Science says eating just one meal per day can improve your health. Learn more at https://highintensityhealth.com/OMAD ----- 9:49 The Benefits of Wilderness Awareness: Nate feels that his young daughter is an example of how being in nature helps the immune system. In her 9 years, she has only had one round of antibiotics. He sees his students become healthier with movement and being off trail. A more remarkable result from exposure to nature is the healing of deep emotional challenges. It seems to Nate that people are unaware that they exist in a state of agitation and disruption of their nervous system. There is a high level of chronic anxiety. When their students are in nature for anywhere from a weekend to a 9 month program, being in nature seems to release this tension and anxiety. There is also an upswing in inspiration and creativity. 13:46 Wilderness Awareness Training: Nate’s school offers a 48 hour survival basics class which teaches things that he believes everyone should know to prepare them for hiking, backpacking or a natural disaster. They have classes on edible and medicinal plants, birds and bird language, a wolf tracking program, a hardcore survival program that they call a Walkabout. People get a lot of skills out of the classes, but they are also emotionally transformed. 15:26 Foraging Ideas: In the summer, everyone should try to eat easily-identified wild berries. Domesticated berries are good, but wild ones are fuller of flavor, nutrition and vitality. You could gather wild greens, especially in the spring and early summer. You can gather nettles in quantity, dry them, freeze them, or make pesto out of them. Nettles are a superfood. You can grow things in your yard or you can forage. 18:16 Beneficial Microbes in Dirt: Eating lightly rinsed food from your own garden is restorative for your gut microbiome. Research shows that just digging in the dirt releases happy, healthy chemicals into your body. 20:32 Vegetable Recommendations for the Begining Gardener: Nate recommends starting with nutrient dense dark green leafy vegetables like kale, beets and chard. They can be grown easily by those of us without green thumbs. They can grow in a pot, as well as a garden bed. Growing a micro garden of culinary herbs, like rosemary, oregano, thyme and basil, are also a great place to start. These can also be grown in a pot in an urban setting. If you have more space, berries are easy to grow and can help you to create your own food forest. Know your soil history, because your food can absorb things you don’t want to eat. 23:13 Adapt Your Passion to the Outdoors: If you are into swimming, do that outside. If you are into wood, spend time with the trees, learn to make fire, or build a bow. Whatever your interest, try to hone it to the outdoors. It helps to make us happier, healthier and more fulfilled. 24:46 The Benefits of Grounding/Earthing: Nate recommends the book by Clinton Ober, Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever? It describes the healing that takes place when you skin touches the ground. It is based in modern research. Nate feels it is essential to spend some time of the day barefoot outside. He says that many of their students are barefoot in extreme conditions. Years ago, a study in Japan discovered that many people were experiencing a strange syndrome. It involved tight muscles, stress and insomnia with fatigue. These people were living in buildings and not getting outside. They developed an acupuncture protocol to treat it. But they went further and took these patients to the country and had them walk barefoot for an hour every day. They all got better. When Nate discovered this, grounding/earthing became an essential part of his life. 27:19 Advice for being in Nature in the Winter: Just getting outside is beneficial. Mukluks, moccasins or other footwear that does not have an insulating sole helps to provide contact with the earth. At Wilderness Awareness School, they do cold training. When they get snow, they strip to minimal clothing and rub snow on their bodies. They also do cold water emersion in the winter. Humans lived outside and had toughened their bodies to those conditions. If you cannot get outside in the cold to do these things, you can turn your shower water to cold in the winter. Research shows that it strengthens our immune system and our metabolism. Nate also advises spending time around a fire during the winter as our ancestors did.