Daily Habits

"The whole process is truly life changing, from the medicine ceremonies themselves, to learning about eating cleaner, living simpler, and practicing gratitude and self love on a daily basis!"

— RYAN FOWLER

Mental Health Practices

Meditation

Start a meditation practice. Apps like Calm or Headspace can start you in the right direction. Start with 10 minutes per day and work up to 20. Find a quiet space where you will not be disturbed by family or phone. Try to do it at the same time every day. Meditation takes life-long practice. Don’t expect to be good at it from the start! However, with regular practice, you will begin looking forward to this time. Meditation will be a cornerstone of integration post-retreat.

Breathwork

Learning some simple breath work exercises will help you during the retreat and in the integration afterwards. We recommend learning box breathing first to help ground yourself. Box breathing should be done daily for several minutes. Watch Video

We also recommend Wim Hof breathing. This practice is more intense than box breathing. Try to integrate this into your life three times a week. There are beginner and advanced levels. Start easy and don’t worry if you aren’t able to keep up immediately. This practice takes some time to master. Watch Video

Exercise

Commit to 30 minutes of daily cardiovascular exercise. Start with low-impact activities such as walking, aqua exercise, yoga, Pilates, or Tai Chi. We highly recommend taking two 20-minutes walks per day, ideally in nature. You can do this alone, with a loved one, or even with the whole family.

Journaling

Journaling is an excellent way to help organize the thoughts that we get tangled in onto paper. Commit to journaling daily. Use a timer if needed to help create the discipline. Start with 5 minutes and increase as your habits progress. Make sure to use pen and paper, not a keyboard to journal. For those who have trouble, feel free to use a prompt to get you going. Learn More

Diet

Prior to any journey we require an anti-inflammatory and detoxifying diet. This means removing certain things from your diet as much as possible. Remove processed food and added sugar from your diet. Favor whole foods, grains, fresh veggies, fish and nutrients rich in Omega 3. Cut out red meats and pork, gluten, dairy or soy products.

It's important to remember everything you put in your body affects how you feel. Eliminating nicotine, caffeine products and alcohol can have a huge impact. Maintaining a diet high fiber and rich in good fats can stabilize hormones which helps improve your overall mood. Many first responders are suffering from adrenal fatigue. You may need to seek help from a Naturopathic MD to help your body heal physically from PST as well.