Our Mission
Love
At The Ashby Grove, our first mission is to foster more love in the world -- Love for oneself and love for others.
Ashlynn Larsen from mybestself101.org, wrote an interesting article this year on The Importance of Love on Well-Being. In conclusion, she says, "Deep, meaningful relationships serve as pillars of strength during challenging times and avenues for celebration during moments of joy. By investing time and effort into nurturing bonds, we cultivate a sense of reciprocity and mutual care that enriches our lives immeasurably. Love really is all around us and we should not miss out on the love that surrounds us right now in search of another.
Connectedness
The Ashby Grove's second mission is also to foster more connectedness.
According to Mary Hoang, from The Indigo Project, one can feel more connected by doing these things, which one can do at our farm.
- Going to a live music event.
- Walking in the sun & feeling the warmth tingle on your skin.
- Dancing (like nobody’s watching, duh!)
- Sitting, chatting with friends over a campfire under the stars.
- Sharing a long hug with someone.
- Listening to an album the whole way through.
- Going on a bush-walk, or hiking in nature.
- Having a real conversation face to face with someone.
- At a course/workshop, learning something new.
- Walking the dog/cuddling with the cat.
- Playing with your kids.
Healing
The Ashby Grove's third mission is to provide a place for people to heal.
Relief from stress, anxiety and depression can be achieved by petting other people's' dogs, even briefly, according to Megan Mueller, an associate professor at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.
Also, according to John Hopkins University, simply petting a dog lowers the stress hormone cortisol , while the social interaction between people and their dogs actually increases levels of the feel-good hormone oxytocin (the same hormone that bonds mothers to babies). In other words, you get a double benefit.