1. Eat lots of animals, insects and plants.
2. Move around a lot at a slow pace.
3. Lift heavy things.
4. Run really fast every once in a while.
5. Get lots of sleep.
6. Play.
7. Get some sunlight every day.
8. Avoid trauma.
9. Avoid poisonous things.
10. Use your mind.
Today I'm going to focus on my practice of rules #6 and 7 -- play and get some sunlight every day.
Growing up I spent nearly every day of the summer outside, usually on or in the water. "Tan" was the word most often used to describe me by my classmates. As I moved into adulthood I spent less and less time in the sun, partly due to the demands of adulthood (work, etc) and partly due to rising awareness and concerns for skin cancer in relation to sun exposure.
It got to the point where even my weekends were spent mostly indoors (except walking to and from my car).Then 2 years ago I took up running (barefoot running, in fact) and I started to rediscover the joys of spending time outside. Hello sunshine! At the same time I started reading more and more about the concerns of lack of Vitamin D and the cancer risks associated with LACK of sun exposure. So when I first read Primal Blueprint Rule #7 (get some sunlight every day) it made sense to me.
This summer, for the first time since I was in my 20s, I've been spending time outside intentionally soaking up some rays. The image above shows today's beautiful mid-day sky as I saw it from my deck while working on my tan.
As Mark Sisson points out in this post, play, long walks and spending time outdoors is not optional stuff, it's essential to our health. With that in mind, I had planned a long hike for late in the afternoon. As I was getting ready to go, Kathryn, my 10 year old daughter, asked to join me. Taking her meant an abbreviated hike for me, but we turned the entire event into play. Hiking with her included stopping to feel the coolness of the dirt under our feet, giggling at silly jokes and ending the hike by dangling our feet over the edge of the boat dock and wading in the lake. It was a lot of fun!
Here we are getting ready to head out on our hike. This is my new favorite picture of the 2 of us together. Some nice stranger offered to take it for us when he saw us trying to set up the camera.
We leave the lake side for a trail hike through the woods. This is the start of the path.
Kathryn walking barefoot along a rocky section of the path. No problem!
Our dusty, dirty feet at the end of the trail.
The view over the lake nearing sunset, after the hike.
Dangling our (still dusty) feet over the edge of the boat dock.
Wading in the lake at sunset.
And in case you really wanted to read about my food choices for today, I'll summarize here.
BREAKFAST
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(Stopped at the bakery with Evan before a brief trip to the Farmers' Market this morning.)
Omelet with cheddar, tomatoes and avocado.
Small side of fruit.
Small whole-milk latte.
LUNCH
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(Local restaurant after Evan's T-Ball game this morning.)
Seared tuna topping a salad of Napa cabbage, mixed salad greens, cucumbers, bean sprouts, tomatoes and carrots in a ginger soy dressing.
DINNER
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Ski planned to make sloppy joes but discovered we didn't have all the necessary ingredients. He ended up making a meat sauce instead, similar to what we stuffed in the peppers Wednesday night...
-- Meat sauce made with local grass-fed ground beef, local pasture-raised pork breakfast sausage and Thomas Pasta Sauce (simply dished up in a bowl).
-- Salad with mixed baby lettuce, purslane, kale, carrots, sungold tomatoes, avocado, purple bell pepper and champagne vinaigrette.
-- Smithwicks beer
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