Meet Sage Dammers, one half of the duo behind our favourite raw chocolate + super-herb elixirs brand Addictive Wellness. Sage breathes health and wellness, and we are delighted to share with you some of his favourite lifestyle hacks, self-care rituals and nutritional nuggets.
- How do you find your daily source of Golden Balance?
I embrace the fact that not all aspects of my life are going to be in perfect balance at all times. I think that we should always strive to create great lives, but that at the same time, holding oneself to an unachievable standard of living a perfectly balanced lifestyle in and of itself will lead to stress and imbalance. Life is an incredible adventure and we’re all just human and doing the very best we can. Some days I’ll spend too much time working and not enough time with AnnaBlanca (my partner in romance and business) or in nature… Somedays I’ll spend too much time surfing and not enough time working. I don’t beat myself up over these shifts in focus and balance and I’m much happier for it. In the end, balance sorts itself out.
- How important is self-care to you, and do you often implement it into your regular rituals?
Taking care of one’s health has to be a top priority. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for those around you. Taking care of your health means you’ll have more energy and mental clarity to help others, more creativity to solve problems, more emotional stability so you’ll be able to be a rock for those around you, and when your mind, body, and spirit are healthy, you’ll probably be a more loving person too.
- Share with us a quote that gives you daily inspiration.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.” - Joseph Campbell
- We know nourishment from the inside out fundamental to you. How do you practice this every day?
Absolutely! I usually eat two meals a day consisting of the most nutrient dense foods and superfoods possible, consume the most incredible tonic herbs, avoid sugar, minimize carbohydrates, and take a lineup of supplements focused on improving mitochondrial function, enhancing methylation, and strategically addressing certain genetic predispositions to make the most of my potential.
- What are some of your favourite ways to wind down?
Occasionally AnnaBlanca and I will meditate together in the evenings, but for the most part I’ve never been one to have an evening wind down routine. After sunset I do put f.lux on my computer to the most extreme red light setting and adjust my phone so it only shows red and black (no blue light). But apart from that, I work so hard right up until I”m ready to go to bed that I just brush my teeth and have no problem falling asleep within a couple of minutes.
- Ingredients-wise, what are your three non-negotiables in the kitchen?
I’ll often have the same food every day for very extended periods of time, butI really try not to get too attached to or dependent on any individual food. I’d say my top 3 foods are spirulina, avocado, and hemp protein and I probably have these 250+ days out of the year, but right now I actually haven’t had any of them in almost two weeks.
- Now tell us, do you have a guilty pleasure?
I have many pleasures in my life, but none of them are guilty! If I’m going to do something for enjoyment, I’m definitely not going to let an emotion like guilt get in the way of that enjoyment. For the most part, guilt isn’t a very functional emotion, especially when it comes to feeling guilty about the impact of your own actions on yourself. But it definitely makes it easier to have pure pleasure rather than guilty pleasure when you have an unlimited supply of delicious sugar-free tonic herb infused raw chocolates!
- What is your favourite way to use turmeric, be it in your beauty regime or recipes?
Drink-wise, I love adding it to our Chai Elixir Blends and then food-wise, AnnaBlanca makes the most incredible roasted curried cauliflower in the world… I have no problem crushing 3 heads worth of cauliflower in one sitting!
- Matcha or turmeric latte?
I have a homozygous positive COMT gene, which causes me to be a poor detoxifier of certain neurotransmitters including dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine… this means that if I take good care of myself I can have great focus, learn quickly, am generally pretty happy, and have a great filter so nothing “slips out.” But if I don’t take care of myself in the right way, this gene can have a dark side as well. If I consume any form of caffeine, I’ll feel absolutely on top of the world in the short term, but not long after, it causes the catecholamines to irritate my nervous system and I don’t feel so great anymore. So I’ll take the turmeric latte please!