Joy Loves Company

The other day, I joined a group of fellow yoga practitioners on a field trip to Laurel Ridge Farm in Northfield, CT to visit the daffodil field. Our lovely and inspiring yoga instructor, Amy, organized the trip because she is a regular visitor of the field and wanted to share its beauty with our group.

The word field is an understatement since the backdrop for the daffodils was a beautiful rolling hill, complete with trees and rock walls, and a calm lake with a daffodil island in the middle. A good portion of the hill was blanketed with several varieties of daffodils. Although the field is private property, the owners welcome visitors and the initial flowers were originally planted in 1941 based on the inspiration of a William Wordsworth poem. You can see the trip in this video:

This was the first time in over a year of practicing in Simsbury that I’ve been on a group outing and it was nice for so many reasons. Firstly, it was refreshing to see everyone clean and dressed, as opposed to half undressed and sweaty, which is normally how we hang out together.

Second, it was fun to share something other than yoga with each other and the daffodil field provided a lovely, peaceful atmosphere to share with such a fun and dedicated group of people. There’s something so galvanizing about “doing the work” together, knowing that we’re all struggling or challenged at times, yet we continue to come back for more because we experience the benefits.

Yes, the yoga has certainly helped us develop a sense of community, which makes it even more fun to spend time outside of our normal stomping grounds. The lovely atmosphere, the beautiful, warm day, the pretty blue sky, the fragrant flowers all made our time together a true gift.

We finished our field trip with a delicious and healthy lunch at @ The Corner, a quaint country-ish restaurant in the center of Litchfield. It was the perfect atmosphere to celebrate the day and the birthday of Laurie, one of the owners of the yoga studio. We also made a toast to her and her life and business partner, Richard who were recently engaged.

By the way, Laurel Ridge Farm also raises grass fed beef that can be purchased through the farm.