Vibrant health is a union between mind, body and soul. Conceptually this might sound simple, but it’s not always easy to get healthier in today’s world, and it can even be easier to get bogged down by contagious fearmongering around the many things to dodge these days. Awareness, mental self-defense, and strong, healthy boundaries are important tools to navigate the information age. These tips are only the ‘tip’ of the iceberg so to speak, but I do believe if you can commit to this free information, you’ll have a thriving foundation and clearer intuition to figure out the rest (and maybe even get to dive deeper and explore different paradigms such as Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and German New Medicine). 

My own pursuit of “health” is rooted in the desire to live in a radically different world while enjoying the journey. These tips are in no particular order but are rooted in my own experience and transformation, and I hope they can help you too. Skeptical? Just verify with any kind of good quality practitioner (whether it be functional medicine, Ayurvedic, GNM, TCM, or naturopathic).

1. Stop drinking tap water.

This is instinctively one of my top tips for all humans, including those living in the “developed” world. At first glance, all water looks the same: it’s certainly not alcohol, and we usually don’t immediately become ill after drinking tap water, so we often assume it is safe for drinking and cooking. But just as all that glitters ain’t gold, not all water is the same. Sure, the municipal filtration systems of modern societies do a great job at filtering out the physical waste like parasites and pathogens out of the water and adding chemicals like chlorine to ‘clean’ it before it comes out of the taps, but fail to filter out invisible pollutants like neurotoxic heavy metals, pesticides and herbicides like Glyphosate, and pharmaceutical run-off that all comes out of the tap and destroys your microbiome.

Most people don’t realize that the added chlorine is used to kill not only the bad bacteria, but the good bacteria as well. We humans are living organisms with multiple microbiomes of bacteria that ensure our health and survival. Our skin and gut microbiomes are two major defense lines that protect our inner body from the outside world. Showering in and drinking unfiltered tap water daily exposes you and your pores to all the chlorine and other invisible, yet harmful pollutants, which obliterates your good bacteria and weakens your immune system, opening up the doors over time to autoimmunity, cancers, and other serious illnesses (including many people in my general vicinity because the community has strayed too far from nature). Not only that, but knowing that tap water is recycled, and the same water that was flushed out of toilets is kind of gross.  

When you realize that most foods in mainstream cafes and restaurants (including even the high-end establishments) are cooked with unfiltered tap water, this can be a drastic world-shifter, too. So many people regularly go out to eat or order slop on Doordash, unknowingly consuming this tap water on top of the industrial seed oils, pesticide-sprayed produce, and factory-farmed meats. This doesn’t mean I advocate living like a neurotic orthorexic hermit—you have to live your life and accept that some things are often simply out of your control—but the more you can source your spring water and cook with organic foods in healthy fats from local farmers you trust, the better off you will be, both now and in the long run. I find this to be a joyful, intentional process, the food makes me feel great, colourful organic farmer’s market hauls are usually the highlight of my week, and my life is now much better for it. The more you can navigate today’s world with confidence and an informed, relaxed lens, the more ease you can create in your life. If you’re a human reading this, chances are that you’re mostly water. Filtering your tap water is the next advancement in human health, and this will help reverse any damage that may have accumulated over a lifetime. Just be sure to eat a mineral rich, omnivorous, whole foods diet which will support bone, dental, and whole body health.

Horrible option:

You’ll want to filter your drinking and cooking water, but just as water is not the same, not all filters are created equally. Just because your water was filtered doesn’t mean it was done so properly. Avoid the cheap, flimsy Brita filters and similar devices because they do not filter all the harmful contaminants out of the water. I should know—in college, I cycled through both a Brita and a similar off-brand and was appalled at the resulting taste and bits of charcoal floating in my supposedly filtered water, so I ended up living off of bottled water in my apartment. Brita is also owned by Clorox, so make of that what you will. 

You’ll want to invest in a quality filter that actually filters out all of the junk: BPAs, PFOS/PFOA/PFAS, chloramines, chlorine, pharmaceutical medications, petroleum contaminants, pesticides, herbicides, neurotoxic heavy metals, VOCs from toxic household products like paint thinner and bug sprays, lead, arsenic, iron, mercury, fluoride, and so on.

Countertop Berkey filters are now officially problematic, too. I used to recommend the Berkey filters since they filter out most of these contaminants to the 99th percentile, which is great in theory, but their fluoride attachments have recently been found to contain and leak aluminum into the water, so I can no longer recommend regularly using the Berkey with fluoride filters until this has been rectified on their end. (I still keep mine in case of emergency, or when camping.) 

I’d like to note that I am not a conspiracy theorist. This is not about being ‘perfect’ (whatever that means), rather it is about being empowered and informed to make smart choices to enjoy life to the fullest. 

Better option:

Reverse osmosis (RO) filtration systems remove 100% of everything, which means the good and the bad. These can be installed under your sink, or on your countertop like an AquaTru (shout out to empoweredautoimmune for recommending this one). Reverse osmosis filtration systems can also be found online through various suppliers like Amazon.

Since important (beneficial) minerals are also removed in the reverse osmosis filtration process, be sure to make up for this with a mineral-rich diet (ie. using sea salt and whole foods from regenerative, mineral-rich soils), and consider a mineral supplement like shilajit, Quinton Hypertonic, or magnesium.

An important thing to remember is that water carries a memory. If dead tap water travelled through the pipes carrying the toxins and nasty chemicals, the memory, energy and imprint (actual structure of the water) remain even after the water is properly and thoroughly filtered. To restructure RO filtered water, let it sit uncovered in the full spectrum sunlight outside for a few hours to regain a good, wild, living structure. Then drink it and charge up.

Distilled water may also be available at your grocery/health food store, which is also a clean and drinkable kind of water that has various uses. The minerals are not present in distilled water, so again: supplement minerals, or make up for it with a mineral-rich diet.

Whether you’ve reverse osmosis-ed, Berkey-ed or distilled your tap water, it is still energetically and vibrationally dead water, so be sure to restructure it to make it come alive again. Use one of those expensive water vortexes or a Flaska bottle to restructure it (mimicking natural water’s movement through rocks in nature), or simply place the filtered water in the sunlight for a few hours to charge it up and have it regain its life-giving structure. No nnEMF-riddled electrical powered device (like one of those overpriced scammy $250 structuring wands) will be able to naturally structure your water. Better yet, for no cost, simply get outside with your skin exposed to the sun to structure your own water inside your body.

Best option:

Pristine, wild, fresh living spring water that comes directly and abundantly from the earth is the ultimate kind of water. Even if it is not ‘fresh’ from a spring or glacier, any kind of spring water is ideal because it did not contain any of the toxic chemicals in the first place. Yes, wild spring water is readily drinkable and it is possible to harvest your own, and wild springs can be found all over the world. The molecules of wild, moving water in nature are ALIVE and full of ancient energy, naturally filtered and mineral-rich via the rocks and sand, and when you drink it, it becomes a part of you, and you remember who you are. (This is 4th phase water).

Protecting our ecosystems also means protecting our wild springs full of clean, free, and naturally structured water that heals our cells, rather than razing ecosystems down to build toxic infrastructure and toxic pipes for toxic dead tap water that contributes to things like cancers and exposure to poisons from the industrial Western paradigm. Protect nature and she will protect you. 

The science and understanding of water is infinite. Living, structured water H3O2 is different from regular water H2O. It is divinely organized and aligned with the ability to trap frequency energy, creating a structured water battery with the bulk water that forms outside the structured water, which powers life on this earth. Water carries a subtle frequency that has a dramatic impact on our body’s ability to carry out processes and create new cells. Stagnant water is dead water, but fresh, moving spring water carries a living, coherent signature with a harmonious frequency as it is found in nature. Apply this to our own lives. 99% of our molecules are water, which is central to every function of the cell from muscle contraction, cells dividing, to nerves conducting. Loss of cellular water is linked to everything from headaches to infertility to cancer.

Many companies can provide spring water shipped to your door, often in large 18L bottles (some even made of glass!). When I live in Ontario, I invest in drinking and cooking water shipped by Cedar Springs (tested for a good mineral analysis) in non-toxic glass bottles, which is great. Ideally you’ll want to source spring water in glass bottles rather than plastic, though this may not always be feasible. Avoiding plastic water bottles is ideal, but I consider them fine in a pinch, especially when travelling or being nomadic. 

Glass bottled mineral water provides additional health benefits along with the minerals. Gerolsteiner is one of the better sparkling spring waters that contain fewer PFAS while having a good natural balance of minerals (calcium, magnesium and bicarbonate), at least at the time of writing. It hits differently with a little pinch of magnesium chloride salt supplement. Take it even further and look into deuterium-depleted water sources, which can be found at the north or south poles (some deuterium-depleted brands include Litewater or HydroHealth). 

To find a spring near you, often for free water, visit findaspring.org. This is a growing, free database of cold and hot springs around the planet. Invest in glass jugs for collecting your very own spring water! 

Shower filters.

Filtering your shower water will also protect you from most of these unwanted substances, depending on the filter quality, and improve the quality of your hair and skin. I currently use a cheap one for peace of mind and bring it on all my travels. This one from Live Pristine is the most effective, high-end one I can recommend. Many European cities use ozone which is much safer to treat the water, but when chlorine is used as a water treatment, it combines with organic matter to form trihalomethanes, including chloroform, a known carcinogen. A study showed that in three Canadian cities in Ontario, 36 cancers were attributed just to THM exposure through inhalation and skin exposure during showers [x].

…But what about fluoride and dental care?

Fluoride is often added to municipal tap water in North America. It is your decision whether or not you want to be exposed to it, but I recommend doing your research first, and trusting your intuition. Personally, I opt for filtering it out, and for tooth care, using nano-hydroxyapatite toothpaste, such as some of the ones offered at Living Libations. I also make sure to nourish myself with a nutrient dense diet rich in bioavailable, ethically sourced animal foods in order to maintain my bone and overall health. When I’m travelling, I don’t get overly neurotic about rinsing with tap water since it does get spit out.

The use of hydroxyapatite toothpaste to prevent dental caries

2. Get off of hormonal birth control.

Disclaimer: I’ve never touched birth control or any kind of contraceptive, and these are the reasons I personally don’t intend to any time soon. All I can say is that it will be beneficial to properly inform yourself about the short- and long-term risks of hormonal birth control (HBC), which generally goes beyond an MD’s surface-level explanation that the pill is 99% effective against pregnancy. Beyond hiring and consulting a high quality practitioner, I encourage you to explore the subject deeply before deciding if it’s right for you. 

Since its inception, HBC and especially the pill have been intertwined with women’s liberation movements (for better or worse), so this topic will undoubtedly be controversial. I wholeheartedly believe that every individual, however they identify, is entitled to make their own empowered, sovereign choices free from fear or shame, which also happens to mean: inform yourself, so I’m here droppin’ some currently established facts: 

• Your ‘bleed’ on the pill is actually not a period at all, rather it is a fake bleed without ovulation, which was included as a marketing scheme to make women feel like this method is still natural. 

• Therefore, the pill doesn’t ‘regulate’ an irregular period since the menstruation is artificially induced. 

• The pill only suppresses hormones and doesn’t actually ‘fix’ anything, just shoves symptoms under a rug, so if you’re taking it for any reason other than preventing pregnancy, you’ve been lied to. 

• Often, women will get off of the pill around the time they conceive a child, but this leaves them in a state of health that is not as supportive of a healthy pregnancy. Old issues often come flooding back and even worse, along with an increased likelihood of infertility which can last years.    

• 65% of women between the ages of 18 and 49 are on some sort of contraception and eventually, there may be a time when you need to stop using it at some point. (Anyone else kind of shocked at this statistic? Just me?)

I don’t believe the pill is the solution to the root of the problem. Hormonal birth control harms the mind and body, increases the risk of various cancers, and actually stifles your intuition for finding a suitable mate while you’re on it (if that’s what you’re looking for). Just read up on the famous sweaty t-shirt study. Interestingly, contraceptive pills have recently been linked to changes in the parts of the brain that process fear (the ventromedial prefrontal cortex is thinner in women currently taking the pill, possibly increasing fear).  

Cycle Syncing, Naturally

The menstrual cycle naturally features what we could roughly classify as 4 main quadrants: menstrual, follicular, ovulatory and luteal, and each phase is marked with a distinct and varying degree of energy and magical powers. All that to say: you are not a robot or an algorithm! So much of the rhetoric surrounding cycle tracking (often with people aiming for a “perfectly synchronized cycle”) can dissociate people from their bodies, so along with learning body literacy, I recommend listening to your own body and your own experience, first and foremost, when it comes to deciding when to time your activities each month. Personally, I like feeling embodied.

More important than cycle syncing is your capacity to hear your body, and honour it. It’s good to learn that estrogen rises post bleed which brings energy, but ovulation is also delayed by stress from things like working out excessively. Explore all the ways in which you may or may not be serving yourself by timing your activity according to your cycle and listening to your body. Although it wasn’t until around age 29 that I really got into consciously harnessing the powers of each monthly phase, it has been the most eye-opening and powerful thing I’ve done for myself, and this has been mirrored in my business, life goals, and creative output.

If you’re having irregular periods, terrible PMS, painful cycles, or hormonal breakouts, understand that none of it is actually getting fixed by the pill. Your menstrual cycle is your fifth vital sign (along with body temp, pulse, respiratory rate and blood pressure) that gives you invaluable insight into the inner workings of your health. It’s almost like a hormonal report card about your current state of health and how your body is going every month. I would even go so far as to say that it is a reflection of the health of a society. When you take HBC, it interrupts this channel of communication, and indeed your ability to communicate with the physical body is also met with the ability to communicate with the etheric body. Having this channel of communication open for myself throughout my development has been invaluable in understanding and being at peace with my own life and intuitive choices. 

So, you may be wondering: how does one prevent pregnancy naturally? This is a huge topic that shouldn’t be glazed over in a post like this, but by learning the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM), it is possible to develop a relationship with your womb that will bring you power and confidence while avoiding the effects of birth control. Gaining a greater understanding will help you make a truly informed choice while knowing all your options, whether it’s pharmaceutical or natural birth control.  

Needless to say, you’re always entitled to make your own empowered, sovereign decisions regarding your reproductive and sexual health, but the problem is that too many people are not given the full picture of the short- and long-term impacts that the pill has on the body, mind and spirit. I wholeheartedly support any empowered and informed decision that you make for yourself (taking into account the full picture), so if after all of this you still prefer to go on HBC, that is entirely up to you.

(Note: Pain-free cycles are my baseline, naturally! These days I typically enjoy an omnivorous diet with protein-rich breakfasts while not skipping out on natural sugars and grass-fed pasture-raised high quality dairy (you can explore Ray Peat’s work or dive into Traditional Chinese Medicine to learn more). I also like to reduce stress, go earthing, reducing screen time, and getting vital, daily sunlight exposure which all results in virtually pain-free menstrual cycles most months. Having a more painful cycle or the rare pimple is a sign for me to acknowledge the root cause and make a shift in my routine, and on the surface level, I often take a bit of magnesium or loose leaf spring water raspberry leaf tea to soothe cramps.) 

Without a doubt, most of us in the West live in a stressful society today. The real healers for the female body are rest, pleasure, emotional safety, and living in sync with your cycle, as well as eliminating exposure to toxic chemicals. It takes a village to raise each other, and the more these can be cultivated, the more beautiful, authentic, creative and harmonious life can be.

Links: 

The Fifth Vital Sign: Master Your Cycles & Optimize Your Fertility by Lisa Hendrickson-Jack, FAE, HRHP

Taking Charge Of Your Fertility (Revised Edition): The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health by Toni Weschler, MPH [x]

WomanCode by Alisa Vitti, HHC

Period Repair Manual by Lara Briden, ND

Dr. Aviva Romm’s On Health podcast

What To Expect When Getting Off Birth Control on Forbes Health

Fertility Awareness on Planned Parenthood

What are the disadvantages of the pill? on Planned Parenthood

The Pill: are you sure it's for you? by Jane Bennet & Alexandra Pope

3. Be in bed by 10 PM.

It truly pays to rise with the sun and sleep by the moon. Our human bodies are intricately connected with the earth and cosmos, the seasons, outdoor temperature, timing of sunrise/sunset, diet, and the earth’s magnetic field. A good and consistent circadian rhythm heals illnesses and keeps your cells happy, helping your body and your metabolism stay fresh at any age. Over time, you’ll find that you have better energy, digestion, and a radiant glow when you are living in tune with nature. There is no biohack, supplement protocol, or cleanse that will replace the foundations of a thriving circadian rhythm with good quality sleep, nutrient-dense food, sunlight exposure/light hygiene, and regular time spent remotely in nature. A circadian lifestyle can also result in a stronger astral connection.   

We ought to be using technology more wisely and intentionally than ever. Tech screens and indoor industrial centralized North American living (urban and suburban alike) have become a real impediment to this connection in the last century which coincides with the growing rates of Western illnesses like cancers among populations. During the winter season, this is especially important: avoid isolated artificial blue light from tech screens and street lamps any time past sundown. Remove all tech screens from your sleeping room (including TV, phones, laptops and small lights from tech gadgets), and before you go to bed, unplug your wi-fi and any electronics, and get your room as pitch black as possible which promotes optimal cellular healing while you sleep deeply. Beeswax (unscented or essential oil) candles are non-toxic, romantic, and clean the air of toxins while providing a healthy source of evening light, same with a wood-burning fireplace or outdoor fire pit. After being raised in a sterile household, being near organic, ancient open flame again has personally been very healing, not only for the mitochondria, but for the soul. Consider investing in a red lightbulb or blue light blocking glasses, such as the ones from Block Blue Light if you must read or do work on a tech screen at night. (Use discount code ROOTTOSKY for 10% off anything on there.)

Many of us have become very divorced from nature, and you can see the effects of this everywhere today. You sleep/heal more deeply when you’re camping away from modern civilization, so try to replicate as many aspects of camping as possible and you’ll have a better time sleeping, healing and living. Consider a grounding mattress for your bed, turn off your wi-fi router at night, avoid sleeping near smart meters, and move to a different postal code if you’re too close to any cell towers which can promote an underlying feeling of tension and voltage-gated calcium channel overactivity (PS. a magnesium supplement can be one of the most potent defenses in a nnEMF-saturated world). 

4. Go organic.

Believe it or not, your everyday choices have power. To me, organic whole food nourishment is a form of liberation, activism in motion, information, and protection. It is the revolution of everyday life. By prioritizing organic/home grown produce, you give yourself the best odds of nourishing your body at the cellular level with sun-raised, chemical-free food while avoiding the sh*t-can of neurotoxic pesticides and herbicides found on conventional produce that build up in your brain (similar to those in tap water). Not only that, but modern crops are being hybridised and genetically modified to be unrecognizable by the human body (I first learned this in public school, thank you very much), possibly most notoriously in conventional wheat, which has been messed with to create weather resistant and easier-to-harvest crops, but results in over a dozen different types of gluten than their ancestors. Our food might look “perfect” and shiny, but it’s tearing holes in the guts (leaky gut) of the general population and causing health problems today: causing an antibody response, inflammation, allergies, and eventually autoimmunity. 

If it’s currently not possible to go organic, at least avoid the main big conventional crops: corn, soy and wheat, which are usually found in processed “foods” in conventional grocery stores. If these crops aren’t 100% certified organic, they will be GMO *and* Glyphosate. (GMO = dangerous levels of Glyphosate. If they are only non-GMO but not certified organic, you still never know.) BT Corn is a genetically modified corn that makes its own endogenous pesticide, and studies show that when this is consumed, the GMO corn continues to create pesticides in the gut after the fact, meaning the gut essentially turns into a pesticide factory. Introducing Glyphosate into the growing and harvesting process adds insult to injury, which has been shown to break down the tight junctions of the gut (the barrier that protects your bloodstream from pathogens, bacteria, etc.) and increase the bioavailability of toxins. And don’t get me started on factory farming. No, thank you. 

We can become complacent and make excuses (“everything causes cancer so why bother”), but imagine how great life could feel if you just gave it a chance. Nutrition is the basis of detoxification, and personally, I consider my life as a cleanse. Every day is a treat for me, and by eating organic, I rarely get sick (and am usually the only one in the workplace that never gets hit by whatever bug is going around *knock on wood*). I’m dedicated to organic, nutrient-dense foods every single day and at every single meal because I can be. It is an act of high self-worth behaviour and integrity, not because it is “good” or it makes me “good”, but rather because it helps me feel more alive, safe in my body, and more accountable and confident to take action and tackle life’s challenges, overcome fear, imagine endless possibilities, and establish clear goals to create the full-spectrum life I want *ahem* like manifesting a Finnish-style sauna, creative studio, garden, and a wood fireplace in an off-grid, remote, grounded and sustainable tiny cabin by the sea, Walden style. 

When I started eating mostly organic whole foods with lots of juicing in my early 20s, I felt better than I ever did in my teen years. I’ve naturally healed so much inflammation that I mistakenly believed was just a part of me (always tired, hormonal pizza acne, socially anxious, spacey, aloof, non-assertive, trapped in my mind). Now I feel free, and I guess I emit a higher vibration as well. Despite the man-made concrete and roads of this town, I’m made up of the natural elements of the land that surrounds me which carries a certain vibration. It is a bit like creating heaven on earth. The process of returning to wholeness is like a puzzle that mirrors our social health.

• Regulate your nervous system

• Improve your sleep (cellular healing)

• Diversify your gut health

• Balance your chakras

• Hone your intuition with nature’s technology

• Become more evolved and more wise with a deeper understanding of this human experience 

• Directly support ethical, more equitable, regenerative food growers, producers and systems, one head of lettuce at a time

• Trust your gut and keep your feet on the ground

• Metabolize your life and get to better environments

• Create relational health

• Foster honest and loving, meaningful connections

• Express yourself authentically

• Create beautiful things

• Restore your cells to the original superhuman state—naturally

• Love yourself and tend to the inner garden of your heart

• Gain a greater understanding of who you are

• Be silly, adventurous and expansive

• Enhance your energy

• Boost your immunity 

• Build generational well-th

• Use your voice, be the change

• Shift from being a victim of heredity to master of your life (epigenetics)

• Embrace humour and playfulness

• Support the gifts of neurodiversity

• Carve out a new consciousness

• Balance your energy field

• Greater agency over your physical, emotional, and mental state

• Be less susceptible to manipulation or external disturbances/others’ actions and energy

• Process and use emotions

• Set healthy boundaries

• Revive your fertility (if you’re into it)

• Become a more physically attractive version of yourself

• Not to mention spiritually and emotionally

• Do all the things you said you were going to do

• Re-enchant and decentralize your life

• Reprogram old conditioning

• Cultivate self-love, acceptance, inner peace, harmony

• Grow your brain and deeper relationships that resonate with you

• Live wild and unsuppressed

• Honour your anger (ie. in ceremony) so it doesn’t fester and cause dis-ease

• Inspire and support others

• Heal the past, create the new

• Reclaim your soul and connection to the divine

• Find your people

• Return to harmony

• Realize your true nature: divine, wholeness, unlimited pure love

• Be the full-spectrum human you want to be

Nourishment is different for every individual and always changing for different goals (tell me more about the diet wars…), but the most important thread running through it all is whole foods from the earth, ideally raised by the sunlight at your latitude (within about 100 km). It all comes down to sunlight. Choose certified organic whenever you can, and enjoy a wide variety that works for you. Even better if it’s biodynamic, wild, or permaculturally grown in regenerative, mineral-rich soils. Learn from our human traditions (ie. the probiotic benefits of lacto-fermented foods like sauerkraut), seed save, and you’ll improve your food sovereignty in the trajectory of human evolution. 

My income is on the lower end of the scale, but I still manage to prioritize and support health food stores, organic sections, and regenerative farmers’ markets wherever I go on earth. Yes, abundance is possible, and I refuse to believe otherwise. All the information is at your fingertips. A simple Google Maps search for “health food store” or “organic farmer’s market” will yield all you need. Examine your priorities in relation to your self-worth, and invest in good food. The better it gets, the better it gets. Not all organic labelled food is fully trustworthy, ethically produced or will even benefit you, and ‘health food’ is a spectrum beyond black and white, but by at least consciously choosing and making a beeline for organic, this is an action that aligns with my values and desires to actively play a part in the kind of world I want to live in. I vote with my fork, and this is a powerful, tangible vote for the earth. By experiencing the power of whole foods as medicine, you’ll feel that the earth is alive and aware and wants to help you. We often talk about saving the earth, but how often have you experienced the earth saving you?

It is of utmost importance that you nourish yourself properly, or begin to take the steps to source minimally processed, whole food ingredients. It is quicker to cook a healthy meal than it is to order something on UberEats. By simply making better choices to support your health, your life is improved in all facets starting at the cellular level. Your mind is sharper, body more effective, and soul contented. I intuitively enjoy nutrient-dense, quality and minimally processed ingredients in abundance until I’m satiated, and never count things like macros or calories. 

I love organic/biodynamic food and the taste and feel of natural foods, and I believe it has the power to help connect and heal humans, but I also believe stress and inner conflict are worse than conventional produce. Yes, there are more layers to this and it gets deeper. Step away from the voices on social media and listen to your body’s cues. Context and approach matter. I would argue that camping and having fun with conventional foods is more powerful than being neurotic and isolated indoors about organic foods. It’s all about sunlight. For me, it’s not about being ‘perfect’ or having a quota that I ‘should’ meet, rather it’s about living in alignment and integrity with my goals, enjoyable feel good food for a satisfying life, and being of better service (which happens to give me a natural high). 

I definitely spend more on food than the average person, but instead of buying things like toxic makeup, excessive electronics, designer clothing, or yes, even music records, I invest in whole foods raised with regenerative agriculture because beauty comes from within and I like how it makes me feel energized and clear. Invest in food first, and cook it with love. Then get free. Without getting neurotic, be mindful of how your food is sourced, raised, and grown. If it was grown and raised at your latitude, it probably contains all of the UV light information your body needs to thrive. Don’t even get me started on the quality of food and its role in the birthing continuum. Dedicate a little extra time to source your food from small-scale farms and regenerative farmers nearest you. It’s fun and rewarding! The higher the health status, the less neurotic people generally are about toxins and any ‘unhealthy’ elements of daily life. Relax, cultivate the lifestyle you want, and enjoy great food made with unprocessed, organic, locally grown and raised (or even better, wild) ingredients, wherever you go. Eventually, your relationship with it will evolve as you bloom. 

Organic clothing and textiles 

Budget-wise, I prioritize organic food before organic clothing, but as I attract abundance, I’ve recently made moves to update my wardrobe so that most garments that are closest to my skin are organic, non-toxic, biodegradable, comfortable, mostly non-restrictive, natural materials, including things like menstrual pads. Natural materials carry a high frequency and will help you elevate to the best versions of yourself, in sync with the rhythm of life, in touch with people and the flow of the universe. At northern latitudes where I’m from, I wouldn’t get neurotic about wearing a synthetic/recycled outer coat in the colder seasons, but a woolly base layer (shirt, pants), and organic/natural underwear will help protect your skin at the innermost layer through any cold weather activity, while benefitting from the cold exposure by not bundling up too excessively.

Again, sometimes when I travel and use a shared washing machine, some of the nasty VOCs and toxic fragrances that linger in the washer transfer onto my precious organic clothing, despite always using a great low-tox detergent like Eco-Max. In times like these, it’s good not to get overly neurotic, and just use a low-tox method like baking soda and vinegar to gradually get the stubborn, toxic, harsh scents out of the clothing, and airing the offending pieces out in the sunshine when possible so the sun’s rays and fresh air can help neutralise the VOCs. This is a useful article by Branch Basics on how to remove fragrance from clothing and hand-me-downs. This article also goes over how to remove toxic, stubborn, annoying fragrances. Sadly, these synthetic, lab-made fragrances can be harmful especially for babies, children, and individuals with chronic health issues, and are linked to cancers and other issues.

Invest in yourself! Would you wear plastic that destroys your hormones and fertility? Avoiding synthetics like polyester is a bit like avoiding processed foods - after a while you’ll feel so good that you won’t want to go back. “Ethical” and “sustainable” consumerism may be a dubious concept for some, but it’s possible to avoid or detox harsh chemicals, microplastics/BPA and polluting, superficial fast fashion from the culture of consumerism, and dress naturally for a healthier life with long lasting, high quality, beautiful pieces. Not everyone can afford an organic, more ethical wardrobe, but just do your best and have fun along the way, letting your true, bare, authentic self thrive while creating your dream life. Natural materials include:

• 100% Cotton (ideally organic)

• Linen

• Wool

• Hemp

• Silk

• Genuine leather (especially vintage/secondhand)

• Non-toxic, plant-dyed

• Vintage pieces tend to be made of higher quality, natural materials, and less wasteful

For safer textiles, look for certifications like:

• GOTS certified - textiles with a minimum of 70% organic fibers

• OEKO-TEX® - third party verified, more eco-friendly textiles

• B-Corp - businesses that are B-Corp certified are more committed to environmental, ethical and social performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose

• bluesign - meets strict standards for health, environment and toxic chemical usage, as well as safer workplaces

• Fair Trade - US and Canadian businesses committed to fair trade practices, equitable and sustainable trading partnerships, valuing the health of the planet, positive change, and the labour, dignity and equality of all.

• Handmade/small business - usually made by artisans rather than industrial processes

• Union made - made by unionized workers who organize and negotiate for better wages and working conditions

Some of my favourite, often stylish brands include:

• MATE The Label

• Indigo Luna

• PACT

• Jungmaven

• Hara The Label

• Boody

• Muji

• The Hemp Temple

• Voriagh

• Nygårdsanna

• Ovate

• Groceries Apparel

• Organic Basics

• Patagonia is usually full of synthetics but sometimes this cannot be avoided when it comes to practical outdoor clothing, and at least in many cases, the polyester is recycled and fair-trade sewn. Invest once in functional pieces that last, consider layering up to avoid excessive skin contact, and then go live your actual life.

Natural, non-toxic makeup/skincare/personal care. Be a part of the clean/natural beauty revolution:

• The Detox Market

• Araza Beauty

• Primally Pure

• RMS Beauty

• CAP Beauty

Links

To learn more about Glyphosate, watch this video on the environmental and health impacts of Glyphosate with Dr. David Perlmutter and Stephanie Seneff of MIT.

Worrisome BPA Levels Found In Sportswear By Nike, Adidas, Patagonia And More, Group Alleges - Forbes 

BPA found in sports bras and workout leggings, many sold in Canada - Global News

Are your clothes making you sick? The opaque world of chemicals in fashion - The Guardian

Creating a Conscious Closet - Wu Haus

All about OEKO-TEX® - Sustainably Chic

Musings from Eckhart Tolle and David Foster Wallace on the culture of consumerism - The Green Stars Project

5. Cook for yourself.

The more you cook for yourself, the better your life will be. It’s that simple. We have become so disconnected from nature and our traditional lifeways that we can press a touch screen and someone will show up at our doorstep with food. Not everyone has the time or energy to cook, prepare or grow their own food, but at the very least you should be handling the raw ingredients and regularly partaking in the human act of nourishment. 

When you take the time to cook and assemble food for yourself using whole food ingredients, you’ll become more aware of the alchemical nature of food, the energy you infuse into it, and how it makes you feel. The UV light information in food affects how you feel, how you move, how you live your life. Cooking with whole food ingredients is my recourse not only in an isolated, sterile hometown, but also helps keep me grounded when I’m travelling. I believe that cooking for yourself is more important than the type of diet(s) you follow. Without getting neurotic, the more you reconnect with your food, the deeper your understanding of nutrition and your body’s bio-individual needs will be, which will inevitably shift and evolve. It doesn’t matter what your profession is: from seed to fork, food connects us all, and becoming more mindful of how our food was grown and raised is a lifelong exploration and shifting relationship with endless returns. 

You don’t have to be a chef or a granola hippie to nourish yourself well. By embracing time regularly in the kitchen and garden (some of my temples), I revive and channel the ancient medicine matriarch archetype, cooking with love, good vibrations, and joy. We are one, and chemical-free, low-tox, organic whole foods benefit us all. Quality, organic whole food nutrition is inextricably intertwined with mental health and whole body health. Cooking organic whole foods for myself has been one of the most interesting and eye-opening self-experiments of my life thus far. The UV light information has taught and energized me, and I became convinced that a better, more sustainable life is actually possible, starting with our actions, here and now.

Nourishing and caring for your vessel can even be a gateway to enhancing the mysticism of your experience, such as slowing your perception of time through a metabolic state of enlightenment, or simply bending reality to your will. Food is important, but it is not everything. Life is so limitless. Let good food be your starting point.

https://www.globalfoodjustice.org/nutrition/the-brain-needs-animal-fat 

6. Spend more time in nature.

Nature heals, we are nature. Spending regular, consistent time in nature is not only fun, mysterious, relaxing and invigorating, but it’s also the act of coming home. We don’t need a study to prove that it feels great to be away from the hustle and bustle of the city and built-up areas, the pollution, nnEMFs, junk noise, wires, drywall boxes, artificial lighting, and modern technology. Time spent in nature has physical and spiritual benefits, and supports your hormones, blood pressure, heart rate, confidence, self-esteem, and muscle tension. People who spend more time in nature often have longer lifespans and healthspans. Studies have shown that even just looking at a picture of nature has mild benefits, though nothing beats the real thing because exposure to real dirt populates your microbiome, fresh air feeds your blood with prana, and direct exposure to full-spectrum sunlight (even on a cloudy, snowy, or rainy day) reprograms your DNA.

There may be different definitions of ‘nature’ and ‘natural living’, but just 20 minutes of contact with nature significantly lowers cortisol and stress levels. Enjoying regular presence in a park or garden will also do the trick, but personally, I’m much more satisfied on a multi-day hiking/camping/fishing/hunting expedition far away from civilization. Out of all of my travels, my experiences in vast, remote wild nature are the most memorable in life. The feeling of bliss and genuine harmony usually happens in nature. Fortunately, much of the world is undergoing a great rewilding and evolution, and you’re welcome to join. Of course, we should inspire young humans to learn autonomous outdoor traditional skills woven into the fabric of everyday life, but even we adults regularly need to relax, unwind, and learn new things outdoors in nature. 

One of the pillars of why nature heals is the exposure to full spectrum sunlight that you get when you’re outdoors. Regular smart amounts of sunlight on skin and time spent in nature reduces cancers (yes, you read that right) and helps you remember your natural state. There are also many benefits to receiving the light refracted from the leaves on the trees. Smart sunlight exposure on the body heals, improves skin tone naturally, informs your circadian rhythm each day, and also drastically reduces the number of inflammatory cells responsible for skin issues and much more. Morning light wakes up your cells if you’re there to receive it in your eyes (obviously while not looking directly at the sun, and just at the bright parts of the sky), and on your skin. The benefits of smart amounts of sun exposure on your skin go far beyond just bioavailable vitamin D. Time spent outside with smart light hygiene seriously pays off with high ROI in all dimensions of life. I talk a lot about organic food, but I actually believe your daily light environment is almost more important than the quality of food that you eat. Your cells will be less stressed, leaking less light, and your energy more coherent. 

Quantum health is the way. Your light environment is inextricably linked with your health status, changing plain biochemistry into quantum biochemistry. You need to be enjoying life outside while moving every single day for the rest of your life. If you hide yourself from nature and embrace man-made things unconsciously, the result is sickness and eventually dis-ease. We were not meant to live in artificial toxic environments, sedentary. Not being outside daily is almost just like smoking, and the cause of almost all illnesses. Living in cages without letting nature in all day is unwise, especially in today’s microwaved, artificially lit, nnEMF-saturated world. Chances are, the centralized system you live in gives you 0 answers. Decentralize your life and you’ll become aware of the game being played. The important questions will no longer lead to a dead end. 

Recent research has found that negative ions, like those found in rainfall, natural bodies of water and ocean spray, improve mitochondrial function. Decades of research also show that negative ions also improve our brain function, immune and nervous system health, supporting our quantum biology, structuring our intercellular water, and improving our quantum communication. The earth’s hum (Schumann resonance) and the negative ions of nature signal to our body that we are home, and we are safe. Allow ease, play, joy and expansion, even as an adult or elder. Nature can heal, so let it. 

Nature also has a profound impact on the psyche. The more time you spend in it, the more you unite with the divinity of life. All of life’s lessons are found in nature and you’ll realize that life itself is true magic and the ultimate psychedelic. So much life happens outside the confines of our concrete cages. Every blade of grass, the vastness, the flow of water, seeds that become trees with the power of rain and sunshine. You’ll understand on a deep level that the rainy days are needed in the cycle of life to water the plants that will blossom into flowers. I genuinely believe that the cure to every ailment is in nature. Nature teaches the full spectrum: the bad days are necessary to contrast with the good, and at the end of the day, it all comes down to cooperation and love.

When you’re out in nature, you remember you are home, you are safe, you are secure, you belong, you are inherently justified, you are loved.

Nature is my church!

Adventure

When was your last adventure in nature? Spending time outdoors with fresh air can be a relaxing activity at any age. Not everyone is lucky enough to immerse in wild nature regularly or to have reliable, consistent hiking, fishing, hunting or camping buddies, but at the very least I recommend daily outdoor walks (rain, snow, cloudy or shine), investing in group tour excursions if you’re isolated, dedicating time to go camping/swimming in natural bodies of water regularly, picking berries and mushrooms from remote wild places, and remembering the art of wandering and meandering with the vast unknown. Start today and save yourself. From this place, a creative and even mystical life will naturally emerge. 

Guy Debord defined the psychogeographical concept of the dérive or ‘drift’ as the unplanned journey through a landscape (usually urban but could be anywhere), in which participants stop focusing on their everyday relations to their social environment. This disorientation will allow the quantum field to open up with alternative potentials, and life will unfold randomly and beautifully. 

Meandering brings me great joy in the rare times I get to hang out in nature—it’s honestly my natural state. Today it is easy to forget the serendipity and art of being lost, though. The saturation of modern technology seems to entice people to stay indoors in a sterile environment, overstimulated, lifeless, tethered, isolated. Now more than ever it is important to take a step back, realize the harm that excessive time on screens indoors does to our cells, restore our DNA and soul, and remember the possibilities of what life could feel like. It really doesn’t take much to live a rich life, for sure, but somehow in this messed up modern world it has taken a lot of effort (especially for some more than others) to get reacquainted with basic human needs: fresh air, sunshine (or even just full-spectrum, natural light), simple, down-to-earth living, and authentic human connection/soul tribes or family.

So go step outside, get reacquainted with silence, wonder and stillness, ‘touch grass’ (that hasn’t been sprayed with pesticides), hug a tree barefoot, find camping friends, go camping/hiking this weekend, or plant an herb garden. If you want to help certain demographics get healthier and enjoy nature in remote places, invite them with you on your trips, or start clubs or groups. Heal yourself first, then gently help others. Remember that Mother Nature has got your back and everything in the universe is rigged in your favour. We’re all connected, it’s all connected. Don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. When old patterns are broken, new worlds emerge. 

Sunshine + fresh air + bare skin on the earth = a happy, healthy, thriving you. 

Links

Negative Ions Create Positive Vibes on WebMD

Negative Air Ions and Their Effects on Human Health and Air Quality Improvement
The Effect of Negative Ions on HealthLine

A comparative study of the physiological and psychological effects of forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku) on working age people with and without depressive tendencies

Movement vs. Rest vs. Sedentarism

Life is movement, and action creates opportunity. What do you need in your own life at the moment and why? I enjoy feeling fit and active while aligned with my life goals and need and crave lots of movement as I write this in my follicular phase, but I’m also a huge fan of unapologetic rest, especially in the luteal and menstrual phases while honouring my body’s somatic truth. The more you move, the less the system will dig its claws into you, and the better your life simply is. I grew up in visual art schools where a sedentary lifestyle was very common, but the good news is that movement creates more movement. It’s possible to live a life prioritizing creativity and health! Finding different ways to move without having to pay money is great especially if you’re more socially anxious or can’t find a job. There is a link between love and money though, and if you’re lucky to have a job, try to save up the funds to hire someone to help you in a targeted way with your movement goals.

Ray Peat said that wild animals have larger brains than caged ones, implying that life and freedom are the best brain stimulants. Despite your programming, fear and old stories, you should be finding diverse ways to move in any given environment in ways you can, every single day for the rest of your life. The world of movement is extremely vast, deep and limitless, and as a force against modern-day domestication and centralized systems, it’s worth exploring. Today’s lifestyles are full of stagnant lymph and toxicants, but the more you move fearlessly, your body will naturally detoxify through sweat and the movement of blood and lymph, and the more your brain will stay sharp. For me there is no willpower involved, I do it because it feels good and the results are valuable. Infinite doors will open as you cultivate antifragility. Natural movement gyms and yoga studios are great, but outdoor movement truly heals the cells and the spirit. You need to be moving outside in the sunlight, in natural settings, regularly. Time spent outside is never wasted. The resulting benefits are worth more than anything.

Aging well is a choice. Unlocking your potential while supporting your DNA is a choice. Muscle is the organ of longevity that is under your full control. There has been a lot of research on the importance of building muscle for aging well and staving off diabetes and metabolic disease, and gaining a more detailed understanding of the biological mechanisms behind it all will strengthen your spirit-mind-muscle connection. If you can’t afford or don’t want to go to the gym or do MovNat classes, try building a makeshift workout station in your backyard or outdoors (bonus valuable sunlight exposure)!

Releasing (rather than internalizing) pent-up emotions and stories in non-harmful ways is 100% our responsibility which allows us to navigate NOW more present and embodied! When we fail to empty our emotional cup regularly, it spills out onto other people around us or online, which is unfair to them. What daily practices or tools do you like that allow emotional energy to move out of your body? Whether it’s through art, movement, dance, Daoist tree meditation, swimming in natural bodies of water or just fooling around, issues are stored in our tissues, and when we express what we need to express and make the changes we need to make, we create swift and effective resolutions to life’s conflicts as well as inner conflicts, which is key to disease prevention. Journalling can help sort out your thoughts and feelings, and so can finding a trusted source to talk it out (who won’t just play the blame game with you).

Keeping moving with a variety of activities will help you stay youthful and full of life, making changes in the world, protecting your DNA, and nurturing your inner child well into older age.

Move Your DNA: Restore Your Health Through Natural Movement by Katy Bowman

Ignorance is not bliss, equanimity is bliss

It is ok to switch off the news and mainstream media. The news is a business that spreads fear. Consciously creating more distance between your daily life and the news reduces significant amounts of stress. It doesn’t mean that you’re ‘ignorant’. You’re already informed and the path forward is clear. Turn off the news and your phone, go for a walk outside. Breathe. You were never meant to carry the burden of the entire world. Look closely: for every single atrocity, there are equal amounts of goodness happening, every single moment. Media and politics intentionally rot your brain on a biochemical level, creating learned helplessness. Turn it off and abstain from mainstream media, as not staying up to date does not change anything in your life if you have any sense of purpose at all.

It is no more ‘empowered’ or ‘spiritual’ whether your nervous system is regulated or not, but enhancing your individual peace NOW is what will best help the collective. Be careful lest you create the same energy you abhor. This is an invitation to return to presence, simplicity, naturalness, surrender, spaciousness, intentional joy, and ease. Most (if not all?) mystical experiences are actually linked with a degree of equanimity. Meditation, breathwork, yoga, cold exposure, water fasting, or even running… even if that’s not what you’re looking for: get comfortable with being uncomfortable. In time, an equanimity practice will be so strong that it will spill out onto your whole life. Things that don’t go according to rigid, fixed plans will end up being a blessing and a redirection from life. With a life full of surrender and trust that everything that happens is exactly what’s meant to happen (the good and the bad), you’ll force and ‘hustle’ less, often to end up effortlessly doing what brings you joy.  

Divine union is the greatest threat to a system that thrives off of division and fear. The seed of creation that which perpetuates life is the medicine for our time. 

7. Heal traumas/cultivate forgiveness.

No matter how great your childhood was, you’ve been traumatized in some way. Trauma can be conventional, like physical or sexual abuse, but it can also come from many different sources, obvious or subtle. It doesn’t even have to happen to you directly (secondhand trauma) and you can still be affected by it, ie. by witnessing a car accident, parents arguing, or someone else getting bullied while not doing anything about it. 

Trauma is also passed on intergenerationally as witnessed not only in animal studies, but also in humans. Traumatic stress isn’t so much about what happened as it is about your body and mind’s response to it. It affects the brain, which makes it vital to take steps toward recovery and make moves to mitigate its negative effects and impacts as much as possible. It is well established that stress causes illness and psychological disturbances contribute to health challenges (including autoimmune conditions, a hyper-vigilant nervous system, digestive issues, sleep issues, inflammation, metabolic issues, POTS, fibro, hormone imbalances, food sensitivities, and histamine intolerance [x]). Working with a qualified, reputable, and conscious psychotherapist may be one route to fast-track your progress.

Ever since we were in the womb, our psyche started writing a story about what is/isn’t safe and who can/cannot be trusted. Much of the way you navigate the world today is based on the relationships you formed at an age when you were too young to know if the influences were going to serve you today. We often develop coping mechanisms which might’ve been helpful in getting us through childhood, but can result in detrimental outcomes as an adult.

Until you can address your subconscious patterning, you’ll keep projecting your sh*t onto others in daily life. This is what’s considered an unconscious life, the epitome of being dragged by the throes of our old programming. If you want to thrive, you have to take charge of how you navigate the world, and no longer rely on others to explain how you feel. Start to take responsibility for everything you say and do. Nothing is worth the cost of your inner peace.

Cultivate forgiveness for others, no matter how deeply they’ve wronged you (for they know not what they do), and for yourself, for any chaos you may have generated. No matter how hard it may be to see or imagine, there’s a part of them that’s hurting deep inside with unmet needs.

Let go of what does not serve! Make it a goal to forgive people more quickly and easily, and you may experience less toxicity, which means better health and purer love for everyone around us, resulting in more joy. Forgiveness is medicine, and although it may not always be possible to cultivate, I recommend at least finding some sort of peace with the past to make way for a brighter present moment. Give yourself grace and forgive yourself for all the old habits you might’ve picked up in survival mode in unhealthy environments. It’s relieving to be assured that the body is always working for you and always healing given the right environment, so forgive yourself for any ‘bad’ habits you may have engaged with in the past.

How Trauma and PTSD Impact the Brain

Fearful Memories Passed Down to Mouse Descendants

Transgenerational Trauma Passed Down from WWII Evacuees

Healing trauma is a highly personal exploration. There is no linear roadmap to harmonising the unseen and releasing the power of the wounds controlling your life, but there are many great resources out there that can help you on your path. Some modalities (that I’d actually consider fun) that may be helpful in your journey include: 

• NeuroTraining 

• Somatic experiencing

• EMDR (I’ve heard many positive things about this)

• Dance/ecstatic dance

• Meditation

• Earth connection and sitting with nature’s free teachings by barefoot grounding, soaking up the light of the sun and moon, swimming in natural unchlorinated bodies of water

• Bodywork/energy work

• Sound therapies/chanting 

• Hakomi somatic psychotherapy

• Temazcal/sweat lodge ceremonies

• Sauna (Finnish is my preferred style, infrared is nice too)

• Plant medicine shamanic ceremonies

• Workshops at tobemagnetic.com

• Byron Katie’s ‘The Work’

• Inner child healing, shadow work, and/or support from mentors, men’s/women’s circles, shamans, and teachers 

• Omnivorous whole food nutrition

• Feeling your feelings and using/releasing/expressing them to change the world

• Seeking out relationships where you feel safe (practitioners, psychotherapists, friends, support groups, co-regulating with someone who currently has a stable nervous system)

True inner strength arises from effortlessness. When you feel the time is right, explore what feels right for your current situation. Suffering can make one feel safe if that’s all they’ve known, but there’s no reason to suffer. At a certain point, suffering is a choice. You have the power to end these patterns and begin again fresh.

What we look for is all we will see. I’ve come to learn that vibrant health is rooted in a self-empowered being who has shed all victim mentality. These days, I’m a lover of reality because constantly fighting against it hurts. I’ve become a fan of taking steps towards radical responsibility: when I feel the need to blame anything outside of myself (whether it’s someone else’s behaviour, a system of oppression, the sick care industrial complex, the wellness industry, or heck, the government), I take it as an invitation to explore deep within myself and self-reflect, to write my own story knowing that I can be the change I want. There are still times when I slip back into victim consciousness (rewiring that neurology has been no joke), but at the end of the day it’s helpful to realize that life is a mirror that cannot be evaded! I am both sides of any war, and there’s a part of me that plays a role in prolonging and perpetuating anything I’m resisting. Blaming the other robs us of our own work and responsibility (and sweet lessons). If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you have to create it! Owning our part in life with the grace of acceptance is where our power lives. No victim/villain/saviour triad, it’s just you showing you to you. 

When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress by Dr. Gabor Maté

How to Heal From Trauma on Verywell Mind

Somatic Experiencing International

Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises (or TRE®)

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

8. Acknowledge your shadow.

Shadow work has become trendy, but I truly believe that most of our social ills rooted in divide from racism and sexism to psychological and ideological warfare will dissipate as soon as you’re able to start to acknowledge your shadow. 

Your shadow is your ‘dark side’, the selfish, jealous, unkind side of you. No one is exempt from this, as literally every human has a shadow (even the most uber-spiritual, talented, ‘successful’, or downtrodden of us). Think about the qualities you dislike in others: those are actually a reflection of parts of yourself as you observe them. By acknowledging your shadow, you create the basis for a real practice of compassion because it is through seeing our own darkness that we can understand the plight of all humans. When we can acknowledge that we too have a dark side, we can see that we’re more similar to one another than we’ve been raised to believe. 

Shadow work gives you the opportunity to harmonize all the polarities and integrate (and accept) all the repressed, unconscious parts of yourself in order to return to wholeness (creating health). These are the often long-forgotten aspects of our identity: unconscious, disowned attitudes, attributes, and qualities from our early development that we’ve often tucked away out of fear or shame so we could have a flattering image and be noticed/accepted/blended in. It’s a deep exploration of the subconscious that helps us realize that whatever we’re avoiding or numbing out will only persist and fester in the shadows. Confronting any pain, fear, and trauma inside yourself with love and acceptance while recognizing they are no longer necessary, and transmuting and using them to fuel your path today without them controlling you and your every action and behaviour… it’s not easy, but it’s medicine. 

From childhood, we’ve been primed to behave and be “good”, and develop the sense that we are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ based on our actions. The mainstream industrial age schooling system plays into this, unsustainable, oppressive systems play into this, and ‘cancel culture’ was simply an extension of this, mirroring the cheap, soulless, polluting, throwaway culture that ties into the carceral logic of the same prison society we often like to critique. We in the West need a serious wake up call if what we want is indeed liberation. We should realize that there is always a road to redemption because our actions, thoughts or Internet profiles don’t define who we are.

The political left and right (and their far versions) are two wings of the same plane… and that plane is a dumpster fire. The answer, for me at least, includes better dialogue and education in which we rise collectively by lifting others. If we want to live a fulfilling life, create beautiful things and play a part in the emerging artistic renaissance, it’s time for our Western culture (and its fringes) to have empathy and unite to heal, inspire and educate the collective. It’s only when our nervous systems are regulated and we have the space and time to be safe, idle, inspired and healthy that divine artistic inspiration and intelligence will strike and the possibility of a creative, beautiful, adventurous, expansive life in a flourishing, inspiring, ecologically sound culture returns (AI notwithstanding). 

I believe that to change the world, we must first look deep within ourselves. Like, really deep. We’re here to be fully enthralled in the totality of this human journey, not bound to an artificial box or rigid framework. From the highest heights and deepest lows, there is no ‘love and light’, ‘transcending’, ‘meditating away’ or ‘mantra’ out of this. 

Be careful… pretending you don’t have a shadow often leads to spiritual bypassing, exaggerated and superficial niceness, and the risky path of unconscious behaviour. 

Links

Spiritual Bypassing as a Defense Mechanism on Verywell Mind

Power in the Helping Professions by Adolf Guggenbuhl-Craig (a great insight and a bit of a harrowing read into the shadows of being a saviour and navigating the world while acknowledging one’s shadow)

TBM workshops, including shadow work

9. Be your own guru.

Vibrant health is ultimately rooted in shedding every last bit of victim consciousness, taking back your power (literally your energy field) and recognizing that at the end of the day, only you are responsible for your Self. My own life vastly improved as soon as I took radical responsibility for my health, my emotions, my actions, my happiness, and my reactions. After all, it’s the true revolution and really the only thing within your immediate control that will get you closer to your dreams. Happiness is ultimately something cultivated from within, not dependent on any other person or thing, and this also bleeds into the world of conscious relationships (romantic or otherwise!) along with a conscious, harmonious use of technology. If we want to create a better reality than this, we must embody the change we want. Don’t get good at being in a bad situation, and begin to unwind patterns of belief that are keeping you stuck in situations that are fundamentally harming your well-being.

The way that Western society is structured breeds “the blame game” in which we often accuse others for how we feel with a lot of helplessness in unhealthy, artificially lit, caged, sterile environments. We sit sedentary in fear, isolated in our concrete boxes and try to ‘fix’ other people or manage others’ perceptions of us in order to feel safe in the world. We take it all for granted, expecting the nutritionist or the doctor to step in and ‘fix’ us, but the problem with this is that leaving our power in the hands of others leaves us with no energy or room to step into our own divine human power.

I remember a time in my younger years when I was quite uneducated about my own health and body literacy. This is a risky place where it’s easy to be taken advantage of, and in a world like this, we really can’t afford to have this happen. Even if you have access to the most heart-centered, conscious, and knowledgeable practitioners to help you with your decision making, remember that ultimately, you are the one who remains in the driver’s seat of your life. Whether it’s a functional medicine doctor, Ayurvedic, Traditional Chinese Medicine, German New Medicine, naturopath, conventional Western MD, herbalist, Dr. WebMD, etc etc… use any advice as a filter, soak it up, weigh your options, and finally, trust your gut. Take it upon yourself to learn what it takes to approach your well-being from a truly empowered and confident place, a place where you have the strength to ask questions, get a second opinion, and even challenge convention and rigidity.

When you’re standing in your power, you’ve cultivated abundant internal energy, the kind of self sourced bliss and validation that no one can give to you but yourself. You recognize that absolutely everything happens for you, not to you, and you see the lessons built into every situation as a launchpad for your growth. Even if you didn’t formally study science, by becoming more proactive about your biochemistry, nutrition, and quantum biology, you’ll realize that you can indeed live a free and empowered life where human health effortlessly thrives in the first place.

One thing to remember is that only your body can heal itself. The body only heals and adapts. You are not broken or wrong, and you don’t need to be ‘fixed’! It’s always working for you, so trust it. Personally, I wouldn’t let a diagnosis from the mainstream Western system scare me, because I know all my options and alternatives. Healing happens effortlessly when you align with nature and the way the cosmic intelligence intended for you to live. It’s about undoing and unbecoming, letting go of the things that cause you pain, coming home to your Self. Simply remove the inputs and environments not serving you, and the body will heal. Oh, and remember to ground barefoot while getting safe sunlight exposure every single day.

10. Selfless service (seva).

Service to others without expectation of reward is a powerful way to open hearts and radiate love while healing jealousy, greed and isolation. It’s a practice that is encouraged by many different cultures and faith traditions, but ultimately enriches both your experience and that of the collective with benefits that compound beyond transactional relationships.

When it comes to helping others grow, there are immeasurable benefits to staying in your own lane though, because everyone is learning a different lesson. It can be tempting to nudge others along by sharing resources or tips with your loved ones in an attempt to get them to change/“heal” (often so we ourselves can feel safe in the world), but all this does is tell them “you’d be better and easier to love if you grow.” Every belief and story we have about another person’s journey and how they should or shouldn’t behave is an invitation back to yourself, and the most powerful thing you can do for someone else’s growth is to gift them the sovereignty and unconditional love to bloom in their own divine timing, and to allow others to experience the consequences of their choices for themselves. After all, this is the only true way to encourage anyone to grow or heal sustainably, and will actually allow you to keep going fully at your own pace, offering help to those who are ready. Everyone is different, and everyone will find what they need in divine timing. 

Liberate yourself and you will liberate the collective, slowly but surely. Liberate your truth, your own intuition, your own healing, and you’ll become a light for others to recognise as a reflection of their own light. 

This article goes over the thing, but it’s often not the thing, rather it is your unique relationship to the thing. How do you digest and metabolize your whole life? How do you show up in alignment with your values to pursue a rich and meaningful life? Without getting neurotic or fearful, your everyday habits WILL make or break your overall health, so try adapting at least some of these habits and you may discover some of the best versions of yourself and begin to live the life you actually want, whether you find yourself with a diagnosis from the mainstream medical paradigm or not.

I hope you enjoyed this little article and that it may help you on your journey to wholeness. And so it is.

FREEDOM AND JOY ARE YOUR BIRTHRIGHT. YOU ARE WORTHY OF VIBRANT HEALTH.

Bonus: A bit of a laundry list that may help boost your daily experience…

- Invest in a shower filter

- Utilize night shift or a red filter on your phone at night 

- Utilize f.lux on your laptop 

- Wear blue light blocking glasses when using tech past sundown

- Limit artificial light usage 

- Use wired headphones/earbuds only

- Stop watching the news & engaging with negative people

- Have pasture-raised animal protein in every meal, especially at breakfast

- Ditch hormone-disrupting products

- Meditate or practice living meditation

- Turn Bluetooth off on your phone

- Turn your wifi router off at night

- Daily earthing/grounding outside

- Morning sunlight exposure on skin every day (rain, clouds, snow or shine)

- Red light therapy 

- Daily sauna use (at least 4-5x/week)

- Add Icelandic sea salt or Peruvian mountain salt and lemon to your water 

- Stop using toxic feminine products

- Limit your use of plastic in the kitchen

- Limit polyester clothing

- Daily movement/weightlifting

- Consume EVOO & black seed oil as supplements

- Deeper, slower, intentional breathing