Joel Primus
An entrepreneur among other things, Joel Primus is the founder and creative visionary behind Naked Underwear. He helped raise over $17 million, establishing retail distribution at Holt Renfrew, Nordstrom, Hudson’s Bay, and Bloomingdales. Naked completed a merger with Australian-based industry powerhouse, Bendon Lingerie, exiting in 2018. Recently, Joel co-founded Kosan, a travel clothing company that launched one of the most successful Kickstarter apparel products of all time—reaching nearly $1 million in sales in 30 days. He was one of the inaugural BC Business top 30 under 30 Entrepreneurs and is also an author and award-winning documentary filmmaker.
His new book Getting Naked: The Bare Necessities of Entrepreneurship & Start-ups is due out February 1st. Order here.
Once an elite long-distance runner, he now enjoys daily training, meditation, and time with his family on their farm outside Vancouver.
3 words to describe Nature?
Harsh. Gentle. Rhythmic
3 things Nature taught you?
Awareness
My place in the cosmos
To be still
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Omineca Mountain Range
The desert
Foothills of the Rockies
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Infinite
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Connected
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Fragile
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Alive in my human experience
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Energized
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Cozy
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
All
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Running through the forest trails in my own backyard. With my feet almost gliding over the earth I'd feel like a wild animal...in between worlds.
Bryan Welch
Bryan Welch is the Chief Executive Officer of Mindful Society Media, publisher of Mindful Magazine, and CEO at the Foundation for a Mindful Society. He is a veteran media executive, writer, rancher and entrepreneur with unique expertise in businesses that improve the world. He’s the former CEO of Ogden Publications (Mother Earth News, Utne Reader), B The Change Media (B Magazine), and Foster Care Technologies.
Bryan has served on the boards of the Magazine Publishers Association, the Social Venture Network, Bioneers and several other nonprofits. He also has served on corporate boards of directors and advisory boards of companies involved in natural foods, ecommerce and the media. He was Niche Media’s 2014 “Niche Rock Star of the Year” is a member of Mequoda Group’s Digital Media Hall of Fame and was honored with the B Corporations’ 2014 Hal Taussig lifetime-achievement award for “using business as a force for good.”
He holds a master’s degree from Harvard University where he studied media policy and media management at the Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School.
Bryan’s award-winning book, Beautiful & Abundant: Building the World We Want, appeared in 2011.
He and his wife, Carolyn, raise organic, grass-fed cattle, sheep and goats on their farm near Lawrence, Kansas.
3 words to describe Nature?
Infinite. Spacious. Energetic
3 things Nature taught you?
That I am very small
That I am part of something infinitely large
That there are beauty and abundance everywhere, and beauty is important.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Any place where I am sufficiently aware. X3!
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Filled with a vast energy
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Contemplative. Alert.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Stimulated
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Present
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Filled with awe
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Filled with awe
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
All of those!! See answers above about my favorite spots.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Following my herd of dairy goats, watching them eat all manner of desert things - mesquite beans, bunchgrass, creosote sprouts - then bringing them in at the end of the day for milking.
Wim Hof
Known as the "Iceman", WIM HOF is a Dutch extreme athlete notorious for his ability to withstand extreme cold. He attributes his accomplishments to his breathing techniques based on the Tibetan Tummo meditation.
Hof holds 21 world records. In 2007, he attempted climbing Mt Everest wearing nothing but shorts and shoes. At the altitude of 24,500 ft, his ascent was cancelled due to frostbite on one foot. In 2008 he broke his previous world record by staying immersed in ice for 1 hour, 13 minutes and 48 seconds. In February 2009 Wim reached the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, again wearing only shorts and shoes. He ran a full marathon (26.219 mi) on sandals and in shorts, above the arctic circle in Finland with temperatures close to −4 °F. The challenge was filmed by Firecrackerfilms. In 2010 Hof again broke the ice endurance record by standing fully immersed in ice for 1 hour and 44 minutes in Tokyo, Japan. In 2011 Hof broke the ice endurance record twice, in Inzell in February and in New York City in November, setting a new Guinness World Record of 1 hour, 52 minutes, and 42 seconds. In September, Hof ran a full marathon in the Namibia Desert without water, under the supervision of Dr. Thijs Eijsvogels. Wim has officially swam under ice for 66 meters, unofficially swam under ice for 120 meters with one breath.
Hof is the founder of THE WIM HOF METHOD, a meditation routine that involves breathing exercises, and endurance to the cold. Download the app here, follow him on Instagram and Twitter.
3 words to describe Nature?
Happiness. Strength. Health - both inside and outside
3 things Nature taught you?
Nature is life
Purpose
Destiny
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Sierra de Guara, Spain
Ordesa National Park, Spain
Jokulsarlon, Iceland
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Eternal
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Mystical
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Powerful
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Beautiful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Humble
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
That Mother Nature is talking
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
There is nothing else
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I saw the Italian Alps for the first time as a seven year old boy, they were like strange entities - overwhelming.
Christine Mason
CHRISTINE MASON is the author of Indivisible, Love in the Face of Everything, & her upcoming Bending the Bow. She's the co-founder of New Earth, a farm-based retreat center for Integral Activism on Hawai'i. She convenes, hosts and facilitates conferences, salons, and events at the intersection of science and tech, spirituality, human optimization, society and institutions. She serves as Editor in Chief of Enter Magazine, sits on the board of GRIP, and is chairman of Now Labs, Inc. She's a mom, grandmother, and a long time practitioner and teacher of yoga, meditation and tantra. Follow her at xtinem.com, or on Amazon.
3 words to describe Nature?
Creative. Destructive. True.
3 things Nature taught you?
All things are interconnected.
We are always provided for.
How elegantly things adapt.
And more!! The resonance of beauty and that an ecosystem in balance sounds a harmonic chord, (out of balance there is dissonance - as in all systems).Humility and Awe.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The golden sunrise rocks in the high desert at Joshua Tree, Southern California.
The long slung white sand beach at Stinson, in Northern California.
The round stone beach at Washington Harbor, on Washington Island in Lake Michigan, surrounded by White Birch forest.
And more!! The ice caves above Aspen, Colorado and the giant rolling dunes in southern Morocco.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Surrendered. Integrated. Rebalanced.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Peaceful. Quiet. Curious.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Alive. Creative. Urgent.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Grateful. Potentiated. Connected to all beings.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Like a child in the summer rains.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Lonely
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I’m a planet earth person.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
11
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Cresting a ridge at sunrise on snowshoes, my father next to me, deep fresh snow; the morning light catching the crystalline crust just so, a thousand rainbow prisms refracting in every direction, against a crisp cold bright blue sky; cheeks red, legs strong, eyes wide open; a suspended indelible moment of pure beauty.
Hiroko Demichelis
HIROKO I. DEMICHELIS holds a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology and one in an Applied Positive Psychology (University of East London, Uk). She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor, she is certified in neurofeedback and in EMDR. She is trained in Mindfulness (Bangor University) and she is an advocate for modern meditation. She is the owner of the Vancouver Brain Lab, a clinical practice dedicated to support individuals to heal, flourish and reach their potential. Also, She is the co-founder of Moment Meditation, a project based on science based meditation. She is the proud mom of Blanca, she loves good Italian fashion, design and gelato.
3 words to describe Nature?
Pristine, astonishing, restorative.
3 things Nature taught you?
You cannot stop the wind with your hands, everything shifts and nothing stays the same. When in the quicksand, stop fighting and try to float
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Third Beach. Whyteclyff park (the little island you can only reach w low tide), a secret little fall on the way to Whistler
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
The sound of the waves calms whatever storm is happening in my brain. I swim in the ocean all year long. I go and I scream out loud (it is soo cold so to distract myself I scream: "it's tropical!!!" ). It feels like a hug!
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Forests feels like a crowd of friends!
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Volcano! I have only seen Mount Etna in Sicily from afar. It made me feel like I should always be humble!
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
A wonderful holiday in the BVI. Romantic. ;-)
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Childhood in Venice, where everything shakes!
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Safe if I am cosy at home.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean, big time.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9. A lot.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
My childhood was spent in Venice, Italy. We have a very special type of nature is Venice as it is surrounded by a lagoon. One of my best memories is being on my dad's rowing boat, in the lagoon, my mom and dad chatting, playing guitar, drinking wine with friends, and us children watching the stars.