walking lightly on earth
First batch of young kale this summer turned into kale and cashew nut pesto. The other ingredients are garlic, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt and black pepper. Enjoy as a dip, on the side or as a spread. If this post was […]
Are you enjoying your shoes? I’m enjoying my new minimal shoes from Lems Shoes. More room for my toes compared to most traditional shoes. They’re very comfortable, light, breathable and without a positive heel. It’s wellness for my feet and they look great! It’s an […]
The road to a sustainable future isn’t black and white. It’s filled with many different tones of grey. For example it isn’t as simple to avoid meat from your plate. Many people have heard about how polluting meat production is. And that is correct when we talk about large scale factory farming. I don’t advocate for factory farming or (eating) threatened species but small scale and wild meats.
So how does growing vegetable, grains and legumes impact the environment. Again, it’s large scale farming practises. To grow you coffee, tea, kale, broccoli, corn, grains and sugarcane natural ecosystems have been destroyed. In the process millions and millions of species have been killed, lost their habitat and have now been endangered or extinct. It’s many more animals than have been killed to get to your plate. I’m all up for cutting down the meat consumption but if your health deteriorates by taking meat out of your diet, I don’t vouch for that. I don’t believe that any species on the planet has the purpose to suffer. The purpose is to thrive!
Another thing that I like to practise is, not to give certain lifeforms more value than other. Plants are also lifeforms and the whole premise of the planet is that lifesforms turn into other lifeforms. As will I when I die. I’m not saying that I won’t kill a mosquito or a tick that tries to bite me. Also driving your car or spraying your garden with chemicals will kill many lifeforms. Even our own bodies are constantly killing foreign invaders and our own cells die for new ones to take over. Cancer actually starts when cells override the signals that tell them to self destruct.Even though it’s hard, I try to accept the nature and instincts that are inherent in us all.
Instead I focus on consuming lifeforms with the highest quality, which to me is nutritional value and good energy. I trace this back to, if they have eaten the diet they are designed to and have been living a good healthy life in as much in it’s natural habitat as possible. Isn’t it interesting that for example cattle that have been 100% grass fed compared to conventional raised cattle given grains, soy etc. have a fat content similar to fish. We are told again and again how healthy fish are with their high omega 3 content. Conventional raised cattle have a higher omega 6 content. No wonder we are told again and again how bad red meat is for us.
There is of course much more to this issue than what I highlight today but before I end this post, I would also like to address the methane issue. Many people know about the high methane emissions connected to the large animals like cattle, bisons etc. Related to the diet of cattle above, studies show that the methane emission is lower when they eat the diet they’re designed to eat. Secondly, much land storing or with the capacity to store greenhouse gases as methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide has been and is cleared to grow vegetables, grains, legumes, sugarcane, coffee and tea. Coffee alone has cleared much natural habitat to establish coffee plantations. Livestock on the other hand has been used to restore degraded and arid areas when done properly. Pastures also have the possibility to incorporate a higher diversity of plants, insects and other animals than large scale farming land.
You can start this journey by questioning where your groceries come from. How the animals that you eat have lived and have they eaten their natural diet. Don’t look at the problems in back and white, for example only blaming meat production.
If you want to dive deeper into this I recommend listening to this podcast
This video also shows you how important predators are on our environment like when the wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park
Wild mushroom side dish for lunch. Judas’s ear or Jew’s ear (Auricularia auricula-judae) is an edible mushroom most commonly found on Elder trees (Sambucus nigra). It grows during the cold season. A great way to get wild foods into your diet when there isn’t much […]
This has been a little morning ritual the last months. It’s a great way to wake up and to get grounded. It feels a little wild and crazy 😜 We get a better feel for the weather and what the birds, Icelandic horses and other […]
Spring has just started. It’s a beautiful sunny day so I expose my skin to the sun for the first time this year. I want to start early so my skin can build up its tolerance (pigmentation) for these vitamin D3 rich rays of goodness coming form the sun.
Vitamin D3 is formed in the skin in response to exposure to sunlight. However vitamin D is actually not a vitamin but a steroidal hormone precursor. On top of that vitamin D3 from the sun is water-soluble in contrast to the fat-soluble vitamin D3 in fatty fish and supplements. In a water soluble form, vitamin D3 is far more absorbable than in a fat-soluble form as it moves freely into the bloodstream.
Vitamin D is responsible for many body functions and for halting disease processes. Also, vitamin D (along with vitamin K2) is essential for proper absorption of calcium and other minerals into the bones and teeth. It promotes efficient neuromuscular functioning and plays a role in anti-inflammatory processes. Nardine Artimis from Living Libations has a great article on why the sun and vitamin D are so important.
The most natural and effective form of vitamin D is the type that we synthesize when our skin is exposed to the sun. BUT remember that is has to be without sunscreen. Nardine also writes, that the best time of day to get out in the sun for making vitamin D is mid-morning to noon. At this time, you only need 10 to 15 minutes to make a day’s supply of vitamin D.
The fear of the sun is currently very high, almost extreme if you ask me. It doesn’t make sense that something (like the sun) is harmful to humans only and not the animals and plants in nature. Think about how much life the sun brings with it in spring. There must be something else in our modern lifestyle that contributes to the bad rap that the sun has gotten in recent times.
Nardine explains that the sun protection factor from synthetic ingredients in sunscreens may also give us a false sense of security. They disable our skin’s early warning protection system against imprudent lengths of time out in the sun: burns. UV-B rays –- the rays blocked by sunscreens – are what cause sunburn. Yet, the current thought is that UV-A is the cancer culprit. By blocking UV-B rays, sunscreen tricks us into over exposing ourselves to UV-A rays. Glass also blocks UV-B rays! Think about how much time we spend behind glass in our home, at work and in the car. It certainly gives me food for thought about our relationship with the sun in modern times.
Of course we might also have altered the thickness of the ozone layer in the atmosphere and increased our exposure to UV light. This is why you more than ever need the natural warning sign that you’ve had enough sun exposure when your skin starts to turn slightly red. You then know when to get out of full sun exposure and into the shade.
This is how I see it. Humans have lived under the sun for millions of years. This is how we’re designed. If you’ve a light tone skin as me and were outdoors all day like our ancestors, we would build up our pigmentation starting in spring and slowly accustom our skin to handle the sun during summer. Also, my skin type isn’t accustomed to the sunlight in the tropics and vice versa.
To extend your time in the sun, you can use raw natural oils. To a degree, all plants offer a UV protection to their own tissue as well as us in the form of their raw natural oil. In particular raspberry seed oil has a high degree of UV protection but also jojoba, sea buckthorn and coconut oil will offer some UV protection. In addition, you can add some high quality essential oils to your raw natural plant oil. Studies have shown that sandalwood, geranium and frankincense essential oils are UV protective and therefore will extend your time in the sun, naturally. Note that citrus essential oils are photo sensitive and should be avoided during sun exposure.
A rainbow diet, foods rich in pigment, will also help you protect you as they’re high in antioxidants.
I use doTERRA essential oils because they’re food and therapeutic grade essential oils and the plants are grown in a region in which they’re indigenous and grown naturally for thousands of years, within nutritive soil conditions, air quality, weather/moisture etc. These conditions as well as the extraction process are reflected in the quality of the essential oils.
You can order doTERRA essential oils HERE and they’ll be sent directly to you. Or even better, if you want to buy the oils at wholesale price (25% of retail price), you can enroll with your own account. There is no monthly order required, no contracts or lock in and it can be cancelled any time.
Get out and enjoy the sun when you get the change during the spring months!
I try to encourage our son to be outdoors a lot so I don’t say no when my son asks me to come with him outside on an early Saturday morning. We both get out and move. In addition, I get to move with extra […]
I love natural movement but I don’t have the same freedom as before I became a mum. There’s isn’t much time after work, daycare pick up, cooking dinner and bedtime routine. Instead I focus on the movement I can implement while still doing daily tasks and work. I rarely […]
NATURAL MOVEMENT
In the previous posts, I share how our lifestyle-changes within nourishment, toxic free home & personal care and meditation & sleep have improved our vitality and health problems including neck pains that I’ve had for years. If you haven’t read part 1, part 2, part 3 or part 4 yet, I recommend that you read those first.
In this final part, I’ll talk about how natural movement has helped me reduce tensions and pain in my neck. Natural and ancestral movement is about moving as our human body has evolved to move. It’s also about being less sedentary and moving the whole body instead of isolated parts like just your fingers on the keyboard or restricting your feet and toes in traditional shoes 😉
When we as a family learned this, we started walking more either bare foot or wearing minimal footwear and carrying more; like for example our shopping and our three your old son instead of using a stroller or driving the car. We also reorganised our home, selling our couches to facilitate more movement rather than accepting a sedentary lifestyle full of furniture that creates a development-crippling environment, that inhibits our natural movement. Additionally, we’ve installed a standing desk and ditched our bed pillows when sleeping. At the time our son was very young and we asked ourselves ‘why had we become so attached to sleeping with pillows?’ Why is it that as we got older we sleep with pillows, when babies and young children do not? Just like walking bare foot and wearing minimal footwear, we chose to transition over a period of time to become accustomed to, and build up strength in under used areas of our bodies.
Movement is much much more than exercise, every movement or position that you place yourself into will impact your body shape and adaption. This is why we need a greater variety of movement and positions during our day. You should think about “movement” on a cellular level impacted by loads, squeeze, pull and push from external and internal forces. I also think “movement” when my body and vascular system contracts when I go for a dip in cold water in the winter.
Now that you’re thinking about this, you can perhaps start finding ways to organise your own home and daily activities in ways that will support moving more and in a more natural way. Think about how you move, sit, stand, sleep etc and find ways to combine or “stack” your activities. So that you can incorporate more movement when you for example, do gardening and squatting forage for food when walking in nature, play with your kids and achieve more exercise and walking while carrying groceries by leaving the car at home when you go shopping.
Below, I list my ideas how you can get more natural movement into your day.
MORE:
Natural movement
Greater variety of movement
Walking
Squatting
Carrying
Lifting
Crawling (foot-hand, knee-hand)
Hanging in our arms
Throwing
Practical work around the house
Processing your own food
Squatty potty
Winter bathing or cryotherapy
LESS/AVOID:
Sedentary
Traditional footwear
Couch-sitting
Chair-sitting
Learn more about natural movement in NUTRITIONAL STACKING FOR YOU AND THE ENVIRONMENT, MAKE EVERYTHING FROM WALKING TO DANCING MORE ENJOYABLE and HOW TO MAKE SITTING MORE NUTRITIOUS
Learn more about how to reorganise your home to facilitate movement in IMPROVING OUR HEALTH BY SELLING OUR COUCHES
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Beautiful Christmas decorations using only natural materials. I think that this is a great way to avoid or reduce plastic and use things that might already be around you. It was a great little family adventure spending time in nature collecting pine cones and branches […]
