side,is real.  And could be one key to unlock the door to more consistent training.

Just a thought.

Morning Walk

I had really been looking forward to a morning run, but it was our first time with Shadow Paws  out with us, and she pulled a lot, giving Bailey quite a challenge on the other end of her lead.  So we got a good brisk walk.

Bailey and I took a little break a little over two miles in, near these lovely flowers- one of the lovely holdovers from the monsoon season.  

Shadow thought they were beautiful, too, and enjoyed a quick peek before we moved on.

Not only are mornings still cool enough for a good workout, but this morning's clouds treated us to a beautiful sky as the sun peeked out around the clouds.

This is Shadow Paws on the way home, trying to drag Bailey out to the middle of the dirt road. We have a lot more work to do, but Shadow loved her walk!  And we even ran across some neighbors we hadn't seen in a while along the way =)!

After this, it was a couple quick chores and off to work for me!  What is your favorite morning activity?

Perseverance-

Or- Show Up, and Try

This time of year, I spend a lot of time telling my students that if you keep showing up and trying, you will get better. (Or stronger, faster, more agile-whatever it is you are training for.)  I often find myself saying, too, that of the students who look back in three months and have not met their goals, the single most common thing stated as what they would do differently next time is (drum roll, please...): showing up more.

So what does this have to do with life, or the peewee football photos on this page, you ask?  

Pretty much everything.

Life comes with its wins, like the kids below experienced, yesterday.  Some are easy.  But sometimes they only look that way from the outside.

These boys came out fighting yesterday.  They scored quickly- Sunshine, then Tank, recovering their own kickoff, even.   They ended up winning 36-0.  But what might not be visible to the casual observer are other aspects of this win.  Like number 54, in the middle was playing through an upset stomach, and one of the Quarterbacks was just back from a concussion in last week's game.  Or the fact that they haven't won in well over a year.  At least.

Just as big a win for my young nose-guard who was fighting illness on the field, was the fact that it was a win which came as the first time his dad got to coach from beside him on the sidelines, instead of from afar around his military schedule.

That part of us that helps us keep getting up in the morning, like that underlying fight of my friends and family members who are fighting or living with cancer- that perseverance- not only gets you to the win or the next day, but it gets you the little things.

In yoga, there are some postures, or asanas, which help build physical strengths, or also those that build strength inside- from trust to perseverance.  Holding a posture that is hard, or a little scary, that helps build perseverance. 

 That same perseverance is a quality that will help you have a little more get up anyway when life keeps trying to knock you down.  Sometimes we need a little help to keep getting up, and sometimes we need to helps others.  But by practicing perseverance, and taking on new challenges in life, from a new sport to a new class or hobby, will give you a reason to get up anyway.  After all- there was that one time when you won.  It can and will happen again.

There's my thought for your Sunday. Hugs to you all. And find something to tackle this week, or helps someone else take on life.  It will build you both.

The little chicken contest

I must apologize, I am running a little late on getting this posted.  I will have to add tags to entries for the next contest, as I have been having trouble making sure I got all of the correct entries!

Anyhow, this is the little chicken we were guessing about the sex and color of.  So far, is looks like a little boy.  Interesting things about that, we won't see the color until the saddle and hackle develop in another month.  So we will be right on target for the second prize deadline of the Labor Day weekend!

So, to recap... this little Phoenix baby looks like a little cockerel!

So, the first round winners are:

Kate S (requested vanilla goat milk soap)

Carla W. (please specify your prize in an email!)

I apologize greatly if I missed anyone.  Some of the guesses came in as comments on Facebook posts, which timeline will not let me see.  I will look at different ways to use FB to manage future contests.  In the mean time, the second half of the contest it still on!  Comment here on this page to share your guess as to the color of the cockerel!  Contest closes on Labor Day, when I will announce any correct guesses.  Again, specify your preference for a prize, being soap, lotion, glassware, jewelry...  And the fun continues!

A friend in the industry...

I still receive emails.  I bet you know the kind.  Young people just getting started in fitness.  Some of them are newly certified folks that I helped train as trainers and aerobics instructors.  Others just find me on the ACSM website, and call or email looking for advice on how to get into the fitness industry.  I think it is much harder today than it was when I began, and yet we know so much more.

Fitness is highly competitive, and requires a lot of credentialing and we also need insurance when striking out on our own.  I began teaching in a local club almost twenty years ago. I was still working on my certification, but had taken many of the classes as a side interest during college, trying to keep my body going through injuries.  They hired me at a fair wage, and I began to teach a few times each week and spent many hours after teaching working with the fitness enthusiasts i the gym who would ask me many questions after classes.  I didn't always know the answers, but had the research for the possible answers, and we worked through finding the answer that worked for each person individually.

These days, there are numerous credentials, and folks don't always know which one applies to their case or the clientele they want to work with.  Some are a fly-by-night joke, about which both the trainers and the prospective client should be aware.  Others say a great deal about your ability to do your job with extensive written and practical exams.  Not that either prepares you completely for standing in front of your first class or client, trying to give them all they deserve.  That is all practice and hard work.  And humility, too, though that quality is a hard one for many to balance with confidence.

Yesterday I got one of those emails.  The kind that come with, "I got my degree, now how do I get to work in the field?" questions.  There is no one clear answer.  I was lucky to get to start where I did.  The industry is hard, and very competitive, and not everyone knows what they are looking for when they come to a fitness professional for help. Some of us are great at what we do, others still early in the practice pipeline.  If we want to keep our beloved fitness industry as good as it can be, it is our job to help the new trainers find their niche.  So bring on the questions.  I love when people want to do their job right!  I do think, though, that I will work on a series of what to look for in a trainer...

The Good Things...

Positive thoughts, positive posture…

I am trying to get back to more yoga and wellness posts on the good old farm blog.  I was thinking the other day, when I began the latest semester at Pima, about what other new students had found helpful, and how I could employ that in edging this group into their practice.  When I have taught the long classes, those one hour and forty minutes in length, sometimes they tire quickly and get sore. 

I recall one day last fall, I took a longer lead in for the class.  They took time in setting the intent for their practice in savasana, and I asked them to select the good things happening in their lives in the last day or so.  I asked them to focus on them for a moment as they allowed their breath to come naturally.

Funny, we did more work on the floor at the beginning of that class, and still had a good intense set of standing work with asanas, yet it seemed as though the shoulders looked more relaxed to me, as I was checking posture and adjusting the class to the needs of the group. After class, several of them commented to me that they felt it was easier to work with the more advanced postures that day, one girl said it was great, and that focusing on the good in her life seemed to make all the difference in the world in her posture, letting go of her stress.

Reflecting on that class, I have thought about whether the good spirit with which the students approached the class could have made that much difference.  To be honest, when we are more positive, we do tend to stand taller.  This cn allow the rib cage to more fully receive the breath.  Also, standing taller improves balance, as the joints are more properly stacked and aligned.

A friend of mine keeps the most insightful and positive quotes on her facebook status quite regularly.  When I see them, it helps me adjust my own attitude and remember my intent in my day.  So, need a great place to start?  Stop and think about the good things in life which you are thankful for.  Focus on those, and allow your spirit to shine through.  Your posture, and you outlook, will likely thank you!

Yoga thought for your Thursday...

So a friend of mine shared this photo on facebook.  It gave me an idea for a quick post...

Many of you may know that there is a great deal of health research into yoga these days, and they have confirmed some of the health benefits the Yoga folks have long purported (funny, that, huh?  Just don't think that means that you should try everything you see- not all poses are right for everyone!)

One of the things we do know?  That rounding and expanding postures, such as those being done by the kitty buddies in this photo here, are good for healthy breathing and stress reduction.Feeling a little stressed?  Folding forward, balanced by lengthening (as opposed to arching) the spine, might just make ya feel a bit better!  And take a relaxation break after your exercise break.  And smile! 

Hugs to you all!

The Power of Human Energy

This morning was the second in  a series of three farming workshops I have been attending at the Marana Heritage Farm.  Thanks so much to Cie'Na and her group for hosting them!  Last week was mostly introduction and touring an some best practices discusison for getting larger scale production to market.  This week we started to get work done.

We began our day with more introductions and a discussion of our connection to food, with our morning stretch and a cool activity I plan to share with our 4H group.  Then we got to learn more soil preparation, along with larger scale seed starting and transplantation of cuttings.

We separated into two groups, one beginning on a tiller, the other beginning with hand tilling and irrigation.  The flat irrigation was neat to learn for larger scale work, and I am gla to know these systems are all prety much the same, with minor to major tweaks for different production scale and water pressure.

But our group was away from the tiller first, and we rolled back some sheeting used to solarize away a bermuda grass problem, and learned tilling with the pitchfork and wide fork.  The tilling has been running behind schedule around here, because I thought I had to have o time to do it all while I had a tiller rented.  But the pitchfork can do it all, and provide a nice workout while I am at it.  I didn't realize how easy it was to use water to enable the pitchfork to get deep enough in our Arizona soil, so I am SO excited to move forward without worrying about tiller rental, and with human power rather than burning more fossil fuel!

The wide forks are essentailly extra wide pitchforks you have to use two hands and both feet to drive into the ground.  Bailey doesn't know it yet, but there is a welding project in that one for her so I can ramp up production and add the second garden back in next season!  Yup, tilling by human power- better for the environment, and very doable!

Monday thought on Health and Wellness...the country way...

We enjoyed a wonderful concert by Tracy Lawrence on Saturday night. In the one moment I stepped away with Bailey, he sang a funny song about pills and our nation’s use of them over taking good care of ourselves. He sang of pills to make you gain weight, pills to make you lose weight, and how if we would just get up off our rear ends and exercise we would need far fewer pills if any at all.


Charlie was still laughing when Bailey and I returned. He said I had to hear it because I am always talking about how exercise, and movement in general, makes such a difference in your physical and mental health and well-being. So I got on YouTube today to look for it. Some of it is a little off-color, but in general right on the mark.

How funny that a country singer would put together a song so right on the mark about society in general. Or maybe it isn’t funny at all. Common sense tends to govern the thoughts of the simpler life, where we get up and work and take responsibility. If you need a good laugh, take a look at the video, or just take a look at your own life. Could diet and exercise help your body care for itself?

I am not by any means advocating ignoring your doctor’s prescriptions or advice. But eating right and exercising, taking responsibility for our actions and exhibiting the common sense our parents tried to instill in us makes a tremendous difference in the health outcomes possible. So look at your own life. What did you eat today? What did you do to better your health? Is common sense winning out?

Just a thought for your Monday. I am enclosing the link, but watch it judiciously, like I said, a little off color in some parts. But right on point. Happy Monday!

Your Own Best Self

I have spent a lot of time lately discussing goals with a whole range of folks. Be it my children, and discussing what the feel is the most important to them, my clients and what their goals are or my students and the goals they are required to set in order to get a good grade in their fitness class. At the same time, we ask “how will you know when you get there?” of ourselves and those we do goal setting with, and it is funny how the answers change as the journey toward the goals unfolds.



I spent some time with one of my older students yesterday, discussing the fact that the younger students often don’t want to listen to the instructors, and that sometimes we all struggle with the balance of learning o listen to the needs of the body while not giving up or cutting short the push to reach for our goals (and even beyond the goals). This particular student is a testament to never giving up. He is self described as the smallest of the brothers in his family, the least physically inclined. Yet in his return to college, he took the time to take classes in becoming a better student and has listened to the feedback of the instructors whenever we talk with him.


From a distance, this student is the big bulky weight lifter many strive to become, do-rag and all, former service member and champion arm wrestler. He comes every day, is completely comfortable in the gym, has a catalog in his mind of hundreds of exercises. But he has spent this semester going back to basics to overcome injuries and redefine his goals, has decreased weight significantly and used that refocus to become stronger than he thought he might. He takes every opportunity to learn new things and try things. And despite his experience, he never acts above others, and takes time to get to know the young guys who are just stepping into a gym for the first time. He is a great example.


While I don’t know his whole story, I always enjoy his positive attitude. We were discussing yesterday he younger students who don’t always want to take direction. One younger boy had been very defensive to another instructor recently, and this student was a bit put off by his unwillingness to learn or talk with the instructor. And he has been taking some of the younger students under his wing. One of the students he had been trying to encourage was one I have been working with regularly, a sixteen year old who is trying to learn everything he can and find his own goals. Funny he brought him up, because that boy had left me thinking earlier in the week.


It was after my usual teaching shift, and I had corrected something for the boy and discussed different modes of cardio after finishing my own workout. He didn’t really want to try my suggestion, and I was trying to figure out what was really motivating his questions. I asked if there was something in particular he wanted to try. He asked about the workout I had done with a student the previous afternoon. This brought a lot of clarity for me. The student he had seen me working with was a football player who is sitting the year out, working through college and trying to get stronger to try out to return to the team next year. He does much of his lifting on his own, and works with trainers a couple times a week on intense plyometric work.


For this young student, I answered that we could certainly teach him a couple new exercises. It wouldn’t address the area he was pointing to, though. I explained I would be glad to give him a few plyo options to try, but he was going to have to practice them a bit before he could start with the larger box he had seen the day before. I asked a loaded question, not sre what the response would be “What are you hoping to get out of these exercises, so we balance your workout properly with the cardio and strength training?” Ouch, the sly grin came with the slow response I had been hoping not to learn. He wanted to get the muscles stronger and bigger. And he wanted to look like the other student.


This young boy, who is several steps ahead of his peers academically, is very detailed and conscientious, but is not really predisposed genetically to the large muscled shape he is looking up to. As I talked to this young student, he revealed a lot about himself. He is still slowly becoming comfortable in his own skin. He really looks up to this other student, whose confidence and muscle and laughter sound like what he feels he is missing.


Funny, the student he seems to want to be like is struggling with a very long commute to school, working, attending school, and trying to figure out how to properly eat and maintain everything simultaneously. Maybe it isn’t as simple as it looks on the outside.


On top of that, my entire yoga class had turned around to look at one another during an advanced option early in the week. So much for focusing on their own mat.


As I was speaking with this first student yesterday, we were talking about how hard the balance is, and how everyone seems to look at one another for comparison. This student said to become “your own best self.” Funny how hard that can be. He reflected on the ups and downs of his own training and the challenges we all face. I agreed that this is always a process for so many, myself included. But watching the interactions of the week made for such a profound statement for me. I will keep trying, for my own balance and for the example of that I set for others.


How will you be your own best self? And how will you know when you get there? What then?

Science is confusing!!!

I was a vendor at a wonderful event this weekend, called Shannon's Slumber Party.  They expected about 700 women, though I don't know how many finally showed up.  The ladies shopped, got their hair and nails done, and got demonstrations in self defense, Pole Fitness, Zumba fitness, and had a private concert.  They were there to party!

In the midst of it all, a very sweet woman came by and read the sign for Patriot's Dream Farm.  Many people ask me about the name of our farm, and others about the origin of the products we make.  She asked a bit about that, then about what my credentials were in regards to nutrition and wellness.

This wonderful lady asked me about my research backround, and whether I had any research experience with post cancer post menopausal fitness.  I get similar questions all of the time.  The hardest part of science is the reality that no one really knows for sure, especially in medical research.

Ira Flatow recently blogged about having two scientists on Talk of the Nantion Science Friday who disagreed about the findings in 2 ancient bones, and the repurcussions those findings had on evolutionary study.  They disagreed so vehemently, in fact, that the host had to referee a shouting match.  In the last week, the host found himself in similar ground moderating a discusison about where the oil has gone from the gulf oil spill/ leak.  At the end of the day, there is so much we just don't know.

Back to the question from my new friend.  She had been unable to find anything definitive about why her body had responded as it had, and how to get her precancer strength and endurance back.  The truth is, we just don't know.  We expect science and medicine to have the answers, but really it only has clues that we use ourselves to solve our own puzzle.

The response of each person to a given illness is different, as is their response to treatment.  And tey were different from those arond them to begin with.  Add in to that hormones, when treatment or illness fall in the hormone cycle of your body and you have quite a conundrum.  Science looks for groupings of responses in order to draw lines and parallels.  It is up to each of us to work with our physicians and trainers to see how those findigs apply to us as individuals.

That said, it is certainly not impossible.  By working with a log book, and using research as a guide, we make one change at a time, and see what the response was to that given change.  We continue to draw ideas and groups of ideas from science and work to balance that for each individual.  Like you hear all over this blog, patience, perseverance, hard work and being present really do pay off.  We treat each person s an individual, and remember that wat works today may change with fluctuations in hormones or a change in another element of the health condition of the individual.  And by working through it, with the client leadig the charge and at the center of the work, we create a set of options to choose from.  Then the individual has all of those tools in their toolbag to continue to change things.  Refresher meetings are about refreshing those tools and developing new ones.

So science doesn't have all the answers, or even most of them- yet.  But we are scientists too.  And the work of following the clues responsibly is well worth it.  Got a question?  Email me.  Think the answer might benefit someone else too?  Post it as a comment.  Have a great day.  And don't give up.

Thinking of Community...

Yoga was fun this morning. Tammy and the girls have become the regulars, with a rotating group of semi-regulars. A week or so ago, Bailey emailed Teresa- it has been on my list to do for some time- and wrote one of her flash emails, yoga is tomorrow at 9, hope you can come, Bailey- kind of things. As short as it was, it did the trick to connecting in someone from our previous community yoga crowd- Teresa emailed last night.

When she came in, we did the introductions. I figured she and Tammy had met somewhere along the line, since they live within a mile of one another. They had, but had not really known each other aside from a meeting with another of our former yoga folks who moved to Cailfornia several years back. This led to the reality sinking in that my eight year old's entire life has been almost free of the community yoga group.

That sounds like nothing, except that this group has been my only real connection to the community in which I live. I have been a professional in this industry since the early 1990s. But we moved out here in 1999. And other than the other folks I saw on the site council and PTA in the small district where the children used to attend school, I didn't know anyone. So I slowly started posting signs about starting a community yoga group.

This was well before facebook or craigslist, at least for me. I met my friend Toni this way. She brought friends from the school and I invited other parents. When I took the job on the reservation, it was the girls from the yoga group who helped me find the woman who we used for child care. They threw an impromptu shower for me before Wyatt Clay was born. After Wyatt was born, the group sort of fizzled out. Stacy moved to Montana, Terry moved to California. We had moved the group to the community center, but that seemed to take something away from its feeling as a family, and folks came less.

For the last three years, we have driven our children to town to school in order to keep them on track for college and keep Wyatt in programs to help with speech and all. Many of the other parents still here are doing the same. We moved to a 4H group on the northern end of the road we live on so that Bailey could work with other kids that do Pygmy goat. It has increasingly felt that the only thing we had left here in this community was the house.

I have been wanting to restart the yoga group for some time. Also wanting to teach classes here at the house has helped move this along. When I first logged on to Facebook a few weeks ago, Toni found me almost immediately. Tammy did too, our children having gone to preschool together and done Clover Club together before we moved our children to different town schools. Connecting this morning, and finding how we all fit together and seeing in all of our children the passage of time,it really brought this home today.

Before she left, Teresa and I caught up again as we have from time to time over the years, standing in the hallway where she used to be known for statements that hit home. When I walked her out, we discussed the community feeling and reconnection. She said that this was a kind of community in itself. Outside of our little houses, we come together once each week. Silly, laughing, not strict, but practicing together and passing it on to the next generation while supporoting one another and working on ourselves. Yep, our own community. And everyone is welcome. Thanks for keeping me on track, girls!!!

Breathe in, breathe out, just breathe.

Community Yoga Group was fun this morning. Many of the regulars were away today. While that can feel like something is missing in a class, today it gave me more time to help the newcomers.

One of the beautiful things about the community yoga group, is that we are open to explore the practice with laughter and practicality, without newcomers feeling pressured with a more strict yoga practice. Although, anyone who has attended my yoga classes in the last 12 years knows that I believe each person is different, and that yoga is meant to be fun and connected- not stale and a performance. This is meditation through movement, not some strict adherence for supremacy.

Folks come into yoga with a lot of perceptions. Some are accurate, others are close, some still couldn't be farther from the truth. I was cuing downward dog, explaining that while it is a resting posture, it never feels like that the first several times when a couple of today's group started laughing. This healthy response elicits conversation, usually. I corrected one participant on straightening the legs, and reminded them that they can change how far their feet are apart to make it work better for them. Many people will always work with a specific spacing of the feet because it is what they originally learned. But each person is different. Today, I found myself reminding them that, as far as I know of, there is no ancient Sanskrit text that defines the perfect alignment in inches for how far apart the feet are. The correct spacing is defined by your body and where you align correctly.

Today we also spent some time on correct breath. But mostly afterward. I found myself discussing that we work toward full breaths and types of breathing for the purpose of bringing forth different physiological responses, leading to eliminating stale breath, voiding toxins, warming the body, lots of things. But this isn't the first thing I teach. The first thing I teach in yoga, as with all exercise is to breathe. Period.

If each of us remembers to breathe, the rest will come. This applies to daily life. Breathe in, breathe out, get up and try again. Don't expect to look like the person next to you. Don't give up, reset yourself and try the posture/ exercise again. Breathe in, breathe out, take on a new challenge. Approach a problem from a new angle. Only expect to control what is truly within your grasp, and only if it meant to be within your grasp. Breathe in, breathe out. Elongate the spine and receive the breath fully. As long as you keep breathing, keep trying, it will come.

See you all next week.

New Bantam Area and other NEWS!

We finished the new bantam are the other day. Princess Galla Buttercup moved in with them at the same time, and you can see them all mendering in their area.

Now the chickens are all in their new places. We began work on the new goat facilities, but the weather precluded us from completing them last week. We will get back to work when we get back.

In other NEWS!, here is a return of yoga at Patriot's Dream. Friday, July 9th, from 9-10:15 am we will return to having the Community Yoga Group at the farm. More new classes will follow the week after. Check out the events oage of our web site for the full information on this class which has been sorely missed!!!

Feel free to email u questions as well. See you soon!