When we were thinking about buying our tickets to the Mark’s Daily Apple PrimalCon we had no idea what it was going to be like. We followed the MDA Blog since discovering paleo so we assumed that it was going to be all kinds of amazing. Our intuition said… get your butts to the U.S and PrimalCon! So we listened!
Of course, when you go to the U.S you’ve got to make it a big deal, that’s where #merrymakersDoNYC comes in and if you’re yet to read all about it, you’ll want to check out our NYC round up. Thanks to RawBlend and Australian Blueberries for supporting the adventure and making it all possible!
Back to PrimalCon, let’s just say getting those tickets = Best. Decision. Ever! And this is where we stop rambling and get to the juicy good stuff… the highlights of PrimalCon Oxnard 2014!
Oh. My. Food. Of course food is the first highlight! It was all paleo, primal and freaking delicious! Bob from Not So Fast Food Truck did lots of the cooking (he is equally delicious… ;)). Nothing beats not having to change the menu and knowing that you’re just eating good stuff. We’ve put visiting Bob and his food truck in San Diego on our ‘next trip list’.
PLUS! One night we also enjoyed a pig on the spit. The pig was raised by the amazing Jennifer Johnson from Delta Farm. They focus on raising healthy animals in a humane and sustainable way (love this, love her).
Primal Play with Darryl Edwards. This was oh so much fun and right up our alley! Say good bye to boring gyms and hello to climbing trees, lifting humans, crawling and basically anything you did as a kid, we even played tips/tag (now THAT is a workout!). We love Darryl, we just want to hug him all the time. Best news is that he’s coming to play in Australia! Find out more on his website The Fitness Explorer and take a look at his Paleo Fitness book!
The Sledgehammer Workout with Tim from UrbanPrimalist! Just like the name suggests, using a regular sledgehammer as your weight of choice and performing primal movements while working up a darn good sweat! It’s quite fun really, in fact, we’re purchasing sledgehammers this weekend!
We LOVED Dr Dawn and Coach Kimmie’s Yoga Tune Up ball sessions! If you’ve ever used a tennis ball or foam roller to get in to those sore spots then you know what we mean when we say this session was a good-bad kind of session. There was pain, and a lot of ball jokes but oh my did we feel supple afterwards (supple is a funny word).
VitaMoves with Angelo dela Cruz! VitaMoves is a simple daily practise of movement to make a positive impact on your body. The moves may look simple but far out they can burn! Angelo created VitaMoves from his background in massage, bodywork, fitness training, and martial arts. Our favourite move was marching, great for the lymphatic system!
Learning to do headstands with Vanessa and Adam Lambert. Seriously FUN and we’re going to do them daily now! Check them out at Bee The Wellness.
Lifting water cooler bottles and sand bags with Brian Tabor! He’s from Strong Made Simple. This was all about functional lifts that you’d use in real life! Like a suitcase lift, bear hug and over the shoulder.
The sessions also covered mindset and emotional issues which we loved. As you probably know, with our own coaching practices we believe that it may start with food but much more contributes to health and happiness like career, relationships and spirituality. We had an epic personalised coaching session with the beautiful Karen Moore and Carrie Sisson from Body Mind Blueprint, we have a feeling we’ll be running in to these ladies again soon! <3
The keynote presentation by Chef Rachel Albert was truly inspirational. Rachel successfully battled stage 4 cancer over 3 years by using a combination of alternative and conventional methods. She spoke about how including a very low carb, high fat ketogenic diet was a key aspect of her healing process. We’re going to be sharing more of Rachel’s story here on The Merrymaker Sisters, you won’t want to miss it!
Meeting the one and only Mark Sisson was definitely a highlight… and yes, his abs are real, we saw them ourselves! Mark’s Daily Apple was the first paleo/primal blog we ever read. He has been instrumental in our own health and business journey. Sending virtual hugs and high fives to you Mark!
The dancing… oh the dancing! We had no idea that the Saturday night dance party was a PrimalCon ‘thing’ but we’re super glad it is, because it was all kinds of fun! We played the game: how many people can you fit in a hotel room?!
The biggest highlight for PrimalCon Oxnard 2014 would have to be making new friends and the networking opportunities. It’s so easy at events like this because they’re full of likeminded, awesome people and you just skip the ‘how do you live without bread?’ or ‘what do you eat for breakfast’ conversations and get to the good stuff. They all have fascinating stories about how primal living has changed their lives which is always inspiring to hear! We’re pretty sure we’ve made life long friends which is a little bit cute.
So the answer is yes! Get your butt to PrimalCon next year! Fun!
Always merrymaking,
Emma + Carla
P.s thanks to the amazing Mike Lin for snapping some of these great shots!