What is meditation?
Because meditation is  very personal, there are tons of different ways you can choose to meditate, you just have to find what works best for you. There are a couple that are usually focused on heavily in scientific research, though. These are focused-attention, or mindful meditation, which is where you focus on one specific thing—it could be your breathing, a sensation in your body or a particular object outside of you. The point of this type of meditation is to focus strongly on one point and continually bring your attention back to that focal point when it wanders.

The other type of meditation that’s often used in research is open-monitoring meditation. This is where you pay attention to all of the things happening around you—you simply notice everything without reacting.

What happens in your brain when you meditate?
Essentially, when you meditate, your brain stops processing information as quickly and actively as it normally would. Scientists have been able to study this using brain scans that show a significant drop in brain activity, even after just 20-seconds. Now why would we want our brain to stop working at it’s normal speed? It allows us to take a deep breath and focus on the present moment, accepting whatever circumstance or emotions that may be surrounding us.

This image shows us what our brains may look like before and after meditation:

Here is what is taking place in your brain during meditation:
Frontal lobe
This is the most highly evolved part of the brain, responsible for reasoning, planning, emotions and self-conscious awareness. During meditation, the frontal cortex tends to go offline.

Parietal lobe
This part of the brain processes sensory information about the surrounding world, orienting you in time and space. During meditation, activity in the parietal lobe slows down.

Thalamus
The gatekeeper for the senses, this organ focuses your attention by funneling some sensory data deeper into the brain and stopping other signals in their tracks. Meditation reduces the flow of incoming information to a trickle.

Reticular formation
As the brain’s sentry, this structure receives incoming stimuli and puts the brain on alert, ready to respond. Meditating dials back the arousal signal.

 How does meditation affect us?
Now that you have an idea of what meditation is exactly, why would you want to partake? There are so many amazing ways meditation helps our mind, body, and soul.

• During meditation, we  practice focusing our attention and recognizing when our focus drifts off. By doing so, we are essentially training our brains on how to focus better, thus improving our focus even when we aren’t meditating.
• This one is a little tricky and may sound a bit crazy, but it is actually quite astonishing! The more we meditate, the less anxiety we have, and it turns out this is because we’re actually loosening the connections of particular neural pathways. The prefrontal cortex (Me Center) of our brain processes all the info about ourselves and our experiences. Normally the neural pathways from the bodily sensation and fear centers of the brain to the Me Center are really strong so when something happens that instills fear or scares us, there is a strong reaction in your Me Center aka anxiety and stress. By meditating, we loosen these neural connection while strengthening the connection related to reasoning. Therefore, our bodies can react more rationally and less fearfully to situations, lowering our overall level of anxiety. Complicated and scientific, we know. Just remember, more meditation = less stress!
• Meditation can even boost your creativity! A study conducted by researchers at Leiden University in the Netherlands, found that those who practice open-monitoring mediation, performed better on a task where they were asked to come up with new ideas.
• More meditation means more love. Tons of studies have been done that show that people who practice mediation regularly are more empathetic and compassionate than those who do not. One study showed participants were bale to focus their attention and reduce their emotional reaction to images of people who were good, bad, or neutral, whether they were meditating or not. This, as well as an increase in empathy and compassion, is linked to the decreased activity in the amygdala during meditation, the part of the brain that processes emotional stimuli.
• Mediation has also been linked to an improvement in memory. It has been found that those who practice meditation can more easily screen out distractions, therefore increasing their productivity. Researcher Catherine Kerr of the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging said that being able to ignore distractions leads to “their superior ability to rapidly remember and incorporate new facts.”

These are just some of the  amazing ways that meditation can have a positive impact on us. Take this information and go out and find your way to meditate. Do some research of your own! Are you the type of person who listens to audio to meditate? Would you rather sit on top of a hill and take in the sights while you meditate? Do you want to keep it simple and sit o your living room floor? You can start off slow, only two minutes of meditation a day can make a huge difference over time! We are definitely going to make room for meditation in our schedules!

Check out this infographic for a little more info on meditation:

Sources:
Io9
Psychology Today
Psych Central
NY Times
Buffer Social 

Most of us use numerous personal care products on our body each day, whether we are doing our makeup in the morning, washing our face at night, or anything in between. Unfortunately, many of us are not aware of exactly how these products are impacting our body. From shampoo to lipstick, deodorant to sunscreen, many of these products include chemicals that can be far more damaging to our bodies than we know. According to our friends over at the Safe Cosmetics Campaign, “more than 1 in 5 personal care products contain chemicals linked to cancer, 80 percent contain ingredients that commonly contain hazardous impurities, and 56 percent contain penetration enhancers that help deliver ingredients deeper into the skin.”

Being said, it is SUPER important for us as consumers to know what to look for and avoid when it comes to shopping for personal care products. Below is a cheat sheet of chemicals commonly found in every day products and how to identify them when you are on your weekly shopping trip! Although their chemical names may look intimidating, don’t let that stop you. You hold the power to stop these nasty chemicals from entering your body!

Foundation/Lipstick
Common Chemical: Lead and other Heavy Metals
What to look for on the label: Lead acetate, chromium, thimerosal, hydrogenated cotton seed oil, sodium hexametaphosphate. Note: products that contain contaminant metals will not list them on ingredient labels
Health concerns: Cancer, developmental and reproductive toxicity, organ system toxicity, allergies and immunotoxicity, bioaccumulation
Vulnerable populations: Pregnant women, young children and adolescents

Blush
Common Chemical: Ethanolamine compounds
What to look for on the label: Triethanolamine, diethanolamine, DEA, TEA, cocamide DEA, cocamide MEA, DEA-cetyl phosphate, DEA oleth-3 phosphate, lauramide DEA, linoleamide MEA, myristamide DEA, oleamide DEA, stearamide MEA, TEA-lauryl sulfate [2] Health concerns: Cancer, bioaccumulation, organ system toxicity
Vulnerable populations: All

Nail Polish
Common Chemical: Toluene
What to look for on the label: Toluene
Health concerns: Developmental and reproductive toxicity, organ system toxicity, irritation, bioaccumulation
Vulnerable populations: Nail salon workers, pregnant women

Sunscreen
Common Chemical: Octinoxate
What to look for on the label: Octinoxate,o methoxycinnamate (OMC), parsol, parsol MCX, parsol MOX, escalol, 2-ethylhexyl p-methoxycinnamate
Health concerns: Endocrine disruption, persistence and bioaccumulation, ecotoxicology, organ system toxicity
Vulnerable population: All

Shampoo
Common Chemical: 1,4-Dioxane
What to look for on the label: Sodium laureth sulfate, PEG compounds, chemicals that include the clauses xynol, ceteareth and oleth
Health concerns: Cancer, organ-system toxicity, irritation
Vulnerable populations: Pregnant women, infants, teenagers

Mascara
Common Chemical: Nitrosamines
What to look for on the label: DEA or TEA can indicate the possible presence of nitrosamines
Health concerns: Cancer, endocrine disruption, organ system toxicity
Vulnerable populations: All

Fragrance
Common Chemical: Butylated Hydroxyanisole
What to look for on the label: BHA, BHT
Health concerns: Endocrine disruption, organ-system toxicity, developmental and reproductive toxicity, cancer (possible), irritation, allergies and immunotoxicity, bioaccumulation
Vulnerable populations: Pregnant women, infants

Body Lotion
Common Chemical: Parabens
What to look for on the label: Ethylparaben, butylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben, other ingredients ending in –paraben
Health concerns: Endocrine disruption, developmental and reproductive toxicity, allergies and immunotoxicity
Vulnerable populations: Pregnant women and young children

Deodorant
Common Chemical: Triclosan
What to look for on the label: Triclosan
Health concerns: Endocrine disruption, allergies and immunotoxicity, bioaccumulation, organ system toxicity, irritation
Vulnerable populations: Pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers

Sources:

SafeCosmetics.org

GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism.

Simply put, “A GMO (genetically modified organism) is the result of a laboratory process of taking genes from one species and inserting them into another in an attempt to obtain a desired trait or characteristic, hence they are also known as transgenic organisms. This process may be called either Genetic Engineering (GE) or Genetic Modification (GM); they are one and the same.” (Source)

There are a lot of reasons why this is bad, and we put together a cheat sheet of what you need to know to avoid them.

At-Risk Ingredients/ What Foods are GM?

Currently commercialized GM crops in the U.S. include:
• Soy (94%)
• Cotton (90%)
• Canola (90%)
• Sugar beets (95%)
• Corn (88%) *See Note
• Hawaiian papaya (more than 50%)
• Zucchini and yellow squash (over 24,000 acres).
• Quest brand tobacco – 100%
• Alfalfa (recently approved by the FDA; widely fed to animals to produce meat and milk)
• Kentucky Bluegrass (recently approved by the FDA; even more widely fed to animals to produce meat and milk; already an invasive grass in its natural state, it will spread even more uncontrollably with genetically engineered resistance to RoundUp)
• Farmed salmon (as of December 21, 2012, the FDA has conditionally approved salmon containing a growth hormone)

*Because corn has been engineered to produce its own insecticide as it grows, the Environmental Protection Agency now regulates corn as an insecticide.
(Source)

Check out these 3 tips to choosing organic from www.gmoinside.org:

1. Choose Organic

Buying 100% Organic, Certified Organic, and USDA Organic-labeled products is usually the easiest way to avoid genetically modified ingredients.  Plus organic farming does not allow for non-organic pesticides to be used on crops so its better for our eco-systems and the farmers growing our food.

The U.S. and Canadian governments do not allow companies to label products “100% Organic” or  Certified Organic if they contain GMOs.

2. Choose Non-GMO Verified Products

The Non-GMO Project seal indicates that a product has gone through the Non-GMO Project’s verification process to ensure that any potential genetically modified ingredients are tested and non-GMO. (This includes ingredients that are currently being genetically modified and commercially available such as corn, soy and sugar beets.

3.  Avoid potential GMO Ingredients altogether

There are currently 9 crops in the US that have been approved to be genetically modified:  Alfalfa, Canola, Corn , Cotton, Papaya, Soy, Sugar Beets, Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash.  By avoiding these foods and ingredients altogether you can avoid GMOs. However  it can be very tricky since over 85% of processed foods in the grocery store contain one or more of these ingredients, often disguised in other names such as corn syrup, maltodextrin, or lecithin.

Understanding the Details:

To recognize Organic and Non-GMO foods more easily, it’s helpful to review the various organic and non-GMO labels and the current labeling requirements in the U.S. and Canada.

1. 100% Organic: Must contain 100% organically produced ingredients (excluding water and salt).This is the only label that certifies a completely organic product AND is also completely non-GMO.

2. Certified Organic / USDA Organic / Organic: At least 95% of content is organic by weight (excluding water and salt). The <5% remaining ingredients must consist of substances approved on the USDA’s NOSB National List. GMOs are NOT on this list, so these products are also non-GMO.

3. Made with Organic: Up to 70% of the ingredients are organic. These products can NOT carry a “USDA organic” label and may possibly contain GMO ingredients.

4. Non-GMO Verified: The verification seal indicates that the product bearing the seal has gone through the Non-GMO Project’s verification process. Any GMO ingredient being grown commercially must be tested prior to use in a verified product. The Non-GMO Project has an Action Threshold of 0.9% and is in alignment with laws in the EU, where any product containing more than 0.9% GMO must be labeled. This DOES NOT mean that the crop ingredients have been grown without harmful pesticides, insecticides or chemical fertilizers it simply means that the ingredients are non-GMO.

5. GMO Ingredients: If a product contains any potential GMO ingredients (or derivatives of these ingredients) that are not organic or Non-GMO Project verified, its likely these ingredients could be genetically modified.  GMO Ingredients to look out for in the US include corn, soy, canola, cotton, sugar beets, zucchini, yellow squash, papaya and alfalfa.

FAQs about GMOs from the Non-GMO Project:

What are GMOs?
GMOs, or “genetically modified organisms,” are plants or animals that have been genetically engineered with DNA from bacteria, viruses or other plants and animals. These experimental combinations of genes from different species cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding.

Virtually all commercial GMOs are engineered to withstand direct application of herbicide and/or to produce an insecticide. Despite biotech industry promises, none of the GMO traits currently on the market offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition, or any other consumer benefit.

Meanwhile, a growing body of evidence connects GMOs with health problems, environmental damage and violation of farmers’ and consumers’ rights.

Are GMOs safe?
Most developed nations do not consider GMOs to be safe. In more than 60 countries around the world, including Australia, Japan, and all of the countries in the European Union, there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the production and sale of GMOs. In the U.S., the government has approved GMOs based on studies conducted by the same corporations that created them and profit from their sale. Increasingly, Americans are taking matters into their own hands and choosing to opt out of the GMO experiment.

Are GMOs labeled?
Unfortunately, even though polls consistently show that a significant majority of Americans want to know if the food they’re purchasing contains GMOs, the powerful biotech lobby has succeeded in keeping this information from the public. In the absence of mandatory labeling, the Non-GMO Project was created to give consumers the informed choice they deserve.

Where does the Non-GMO Project come in?
The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization with a mission of protecting the non-GMO food supply and giving consumers an informed choice. We offer North America’s ONLY third party verification for products produced according to rigorous best practices for GMO avoidance (for more info, click here). Our strategy is to empower consumers to make change through the marketplace. If people stop buying GMOs, companies will stop using them and farmers will stop growing them.

Do Americans want non-GMO foods and supplements?
Polls consistently show that a significant majority of North Americans would like to be able to tell if the food they’re purchasing contains GMOs (a 2012 Mellman Group poll found that 91% of American consumers wanted GMOs labeled). And, according to a recent CBS/New York Times poll, 53% of consumers said they would not buy food that has been genetically modified. The Non-GMO Project’s seal for verified products will, for the first time, give the public an opportunity to make an informed choice when it comes to GMOs.

How common are GMOs?
In the U.S., GMOs are in as much as 80% of conventional processed food. Click here for a current list of GMO risk crops.

Why does the Non-GMO Project verify products that have a low risk of containing GMOs?
Some ingredients that seem low-risk may have less-visible high-risk ingredients.  Take, for example, dried fruit.  Raisins and similar fruit are sometimes packed with a small quantity of oil to keep them moist.  This oil, when used, is sometimes high-GMO-risk.  As such, it is critical that we do take the time to look carefully at ingredient spec sheets during the verification process, to ensure that risks like this are effectively mitigated, even in apparently low-risk products.

Contamination incidents have occurred with seemingly “low-risk” products (rice, starling corn, flax). Non-GMO Project Verification supports manufacturers in being able to quickly and proactively respond to unexpected contamination issues.

Verifying only high-risk products puts a heavy burden on consumers to know what products are at risk of containing GMOs.  Many people, even in the world of Natural Foods, don’t know what a GMO is, let alone which crops and processed ingredients are high-risk.  As such, labeling only products that contain high-risk ingredients could give an unfair competitive advantage to products that contain ingredients containing corn, soy, etc.  Taking the cereal aisle for our example, if we verified only high-risk products, a shopper might see the seal on a box of verified corn flakes, but not on the wheat-based cereal box next to them, produced with the same high standards by the same company. This could leave them thinking the corn flakes were non-GMO, but that they should avoid the wheat product, even though there’s no GMO wheat on the market.  Given the lack of understanding of the issue, this presents some serious issues.

Through verifying low-risk products, the Non-GMO Project’s work builds consumer interest and industry investment in Non-GMO, even for crops that aren’t genetically engineered yet.  Biotech is constantly working to patent and commercialize new organisms (salmon, apples, etc.), and the more companies that have committed to Non-GMO production, the more resistance these new developments will see prior to release.

What are the impacts of GMOs on the environment?
Over 80% of all GMOs grown worldwide are engineered for herbicide tolerance. As a result, use of toxic herbicides like Roundup has increased 15 times since GMOs were introduced. GMO crops are also responsible for the emergence of “super weeds” and “super bugs:’ which can only be killed with ever more toxic poisons like 2,4-D (a major ingredient in Agent Orange). GMOs are a direct extension of chemical agriculture, and are developed and sold by the world’s biggest chemical companies. The long-term impacts of GMOs are unknown, and once released into the environment these novel organisms cannot be recalled.

How do GMOs affect farmers?
Because GMOs are novel life forms, biotechnology companies have been able to obtain patents with which to restrict their use. As a result, the companies that make GMOs now have the power to sue farmers whose fields are contaminated with GMOs, even when it is the result of inevitable drift from neighboring fields. GMOs therefore pose a serious threat to farmer sovereignty and to the national food security of any country where they are grown, including the United States.

How can I avoid GMOs?
Choose food and products that are Non-GMO Project Verified! Click here to see a complete list.

Sources:

http://www.nongmoproject.org/

http://gmoinside.org

http://www.strong-process.com

http://gmo-awareness.com

Last month we granted (10) breast cancer survivors the opportunity to attend, ReTreat Yourself, a B4BC wellness weekend at Red Mountain Resort in beautiful B.C. Canada. Hosted by our Wellness Ambassador Megan Pischke, the weekend focused on reconnecting everyone with the natural world and themselves through meditation, skiing/snowboarding, yoga, clean organic eating, and life skills workshops devoted to removing obstacles so that we may move forward, continue to heal, and achieve balance in our lives. We also had wonderful massage therapists and a talented Chinese Medicine doctor on hand for daily bodywork, treatments, and holistic education.

Morning Meditation / Photo: Rebecca Amber Photography

Our (10) survivors came from all over the US & Canada varying in age from 27 – 57. Some of the women were 5 years in remission, while others were still going through their final rounds of chemo and radiation.

Connections and newfound friendships were quickly made throughout the weekend as the women connected and opened up to one another about their personal journeys. Survivor Toni Stergion explains, “It was such an empowering weekend with the most amazing women. It was a great help for me to spend time talking and just listening to everyone’s stories. Some so similar to mine, and others dramatically different, but in the end we all shared the disease and are strong believers in (B4BC’s message of) being your own advocate. These women have become an important part of my life, and no matter how far we live from each other, I believe we will always be apart of each other’s lives.”

Most of the women, we had come to learn, had found their cancerous lumps while doing their self-exams. They all couldn’t reiterate enough the importance of listening to your body and checking yourself every month.

All-in-all it was truly a beautiful weekend filled with love, reflection, rejuvenation, and fun! We’re incredibly honored and grateful that the women opened up their hearts and minds to go on this journey.

We couldn’t have held this wellness weekend without the amazing support and guidance from Megan Pischke, our Chef Nevada, yoga instructor Kristin Campbell, Dr. of Chinese Medicine & snow instructor Kendra Starr, massage specialist Susan Chapelle, life coach Linda Kennoy, massage therapist Kristin Nuttall, ski instructor/adventurist Kasha Rigby, Rebecca Amber our photographer, and Fran Richards & the rest of the crew at Red Mountain Resort. Also, a special THANK YOU to our friends at The North Face, we’re so grateful for their support, this would not have been possible without them.

And to our beautiful survivors, we’re sending much love and healing vibes to Kathryn, Susan, Toni, Staci, Lori, Michelle, Hazel, Andrea, Ryndee, and Linda. We’re so thankful to have met you and wish you nothing but good vibrations moving forward.

Lots of love,
B4BC

Not only is Kendra an amazing doctor, but she was also a professional snowboarder for 10 years, excelling in freestyle and backcountry riding, and continues to stay close to the snow by helping coach at camps near her home in Nelson, British Columbia!  Pretty awesome, right? So we couldn’t think of a more amazing and rad gal to breakdown today’s Pause 4 Prevention on the health benefits of Chinese Medicine.

Here we go…

Photo Source: www.acupuncturewisconsin.org

Chinese Medicine has a 3,000 year history of medical knowledge and science based on  observation of the natural world. The concept of energy or qi is central to the ideals of Chinese Medicine. It includes the practices of acupuncture, herbal medicine, Moxabustion (burning of artemesia), qi gong, massage, mental emotional balance and conversation.

It has such a long history that many styles and methods have developed over the years, there are basically endless different styles of treatment.

This may make it sound complicated to choose a doctor but the best way to do this is by word of mouth and your feeling of your experience. If your first experience is not beneficial for you, please try again with another doctor, you may feel completely different.

What types of treatments do you practice?

I am a Doctor of Chinese medicine, which means I practice acupuncture, herbal medicine, Qi Gong, massage, Moxibustion, cupping, etc.

I also practice Chinese face reading and Cranio-sacral therapy. 

(Chinese face reading is an ancient branch of Chinese medicine that gives insight into an individual’s original nature, life path and physical health.)

What inspired you to become a Chinese Medicine doctor?

When I as 17, I was in a bus accident in Thailand, I had compression fractures on almost all of the vertebrae in my spine. I went for acupuncture treatment which helped me a lot and inspired me to study it myself. I became a pro snowboarder after that so it must have worked!  

Can you please explain the health benefits of acupuncture as a preventative and/or in the healing process? 

Basically every human being has the innate ability to heal themselves but through life we become disconnected with our nature and our ability to do so. Whether it is because of trauma, emotional upsets, environmental conditions, poor food quality, or mistreatment. People become so out of balance that illness and injury occurs.

Acupuncture works on the energy in your body, to bring it back to that state of balance. Like everything in life, it has a vibrational basis and you can actually see the needles vibrating as they contact your energy flow.

Symptoms and disease are the body’s only method of communication to say, “hey something is not right”.  Acupuncture balances these energies to relieve the small disturbances and starts working away on the bigger, longer lasting disease or illness that has built up.  It woks to strengthen your immune system or relax strained muscles or help digestion or balance your nervous system and relieve pain. There is no cookie cutter approach, everything is based on what is present in the individual.

I feel like there are a lot of fears (of needles) that keep people from embracing acupuncture. Can you explain what an acupuncture session entails and maybe reassure people that the needles are NOT what most people are envisioning when they get, lets say a shot?

For many people the only needle experience they know, is having an injection or having blood drawn or dental freezing. Acupuncture uses a very fine filiform needle that is so much smaller, it feels nothing like that. Acupuncture is a unique sensation that may feel strange at first. Sometime you feel nothing, sometimes it feels like a deep ache or tingly electric feeling, or you feel something shift in your whole body. Again this depends on the individual and how they experience the feeling of energy moving. You usually feel quite relaxed and euphoric afterwards but the more you are able to relax during the treatment, the better.

When you go to see a Doctor of Chinese medicine or Acupuncturist, they will usually feel your pulse, look at your tongue, ask you many questions and have conversations with you about your feelings around certain things. This is to help them get a true understanding of how your are and what is happening with you. Every practitioner is different but most are very willing to answer questions and explain what they are finding with you. If you are very sensitive or nervous, just let your doctor know and they can always adjust the treatment to use less needles and/or be more gentle with you.

Anything else you’d like to add? 

Traditional medicine is very holistic and looks to increase the health in an individual rather than irradiating symptoms. In general this approach is slower but more complete. The many different methods of treatment help to deal with things from different perspectives. The idea that if you have one twig, it is easily snapped in half but if you take a bundle of twigs tied together with string , it is very strong and impossible to break. That is like the strength of the many branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I encourage everyone to learn as much as they can about themselves and make decisions about your health based on your strength.

With love,

Kendra Starr, DrTCM

Photo: Rebecca Amber Photography @ ReTreat Yourself 2014

Being outside was what I like to call ”life saving”. Oh yes, if I wasn’t able to sit on a rock in the middle of the river behind my house and just bawl, I don’t know what I would have done. If I wasn’t able to run/walk/hike the hills and mountains in my back yard, or paddle on the ocean, my heart would have broken.

Every single day, therapies or not, I would get outside, touch a tree, smile at the sun, just simply breathe in the outdoors, and let that do its work. Being outside allows me to still my mind, to get out of my overwhelming thoughts, and back down in my body, to tap into the power and grace I know we all hold.

I love you Mother Nature and thank the universe every single day for you. I hope my kids, and their kids and on and on, can experience the oceans, mountains, the natural beauty and life that surrounds us, and holds our planet together, as I have been able to. Happy Earth Day, may it be every day in our hearts!

With Metta, Megs

Mother Earth fills our bellies everyday, so in her honor I’ve decided to write about ‘food’ for Earth Day. We eat three times a day, everyday… so our food choices have a huge impact on our health and, simultaneously, the health of the planet. This topic is especially exciting for me, as I have tried eating ‘vegan’ for the last year and, after a bit of fine-tuning, I’ve never felt better! In addition to the physical ‘feel good’ benefits, I’ve realized that our daily food choices can be a powerful form of individual eco-activism, accumulating an enormous positive impact over time!

So here are a few Earth-friendly suggestions to consider—>

• Grow your own! Growing a veggie garden and planting edible plants in your yard is not only the best way to ensure that your food is chemical-free and charged with love, but you also reap the benefits of re-connecting with your food and gaining respect for the growing process. You automatically reduce your carbon footprint and might save yourself some cash, too! Veggie Garden Cheat Sheet, How to Build a Permaculture Vegetable Garden, Starting Your Permaculture Garden
• Support small-scale, organic farms and alternative methods to corporate agriculture! Gardening is not always an option, but buying food from local, organic farms generally is. Between consciously-sourced markets, farmer’s markets, community gardens, co-ops, and local growers that deliver a weekly box of fresh veggies, there are lots of ways to avoid buying from corporate farms. Large-scale agriculture is the least ecologically-sensitive way to grow food. Growing the same crop over large land areas does not take advantage of the naturally beneficial plant combinations that can eliminate the need for using pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Corporate farms do not consider the health of their workers, consumers, the ground water, the native plants and animals, and general public safety when they routinely spray highly toxic chemicals on our food and soil. UN: Eco Farming Feeds the World, Is Organic Farming the Key to Solving Hunger? And Climate Change?, Corporate Power in Agriculture
• Eat less or no meat! The large-scale factory farming of cattle, pigs, chickens and other livestock creates serious negative impacts on the environment. Greenhouses gas emissions, water pollution, deforestation, soil degradation, and habitat destruction are some of the grave consequences of mass meat production. Plus, calculations estimate that it takes anywhere from 2,500-12,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef, versus 60-200 gallons for 1 pound of potatoes, wheat, corn, or rice!? (Vegsource.com & David Pimentel Ecological Integrity: Integrating Environment, Conservation and Health Island Press, Washington DC, 2001). Health-wise, science has proven that people with diets high in animal protein are much more prone to heart disease and cancer. Heard of The China Study?  The final straw for me to become vegan, was when I learned how horrifically animals are treated in these CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations). If you aren’t ready to give up meat, try to source it from wild or more humanely raised animals. Gary Yourofsky’s Best Speech You Will Ever Hear will educate you a lot on this issue!

• Eat less processed food! I like to think about trying to reduce the number of hands and machines and altering processes my food goes through before consuming it. During my outer island roaming and food-foraging, I decided that I liked eating whole foods because it made me feel closer to nature eating things that looked they came off a tree rather than out of a factory. Not only does eating whole food decrease the need for packaging, it ensures that you aren’t consuming artificial preservatives, flavorings, colors and any of the other thousands of often mysterious ingredients that are added to US foods. Various food dyes, Olestra brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, Azodicarbonamide, BHA, BHT, rBGH, rBST and arsenic are banned in other countries but still legal in US foods! There are certainly minimally processed options, but it’s worth having a closer look at food labels and reading between the lines as to what constitutes truly ‘natural’, healthy food. 9 Ways the Processed Foods Are Slowly Killing People, Dirty Secrets of the Food Processing Industry

• Boycott GMO-containing foods and companies!!! Despite that it is still unclear as to whether or not ‘genetically modified’ foods are safe for human consumption over time, Monsanto and the other ‘big 6’ biotech corporations—BASF, Bayer, Dow Chemicals, Dupont, and Syngenta—control nearly every aspect of our food system. They are responsible for creating most of today’s genetically modified foods along with producing the chemicals required to grow them. They’re also attempting to control and regulate the world’s seeds, so that farmers will be have to buy their patented GMO seeds. Not only is this threatening to destroy the critical biodiversity of seeds that humans have developed since the dawn of plant cultivation, it gives them a frightening amount of power! These billion dollar corporations are paying scientists to engineer ‘franken foods’ that are not always more ‘nutritious’. Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” crops have been genetically engineered to allow direct application of the Monsanto herbicide ‘glyphosate’. This lets farmers drench both their crops and soil with this chemical to kill nearby weeds and pests without killing the plants, leaving the crops coated in this highly toxic chemical, the soil degraded, and the groundwater polluted. This is just a taste of these companies’ multitude of ecologically and socially irresponsible practices. Please educate yourself further on this issue! On March 26^th of this year, The Monsanto Protection Act was signed into US law, essentially giving GMO companies immunity to the federal courts and states that even if future discoveries show that GMOs cause significant health problems. Total boycott of GMO-containing foods is a powerful way to show that we do NOT approve of all this! Documentary: ‘The World According to Monsanto’ , Surf Legend Kelly Slater Attacks GMOs and Biotech Giants, Surfing for Change’s Latest film: Pro Surfers vs GMOs by fellow Patagonia Ambassador Kyle Thiermann

• When/if eating seafood, please choose wisely… Through my years on the sea, I’ve watched and participated in fishing of many kinds. On voyages to more remote island groups, I’ve seen by comparison, how drastically reduced the fish stocks are in more populated, overfished places. These populations now look farther and more remotely to supply their seafood. Ultimately, this is not a sustainable solution. Most of our critical global fish stocks are in steep decline, and although I often enjoyed sustenance fishing, after seeing the results of overfishing first hand, I no longer feel comfortable consuming seafood. So I’ve decided to eat a plant-based diet where it’s an option. “A study of catch data published in 2006 in the journal Science grimly predicted that if fishing rates continue apace, all the world’s fisheries will have collapsed by the year 2048.”  For those not ready to give up seafood entirely, there are certainly more sustainable choices. In general, eating lower on the ocean food chain, choosing wild versus farmed, and eating locally-caught options are more sustainable. There are even free apps for smartphones to help you decide quickly at a restaurant which might be the most sustainable seafood on the menu.  Seafood Watch Iphone App,  FAQs for Seafood Watch App,  EDF Seafood Selector,  Tackling Overfishing on Many Fronts, National Geographic: Overfishing

• When dining out, support restaurants that source their food from local, conscious suppliers! Try to keep up your conscious-eating standards when dining out. Asking nicely about food sourcing spreads awareness and promotes businesses to have healthier, Earth-friendly alternatives.

When I broke my neck in 2012, I spent a lot of time reading about healing through food. I wanted to be on my feet as soon as possible, so I studied up on which foods are conducive to healing and which hinder. I ate well, thought positively, and completely eliminated caffeine, refined sugar, meat, & alcohol. I healed incredibly quickly!!

Through that experience, I learned a lot about what I do and don’t want to eat. I’ve continued researching, experimenting, and using my intuition to understand what my body runs on best. It’s taken years to refine my eating habits to what they are now. I started by cutting out red meat and poultry…then reduced refined sugar and processed foods…then caffeine…then came dairy…and lastly fish. I’ve been amazed at the changes I’ve felt in my body in the past year of eating a very clean, plant-based diet. I feel strong, get sick less often, and have more energy than ever before! And all the nagging injuries I was suffering from have healed. I can’t be sure that this is all a result of my dietary changes, but I want to share that this adventure in food has been as awesome and profound as any of other.

Choosing to eat more consciously doesn’t mean you can’t make exceptions, or that dietary decisions are forever. I think we are all fabulously unique and this means no one type of diet suits everyone. If someone told me five years ago that I would stop eating cheese and not miss it, I would have laughed! This is a very personal process, and I’m not trying to tell people that eating this way is best. Rather, I’m encouraging everyone to go on their own dietary adventures and educate themselves to make more informed food choices. Doing so comes with the great benefits of better health for you and our dear Moma Earth!

Yoga 101:  Practice
The word PRACTICE describes your individual experience – something that is very personal and constantly evolving every time you step foot onto your mat or mindfully enter a pose.  By making the commitment to your practice of yoga, you are making a commitment to love and connect with yourself.  And while there is no perfect way to practice yoga, practice does make for a perfectly effective approach to preventative health with stress reduction and improved strength and flexibility being just a few of its benefits.

So where to begin?  Don’t worry – we’re here to help!  B4BC’s intent is to introduce you to the basics of yoga and provide you with opportunities to experience it at home or through our affiliated events.

Here’s a look at a recent B4BC Yoga Heals session hosted by the Healing Arts Centre & Movement Studio in Mammoth Lakes, CA.

Our teachers Scott Saltsman, who has studied with world renowned yogini Shiva Rae, and Sierra Yoga’s Lindsey McLaughlin, a 5 year breast cancer survivor, lead us through challenging yet heart-opening VINYASA yoga movements that helped kick off two amazingly beautiful days on the mountain.

This Saturday, please join us for a B4BC Yoga Heals session with Yoga Studio Tahoe at Sugar Bowl (Donner, CA).  And if you can’t attend, try to start your day with this basic SUN SALUTATION YOGA SEQUENCE by our friends at Lululemon and their global ambassador Eion Finn – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI56RQuny44.

With love,
B4BC

YOGA 101 TERMS

Practice – see above.

Vinyasa (Vin-YA-sa) Yoga – Vinyasa means “breath-synchronized movement,” and Vinyasa yoga is a series of poses that will move you through the power of inhaling and exhaling. Vinyasa movements are smoothly flowing and almost dance-like, which explains why it is sometimes referred to as Vinyasa Flow or just Flow.  The breath is connected with the movements in a progressive nature which heats, lengthens, strengthens, tones, purifies and stimulates every muscle and organ in the body.

Yoga Sequence – a series of yoga poses with a core focus and makes up a part of a yoga routine.

Sun Salutation - The sun salutation is a basic series of poses that moves you from the front to the back of your mat, warming up the whole body.  Often it is used at the beginning of a flow or vinyasa yoga class and is a good way to start a home practice.

Sources:
www.lululemon.com
www.harmony-yoga.com
www.sierrayoga.org

This is her story.

I am settling into a new normal these days. Actually, at times I try to “be” normal, but I keep discovering there is no such thing anymore, and I although love discovering the new me (my house is a mess, and I am OK with it), at times I feel confused. What is my place? Whats my job? What was I just talking about? I am just a couple months past a long year of chemo, surgery, radiation, tragedy, therapies on a daily basis, tears, oh so many tears, and a shit ton of magic.

Part of me feels like “OK; I’ve grown, my heart has expanded, I’ve been touched,” and another part of me feels like “How much time has to go by until I feel whole again?”

It’s a mixed up bag of emotions. And that could also have to do with the hormonal drugs I now take for the next 10 years. But that’s not a complaint—it’s all better than the alternative.

Recently, my whole family went through what I like to call a huge “emotional detox.” I ended radiation, and immediately hopped on a plane with my family to Costa Rica for some sunshine. It was beautiful, and of course we were all so happy and grateful to be there. But, there was a lot of emotions spilling out, from all of us. Crying, yelling, tensions; I kept thinking, “My God, we are damaged goods, in this beautiful magic place, we are a mess,” and then David and I would argue about who needed therapy more, myself or him. Then I imagined us all, like the Simpsons, in family therapy, zombies crying and yelling. My little guy Reef (two years old) just followed suit: “Moms crying, I think I will have a tear too…Dads frustrated, I think I will throw something around the room…now we are all at the beach laughing! I think I will run around naked with a big grin!…” I think we just needed to experience some fear that we didn’t make enough time for during the last year. And when I say “we” I mean David and I. There had to be a lot of focus and attention to detail with the therapy route I had chosen, and at the same time be open to whatever comes next, and at the same time keeping my eye on the prize. Ridding my body of cancer and protecting my spirit from going over the fearful edge. I learned it’s OK to be scared, but what you do with that fear is what will create a story, and perhaps even lend to your outcome.

I have found a new space for GRATITUDE. Oh yes, I have always been thankful, grateful, and appreciated the many gifts I have been handed in this life so far. Now, I can’t even put my feet on the floor in the morning without being grateful. A day, and many moments in that day, do not go by without picturing someone in my head who contributed to the B4BC4MEGS event and has been a part of my journey in some special way, however slight, I feel them and that energy. I know every single person, if they aren’t family or close friends, I have met them somewhere, sometime. It’s not about the money, it’s about the power of love that was the governing force behind all of it. It makes me feel like I can do anything with friends and family like that. That foundation that had been ripped out upon being diagnosed, is built up again. So getting up each day is easy, and I honestly feel light on my feet again.

The tragic loss of our brother-in-law halfway through chemo still rocks us. It’s odd, but I seem to think of chemo as no biggie compared to this tragedy, and well, maybe that’s a good thing. Although chemo sucked, and I still am experiencing some side effects, I am here on this earth. Having my sister try to find meaning without her husband is a hard one for me to swallow, but I have to continue to heal, and know that’s what we are all here for, even in the end. Healing. And so this conversation of life and death, we keep it going, with our kids and with ourselves. We allow our daughter to express her fears of loss that have stemmed from this experience, and we have had some really cool conversations with this amazing 7 year old about all that. We encourage both our kids to find magic in everyday experiences, and we also continue to practice the same, and see our beloved Joe in so much sparkle around us.

With love and MASSIVE gratitude always,
Megs

Our friends at Campaign for Safe Cosmetics put together a handy guide to what Triclosan is and why you should avoid this hormone disruptor! Triclosan is unregulated, linked to breast cancer, and completely unnecessary in your daily cosmetics. Read your labels and get it out of your life! Article from Campaign for Safe Cosmetics below:

The gist

Triclosan is a commonly used antimicrobial agent that accumulates in our bodies and has been linked to hormone disruption and the emergence of bacteria resistant to antibodies and antibacterial products. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified triclosan in the urine of 75 percent people tested [1]. Triclosan also impacts the environment, ending up in lakes, rivers and other water sources, where it is toxic to aquatic life.

What you need to know 
Found in: Antibacterial soaps and detergents, toothpaste and tooth whitening products, antiperspirants/deodorants, shaving products, creams
What to look for on the label: Triclosan
Health concerns: Endocrine disruption, allergies and immunotoxicity, bioaccumulation, organ system toxicity, irritation
Vulnerable populations: Pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers
Regulations: Restricted in cosmetics in Canada and Japan

What is triclosan?
Triclosan is an antimicrobial agent found in a wide variety of antibacterial soaps and detergents, as well as in many deodorants, toothpastes, cosmetics, fabrics and plastics. Triclosan was initially developed as a surgical scrub for medical professionals, but in recent years it has been added to a host of consumer products, from kitchen cutting boards to shoes, in order to kill bacteria and fungus and prevent odors. However, triclosan has proved to be both dangerous and unnecessary—in 2005, the FDA found no evidence that antibacterial washes containing triclosan were superior to plain soap and water for protecting consumers from bacteria [2], and in 2013 the FDA announced a draft rulemaking process that would require manufacturers to demonstrate triclosan’s safety and efficacy for use in soaps and body washes [3] . This process will not be finalized until 2015 and does not include hospital-based use of triclosan.

What are the health concerns?
Endocrine disruption: There is evidence that triclosan is an endocrine disruptor and impacts thyroid function and thyroid homeostasis. A 2009 study found that triclosan decreased thyroid hormone concentrations [4], and another showed that triclosan enhanced the expression of androgen and estrogen sensitive genes [5].

Triclosan-resistant bacteria: Since 2000, a number of studies have found microorganisms that are resistant to triclosan, and there is mounting evidence linking the use of triclosan with the promotion of bacteria that are resistant to both antibiotic medications and antibacterial products [6,7]. For instance, triclosan-resistant strains of microorganisms such as E. coli and salmonella have been identified [8,9,10]. Studies indicate that use of triclosan provides a suitable environment for the emergence of antimicrobial drug-resistant bacteria, even at the low concentrations found in many FDA-regulated products and cosmetics. Because triclosan’s mode of action and target site in bacteria are similar to those of antibiotics, there are concerns that bacteria that become resistant to triclosan will also become resistant to antibiotics. A 2010 report by the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety determined that even low concentrations of triclosan can trigger antibiotic resistance in bacteria [11].

Bioaccumulation: Triclosan is lipophilic, meaning that it accumulates in fatty tissues. Studies have found concentrations of triclosan in three out of five human milk samples [12,13]. Triclosan has also been found in the umbilical cord blood of infants [14]. These results raise concerns for the fetus during vulnerable periods of development, and make the bioaccumulative and endocrine-disruptive potential of triclosan even more alarming. Since the majority of the products that contain triclosan are eventually washed down consumers’ residential drains, high levels of triclosan are accumulating in water systems and negatively impacting the environment. Triclosan is toxic to algae (because algae is a first-step producer, the destruction of algae is particularly disruptive to aquatic ecosystems) and there is evidence that triclosan is accumulating at high levels in fish and other aquatic life [15].

How can you avoid this?
Triclosan should be clearly labeled on ingredient lists and so is relatively easy to avoid. Stick with plain soap and water—the FDA found no evidence that antibacterial washes containing triclosan are any more effective at protecting against bacteria [2].

Further information including links to reports, press releases and to take the Triclosan-Free Pledge
(http://safecosmetics.org/search.php?AMPSearch=Search&fulltext=triclosan )

Article and photos courtesy of www.safecosmetics.org

References
[1] Calafat, A., et al.  2008. Urinary Concentrations of Triclosan in the U.S. Population: 2003–2004. Environ Health Perspect 116:303–307.
[2] Alastair Wood, M.D. (Committee Chair), FDA Non-Prescription Drugs Advisory Committee. October 20, 2005 meeting transcript p. 354-355. Available online:http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/cder05.html#NonprescriptionDrugs. Accessed November 5, 2013.
[3] FDA (2013). FDA taking a closer look at antibacterial soap. Available online: http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm378393.htm. Accessed December 20, 2013.
[4] Zorrilla, L., et al (2009).  The effects of Triclosan on Puberty and Thyroid Hormones in Male Wistar Rats. Toxicological Sciences. 107(1) 56-64.
[5] Ahn et al (2008). In Vitro Biologic Activities of the Antimicrobials Triclocarban, Its Analogs, and Triclosan in Bioassay Screens: Receptor-Based Bioassay Screens. Environ Health Perspectives. 116(9): 1203–1210.
[6] Heath, R., et al (2000). Inhibition of the Staphylococcus aureus NADPH-dependent enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase by triclosan and hexchlorophene. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 275: 654-59.
[7] Aiello, A.E., et al (2005). Antibacterial Cleaning Products and Drug Resistance. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 11(10).
[8] Levy, S.B. (2000).  Antibiotic and antiseptic resistance: Impact on public health. Pediatric Infectious Disease. 19(10): S120–2.
[9] Yazdankhah, S.P., et al (2006). Triclosan and antimicrobial resistance in bacteria: An overview. Microbial Drug Resistance-Mechanisms Epidemiology and Disease. 12(2): 83-90.
[10] Davies, A.J., Maillard, J.Y. (2001).  Bacterial adaptation to biocides: the possible role of `alarmones’. Journal of Hospital Infection. 49(4).
[11] SCCS (Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety), Preliminary opinion on triclosan antimicrobial resistance), 23 March, 2010.  European Commission, Brussels.
[12] Adolfsson-Erici, M., M. Pettersson, J. Parkkonen, and J. Sturve (2002). Triclosan, a commonly used bactericide found in human milk and in the aquatic environment in Sweden. Chemosphere. 46: 1485-1489.
[13] Allmyr, M., et al. (2006).  Triclosan in plasma and milk from Swedish nursing mothers and their exposure via personal care products. Science of  The Total Environment. 372(1): 87-93.
[14] Greenpeace and WWF. 2005. A Present for Life: Hazardous chemicals in umbilical cord blood. Available from: http://eu.greenpeace.org/downloads/chem/Umbilicalcordreport.pdf. 
[15] Adolfsson-Erici, M., et al. 2002. Triclosan, a commonly used bactericide found in human milk and in the aquatic environment in Sweden. Chemosphere 46:1485-1489.