Today we’d like to introduce you to Juanita Rivas-Raymer.
Hi Juanita, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi my name is Juanita and I teach yoga and gardening classes. My goal is to make yoga and growing food accessible to everyone. By teaching my community yoga and gardening I hope to support them in finding peace and calm in their lives.
As for my career in horticulture, I started many years ago when my kids were young and I wanted to feed them and my husband locally-grown organic food. We couldn’t afford it and so I started learning everything I could about growing food myself. In the beginning, I could barely keep grass alive. After many mistakes (and some successes:) I enrolled in and completed the U C Master Gardeners program and took many courses on everything to do with plants. After that, I managed a community garden for five years where I learned a lot. Fourteen years later I’m still passionate about not just growing food but teaching people how to grow in small or big spaces. It’s nice seeing a space being transformed to a green space with not just food growing but also native plants and trees.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
There have definitely been some bumps in the road, but with the support of my husband and kids, I just keep plugging along and connecting with people to let them know what I do. I work a part-time gardening job which leaves me time to also teach yoga and do other fun things like paint. It’s pretty hard to make a living from this but over the years I’ve gone out of my way to stay connected to the community and find opportunities.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Right now, I work part-time creating programming around community gardens. I also teach yoga classes virtually and prenatal yoga at the park.
I specialize in teaching kids and grown-ups how to start food gardens through classes or private consultations. In addition, I teach gentle yoga and prenatal yoga.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
I wish I would have started when I was much younger but I didn’t have the confidence. Don’t be afraid to do what you love instead of doing what you think you “should” be doing. It’s practical to have a good-paying job but if you hate it and all your time goes to it, then is it really worth it? Don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself and seek out volunteer opportunities in the field you’re dreaming about.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gardenyogijuanita.wixsite.com/adaraluz
- Instagram: gardenyogijuanita
- Facebook: gardenyogi
- Youtube: Garden Yogi Juanita
Image Credits
Scott Raymer
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