Jo Milton

Thanks for coming hope you enjoyed the session it’s good that you can do longer sessions to help focus but why not think about a short session now you know a little about simple postures and breathing.

Need a pick-me-up? If you feel a bit low it's tempting to go for a pint, order a pizza or treat yourself to some new shoes, but putting 15 minutes aside to practice yoga every day could transform your mood (and your health) in more ways than you could imagine.

Studies have shown that yoga can decrease the secretion of cortisol, the primary stress hormone, which in turn can improve your overall health. Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, it's easy to squeeze in just 15 minutes of yoga practice a day. Here are 16 benefits of yoga and why it will be worth it:

See further details with this link

https://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/fitness/a28508/yoga-health-benefits/

Ten Goodgymers shrugged off yesterday's rain and the Sunday morning cobwebs to help out at Marston Forest Garden. So much has changed since we were last there in December, with pathways marked out, more trees planted, a labyrinth constructed and dead hedges set up!

With the onset of spring (despite the odd flurry of snow), more plants and trees and starting to grow but that also means that brambles are starting to poke out from where they aren't wanted. Half of the group spent the session unearthing bramble roots with some proving more stubborn than others and several large tree roots requiring a heavy dose of mattock-use. With the area cleared, cardboard can be laid down and the area is earmarked for mulberry trees and raspberries, amongst other things.

The other half of the group spent the morning digging a trench around a seating and meeting area, known as the Medicine Herb Circle. While Goodgymers dug, Richard from Marston Forest Garden constructed archways as entry points.

After a productive morning, we all agreed that the "gym" part of Goodgym was more than fulfilled with a solid workout of digging in the sporadic sunshine and hail showers! Thank you to Ruth for the Belgian chocolates to keep us sustained through the morning session!

Richard, Rhian and Anthony were very thankful for the group effort. Many hands do, indeed, make light work.

Yesterday was our 24th consecutive Wednesday packing and delivering food parcels for Oxford Mutual Aid. We packed 49 parcels and delivered 30 of them, helping approximately 70 people.

The graph picture shows the number of food parcels we’ve prepared each Wednesday session going back to our first one at the end of October last year. What it doesn’t show is our small team’s dedication to helping distribute the much needed food:

We have packed over 900 parcels on Wednesdays, delivered an estimated 600+, walked hundreds of miles between us to deliver food, chatted on the doorstep to lonely people, and got to know the food preferences of strangers.

GoodGymers have turned up to help on cold, dark nights, in rain, ice and snow, supported each other throughout winter lockdown and welcomed new members of the team. We haven’t taken a week off, because hunger doesn’t stop.

Our superstar GoodGym Oxford crew do Saturday and Sunday shifts at Oxford Mutual Aid too (we just don’t have stats and graphs for those!), have helped out on Christmas Day and bank holiday weekends, not to mention Rob raising incredible sums of money to replenish OMA coffers.

A report released by the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee yesterday estimated that up to 5.9 million adults and 1.7 million children experienced food poverty or insecurity in the six months to February. Those statistics are appalling, but they're also just numbers easily scrolled past. Knowing that people on your street, in your neighbourhood, in your town can't afford essential food and are calling for help shows the human impact behind the numbers.

As COVID restrictions lift a little next week we will adjust our way of working with Oxford Mutual Aid to a system which allows us time to also help other community projects who are reaching out to us. So, it’s an end to Wednesdays as we’ve known them for the last 24 weeks, but certainly not an end to working with Oxford Mutual Aid. We'll still be packing food parcels but making fewer deliveries.

At this pivot point I wanted to say how proud I’ve been of Goodgym Oxford members. We’ve been able to muster around 30 helpers every week through some very difficult weeks without ever having to beg or cajole. You’ve seen the need and met it.

Thank you ♥️