Procrastination is something we are all guilty of either some of the time or a lot of the time. This can be due to a variety of reasons and normally we eventually get round to tackling those outstanding tasks.

But sometimes procrastination can delay us making significant changes that we need to make in our lives. This can have a big impact on our happiness and wellbeing.

So today we are not going to put this topic off any longer... we are going to tackle ‘procrastination!’

Definition of Procrastination:

“To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness”

“To postpone or delay needlessly”

We chat about:

We even procrastinated doing this episode!

What is procrastination?

Why do we procrastinate?

How Crystal and Jo procrastinate: 'procrastibaking', social media and planning tasks

The two levels of procrastination

Evolutionary theories on procrastination

The link between procrastination and impulsivity

How does modern living compound procrastination?

Mark Manson: 'Manson's Law of Avoidance'

The impact procrastination can have on our lives

Strategies to overcome procrastination

'Ready, Fire, Aim'

Good enough is good enough

Managing expectations

Enjoy the process and don't get so attached to the outcome

Be accountable

Manipulate your environment to optimise productivity

Be comfortable with discomfort

Set deadlines and rewards

Links

Mark Manson on Procrastination

 The Genetic Correlation Between Procrastination and Impulsivity 

Genetic Relations Among Procrastination, Impulsivity, and Goal-Management Ability: Implications for the Evolutionary Origin of Procrastination

Pomodoro (task timer)

Ecology Skincare

Today we have with us the Sunshine Coast’s most famous Paleo couple, Clint and Aimee from Primal Influence.

Clint is a Health and Fitness Coach & a MovNat Certified Trainer. teaching natural movement and primal play for kids and adults.

He loves watching whales, fishing and climbing trees and believes that "good health should be affordable and accessible to everyone"

And Clint’s primal partner Aimee, regularly hosts Paleo cooking demo's and workshops, where people can even learn how to make gelatin, bone broth, and offal. She loves experimenting in the kitchen and getting out and about on the beach or in nature

Together they head up the Sunshine Coast Paleo Meet-up Group, where they offer a variety of different events and resources to help as many people as possible

We chat about:

How Aimee and Clint made their Primal Shift - from gluten free to grain free

Once they were feeling good eating Paleo, they looked at what else within the Paleo lifestyle made sense

Clint changing the way he trained clients in the personal training studio

Making movement fun and looking for opportunities to explore and challenge

Primal play with a back injury

Less is more - exercise less, but move more

Making movement affordable for everyone

How to make a Paleo/Primal diet affordable

Food is Free programs, food swaps and sharing information with your community

Best tips for busy people

What is forest bathing or forest therapy?

Benefits of forest therapy and being in nature

What does a forest therapy session look like?

Waking up naturally and house plants

Tips and ideas for starting to cook with offal (liver) - and not make it awful

Upcoming classes and workshops on the Sunshine Coast

 

Links:

Primal Influence

Primal Influence Blog

Erwan Le Corre MovNat Videos

In this episode we chat to Darryl Edwards, aka The Fitness Explorer, all about making fitness fun and accessible to everyone through 'primal play'.

Darryl is the founder of of HEALTH Unplugged and owner of Fitness Explorer Training,  an international speaker, coach, nutritionist and author of “Paleo Fitness“ and "Paleo from A to Z".  

After almost two decades working as a technologist in investment banking, Darryl transformed his health after adopting an ancestral model to well-being.  Darryl now advises people on maintaining a healthy lifestyle – a midst the epidemic of obesity and other chronic lifestyle diseases.

As the founder of the PRIMAL PLAY methodology, he makes activity fun, effective and engaging while getting individuals healthier, fitter and stronger in the process.

And those who are attending the AHSNZ Symposium next month are going to experience this first hand. Darryl will be heading to NZ for the Symposium to speak at the event and get people into some primal play.

We also introduce friend of the show, psychology nerd and big kid, Russell Campbell as our guest host.

We chat with Darryl about:

What his weekend morning routine looks like

How he came to make his Primal Shift

The contrast between Darryl's previous life as an investment banker vs now as The Fitness Explorer

Reprioritising what is important in life

Transitioning to working with people to improve their health and fitness

Training like the actors in the Movie 300 and coming to Primal Play instead

Making fitness fun with imaginative and inventive games

"It's not about winning or losing, it's about participation"

Reaching goals and objectives with fitness, but enjoying the process along the way - instant gratification with movement

What will people find themselves doing with "Primal Play?"

Games including primal tag

Primal play is great for those who hate exercise and those who are competitive who are looking for a different kind of challenge

The aspect of community, group participation and teamwork with primal play

Peter Grey's TED Talk about the benefits of play for kids

Structured sport vs play

The Kiwi game of Bullrush and also British Bulldog

More kids go to hospital falling out of bed than falling out of trees

The relationship between play, learning and creativity

Darryl is heading to NZ to talk at the AHSNZ Symposium in Queenstown

Travel hacking

Primal Hit or Primal Shit: Treadmill Desks

 

Primal Tag in action with Darryl Edwards at the Low Carb Down Under Event in Melbourne

 

Links:

The Fitness Explorer

Paleo from A to Z

Ancestral Health Society of New Zealand

"The Decline of Play and the Rise of Mental Disorders" Peter Grey

Ecology Skincare

In this episode, we talk about self compassion and why it can be a powerful tool for dealing with negative and self critical thoughts, which we know (from our ‘Think’ episode) can impact positively or negatively on our physical, mental and psychological well being.

Crystal and I will chat a bit about the theory behind self compassion and then how we can  incorporate this practice into our everyday lives.

We hope our chat helps you to start, or continue, a practice of self-kindness and self acceptance which will permeate every aspect of you life for the better.

We chat about:

What self-compassion actually is - a component of mindfulness

Being aware of what we're thinking about and replacing critical self thoughts with kinder, comforting, soothing self talk

The 3 elements of Self Compassion: Self Kindness, Common Humanity and Mindfulness

Loving Kindness, speaking to ourselves the way we would a good friend who was going through a rough patch instead of being harsh and critical of ourselves

Common Humanity, recognising that suffering is universal and realising that we are not alone in feeling the way we do

Mindfulness, sitting with uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, noticing where they are in the body

Using guided meditations to be kinder towards ourselves

Feeling the feeling and self-soothing, putting your hand on your heart

Oxytocin and the mammalian care-giving system

Our bodies don't make the distinction if we are touching ourselves or if someone else is touching us in comfort

Can hold your own arms or wrists to comfort self

Body language and power poses

Using self-compassion to improve your relationships with other people, being more compassionate and less judgemental

"Comparison is the thief of joy"

Self-esteem is often based on external reinforcement

Comparing and social media

Thinking ...what's the worst that could happen and whatever happens I'll deal with it

Our self-compassion practices

Guided meditations, acknowledging that you're struggling with something, body compassion and self care, taking the foot off the pedal

Giving self permission to take time out, massage, floatation, feeling the feelings, Faster EFT (tapping)

Primal Hit or Shit, should everyone practice self compassion?

Remember, it can be hard to do this!

Be kind to yourself and others!!

 

 

Links:

Kristen Neff, Self Compassion

Kristen Neff's TED Talk

Self Compassion Guided Meditations

Kelly McGonigal TED Talk (How to make Stress your Friend)

Dr Linda Wilson: Faster EFT

On this episode, Jo and Crystal chat with the vibrantly happy and healthy Jacqui Kirkland from Grateful Harvest all about Gut health and our microbiome. Jacqui is super passionate about whole foods and healing through lifestyle choices, which led her to found her company Grateful Harvest, supplying fermented foods and beverages and helping people make that connection between gut health and the health of their body and mind. Along this journey, Jacqui has connected with world class leaders in this area, sharing their work and allowing each of us to discover the potential for change held within.

We chat with Jacqui about:

Jacqui's interesting and unconventional upbringing, including exposure to textured vegetable protein

How pregnancy prompted her to further investigate what she was eating and how she was living

Brewing her own Kombucha and investigating what Kombucha is, the benefits and what was myth and what wasn't

Homeschooling

The pro's and con's of choice, including being overwhelmed

Crowding out the less desirable stuff

We are only 10% human and the current state of research into the gut and microbiome

The origins of fermented foods

How you create the right environment for fermenting foods

Microbes pre-digestive food for us, produce digestive enzymes, vitamins that the body can absorb, fatty acids

Being the custodians of our internal eco-system and what that means for us from a health perspective

How it all starts - from birth and breast feeding

How our micro biome affects our immune system

The gut sends more messages than the brain does - wow!!

Trusting what our bodies tell us

The potential connection between the gut, autism and inflammatory conditions

It's all about the fibre, so eat more plants

Be kind to yourself

Chew your food properly and eating mindfully

Not being so germ phobic

What does a compromised system look like?

What to look for in commercially available fermented foods and beverages

 

Links:

Grateful Harvest

10% Human, by Alanna Collen

Ecology Skincare

The Mind Body Beauty Podcast

In previous episodes we’ve shared our thoughts on taking a more primal approach to living in our modern world and shifting the way we eat, sleep, move, think, play and relax so it’s more in line with our basic biology …with what our genes expect of us!

We are up to the last Primal Shift now, the THINK Shift.

In my opinion this is one of the hardest Primal Shifts to make and it’s one that requires constant ...thought ...for want of a better word!

So in today’s episode we are going to be talking about how our thoughts and our mindset can affect our health and happiness and what we can do to hold a mirror up to the contents of our mind, observe our thoughts and change our thinking.

We chat about:

How this is harder to get in line than our food and movement

We are hard wired towards a negativity bias, it was critical for the survival of our ancestors

The way we perceive our environment creates our stress

Optimists live longer than pessimists

Cortisol and adrenalin release in response to fear and perceived problems

The effect of cortisol and whole body inflammation on the gut

Butterflies in the stomach

The effects of stress and negative thoughts on the body, holding tension in the body

Thoughts creating feelings in the body, noticing how stress feels in the body

How our thoughts can impact on our skin health

Spending the majority of our time dwelling on thoughts of the past or worrying about what might happen in the future

Being mindful and living in the present moment

The stories we tell ourselves in our heads are not always "true"

Observing thoughts, noticing and naming them to break out of autopilot

Letting go of the need for control "...there's nothing I can do about this, except how I choose to respond to it"

What's the worst that can happen? I'll handle it

Reframing - what can I learn from this?

Getting excited about stressful situations and seeing them as a positive and a challenge

Kelly McGonigal's TED talk

Blue Zone's observations around having a sense of purpose and moving towards your values

The importance of being connected socially and keeping lines of communication open

Sharing worries, emotions, thoughts, joys and realising we all have similar experiences and struggles

Using mindfulness to build mind muscles for noticing and naming thoughts we get caught up in ...in a non-judgemental way

Changing your psychology by changing your physiology - smiling and fake smiling

Your brain doesn't distinguish between real and imagined

Laughter Yoga and Happy Dancing

Getting out of your head and into your body

The benefits of touch, massage and using your 5 senses to ground you in your body

The nature connection and how walking and spending time in nature can change our thinking

Journalling, mindful colouring and creative drawing, Zentangle

Talk therapy with a professional like a psychotherapist can help you process things in a healthier way

Feeling the feelings and letting the emotions out, acknowledging and being ok with it

Primal Hit or Shit - Medicating our thoughts and feelings

Links:

The Mayo Clinic Study finds optimists report a higher quality of life than pessimists

Kelly McGonigal's TED Talk - How to Make Stress your Friend 

Blue Zones - the longest lived communities around the world

Ecology Skincare - Smiling Video in the Calm Mind Clear Skin Series

How walking in nature can change your brain

How time in nature can affect our attention

Morning Pages

Zentangle

In this episode we chat to Osteopath and Ancestral Health Society of New Zealand (AHSNZ) Executive Member Matthew Stewart.

Matt has nearly twenty years experience in manual therapies and is registered as an osteopath in Australia and New Zealand and is a certified and licensed massage therapist in Hawaii...interesting!

In addition to his clinical work, Matt advises training organisations and professional associations on education and research issues. His research interests focus on the effects of manual therapy, movement, diet, sleep, and psycho-social factors on the musculoskeletal system.

Matt seeks to translate the research literature in these domains into his professional and personal practice in accordance with ancestral health principles.

You can hear more from Matt at the AHSNZ International Symposium in October (see link at the end of this page for details!)

We Chat About:

Massage qualifications in Hawaii?

Matt's Primal Shift, the gradual journey

Why did Matt decide to become an osteopath?

What does an osteopath do?

Three broad themes of osteopathy: Visceral, Cranial, and Structural

Resistance training and recovery from desk sitting

How lifestyle factors impact on the musculoskeletal system

The vicious cycle of inflammation, pain and sleep deprivation

Pain perception and the nervous system

Everyone has imperfect bodies (structurally)

Manual therapy for managing stress and pain

How we hold emotions in our bodies (the 'three fists of tension')

The importance of the psoas muscle

Sitting properly to protect your back and pelvis (if you have to sit!)

Matt's thoughts on treadmill desks

What to do if you don't have a standing desk at work

Power postures for managing stress

How to get more movement into our day

Matt's daily movement routine and passion for sports

How does Matt rest and recover?

Improving athletic performance

Are humans designed to run?

How did Matt get involved in AHSNZ

What will Matt be speaking about at the AHSNZ Symposium in October?

What's Matt reading at the moment?

 

Links:

Matt's Clinic Website

'The Osteoblast'

Ancestral Health Society of NZ

The Paleo Solution: Robb Wolf

It Starts with Food

Dr Andrew Weil

Christopher McDougall 'Born To Run'

Phillip Beach

Muscles and Meridians

Archetypal Postures & the Erectorcises Online Workshop

TED Talk - Amy Cuddy " Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are"

Ecology Skincare

Today we’re joined by Asha Evertsz, The Clear Skin Expert talking about clearing acne naturally without relying on synthetic hormones, antibiotics and skin stripping skincare.

Asha is a Naturopath, Skin Therapist, Corneotherapist and former acne sufferer who’s seen every type of acne and every type of acne cause. A self-confessed science nerd and biochemistry buff, Asha brings in the big guns - pathology and functional medicine ...bang bang ...with her acne treatments and education programs.

Asha loves to help people to learn the triggers that are unique to them, so that they are educated and confident with their skin and sassy selves! She can be found practicing from her clinical practice in Collins Street Melbourne, helping thousands of women with their skin stress.

We chat with Asha about:

Her experience with adult acne and treating it conventionally with the birth control pill

Going on a personal mission to help treat and heal her cystic acne and how acne can affect every facet of your life

Listening to the messages our skin is sending us

Working with a range of practitioners and getting support from friends and family

Studying Naturopathy and Natural Beauty Therapy

Omega 3's, inflammation and pathology testing

What are some of the main causes of adult acne, it's certainly not straight forward

Intense periods of stress most often precede major acne breakouts

Underlying inflammation and an underlying metabolic issue

A paleo diet is the most anti-inflammatory diet

Cortisol is the big instigator, hormones do play their part but it's more of a metabolic issue that can affect insulin and sex hormones

Thoughts on dairy as a trigger for acne. High GI foods can trigger insulin and insulin like growth factors, increasing sebum production, inflammation and affecting the way skin cells shed

Testing - a full blood exam is helpful, including iron and B12, vitamin D, urinary profiles that look at cortisol and oestrogen, testosterone, DHT and progesterone

Zones of breakouts - jawline, chin and neck can be stress related, hormones, thyroid play a part

If breaking out elsewhere Asha will often investigate gut issues and potential parasite infections

Back and shoulder acne in males and some females

Common mistakes people make that can cause acne or make it worse and what to do about them

1. Using harsh products or treatments, including those that contain benzyl peroxide (a lot of people present with a dry acne, not oily), fragrances, emulsifiers, clinical skin peels

2. Getting on medication too early as a band aid (birth control pill and roaccutane)

3. People trying to solve acne themselves without support

4. Picking skin, it damages skin that is already inflamed and slow to heal and can cause longer term pigmentation

5. Obsessing about skin, letting it take over your life and the negative self talk that goes with it

Recommendations for what to do when breaking out, topically and on the inside

Sleep is one of the best things you can do for your stress levels and your skin, you can't buy sleep!

Eating to balance out blood sugar levels and get enough nutrients to the skin

6-9 cups of veggies a day (rule of thumb - half of this as leafy green veggies and don't skimp on starches), quality protein, bone broths

Not too much high intensity exercise, sweating is good for skin but if stressed going for more restorative exercise

Sugar and stimulants like coffee are not a good idea, especially if stressed

Drink lots of water

Links

Asha Evertsz Clear Skin Expert 

Ecology Skincare

Crystal and Jo talk with the dynamic Diana Rodgers from Radiance Nutrition and the Sustainable Dish about food sustainability.

Diana Rodgers divides her time between her nutritional therapy practice, running an organic farm and vegetable CSA with her husband and 2 children, writing beautiful cookbooks, teaching cooking classes and educational programs and co-hosting the modern farm girls podcast.

We talk with Diana about:

What a typical day looks like juggling the kids and farm work with writing and her nutritional practice

What a CSA is (Community Supported Agriculture)

Her journey before and after being diagnosed with coeliac disease in her mid-twenties

Finding Weston A Price and The Paleo Solution

Combining Paleo with sustainable living

Studying to become a board certified Dietitian

Becoming organic farmers

The difference between "being Paleo" and living in a sustainable Paleo way

The importance of sleeping well, getting out in nature and connecting with the community

The Homegrown Paleo Cookbook - a "how to" for homesteading and how to live a more sustainable Paleo life (whether you're growing your own food or not)

What questions we can ask at the supermarket, farm gate or farmers markets

Food policy around sustainability and the assumptions made about plant-based diets and farming

Why Diana loves goats

Humane slaughter and respecting the whole animal

Making sustainability "sexier"

Diana's topic for the Ancestral Health Symposium in Queenstown in October

 

Links

The Sustainable Dish

Weston A Price

Humane Slaughter

Ancestral Health Society Symposium in Queenstown

In this episode we speak to the multi-talented and super human Steph Gaudreau from Stupid Easy Paleo.

When Steph isn't creating delicious & nutritious chow, she’s lifting heavy things, writing books and running her new podcast Harder to Kill Radio. Steph is also a one time science teacher and current holistic nutritionist, so I think we are in good hands here!

Steph and her husband Craig Zielinski will be heading to the land of the long white cloud (New Zealand!) to speak at the Ancestral Health Society of New Zealand (AHSNZ) international Symposium October.

We Chat About

Steph talks about her new online program (coming soon!)

Steph's Primal Shift

How Steph developed a better relationship with her body through an ancestral lifestyle, and cross fit

Balancing personal fitness with business goals

The story behind 'Stupid Easy Paleo'

How to face the fear when making big life or career changes

Steph's advice for goal setting and changing habits

Why there is an absence of  sweet snack foods on Steph's site

Taming the sugar beast

Modifying nutrition for athletic performance and endurance training

How do humans become 'unbreakable'?

Why is Steph traveling to New Zealand for the AHSNZ Symposium in October?

What is Steph talking about at AHSNZ?

Moving beyond the obsession of aesthetics

Steph runs the '5 rapid fire' gauntlet questions!

 

Links:

Stupid Easy Paleo

Loren Cordain

The Whole30

Ancestral Health Society of New Zealand

Ecology Skincare