Sore muscles led Andrew Horn to develop a class to help others improve their movement. Horn, the farm manager of Horn Farm for Agricultural Education, witnessed the physical demands his body endured while working in the farm field and forest. "After a few years of heavy work and repetitive tasks, I wanted to find movements or exercises that helped to prepare my body for those tasks and also recover," he said. "I did not find a typical workout in the gym to be helpful with the array of dynamic demands one might be confronted with at a place like the Horn Farm, so I started to incorporate things like MovNat (natural movement), yoga, bodyweight exercises and injury prevention exercises."

Horn will take what he's learned and teach it to others in Functional Movement for Everyday Life. The class will be held on Thursday, Aug. 17, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Horn Farm, 4945 Horn Road, York.

Horn taught the farm's first class of this type earlier this summer, and he plans to use this year's series of classes as a trial run to shape the design of future classes.

"I will be leading folks in breathing exercises and ground movements that help develop a comfortability in the many different positions one could experience in, for instance, a garden setting," he explained. "Ground movement is foundational in MovNat and is truly applicable across all domains of life because of the mobility it can provide. I will also be demonstrating effective and efficient ways to lift and carry objects, both light and heavy. We'll plan to do some sled drags and farmer's carries as well. To finish things off, we'll do some cooldown and recovery stretches."

Horn believes in the need for more people to use their bodies and minds in the business of regenerative agriculture and woodland restoration rather than using large-scale heavy machinery powered by fossil fuels. "Not to say these technologies aren't ever needed," he said, "but I think communities can cultivate a high degree of resilience from climate, energy and economic pressure by having a workforce of highly capable land stewards."

He said anyone can benefit from the class, noting, "Movement isn't optional. Even when we are sitting, our bodies are experiencing what some call a 'load.' Our bodies adapt to the different loads we subject them to, so if we aren't moving mindfully and skillfully, we experience breakdown and injury."

The class is free and very loosely structured, Horn emphasized, and he wants people to take away a new or renewed interest in the power of movement. "My hope is that class participants develop a 'movement lens' with which to view the world," he shared. "I hope that new perspective shows them where they can start to implement what they've learned and gives them the inspiration to be creative and explore what an ideal movement practice looks like for them specifically."

For more information or to register for the class, visit https://hornfarmcenter.org and click on "Programs & Events."