The Chicken or the Egg

What came first? In my humble opinion the actual answer isn’t as important as the awareness of the possibilities that might bring you to the answer. 

So which is it? The egg? Or the chicken?

We will get back to that in a bit but for now let’s talk about some of my favorite chickens!

In no particular order here are my most favorite chicks:  Ruth, Laverne, Shirley, Babs, Merigold, Dusty, Beyonce, the Carols (there are 3!) and Wendy Byrd, of course.

You might be tempted to ask, who are these chickens and where did I meet them? They  belong to Dena and Corey Fisher, owners of North Ridge Farm in Vermilion, Ohio. In addition to being an amazing human being, Dena is a self taught home cook and is the owner and creator of Dena's Table. Dena’s Table was born from her love for her family, community and cooking.

Memories of her family preparing and sharing nourishing meals together inspired her to create those same experiences for others! Now as a private chef, Dena shares her love of experiencing a meal together with her clients and soon, with all of us!

Dena, Corey and their family took a leap of faith and followed their hearts from Avon Lake to North Ridge Farm in Vermilion. They followed their dream of living on land that they can nurture, growing a beautiful garden, renovating a farmhouse and having a coop of chickens!  

But more than that they wanted to create a space for people to gather together to build community, connection, share meals and have experiences in nature.

Because of their generous hearts, they have opened North Ridge Farm to Inner Bliss to hold One Day Retreats that allow all of us the chance to connect, gather, recalibrate, nourish, learn, unplug, remember and experience a day of coming back to ourselves.

I was so lucky to meet Dena when she just started sharing her love of fresh, hyperlocal and organic ingredients to create meals prepared with love for friends, family neighbors to pick up on her doorstep. For busy householders like me, Dena’s “Dinner In” concept allowed us to have amazing meals available with no cooking or dishes!  Being a part of her “Dinner In” community was such a gift! Not only did we have the opportunity to share nourishing meals with our families, we met other “Dinner In” families during pick up!

Dena is a long time student of yoga and Inner Bliss and our paths continued to cross.  When the universe guides you to walk alongside someone on their path, it is best to take notice. 

Soon Dena and her family stepped out of what was familiar and comfortable as they moved from Avon Lake to North Ridge Farm! They believed in all of the possibilities that are right beyond our habits. They embraced stepping into the unknown and they learned as they went, they built, they created, they explored and they did this all through experiencing.  

What they created is nothing shy of magical.  

I’ll never forget the picture that Dena shared shortly after she moved. It was of her beautiful big red barn and she shared her vision of one day opening her home for people to gather and have shared experiences together. That was the moment the idea of having a yoga retreat at North Ridge was hatched!

That idea turned into creating, planning, brainstorming, field trips to the farm, sampling her amazing meals! And then the leap of faith believing our students would be willing to step out of their habits, schedules and routines to find joy, hope, love, healing, nourishment and connection. 

We are so excited to be offering our 3rd One Day Retreat at North Ridge on Friday September 8th! Join us for a day full of yoga, bhakti, a sound bath and yoga nidra, Ayurvedic wellness and wisdom, a farm to table family style meal prepared by Dena and a fire ceremony and you will be able to meet, hold and feed the chickens!

This started out as just an idea, but with collaboration, hope and believing in what we love, this experience hatched into what it is today. 

Just like the egg :)