 Hey there, NJRoot22.com vlog, episodes, whatever. I want to talk today about something, a little flyer that's been going up at several places along Route 22. It's called the Inclusion Festival for all ages and ability. It's a sensory-friendly music, arts, yoga, and wellness festival. It includes everybody except poor people because you need to pay 25 bucks now until May 15th and then it goes up to like $35 a person, an adult, all kids under 12 are free. They have bands, Reef the Lost cause, I looked him up online, some hip hopper who likes to smoke reefer, and a bunch of other casual bands. They have some sort of Jerry Garcia connection as well. And they have all the buzzwords here. It's inclusive, it's immersive, it's, they practice relaxation and mindfulness. It's all fine and dandy to us, I guess. This could also be considered perhaps maybe a safe space festival also. But it's, I guess they make accommodations for troubled people or people with autism and stuff like that. Just people who don't quite fit in well. I'm gonna take, get rid of this. Who don't fit in well in society. Maybe I can hide my cheese stains from the previous episode. That's what you get for crappy bags at the supermarket. Anyway, here's the Inclusion Festival. So you might want to know what it's about is they're using these words, like I said, mindfulness and hula hooping. They do hula hooping. So I'm gonna read from their frequently asked questions when they say sensory friendly. What does that mean? Sensory friendly is individuals with autism and other neurological differences may experience challenges related to sensory processing. This means their brains and bodies may have difficulty interpreting and responding to information collected by our five senses, smell, sight, taste, touch and sound. So that's what they mean, sensory friendly. I guess they have special places that are quiet and they laid out the festival in a way that it won't be too crowded. I guess for those who get, what do you call it when you're claustrophobic? I guess claustrophobic people are also invited to this festival. And the music, I guess some of the music is like easy listening music and that helps a lot of troubled individuals relax and have a good time. And they said there are very, very many quiet places to take a break from this excitement. And there's workshops for all ages, not just kids. I mean, this could technically be called a kids festival as well. You could call it a kids festival with accommodations for special needs individuals. But the inclusion festival seems to be the more appealing buzzword for today. And here they talk about mindfulness here. And they explain what that means. This apparently doesn't seem to have anything to do with the festival, it's just a thought process. They say, pause and take a deep breath. Now intentionally tighten the muscles in your body. Clench your fists, squeeze your toes, scrunch your face. Notice how it feels to hold this tension and then relax your muscles. Notice how it feels to relax. Oftentimes we move through our days holding this kind of tension in our bodies without noticing. And they go on to say, mindfulness is the psychological process of bringing relaxed awareness to the present moment. Through breathing and meditation techniques those who practice mindfulness can learn to tune into mental, physical, and environmental sensations without judgment. I guess that's a judgment free zone. I mean, I thought, I mean, how does judgment have to do with your physical muscles? I don't know. In this space we can teach our bodies and minds to release tension, strengthen trust, patience, and acceptance. I mean, I'm not sure how that intercorrelates as well. But either I should say. Scientific evidence documenting the positive effects of mindfulness continues to grow and strengthen. Last time I used the word mindful was something that practice we tried once called mindful eating where you chew real slow and you think about the cow and the sacrifice he made for giving you that delicious burger and you eat real slow and you enjoy every bite and you feel the food go down your esophagus. And that's called mindful eating. I think I lasted a whole day doing that because I just want to eat and get it over with. Anyway, they say mindful activities have been shown to improve attention, emotional regulation, and sensory processing abilities and to increase our capacity for compassion and empathy. Inclusion festival aims to share tangible mindfulness strategies and accessible techniques with participants so they can, so they are able to experience the benefits of mindfulness all year round. Anyway, they go on to tell you what you should bring, good vibes, bring some good vibes. And they talk about why festivals are important. It's they tend to invoke a sense of joy and appreciation and you feel positive energy radiating. It sounds like the, I might smell patchouli oil there as well. And then they call it talk about neuro diversity. Neuro diversity is another catch phrase they use and it says it's a new concept that challenges conventional thinking about ability and individuality. The term suggests that cognitive differences like autism and ADHD are the result of normal natural variations in the vastly complex and diverse human genome. And they say instead of viewing these variances as pathological in nature, proponents of neuro diversity assert that cognitive differences have been present throughout history and have added immeasurable value to human evolution and society. One, tend to think that ADHD is probably of a human, the rise of it. A human cause thing from the foods and all the processed crap that people eat and sugar, sugar-laden foods. I think if you just eat normal meat and stuff like that, you should be fine. And maybe ADHD also has something to do with the technology and the toys that the kids are using today and the helicopter parenting and just letting, I don't know, I can go on with that. The concept of neuro diversity is gaining traction. It provides a broader model. Dow also means it's usually gaining extra money and funding from the government. It provides a broader model for acceptance and understanding which will ultimately help people with neurological differences more easily obtain the accommodations and supports they need in order to be the best versions of themselves. And they go on to say, can you bring the camping gear and they have some camping stuff going. So that's about it for this inclusion festival. It's, like I said, it's no further than a two hour drive, almost anywhere on the root22.com coverage area. If you're, you know, Bridgewater or East, your best bet's to hop on Route 80 to get there. You can look on a map. I'll have a map inside the blog post this is on. And if you're out in like Peaburg or PA, you have to take some side other county and state roads to get there. That's about an hour and a half drive from Phillipsburg, but two hours from either Branchburg or Bridgewater or even as far as Union, it only takes two hours to get there because it's really easy to get to 80 from there. And that's it. Something you might wanna consider if you fall into one of these categories or have a special needs child or mate. It's not a bad thing. It's cool. I guess it's hard for some of the more challenged people to go to like really loud rockin' festivals because they won't fit in. So this will help many people fit in. So that's it.