Lessons from our Rumis
As we approach the end of the year, our minds are starting to jump into overdrive with busy calendars this Holiday season… it can be hard to carve out time for yourself!
Here at Slide Ranch, we’ve got some mindfulness coaches ready to jumpstart your journey to becoming your best, calm and collected self. Our goats and sheep spend all day, every day living their best lives, and that’s all due to having their priorities straight! They’re direct in communicating their emotions, they know when they need some self-care, and they confront issues as soon as possible… and they’re not afraid to have some fun while they’re at it. Let’s walk a mile in their hooves and learn how we can apply their methods in our own lives.
Goats and sheep are ruminants. This name comes from the first – and largest – of their stomach chambers, known as the rumen. When they regurgitate food from their rumen and chew on it again, it’s called ruminating; not-so-coincidentally, you may have heard “to ruminate” to mean thinking deeply about a subject. Maybe you’ve even had someone tell you to “chew on that!”. Whether thinking and chewing, to ruminate is to process, physically or mentally.
This is a great start for our lesson! Goats and sheep spend a great deal of their day ruminating, carving out time to digest their food and possibly think about life. It’s aasy to let your day go by without taking time to step back and chew on how you feel or what you’ve done, but sometimes that can lead to – for example – a holiday season passing you by in an instant. Take it from our rumis: next time you have a breakfast, lunch, or dinner break, use that time to sit back and reflect. And remember, snack breaks are important too (plus, another great time to ruminate)! Charlotte likes to take in the view from her perch while ruminating.
After our rumis have breakfast, they have a critical decision to make: sleep or hang out with friends? As we’ll see shortly, they’d probably tell you that it’s important to do both. Going about your day can take a lot of energy, and getting too little sleep can be detrimental to staying mindful and happy. If you can make time for it, finding a sunny spot to take a cat nap – or should we say goat nap? – can be just what you need to put a little pep in your step. See below - our gal Nutmeg shows off proper sunshine-nap technique.
Not up for a nap? Revive your energy by spending time with your pals. Take it from Toad and Petunia, our resident sisters, and their friends Dream and 41: even just hanging out in the same room (or pen) for some chill time can uplift your spirits!
We get it. Sometimes our schedules are too hectic for naps and friends every day. When faced with days like these, be sure to find a few minutes to unplug and don’t be afraid to get silly with it! Go for a quick jog, sit outside and take some deep breaths, have a dance party… or put a bucket over your head. That’s what Petunia would recommend.
Self-care, like unplugging or napping, is where it’s at… but that doesn’t mean asking for help is any less important! There are some tasks that are simply easier with extra hands and minds, and it’s never a bad thing to reach out for help. Our sheep know this well; hoof trimming is no easy feet feat when you don’t have thumbs so on occasion our girls get a spa day.
Charlotte, our sassiest goat, makes a great example for another important lesson: just as important as it is to ask for help, it’s sometimes necessary to go after what you need yourself, even if that means craning your head under a gate in an awkward position to get that delicious treat - alfalfa.
At the end of the day, if you’re feeling stressed… take a second to smile. You wouldn’t believe how the simple act of smiling can help your brain produce endorphins and lower your stress levels. Take it from our gal Dream!
We hope our girls help you find moments to relax in the coming holiday season. Want to learn more? Visit us at the Ranch to watch and learn from our mindful masters!
P.S. Join us for a workshop, Supermoon dinner, or December Family Farm Day!
