Weather started grey but sun was starting to come up. We had a number of people who could not make it but local Finchley Energy Garden and Finchley Memorial Garden stalwart Margaret and I attended to make sure that the plants were all well watered in anticipation of the supposed heat wave imminent. We wrestled with a leaking hose and ended up using trusty watering can and bucket to do the job. As always, great to receive the appreciation from the commuters and hear how much the garden, and our hard work, means to them. Also great seeing the plants, including tomato and artichoke, that we planted thriving.

Three Goodgymmers laced up for a start-of-the-week mission at the North Finchley Community Grocery. Based at St Barnabus on North Finchley High Road, this relatively new (8-9 months old) project gets a delivery of food every Monday morning from the Felix Trust (via Volunteers on Wheels) and needs a hand running the trolleys up and down the ramp from the van to the grocery.

We're hoping this will be a regular weekly visit for us to help them out - but no session next week due to it being a bank holiday Monday.

Paul arrived early to do the welcoming, as he also had to leave early. Subham ran 3km (well, 2.99km according to his tracker) from Finchley Central while I had a slightly shorter 1.8km to get there. The delivery was a little later than expected, so we completed the manual handling training and a brief tour of the grocery, courtesy of one of the lovely volunteers.

Then the two of us ferried the trolleys and cages back and forth to the van, with the help of one of the excellent volunteers, Richard. We were done in record time, so we helped Richard unload some of the frozen and fridge food in the store. Then, all done, we jogged off with a spring in our steps for having started the week on such a good note.

It was great to be able to host a table at the annual Coppetts Wood Festival this year - the site where Paul signed me up to Goodgym for the first time two years ago. This time we had a small table with flyers, though back then Paul had the full TinyForest layout, with calipers and everything.

Richard joined me for the first couple of hours, and we started in Goodgym fashion, helping Sue the Willow Weaver put up her marquee in record time. The band started playing and people arriving, so we set to spreading cheer and chatting to passersby. Richard then set off to do some training for a marathon, and I stayed for the long haul, then helped Sue pack down her marquee and the Coppetts Wood Conservationists with their tables and stalls.

A GG volunteer joined Andy and the Friends of Stephens House & Gardens to assist with the installation of a new accessible bench located between the raised gardens and the main lawn area.

The task involved carefully lifting, moving, and positioning a heavy bench into its designated location. Due to the weight of the bench, volunteers worked together to ensure the move was completed safely and efficiently. Appropriate care was taken throughout the process, with volunteers wearing suitable footwear and using safe lifting techniques.

The installation was completed successfully within a short period of time. The new bench will provide improved accessibility, comfort, and seating opportunities for visitors to Stephens House & Gardens, particularly for those who may benefit from accessible resting spaces within the gardens.

The activity demonstrated positive teamwork and community spirit while supporting the ongoing improvements made by the Friends group to maintain and enhance this valued local green space.

Another great session, this time with Richard for his first climb. We had a long, leisurely time, warming up, touring the centre and trying out various bouldering problems, getting used to the different routes, blocks and grips. Richard bravely clambered his way up to the top of several walls and managed to maintain his grin and his grip! We wrapped up at the end with a snack in the veggie/vegan cafe.

As always, let me know if you want to try it out in the comments and I'll get in touch.

A few people came online to do yoga and supportive GoodGym and Stephens House and Gardens.

yoga talk

The Mountain Practice

You do not build a mountain by commanding it to rise.

You return to it morning after morning, with breath in the ribs, weight in the heels, weather moving through you.

A slow lifting. A quiet holding. The spine learning stone, the shoulders learning sky, the heart learning not to run downhill with every sudden rain.

There is always wind.

It comes from old valleys, from names half-buried, from voices still circling long after the door has closed.

It moves across the face of things, pulling at loose ground, testing the roots, finding the cracks where water once entered and froze.

And some days the mountain is not mountain.

It is gravel. It is mud. It is a slope that has forgotten how to stay.

So you pause.

Not because the storm is over, but because there is a break inside the storm.

A clearing between gusts. A gap between thoughts. A breath before the next weather decides what it wants from you.

There, in that brief stillness, you place one stone back upon another.

Not perfectly. Not forever. Just enough to stand again.

This is the work.

The hamstring lengthens, the mind unclenches. The hip opens, the old fear loosens. The foot presses down, the mountain remembers it was never made to chase the clouds.

You learn that strength is not hardness.

The strongest rock has listened to rain for centuries.

The tallest ridge has been shaped by what tried to wear it away.

So you breathe into the places that want to collapse.

You soften without falling.

You hold without gripping.

You bend without becoming the wind.

And slowly, through the small returns, through the ordinary rituals, through hands to earth and eyes to horizon, something gathers.

A steadiness not born from control, but from practice.

A height not built in a day, but remembered one breath at a time.

Then others may come.

They may shelter in your lee, rest against your side, warm themselves where the sun has found you.

But you do not become mountain by carrying every traveller.

You do not become strong by letting every storm name you.

You stand best when your ground is your own.

And when the wind rises again — as it will — you do not ask to be untouched.

You ask only for the pause.

The break in the weather. The space before reaction. The breath before the body moves. The moment when the mountain, the mind, the muscle, and the heart all choose to remain.