Matcha Paddle Power

Reta Boychuk: Professional River Stand-up Paddler and Multi-day Guide

Life on the water is unpredictable and dynamic, what feels like ten minutes might be an hour but when you’re focused on the water ahead of you time flies. While I’m paddling, the Sport Chews help keep my mood and energy high.

While racing at the GoPro Mountain Games these chews give me the extra kick to reach the top of the podium. Out guiding they keep me alert to ensure my client’s safety. A perfect example occurred on the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta, Canada. While guiding a group of strong women paddlers we experienced a challenging morning of overcast skies, bitter temperatures and nerves. One paddler had already come off their board and morale was at an all-time low. We stopped for a quick lunch/mental break and a chance to add some layers. Ahead of us was a big stretch of paddling until the next camp.

As we set off on the river once again the group was still very subdued and struggling. I shared some of my own Matcha Kik Sport Chews and within minutes the mood drastically shifted. With spirits rising our positive energy brought out the sunshine and we paddled on effortlessly checking off the miles until we arrived at camp. We all agreed that the turning point was the “KIK” we received from the chews to finish the biggest and most challenging day of our expedition.

On all of my multi-day guided trips, these are now essential mid-afternoon treats to help us finish strong into camp.

Reta Boychuk
@reta.sends
retasups.com

Movie Magic

As a professional athlete and stunt woman, I am always on the go. When not training, I’m either shooting a movie or traveling to the next project. I work hard and play hard and push my body and mind to their limits. Matcha is my secret weapon. It helps keep me going mentally and physically.

I’ve tried all kinds of matcha looking for the right quality and taste. My Matcha Life has a sweet smooth flavor that is absolutely DELISH. It also blends beautifully with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a little warm almond milk: my go to drink.

It’s important the actors I train are mentally and physically prepared too. I always recommend matcha tea. It helps them stay active and lean with the mental awareness their roles require. Thanks My Matcha Life. With so many long hours on set, we need all the help we can get.

Melissa Stubbs
Stunt Woman, Stunt Coordinator

Yoga Pro

Toronto based yoga instructor Grace Burns is thankful to have discovered the wonderful nutritional benefits of matcha tea.

“I love the mental calm and clarity it brings,” she says, “and the extra energy helps me power a vibrant and very active life.”

When Grace is not teaching yoga, you will find her running or hiking, enjoying the great outdoors.

“I start every day with a cup of matcha tea,” she enthuses adding she happily shares her matcha passion with her yoga students.

“I love the robust flavour and rich colour. It’s a pleasure to taste and to know how much it enriches my life. My Matcha Life is all about finding calm in the midst of a hectic daily routine and still having the energy to pursue a healthy, well-balanced life with gusto!”

Grace Burns
Yoga Instructor

Busy Mom

It took me a while to realize the effects of matcha tea, but as a result of drinking it I went from barely having enough energy to being able to think clearly and keep up with my very busy, sometimes chaotic, life!

I am a teacher and mother of a lively 7 year old and a 4 year old that follows suit. I used to be an avid coffee drinker, drinking coffee all day just so I wouldn’t crash. With matcha tea you don’t experience the crash. Matcha gives me the benefits of a caffeine boost without the jitters or letdown. I have also maintained a healthy body weight, another great matcha tea benefit. I feel great thanks to my matcha. I believe healthy products like matcha tea are an important part of an active and healthy lifestyle.

Stephanie Montan
Busy Mom

Renewable Energy

At the age of 26, I had accepted that living with Celiac disease meant having minimal energy. This was extremely difficult as I work full-time and try to maintain an active lifestyle.

Celiac disease prevents the body from absorbing important nutrients like protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals — all of which are vital to good health.

Recently, I decided to replace my regular 3 daily cups of coffee with one cup of My Matcha Life matcha tea. That one cup of matcha per day has literally changed my life!

I no longer get the inevitable “crash” that comes with drinking coffee. I feel more focused and my new found energy seems to last all day. It has become a rewarding and relaxing morning ritual — and I love it.

I’m very happy to recommend My Matcha Life matcha tea to anyone and everyone.

Kristy Montan
Renewable Energy

Plant Power

I am a lifelong athlete, passionate plant-powered foodie and Founder of a thriving start up company. Combine this with my years as a professional in the natural health industry, and rest assured I have been introduced to every potion, lotion and elixir espoused to be the magical: cure, diet or answer to all of the above, and more!

In 2006 I was introduced to the true ‘magic of matcha’. After just a few days of enjoying matcha once a day, I immediately began to feel extra energy (note – I was already very healthy and fit!), without trying, I shed an inch around my waist.

I feel, without a doubt, it’s one of the reasons I seldom catch a cold. If I do, I have two cups of matcha a day rather than one and it seems to punt the bug within a few hours. I began to introduce matcha tea to my network and clients (and still do!). The feedback has been that whoever tries matcha has seen the incredible difference in their lives and health.

Since that day I have made matcha a part of my daily morning meditation ritual and healthy lifestyle. It’s also become my armor during stressful business activities. If I’m feeling overwhelmed or anxious, I simply have a Barista’s Matcha and my mind becomes calm again.

Laura Simonson
Founder of Virchew – Meals and Treats for Dogs
virchew.com

Holistic Nutrition

Compelled to follow a restricted, gluten-free, anti-candida diet that allows no eggs, no dairy products, and no refined sugars (along with a dozen or so other verboten food types), I have been forced to carefully and consciously manage everything I eat and drink for over a decade.

Luckily, matcha tea is not only allowed, it’s actually recommended for my diet. Besides being extremely healthy, matcha is fermentation free — unlike black tea — which makes it a robustly better ally in my ongoing crusade again candida. As someone who succumbs to stress more often than I care to admit, matcha provides a mini-oasis of soothing calm every day. If, for some reason, I don’t get my morning cup, I physically feel the difference.

For me, matcha tea is a complete and emotional experience encompassing taste, texture, warmth and color. I really began to appreciate its myriad benefits — like enhanced concentration and focus — following my 50th birthday. It is a daily ritual I rarely neglect.

Today, I can’t imagine my life without matcha tea. And now, having enjoyed it for years, discovering My Matcha Life is another revelation. Their Tea Lover’s organic ceremonial is the smoothest, most flavourful matcha I’ve tasted yet. I am definitely a devoted fan!

Ricki Heller
Holistic Nutritionist
rickiheller.com

Ricki Heller, RHN, PhD, is a holistic nutritionist, whole foods chef, writer and special diet coach who shares sugar-free, gluten-free, allergy-friendly recipes and healthy living information on her popular blog (see link above). She is the author of two bestselling cookbooks plus the Living Candida-Free guide. Ricki is also an Associate Editor at Simply Gluten-Free magazine. She has written for various magazines and newspapers including Allergic Living, Living Without (now Gluten-Free and More), Clean Eating, The Globe and Mail, and others. Through live lectures, presentations at various healthy living events plus group courses and individual coaching, Ricki shares her story of learning to live — and thrive — on an anti-candida diet. She demonstrates how easy it is to eat well on a “restricted” diet, proving that a healthy lifestyle can, indeed, be sweet!

Cold Shadows

Turning sixty wasn’t something I was thrilled about. It’s not like I wasn’t expecting it, it just didn’t feel like a cause for celebration. It was more like crossing a line, like the sun had just cast a cold shadow with my name on it.

A dearest loved one passed away, a best friend suffered a serious heart attack, my favourite dog was dying of diabetes. All of a sudden it seemed friends, family, even pets were fading away in the cold shadow of my sixtieth birthday. I’d finally quit smoking 384 days earlier. I also started running again, going to the gym and cutting carbs. I lost weight, enjoyed the sweaty endorphins, and watched as my youthfully slow resting heart-rate raised my doctor’s eyebrows during an examination. It felt good.

On the radio I heard a specialist proclaim physical exercise the “absolute number one” weapon against age related dementia; something, I thought, worth remembering. I know the sunshine of youth sets a little past sixty. But I also know life is for living and that making the most of it takes will-power and work. So I’ll do the work, I’ll drink my matcha tea, and I’ll race those cold shadows until my aging feet tell me otherwise.

Chris O’Brien
Web Developer

Healthy Hart

My Matcha Life is the BEST matcha I’ve had in a very long time!

Even my husband, who has never liked matcha, really liked it.

I feel really good after drinking it, not out of sorts like some others made me feel.

The bowl is beautifully Wabi-sabi and made the drinking experience even more enjoyable.

Dr. Allegra Hart
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine
Naturae Naturopathic Clinic

Jungle Life

Sometimes life can be a jungle – literally! As an entomologist, summer-time has me buzzing all day. When insects are in the field my days are long days.

Be it field-work or in the lab, My Matcha Life Barista’s matcha in my smoothie gives me the energy I need to keep on keepin’ on.

For those entomologically inclined: my photo features Hyalophora cecropia larvae (Cecropia moth). It’s a very colourful caterpillar with brightly decorated knobs covered in black spikes. Though it looks a little nasty, it’s actually quite harmless.

Cheers,

Andrea B.
Entomologist
Based in Ontario, Andrea is also an accomplished athlete

Matcha Lifestyle

My Matcha Life matcha is among the best I’ve had; smooth, rich and lots of flavour. I’ve been drinking matcha tea for 4 years.

My husband just fell in love with it about 6 months ago. We have an active lifestyle with yoga, soccer, biking and hiking.

I’m an Aveda salon hairstylist and need lots of energy at work. I usually bring my matcha tea with me, love the kick. We have two daughters, enjoy healthy cooking and eating, and really love My Matcha Life.

Crista and Essenin Quijada
Matcha Lifestylers

Matcha Believer

I am a matcha believer. I believe the hype, I believe in the health benefits, and I believe matcha makes a real difference in my life. I have seen those benefits first-hand in the energy and mental clarity I experience at work doing a very stressful job. People have actually commented on it!

I also believe matcha tea prevented my mother’s pancreatic cyst from becoming a life-threatening condition. My mother was an avid coffee drinker. She was 78 years old when doctors discovered a sizable cyst on her pancreas. I told her to replace her coffee with matcha tea and she did. She is now 82 and drinks three cups of matcha tea every morning. Amazingly, the cyst shrank!

Now I can’t say with 100% emperical, double-blind certainty that matcha is responsible for this miraculous turn-around, but I do know my mom changed nothing else in her life. So, in my mind, matcha tea gets a huge thank-you. I believe in the many benefits of matcha tea for many good reasons. In my world, it’s worth every penny and then some.

Peggy Blumenthal
Manager, Senior Consultant

California Fans

My Matcha Life™ was very pleased recently to meet tea enthusiast and Zama Tea founder Leanne Herrera, who just happens to love our organic Tea Lover’s Matcha. So much so, she instantly added it to her store shelves in California.

Born in Japan, Leanne admits to a personal passion for all kinds of tea. “I knew my passion would quickly become a business,” she said, “making the people I meet healthier one cup at a time.” Thanks Leanne, we couldn’t agree more.

Leanne Herrera
Owner Operator
Zama Tea Company

Zen Out

As a borderline expert with all things tea, it’s nice to settle into something with a quality that can be gauged simply by sipping.

I don’t have to look for any side notes or undertones. It’s just … good!

Mostly, I drink matcha to “zen out.” A nice, warm cup of good quality matcha doesn’t just zen me out mentally, it also provides my body with an overall positive sensation.

I tend to save it for times when I really feel like a good meditation is imminent.

That’s when I savour the flavour, intensity and, of course, the sense of well-being brought on by all the healthy nutrients that come with a cup of matcha tea.

Lars Nielsen
Vancouver Tea Guru

Rocky Mountain High

Tiffany lives in Vancouver Canada and spends much of her free time outdoors taking advantage of the area’s rugged natural beauty. Her matcha lifestyle includes camping, hiking, snowshoeing and rock-climbing most weekends.

“I am a big tea fan, but matcha is special,” she says. “It has a unique creamy, chocolatey flavour and no other tea produces quite the same mental and physical effects. When I drink matcha, I almost immediately feel a sense of mental alertness, energy and focus. It’s perfect for rock climbing where you need mental as well as physical strength.”

She also explains drinking matcha while climbing helps her control her liquids intake — important on multi-pitch days when she is literally hanging off mountains for hours on end. “It’s important to control how much you drink but you don’t want to get dehydrated either. Matcha is great because I get the energy I need from one cup in the morning instead of multiple cups of regular green tea through the day.”

Tiffany’s favorite matcha is a well whisked Tea Lover’s Matcha, but when camping she puts matcha in a water bottle with cold water or a tumbler with hot water and simply shakes it up. She also combines Barista’s Matcha with a protein powder mix and shakes that up with water. “Matcha is versatile and easy to prepare; it’s the ultimate traveler’s tea.”

Tiffany Picard
Marketing Consultant

Customer Service

I found My Matcha Life while searching online for the pluses and minuses of green tea. After being completely confused on the subject, I emailed My Matcha Life and received an immediate reply from the owner herself, Calli O’Brien, who put my worries to rest.

Since then we’ve had many communications and I never feel my questions are superfluous or annoying. Some confusion over my shipping address was resolved quickly and efficiently preventing my package from being shipped to the wrong address!

I also had the pleasure of speaking with Zee, My Matcha Life’s co-owner, who immediately responded to another question by sending me her personal phone number on a Sunday! I wish all purchase transactions could be so smooth and pleasant.

Obviously these two women are committed to their company and their customers. I applaud their product and customer service and encourage everyone to choose My Matcha Life as their source for matcha tea.

Maria F.
Philadelphia, PA

Challenging Choices

Calli.O’Brien is an avid matcha drinker and health enthusiast making her home near Kitsilano Beach in scenic Vancouver, Canada.

“Where else can you run along the beach wearing shorts in the morning, then go skiing in the mountains in the afternoon? My own matcha life is filled with challenging choices and opportunities. Do I run the old growth forest or along the beach today?” she wonders happily.

“Maybe roller-blade around the seawall. Do I drink my Tea Lover’s matcha before exercising to burn fat or afterwards to speed recovery?Maybe I’ll wait ’til I need more mental focus. Either way, these are good choices to have.”

Calli rarely goes a day without matcha.

“I’ve been passionate about sharing the tremendous health benefits of matcha tea for over a decade now and I probably always will be. I saw how it helped my mom cope with my father’s illness and passing. I know it helped her live the last years of her own life with less stress and medication free.”

In fact, Calli’s mom discovered both the physical and emotionally fortifying properties of matcha tea a welcome and compelling part of her day. She rarely missed the opportunity to offer a matcha tea to visiting family and friends, a regular parade of whom kept her kitchen happily chatty and warm.

“Mixing matcha tea with regular exercise and good eating habits is a winning recipe for a healthier, happier, more active life at any age,” says Calli. “It’s a wisdom the Japanese embraced centuries ago. Now we can too.”

Calli O’Brien
Founder My Matcha Life