The idea of giving back drew Ayre to the network.
“I’ve got quite a lot out of Farmstrong and they’ve been so helpful along our career,” she told The Country’s Rowena Duncum.
“It’s a really nice chance to give back to Farmstrong and the community and to be able to help other farmers along the way.”
Ayre is currently helping Farmstrong by collating a series of videos for Marlborough Wine Growers Wellness Week.
The Five Ways to Wellbeing videos contain Ayre’s tips for de-stressing, including a handy mindfulness activity that she has found useful.
“I use the STOP acronym,” she explained.
“It’s just a wee moment that you can stop throughout your day, take a break and hopefully reconnect with yourself.”
S - Stop
T - Take a breath: “Take a nice deep breath through your nose and then a really long exhale”.
O - Observe: “Just take a moment to pause, stop, look around you; what can you see? What can you hear? What can you smell?”
P - Proceed: “Proceed with your day”.
Ayre also advised thinking about “prevention rather than cure”.
“When we’re farming, everything that we do is all about preventing the stock from ... illness or disease and those kinds of things but we forget to do that ourselves.”
She said there was no “one size fits all” approach and that Farmstrong’s website had resources to help farmers find what worked for them.
“You have to pick and choose and see what works for you.”
