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

Daniel and I didn’t want to leave you hanging for long without new information posted on the site but Daniel is unable to devote any time to his blog for a little while yet as he is on the road and busy spreading the word of Shamanic Nutrition in California! The tour is going great and there are several events left if your thinking you’d like to see Daniel do his thing live and in person!

These next 3 videos are the follow up from the last post entitled “Stalking the Wild Chaga”.

The first video covers proper drying and storage of the Chaga mushroom and preparing a decoction, with the 2nd & 3rd videos being a detailed, step by step instruction on creating an Elixir, using the wild-harvested Chaga tea as a base.

As per usual, Daniel’s delivery in these next 3 videos is flawless… Enjoy!

Daniel has a bit of an aversion to recipes….. preferring to teach the principles and process of ElixirCrafting and encouraging people to use their intuition and to create from their own unique palate, so it’s a special treat that he measured everything this time and I was able to put together the recipe for you!

I’ll let you watch the videos first though… the recipe is included at the bottom of the post.

The ElixirCraft Mastery Program is an excellent resource for understanding the concept and components of making liquid medicinal preparations and I recommend it to anyone who is embarking on the journey to Invincible Health!

Also, check out our friends at rawnatureboy.com to get an exclusive package deal on Sun Warrior Protein Powder, SurThrival Colostrum & Immortal Velvet Deer Antler!!!

For those of us living in areas where Chaga is not readily available we can substitute the Chaga tea base with any medicinal teas we are currently working with, keeping in mind that the flavor may vary slightly… but not enough to make that big of a difference.

Bodybuilding Wild Chaga Protein Elixir

6 cups wild chaga decoction (tea)
1/2 cup soaked chia seeds
1/4 cup mesquite powder
1 cup wild blueberries
3 raw eggs
1/2 cup Sun Warrior protein powder
1/2 cup SurThrival colostrum
1tblsp raw butter (or other fat source)
3 guarana seeds
1tsp vanilla powder
1/3 tsp whole leaf stevia powder (or sweetener of choice)
pinch of salt

Thanks for all your support here at DanielVitalis.com!!!!
We look forward to your comments and feedback….

Sarah Maria xo
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These are the final two videos from the series I shot with Arthur Haines, Botonist and Wild Foods Expert and Primitive Skills Master! When he wants to eat Wild Rice he doesn’t go to the market or health food store, he goes to into the Wilds!

For much of the year Wild Rice has formed a significant part of my diet and I recommend it to my friends and clients often as a commercially available source of Wild Food!  For countless generations it served as a staple food crop to many indigenous peoples of North America.

Arthur and his crew harvest enough each season to last them through the year, and they process all of it by hand!  This is more than interesting, it is an education in how you can get started too!

Special thanks to both Arthur and the Maine Primitive Skills School for introducing me to him!  I will be taking part in a 3 day course this weekend with them on Winter Survival Skills, and I will be sure to get lots of great footage!

Also, there are just a few days left to grab your discounted tickets to Eden Hot Springs (seriously)!  Don’t miss this chance to soak in these Wild Waters!

And, if you love Arthur let him know by leaving your comments!  If all goes well we will offer a foraging class sometime this summer!

Thank You for reading this and for all your support! This is for you! ~Daniel

Are you stuck in a rut?  Ready for a change?

I feel confident when I say that this is the adventure that you have been longing for!

We have secured a special offer for you, but it will only last for one week!  I know that sounds like clever marketing, but its true!  This is the only cash discount that will be offered for this event, so if you are feeling called, now is the time!

I am headed back to the Desert to visit the sacred healing springs of Geronimo, the Apache Warrior… Eden Hot Springs Arizona! The Epic Eden Hot Springs 2010 Spring Retreat is the place where you can truly express your Feral nature!

This is the spot where I fully express parts of myself that are hidden when I walk through the domesticated world!  A place where you can take off the mask and explore who you really are!

Not only is this the Party of the year, but what makes Eden so unique is that the focus here is on tribe, holistic living and multi-dimensional healing… Complete with Organic whole food, Healing Hotspring Water, and the vitalizing rays of the desert Sun, there is nowhere I would rather be this Spring!

Come cleanse with us..  physically, emotionally, mentally, and  spiritually in the height of the Spring bloom of the Sonoran desert! Reconnect to the Majesty of creation as the Milky Way fills the vast night sky high over head.

As a presenter at this epic event, I will be leading you across the land to teach the Secrets of Water at Eden’s various desert Spring Sources.  We will explore the Mineral properties of the waters, and gather the natural salts that rise up out of the ground.

Not only will we explore the Element of Water, but also of Earth, Air, and Fire as well.  This retreat will be an immersion into the Elemental.  This is a place where each Element is so powerfully evident that it is almost like an alchemical laboratory…

The staff of this retreat are world class healer-practitioners who know the art of facilitating a most powerful, once in a lifetime journey!  Joy Light and Rebecca Astara, without a doubt, both masterfully wield the art of facilitating a transformational life experience for everyone who attends.

Each presenter and staff member has been consciously and specifically chosen to weave together an experience that will add value to your life for the rest of your days!

This is a crew that I have worked with many times, and this is more than just a retreat for us.  Eden Hot Springs is like our Temple, a place whose Hot Springs hold a sacred power.  A power that burns away the layers of false self that can sometimes accumulate on and around us.

It leaves behind a glowing new You, in a deep state of wonder, with a renewed vision, purpose, and clarity and personal power.  It is a place of renewal.

It is a place where I feel I can experience what it is like to live like a tribe on the land.  I feel indigenous and married to the elements.  There is no where else I feel more “connected”.

Those who join us will be a part of our Eden Family forever.

From now until Sunday the 31st we can offer you this exclusive opportunity for $50 off of your ticket. Trust me, you want to be at this one!

~Daniel

We are excited to bring yet another video with Wild Foods expert Arthur Haines!

This information, for me, was particularly fascinating, and I think the same is true for Arthur as well!

For centuries people have been enjoying the health benefits of the fermented beverage Kombucha, which is often mistakenly referred to a Chinese Mushroom Tea.  In truth, Kombucha, which most likely hails not from China, but from Russia, is tea that has been fermented by a “SCOBY”.  This is an acronym for a Symbiotic Colony Of Yeast and Bacteria, the strange pancake like colony of organisms that float on top of the ferment.

Typically the Kombucha begins with a steeped tea (literally the Tea plant “Camellia sinensis”) and white or “unrefined”  cane sugar.  The SCOBY, often called the “Mother” is placed into the tea where it (the yeast and bacteria) ferment the feed on the sugars and phytonutrients of the tea, fermenting it into the drink we call Kombucha.

For years I have been told that the Mother required the caffeine from the tea plant, as well as the Sucrose from the sugar.  I have seen small Kombucha projects where honey, agave, and other alternative sugar sources have been used, but they ultimately are less functional than sucrose.  The flavored and herbed Kombucha we see on the market is made first with tea, and then is infused with other plants after it is fermented.

Arthur has discovered a method that bypasses both the Tea plant as well as the Refined Sugar! What he shares here is a truly Wild food, fully medicinal, and even better tasting than what I was used to!

So, this is an official challenge to the Kombucha producers and communities to up their game!

Have a look and let us know what you think!!! ~Daniel

Oh, almost forgot!  Special thanks to Lauren Kinsey, who posted a really valuable comment after seeing the last set of videos with Arthur.  I had mentioned that wild plant harvesting by humans can actually benefit the ecosystem.  In a portion of her response Lauren’s says “I don’t understand how harvesting wild food can “benefit the ecosystem”.

I really appreciated her stepping up to ask because I know that I (and much of my generation) was raised to believe that we are inherently, by our very nature, damaging to ecosystems.  This way of seeing the world is very much in vogue today.  Arthur shares a very eloquent response;

“It does at first seem like an odd statement that collecting wild plants can actually benefit the ecosystem. But Daniel’s statement is factual. It may be hard to perceive because we simply don’t interact with wild plants as traditional cultures did, which means we lack the knowledge base to understand our role in the ecology of these organisms. Further, we have been taught to “take only pictures, leave only footprints.” This well-intentioned phrase has created a populace that no longer uses and cherishes wild species. Consequently, many do not understand their true value.

There are so many examples of beneficial human interaction it is hard to know where to begin. Consider species such as evening-primrose, a colonizer of open, disturbed places that has an edible taproot. When we gather this root, we kill the plant. However, we also till the ground when we excavate the roots, disturbing the soil and maintaining an open area–which is absolutely necessary for this species. Without repeated disturbance, the area will eventually grow in with taller plants that will shade out the evening-primrose, leading to a loss of that species at that site. When we gather edible seeds and seed-like fruits, we unintentionally scatter or drop some of them, helping the plant to disperse further than it would have otherwise. Native American practices have been shown to increase the abundance of certain species even though lethal collection was being performed. They utilized many traditional practices to ensure plants were not eradicated. Simply gathering bulbs after the seeds had formed would allow the plant to germinate in freshly tilled earth.

We really do need a shift away from the current paradigm of a hands-off approach to nature. This “look but don’t touch” attitude toward nature has been applied too extensively, and many mistakenly believe that all wild beings are better off without any human interaction. However, there exist many examples showing that conscientious use of plants by people is beneficial for those species. Further, experientially learning the uses of wild plants teaches people to value those species while also helping them to become more self-sufficient.

The simultaneous use and conservation of nature requires far more knowledge and skill than simply leaving nature alone. What might appear on the surface to be a wanton act of collection actually represents a gathering system that includes numerous safeguards to protect plants from overharvest. Abstract learning about nature (i.e., learning that doesn’t involve interaction and use) doesn’t accurately portray the value of different species. Without this knowledge, the need to preserve species can’t be fully appreciated.

Best wishes,
Arthur Haines