Hi Landcarer’s

The end of financial year is well and truly upon us!

For those of us who run funded programs and partnerships, it means hours of endless typing and shuffling and filing….and occasionally wanting to beat your head against the wall…maybe that’s just me….

The challenge of getting over that initial procrastination….suddenly you feel an urge to clean like you never have before….and planning for the next six months suddenly takes priority.

Interestingly, I know that when I get into it, I really start enjoying recalling events and outcomes that have happened as a result of the project or activity and come away wondering why I left it so long.

It’s not often that I get to enjoy a workshop that we have funding for without having to do a lot of organisation, but this was the case at Caragabal on Saturday. A big thanks to Haylee Redfern and the ladies of Caragabal.

The start to the day was….frosty! My morning Instagram post was of my frozen bird bath. No bird skating that morning unfortunately. My added incentive for an early start was…..Forbes Farmer’s Market! Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together involving exercise, mindfulness and food!

Active Farmer’s brought together a lovely group of women for the workshop on Saturday. All keen to learn and participate, ranging in age from 20’s, to a fellow Margaret in her 80’s. The workshop was set in two parts, with the day starting with a mix of yoga and pilates. I used to be a very engaged pilate participant, but over the years other things (like boxing) took priority and I must admit that I appreciated the opportunity to go back and reflect on the importance of using your core as the framework for stretching and exercise to come from.

I’m sure you would know yourself that when you aren’t practicing something regularly, it is easy to get caught up in distractions that make it difficult to focus.

We were fortunate to have Jenny Harris provide the yoga/pilates side of the workshop, teaching relaxation and a helping me to feel some muscles that I haven’t felt in a while….they have been reminding me all week! Good stuff!

Peta Paton shared the mindfulness section of the workshop, helping us to focus on our breathing, dismiss distractions and reflect on recent events that could be impacting our mind space.

I’m hoping that all of this information will help get me over the line at the City2Surf.

It was a pleasure to work with Active Farmers, who have been engaging on the ground with rural areas to bring workshops and training opportunities to centres that might not normally have access to this type of training.

Active Farmers, a registered Not For Profit Organisation and Health Promotion Charity, brings together farmers and other locals in small farming communities through group fitness in a fun and interactive environment.

Designed especially for farmers with limited or no local access to fitness expertise and equipment, Active Farmers provides motivational, challenging and fun training sessions to help promote improved mental health in regional areas, including nutrition, mindfulness, massage and access to mental health specialists online.

The last National Parks Association Walk for this quarter is being held on Saturday at Conimbla National Park on the Wallaby and Ironbark trails. If you are interested in attending, contact walk leader Contact Peter Canon on 6866 1225. This is a Medium rated walk. Please bring enough food and water for the day.

For more information, go to our website at centralwestlachlanlandcare.org, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @cwllandcare.

Until next week, happy Landcaring.