This solo episode is a comprehensive breakdown of my experiences with barefooting. As a long-time barefooting proponent, I’ve traversed thousands of miles of various terrain with bare feet or minimalist footwear, and I’ve learned quite a bit about the often unknown and under-utilized capabilities of the human foot. I detail my experiences wearing minimalist footwear in challenges like the Tough Mudder and GoRuck, as well as during my recent backcountry hunter course. I break down my favorite minimalist footwear brands, unpack the myth of arch support and share some not often discussed benefits of barefooting that I’ve discovered over the years. Note: This podcast is best enjoyed while walking barefoot on a forest trail.

Radiant sense-visionary Nadine Artemis — creator of Living Libations — is back on ReWIld Yourself podcast! In this interview, Nadine gives us a complete breakdown of how to properly care for our skin with the Stop, Seal and Seed approach. She shares what dietary and self-care practices are proven to produce healthy, glowing skin, as well as what hygiene products and foods are less-than-optimal. You’ll learn why bacteria is your skin’s best friend, the popular skin care product that you most want to avoid, Nadine’s core skin care recommendations and so much more. Consider this an owner’s manual for your largest organ!

My long-time friend Mike Adams aka the Health Ranger joins us on the show to discuss lifestyle tips for the future human in the modern world. Mike is an outspoken consumer health advocate, award-winning investigative journalist, internet activist and science lab director. Mike lives his life with purpose and integrity, and his passion shines through his prolific work.

Mike shares his latest research and findings on some of our modern toxicities like GMOs, glyphosate and radioactivity, and he offers his top lifestyle strategies to maintain resiliency and robust health in our post-industrial world. We cover a lot of ground in this interview, and we do venture into some areas of our current collective reality that are less than savory. Though we don’t go too far down those rabbit holes, these are subjects that, I feel, are vital to bring into our on-going discussion as we learn to navigate and adapt to our ever-changing wild, urban and virtual environments. This conversation is a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoy!

Ben Falk joins us to discuss permaculture and the art of regenerating landscapes. Ben is an author and the founder of Whole Systems Design, LLC, a land-based response to biological and cultural extinction and the increasing separation between people and elemental things. He shares about his experiences using permaculture to create edible landscapes and set ecosystems in motion. Ben, a former eco-warrior, has turned his passion for our earth into a beautiful dedication to healing the trauma of the land.

My good friend Luke Storey has spent the past 20 years developing and refining a robust way of life based on the principles of nature and spirituality, while embracing technology and modern convenience. Luke is back on the show for an in-depth conversation on vulnerability and authenticity in our edited modern world.

The health and personal development world tends to be filled with public figures projecting polished positivity and motivation, and while all of that has its place, true change is often inspired in others when you share vulnerabilities and shine light on your own shadows. Luke and I cover a lot of ground in this episode — from mentorship to podcasting to breatharianism to spirituality — but we continue to come back to this topic of authenticity and the rich fulfillment that comes from being true to your authentic self.

Tom Myers — the originator of the Anatomy Trains Myofascial Meridians — joins us on the show to teach us a bit about our anatomy and how the highly complex fascial network works in our bodies. According to Anatomy Trains, fascia is the biological fabric that holds us together; it’s the 3-D spider web of fibrous, gluey, and wet proteins that hold them all together in their proper placement.

I met with Tom up at the Anatomy Trains headquarters in Maine, and in this interview, Tom shares his incredible philosophies on a wide range of topics. Our conversation traverses human domestication, the potentials of integrating movement with virtual reality, how we can train the movement of the next generation, stress and much more. Enjoy!

"To deny that humans are predators is comparable to rejecting that humans are communal organisms."

— Arthur Haines

In a recent podcast episode (Why I'm Not a Vegan - Daniel Vitalis #94), I shared my personal experience with veganism and discussed the core reasons why I think we need to reexamine the Vegan approach. After this show aired, I received an outpouring of feedback from you — thank you to all who listened and took the time to write me! As promised, I invited Arthur Haines — botanist, taxonomist, primitive skill practitioner and regular guest on ReWild Yourself podcast — to join me to discuss some of the refutations I received in response to the Why I’m Not A Vegan episode.

Arthur and I shed light on many popular meat-eating myths and get into some interesting conversation on sustainable eating, speciesism, omnivory, animal husbandry and looking at the big picture. We bring to the discussion our combined academic and experiential perspectives for a comprehensive look at an often polarizing topic. 

If you’ve been following my adventures this summer, you’ll know that I’ve been really into foraging wild protein, particularly fish, from my local landscape. I’ve grown to love the Tenkara fishing — a minimalist fly fishing method that originates in the mountains of Japan. Daniel Galhardo — founder of Tenkara USA, the first company to introduce Tenkara outside of Japan —joins us to share his passion for Tenkara and the world of trout fishing. 

"A rod, line and fly. Line connects to the tip. Easy casting of a fly to spots where the fish are, intuitive landing. That's tenkara in a nutshell," according to Tenkara USA. In this interview, Daniel guides you through the basics of getting started fishing Tenkara. We discuss barriers to entering the world of fishing, fishing ethics, the complex world of Western fly fishing vs the simplicity of Tenkara and so much more. Whether you’re an avid fisherman or completely new to fishing, I hope this interview inspires you to check out this intuitive and minimalist method of fishing! 

What is the best location for a ReWilder to live? I’m asked this question quite often, and in this episode, you’ll learn some important criteria to consider when thinking of where you want to live long-term. Joel Skousen — pioneer in the preparedness movement, author and publisher of the World Affairs Brief — joins us to discuss strategic relocation.

From potential environmental and governmental threats to ReWilding lifestyle requirements, there is much to factor in when strategically relocating. Do you want the freedom to homeschool or practice alternative medicine where you live? Do you want to have access to wild places to forage, fish or hunt? Joel shares grounded insights from his comprehensive work in analyzing some of the best (and worst) places to live in the US for your best chance for long-term, optimal living. He ventures into some conspiracy areas at times, but this interview is primarily focused on providing you with a practical perspective on selecting your ideal ReWilding location. In the introduction to the show, I add some of my own personal criteria for an ideal living situation. As you listen to this show, be thinking of what criteria you would add to Joel’s list to lead a life rich in the culture of the NeoAboriginal!

Jake Steiner — holistic eye guru & natural vision health advocate — learned how to naturally improve his -5D myopia and, in the past decade, has helped thousands of others get their healthy eyes back too. In this episode, Jake is here to give us the lowdown on myopia and how it isn’t actually a disease at all, but instead a contrived illness created by mainstream optometry. The cause of most nearsightedness is (surprise!) staring at screens, small text and the like for extended periods of time. You may be surprised to learn, however — especially those of you with eyesight issues — that myopia can be reversed. This interview is full of insights, tips and strategies on how you can do just that. Tune in to learn Jake’s unique, holistic approach to healing eyesight!

Amanda Archibald is a trailblazer in the field of Culinary Genomics — a unique interface between the culinary arts and genomic medicine — and her work is literally changing how we translate the science of nutrition. Science has proven that our lifestyle and dietary choices shape our epigenetic health. In this interview, Amanda details what lifestyle characteristics and foods can produce beneficial gene expression in your body and potentially help you to live a longer, healthier life. She shares some powerful insights on the topic of Social Genomics and the importance of community for epigenetic health that I think you’ll find particularly interesting. Learning how your daily habits and choices literally shape you on a genetic level is a vital tool to add to your toolkit!

Why aren’t I a Vegan? I get asked this question all the time, and in this solo episode I break down the core reasons why I think we need to reexamine the Vegan approach. I consider myself to be a conscious omnivore and promote a Four Kingdoms approach to diet (eating from the animal, plant, fungal and bacterial kingdoms). In my personal quest for the most natural diet, I was a vegan for about 10 years. In this show, I’ll tell you a bit about my experience as a vegan, why I started eating animal foods again and why long-term veganism is an experiment and maybe not an appropriate diet for a healthy, robust human ape. In the end, I give a strategy for those who still want to see the world go vegan, and explain how they could best achieve that!

Have you ever wondered what your local landscape was like in years past — before sidewalks, stop signs and modern buildings? In this episode, Dan Flores — author of American Serengeti andCoyote America — gives us some context about the history of our North American landscape and ecology. No matter where you are in the world, though, the story he shares is pertinent and relatable. In our very recent past, the Great Plains region of North America was a wild and undomesticated landscape rich with megafauna. Dan shares a bit about how the forces of domestication shaped the ecology of the Great Plains we know today and the promising conservation efforts going into the ReWilding of the American West.

As we often discuss on this show, developing and maintaining a connection to the elements — fire, earth, water, air — is a vital component of a beneficial overall health strategy. Direct, personal connection to your water source is a topic I’m particularly passionate about, and I’ve offered strategies and best practices for procuring your own spring water in a previous episode of the podcast (Why I Forage Wild Water - Daniel Vitalis #80). Gathering your own spring water is not always possible for everyone, for various reasons (location, lack of time, etc), so for all of you on the West Coast, I have an exciting service to share.

Fountain Of Truth Spring Water is sourced from the pristine Opal Springs, which emerges from the earth in the high desert of Central Oregon. Today’s guest, Mukhande Singh, bottles this water in glass jugs at the source and delivers, chilled, right to the doors of spring water drinkers along the West Coast. In this interview, he shares his experience with stewarding a spring and how you West Coasters can take advantage of this wonderful service.

Brian Mackenzie is a human performance and movement specialist, and the innovator of the endurance, strength and conditioning paradigm. Originally, I brought Brian on the show to talk with him about performance breathing (which we do discuss!), but our conversation ends up traversing some fascinating terrain on the topics of harmonizing with the natural world, conditioning your body for adaptation through hormesis, how practicing discipline can actually give you more freedom and why specialization is less than optimal

Ladies, this is the show you have been asking for! I’m so excited to have Jeannine Tidwell — co-Founder and co-Director with her husband, Tim Corcoran of Twin Eagles Wilderness School — join us to discuss women’s rites of passage. We had Tim Corcoran on the podcast a few weeks back to tell us all about men’s rites of passage, and we received numerous requests to have a follow up show with his wife Jeannine. In this interview, Jeannine shares about mentorship, courage, feminine wisdom and so much more. Enjoy!

Bone broth is a vital food for the human animal. Rich in protein, collagen, gelatin, glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and key minerals & amino acids, this golden elixir protects your joints, heals & supports your gut, maintains healthy skin, boosts detoxification and supports your immune system.

Jordan Rubin — NYT bestselling author, founder of Garden of Life & respected natural health expert — joins us for a bonus episode to talk about the benefits of bone broth and an exciting new SurThrival product launch. Jordan has helped to innovate and shape the modern nutritional supplement industry, and SurThrival is proud to partner with him to bring you a unique new supplement: Bone Broth Protein.

My good friend and mentor Arthur Haines is back on the show to cover the topic of community. In our popular “How to Feed Your Human” series from last season of ReWild Yourself podcast, we briefly touched on the topic of community and so many of you reached out wanting us to go deeper. In this interview, Arthur joins me in-studio to delve into this fundamental and vital topic to the ReWilding lifestyle

Nadine Artemis — creator of Living Libations & author of Holistic Dental Care: The Complete Guide to Healthy Teeth and Gum — is on the show today to discuss the components of a successful self-dentistry practice. Our teeth and gums are alive and capable of being rejuvenated, often without the intervention of conventional dentistry. In this interview, Nadine clears up many common myths about our teeth and dental environment and details how we can holistically care for our teeth through diet and her 8 Step Self-Dentistry protocol.

"Awareness is the gateway for feeling the texture of lived life." —Dr. Dan Siegel

In this episode, the fascinating Dr. Dan Siegel joins us for a conversation on the human mind and mindsight. Dr. Siegel — Harvard graduate, professor at UCLA & New York Times bestselling author — has lectured for the likes of the Dalai Lama, the Pope and the King of Thailand.

"Mindsight is a term coined by Dr. Siegel to describe our human capacity to perceive the mind of the self and others." In this interview, Dr. Siegel explains how we can literally change our brains by developing the skill of mindsight, interconnectedness and how relationships and social networks work in the brain, and the importance of integration (the linkage of differentiated parts of the brain). Prepare to have your mind expanded!