Dear Reader,

2nd October: 5 intrepid men met on 2nd October in the lush green, autumn sun-kissed Šumava forest for the pilot weekend of the Forest Circadian Retreat.

M, Al, As, S and me.

Their expectations?

4th October: 5 super-charged men returned to their homes!

(Make sure you read to the end - this email contains 2 handy 1-pager downloads, 3 recipes and how to do an easy shamanic trick!)

And they loved it! (and all of them would do it again, even a longer retreat)

If you want some 5-star supercharging, you can register your interest here for future editions.

But, before you do so, best to check what mad shamanic rituals will be in store! 👇

This is what we got up to (view the full itinerary here):

Friday evening:

Take delivery of fresh beef from the organic farm across the valley, and turn this...

...into this!

On the firepit

While watching the sunset:

We enjoyed the beef with my homemade "Šumava Kimchi":

Recipe:

• Grab a bunch of seasonal vegetables (here white and red cabbage, apples, onions, garlic, habaneros),
• Slice into desired strips, mix up with seasoning (here coriander seed, bay leaf, all spice, pepper corns)
• Add salt (2% of total ingredients weight),
• Leave 20 minutes to marinate ,
• Knead the veg with a rock or use the dough kneading function of your kitchen robot, until juices start flowing,
• Pack tightly into appropriate jar (should have a spring to press the veg down under the liquid),
• Use airtight lid (but be ready to "burp" it regularly to avoid explosions),
• Leave at room temperature for 2 weeks or more,
• Distribute into jars with good lids, store in the fridge

Followed by pleasant conversation and an introduction to Circadian rhythms and why each participant received a no-blue beacon for their stay:

There was much more circadian-friendly technology in use that weekend - you can view what we used by downloading this document: Hi-Tech aids used at the Forest Circadian Retreat-5.pdf

Some tried blue blocking glasses for the first time - S was surprised how comforting they felt.

And at 10pm, to bed!

It was 1 week after the full moon so the night seemed bright!

Saturday

5:30 wake up call to get dressed and see the sunrise. We were blessed!

And then cold-plunging in the river. The water was warmer than usual (13ºC, normally 8º), but still cold enough. Here the power of the group came to the fore - despite deliberations, everybody ended up neck deep in the water! Great job!

(for the sake of privacy, you'll just have to imagine the scene :-)

We followed up with a hearty breakfast of homemade burgers (from mince meat in the fresh meat delivery) and scrambled eggs (from pasture-raised hens) + Šumava Kimchi, and some red/near-infrared light therapy sessions from my panels (photo illustrative).

Then came one of the highlights: an hour of stretching with the Šumava Tarzan (aka Martin Hreha)

​

On the terrace he told us about Upper Crossed and Lower Crossed syndrome, the postural problem that 90% have and don't know about (until joints, hips or necks start aching or need replacing):

Equipped with a set of simple exercises to strengthen the requisite muscles, next up was the forest hike.

15.5 km, the first 4 uphill, 500m of vertical elevation, over 4 hours, great views, warm early autumn sun and blue skies!

Everybody made it, you'll be relieved to know.

An al fresco packed lunch was a delicious selection of Czech and Slovak cheeses and salami with my homemade crunchy almond cheese biscuits (recipe here)

Back at the Forest Circadian Retreat we did some more firepit magic as the sunset coloured the clouds purple, turning these local trout....

...into this

We tucked in along with side dishes of garlic courgettes (courgettes, butter, crushed garlic) and celeriac puree (boiled celeriac, blended smooth with heavy cream and butter).

Evening conversation included a discussion on supplements vs whole foods. We swallow supplements by the trillions ($) and tend to think ingesting an isolated, industrially manufactured chemical is a good idea, or at least benign.

Sorry to disappoint - it's not, except for in a few specific situations.

This 1-page PDF explores some of the deeper nuances: # Why whole foods are more likely to give the body the “right” form.pdf​

Sunday

Instead of viewing the sunrise and cold plunging, we recreated both indoors (practical for most people who can't get out at dawn or when winter dawn is after our wake-up hour).

Sunlight was replaced by this bright SolShine Photovites SAD panel (including near infrared).

You can check out the specs here: 13000 lux, natural sunlight visible spectrum plus near infrared, all together creating a faithful bright morning sun to get your cells ready for the day.

And, instead of cold plunging, we tried face dunking:

Not just great for Freedivers!

Apart from waking you up perfectly, this compounds 2 physiological effects: increasing CO2 tolerance (and thus improving O2 absorption into your tissues) and activating the Mammalian Dive Reflex. Here's a quick 1-page Gemini summary mammalian_dive_reflex_guide.pdf​

How to do it:

• Drink 300-500ml of iced water (temperature 12º C),
• Plunge face in water cooled to 12ºC or slightly lower,
• Hold your breath for as long as you can (time it so you can track improvement over time),
• Do it 2-3 times,
• You can do it regularly to build up your CO2 tolerance and get the benefits.
• Warning: your face may go a consistent pink - this is ok, but a sign to stop. If you go pale or grey then stop immediately and start slower. If you go blotchy pink it's a sign of built-up seed oils in your cell membranes. Quit the seed oils and try again in 6 months. Do this at your own risk.

The last couple of hours were spent repeating the stretches on the terrace; Al led a short sound meditation on his impressive bell; and while I cleared up, the gents went off to view the nearby dam:

And that was the end of the very first Forest Circadian Retreat cohort!

The main points I'm taking away from the great feedback I received:

Include everything on the programme, but spread it out over more days: the itinerary was indeed intense as I wanted to fit in as many elements of a Circadian Lifestyle as I could. The signal that the programme was great and that there's an interest in staying for longer are both good news.

Beware the hike: the excellent point was made that different guests will be at different levels of fitness. I've done that route fasted or with 12 year olds, but not all midlife men have those fitness levels. Point taken, will rethink! Also, comment was made about the dangers of walking on uneven forest paths. It's very true that someone could turn an ankle and then we're in a world of difficulty. 100 years of walking on asphalt and paving stones seems to have reduced our ability to walk on natural paths, developed over 300.000 years. But that's where we're at!

Some demand for more mindfulness practices, particularly meditation (I love that idea!); and more structured conversations or even 1:1 consultations with me. Once I relax the itinerary that will be a great addition.

I'll sign off with this comment by Al who wrote:

My enormous thanks go to the 4 intrepid souls who put their trust in me and breathed life into the Forest Circadian Retreat 🙏.

You can come too - click the button to make sure you get info once I prepare the next one.

Take care,

Roderick

​​​

​MidlifeMetabolicHealth.com​ ​Robot clicks here​

​