Stress is both friend and foe, depending on the circumstance and consistency!

An inherent instinct, stress raises blood pressure and floods the body with cortisol, much like a built in safety mechanism it prepares us for battle or to burst into a run.

Useful when dogging a bullet or breaking in traffic it heightens the senses and puts all your parts on alert, but prolong this state indefinitely and it is rather like high revs and wheelies – your engine and tyres will wear out leaving you with an unresponsive vehicle stuck in race mode!

In humans chronic stress equates to a compromised immune system, impaired cognitive function, poor digestion, aching muscles and much more.

Click here read about stress and sickness.

Like all beasts stress is best awakened in select moments and kept sedated the rest of the time. So, this month’s mission is to master the art of sedating stress using the best beast tamer of all – sleep!

Why sleep is your secret weapon against stress – it restores hormonal balance much like a pit crew changes bald tyres, realigns the wheels, and tops up your tank. It acts like a sedative on stress counteracting oxidative damage and making it easier to cope with the beast when it rears its ugly head.

Objective: Identify sleep obstacles and implement ‘sound sleep’ strategies.

To follow are a few common lifestyle habits which make it difficult to get sound sleep -

-Working the Night Shift
-Large Meals Late in the Evening
-Sitters Syndrome (inactive lifestyle)
-Pill Popping (relying on artificial sleep aids)
-Caffeine Catalysts (using coffee to stay awake/alert)
-Constantly Connected (internet,pda’s,mobile phones etc..)

Did you identify with any of these or can you relate to any of the following signs of stress/sleep deprivation:

-Fatigue
-Moodiness
-Depression
-Memory Loss
-Slow to React
-Low Motivation
-Lack of Concentration

With a knowledge of your disruptive behaviours coupled by an awareness of the impact it is having on your body and brain we can now begin implementing some ‘sound sleep’ strategies:

Increase Your Serotonin Levels
Carbohydrates can support serotonin production but sugar loaded varieties only offer a short term solution. Choose complex carbohydrates like root vegetables, nuts and wild rice which help your brain properly process the tryptophan (a large amino that converts to serotonin in the brain) in protein.

Feed your Hormones
Fat is essential to many hormonal processes, look for foods naturally high in DHA (i.e. mackerel, wild salmon,avocados, nuts, flaxseed).

Moderate Your Mood
Get in some ‘good oil’, support brain health and boost your mood with a quality fish oil supplement.

Slow Serotonin Breakdown
Consider an adaptogenic supplement like Rhodiola which slows the breakdown of serotonin.

Stop Using Stimulants
Dump the stimulant cycle including sugars,caffeine and any sleep aids. Start by reducing your reliance by replacing part of your portion (ie. one out four cups of coffee) or pills with an alternative therapy (i.e. a cup of ginseng tea or a melatonin capsule).

Move More
Exercise boosts cardiovascular efficiency, encourages endorphins and aligns well with consistent sleep patterns.

Nap Now and Then
It is not always possible to nod off on a regular schedule or sleep soundly whilst neighbours jam it out next door so when you fall short of sound sleep try napping every now and then. Studies link afternoon power naps with increased productivity, better cognitive function and memory retention, and lower stress levels.

Try these seven ‘sound sleep’ strategies implementing one each day over the course of a week and see if this doesn’t help sedate the stress beast within.

This month we venture off the beaten path back into the woods and the bears backyard to gain wisdom from the Great Grizzly.

I recently went on an adventure to a remote coastal region of British Columbia hoping to garner an understanding for the ways of the wild and the unique systems which have for centuries helped support a healthy and vital environment.

I discovered an integral piece of this puzzle lies in the powerful presence of the Grizzly. Watching from afar, I learned much about the bears impact and influence on the land, its creatures and wild resources.

Putting this into practice for the modern man and woman I have outlined governing principles which encompass the Great Grizzly as a Guide.

Eat for the Earth
Follow the seasons when you eat and return the remains of your meal in natural form to the earth, so nutrients can then feed a fertile soil. Grizzlies are natural gardeners, digging in forage they prepare seed beds for germination and also spread seed when they visit the bear bathroom. This is good for the earth and other creatures great and small who refuel on the rich resources growing in the grizzlies garden. Consume then Compost to reduce your living impact on earths natural resources!

Grow like a Griz on Greens
The food habits of the Great Grizzly depend largely on environment but also on adaptive food preferences. According to Shepard and Sanders authors of the Sacred Paw, “All bears are omnivorous but the proportion of meat to plants in their diets varies, not only among different species but seasonally and with availability.”

Subsisting on seasonal foods means the grizzly will at times source all their energy from a vegetarian diet. In fact, the North American brown bear typically eats more than 200 types of plants and consumes a higher percentage of vegetation (85-98%) than many other bears. Whilst the Syrian brown bear is almost totally vegetarian.

Lyngby’s sedge (Carex lyngbyei) a main staple for bears during spring, contains 25% raw protein. A common shoreline sedge to the Pacific Northwest it can be purchased from native plant nurseries (ie. Woodbrook) to snip and sprinkle over your salad!

Earn what you Eat
Sourcing food from aquatic habitats, ground vegetation – above and below, and trees the grizzly enlists skill and physical effort to acquire their food. Swimming (can catch 60-100 fish a day), digging, leveraging rock, stripping bark and climbing to fuel their powerful frames. Put some muscle into your meals and maintain a healthy body through functional exercise. Get outdoors leaving electrical expense behind and work up a sweat the old fashioned way. This not only minimises your energy consumption but healthcare outlay as well.

Bear Behaviour Benefits
The Grizzly lives an ‘eco-vital’ existence adding value to the earth through a lifestyle which enriches the environment rather than depletes it. If all humans heeded the example they set, the world would be a better place, eco-systems would sustain through natural means and our resources would renew themselves.

Back the Bears
The Great Grizzly needs guardians for as impressive a beast as the bear maybe it too has succumb to the changing climate and conditions of a modern world. Of greatest impact to the Griz is land fragmentation and the loss of their Freedom to Roam.

With the grizzly bear as its compass, Vital Ground works to reconnect fragmented landscapes in the U.S. and Canada critical to wildlife movement and biodiversity. Because the grizzly’s range covers several hundred square miles—from alpine meadows to valley bottoms—protecting and expanding habitat and migration corridors important to the Great Bear benefits entire animal and plant communities in the wildest, yet most imperiled places left on the continent. Since its founding in 1990, Vital Ground has helped to protect and enhance more than 604,000 acres of wildlife habitat in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Alaska, and British Columbia.

Click here to donate to Vital Ground and become a guardian for the Great Griz.

Are you on a diet?

Consuming without conscious understanding for where your food came from, how it was made or what it consists of, is a sure sign your on the ‘Detached Diet’.

In this month’s mission we explore human relationships with food and how this influences our health and the future of earths resources.

Objective: To replace a Detached Diet with a Discovery one that encourages a deeper appreciation and understanding for the foods you eat.

3 Step Consumption Connection

Tracing the roots of a recipe- Before you can bite into a burger the ingredients must first be sourced. Getting to know how things grow may surprise and shock you.

Experience is the best teacher so consider a trip to the farm where age old traditions are still practiced and you can taste produce before it is processed. Farm folk are a friendly lot willing to share both passion and wisdom for managing the land and enjoying the best nature has to offer.

If you have friends or family who own a farm ask if you can stop by and help out for the day. Alternatively, many commercial and community farms encourage visitors as part of an integrative approach to inform consumers about farming practices, produce quality and heritage.

Some visitor farms offer guided tours which explain the intricacies of farming with cattle or sheep. You might have an opportunity to witness a demonstration of a sheepdog working, or sheep shearing and children may get to pet a pony, or to cuddle a rabbit.

Some farms specialise in cheese-making or organic horticulture; others are deer farms, or farms with rare breeds of pigs or poultry. Most have a children’s play area or a coffee shop.

Many of the farm tools and household implements on display in some of these farms are gathered in from the community, and celebrate a way of life still linked to today’s countryside through family memory and tradition. It’s a wonderful way to re-connect with our resources!

A Cooks Connection- Once you understand the effort involved in growing good flavoursome food it’s time to use your newly found appreciation for produce to plate up a ‘real deal’ meal. Microwave meals that are ready in minutes maybe convenient but lack a quality ingredient – a cooks connection!

Serving a supper made from scratch that simmered for hours developing depth of character has more flavour, colour and aroma than boxed buys. But most importantly provides the cook with a sense of satisfaction, appreciation and understanding of where, how and what went into each moorish mouthful.

Share your Discovery- Complete the connection by sharing the Discovery Diet with others. The most powerful way to make an impact on preservation is to inspire people with your passion.

Take them on a journey of discovery through your eyes, spread the word about sustainable practices and connecting through cooking so people understand how a knowledge of both can help restore good health and replenish earth resources.

The Mission this Month is to Pass on your Passion!

Remember the first time you held a fishing rod or helped mum bake a cake?

These moments make lasting impressions on the young often sparking a passion or helping preserve a tradition. Sharing your knowledge, experience and enthusiasm with your children can help uncover hidden talents that otherwise remain untapped.

Objective: Encourage curiosity, creativity and confidence in your children by passing on your passion to them.

Brief: Consider your passion, not your occupation necessarily but the pastime which gives you pleasure, speaks to your soul and harbours special meaning or sentimental value.

‘This is the passion to pass on and share with your child’

Making time for moments is more than a matter of shuffling your schedule the value of doing so translates to better communication and connection with your children.

Having said that, not all activities require travel or huge investments in time some simple suggestions include:

Share a love of cooking- make a meal together & transfer your tasty traditions.
Convey cosmic curiosity- pullout your telescope & point out the planets.
Express your enthusiasm for sport- step outside & shoot some hoops.

Maybe you love hiking and could plan a camping trip, perhaps its cars and you could go to a convention together.

Whatever your passion the point is to pass it on, for this is how tradition is born and talent formed.

Reclaim your Energy and Enthusiasm with a Re-boost to your System!

Several months into a New Year when stress mounts and motivation wanes, routine can creep in and rob you of the inspiration to reinvent yourself. But rather than resign your fate to a subpar state, why not try re-boosting your system?

Repetition and poor nutrition can wear down your energy reserve, leaving you physically and mentally exhausted. To fight this fatigue and loss of enthusiasm the mission this month involves an integrative approach of simple supplementation and mental stimulation to replenishing your reserve.

Mission: Re-boost your System with Supplementation and Brain Breaks!

Objective: Enhance immune and digestive function whilst engaging the mind in activities which invigorate and inspire you.

How to Re-boost your System

Not unlike a computer which processes and filters copious amounts of data everyday, our body must defend against unseen bugs and bacteria. Without adequate security to act as a firewall against hackers, bugs and viruses your hard drive maybe compromised and the same can be said when the immune system is not operating optimally we become susceptible to illness.

Step one is to de-bug your system: Vitaklenz is a blend of 12 active herbal ingredients traditionally used in Asia, Europe, America & India to help the body eliminate unhealthy organisms, and to support a healthy digestive system.

The formula for this herbal treatment was carefully designed by Dr Bernard Barber, one of the world’s foremost parasite experts in consultation with leading health supplement provider Genesis to maximize the anti-parasitic and anti-yeast properties of each of the herbal ingredients. An extra layer of help has also been included to assist the body to rid toxins that build up from the parasite die-off.

This places Vitaklenz in a unique position – the powerful double action of hitting both parasites and candida yeast hard, but with liver stimulants present to help cope with any unpleasant side-effects of the cleanse.

Step two install supportive software: Once you’ve eliminated any parasites placing extra stress on your system, it’s time to install ‘supportive software’ which will provide security against future invasions. This equates to supplementation which nourishes healthy bacteria and strengthens your natural defence system.

Vitaklenz Recharge is a powerful probiotic naturally cultured through a traditional process. Containing 19 fermented superfoods and 15 beneficial strains of bacteria. Easily assimilated your body will immediately start to metabolize the nutrients in Vitaklenz Recharge.

No bacterial agents are introduced during manufacture – all beneficial bacteria are cultivated within the powder through natural fermentation – just as nature intended!

As a concentrated food powder, you can take it in a variety of ways- sprinkled over cereal, mixed into water or juice, baked into home-made bread or added to your favorite fruit smoothie drink, Vitaklenz Recharge is easy to take.

Just one teaspoon per day is all you need to nourish your system with millions of viable, living beneficial bacteria. Of course you can take more if you like, with many regular users finding success with 3 or 4 times that amount. Vitaklenz Recharge may be taken on an ongoing basis to supplement your nutritional intake, boost your body’s defences against infection and balance your digestive system.

Step three re-boost your system: With new software installed it’s time to relaunch your computer and enjoy the benefits of a ‘bug-free’ system which include improved efficiency and faster processing time. Our body responds to the benefits of supportive nutrition in the same way finally able to utilise energy otherwise depreciated by poor health and digestive function.

Now, revitalised by good health the best way to maintain your motivation is with brain breaks especially from mentally challenging or repetitive tasks. Setting aside as little as a few minutes everyday dedicated to activities which stimulate your senses and encourage creativity will balance stress and boost inspiration!

The Ten Minute Holiday: Try making a list of express escapes such as- sitting down to hot chocolate and a good book, playing frisbee with a friend, going for a walk in the park, getting a massage or picking-up a paint brush.