Source: http://www.sonima.com/videos/seed-trials/

Watch video on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmEDoeaCY4Q

Jack Algiere, farm director at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, manages and cares for all agricultural production at the four-season farm. In this video with Sonima’s founder, Sonia Jones, Algiere describes one of his passion projects: seed trials to create beautiful crops with integrity over time. Most food production today, says Algiere, is specialized, where most farms do one thing very well, which can tend to be disempowering. Algiere is interested in cultivating a crop over time to select for the best possible outcome. Watch this video to learn more about some of his favorite work at Stone Barns.

Related: What Does It Mean for a Diet to Be Truly Sustainable?

The post The Art of Seed Trials and Diversity in Sustainable Farming appeared first on Sonima.

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Source: http://www.fannetasticfood.com/2016/02/22/weekend-running-adventures/

Hi friends! We had quite a treat this past weekend – randomly warm temperatures. Cue the run dates – hooray!!

My friends Kathleen, Sarah, and I met up for a run on Saturday morning and seriously the ENTIRE city was out there with us. It was so fun – everyone was clearly as eager as we were to enjoy the spring-like temperatures (60 degrees?!), especially after the snow/ice lately!

We had the best run – it felt so good to be out there with two of my best friends enjoying such a lovely day.

We did a nice loop from Georgetown over to Hains Point and the tidal basin and back, chatting away the whole time.

<img title="washington dc running" style="border-top: 0px;border-right: 0px;border-bottom: 0px;float: none;padding-top: 0px;padding-left: 0px;border-left: 0px;margin: 0px auto;padding-right: 0px" bo…

Source: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2016/02/22/the-deadpool-guide-to-health-happiness-and-love/

If Deadpool was a real person, he would be a card-carrying member of the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.

In fact, I would go as far to say that Deadpool is the most realistic superhero movie created to date, and the most useful hero to consider when trying to live better lives.

Allow me to explain.

In case you’re one of a handful of people who haven’t seen the recently released Deadpool movie, starring a resurgent Ryan Reynolds (making up for all past superhero cinema sins), get your ass to a movie theater and check it out.

Don’t worry, only minor plot spoilers in this article! Even if you have no clue who Deadpool is, this article will still help you live a better life and move down a healthier path.

You can start with the trailer:

Let’s take a look at how this ninja mercenary with super human healing powers, a crazy amount of pop-culture knowledge, and unusually high self-awareness can help us live better lives.

Life is messy

Wade Wilson, former US Special Forces who has been dishonorably discharged from the military, makes his living taking on contracts as a mercenary. 

Like many superhero origin stories, something goes wrong that kickstarts Wade’s journey. He discovers he …

Source: http://www.sonima.com/food/gut-health/

For some of us the expression, “Go with your gut,” means that you should rely on your instincts. For Erica and Justin Sonnenburg, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, it has much deeper nutritional implications.

In their book, The Good Gut, released last year, the Sonnenburgs present groundbreaking scientific research that has underscored the strong connection between your health and the trillions of organisms that live within your body, the microbes known as the microbiota. These organisms help us fight infection, beat bloat, and reduce risks of preventable diseases, just to name a few ailments that trouble us, and research shows the microbes flourish best when fed certain types of foods and supplements.

Your gut microbiota is very responsive to the food choices you make. For example, dietary fiber provides a banquet for the bacteria in your gut. Without adequate fiber, your bacteria will feast on…you! Plant fiber can also increase bacterial populations for optimal gut health, to ultimately help boost your immune system and help fight inflammation. Vegetables like onions, garlic, and leeks are just a few sources of beneficial fibers. Foods rich in probiotics also help the microbiome by regulating the immune system, curtailing the severity of certain diseases, and perhaps even playing a role in preventing obesity. Lastly, it’s important to only ingest antibiotics when you absolutely need them, because they can ki…

Source: http://greatist.com/move/how-to-run-properly-mistakes?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

With a new pair of Nikes and a Spotify playlist locked and loaded, all signs show you’re ready to run. Kudos to you for taking up a seriously tough workout that promises to reduce stress, boost mood, take you to incredible places, and even save you cash.

But let’s pause for a sec before hitting the pavement. From your form to your mental state, certain running techniques can set you up for success, while others take you down the wrong path. Here are 14 of the most common mistakes beginner runners make—and even some veterans too.

1. You look down.

“Many people when they first start running tend to stare at their feet because they’re trying to see what’s going on down there,” says Cat Fitzgerald, DPT, CSCS, a physical therapist and running consultant at New York Custom Physical Therapy. Put some trust in your coordination and set your eyes on the horizon straight in front of you, Fitzgerald says. “It’ll protect your neck because when you’re looking down your neck is flexed and then your posture collapses.”

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Source: http://greatist.com/live/feel-like-falling-behind?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

You don’t need more motivation. You don’t need to be inspired to action. You don’t need to read any more lists and posts about how you’re not doing enough.

We act as if we can read enough articles and enough little Pinterest quotes and suddenly the little switch in our brain will put us into action. But, honestly, here’s the thing that nobody really talks about when it comes to success and motivation and willpower and goals and productivity and all those little buzzwords that have come into popularity: You are as you are until you’re not. You change when you want to change. You put your ideas into action in the timing that is best. That’s just how it happens.

And what I think we all need more than anything is this: permission to be wherever the fuck we are when we’re there.

You’re not a robot. You can’t just conjure up motivation when you don’t have it. Sometimes you’re going through something. Sometimes life has happened. Life! Remember life? Yeah, it teaches you things and sometimes makes you go the long way around for your biggest lessons. You don’t get to control everything. You can wake up at 5 a.m. every day until you’re tired and broken, but if the words or the painting or the ideas don’t want to come to fruition, they won’t. You can show up every day to your best intentions, but if it’s not the time, it’s just not the fucking time. You need to give yourself permission to be a human being.

Sometimes the novel is not ready to be writ…

Source: http://greatist.com/live/how-to-break-a-bad-habit?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

Even the most virtuous person has a bad habit (or two) they’d like to break. Whether it’s picking at your skin, grabbing something sweet after every meal, or spending way too much time on Instagram, pick a habit, any habit, and let’s get down to the science of breaking it.

What’s a Habit, Exactly?

A habit is something that a person does often in a regular and repeated way, according to Merriam-Webster, though what constitutes a “bad” versus “good” one is subjective. It’s important to recognize that habits are really a learning mechanism for your mind, says Wendy Wood, Ph.D, a professor of psychology and business at the University of South California who studies habits and behavior. When an action makes us feel good, our brain forms a shorthand connection so when we’re in a similar context or situation in the future, the response that’s been rewarded automatically comes to mind.

Because habits are all about context, the environment leading up to the behavior turns into what psychologists call “cues” or “triggers.” These cues send a signal that says, “Hey, this is the same situation—let’s do the same thing and feel good again.” You have a zit, you pick at it. You finish lunch, you want something sweet. You’re bored in line? You check Instagram.

The problem? Willpower (to not do the bad thing) pales in comparison to the sway these cues hold, Wood says. Ideally, you’d remove yourself from the triggers that set it off. But old habits die hard, …

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tinybuddha/~3/-4AJdQcJ8XA/

“If you can’t fly then run. If you can’t run then walk. If you can’t walk then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” ~Martin Luther King Jr.

For five years, I worked for an incredible little company that makes creative products for creative people.

I first joined the company as the marketing director and over time, moved into a top executive role. It was a wonderful adventure with passionate people and incredible learnings, challenges, and joys. And then it wasn’t. I was laid off.

Suddenly I, among other top executives, managers, and team members, found myself out of work. The reason? Budget cuts. But that didn’t really matter.

What mattered was that my “second home,” the place where I had made close friendships, where I had mentored and worked side by side to build teams, where I had laughed, cried, and come to work after too many sleepless nights of worry and planning, had let me go.

I had lost my daily connection with my tribe.

My mind flooded with thoughts, questions and emotions. I was pissed, and heartbroken and frightened, all at the same time. How could this have happened? What was I going to do? It was paralyzing.

And then I paused and took a deep breath.

I reminded myself of a phrase a friend…

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tinybuddha/~3/Hz-JhEr6y1A/

“Some people think it’s holding on that makes one strong—sometimes it’s letting go.” ~Unknown

Throughout my life I’ve quit many things.

I quit a reasonably ‘sexy’ job title and steady paycheck.

I quit a six-year relationship with an essentially giving and loving person.

I quit being a yoga teacher after investing heavily in getting qualified.

I’ve quit many courses halfway through like calligraphy (of all things), ‘life design map’ courses, and online courses for all sorts of random things.

I quit therapy once, before they told me we were ‘done.’

I’ve quit several crappy part-time jobs when I first started building my business.

Yep, I’m a quitter. Or at least, that’s the label I gave myself.

You see, for many years I was the queen of being mean to myself. She can still pipe up on some days, but I used to be so continually nasty to myself, it was exhausting.

“You never finish anything.”

“You just don’t have what it takes to go the distance.”

“You’re so pathetic, Nat.”

“Why can’t you just see things through? What the hell is wrong with you?”

The other day a client told me she had these same questions (which are really j…

Source: http://greatist.com/health/must-read-health-fitness-blogs?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

There’s a dizzying number of blogs out there, all tempting us to procrastinate at work. But it’s hard to know which sites are truly trustworthy, entertaining, informative, and Pinnable. So we went ahead and scoured the blogosphere to narrow it down to these standouts. They’re keeping it real (no #fitspo here), using science to back up claims, always staying positive and inspiring, and delivering content we can’t stop reading and sharing.

We went after blogs that address interesting and timely issues and feature useful, upbeat (but never in an annoying way) posts that reflect Greatist’s mission of making healthy living a little bit easier and a lot more fun. We then looked at a variety of factors, including frequency of posts, comments and engagement with readers, number of social media followers, and design quality to narrow down the list to these rock stars. For more, check out last year’s list, and tweet @Greatist to let us know who we should consider for next year!

Note: Blogs are arranged in no particular order. The first entry in each section is no better than the last entry.

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