when good things go viral

WHEN PEOPLE #STOPSUCKING TOGETHER 

I am proud to be an ambassador for Simply Straws because they are a responsible brand, with an aim to make this world a better place. By educating people about how harmful plastics, and especially single-use plastics, are for the environment and by providing us with a reusable alternative, they are truly an inspiration to me. Their products are so elegant and I love bringing my straws on my travels. Recently the news channel Buzzfeed created a video where one of the employees challenged her co-workers to stop using plastic straws for a week. The #stopsucking was used to get people motivated to jump on the challenge. Co-founder of Simply Straws, Chanelle Sladics and I went up to LA and handed out Simply straws glass straws to everyone who joined the challenge. A few months later, the video they made has gone viral and been seen over 10 million times online!!  am so grateful and happy to see good things go viral. That is in my opinion what we need - not something silly thing about who married who or what celebrity had a baby. I feel that the anti-single-use-plastic movement is finally picking up some well deserved momentum. In 2002 Bangladesh became the first county to ban the use of thin plastic bags. That is almost 20 years ago now!! With more individuals waking up to the problem and governments jumping onboard, I see a brighter light at the end of the tunnel. Taiwan has for example a goal is to ban plastic straws entirely by 2030. I am so proud to be a voice and extension of Simply Straws and help spread the message to help eliminate plastic straws. So what do you say? Are you ready to jump onboard and #stopsucking ?!!

www.simplystraws.com

YOU. WE. ALL

REVITALIZE WITH MIND BODY GREEN

THE DESERT IS CALLING AND I MUST GO

Last weekend I traveled out to the Arizona desert together with my partner in #PRSNT adventure retreats, Chanelle Sladics. We are both curious and passionate about health and wellness and are always seeking to expand our knowledge and develop our tools. Therefore, we were both thrilled and honored to be invited to #REVITALIZE, an exclusive health & wellness retreat hosted by www.mindbodygreen.com - one of the biggest online health & wellness platforms in the world.

The beautiful Ritz Carlton hotel & spa, located in the vast outland near Tuscan, AZ, was ready to hold space for over 200 leading health experts and influential thought-leaders. The goal of the event; to come together, cultivate and share progressive, bright ideas & revitalize the way we think about human and planetary health and wellness.

I hit the road with an adventurous and open mind, ready to learn & immerse myself with inspiring, mindful leaders. I am pleased to take you on this “recap adventure” of my experience and I hope you enjoy looking #throughmylenses.

Photos by Chanelle Sladics (@chanellesladics) | words by Kjersti Buaas (@kjerstibuaas)

YOU. WE. ALL

I opened my eyes and saw the sun illuminating the pokey, prickly cactus landscape outside our hotel window. A deep breathe in filled my lungs with gratitude. Actors, doctors, yogis, athletes, bloggers, meditation guides and nutritionists flocking towards the performance dome with their yoga mats under their arms, grabbed my attention. Humans with access to big platforms and world stages had committed to come together with a “we-mindset”, to share, to inspire and learn and to bring progressive ideas to the world. I got up from my seated meditation (I use a pillow that also acts as my sleeping and travel pillow) and reached my arms towards the ceiling. Then I let them fall down towards the floor. “Ahhhhh” - the air pushing out was warm and soft and I felt a deep sense of connectedness rushing through my body. To myself, to nature and to the community that had gathered out here in the desert.

BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT

The big, white, dome-shaped tent was hot, foggy and filled with an energy that can only be created from when 100 people breath consciously together for 45 minutes. I walked up to thank Brian Mackenzie; athlete and co-founder of XPT; breathing techniques to optimize human potential and performance, and it felt like every little cell in my body was buzzing. Through my athletic career, as an avid free diver and a student of meditation, I am fairly tuned in with how I can to utilize my breath to channel a PRSNT mindset, distribute energy, focus, calm fear and enhance my performance. Yet, the XPT breath work definitely introduced me to new ideas and took me deeper into the world of performance breathing. We live in such fast-paced, noisy, environments, so I don’t only find conscious breath work and meditation important for performance and athletes. Creating stillness to go within, calm down and to tune in, helps us stay more connected to our whole being. Hidden in this relationship resides a divine power and awareness, elemental to unlocking the unique and unyielding potential of personal strength living in all of us.

MINDFULL MOVEMENTS

As the weekend continued we immersed ourselves deep in the practice of mindful movement, with yoga, meditation, and togetherness.

Amazing food experiences (a lot of plant-based options, well-sourced ingredients and everything on the menu was gluten-free and delicious) workshops around entrepreneurship and opportunities to get running assessments, reiki healing and ear acupuncture was also on the agenda.

A delicate blend of flow, balance, strength, and alignment happened during @caleyayssa ´s yoga class. She introduced new postures that challenged and supported my body, mind, and spirit, accompanied with a really good playlist. And off course, we ended with laughter and smiles

YOUR HOLY KEY

We headed towards the revitalize stage, sipping on our green superfood smoothies, and felt the buzz of progressiveness fill the space. Talks, live interviews and forward-thinking discussions about healthy eating, mindful movement, sustainability, and spirituality was about to go down.

The opening speech was presented by Hill Harper, the actor who passionately reminded us that “what scares us the most, is also our holy key”. We should find this key and fuel our intrinsic passion, do what we love and use our time on earth to support collective community. By expanding our circle of care to include more people (even people that are complete strangers to us) we will find that we are supporting the bigger picture. He finished the talk off by bringing his newly adopted son onto the stage, leaving the most masculine men in the audience teary-eyed.

OUR INTERNAL GARDENS

The audience were drying off tears and sharing hugs as an expert panel of doctors and nutritionists took on the stage. We were invited to dive deeper into the human microbiome and they explained that basically, our guts are little eco-systems who needs similar care as a garden. They had me at “garden” as truly connect with the concept of nature being my guide and I love gardening.  I studied permaculture on the Big Island of Hawaii back in 2013 and have my permaculture design certificate. I often translate the principles and philosophies from this natural way of working with the land, onto other compartments of my life.

Our bodies are miracle workers and always seek to heal. Providing good soil and a happy environment for growth is elemental to a life of health and longevity. By resetting (weeding out bad bacteria) & rebuilding our gut flora with good bacteria (soil) we can get our internal gardens in order.

The conversations continued with topics like thyroid issues, “leaky gut” and fasting. I had heard and read about these before, but the shocking news is that that these experts claim that almost all of us suffer from one or the other, or all of them. I don’t have any big signs or symptoms of poor health that I can see or feel, and I pay a lot of attention to what I put in my body and how I exercise, so hearing this came with a slap to my ego. With that said, an elemental reason why I went to this event was to challenge my self, to learn from progressive professionals (that knows way more than I do) and to take home new tools and knowledge.

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT OF BREAKFAST MEANING TO BREAK FAST?

Ironically, as the delicious lunch was settling in my stomach the discussion hovered around fasting and specifically intermittent fasting. A 12-14 hour window of IF each day is proven to support good brain health. This break from eating increases blood flow to the brain and gives us an opportunity to flush out toxins from the brain. The intermittent fasting structure suggests finishing your last meal 4 hours before bedtime, to prevent our bodies from “stealing” the energy and blood flow when we sleep. Then, 12-14 hours later you break fast aka breakfast :) This seems kind of hard to do, even in theory, as I sometimes don’t eat dinner before 8pm and my travel schedule is quite unpredictable. As the next speaker entered the stage, I was still pondering on how realistic I could be about successfully integrating any of this into my daily life. I figured I would at least give it a try as soon as I returned home.

DON´T LET YOUR WELLNESS BECOME YOUR ILLNESS

Breakfast at the Ritz Carlton in Arizona was worth breaking fast for :)

Lisa, a slim and fit looking yogi was passionately sharing her story about how she thought she was living a healthy lifestyle. She was eating consciously, spent a lot of time educating herself on the newest health topics and exercised often In front of an engaged crowd of health and wellness experts, she told us how she had neglected to see any doctors for a long time, simply because she didn’t believe in the system. The crowd was nodding, as most of us certainly do not connect with the approach of traditional medicine, where you eat a pill to get rid of a symptom or a disease in the body. Yet, our confidence shrunk as we learned how her wellness had become her illness and she was diagnosed with cancer. Her story opened my mind and made me rethink the way I am looking at “health” and healthy living. I still believe that we need to take responsibility for our own health, but I want to seek out a team of doctors (holistic that is) who specializes in functional medicine (look for the root cause instead of chasing after symptoms) I have a better understanding of the importance of having a balance between what we do ourselves with the tools we have, and getting regular check-ups, tests and diagnostics. My next move is to take a gut test and follow up with a cleanse. I want to find out more about what is actually happening inside my eco-system, rebuild and restore my gut with good bacteria. After all, to have real guts is to be able to let go of past belief systems and open up for new ideas and ways of life.

 

THE CLIMATE CHAOS HAS ENDED

My favorite talk the whole weekend was by Paul Hawken, an environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and author, who at age 20 (now 60 +) dedicated his life to sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. He spoke about his non-profit organization Project Drawdown who is dedicated to researching when and how global warming can be reversed. The organization maps and models the scaling of one hundred substantive technological, social, and ecological solutions to global warming. His presentation had our kombucha drinking spirits in ahhhh as we learned about how marine permaculture, educating women and feeding cows seaweed (basically because it makes them release (yes fart) less CO2) is on top of the list to reverse global warming right now. The research is analyzed based on math and peer-reviewed science, not opinions or beliefs, like in the past. It has made the climate change conversation transparent and available for anyone to understand. For each solution, they describe its history, the carbon impact it provides, the relative cost and savings, the path to adoption, and how it works. The goal of the research that informs Drawdown is to determine if they can reverse the buildup of atmospheric carbon within thirty years. To learn more visit http://www.drawdown.org/ -

Paul finished his talk a with stating that reversing climate change is about coming home. His team, his passion, his dedication and his humble and approachable “self” ended up awarding him the prestigious avocado trophy (yes it was a trophy shaped as an avocado) at the end of the night. 

 

WE ARE ALL ZEAL

I’m leaving Arizona and the desert with more tools, knowledge and also questions than when I got here. I guess that means growth. Thank you for following my adventures - hope you enjoyed looking #THROUGHMYLENSES

After dark we let the sounds of the desert take us into the deep pockets of our souls, expanding our vision to see beyond our selfs. As I gazed at the stars up in the dark night sky, I got a strong reassurance that we are here to support each other and that we are all leaders and guiding lights. We often think that we don’t have an impact on or affect the people around us, but the truth is that we are inspiring each other more than we think are, most likely when we least expect it. The time is now to embrace our most authentic self, to step into the fullness of our beings and to follow what our hearts are communicating to us. It is your time to #FINDYOURZEAL. 

NUTS FOR NUT MILK VOL. 2

During Xgames in Oslo this year Chanelle Sladics and I hosted a workshop and yoga class at High Yoga studio, in collaboration with LuLu Lemon. I am very passionate about health and how important it is to understand what all the different foods/ drinks and ingredients do to our bodies. Being a professional athlete for over 18 years has sought me that in order to perform my best I need to stay on top of my health. About 8 years ago I took this perspective to a new level and started eating organic, local, pure food that gives me energy and supports my health. In Oslo I decided to do a little nut milk workshop because it's sooooo simple to make and incredibly delicious!! I want people to see how easy and cheap it is to make at home, with very few ingredients. The milk I am making in this photo is a cashew, hemp milk made with hemp seeds provided by the raw chocolate company. Check out their other products on their website by clicking on this photo. 

PHOTO BY NIKOL HEREC - @nikaherec

RECIPE: I am not a recipe follower, I kind of freestyle everything. So when it comes to ratio of nuts to water etc. I just eyeball it depending on how thick I want my milk to be. Usually you dont need many tries till you get your milk just perfect! 

A handful of raw cashew nuts (unsalted), drizzle of hemp seeds + cold water and any sweetener of your choice. I like pure, raw honey and coconut sugar or dates. Soak the cashews in water a couple of hour prior to making, this will mak them softer and milk smoother. Drain water and blend everything together.If you don;t like pulp, then drain in a but bag or strainer. AND VOILA - Enjoy chilled, over home made granola or in your favorite coffee or tea.

PHOTO BY Malgorzata Aulejtner - @yoginigosia 

PHOTO BY Malgorzata Aulejtner - @yoginigosia 

Vegan Strawberry Milk

This delicious vegan strawberry milk is so easy to make. It's great to use with cereals, as a smoothie base or just drink chilled with a glass straw :) You can add anything you like to make it even more powerful, like spirulina, chlorella or maca root.

Recipe:

• Coconut shavings
• Hemp seeds
• Water
• Strawberries
• Sweetener of Choice
• Blend everything together. Amount depending on how much you want to make but generally I just eyeball it to get the right consistency :)

Breakfast With Benefits

Breakfast bowls are so quick and easy to make and they can be made relatively cheap as you can mix and match with things you have at home. Here is a yummy, yummy, yuuuuuuummy breakfast bowl filled with good, nutritious ingredients that I love and eat before I hit the gym or slopes in the morning. l can guarantee that it will help kickstart your your day!!!

You don't need to use exactly these ingredients, let them be a guide to the overall experience but get creative with what's in your kitchen and cabinets :)

Recipe

Handful of Raw Cacao nibs / 2 tbs Raw cacao /  2 small organic, fair-trade bananas / Couple of Goji berries or other berries / Couple of Cashew nuts / 2 organic prunes/  1 tbs of Raw Green vegetable powder with chlorella / Couple of Sweet apricot kernels (can use almonds instead) / 2-3 leafs of Kale / Couple of drops of Peppermint oil / 1/2 tbs coconut sugar / Coconut shavings / 1/2 ts cinnamon /  1 cup of cold water / Blend everything in a high speed blender and pour in a bowl. Decorate with hemp seeds, granola, cacao nibs or what you may prefer. This recipe makes two servings. Serve chilled & enjoy!

Make sure to use RAW CACAO (naturally fermented) as cacao and processed chocolate bars are two different foods. Chocolate bars usually contain lots of processed sugars, additives and milk. Studies has shown that by adding dairy to the chocolate this actually blocks the absorption of antioxidants in chocolate. While processed chocolate may taste delicious, the benefits of cacao are only found in the raw form. Raw cacao can improve your memory, increase your bliss, reduce heart disease, shed fat, boost immunity, and create loads of energy! Read more on these blogs about the benefits to raw cacao and raw foods here

http://dailysuperfoodlove.com/2852/21-fantastic-benefits-of-cacao/#ixzz3pwjdANrU  http://www.therawchocolatecompany.com/raw-chocolate/benefits-raw

NUT's FOR NUT MILKS

CASHEW MILK

YOU NEED: Cashews, Cold water, Coconut Palm Sugar and A High Speed Blender

HOW: Soak the cashews in cold water for a couple of hours. Blend the ingredients on high speed until milk is smooth and creamy.  

TIP: Add fresh vanilla bean and use as creamer for your morning coffee. Top off with a dash of cinnamon and you have the perfect cappuccino

 

 

 

PISTACHIO MILK

YOU NEED: Pistachios [unsalted] Cold water, Coconut Palm Sugar and A High Speed Blender

HOW: Pick off the shells and mix the nuts with water and sweetener of your choice. Blend until the milk has a solid consistence/ thinkness.

TIP: I like to use pour mine over some home made granola, for hot teas or as a base in smoothies! Ps : The milk will be green so this is fun for kids

 

HEMP & COCONUT MILK

YOU NEED: Hemp Seeds, Coconut Shavings, Cold water, Coconut Palm Sugar and A High Speed Blender

HOW:  Blend the ingredients on high speed until milk smooth consistency

TIP: Add raw cacao and you have yourself a delicious, vegan chocolate milk!

PREVENTION IS THE CURE

Supporting non profits who care to make a difference is one of my love to do's! Keep A Breast Foundation does so much work to help prevent (mark PREVENT) breast cancer. There is so much research out there showing that our lifestyle choices are directly linked to disease. Did you know that cosmetics like our makeup, soaps and shampoos often contain harmful chemicals that literally will attack our cells and cause cancer? Besides skin cancers, breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed among American women according to http://www.keep-a-breast.org/get-educated/cancer-facts/. It accounts for nearly 1 in 3 cases of cancers. Today, about 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer in their lifetime.

When I visit the Keep A Breast Foundation I always learn I lot of freaky facts about cancer, one of them being that they have actually found remains of parabens in the lumps!!! There are many different parabens out there, the most harmful ones known are methylparaben & propylparaben so look out for these on the labels. According to http://www.breastcancer.org/ many of these chemicals are considered hormone disruptors. Hormone disruptors can affect how estrogen and other hormones act in the body, by blocking them or mimicking them, which throws off the body's hormonal balance. Because estrogen can make hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer develop and grow, many women choose to limit their exposure to these chemicals that can act like estrogen.

Keep A Breast states that every woman can decrease her risk of breast cancer by living a healthy lifestyle, avoiding common toxins that are linked to cancer, and making smart diet choices. 

So especially ladies, be mindful about the products you put on your body, including lotions, sunscreens, deodorants, nail polishes, makeup. I bet you will find at least one those no-no parabens hidden in the forest of ingredients of your cosmetics.

Find out more about what cosmetics are "safe" and not on http://www.safecosmetics.org

 

Food is my medicine

For Norwegian speaking humans; here is an interview I did with Spirit about vegetarian food and living healthy. I see it as my responsibility to share what I learn and experience about food; it is our fuel that keeps us energized to be able to do what we love, with the people we love! Olympic boarder cross rider Helene Olafsen is the woman behind the words. For the english speaking have fun translating 

Check it out!  

GET YOUR BEETS ON!

Juicing is a quick way to get the most heathy nutrients hitting all the right spots in your body.  Before working out it's fantastic!

How to make good beats:

- 2 beets

- 2 carrots

- 1 piece of ginger

- 3 sticks of celery

- 1 orange or apple

And you know how I prefer it ------>> AS ORGANIC AS POSSIBLE :)

Juice everything, save the fiber for  soups, carrot cakes or other baked goods... Or throw it in the compost if you have one!

Pour it into a mason mug and sip the richness. I like to use a reusable glass straw from www.SimplyStraws.com

RADIKAL RAW FOOD