My Summer Essentials

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“Of all the wonders of nature, a tree in summer is perhaps the most remarkable; with the possible exception of a moose singing ‘Embraceable You’ in spats.”
— Woody Allen

    I love summer, because I love going to the beach.  When I think of summer, I think of rawer foods, juice, berries, eating outside, going to the beach.  I am a sun worshipper.  The beach is my territory.  There’s nothing better than getting some rays grounded in the ocean, breathing salty air.  A good spring cleaning is necessary for a good summer.  Spring is the perfect time to let go of winter, and prepare for a great, expansive summer.

 

Here is a list of some of my summer essentials:

 

    I like to prepare for summer with juice.  I find juice to be very cooling, and really cut it back in winter.  Now that summer’s quickly approaching, I’ve been adding more green juices.  It’s been slightly chilly recently, but I know it’s going to be beach weather soon so I’m incorporating more colored juices like carrot and beet.  Eating more colors, I believe, helps protect you from burning.*        *not approved by the FDA, or whatever.

    I’m a huge advocate of the sun.  Nothing makes me feel better than spending a few hours basking in the sun.  I think we can definitely affect how sensitive we are to the sun through our lifestyle.  Taking care of our skin and eating to nourish it are key.  It’s our largest organ, and largest organ of elimination!  And if you’re a Bruce Lipton fan, you’ll know that the intelligence of the cell lies in the membrane.  I’m just as careful of what I put on my body as in my body.  If I need some protection, I put on a shirt.

    Once summer arrives, I love to indulge in berries.  Berries are my favorite fruit.  One thing to note about berries, it’s good to eat them with a fat, and really important they are well chewed.  Try to break up the seeds.  If you put them in a smoothie, blend to grind up the seeds, and chew it before you swallow it.  This prepares your body to receive food.  I generally use frozen fruit for convenience, but don’t like cold food, so blending for longer also helps warm it up a little.  Berries are also a good source of nutrition!  Full of colors, fibers.  Did you know strawberries are the only fruit with their seeds on the outside?  It’s a very unique fiber that glues them on, that’s great for your intestinal tract!

 

    My summer wardrobe is dictated by what I find comfortable.  Earth runners are my primary footwear.  I’m hesitant to call them shoes, but I wear them beyond the point that sandals are appropriate.  I’m on my second pair.  Earth runners are barefoot running sandals (as the name insinuates), that electrically ground you to the earth.  There are several different options when choosing them.  I feel like I’m getting custom sandals when I order them.  If you want to look further into it, here is their website.

    The first pair I got just prior to spending a month at The Tree of Life with Dr. Gabriel Cousens, in Patagonia, AZ.  They were perfect!  They were the only shoes I brought with me and wore them hiking, walking, “cooking” for 30 consecutive days.  I decided to upgrade to ones with conductive slip-on laces.  Mine also have copper inserts that ground my feet at specific acupoints.  I don’t even feel like I have shoes on, and they’re so flexible, walking on a tactile warning strip is like a free foot massage.

    Grounding can also help you avoid burning in the sun.  When you’re grounded, your body acquires the electrical potential of the earth, which provides many benefits.  It’s a source of negatively charged electrons (anti-oxidants), has an anti-inflammatory effect and entrains your body with the Schumann Resonances.  The Schumann resonances are a result of the difference in charge and distance between the earth and the ionosphere (another reason to discontinue H.A.A.R.P.).  Think of the earth and the ionosphere creating a battery, with us in the middle.  Since neither the earth nor the ionosphere are perfect spheres, there is variation, but it's generally around 7.83Hz.

 

    A long sleeve white linen shirt is my go-to sunblock.  I’m not an advocate of sunscreens.  I’m not an advocate of burning either.  Getting some sun is important.  I feed off the sun, nothing makes me feel better.  Getting just 15 minutes of unprotected sun will supply you with sufficient vitamin D for the day.  One thing I think is important to note:  Vitamin D is produced and left on the surface of the skin to be absorbed.  Don’t take a shower after you go to the beach!  Not right away.  Wait as long as you can.  I know, you’re going to say, "but that’s gross."  Well whats worse, washing off all the vitamin D, or throwing on some strong essential oils.  Back to the shirt, white reflects the most light so you won’t get warm.  Linen is a breathable, comfortable, natural fiber.

     As I’m typing this, I think I should mention sunglasses.  I wear glasses sometimes, sunglasses too.  Most lenses, clear or not, block UV light.  Sunglasses have the potential to be more harmful, blocking UV and visible light.  It’s important to get some sun in your eyes.  People talk about sun gazing for a reason.  Tanning actually begins with the eyes.  When UV light enters through your eye, it stimulates the pituitary gland to produce melanocyte stimulating hormone, which does what it sounds like.  Your skin also reacts, but significantly slower.  So, when you’re in the sun wearing sunglasses, your body takes much longer to pigment the skin with melanin, increasing chances of burning.  I recently came across some information arguing that the bacteria on your skin affects your sensitivity.  I don’t know enough to comment, but that makes sense to me.

 

    There are always certain songs I associate with summer.  I have a few pretty regular summer activities with friends I only see on occasion, so I usually remember the songs they introduced me to, or that we played repeatedly, and those usually go on the playlist.  There are others that just have a summery feel, a je ne sais quoi.  I’m still working on my summer playlist, but this is it so far:

 

    

    I wouldn’t call myself an audiophile, but I like good sound.  I’m usually pretty brand loyal to Bang and Olufsen.  While it’s usually a bitch to deal with the store, and maintenance is required, it’s worth it for the supreme audio/visual experience.  The A3?  Genius, I don’t know why the discontinued it.  I’m currently on the Beoplay A2 wireless bluetooth speaker.  “Rays,” I know, but it’s a trade off.  Ground yourself.  The sound is spectacular.  It’s got a pretty good range, 55Hz to 20,000Hz.  On the other hand, Bose dose not disclose the range of it’s most popular bluetooth speaker, the SoundLink Mini.  I couldn’t find the wattage, but I’m guessing it’s up there.  Battery life is a supposed 24 hours play time.  I haven’t counted, but it seems great.  You can also plug audio or USB right in.  You can charge off the USB port, which is nice.  And I got this sweet shoulder strap for it.  Charles Eames once (or maybe twice) said, “The details are not the details.  They are the design.”


    I say a Land Rover is an essential summer and beach component because, how else are you going to drive on the beach?  It’s so much fun.  I love driving out as far away as we can get and setting up camp for the day.  Feels just like a safari, but by the ocean.

1985 Land Rover 110, Cape Poge, Chappaquiddick

1985 Land Rover 110, Cape Poge, Chappaquiddick

    One thing a beach campsite requires is lemonade.  I love lemonade.  My usual is a squeezed lemon, a little grade b maple syrup and water, spring or distilled.  In summer I like to get a little fancier.  The best lemonade requires pressed lemon juice, with the rind.  There is nothing like it.  Living in California, I don’t have my Norwalk so I’ve been using option two.  Squeeze a lemon into distilled water, and then drop the rind in and let it sit for a few hours, even overnight.  The distilled water will draw the oils form the peel.  Then I like to add a little MSM.  It pairs well with citrus.  Surthrival Schizandra Berry Concentrate is the best schizandra I’ve had, and adds a little zing to the lemonade.  And turns it into pink lemonade.

 

    For every 12 ounces of water:

  • 1/2 - 1 Organic Lemon, depending on the size/tartness factor you’re looking for
  • 1/2 tablespoon Grade B Maple Syrup*
  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon non-petroleum derived MSM powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Schizandra Concentrate

 

This 2000mL Erlenmeyer Flask is great for vortexing and serving!

This 2000mL Erlenmeyer Flask is great for vortexing and serving!

 

*You can cut down on the number of ingredients by swapping out water and maple syrup for maple sap.

    Schizandra is one of the top tonic herbs in Traditional Chinese Medicine.  There are countless reasons why someone might be interested in taking schizandra, it's great for the liver, is known as a beautifying tonic and in Chinese translates to "five flavors."  Here’s a video of Brandon Gilbert describing the benefits of schizandra, he's more qualified than I am.  Lucidera, the company that supplies Surthrival, was founded by Brandon.

    If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed it!