We received our new herd of young heifers this week, and it appears that this group of young ladies aren’t as excited about Harmony Farm as the last group. Or maybe it’s what I always believe; when you get 14 women together some interesting “dynamics” tend to occur….”just sayin”. My greeting is a reference to the day we (Keith, Tom, Sarah, Kaitlyn, David, Raymond and I) spent chasing cows all-over Miami County! Two of our girls remain “at-large” and the other 12 seem to be getting along nicely now. If you see a young heifer that looks lost, give me a call at Harmony Farm.

On the farming front we’ve started weeding, and planting. I think that we seem to be ahead of last season, or it could be that I actually know what I’m doing this year! We’ve added Sheep Sorrel, two varieties of Amaranth (Love Lies Bleeding), Arnica, Angelica, Violet, Rosa Rugosa, and Peppermint. Our Lavender, Yarrow, Echinacea, St. John’s Wort, Stinging Nettle, and Comfrey from last season all survived the winter and have started the path toward the sun. Note to self, a little Comfrey goes a LONG way! We’ve also started our annual dandelion harvest; so far we’ve harvested about 3 pounds.

The final “rite” of spring was an application of BD500 to stimulate root growth; with a little sunshine, rain, and luck you should see Harmony Farm Wellness products on our website later this summer.

In the meantime….has anyone seen this cow?

Have you ever wondered what advice the dying might give us about how to live a happy life?  Bronnie Ware thought about it, and has written a collection of stories on the topic.  Bronnie is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She first began recording their dying epiphanies in a blog called “Inspiration and Chai”, which received so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.

Ware writes of the extraordinary clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we can learn from their wisdom. “When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently,” she says, “common themes surfaced again and again.” Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Ware:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back on it, it becomes easy to see how many dreams had been abandoned unfulfilled. Most people had not honored even half of their dreams and they died knowing that it was due to the choices they had made. As Ware puts it, “Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.”

2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
Every male patient she cared for expressed regret for having missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but since most were from an older generation, they had not been the family breadwinners. “All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence,” Ware noted.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
One of the main reasons why so many had suppressed their feelings was to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. “Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result,” she noted with sadness.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
Many people never realized all the benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and then it was not always possible to track them down. Many patients had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let beautiful friendships slip away over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friends the time and effort they deserved. As Ware asserts, “Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.”

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
People often did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. Some had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits letting the ‘comfort’ of familiarity overrule their emotions, as well as their physical wellbeing. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, while deep down, they longed to laugh and have silliness and simple pleasures in their life again.

It’s Your Choice
So, there you have it – as you read through the list of regrets did you mentally make a check for each one you are doing well or badly?  Life is all about making choices, so if you are unhappy with the life you have been living, make a new choice now.  Change your life so that it best reflects the unique person that you are.  It’s never easy to confront our own mortality, but maybe the death bed wisdom of others can inspire us and add new meaning to our lives.

“Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.” – Stephen Pressfield

My 9 year old son is a dirt bike rider—has been for the last few years. It’s his love, his outlet and his challenge to himself. This statement reminded of Max learning to ride his dirt bike through rough terrain, stretching his riding skills and abilities as a rider even though he was scared to do it. He tried last year by himself (he can be stubborn like someone else in this family) and gave up in frustration, fear and tears. A couple of weeks ago he wanted to try again—this time with his dad’s help.

Even though this was Max’s idea he gave me a scared look as he headed to the field. I watched (with a glass of wine to calm the nerves) from a distance. The first go-round he went so slow–it was rough, bouncing his legs almost up to the handle bars and almost bouncing him completely off the bike. He was ready to quit but my husband encouraged him to try it again, this time with more throttle. I held my breath and watched as Benji patiently coached and encouraged him to give it more gas, to stand up and lean in. Each time Max went a little faster. Within just a few tries he was gliding across the field.  He rode up to me and was all grins. He shared that at first he was scared and didn’t want to do it but now it’s fun. That was it, just a few tries, going faster and leaning in took him to what he had feared and put off for six months or more.

Today Benji was all smiles, watching in awe in as Max rode through the whoops, like he’s done it forever. He even crashed once, picked up his bike and did it again—no more fear just loving what he’s doing and rolling with it.

As I was sharing this story last week my friend pointed out how asking for help from someone who has experience (I fell in love watching Benji ride his dirt bike), who’s been where you are, can watch from the outside and can patiently guide and coach you is key to accomplishing what is important to you. That’s what Benji did for Max and why I believe he did it so quickly.

Most of the time I write and talk about taking turtle steps towards what you really want.  But, the quote and Max and Benji’s story reminded me that sometimes when you’re scared of something, going slow and doing it alone it makes for a rougher ride—almost bouncing you off track and sometimes giving you an excuse to give up. But if you give it a little throttle, ask for help when it’s needed you may just glide, gain confidence in your abilities, crash and get back up to do it again—with a smile.

To learn more about Jessica, go to her website at: www.jessicariesenbeck.com.

Register for Jessica’s workshop at Harmony Farm on May 16, 2013: Step Into Your Life: Show Up, Be Seen- Live your Life

Diets are a billion-dollar industry. Companies spend millions luring you to try the latest one (low carb, high protein, low fat, no fat, you name it) with promises that this will be the solution—the answer to a thinner body and a happy you.

In our society, everyone seems to be after the quick fix.  The new diet pill, celebrity endorsed workout, energy bar, magic fat burner “supplement”,  zero calorie drink, or trendy diet with missing food groups, all seem to hold the answer to help us achieve our desired weight.  But, these quick-fix solutions are not working. American people have reached their highest weight in history–statistics now say that about 1 in 3 Americans are obese.

Diets steer us away from our common sense, and dip deeply into our pocketbooks, while eliciting few, if any, lasting results. Why?

• Diets don’t work because each person is unique, with different needs based on gender, age, ancestry and lifestyle; how could one diet be right for everyone?
• Diets don’t work because they are extreme solutions. As in physics, if a pendulum swings to one extreme, it has to swing equally to the other. A diet might work for a short amount of time, but research shows that almost all diets result in a 10-pound gain once off the diet.
• Diets don’t work because they are too restrictive. People who fail on diet plans are not flawed or weak. Diets by nature require discipline and restriction at levels that are unsustainable by a healthy human body.  What you resist, persists!
• Most people are disconnected from why they gain weight and see food as the only culprit. For example, ignoring or discounting emotions is often the first thing to cause weight imbalances.

In our fast-paced world, we have lost sight of many aspects of life that truly nourish and balance our bodies, such as slowing down, eating a home-cooked meal and spending quality time with loving people. Eating consciously and making simple lifestyle changes will create positive results and release you from the endless cycle of dieting.

Given half a chance, your body will balance out by itself, but this is only possible by getting out of the diet mentality, eating real food, and learning to listen to your body, and to what you truly need in all areas of your life. Believe me, there is no such thing as a quick fix.  Working with your body, rather than against it, will bring you increased energy, stabilized weight, and sustainable good health!

If you’d like coaching around learning to truly nourish yourself without dieting, please contact me for a wellness session.  I’d love to support you!

Dicentra Formosa (pink)

Positive qualities: Ability to love others unconditionally, with an open heart; emotional freedom

Patterns of imbalance: Entangled in relationships based on fear, possessiveness or neediness; emotional co-dependence.

Bleeding Heart flower essence is a very powerful heart cleanser and strengthener for those who must learn the deeper spiritual lessons of love and freedom. Those needing this remedy suffer enormous pain and broken heartedness because their feelings have been poured out so completely into another soul who is no longer present. Perhaps this happens because a loved one has died, or a cherished friend or family member has moved away. Most frequently, such anguish arises in personal relationships which have dissolved, or in relationships that are greatly afflicted. Although love for another may have many genuine aspects, very often the Bleeding Heart type has made the error of living too extensively outside the boundaries of its own Self. This intense desire for connection is often felt by the partner as emotional dependence, causing the partner to feel a need for distance. Such a co-dependent relationship is devoid of real freedom and a balanced exchange of heart energies. The loss and pain which are consequently felt by those in need of Bleeding Heart are therefore necessary experiences, when viewed from a larger perspective. Through Bleeding Heart flower essence, the soul learns to fill itself from within with strong spiritual forces, so that the capacity to love another is based on the ability to honor and nourish the Self.

Flower Essence Repertory: A Comprehensive Guide to the Flower Essences researched by Dr. Edward Bach and by the Flower Essence Society

By Patricia Kaminski and Richard Katz

• turn right on South Hyatt(heading south);
• turn left on Broadway(heading east);
• turn left on First Street(heading north)
• turn right on St. Rt. 571/Main Street and head east out of Tipp City.

Please call Harmony Farm if you have any questions, 937.667.8311.

Obstacles are what turn simple things we want to do into difficult things. Obstacles can be caused by external forces, like time and money, or by internal ones, like our own habits and fears. They require us to change, and that is universally something that human beings struggle with and resist. It is always helpful to remember this well-worn axiom: “If it was easy, you would have done it by now.”
There are hundreds of thousands of people who have overcome both internal and external obstacles to become successful doing work they love; finding long-term lasting relationships; and reaching other significant life goals. If people can cultivate self-respect, confidence and a commitment to their own talents, they can rise above many limiting beliefs and other obstacles to achieve true success in life.
I am a life coach and you may have wondered, “What do coaches do when a client comes to them for help in overcoming obstacles?” For example, a client may enter coaching with the stated goal of overcoming their procrastination. A trained coach knows that all behavior has purpose and takes care of something important to the client. Thus, resolving procrastination will involve addressing the hidden obstacles that are hampering progress, such as learning to stand up to others and say ‘no’ to demands; or learning to focus energy and minimize distractions; or learning to finish less rewarding duties first before engaging in more pleasurable pursuits.
I am going to share with you five strategies that coaches use to help clients overcome obstacles. As you read through them, you may want to consider how you might use them to challenge your thinking, your assumptions and your fears in the same way that a coach might. Think of a real life situation you are involved with, and see if these approaches can help you expand your options and create new solutions.

Strategy One: Asking Good Questions
Coaches have many tools with which to help clients, and asking questions is one of the most important. Here are some questions that a life coach might ask a client in order to help identify external obstacles:

• “What makes this so hard to get done?”
• “What might you need that you haven’t had in order to reach your goal?”
• “If you could identify one primary obstacle you could conquer that would make all the difference in reaching your goal – what would it be?”
• “When you have tried in the past to overcome this, what got in your way?”

Coaches also ask questions to help clients identify internal obstacles:

• “When you think about making this change, what kind of feeling, physical sensation, or other reaction do you have?”
• “Even though you really want to make this change, what do you gain by staying stuck and not changing?”
• “Relax for a moment and pay attention to what is going on inside your body as you consider the obstacle; where do you feel the pressure or stress from this situation?”
• “Not that you know for sure, but just take a guess: What is the critical voice in you saying about making this change in your life?”

Strategy Two: Engaging Imagery and the Power of Imagination

Coaches may direct their clients to imagine that the obstacle is gone, and that they are free to act in a new way to attain the desired future they want. For example, a coach may say something like this:

“Let’s imagine that the obstacle no longer impacts you – it has been completely taken care of and is gone – how does that change things for you? How does that make you feel now that you are no longer held back from using your full personal power? What dreams or goals might you now pursue?”\

This strategy is related to advice that coaches sometimes give clients to “act as if.” Acting as if they are competent in the face of an obstacle requires clients to suspend beliefs and fears associated with it, and to see, even if only for a brief period, how that feels. The insights gained from a “taste” of success can be revealing and the feeling of empowerment can be highly motivating.

Strategy Three: Learning from the Past
By reflecting on their past successes, clients build courage, and self confidence; they can be encouraged to see that previous obstacles were overcome when they took certain risks or actions that could be duplicated with present challenges. Coaches may instruct clients to think back and reflect on their past actions in this way:

• “Tell me about a time when you faced the fear of failure and chose to move ahead anyways, and succeeded – maybe even to your surprise or to the surprise of others. What specifically did you do?”
• “When you were struggling earlier in your life and overcame an obstacle blocking your path, what was the turning point for you? How can you apply that learning to this current challenge you face?”

Strategy Four: Facing the Fear and Taking a Baby Step
Obstacles have the greatest power over us when we let them live in darkness, unexamined, and unchallenged. By bringing them into the daylight, giving them a name and talking about them with a coach, they lose the power to control us. A coach might help a client face fear by asking:

• “What is it about this obstacle that makes you feel the most afraid? What’s the thing you are most afraid will happen?”
• “If you were to give your fear a name, what would you call it?”
• “I’d like to give you a homework assignment. This week, take a small step each day toward doing the thing you fear; pay attention to how taking that step makes you feel. Then give yourself 10 minutes to write down a few notes about the experience to track what is going on in your thoughts, feelings and awareness. Bring the notes with you to our next session and let’s explore together what you’ve identified.”

Strategy Five: Changing the Perspective
Coaches help clients gain a new perspective by helping them see the Big Picture, by using emotional detachment, by seeing circumstances through a different lens, and by building the assurance to act with confidence. Coaches reframe issues for clients by asking questions such as these:

• “What will this look like to you in ten years? What will seem the most important part of this challenge to you then?”
• “Think about the importance of this obstacle in relation to your health, family, and spiritual growth. How important is this in the overall scheme of things?”
• “What if this obstacle were placed in your life to prepare you for what you were born to do; how would that change your perspective on it?”
• “How is your response to this obstacle affecting your family and friends?”
• “If you had all the time, money and resources to overcome this obstacle, how would it change your perspective?”

As you can glean from these strategies, once we become aware of what is really holding us back and how we participate in that self-limiting process, we are then free to change and that freedom leads to more freedom. Something gives in us, fortune smiles on us and luck, providence or coincidences happen as if a dam has broken, and our authentic life comes rushing to meet us. The choice is always ours: to feed our attention to our obstacles or to feed our attention to our desire for happiness in life. The first will bring us more obstacles; the other brings us the courage to change.

Elaine Voci, Ph.D. is a life coach in Carmel, IN. She writes a blog and a newsletter linked to her website, www.elainevoci.com.

Think for a moment of a food from your past, that you love and crave and makes you feel wonderful when you eat it. Maybe it is meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy, slow-simmered chili with cornbread, warm chocolate chip cookies or a favorite casserole. For me, it’s my grandmother’s potato soup and my mom’s sugar cookies. Eating comfort foods occasionally can be very healing, even if not necessarily nutritious.

Food has the power to impact us on a level deeper than just our physical well-being. What we eat can reconnect us to precious memories, like holidays, our grandmother’s cooking and seasonal family traditions. Our bodies remember foods from the past on an emotional and cellular level. Eating this food connects us to our roots and has nurturing effects that go far beyond the food’s nutritional make-up… especially when they are enjoyed with people we love, good times, and laughter.

Acknowledging what different foods mean to us is an important part of cultivating a good relationship with food. This month when we celebrate lovers and relationships, it’s important to notice that we each have a relationship with food—and it is often far from loving. Many of us restrict food, attempting to control our weight. Others may abuse food, substituting it for things that are missing in our lives. Most of us eat food mindlessly while doing other things, not taking time to enjoy and appreciate it.

What would your life be like if you treated food and your body as you would treat someone you love dearly – with kindness, respect, and love? The next time you eat your soul food; do so with awareness, and without guilt. Enjoy it, savor it, and be appreciative for the healing and nourishment it brings you!

Tami is a Certified Holistic Health Coach (certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners). She received her training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York; in association with Purchase College, State University of New York. To schedule an appointment with Tami, call Harmony Farm at 937-667-8311.

A great way to de-stress and calm yourself is to follow the cycles of nature. We are so busy going from our climate controlled cars to our climate controlled homes; we can totally miss the subtle cyclic changes that happen yearly to our planet Earth. Our ancestor’s lives revolved around the seasons. They knew how to look to the sky and the world around them to change with the cycles of the year. There is a New Moon or Full Moon about every two weeks. When there is a New Moon in an astrological sign, there is a Full Moon approximately six months later in that same sign. This way you can experience the Moon’s energy in a six month cycle. For example, you start something on the New Moon in Aries and then six months later on the Full Moon in Aries- ask yourself, did you complete it? If not, well, that same New Moon and Full Moon in Aries will come again next year and you get another chance with each of the twelve zodiac signs. So every year is always a new start! So we never have to give up on ourselves!

February 4th is Imbolc- the first day of spring (even if it feels far away)! Yes it is cold, but the days are slowly getting longer. The Earth is steadily warming up! It is the beginning of the growing season. Imbolc is an old Irish word that means “in the belly” referring to the pregnant animals that give birth at this time of year. Focus on the coziness of hearth and home. Light a fire in the fireplace. Or maybe the kitchen is your hearth-fire energy. The intention is not necessarily the heat of the fire but the light that is beginning to shine stronger upon the Earth.

February 10th is a New Moon in Aquarius and also the Chinese New Year of the Snake. Use the new moon energy to get started on projects and ideas. Since it is the beginning of spring, this is a perfect time for your spring cleaning. Also use the Aquarian energy of being inventive or experience intuition coming in like lightning strikes of inspiration or unique ideas. The Aquarian energy is all about humanity as a whole. Write a goal on a piece of paper and burn it in a candle flame using the New Moon as your witness. Then in six months August will be the Full Moon in Aquarius; ask yourself if you fulfilled your goal.

February 25th is a Full Moon in Virgo, called the Quickening Moon. It is the time of subtle awakening. The land is stirring. Did you fulfill your goal from the New Moon in Virgo six months ago? If not, you get another chance in six months.

In your Qigong practice, this is the time to enhance and support your liver function. Stand with your arms out in front of you in a gentle circle, like you are hugging a tree. See it in front of you, beautiful strong trunk and lush green leaves. Imagine your own roots deep into the ground. Wood is the energy of the liver. Breathe in and out deeply nine times and imagine the healing energy of the tree you are holding gladly giving healing energy into your liver.

These practices will help you to become more aware and bring calmness into your life. Stay warm and enjoy the emerging light!

Renee Price is a licensed massage therapist trained in traditional Swedish massage, is a Reiki Master and has certificates in Thai Yoga massage, NCBTMB and Small Animal massage. She is a psychic medium and offers astrology readings. To set up an appointment with Renee, call Harmony Farm at 937-667-8311.