Sources of Inspiration

Here is a growing collection of the books, articles, and people who inspire and educate me:

Health

Everything begins with our health. This is a broad and interconnected area of exploration. It includes a lack of sickness, a strong and flexible body, good mental cognition, and emotional well-being. It encompasses the energy you feel in this moment and the likelihood of maintaining these capacities as you age. You cannot separate these areas: what you eat, how you move, what you feel, how you breathe, what you think about, and how you sleep. Everything is connected. Self-renewal in health means building habits and embracing practices that produce a resilient and adaptable body and mind.

On breathing:

  • Breath, by James Nestor, is an excellent introduction to the power of breath. It highlights why our breath has become so dysregulated and introduces techniques to improve our breathing.
  • The Breathing Diabetic, by Nick Heath, provides an overview of three foundational breathing principles. Nick also goes deep into the science for the people like me who want to really nerd out.
  • Nervous System Mastery Course, by Jonny Miller, transformed my curiosity in breathing into a full-blown passion for exploring the power of breathwork. I'll share more about my experiences with this course but I cannot recommend it enough.
  • Feel Health, by Braedy Mac, is an in-person and virtual breathwork clinic for those who want one-on-one coaching.

On mindfulness:

  • The Mind Illuminated, by John Yates is a step-by-step instruction manual for meditation. It guides readers through ten stages with clear instruction and detailed background. It also provides a great conceptual model of how our minds work.
  • Advice Not Given, by Mark Epstein, blends lessens from psychiatry and Buddhism into a highly actionable book about enhancing your quality of life. Provides a very accessible overview of the Buddhist 8-fold path.
  • The Untethered Soul, by Alan Singer, is an invitation to explore the "self, through your own personal experiences. It encourages you to awaken your consciousness, fully experience your energy, and free yourself from whatever you are clinging to.

On exercise:

On nutrition:

  • Cronometer is my favorite tool for tracking nutrition. It helps you bring awareness and understanding to what you eat.Just exploring the quantity and nutrition quality of your current diet will often lead to significant improvements.
  • Whole 30 is a great program for those who want a diet reset or to explore any potential food sensitivities.
  • Natural Hormone Enhancement, by Rob Faigin, is a fascinating exploration of how the food we eat and our exercise impacts our hormones. It was written in 2003 and introduces a lot of ideas that the diet and exercise communities have been fighting about over the last decade. Some of the information may be outdated but the foundational idea around the complex interaction of our habits and biological processes is critical.

On sleep

  • The Oura ring is my favorite tool for monitoring sleep. I've tried them all (Whoop, Amazon Halo, etc) and found Oura's data to be most accurate and actionable. The sleep duration, sleep quality, resting heart rate, and HRV data it provides is foundational to ensuring I'm getting enough rest and recovery.
  • The Science of Sleep, by James Clear, is the most comprehensive and actionable overview of sleep I've found.
  • This Toolkit for Sleep, by Andrew Huberman, provides recommendations on more advanced protocols and supplementation for people interested in further optimizing sleep.

Nature

I'm happiest when I'm immersed in nature. I try to spend as much time outside as possible and bring elements of it into my daily life. My favorite activities include growing a vegetable garden, visiting farms to source local food, hiking into the wilderness, and camping with friends. There is no greater teacher of self-renewal than the natural world. When you create a garden or study an ecosystem you can't help but see the process of decay and the path to regeneration.

On gardening:

  • Homestead and Chill is my source for all things gardening. They provide in-depth growing instructions for all types of vegetables and flowers. Plus, their step-by-step instructions for building raised beds and other larger garden projects are unmatched
  • Small Spaces, Big Dreams, with Monty Don, is a beautiful and calming show about transforming small backyard spaces into a beautiful garden.
  • Farmer Nick is a former teammate and close friend who inspires people to grow plants and embrace more sustainable practices.

On permaculture:

  • Gia's Garden, by Toby Hemenway, introduces the elements of permaculture for home gardeners. He shows how to create a mature garden that can sustain itself without tireless hours of weeding, watering, and other external intervention.
  • The Resilient Farm and Homestead extends the ideas of permaculture beyond a home into a full-blown homestead or farm.
  • Golden Egg Permaculture is a local organization in North Carolina that runs education sessions, a learning guild, and hands-on instruction.

On regenerative farming:

  • Joel Salatin runs Polyface farm and is one of the leading teachers of regenerative farming.
  • Ozark Kakerz a local regenerative farm in North Carolina that I love visiting.

On local food systems:

  • Wendell Berry is my favorite writer about our relationship with the natural world and the need to protect our environment. His book, Bringing it to the table: on farming and food, is a great starting point for learning about the need for more local food systems.
  • Left Bank Butchery is my favorite source of local pasture-raised meat. The team led by Ross Flynn sources all of their meat from local farms and embraces whole-animal butchery where nothing goes to waste.

On hiking:

  • The Hiking Life is my source for all things hiking: from lightweight backpacking instruction, gear guides, and trip inspiration.
  • Mountains of Mind, by Robert McFarlane, perfectly captures the joy of adventure and the call of the summit. It helped me understand why I was so drawn to hiking up peaks and give language to the depth of the experience.