Grounded Here

Tomorrow marks one year from the extreme uptick of murdering innocent Palestinians AKA genoc!de. The brutality is now expanding. I plan to call my reps. And also take time in silence to reflect on how I want to continue to oppose US weapons going to support the death of so many humans simply trying to live.
Yes, you may feel helpless or like your actions aren’t impactful. If you need courage, connect with others taking daily action, join the phone banking chat for your state, count your privileges and then use your privilege to turn heads and cause people to think differently.
Yes, you may feel tired. Take care of yourself. Prioritize your wellbeing. And connect with others who you can relate. Make calls together. Listen and learn together. Lean on one another. And remember, unless you are are experiencing homelessness, you’re likely not as tired as someone who has had to relocate tens of times on one year. Take the time you need to rest, and regain your strength. And continue to show up for what you believe in.
No matter how small or infrequent your action is, it matters. Boycott. Learn and share. Grieve. Pray. Call your reps.

How will you take action?
How will you reflect?
[images of signs reading: Stop Supporting US/Israel War Machine, Liberation for All, Merica-it’s not terrorism when we do it, If killing kids is the answer you’re asking the wrong question]

It’s getting real!!!!
3 more weeks in Montana. One more backyard bash (tomorrow)
🫶🏼

Imagine with me...Imagine you can detach yourself from right or wrong in this moment.
Imagine you can detach yourself from any plan you have for November. Imagine that voting is an opportunity to express your true values. Imagine voting for the candidates that most align with your heart. Imagine having people in office who care deeply about the things that you do.
Are you imagining yet?
Slow down.
Pause.
Visualize and feel into what this could be.
Imagine you could actually choose the candidates that represent you, rather than choosing those you think will beat the candidates that causes the most harm. Imagine voting for the person who believes in the most good, and may finally follow through .
I wonder if we all voted this way... ..if there would be less violent campaigns and less violence overall. I wonder if there would be many more political parties. I wonder if we all voted this way if there would healthy debates of educated people who care about our world, between people who could enhance each other, grow together make our country better.
Imagine that everyone who might be planning to vote for a candidate who doesn’t represent them just because they’re the “better” option, instead voted with their heart, every time, not just in the primary.
Overtime what could happen?
Could we actually move toward change?
Instead of staying stuck in a two party and divisive system that is predicated on causing harm to the other side? Could we move away from a system that isn’t accountable for its injustices, continues to perpetuate war, and send money abroad to kill innocent people? Imagine voting your conscience.
Imagine voting your conscience. Imagine if we all all did. Imagine if it wasn’t about competition, but about standing in your authenticity, following through, caring for our people, caring for all people, caring for the earth, and being honest.
(Continued in comments)

We’re still here. Join us every week at noon on the sidewalk in front of Depot Park in Kalispell.
Bring a friend. Carry a sign (we often have extras). As Devin and I prepare to leave the valley, we are looking for more local leaders. Join us for our monthly meetings on the first Saturday following the rally to learn more about how you can be involved. (Next meeting is August 3.)
#🍉

Join us a Thursday for a community pint night ($1 per pint 🍺 sold between 5&8pm will support
Our raffle contains a handmade wooden bowl, Norwex spa kit, growler fills at Bias, quartz candle holders, and more!
It’s been an honor to serve as Biard President for this incredible nonprofit for the past almost two years!!
See you Thursday!!

Nourishing my soul feels essential this summer - to be able to show up for justice, with kindness for my loves, my students, and to honor my worth as a human being. Spending my privilege (meaning continuing to put my comfort on the line by speaking up so others can have their need met) truly requires a commitment to my own wellbeing and it is with deep gratitude and recognition of these truths that I share this post. My hiking, swimming, listening to music and being with dear people did not stop the multiple genocides, but it did reinvigorate me to keep showing up.
What are you doing that allows you to keep showing up for justice?
Photos 1-5 are of my friend and I hiking Mt. Siyeh in Glacier National Park - my first 10k foot peak!
Photos 6-8 are at the Montana Folk Festival - camping at McGruff, dancing with a dear friend in the street and my love wearing my a Detroit Tigers Batgirl t shirt from 1992 while taking pictures.
9 - with my lil sis on Flathead Lake. Can’t believe she’s 15.5!! So grateful for her in my life
10 - with Devin, enjoying out final full summer in Montana (at least for a while) - we hit the road for long term travel in September!! More on that soon.

Join us for another backyard bash! On July 20 we will be supporting with a substance-free potluck, talk about composting toilets, and open mic (poetry, song, karaoke, comedy…you choose!)
BYO: dish to pass, mess kit (plate/bowl, fork, spoon, cup/drink, donation for , camp chair or blanket, a song, poem, story or comedy bit, friends and family!
Yes, you can be an open mic observer🙃
T A L K I N ‘ S H ! T & O P E N M I C
July 20, 6-9pm
Kalispell (DM for location)

On Saturday, June 22, 2024, I had the honor of co-hosting a statewide rally for more than 60 Montanans for Palestine. It is one of the things I feel most proud of in my life and still I wish it didn’t have to be done.
We gathered, we trained in deescalation, we sang, we wrote - what’s on our hearts about Palestine, who we want to remember, and of the world we’re dreaming - we grieved, we spoke, we listened, we marched, we chanted, we rallied.
I wish we did not have to do this.
And since we do, we do with our whole hearts.
I’m so grateful for those who joined our team of 8 de-escalators who practiced with care. I’m so grateful for .lo_art who painted the artwork for our posters. I’m so grateful to our first aid team, our photographers, our speakers (Brendan Work, co-founder of and local Jewish Community member, Hilary Shaw). I’m so grateful for our creative folks who made signs, led us in making bracelets and read an book to remind us of our collective power. I’m so grateful for those who drove in from Ronan and Missoula. I’m so grateful for for compiling songs for us to sing and to my friend, Sarah Williams, for helping me lead the music! I’m so grateful to the bakeries that shared coffee and donuts, the friend that lent his sound system, those who brought artifacts from their travels to Palestine, and so many more!
And still, I wish we didn’t have to do this. I wish our leaders had the backbone to stop sending money and weapons to perpetuate a genocide. I wish those who have the power to negotiate for a peaceful solution, in which everyone had a safe place to live and move freely, would do so. I wish children were not dying under the rumble and losing limbs. I wish parents were not outliving their starving children. I wish hospitals and press were considered sacred and essential. I wish we could all be free.
We have been gathering weekly now for over 40 weeks and calling our representatives daily. Join us any and every Saturday at noon at Depot Park in Kalispell for solidarity, friendship, learning, and building education and collective action in our community ❤️💔🇵🇸

Continue to celebrate Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈 with community yoga on Mondays starting tomorrow!
Cooling Summer Yoga
7-8:15pm
Sliding Scale Rates
Details at “Community Yoga” link in bio
Location available upon registration
[pictured: 1. Cooling Summer Yoga graphic - Andy teaching a group outside; 2. with .gerth1980 3. Pride face paint and butterfly temporary tattoos]
***ryoga

For more than 25 weeks the Flathead chapter of has been gathering to protest the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and to call for a ceasefire, return of all hostages (Israeli and Palestinian), and aid to reach displaced Palestinians. On June 22, we’re inviting people from across the state to join us in Kalispell’s Depot Park.
Saturday, June 22, 2024
11am - vigil for martyrs and those impacted by loss
11:30 - song circle
12pm - speakers, March and rally
We will also have space for bracelet making, need volunteers to help finish a a special project (DM me) and an opportunity to make a 🍉 bracelet.
We are looking for volunteers with deescalation skills, first aid skills, organizing and facilitating skills, to support our on going work locally. DM for details.
See you in less than 2 weeks at Depot Park. (And yes, we will continue to rally on Saturdays at noon including June 15. Show up to that one to learn more and get connected before 6/22!)
There is no room for racism in this movement. There is no room for antisemitism in this movement. We will not accept antisemitic rhetoric at our rallies. We will not allow distribution of any reading materials outside of our cause. 🍉 🇵🇸
Please spread widely.
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May your heart be so full of stretch marks (hat tip: ) this month. Stretching to fully love and care for your own true nature, stretching to love and care for those who don’t quite see their own true nature, stretching to see the interconnectedness of us all.
I’ve been home with a sore throat and fatigue instead of attending all the things I had hoped to this weekend. Listening to audio books and mending my 🏳️‍🌈flag that battled a sharp edge on our gutter all winter.
Repairing the flag has been meditative and nourishing. My first pride flag was stolen, the flag pole broken, by two teens a few years back. I saw it happen and it rattled me. Now this flag feels like more than a flag that can easily be replaced for $15 and a bit of plastic (fossil fuels) and a lot of shipping across an ocean (more fossil fuels). It reminds me of the resilience of many. The resilience q***r folks and people of all communities that have to face unfathomable barriers just to survive is not a choice, but a necessity.
It reminds me that our freedom is connected to every other living being on this earth, and the earth itself. That our struggles are connected. That our needs are the rooted in a common place, yet our strategies to meet them often cause harm and isolate us from one another and the truth of our human connection.
For none of us are free until all of us are free.
[pictured: 1. And 2. Different angles of my (Andy) hands mending my flag. 📸 .gerth1980 3. Image of the flag at present, partially mended with mixed fabrics, including old jeans.]
̇ne

Now is the time to go deep with our communities to hold space for growth and healing, for transformation and reconciliation.
I had the honor of meditating a conversation this week. Folks could have decided it wasn’t worth it and canceled each other by letting it fester, separating themselves from each other permanently or blaming one another completely and not taking ownership. Instead, they showed up, were raw and honest, apologized, thanked each other, and set new boundaries.
This is the opposite of cancel culture. If you are afraid to address a challenging situation due to fear of shame or embarrassment, and have the resources for mediation or learning a skill like nonviolent communication that could help you navigate it, I encourage you to invite courage to lead you to trying something that may lead to healing. Yes, your fear, shame, anxiety, embarrassment will likely stick along for the ride. And, by being present with yourself and others, listening, and moving through the hard stuff, you and your community have an opportunity to strengthen instead of crumble. Yes, your relationships may shift. Yes, new boundaries will likely need to be set. And Yes, you have have an opportunity to remember that we are all human, doing our best to meet our needs in a world where many of us are walking around with deep wounds while hustling to make ends meet.
When we have the opportunity for healing and it is safe to explore it, but we choose instead to cut off others, I believe we also cut off a part of ourselves. Not everyone will be on for healing, but if you are, start there. Seek support from professional mediators and facilitators.

“We won’t end the systemic patterns of harm by isolating and picking off individuals, just as we can’t limit the communicative power of mycelium by plucking a single mushroom from the dirt… We need to flood the entire system with life-affirming principles and practices, to clear the channels between us of the toxicity of supremacy, to heal from the harms of a legacy of devaluing some lives and needs in order to indulge others.” -

Two special Family Friendly Yoga class are coming right up!!
Join me:
***r for 2024 Pride with a Family Yoga Class from 5:30-6pm on Friday, June 7 in the Gateway Mall in Kalispell. FREE or donate to GQA
for a Family Yoga Class supporting my on Monday, June 10 from 5:30-6:30pm. Suggested donation $10-20.
I love offering classes to support our community and especially when kids are involved. Show up ready to move and be playful with folks of all ages.
Both classes are all levels and full of modifications, opportunities for connection and exploring light-hearted ways to move in our bodies.
***ryoga

To me..Yes, these quotes are about Palest!ne. Yes, these quotes about about losing my job. Yes, these quotes are about living in a community where hateful rhetoric about immigrants and people experiencing homelessness are commonplace from those in leadership. Yes, these quotes are about our planet and broken hearts, villages, families, and futures.
“We are divorced from the sustainable systems and that even means how we treat people. We’re in this power-over, which is very costly. It takes a lot to power over someone. You can’t continue to power over other people, because it is not natural.” - Aimée Cater as shared with on the Finding Refuge podcast
“If ignoring others is not the answer, then please don’t ignore yourself. Ever. You deserve more than fleeing your precious, wise emotions. I know it’s uncomfortable, even downright brutal. But trust me, it’s almost never a pain as enduring as the one you are running away from.” - Tanner Sethi, M.D. as printed in JOY IS MY JUSTICE, p. 22
Where in your life can shift from power with from power over? I’m looking into divesting from companies complicit in gen0cide that I’m currently invested in.
How can you tend to your emotions and make space for what is? I find that when I do, my capacity broadens.

This image is not current. The film is not either. And yet, the devastation is horrendous. The separation unjust, to say the least.
As you witness college campuses erupt with ferocity over the genocide in Palestine (perhaps you aren’t yet recognizing it as a genocide. Perhaps you don’t see Palestine as a place), do you want to better understand why they are so angry? Why they are demanding the bombs to stop? Why they are asking for liberation for all, an end to antisemitism and an end to Islamophobia?
Then join us on Friday, May 10 from 6:30 - 9:30pm at:
Glacier Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
1515 Trumble Creek Rd
Kalispell, MT 59901
We will take time honor lives lost in the current conflict and the past 75+ years, watch the film Road to Apartheid (exploring the occupation of Palestine and its parallel with South African apartheid, and have a facilitated discussion.
Our time together will be intentionally informative, kind, open, caring and peaceful. Please attend with curiosity and a nonviolent approach to learning and engaging.

Need a blast of Spring energy? This 5 week invigorating series has you covered!
We will focus on warming poses with modifications for all bodies and abilities to support you in the the most significant seasonal transition of the year. Our postures, breath work and meditation practices will focus on grounding through our legs, opening our hearts, and building strength.
And yes, some sweet and nourishing resting poses, too🙌🏼
Sign up at Community Yoga link in bio.
Sliding scale rates!

Hey Folks, did you know that many of our adventurers start in ??? Our 2001 Dodge Ram Van is set up as a cozy camp rig and you can rent it on !!
Check link in bio for availability
You won’t regret spending your Montana adventure breaks sleeping in a wind proof rig that you don’t have to exit to make coffee or 🚽 💩 (we have a cassette toilet)

My wise and caring younger brother shared these words with me when I was knocked down by what ultimately was the reopening of an old wound - not fitting in, not being liked, being left out. We all crave belonging, it’s what makes us human. AND trying to belonging to those who don’t want us can cause even more pain. (I wish I hadn’t had learned this over and over, but I have.) In the moment, that’s hard to see. I am remembering it now, and even more grateful for his words:
1. “You must present yourself, the real you, to the world. If you don’t, what’s the point of a you? What’s the point of any of us?” - Aaron C. Bachman
2. Andrea’s brother, Aaron, and Andrea at Andrea’s wedding last fall
3. “Some might love the idea of the beautiful plant that someone is or is a seed to be. Then, when they don’t prepare good soil, they blame the plant, or they even blame the seed for not being a plant yet.” - Aaron C. Bachman
Is there a way in which you present yourself to the world that feels authentic to you, yet seems to make others uncomfortable? If so you’re sooo not alone! Confidence is sexy and can also be intimidating if others are dealing with their own insecurity.
Let’s accept one another in all our stages, seed, sprout, plant 🌱

Emerging from winter this year has both felt relieving and vulnerable. Like peeling away a protective shell I learned was actually not protecting me at all. There is more change internally for me than I’ve experienced in some time and while it is the biggest seasonal shift of the year, and annually a tricky one for me, this time I feel it even more.
I’m coming to terms with the fact that being authentic and living my values in this community makes some people uncomfortable. And while I’ve finally found a solid crew of deep-hearted friendships, making a living while staying true to myself has proven quite depleting.
In the past few years I’ve relaunched aspects of my coaching business, and stepped back after realizing COVID truly had changed the landscape, I’ve worked part time admin jobs while between other gigs, and taken two newly designed positions with small organizations who let me go after realizing they needed to go in another direction or that my personality was not a good fit and they were not willing to offer me an opportunity to learn their expectations.
I’m so f*cking tired. My heart continues to want to show up, to learn, to care, to listen, to offer, and yet my fear of being dismissed for being me is puddling me. I puddle into the couch, the bed, my partner’s chest, my buddy’s voice memo, the hammock, my dogs warm side body. I’m shifting now, but for a while the puddle of sleep seeped too far into the morning for me to feel motivated upon waking.
If you’re puddling in this tragic season of multiple genocides, possible job or other major loss, please know you are not alone.
This is a season in which grief can ride our chests like an ever present wave. I’m doing my best to let it catch me and ride with it. To cease my battering limbs, and receive the movement it brings.
How are you hanging in?
[Pictures of Spring sunrise, Flathead River, as well as late winter scenes in Essex, MT.]

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile to sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile three wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese - harsh and exciting - over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
“Wild Geese,” by Mary Oliver
A true Spring poem I’ve been needing again lately. This is one I can never hear too much. Reading aloud in my own voice is quite powerful. Try it in yours.
Spring can be a heavy season. Don’t forget you have a place of belonging here. Share your despair. Collective grief can heal the heart. Spend time in nature. You are a part of nature. You belong.

Happy belated Trans Day of Visibility 🫶🏼
This non-binary child (me) before knowing there was an outside of the binary!
🏳️‍⚧️ ***rbaby ***r

Join us Saturday for our 18th consecutive week rallying for Palestinian freedom and the liberation of all people. For none of us are free until all of us are free.
April 6: Rally at Noon, educational event planning meeting to follow. Time to grab a coffee or lunch to bring back in between.
Bring friends, carry a sign. See you at the corner of Main and Center.
🇵🇸

Enjoy Spring Break, we’re back NEXT week for a heart opening spring series ***r
1203 US HWY 2 W #33
Kalispell, MT 59901
Invigorating Spring Yoga - Mondays at 7pm
Modifications for all body types and experiences with Yoga
Will be on my website very soon soon😉
***ryoga ***rcommunity

Today a friend asked me some good and hard questions about WHY I invest much of my time in organizing in our community to call for a in Gaza. Here’s my why:
- I believe in the dignity of all human life and now over 30,000 Palestinians have been martyred since October 7, 2023. This does not included the 10,000+ who remain missing.
- The United States of America is the manufacturing site of the white phosphorus bombs we are sending to Israel to indiscriminately bomb ares of displaced Palestinians. These bombs are restricted under international humanitarian law.
- This same country sends billions of dollars to aid the Israel military every year, and has increased its aid to Israel significantly since October. These are dollars that could save lives in our country by providing housing, medical care, and food to the millions of people struggling in our local communities across the US.
- it is our responsibility as citizens and voters to tell our representatives how their choices impact us and I do not want my tax dollars going to bomb innocent lives. Our silence condones their choices. This is our issue because we are paying for it.
- I trust the leadership and wisdom of Jewish Voice for Peace and Indigenous communities around the globe (including the in real time stories of Palestinian people) who are calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza.
- I have more time than many I know. Without children at this time, and several part time jobs, I have the capacity to learn, share, organize and advocate.
- My skillset in organizing, facilitating, hosting events, and studying historic movements has prepared me for a moment like this.
- I want to live in a world where our hearts are bigger than our greed
- I believe that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” - MLK, jr.
I am not an expert. There is much I don’t know. This history is complicated and geographically far from my home. I am human and I care. I hope that cis and straight folks call for peace when my q***r siblings are being harmed. I hope that men stand up for women’s rights. I hope this moved you to learn more and move toward advocating for the preservation of innocent lives in Palestine.
🍉

and are offering support for daily calls to your representatives. This is just the tool I’ve been looking for! There is one click that takes you to call both senators and your representative. It takes 3 minutes. A script is provided. What else dobuoundonwithout thinking that takes three minutes?? Swap out scrolling for calling. You got this! We’re in this together. Accountability is where it’s at!
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