We are so excited to offer another round of Yoga in the Lavender Fields this Thursday & Next! Sign up online and join us. Read on to see how Christina felt about our first go about it at our End-Of-Summer Bash last week!
H2L’s end of Summer Bash at Within You Farm was tonight, and let me tell you, it was just what my soul needed. With high temperatures and staggered school starts, the transition from one phase of the year to the next has felt nebulous at best. Not to mention that we had covid in my house last week, disrupting our planned trip to the Shenandoah Mountains and forcing an anticlimactic quarantine for the whole family as our last hurrah of the season. When I heard about H2L’s event, it sounded like the perfect way to kick off Labor Day weekend and put a better end cap on summer than last week’s impromptu staycation.
When I arrived at the farm, I felt a little nervous. The event had a fantastic turnout, and attendees were standing in clumps of three and four sipping drinks and chatting. I immediately questioned if I should have come with a buddy. Just like at the studio, however, I was quickly and warmly welcomed dissolving away any slight social anxiety I felt initially.
I set about investigating all the things being offered. Inside were appetizers from Healthy You Café. Visually, the spread was very appealing with a selection of wraps, cupcakes, a cheese plate, and other finger foods. I did not hesitate to grab a flier advertising the restaurant’s meal service, combining convenience with conscience by offering fresh, nutritious local ingredients.
Inside, I bought a jar of honey from Pondside Honey out of Brookville, PA. I have heard that eating honey produced locally in your geographic region is supposed to reduce seasonal allergies, so it’s a worthwhile sweet indulgence.
I also grabbed a large and delicious jar of Blueberry Rosemary kombucha from the cooler. Made by The Kombucha Lady out of Maryland, it definitely surpassed the quality of most of the teas you can find at grocery chains.
Upon checking out, I made a note to join Within You’s text list to get weekly updates on their hours and available greens. I definitely will be coming back with my husband, who makes herbal tinctures himself, so we can see their still in action, producing heavenly lavender oil and hydrosol.
Outside, Midstate Distillery was serving drinks. I don’t drink, but I spend a lot of time with some real connoisseurs, and I know the Midstate liquors are top quality. With fruity cocktail blends, they seemed to pair perfectly with the main event, yoga amidst the lavender.
The yoga was truly the highlight for me. The evening’s leader, Charity, is a self-proclaimed OG H2L instructor. She’s been with the studio since it opened, and her comfort and depth of experience teaching shines through. I began my own yoga journey practicing ashtanga and received teacher training in vinyasa, so I really appreciated the humor she used telling the large group of varying experience levels that we’d be doing arm balances. (Even at my most confident, I need a lot of props, walls, and individualized moral support to even approach an arm balance besides Crow, so I literally laughed out loud at this joke.)
I was relieved the class wouldn’t be too intense. Fellow H2L instructor Amy, whose barre class kicked my butt this morning, was in the group, and she made my evening by taking the time to pop over and commend me for two workouts in one day. If I’m honest, the lavender would have knocked me out like the poppies in The Wizard of Oz if it had been a high intensity class. H2L’s classes definitely provide the most burn for your buck, and I need some solid recovery time to regain full use of my limbs.
One thing I’ve noticed (and loved) about Charity’s instruction is her ability to cue everything clearly without necessarily naming the poses. From Ujjayi breath to Surya Namaskar B, every instruction was seamless. I should note that I’m very serious about the cultural and spiritual lineage of yoga. I’m also very aware that the way I was taught (which was to say Sanskrit names first, then English equivalents, then the physically descriptive cue last) can be very overwhelming for beginners and turn them off from going deeper. By the same token, seasoned practitioners can be limited by their own assumptions when they hear a pose first because they may move too quickly to allow themselves to learn a new transition or variation. I’m eternally impressed by teachers who can precisely convey the full picture without confusing either group.
I stepped away thirty minutes into the practice to get my scheduled henna session with Jennifer Rabenstein. I was delighted to learn she is also a reflexologist, yoga teacher, and reiki master teacher. She worked intuitively and created a gorgeous arrow design pointing down my left forearm. I’ll be thinking of what significance the symbol may reveal in my life over the course of the next few days, no doubt. I’m also sure to keep my eyes peeled for the instances when she shows up as a sub on the H2L schedule.
I’m glad my henna appointment interrupted my yoga practice because it gave me the opportunity to take in the view as I returned through the rows of lavender. The class was enjoying a lengthy savasana with the setting sun casting an orange glow over the farm. Someone played singing bowls and moved through the crowd providing sound healing. It was a perfect end to practice and a perfect end to summer. I can still smell the lavender every time I inhale.
*H2L is hosting 2 more Outdoor Yoga Classes this season at Within You Farm. Thursday, Sept 15th and 22nd at 6:30pm! Regular rates apply. Sign up online!