This past autumn was a really exciting time for my team and I, with so many of our projects coming to fruition and our message of ReWilding, Spring Water, and Indigenous Nutrition spreading around our community and beyond, faster than we ever imagined.

I want to extend a big thanks to the Longevity Now Conference for all they have done to make this happen. Check out this 12 minute video clip (click on the image below) of the talk I delivered in Costa Mesa last October titled, “Developing Sovereign Health: The Path of  Rewilding Ourselves”. If you would like to see the rest of the talk, as well as those presented by the rest of the Longevity Now speakers, it is available here.

"Rewild Yourself: Tips & Tricks for Strengthening Your Epigenetic Health"

I also want to share this quick video clip of my good friend Shailene Woodley’s appearance on the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Show (check out that clip right here)!  She was so kind as to mention my name and the work I have been doing the last several years!  Shailene has become a tremendous ally, helping to share the message of ReWilding, Spring Water, and Indigenous Nutrition with the world.  Recently, she also appeared on the Ellen Degeneres Show carrying a mason jar of spring water which she promptly shared with Ellen!

Here is a recent interview with her in Black Book Magazine titled “Eating Clay and Super Humans”! She talks about foraging, spring water and her daily clay consumption!

If you don’t know Shailene’s work, check out her latest film, The Descendants, where she co-stars alongside George Clooney.  Shailene, from all of us, Thank You for all that you are doing!

Lastly I want to share the link to the newly rebuilt SurThrival website!  It’s a great place to stock up on great winter immune system supplements, such as Medicinal Mushroom Extracts and Colostrum.  I am so proud of SurThrival as a project, as a company, and as a team!  Thanks to all of you who have supported us! We are constantly working to serve you better!

Thats all for now!

Keep on ReWilding Yourself!

~Daniel

I am just back from a month on the road, touring and teaching across California! It is constantly amazing to me, being from the east coast, just how geologically active that part of the world is!

My trip began in Hollywood and ended at Mt Shasta, and this trip if done right is something like a spiritual pilgrimage! Along the way I made a point to visit as many HotSprings as I could find, and each one had its own unique qualities and properties. Not all Springs are created equal, and I must say, of all I visited while there one stands out in my mind.

Wilbur Hot Springs! Just 2.5 hours North East of the Bay, this is a great place to take a break from city living, or for anyone who loves to Spring Jump around the World!  This Water is Raw, Alive, and untreated, and flows into the pools (the “fluminarium” as this style is called) just as they flow from the Earth.  There is a bit of a cooling that is allowed before they enter the pools so as to prevent serious burns, but no chlorination, ozonation or any other denaturing technology is used!

This is a truly unique source, rich in both Sulfur and Sodium Chloride, as well as….  something unidentified.  I am guessing it is a naturally occurring Petroleum Oil of some kind.  It leaves a silky coat on your skin, and adds dramatically to the exotic experience of Wilbur’s enchanted grounds.

There is a 140 degree F hotspring geyser that erupts every 44 minutes, and over 1,800 acres of private nature preserve to explore.  The valley is totally concealed from civilization, and its nestled into its Napa Valley-like hills are the solar panels that power this off grid facility.

There is a gigantic public commercial sized kitchen, and as a guest you are given your own cupboard and refrigerator shelf.  This means that no matter what your diet you can take care of yourself in a very comfortable environment!

Also, unlike some of the other Hot Springs I visited in California, Wilbur has the feel of the Sacred without being the culty experience of some of the Hot Spring “churches” (legal spiritual communities) around the State.

The grounds have been decorated in a Zen theme that creates an ideal blank canvass for you to paint your own experience upon! In the gift shop they sell the dehydrated salts of the Waters there, which have now found their way into my kitchen at home!

Enjoy these videos, and visit these springs as soon as you can!

Be sure to check out the upcoming Eden Hot Springs retreat in Arizona April 28th through May 2nd, and if your ready join us in what is perhaps the most transformative environment on Earth!

Thanks as always for reading and for watching!

Bless!

~Daniel

The answer is obvious…    It is all of the above!

Allow me to explain.

We have had our words and definitions a bit mixed up when it comes to substances that affect our consciousness…  For instance we have in this country a “War on Drugs”.  We also, simultaneously, have be-speckled our every street with “Drug Stores”.  The Drugs on the street are considered Poisons.  The Drugs in the Stores are considered Medicine.  Many illegal street drugs were once or still are considered Medicines. Most of the world is waking up to the fact that Pharmaceutical Drugs are Poisons (just listen to the long list of toxic chemical side effects on the drug TV commercials).

What is the difference between all of these substances?  How can we use the words “drug”, “medicine”, and “poison”, which seem to mean such incredibly different things, to describe the same substances?

Thats easy!  Its because they are Synonyms!

The Alchemist, and “Father of Modern Chemical Medicine”, Paracelsus left us a phrase that has lit my path through the world of nutrition for years; “Everything is Poison, nothing is Poison, Dose is everything!”

Cacao Beans are a Mildly Psychoactive Cardiac Stimulant, no question.  This means they are Medicine, a Drug, and yes with over-dose or over-use, a Poison as well….  Welcome to the world of Pharmacologically Active Indigenous Nutrition…  here the lines can get a bit blurry.

The separation of “Foods” and “Drugs” is a relatively new concept that has very little to do with your health and safety.  In fact, when it comes to Plant Foods most, as they are found in the wild, are very medicinal…  In other words they are “drugs”.  It is only with the extreme hybridization of our food supply that these medicinal substances have been bred out of our food.

Domesticated Humans don’t like the taste of medicine….  Bitter.

Remember Hippocrates admonition “Let Food be they Medicine, and Medicine be thy Food.  Another way to say this is “Let your Foods be your Drugs, and your Drugs be your Foods”….  Interesting.  This timeless (or maybe ‘timely’) piece of advice can be a bit challenging to follow when the foods in our marketplaces are devoid of the medicine they once contained…  Take lettuce for example…  in the Wild it is a Mild Narcotic!!! In fact, its sap is called Lettuce Opium!  This lettuce is by nature quite bitter.  While it is the source of all of our supermarket varieties, its use is radically different.

Its the difference between a Wolf and a Chihuahua…

Because of the down breeding of our staple plant foods, we now have to have our Foods and Medicines separately.

Enter the Cacao Bean…  Still bitter…  the taste of Medicine…  still psychoactive…  Still intact.  And unlike so many other “Drugs” that have survived in our culture, tobacco as an example, Cacao Beans are a food!  Food as Medicine!

Just remember, everything in Moderation (especially moderation)!

Now that we have put that to rest…  How do we use them??!!!

Great Quest-I-on!

Here are some vids from my travels in Arizona.  While in Sedona I gave a talk at the “ChocolaTree” Cafe’ where I recieved quite a Chocolate Education! From where they get their Beans, to how they Process and Temper them, this team has it down!

They are also running one of the countries most cutting-edge high-vibe nutrition cafe’s…  They serve excellent Raw Food dishes, Soups, Juices, Elixirs, Tea’s and of course….  Chocolate!

Big Thanks to the whole team for hosting me for such a truly amazing event!  Even bigger thanks for your total committment to excellence.  From the ethics to the quality, to the standard of production…  You are really a model for the future! ~Daniel

Yes, its true…  the Arizona State Flower grows atop a Psychedelic Cactus!

This is one of those interesting Herbal Secrets that has been, all along, hidden right under our noses! When I was first told about this I could hardly believe it.  The very Symbol of the Desert is a Mind Altering Herb! Its called Carnegia Gigantea, also known as the Saguaro Cactus (that G is pronounced like a W).

For years I have been getting to know this Cactus which is often referred to as a Desert Tree.  Its Fruits, which ripen in late June and early July are perhaps the most delicious of any flowering plant on Earth!  They have traditionally been an important nutrient source for the Tohono O’ Odham (and many other) peoples of the Sonoran Desert, who would use these fruits for food, jams, and jellies, as well as ferment them for 2-4 days to create a fruit wine that was Inextricably Linked to their cultural LifeWays.

Many of my Friends today, in the Desert South-West, harvest this fruit (beginning at dawn and finishing before the heat of the day) in the early Summer with long pruning poles, and dry into a fruit leather that is a delicacy like no other.

For the last few years I have been using the Cactus Flesh as a “NooTropic” herb, and though information on these properties are scarce, I have found the psychoactive alkaloids referenced as  ”Gigantine”, “Carnegine”,and “Arizonine”.

I want to be clear here, I am Not Recommending that you harvest Saguaro for this use.  It is protected and considered an endangered species.  Damaging the plant in anyway is considered unlawful.  Be wise and cautious.  This species is ancient, and these Desert Trees deserve our uptmost Respect…  Tread Lightly!

However…  here is what I have discovered.  The inner bark is a Dark Green, and very bitter due to the concentration of Alkaloids it contains.  I have found that it makes a great beverage when blended with Spring Water, Lime Juice, Agave, Aloe Vera, and Salt, and a pinch of Cayanne.  The dose that I began with was around a Tablespoon of inner bark per person.

No amount of sweetening can really mask the bitterness of the Saguaro, but then again, would you really want to?  Like the Peyote and San Pedro Cactuses, the bitterness is inherent and an indicator of its Alkaloid Content… in other words, potency.

My Personal Experiences were like waves of Visionary and Kinesthetic Alteration, a bit like Walking on the Moon.  There is a Dreamy Quality, like the space between wakefulness and dreams.

A distinct sense of the Intelligence and Ancient Wisdom of the Desert Eco-Range is imparted from the Alkaloids to the Consumer.  The Modulation of Time-Space feels a bit more appropriate to this Barren Desert LandScape than does the “Normal Waking State”, though the accompanying nausea makes frequent or habitual use less than Exciting!

The Relationship and Bond that Consuming this Forbidden Food has forged betwixt myself and this Tree will last a Lifetime.  It is just one of the Numerous Medicines that this Plant (and Planet) offers Us. I present this with Humble Gratitude to a Species who has Mastered Life in one of the Harshest Climates on Earth!

Viva Saguaro!

~Daniel

Huge Thanks to Sarah Maria for all her help with this video and website!  She has been the instrumental force in the creation of this space, my DVD’s and many other projects!  Big Love Sarah!

This next video shows off the “Venus Pool” at Eden and a few of the local wild plants, including mesquite pods, one of my favorite foods of this desert eco-system.

The Venus Pool is something truly unique.  It is a hotspring filled Olympic Sized swimming pool.  The Waters there are much cooler than the other sources on the land, and this is because the heat rises right off of its enormous surface area.  It represents a nice balance to some of the hotter pools on the property.

Because of the naturally occurring salts in the source, the pool, which is well over a persons head in the center, feels like a Womb of Embryonic Fluid.  In fact, is the perfect temperature and salinity for you to stand immersed with your eyes comfortably open.

This creates the rather unique experience that allows for deep neuro/muscular/fascial/osteo Release, Reformatting, and Meta-Programming!

Most nights while I am there I go down to this pool, swim out deep and do something akin to Free-Flow Underwater Tai Chi…  I make it up as I go, letting my Neurology dictate the movements.  I have explored movements that would be impossible on land, moving with the Saline Buoyancy like an astronaut on the Moon (or at least like one on the TV Moon Hoax Footage)

The water provides resistance in every direction, creating the most optimal exercise environment I have ever encountered!  Not just becase it is a good “work out”, but also because it Fun and Feels Good, which is very important for optimal training!

Beyond that is the transcendental experience of this Pool.  Submerged in 500,000 gallons of the embryonic geo-thermal waters of this Sacred Spring Source beneath the desert sky in this Wilderness Oasis of the Sonoran, it is a challenge not to recognize and commune with the Life Force that animates all of reality.

I am headed back to Eden April 28th for the next adventure!  Hope you choose to be amongst the few blessed humans who ever get to experience this magickal location!

~DV