Gorgeous White Winter, Thank You to the Angels for this Day
Day 10 The Master Cleanser Winter Wonderland Cleanse:
I have been conserving my energy, or rather, putting it to where I wanted it to go most. I thought I'd be posting a lot more, but each day, I "met myself where I was at" and didn't push beyond that. It's been a wonderful ride and the BEST decision I could have made! Winter cleansing is always a whole other perspective.
As is typical when I do The Master Cleanser, I downscaled my amounts of lemon and maple syrup as the days went on, ending up with 4 tablespoons of lemon per quart and 3 tablespoons of maple syrup.
I also downsized from 4 quarts to 3 the last 3 days of the cleanse. This is totally intuitive and going with my body - if and when you do this cleanse, trust your own guidance system.
Normally I exercise any day I'm not Flushing with salt water, but yesterday, I skipped it and honored what my body asked for. This morning, my salt water flush took only 12-15 minutes from consumption (and laying on my right side) to elimination. That tells me things are moving really easily on all levels.
My energy is back with a force today (I got up at 6:45). I feel motivated, focused and alive. My mood is super high and I can literally feel the joy moving inside. As is typical with cleansing, I went through many ups and downs with physical energy, fatigue and lowered mood as well as being "wired," filled with energy and happy - all at different moments, and sometimes close together! My goal of gaining clarity and letting go of any old stuff that was hanging around in me is met. I feel a cleanness inside, as if whatever I needed to let go of was washed away. Mostly, I feel aligned on a spiritual-emotional level, trusting my choices and intuition.
Report: I've dropped almost 9 pounds this time around and by tomorrow, I expect it to be a total of 10. Though that was not my reason for cleansing, it puts me back in the zone in which I feel my body truly wants to be.
Tomorrow I will introduce solid foods gently, starting off with a kale, pineapple, dill and ginger smoothie and probably having a grapefruit during the day as well. I want to pause between the foods, re-introducing the art of chewing and allowing my digestive system to rest. Cleansing is a highly spiritual and meditative journey. It takes us within to the quieter place of intuition. On a nutritional end, it always becomes so clear how much less food we really need then we think we do, and how much we use food as a filler for sadness, anxiety, fear and lonliness. As I move deeper into February, my intention is to take time each day to tune into my body, eat when I know my body is truly asking for food, pause between the bites to listen and take with me the gifts from this cleanse. My next cleanse will probably be a springtime Juice Feast, so stay tuned...
Most importantly, allow yourself to slow down and listen to what your body is truly asking for. When you think you need to fill it, first take a moment to "Just Be" and see what happens. Don't be afraid to listen to your body and quiet your brain. Let food honor you; choose it with love and not abuse. Love everything you choose and eat it with passion. Most of all, know that you are perfect exactly the way you are and love all parts of yourself.
As Valentine's Day approaches, do something sacred that affirms your love for YOU. Self-love is the most passionate and healing of all. Sending each of you love...
Showing posts with label Raw Foods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Raw Foods. Show all posts
Monday, February 10, 2014
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Cleansing to Our Truth
Day 2 of the Autumn Cleanse!
8:30 AM Salt Water Flush:
1 warmed quart (32 oz.) of water with 2 teaspoons sea salt, drunk all at one sitting
10:15 AM Core mat exercises
10:30 AM First quart of Master Cleanser, with 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and pulp (and seeds), 5 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup and 1/8 spicy teaspoon of cayenne
Noon: Quart 2 of Master Cleanser
5:40 PM Quart 3
6:30 PM Quart 4
Total: 1 gallon and done for the day :)
I cannot believe this, but I am sitting here typing and filled with energy. I feel almost wired, but in a good way. I don't drink coffee, but I suppose this is what people reach for. I've had this feeling from juicing or the frequency of raw foods, but there's an added component. It feels like a letting go and an adding in at the same time. I am releasing the old debris and toxins from my colon, intestines, organs, blood and tissues and taking in the mineralization of new energy. I feel like I could dance for a couple of hours!
That being said, don't worry if you feel exhausted while cleansing. A cleanse reaches to the core, and you can experience incredible energy for a couple of hours and then need to sleep far more than normal. Wherever you are at is wherever you need to be; your body will tell you. If I were fatigued, I would stop typing and go to sleep, even at 8:30.
My first flush of the cleanse was perfect. I remember the first time I did a salt water flush, which was during the 31-day juice feast. It already had felt so vulnerable doing the enemas 7 days in a row, and then when I switched from juicing to Master Cleanser, I followed that protocol. The first time I drank the salt water I said, "I can't do this. It's disgusting, and I'll never make my way through it." The next time, it suddenly tasted a lot better, as if my body had accepted and connected with it. For this Autumn cleanse, I actually loved it! Forty five minutes later I was releasing all of the old.
I had a half an hour of shaky blood sugar in the middle of the afternoon, which then passed. Now my body is filled with a feeling of well being cleansing through me.
Imagine if everyone in the world cleansed for ten days; what do you think the leaders of our government would be like? What about the heads of the food industry? How would the military generals act? What would happen to those suffering from depression, ADD, OCD, anxiety, psychoses and medication overload? That's an evolution I would like to witness. What I find most powerful today is that as I walked through my day, navigating the "stuff of life" with all its dilemmas, fears and stressors, I couldn't hide out in my food. I had to be present to who I am when I am simply in my truth. I had to let go of all my self-judgements and replace them with self-love; as if the cleansing spurred my body to say: "You are who you are, Hope. Now can you love yourself for all of it; light and shadow, and can you allow others to love you "as is" as well?
Cleansing allows us to return to our truth; the souls of who we came here to be. It's an opportunity to let go of our limited beliefs and expand into our unlimited potential. What if you lived your life like each day was a cleanse? Who would you be and what would your life look like? It's only a matter of choice..
8:30 AM Salt Water Flush:
1 warmed quart (32 oz.) of water with 2 teaspoons sea salt, drunk all at one sitting
10:15 AM Core mat exercises
10:30 AM First quart of Master Cleanser, with 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and pulp (and seeds), 5 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup and 1/8 spicy teaspoon of cayenne
Noon: Quart 2 of Master Cleanser
5:40 PM Quart 3
6:30 PM Quart 4
Total: 1 gallon and done for the day :)
I cannot believe this, but I am sitting here typing and filled with energy. I feel almost wired, but in a good way. I don't drink coffee, but I suppose this is what people reach for. I've had this feeling from juicing or the frequency of raw foods, but there's an added component. It feels like a letting go and an adding in at the same time. I am releasing the old debris and toxins from my colon, intestines, organs, blood and tissues and taking in the mineralization of new energy. I feel like I could dance for a couple of hours!
That being said, don't worry if you feel exhausted while cleansing. A cleanse reaches to the core, and you can experience incredible energy for a couple of hours and then need to sleep far more than normal. Wherever you are at is wherever you need to be; your body will tell you. If I were fatigued, I would stop typing and go to sleep, even at 8:30.
My first flush of the cleanse was perfect. I remember the first time I did a salt water flush, which was during the 31-day juice feast. It already had felt so vulnerable doing the enemas 7 days in a row, and then when I switched from juicing to Master Cleanser, I followed that protocol. The first time I drank the salt water I said, "I can't do this. It's disgusting, and I'll never make my way through it." The next time, it suddenly tasted a lot better, as if my body had accepted and connected with it. For this Autumn cleanse, I actually loved it! Forty five minutes later I was releasing all of the old.
I had a half an hour of shaky blood sugar in the middle of the afternoon, which then passed. Now my body is filled with a feeling of well being cleansing through me.
Imagine if everyone in the world cleansed for ten days; what do you think the leaders of our government would be like? What about the heads of the food industry? How would the military generals act? What would happen to those suffering from depression, ADD, OCD, anxiety, psychoses and medication overload? That's an evolution I would like to witness. What I find most powerful today is that as I walked through my day, navigating the "stuff of life" with all its dilemmas, fears and stressors, I couldn't hide out in my food. I had to be present to who I am when I am simply in my truth. I had to let go of all my self-judgements and replace them with self-love; as if the cleansing spurred my body to say: "You are who you are, Hope. Now can you love yourself for all of it; light and shadow, and can you allow others to love you "as is" as well?
Cleansing allows us to return to our truth; the souls of who we came here to be. It's an opportunity to let go of our limited beliefs and expand into our unlimited potential. What if you lived your life like each day was a cleanse? Who would you be and what would your life look like? It's only a matter of choice..
Saturday, September 29, 2012
10-Day Cleanse Starting October 1st
Today's Ecstatic Eating!tm Recipes:
Kale salad:
1 bunch Lacinato kale, massaged with Mom's homemade dressing: 2 cloves garlic chopped, then mashed into a paste with 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, with 1/2 inch olive oil in measuring cup, some Bragg's Amino Acids and 1 teaspoon Organic Stone Ground Mustard (with apple cider vinegar - this keeps it raw and alkaline); then 2 beautifully shredded beets tossed in (shredded with the blade of my food processor), along with 1 sliced Granny Smith apple and a bunch of Crimini mushrooms rubbed down with Bragg's; sliced and tossed in. This was beyond delicious, and I put so much love into it xo
Pâté: ~ 2 1/2 cups soaked sunflower seeds and ~ 2 oz. soaked pecans; soaked in an uncovered bowl overnight with water to cover; then drained and rinsed
Food processed with: 1 red pepper, some spinach leaves, lots of fresh dill, Garam Masala Tandoori seasoning (organic paprika, organic cumin, organic coriander, organic garlic, organic ginger, organic cardamom), and some cayenne; with lots of olive oil, some tamari, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1 stalk celery
Karita's amazing smoothie: Filled Vitamix (64 oz.): Water, box of organic strawberries, soaked high-level raw almonds, maple syrup, a pinch of Himalayan sea salt, a little bit of agave and lots of ice cubes
I love to honor my body with the right foods when it's hungry. What feels great is knowing I eat more of the foods that nourish and nurture my body. That is such a different feeling than filling up with foods that don't digest and assimilate easily, which leaves me with a bloated and low-energy feeling.
Have you ever noticed when that happens to you?
It is the most perfect time for a cleanse with Autumn moving in. This weather pulls us to crave more food for warmth and often quickly put on weight. Then it's March and we wonder how fifteen pounds came on; sound familiar?
Cleansing lets go of all the waste we've accumulated in our bodies; both physical and emotional. We clean out, thereby lightening our bodies and boosting our immune systems.
I'm already noticing people all around with sniffling noses and coughs; their Autumn colds are right on track. Shift your food and you shift your health.
I will be using The Master Cleanser format, as written by Stanley Burroughs in his book by the same name. This will be so different from the 31-day cleanse I did last April - May. Ten days seem like so short next to that! Isn't it interesting how everything becomes relative to what we've already experienced in our lives? I remember when the prospect of ten days would have seemed really daunting, and now my body is craving it and ready to start.
I chose Master Cleanser because the maple syrup makes me think of Autumn and the cayenne warms the body and circulates the blood. My Spring cleanse had the green energy of spring with its gallon of juice-feasting a day. This time of year, I want a cleanse that is simple, warming, nourishing and cleansing. My goal is to feel grounded and ready for the cooler weather when I'm done.
Kale salad:
1 bunch Lacinato kale, massaged with Mom's homemade dressing: 2 cloves garlic chopped, then mashed into a paste with 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, with 1/2 inch olive oil in measuring cup, some Bragg's Amino Acids and 1 teaspoon Organic Stone Ground Mustard (with apple cider vinegar - this keeps it raw and alkaline); then 2 beautifully shredded beets tossed in (shredded with the blade of my food processor), along with 1 sliced Granny Smith apple and a bunch of Crimini mushrooms rubbed down with Bragg's; sliced and tossed in. This was beyond delicious, and I put so much love into it xo
Pâté: ~ 2 1/2 cups soaked sunflower seeds and ~ 2 oz. soaked pecans; soaked in an uncovered bowl overnight with water to cover; then drained and rinsed
Food processed with: 1 red pepper, some spinach leaves, lots of fresh dill, Garam Masala Tandoori seasoning (organic paprika, organic cumin, organic coriander, organic garlic, organic ginger, organic cardamom), and some cayenne; with lots of olive oil, some tamari, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1 stalk celery
Karita's amazing smoothie: Filled Vitamix (64 oz.): Water, box of organic strawberries, soaked high-level raw almonds, maple syrup, a pinch of Himalayan sea salt, a little bit of agave and lots of ice cubes
I love to honor my body with the right foods when it's hungry. What feels great is knowing I eat more of the foods that nourish and nurture my body. That is such a different feeling than filling up with foods that don't digest and assimilate easily, which leaves me with a bloated and low-energy feeling.
Have you ever noticed when that happens to you?
It is the most perfect time for a cleanse with Autumn moving in. This weather pulls us to crave more food for warmth and often quickly put on weight. Then it's March and we wonder how fifteen pounds came on; sound familiar?
Cleansing lets go of all the waste we've accumulated in our bodies; both physical and emotional. We clean out, thereby lightening our bodies and boosting our immune systems.
I'm already noticing people all around with sniffling noses and coughs; their Autumn colds are right on track. Shift your food and you shift your health.
I will be using The Master Cleanser format, as written by Stanley Burroughs in his book by the same name. This will be so different from the 31-day cleanse I did last April - May. Ten days seem like so short next to that! Isn't it interesting how everything becomes relative to what we've already experienced in our lives? I remember when the prospect of ten days would have seemed really daunting, and now my body is craving it and ready to start.
I chose Master Cleanser because the maple syrup makes me think of Autumn and the cayenne warms the body and circulates the blood. My Spring cleanse had the green energy of spring with its gallon of juice-feasting a day. This time of year, I want a cleanse that is simple, warming, nourishing and cleansing. My goal is to feel grounded and ready for the cooler weather when I'm done.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Let the Sun Shine In!
Exercise: 2.2 mile morning run with ecstatic sunshine
Breakfast:
1/2 cantelope chunked with unsweetened shredded coconut sprinkled on it
Lunch:
Manna Fruit and Nut Bread sliced with raw almond butter "schmeared."
32 ounces of water
Do you want to know one secret to staying warmer in the wintertime? Go running outside!
This might sounds completely implausable, but is sort of similar to the homeopathic concept: Give your body an essence of the thing it typically responds to with aversion and it will thrive.
The last couple of years, having gone back to running outside all winter long, my body heat has really stepped up to warming and protecting me from the elements.
Dressed in light layers topped with fleece, I run every day, usually in the early morning. Lately, I've done some 5:30 AM runs under the stars, which is an extraordinary experience. I get to view the constellations pre-dawn as they light up the night sky with twinkles and streaks. Today my run was at the civilized hour of 9:00 AM; yesterday at noon. It all depends on my schedule, but I do what I need to in order to run, because my entire day shifts mentally and physically from this ritual.
I am always filled with energy and vibrance after my run and throughout the day. I can feel the cells in my body waking up, stretching and shining. My mood lifts upward, and most importantly, I am not cold later in the day, even if the temperature drops.
I've built a "relationship" with the cold air; I honor it by breathing it in and it honors my body by becoming my friend.
You don't have to be fast (I'm not) and you don't have to be an expert. You only need to have a desire to be happier in winter and a willingness to try a new approach. If you've ever listened to runners talk about running and wondered what it would be like to try, I say, it's your time to run! If you are just starting out, run slowly (sometimes called jogging!) for 15 minutes with intermittent walking. Increase your time or distance by ten percent each week. Eventually, you will build up to 45 minutes outside.
The vitamin D we get from those 45 minutes outside (and even the 15 minutes) is enough to feed your body and soul with sunshine. The reason we need to take so many vitamin D supplements is because we've developed a fearful relationship with the sun. It's ok to have protection in the strong sun of Summer, but start to build up your body's natural immune system by integrating sunshine. The winter sun is a great place to begin, as the sun's relation to the earth has shifted, and it's perfect for letting the sun caress your face without sunscreen. When I run and it's dark out, I still believe that I get "starshine" on my face. I'm illuminating my body with the sky's healing powers.
In the cold, I have a face mask, which covers my whole head and neck, leaving an opening for my face. In very cold days, I can pull the mask up over my nose and face; in warmer weather, I expose my whole face while keeping the extremities warm. When we cover our hands, head and feet well, we insulate our bodies from the cold.
Some other wonderful outdoor exercise for winter is snow shoeing. You step your hiking boots right into your snow shoes, which have "crampon spikes" on the bottom, and you can walk into feet of snow and ice. It is quite beautiful, as you become part of the winter wonderland; a truly magical world.
Even if you think this sounds really impossible, try it for one week; just one week. I used to be cold from the end of August until April, never getting my body to be able to quite warm up. Compounded with underactive thyroid, I was freezing! Not only that, I was a candidate for SAD (Seasonal Affect Disorder) spectrum lighting, because my whole mood would lower during the winter. Now I no longer have hypothyroidism because of the food and lifestyle changes I made throughout the years. I consider winter an extraordinary time of contemplation, hibernation and introspection. At the end of last year's snowy winter, when I heard people saying, "No, not one more snowstorm," I found myself thinking, "this isn't so bad. I could go for another month of Winter!"
Write in and let me know how this experiment goes...I welcome your comments and personal stories.
Warmly :)
Hope and The Holistic Empire
Breakfast:
1/2 cantelope chunked with unsweetened shredded coconut sprinkled on it
Lunch:
Manna Fruit and Nut Bread sliced with raw almond butter "schmeared."
32 ounces of water
Do you want to know one secret to staying warmer in the wintertime? Go running outside!
This might sounds completely implausable, but is sort of similar to the homeopathic concept: Give your body an essence of the thing it typically responds to with aversion and it will thrive.
The last couple of years, having gone back to running outside all winter long, my body heat has really stepped up to warming and protecting me from the elements.
Dressed in light layers topped with fleece, I run every day, usually in the early morning. Lately, I've done some 5:30 AM runs under the stars, which is an extraordinary experience. I get to view the constellations pre-dawn as they light up the night sky with twinkles and streaks. Today my run was at the civilized hour of 9:00 AM; yesterday at noon. It all depends on my schedule, but I do what I need to in order to run, because my entire day shifts mentally and physically from this ritual.
I am always filled with energy and vibrance after my run and throughout the day. I can feel the cells in my body waking up, stretching and shining. My mood lifts upward, and most importantly, I am not cold later in the day, even if the temperature drops.
I've built a "relationship" with the cold air; I honor it by breathing it in and it honors my body by becoming my friend.
You don't have to be fast (I'm not) and you don't have to be an expert. You only need to have a desire to be happier in winter and a willingness to try a new approach. If you've ever listened to runners talk about running and wondered what it would be like to try, I say, it's your time to run! If you are just starting out, run slowly (sometimes called jogging!) for 15 minutes with intermittent walking. Increase your time or distance by ten percent each week. Eventually, you will build up to 45 minutes outside.
The vitamin D we get from those 45 minutes outside (and even the 15 minutes) is enough to feed your body and soul with sunshine. The reason we need to take so many vitamin D supplements is because we've developed a fearful relationship with the sun. It's ok to have protection in the strong sun of Summer, but start to build up your body's natural immune system by integrating sunshine. The winter sun is a great place to begin, as the sun's relation to the earth has shifted, and it's perfect for letting the sun caress your face without sunscreen. When I run and it's dark out, I still believe that I get "starshine" on my face. I'm illuminating my body with the sky's healing powers.
In the cold, I have a face mask, which covers my whole head and neck, leaving an opening for my face. In very cold days, I can pull the mask up over my nose and face; in warmer weather, I expose my whole face while keeping the extremities warm. When we cover our hands, head and feet well, we insulate our bodies from the cold.
Some other wonderful outdoor exercise for winter is snow shoeing. You step your hiking boots right into your snow shoes, which have "crampon spikes" on the bottom, and you can walk into feet of snow and ice. It is quite beautiful, as you become part of the winter wonderland; a truly magical world.
Even if you think this sounds really impossible, try it for one week; just one week. I used to be cold from the end of August until April, never getting my body to be able to quite warm up. Compounded with underactive thyroid, I was freezing! Not only that, I was a candidate for SAD (Seasonal Affect Disorder) spectrum lighting, because my whole mood would lower during the winter. Now I no longer have hypothyroidism because of the food and lifestyle changes I made throughout the years. I consider winter an extraordinary time of contemplation, hibernation and introspection. At the end of last year's snowy winter, when I heard people saying, "No, not one more snowstorm," I found myself thinking, "this isn't so bad. I could go for another month of Winter!"
Write in and let me know how this experiment goes...I welcome your comments and personal stories.
Warmly :)
Hope and The Holistic Empire
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Step out of the Closet
Exercise: None! I let the rainy day pull me into taking a break from my daily runs. Mmmm, it felt good to listen to the calling of my body to rest
Breakfast:
2 slices Mestemacher Sunflower Seed Bread smeared with 1/2 avocado, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with Himalayan Sea Salt
Lunch:
A banana and a bowl of organic Flame raisins and raw almonds
32 ounces water
Dinner:
Salad with organic mescalin greens, radish, carrot, Sproutman Alfalfa sprouts, purple cabbage, grape tomatoes; with herbs, olive oil and sea salt
Morbier raw French cow cheese with vegetable ash and goat gouda
32 ounces water
A couple of weeks ago, I had dinner with my dear friends at their home. We frequently eat together, as they love the foods I do and it's always meaningful to share food and explore conversation.
I suggested: "Let's play a game," and they said ok.
I posed this question to each of them and myself as well: "If you didn't do what you do in life, what would you like to be doing?"
He, an art teacher at a private school and a very talented potter said: "I'd be a pilot."
She, a gifted healer, reflexologist and counselor said, "I'd be a lawyer."
I, the holistic health counselor said, "I'd be a modern dancer."
We each shared the original longings and desires we had, sometime in the past, that had us imagine these vastly different choices than those we had made.
It was an expansive conversation, tapping each of us into a part we pushed away. I observed my friends' expressions as they shared the reasons behind their answers. Their eyes lit up with desire and imagination; their mouths turned upward with joy.
Each of them is already present and powerfully connected to happiness in their lives, and the choices they did make, and the ones I made, have each of us loving what we do every day.
But the experiment of this conversation was valuable on a whole other level.
What parts of ourselves do we put away in the linen closet of our lives, all neatly folded and in piles?
What do we stick away that we stop longing for?
I am ecstatic to counsel people every day; the sheer gift of it permeates every cell of my body.
But what if I took the towel of modern dancer out of the closet every once in awhile and cloaked my body it it? What if I went through one day a month breathing in the energy of modern dancer?
David Deida, in his brilliant book, "Dear Lover," speaks about walking, talking, sitting and standing as if we are making love with ourselves each day, regardless of whether we are in a relationship or not, and regardless of whether that relationship offers us that level of intimacy and sexual satisfaction.
It is from cultivating it inside of ourselves that it is born; not from waiting for others to fulfill it in us.
There is definitely a pilot inside of my friend; there truly is a lawyer inside of his wife, my dear friend. There is a dancer inside of me, who dances across the stage of Lincoln Center like Martha Graham, moving with complete freedom and abandon; my body soaring across the stage like an eagle.
I encourage you to tap into those parts of yourself; take a towel out of your life's "linen closet" and wrap yourself in it for a day.
Please write in and share how that feels.....
In Dance,
Hope & The Holistic Empire
Breakfast:
2 slices Mestemacher Sunflower Seed Bread smeared with 1/2 avocado, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with Himalayan Sea Salt
Lunch:
A banana and a bowl of organic Flame raisins and raw almonds
32 ounces water
Dinner:
Salad with organic mescalin greens, radish, carrot, Sproutman Alfalfa sprouts, purple cabbage, grape tomatoes; with herbs, olive oil and sea salt
Morbier raw French cow cheese with vegetable ash and goat gouda
32 ounces water
A couple of weeks ago, I had dinner with my dear friends at their home. We frequently eat together, as they love the foods I do and it's always meaningful to share food and explore conversation.
I suggested: "Let's play a game," and they said ok.
I posed this question to each of them and myself as well: "If you didn't do what you do in life, what would you like to be doing?"
He, an art teacher at a private school and a very talented potter said: "I'd be a pilot."
She, a gifted healer, reflexologist and counselor said, "I'd be a lawyer."
I, the holistic health counselor said, "I'd be a modern dancer."
We each shared the original longings and desires we had, sometime in the past, that had us imagine these vastly different choices than those we had made.
It was an expansive conversation, tapping each of us into a part we pushed away. I observed my friends' expressions as they shared the reasons behind their answers. Their eyes lit up with desire and imagination; their mouths turned upward with joy.
Each of them is already present and powerfully connected to happiness in their lives, and the choices they did make, and the ones I made, have each of us loving what we do every day.
But the experiment of this conversation was valuable on a whole other level.
What parts of ourselves do we put away in the linen closet of our lives, all neatly folded and in piles?
What do we stick away that we stop longing for?
I am ecstatic to counsel people every day; the sheer gift of it permeates every cell of my body.
But what if I took the towel of modern dancer out of the closet every once in awhile and cloaked my body it it? What if I went through one day a month breathing in the energy of modern dancer?
David Deida, in his brilliant book, "Dear Lover," speaks about walking, talking, sitting and standing as if we are making love with ourselves each day, regardless of whether we are in a relationship or not, and regardless of whether that relationship offers us that level of intimacy and sexual satisfaction.
It is from cultivating it inside of ourselves that it is born; not from waiting for others to fulfill it in us.
There is definitely a pilot inside of my friend; there truly is a lawyer inside of his wife, my dear friend. There is a dancer inside of me, who dances across the stage of Lincoln Center like Martha Graham, moving with complete freedom and abandon; my body soaring across the stage like an eagle.
I encourage you to tap into those parts of yourself; take a towel out of your life's "linen closet" and wrap yourself in it for a day.
Please write in and share how that feels.....
In Dance,
Hope & The Holistic Empire
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
It Is Time To Come Together
Today's Beautiful Nourishment:
Exercise: 2.2 mile early morning run
Breakfast:
Chatham Sheep Yogurt with raw almonds, bee pollen, Healthforce Nutritionals Dark Mint Maca, Pure Planet Spirulina, mixed berries (Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries), Pure New Hampshire Maple Syrup, shredded coconut
Lunch:
Sottocenere Cheese with Truffles from Italy
Herbed olives
G.T. Dave Guava Kombucha
Dinner:
The Best Farm Greens Ever!!! From my Spring farm CSA share and picked yesterday morning; Red Clover Farms in Windsor, CT: Kale, collards, chard, spinach, thyme, rosemary, beets with wild rice tempeh; all steamed and "drizzled" with olive oil, tahini and sea salt; WOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!! These truly are the most flavorful, robust and delicious fresh farm greens I have ever tasted.
redcloverblossom.com
http://redcloverfarms.blogspot.com/
Dessert:
Organic Nectars Cherry Chocolate Swirl raw ice cream
Just to say something about the sheep yogurt mix from breakfast: I add a heaping tablespoon of this dark green spirulina and the whole mix turns deep forest green, but the flavor is madly delicious, as the spirulina is the best I have ever tasted and blends into all the other ingredients, boosting the body with oxygen and chlorophyl. It's a wonderful way to get the dense green nutrients with flavor.
Last week was the 24th "anniversary" of the nuclear meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Russia.
I spent many earlier years being an advocate for the closing of Indian Point Nuclear Plant in Buchanan, NY, to no avail; it is still running, though there was a "small" meltdown in the 1970's and it continues to leak Strontium 90 into the Hudson River.
As a friend of mine said to me recently, "If we don't have the capacity to handle a nuclear meltdown, we shouldn't be playing with nuclear power plants." It's that simple.
Indian Point is exactly the same plant as the Fukoshima plant in Japan, as are others around the country and world.
I encourage and urge you to take the time to listen to the 24 minute news piece on the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl and it ramifications today. I do want to make you aware that there is a scene of today's children in those areas of Russia where there was leakage from that and another nuclear reactor, that could be hard for some to view, as it shows the physical long-term effects of this disaster.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/4/26/chernobyl_catastrophe_25th_anniversary_of_worlds
I will be blogging more about this, but I know I am being called to say, "No More" to the continued proliferation of nuclear power plants and imminent danger in which they place each living being's life and health. As the earth is shifting geologically and with weather with such speed these days, we are not equipped to handle the responses of nature triggering the reactions of these power plants, which is exactly what happened in Japan. It is time to stand up, come together in numbers and say, "We must put an end to this irresponsibility and begin to save the lives of our children."
Thank you for taking the time to read this post.
In Health & With Love,
Hope
Exercise: 2.2 mile early morning run
Breakfast:
Chatham Sheep Yogurt with raw almonds, bee pollen, Healthforce Nutritionals Dark Mint Maca, Pure Planet Spirulina, mixed berries (Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries), Pure New Hampshire Maple Syrup, shredded coconut
Lunch:
Sottocenere Cheese with Truffles from Italy
Herbed olives
G.T. Dave Guava Kombucha
Dinner:
The Best Farm Greens Ever!!! From my Spring farm CSA share and picked yesterday morning; Red Clover Farms in Windsor, CT: Kale, collards, chard, spinach, thyme, rosemary, beets with wild rice tempeh; all steamed and "drizzled" with olive oil, tahini and sea salt; WOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!! These truly are the most flavorful, robust and delicious fresh farm greens I have ever tasted.
redcloverblossom.com
http://redcloverfarms.blogspot.com/
Dessert:
Organic Nectars Cherry Chocolate Swirl raw ice cream
Just to say something about the sheep yogurt mix from breakfast: I add a heaping tablespoon of this dark green spirulina and the whole mix turns deep forest green, but the flavor is madly delicious, as the spirulina is the best I have ever tasted and blends into all the other ingredients, boosting the body with oxygen and chlorophyl. It's a wonderful way to get the dense green nutrients with flavor.
Last week was the 24th "anniversary" of the nuclear meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Russia.
I spent many earlier years being an advocate for the closing of Indian Point Nuclear Plant in Buchanan, NY, to no avail; it is still running, though there was a "small" meltdown in the 1970's and it continues to leak Strontium 90 into the Hudson River.
As a friend of mine said to me recently, "If we don't have the capacity to handle a nuclear meltdown, we shouldn't be playing with nuclear power plants." It's that simple.
Indian Point is exactly the same plant as the Fukoshima plant in Japan, as are others around the country and world.
I encourage and urge you to take the time to listen to the 24 minute news piece on the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl and it ramifications today. I do want to make you aware that there is a scene of today's children in those areas of Russia where there was leakage from that and another nuclear reactor, that could be hard for some to view, as it shows the physical long-term effects of this disaster.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/4/26/chernobyl_catastrophe_25th_anniversary_of_worlds
I will be blogging more about this, but I know I am being called to say, "No More" to the continued proliferation of nuclear power plants and imminent danger in which they place each living being's life and health. As the earth is shifting geologically and with weather with such speed these days, we are not equipped to handle the responses of nature triggering the reactions of these power plants, which is exactly what happened in Japan. It is time to stand up, come together in numbers and say, "We must put an end to this irresponsibility and begin to save the lives of our children."
Thank you for taking the time to read this post.
In Health & With Love,
Hope
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
That Which Does Not Kill You Makes You Stronger
Breakfast:
Old Chatham Sheepherding Company Sheep's Milk Plain Yogurt with: A few raw almonds, a 'shake' of Go Raw Raw Chocolate "Granola", a 'shake' of bee pollen from Sedona, Healthforce Nutritionals Vitamineral Green, Fruits of the Earth and Vanilla Spice Maca superfood powders, 4 large strawberries, 1 teaspoon Dawes Hill Pure Raw Grade A Clover Honey and a splash of agave
Lunch:
1 chunk of Raw Goat Cheese
3 Kalamata olives
Salad with: Baby spinach leaves, purple cabbage, Monterey Farms Spicy ArtiHearts, 1/2 avocado, 1/4 red pepper, 1 carrot and some alfalfa sprouts
Dressing:
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini, splash of olive oil, fresh lemon juice and see salt; mixed and poured
Decadent Snack:
gohunza.com Raw Pecan Pie!
This is one color of the red rocks out in the Moab desert in Utah and in Sedona, Arizona.
This is another.
And yet some more.
Even when I post all my pictures from this monumental and life-affirming adventure, I will never capture the energy of standing under "Balanced Rock" in Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, or being in the side belly of the rock shared by ancient civilizations in Boynton Canyon in Sedona.
I had seen pictures and was awed enough to sign up for 'The Adventure Rabbi's' 'Passover in the Moab Desert'. For three or four years in a row, I had gotten an email with photos of the exquisitely large burnt red rock arches in this part of our land and of the participants hiking, camping and rejoicing by the banks of the Colorado River.
Finally, as my birthday present to me this year, I combined the Passover trip with a visit to my friend Julie in Sedona.
My seven day adventure consisted of alot of extraordinary hiking, about a thousand miles of driving solo and observance of the spiritual rituals of Passover, both high on the peak of a hike under Corona Arch, where we told the story of the Jews exodus from Egypt and through the dersert to liberation, as well as our ritual seder meal eaten spread out like Bedouins on the sand of our campsite next to the river.
I felt small compared to the enormity of civilizations and life forces before me and in front of me. I was awed by the energy and could picture the heart of life beginning under water with all of the juiciest minerals and plant life at one time beneath the sea. I felt my lifetimes and those way before me; I felt the presence of God holding me precious; I felt darkness and light both. I felt creation, evolution and the journey of every being who came before me.
I felt elated; I felt terrified at times.
Driving the thousand miles, much of which was from Sedona to Moab and back, culled up all the remaining buried dark spots in my body and psyche; all those still waiting to be excavated, released and transformed. To the left, right, front and back of me was land; land was all around and nothing else, save for a small house or shack and maybe a truck or two. Native American land splayed out for hundreds of miles without anything to break up its appearance; just two lanes of driving road. Driving myself sixty or seventy five miles and hour (the speed limit is higher there) made me question myself, my strength and perseverance and my trust and knowing.
I thought about what we'd stolen from the Native Americans; how I only saw these meger homes and no thriving life force. Then I thought about how everything I think is my own story and that really, I know nothing; only my personal perception. I was stripped down to the bone and risen up again.
How did the Jews or any race or tribe of people survive with only the land to reply upon?? The land has magical powers, and if we can get to the point of trust, it might welome us in and keep us safe. Trust is a deep word with many layers and old stories.
I stood with my group on a rock and asked to let go of any old and new fear which was keeping me from being who I am meant to be.
I stood by myself as a woman who made this journey as a testament to her life; to reaffirming my personal belief system; to knowing I can trust in myself.
And I am here to blog about it; moved to the core; shaken to my soul; but with my sweet soul singing its true song.
Oh, and by the way, I camped all raw and remembered how much I love that. While others were cooking their yummy meals, I had kelp noodles with spinach hummus, raw red Peruvain olives, raw goat cheese, almond pate, hemp seed butter with sprouted bread and of course, some raw maca chocolate.
I also got to eat at the infamous "Chocolate Tree" cafe in Sedona, and I have to say, it was everything and beyond in its quality of raw deliciousness. They were voted Best of Raw in chocolate, I believe; at least I think Jeffrey, one of their supreme raw chocolatiers was.
So, go where you have to go; do what you need to do; and trust in the truth of your process.
With Much Joy and Love to Each of You for a Significant Passover, Easter or Any Other Symbols of Your Choosing,
Hope & The Holistic Empire
Old Chatham Sheepherding Company Sheep's Milk Plain Yogurt with: A few raw almonds, a 'shake' of Go Raw Raw Chocolate "Granola", a 'shake' of bee pollen from Sedona, Healthforce Nutritionals Vitamineral Green, Fruits of the Earth and Vanilla Spice Maca superfood powders, 4 large strawberries, 1 teaspoon Dawes Hill Pure Raw Grade A Clover Honey and a splash of agave
Lunch:
1 chunk of Raw Goat Cheese
3 Kalamata olives
Salad with: Baby spinach leaves, purple cabbage, Monterey Farms Spicy ArtiHearts, 1/2 avocado, 1/4 red pepper, 1 carrot and some alfalfa sprouts
Dressing:
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini, splash of olive oil, fresh lemon juice and see salt; mixed and poured
Decadent Snack:
gohunza.com Raw Pecan Pie!
This is one color of the red rocks out in the Moab desert in Utah and in Sedona, Arizona.
This is another.
And yet some more.
Even when I post all my pictures from this monumental and life-affirming adventure, I will never capture the energy of standing under "Balanced Rock" in Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, or being in the side belly of the rock shared by ancient civilizations in Boynton Canyon in Sedona.
I had seen pictures and was awed enough to sign up for 'The Adventure Rabbi's' 'Passover in the Moab Desert'. For three or four years in a row, I had gotten an email with photos of the exquisitely large burnt red rock arches in this part of our land and of the participants hiking, camping and rejoicing by the banks of the Colorado River.
Finally, as my birthday present to me this year, I combined the Passover trip with a visit to my friend Julie in Sedona.
My seven day adventure consisted of alot of extraordinary hiking, about a thousand miles of driving solo and observance of the spiritual rituals of Passover, both high on the peak of a hike under Corona Arch, where we told the story of the Jews exodus from Egypt and through the dersert to liberation, as well as our ritual seder meal eaten spread out like Bedouins on the sand of our campsite next to the river.
I felt small compared to the enormity of civilizations and life forces before me and in front of me. I was awed by the energy and could picture the heart of life beginning under water with all of the juiciest minerals and plant life at one time beneath the sea. I felt my lifetimes and those way before me; I felt the presence of God holding me precious; I felt darkness and light both. I felt creation, evolution and the journey of every being who came before me.
I felt elated; I felt terrified at times.
Driving the thousand miles, much of which was from Sedona to Moab and back, culled up all the remaining buried dark spots in my body and psyche; all those still waiting to be excavated, released and transformed. To the left, right, front and back of me was land; land was all around and nothing else, save for a small house or shack and maybe a truck or two. Native American land splayed out for hundreds of miles without anything to break up its appearance; just two lanes of driving road. Driving myself sixty or seventy five miles and hour (the speed limit is higher there) made me question myself, my strength and perseverance and my trust and knowing.
I thought about what we'd stolen from the Native Americans; how I only saw these meger homes and no thriving life force. Then I thought about how everything I think is my own story and that really, I know nothing; only my personal perception. I was stripped down to the bone and risen up again.
How did the Jews or any race or tribe of people survive with only the land to reply upon?? The land has magical powers, and if we can get to the point of trust, it might welome us in and keep us safe. Trust is a deep word with many layers and old stories.
I stood with my group on a rock and asked to let go of any old and new fear which was keeping me from being who I am meant to be.
I stood by myself as a woman who made this journey as a testament to her life; to reaffirming my personal belief system; to knowing I can trust in myself.
And I am here to blog about it; moved to the core; shaken to my soul; but with my sweet soul singing its true song.
Oh, and by the way, I camped all raw and remembered how much I love that. While others were cooking their yummy meals, I had kelp noodles with spinach hummus, raw red Peruvain olives, raw goat cheese, almond pate, hemp seed butter with sprouted bread and of course, some raw maca chocolate.
I also got to eat at the infamous "Chocolate Tree" cafe in Sedona, and I have to say, it was everything and beyond in its quality of raw deliciousness. They were voted Best of Raw in chocolate, I believe; at least I think Jeffrey, one of their supreme raw chocolatiers was.
So, go where you have to go; do what you need to do; and trust in the truth of your process.
With Much Joy and Love to Each of You for a Significant Passover, Easter or Any Other Symbols of Your Choosing,
Hope & The Holistic Empire
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Artichokes Like You Never Tasted Before!
Last Night's Dinner: 1 bowl of spinach avocado soup: If you want to make a batch of it, fill your Vitamix or highspeed blender halfway with water. This time, I used 1 large 11 oz. container of organic baby spinach. Add spinach to the Vitamix in batches that can process easily, using between 3/4 and the entire 11 oz. container, depending on personal taste, until it all blends. Add 1 large avocado, a couple of heaping teaspoons of miso - I used South River Azuki Bean miso this time, but have also used chickpea miso; you can experiment - some fresh lemon and sea salt to taste. The flavor should really "pop," so add more salt in increments until it does. Chill down and serve. 1 bowl mix of Caldwell Bio Fermentation Canada Radis Noir (Fermented Black Radish), Deep Root Organic Coop Raw Cultured Beets (also Caldwell) and Monterey Farms ArtiHearts. A couple of slices of Manna Millet Bread smeared with Vivapura raw Wild Jungle Peanut Butter. Breakfast Today: 1 juicy mango Lunch: Manna Millet Bread smeared with Vivapura raw Wild Jungle Peanut Butter.
OK, so let's talk about these artichoke hearts!!! I discovered them one day in the produce section of Whole Foods. They come in a sealed plastic bag, and are made on the Monterey Peninsula in California, where artichokes thrive. I very quickly became seriously addicted to these "chokes" marinated only in lemon and garlic. I just get the simple ones, but there are also herbed and grilled and a few more varieties. You might want to taste them all! Having grown up with a mother who frequently served artichokes on Friday nights, along with a dipping sauce of warm butter and garlic, I have been a fan my whole life. Actually, though my mom cared (and still does) about eating healthfully, we grew up in a Kosher home, so for the Friday night meat meal my mom had to use margarine, rather than butter. When I started making them, I translated that to olive oil, garlic and sea salt for dipping. Getting through the leaves to the choke, which I would methodically scrape out and discard, had me salivating for the tender, buttery heart in the center. This, to me, even at a young age, was like eating the most luscious chocolate cake; it melted in my mouth. ArtiHearts affect me the same way. They are not the oily hearts you find in bottles in the supermarket. They taste so fresh and so rich in flavor and actually use the whole artichoke in the process. ArtiHearts make an excellent snack or addition to any dish. Warning: You will not be able to stop until you finish the bag! Great for children, too, as an after school snack. Jane MacDonald is the President of Monterey Farms. I called her to find out all about her ArtiHearts and thank her for creating them. She really has a commitment to take freshly grown artichoke hearts and keep them tasting that way.
http://www.montereyfarmsartichokes.com/products.htm
tel: 831. 393.1328
From The Epicurean Table www.epicureantable.com : "Since ancient times, the artichoke has been used for liver and gallbladder conditions, 'cleaning' the blood, as well as the bladder. The Egyptians highly prized it as a health and diet food and Plinius described it as the 'food for the rich' because of the health problems contributed to a 'rich' life style - excessive in rich foods, fats and wine that led to liver illnesses (such as cirrhosis), gout and a general run down condition.Today we know that the artichoke is very high in fibre, potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorus and other trace elements important for a balanced system. It is known to positively help poor liver function (thus helping to lower the blood cholesterol), arteriosclerosis, gout, supports the treatment of hepatitis and improves the gall secretions. It can slightly lower the blood sugar, improve the appetite and digestion, is diuretic and may help some migraine conditions (most especially those caused by toxins in the blood). As it helps the body rid itself of excess water and moves toxins it also has the added side effect of an improved skin luminosity. In a poor diet of excessive drinking (most especially strong alcoholic drinks), high red meat and fat consumption, the artichoke can boost the liver's ability to regenerate its cells. Obviously, nothing can help advanced cirrhosis of the liver. Most liver problems by the way, are self-inflicted." Oh, and by the way, I also read that the artichoke is an aphrodisiac :) Enjoy!
OK, so let's talk about these artichoke hearts!!! I discovered them one day in the produce section of Whole Foods. They come in a sealed plastic bag, and are made on the Monterey Peninsula in California, where artichokes thrive. I very quickly became seriously addicted to these "chokes" marinated only in lemon and garlic. I just get the simple ones, but there are also herbed and grilled and a few more varieties. You might want to taste them all! Having grown up with a mother who frequently served artichokes on Friday nights, along with a dipping sauce of warm butter and garlic, I have been a fan my whole life. Actually, though my mom cared (and still does) about eating healthfully, we grew up in a Kosher home, so for the Friday night meat meal my mom had to use margarine, rather than butter. When I started making them, I translated that to olive oil, garlic and sea salt for dipping. Getting through the leaves to the choke, which I would methodically scrape out and discard, had me salivating for the tender, buttery heart in the center. This, to me, even at a young age, was like eating the most luscious chocolate cake; it melted in my mouth. ArtiHearts affect me the same way. They are not the oily hearts you find in bottles in the supermarket. They taste so fresh and so rich in flavor and actually use the whole artichoke in the process. ArtiHearts make an excellent snack or addition to any dish. Warning: You will not be able to stop until you finish the bag! Great for children, too, as an after school snack. Jane MacDonald is the President of Monterey Farms. I called her to find out all about her ArtiHearts and thank her for creating them. She really has a commitment to take freshly grown artichoke hearts and keep them tasting that way.
http://www.montereyfarmsartichokes.com/products.htm
tel: 831. 393.1328
From The Epicurean Table www.epicureantable.com : "Since ancient times, the artichoke has been used for liver and gallbladder conditions, 'cleaning' the blood, as well as the bladder. The Egyptians highly prized it as a health and diet food and Plinius described it as the 'food for the rich' because of the health problems contributed to a 'rich' life style - excessive in rich foods, fats and wine that led to liver illnesses (such as cirrhosis), gout and a general run down condition.Today we know that the artichoke is very high in fibre, potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorus and other trace elements important for a balanced system. It is known to positively help poor liver function (thus helping to lower the blood cholesterol), arteriosclerosis, gout, supports the treatment of hepatitis and improves the gall secretions. It can slightly lower the blood sugar, improve the appetite and digestion, is diuretic and may help some migraine conditions (most especially those caused by toxins in the blood). As it helps the body rid itself of excess water and moves toxins it also has the added side effect of an improved skin luminosity. In a poor diet of excessive drinking (most especially strong alcoholic drinks), high red meat and fat consumption, the artichoke can boost the liver's ability to regenerate its cells. Obviously, nothing can help advanced cirrhosis of the liver. Most liver problems by the way, are self-inflicted." Oh, and by the way, I also read that the artichoke is an aphrodisiac :) Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Important Info. About Protection From Nuclear Fallout
Today's Edibles:
Breakfast:
16 oz. ( of 40 oz.) Green Smoothie containing water, 2 juicing oranges, 6 strawberries, 1 handful of parsley, 1 heaping teaspoon Pure Planet 100% Hawaiian Spirulina, 1 large scoop Warrior Foodtm Vanilla Enhanced Protein Supplement, 1 scoop locally wildcrafted mesquite powder from Rinzai's Market in Sedona, AZ, 2 teaspoons raw honey
Snack:
1 apple, cut up
Lunch:
From The Stand, in Norwalk, CT (Thanks, Carissa!):
Backyard Salad with mixed greens, sunflower sprouts, shredded beets, dried cranberries, a couple of grape tomatoes, 1/2 sliced avocado, 1/2 chunked apple, with raw creamy cashew garlic dressing
1 container raw almond hummus
3 mini Go Raw Live Chocolate cookies
Dinner:
3 slices of Manna sprouted Millet bread
1 small sample-size of Justin's Maple Almond butter - wicked yummy!
1/2 red grapefruit
I am devastated for the people of Japan by their tri-fold disaster; the earthquake, the resulting tsunami and the most destructive of all, the severe injuries to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and ensuing radioactive fallout.
My heart goes out to every woman, man, child, animal and being over there. I feel deep anguish for each of you and send you prayers of healing light, warming sun, healthy, clean water, clear skies, pure air to breathe and extraordinary health permeating every cell of your body. I send an intention for complete and total healing of your country and all of your people.
Here is the link to Len Foley interviewing David Wolfe on Radiation Protection from Nuclear Fallout. This 25 minute interview is the best and most comprehensive piece I've heard on what effects radiation can have on the body and which specific supplements we can take to address the various aspects of radioactive fallout. I recommend listening to it and taking some notes, as I did, so that you can then follow through on whatever measures you choose. Thank you, David, for taking the time to do this.
http://www.thebestdayever.com/news/podcast/podcast-63-dave-wolfe-on-radiation-protection/
In Health,
Hope
Breakfast:
16 oz. ( of 40 oz.) Green Smoothie containing water, 2 juicing oranges, 6 strawberries, 1 handful of parsley, 1 heaping teaspoon Pure Planet 100% Hawaiian Spirulina, 1 large scoop Warrior Foodtm Vanilla Enhanced Protein Supplement, 1 scoop locally wildcrafted mesquite powder from Rinzai's Market in Sedona, AZ, 2 teaspoons raw honey
Snack:
1 apple, cut up
Lunch:
From The Stand, in Norwalk, CT (Thanks, Carissa!):
Backyard Salad with mixed greens, sunflower sprouts, shredded beets, dried cranberries, a couple of grape tomatoes, 1/2 sliced avocado, 1/2 chunked apple, with raw creamy cashew garlic dressing
1 container raw almond hummus
3 mini Go Raw Live Chocolate cookies
Dinner:
3 slices of Manna sprouted Millet bread
1 small sample-size of Justin's Maple Almond butter - wicked yummy!
1/2 red grapefruit
I am devastated for the people of Japan by their tri-fold disaster; the earthquake, the resulting tsunami and the most destructive of all, the severe injuries to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and ensuing radioactive fallout.
My heart goes out to every woman, man, child, animal and being over there. I feel deep anguish for each of you and send you prayers of healing light, warming sun, healthy, clean water, clear skies, pure air to breathe and extraordinary health permeating every cell of your body. I send an intention for complete and total healing of your country and all of your people.
Here is the link to Len Foley interviewing David Wolfe on Radiation Protection from Nuclear Fallout. This 25 minute interview is the best and most comprehensive piece I've heard on what effects radiation can have on the body and which specific supplements we can take to address the various aspects of radioactive fallout. I recommend listening to it and taking some notes, as I did, so that you can then follow through on whatever measures you choose. Thank you, David, for taking the time to do this.
http://www.thebestdayever.com/news/podcast/podcast-63-dave-wolfe-on-radiation-protection/
In Health,
Hope
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
It's Time to Eat From The Farm!
Yesterday's Dinner:
1 small avocado mushed up with large scoops of Deep Root Organic Raw Cultured Beets and Raw Cultured Sauerkraut, with a healthy sprinkling of Dulse seaweed shake - SO YUMMY!
3 Medjool dates
Today:
Exercise:
My own personal triumph - it's been two months that I've been nursing a broken pinky toe. As a result, all my Winter running, which I love dearly, went out the window as I focused my attention on healing my toe.
Today, I ran outside for the first time in two months! It was a beautiful run; slow, breathing deeply the smell of the Long Island Sound, which was to the right of me; being loving to my toe and running gently....but just perfect!
Breakfast/Lunch:
1 luscious mango
2 stalks celery with dulse seaweed shake
Mid-afternoon:
16 oz. Sublime Smoothie with 6 strawberries, 1 orange, 1 kiwi and a handful of parsley; with 2 teaspoons of mesquite powder and 1 teaspoon of Healthforce Nutrition Dark Mint maca (plus water)
More of the smoothie might follow in the later afternoon
Dinner to come:
New recipe that I made up:
1/2 a large bunch of flat leaf spinach (you can use the whole bunch if you like)
1 teaspoon Red River chickpea miso
1 teaspoon stone ground mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
Put it all in a food processor with the "S" chopping blade and process till smooth.
I will have this for dinner on thin slices of Manna sprouted rye bread.
Salad with red leaf lettuce, fennel, carrot and red pepper with lime and a little Himalayan sea salt
As many of my readers know, when we purchase our vegetables, even if they are organic, they have been shipped hundreds to thousands of miles, days and weeks (or months) from when they were picked, handled by many people and creating a large carbon footprint toward global warming by all the steps and miles it takes to get them to market.
Ultimately, growing our own produce that we pick the same day will bring us the highest nutrients while helping to heal the planet.
If that is not possible, I recommend becoming part of a CSA. I've been involved in supporting the local farming process for years, and am a huge advocate of supporting local farmers and eating close to home, both personally and as a wonderful way to connect children to their food source.
Have you ever tasted the difference between a head of organic lettuce from the market vs. one just picked that morning at the farm? not to mention the extended shelf life of fresh picked.
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. You become part of the farming community by taking a CSA share for the season. You pay a fee that supports the entire farming cycle. The fees usually ranges between $200 and $600 for a 1o or 12 week season. Each week, the farm delivers the shares to a local drop-off point, where the members pick up. Their are still a number of local, organic farms all over the country; typically, they are up from the city areas in the more rural spots.
Sometimes, two people split a share, if they are not a large family.
We eat from the crop cycle; if this Spring is not a good season for carrots, we don't get carrots. We thrive on what makes the farm thrive each season.
Often the farms offer special events' dinners or gatherings.
Below I offer three links. The first is to the farm with whom I will have my CSA this year; Red Clover Farms in Seymour, CT. This will give you an example of how it all runs. The second is a link the Kim Dulka's blog; she is the owner of Red Clover, a generational family farm. There are some great photos that illustrate what goes on at the farm.
The final link is to Connecticut NOFA; North East Farming Association, which lists all the local farms that offer CSA's. Wherever you are in the country or world, you can google and tap into or hear by word-of-mouth about your own local farms and CSA's.
Some farms allow you to volunteer on the farm and get a feel for local farming.
This year, I will be investing in a Spring CSA, and then a Summer CSA with a fruit add-on, all from Red Clover.
I encourage each of you to tap into the energy and nutrients of local produce and support our organic farmers.
http://redcloverblossom.com/csa.html
http://redcloverfarms.blogspot.com/
http://ctnofa.org/CSAs.htm
In Health,
Hope
1 small avocado mushed up with large scoops of Deep Root Organic Raw Cultured Beets and Raw Cultured Sauerkraut, with a healthy sprinkling of Dulse seaweed shake - SO YUMMY!
3 Medjool dates
Today:
Exercise:
My own personal triumph - it's been two months that I've been nursing a broken pinky toe. As a result, all my Winter running, which I love dearly, went out the window as I focused my attention on healing my toe.
Today, I ran outside for the first time in two months! It was a beautiful run; slow, breathing deeply the smell of the Long Island Sound, which was to the right of me; being loving to my toe and running gently....but just perfect!
Breakfast/Lunch:
1 luscious mango
2 stalks celery with dulse seaweed shake
Mid-afternoon:
16 oz. Sublime Smoothie with 6 strawberries, 1 orange, 1 kiwi and a handful of parsley; with 2 teaspoons of mesquite powder and 1 teaspoon of Healthforce Nutrition Dark Mint maca (plus water)
More of the smoothie might follow in the later afternoon
Dinner to come:
New recipe that I made up:
1/2 a large bunch of flat leaf spinach (you can use the whole bunch if you like)
1 teaspoon Red River chickpea miso
1 teaspoon stone ground mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
Put it all in a food processor with the "S" chopping blade and process till smooth.
I will have this for dinner on thin slices of Manna sprouted rye bread.
Salad with red leaf lettuce, fennel, carrot and red pepper with lime and a little Himalayan sea salt
As many of my readers know, when we purchase our vegetables, even if they are organic, they have been shipped hundreds to thousands of miles, days and weeks (or months) from when they were picked, handled by many people and creating a large carbon footprint toward global warming by all the steps and miles it takes to get them to market.
Ultimately, growing our own produce that we pick the same day will bring us the highest nutrients while helping to heal the planet.
If that is not possible, I recommend becoming part of a CSA. I've been involved in supporting the local farming process for years, and am a huge advocate of supporting local farmers and eating close to home, both personally and as a wonderful way to connect children to their food source.
Have you ever tasted the difference between a head of organic lettuce from the market vs. one just picked that morning at the farm? not to mention the extended shelf life of fresh picked.
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. You become part of the farming community by taking a CSA share for the season. You pay a fee that supports the entire farming cycle. The fees usually ranges between $200 and $600 for a 1o or 12 week season. Each week, the farm delivers the shares to a local drop-off point, where the members pick up. Their are still a number of local, organic farms all over the country; typically, they are up from the city areas in the more rural spots.
Sometimes, two people split a share, if they are not a large family.
We eat from the crop cycle; if this Spring is not a good season for carrots, we don't get carrots. We thrive on what makes the farm thrive each season.
Often the farms offer special events' dinners or gatherings.
Below I offer three links. The first is to the farm with whom I will have my CSA this year; Red Clover Farms in Seymour, CT. This will give you an example of how it all runs. The second is a link the Kim Dulka's blog; she is the owner of Red Clover, a generational family farm. There are some great photos that illustrate what goes on at the farm.
The final link is to Connecticut NOFA; North East Farming Association, which lists all the local farms that offer CSA's. Wherever you are in the country or world, you can google and tap into or hear by word-of-mouth about your own local farms and CSA's.
Some farms allow you to volunteer on the farm and get a feel for local farming.
This year, I will be investing in a Spring CSA, and then a Summer CSA with a fruit add-on, all from Red Clover.
I encourage each of you to tap into the energy and nutrients of local produce and support our organic farmers.
http://redcloverblossom.com/csa.html
http://redcloverfarms.blogspot.com/
http://ctnofa.org/CSAs.htm
In Health,
Hope
Monday, January 24, 2011
A Tribute to One of My Heroes
Today's Glorious Food:
Breakfast:
Some Raw Jungle Peanuts
Drink: G.T. Dave's Organic Raw Kombucha Botanic No 9
Snack:
A ring of dried apple
Dinner:
Matt Monarch's cucumber yum pot! I couldn't remember his exact concoction, but it looked so yummy on his Utube. I took: 1 large cuke, peeled and 1 avocado, scooped and food prcoessed them together.
Then I put some pieces of dulse seaweed in the bottom of a bowl, poured the mix on top and mixed the dulse through it all.
It was delicious!
Small salad with red leaf, sunchokes, 1/2 tomato, alfalfa sprouts, carrot and nutritional yeast; with olive oil and Bragg's
Dessert:
small bowl of Artisana raw pecan butter (YUM; I love this stuff!) with shredded coconut and a small splash of agave
I want to pay tribute to one of my heroes who just passed away at 96; Jack LaLanne.
I remember, as a child, seeing him on tv in the mornings, along with his white German Shepherd. He was reaching people with his message of movement; that exercise each day was vital to our life force.
I've always held a soft spot of adoration for him. This morning, when reading his obituary on line, I saw that what influenced him and steered him in the direction of health was meeting Paul Bragg. Yes, readers, that is the same Bragg as Bragg's Aminos. Paul was an early advocate in the field of healthy eating of whole foods and waylaying disease in the body. I had no idea that Jack LaLanne met him and that this changed his life. This is when he lost weight and started exercising, subsequently changing the course of exercise with his personal philosophy and brilliant methodology and bringing weight training even to women in those days.
During different decades of his life, Jack undertook outrageous feats of skill, determination and stength, like having his hands and feet shackled and swimming across Alakatraz.
He was always sending a message to the world about what was possible if you took care of your body, mind and spirit.
I feel that his energy was not filled with ego at all; rather, he was passionately committed to reaching people with his message of health and letting them know that anyone could do it.
He was a true advocate for the health of humanity.
A few years ago, I read a great interview with him. As it turns out, he was basically eating all raw food; possibly some meat (I can't remember) but mostly all raw vegetables and fruit and no dairy, sugar or white flour.
He was still, at about 92, working out four hours a day.
I was just blown away by his consistent commitment; his powerful and gentle energy and his understanding of whole health.
He also had a beautiful marriage of 51 years.
His message was so simple, and if I close my eyes, I can hear it coming through the tv set of my childhood, knowing my mother was watching it.
Now she is in her 80's and still working out at the gym and with a trainer every week.
Thank you, Jack LaLanne, for giving life and health to so many people! You will be deeply missed, and I miss you already.
Breakfast:
Some Raw Jungle Peanuts
Drink: G.T. Dave's Organic Raw Kombucha Botanic No 9
Snack:
A ring of dried apple
Dinner:
Matt Monarch's cucumber yum pot! I couldn't remember his exact concoction, but it looked so yummy on his Utube. I took: 1 large cuke, peeled and 1 avocado, scooped and food prcoessed them together.
Then I put some pieces of dulse seaweed in the bottom of a bowl, poured the mix on top and mixed the dulse through it all.
It was delicious!
Small salad with red leaf, sunchokes, 1/2 tomato, alfalfa sprouts, carrot and nutritional yeast; with olive oil and Bragg's
Dessert:
small bowl of Artisana raw pecan butter (YUM; I love this stuff!) with shredded coconut and a small splash of agave
I want to pay tribute to one of my heroes who just passed away at 96; Jack LaLanne.
I remember, as a child, seeing him on tv in the mornings, along with his white German Shepherd. He was reaching people with his message of movement; that exercise each day was vital to our life force.
I've always held a soft spot of adoration for him. This morning, when reading his obituary on line, I saw that what influenced him and steered him in the direction of health was meeting Paul Bragg. Yes, readers, that is the same Bragg as Bragg's Aminos. Paul was an early advocate in the field of healthy eating of whole foods and waylaying disease in the body. I had no idea that Jack LaLanne met him and that this changed his life. This is when he lost weight and started exercising, subsequently changing the course of exercise with his personal philosophy and brilliant methodology and bringing weight training even to women in those days.
During different decades of his life, Jack undertook outrageous feats of skill, determination and stength, like having his hands and feet shackled and swimming across Alakatraz.
He was always sending a message to the world about what was possible if you took care of your body, mind and spirit.
I feel that his energy was not filled with ego at all; rather, he was passionately committed to reaching people with his message of health and letting them know that anyone could do it.
He was a true advocate for the health of humanity.
A few years ago, I read a great interview with him. As it turns out, he was basically eating all raw food; possibly some meat (I can't remember) but mostly all raw vegetables and fruit and no dairy, sugar or white flour.
He was still, at about 92, working out four hours a day.
I was just blown away by his consistent commitment; his powerful and gentle energy and his understanding of whole health.
He also had a beautiful marriage of 51 years.
His message was so simple, and if I close my eyes, I can hear it coming through the tv set of my childhood, knowing my mother was watching it.
Now she is in her 80's and still working out at the gym and with a trainer every week.
Thank you, Jack LaLanne, for giving life and health to so many people! You will be deeply missed, and I miss you already.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Even the Torturous Moments become Embraceable
I wrote the first part of this post on Friday:
Today's Beautiful Food:
Breakfast:
Couldn't resist; warm pieces of my Raw Pecan Sundried Tomato Pies
Rockin' smoothie 32 oz. with fresh young Thai coconut with frozen banana, cacao, shijalit, Rok Caldwell's Green Powder and Vanilla Mint Maca
Exercise:
Deep yoga with Donna & Bruce of Elements Yoga in Darien
Bruce and Donna own Elements, an Anusara-based stuio, and Bruce is the master soundsmith. Today the music included a cut from Cat Stevens, Tea for the Tillerman, Jackson Browne, live version of The Pretender (circa 1978), James Taylor live, ending with Imagine. When I focus on the music, I go deeper in my poses and even the torturous moments become embraceable
Lunch:
3-4 pieces of Raw Pecan Sundried Tomato Pie
I could not get enough of this!!!
it was originally inspired by Zakhah's book, The Joy of Living Live; A Raw Food Journey. I had modified the recipe years ago when I was teaching classes.
Now I changed it again, taking it from loaf pans into Pyrex pie dishes, and dehydrating it overnight. The taste is beyond the beyond. Here's the recipe:
Pecan Loaf with Sundried Tomato Sauce
A hearty main course for Winter meals; great for the holidays, too!
4 cups pecans, soaked overnight or for a few hours
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
½ large red onion, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1 cup sundried tomatoes, soaked till plump and moist, drained and chopped
3 tablespoons cumin powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 cups Sundried Tomato Sauce (see below)
Grind pecans in a food processor until fine. In a bowl, mix the pecans with the veges, spices and 1 cup of the Sundried Tomato Sauce. Shape into loaf and spread remaining sauce on top. Decorate with fresh parsley, celery leaves, sliced olives or pecan halves.
Serves 8 raw foodists!
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Sundried Tomato Sauce
2 cups sundried tomatoes, soaked; reserve water to use later
4 Roma tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons agave nectar
2 tablespoons basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons red onion, chopped
2 teaspoons cumin powder
1 dash sage powder
Blend ingredients with 1 cup of water from soaked tomatoes. Let sauce sit for 30 minutes to allow water to drain from it. You can sit sauce over colander. (water may be saved and used for flavoring other recipes, like a stock for soup).
Makes 3 cups
Adapted from the Joy of Living Live; A Raw Food Journey, By Zakhah
1/2 ruby red grapefruit
Dinner:
Oooo, la la! Let me not forget anything we ate at my friends', Glen Colello and Lisa Storch's four course raw gourmet dinner called, 'A Taste of Asia.' This was held at their raw cafe, Catch a Healthy Habit, in Fairfield, CT, and was cheffed by Frank Giglio, inspired by the two months he recently spent in Bali immersed in its culinary arts.
Today's Beautiful Food:
Breakfast:
Couldn't resist; warm pieces of my Raw Pecan Sundried Tomato Pies
Rockin' smoothie 32 oz. with fresh young Thai coconut with frozen banana, cacao, shijalit, Rok Caldwell's Green Powder and Vanilla Mint Maca
Exercise:
Deep yoga with Donna & Bruce of Elements Yoga in Darien
Bruce and Donna own Elements, an Anusara-based stuio, and Bruce is the master soundsmith. Today the music included a cut from Cat Stevens, Tea for the Tillerman, Jackson Browne, live version of The Pretender (circa 1978), James Taylor live, ending with Imagine. When I focus on the music, I go deeper in my poses and even the torturous moments become embraceable
Lunch:
3-4 pieces of Raw Pecan Sundried Tomato Pie
I could not get enough of this!!!
it was originally inspired by Zakhah's book, The Joy of Living Live; A Raw Food Journey. I had modified the recipe years ago when I was teaching classes.
Now I changed it again, taking it from loaf pans into Pyrex pie dishes, and dehydrating it overnight. The taste is beyond the beyond. Here's the recipe:
Pecan Loaf with Sundried Tomato Sauce
A hearty main course for Winter meals; great for the holidays, too!
4 cups pecans, soaked overnight or for a few hours
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
½ large red onion, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1 cup sundried tomatoes, soaked till plump and moist, drained and chopped
3 tablespoons cumin powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 cups Sundried Tomato Sauce (see below)
Grind pecans in a food processor until fine. In a bowl, mix the pecans with the veges, spices and 1 cup of the Sundried Tomato Sauce. Shape into loaf and spread remaining sauce on top. Decorate with fresh parsley, celery leaves, sliced olives or pecan halves.
Serves 8 raw foodists!
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Sundried Tomato Sauce
2 cups sundried tomatoes, soaked; reserve water to use later
4 Roma tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons agave nectar
2 tablespoons basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons red onion, chopped
2 teaspoons cumin powder
1 dash sage powder
Blend ingredients with 1 cup of water from soaked tomatoes. Let sauce sit for 30 minutes to allow water to drain from it. You can sit sauce over colander. (water may be saved and used for flavoring other recipes, like a stock for soup).
Makes 3 cups
Adapted from the Joy of Living Live; A Raw Food Journey, By Zakhah
1/2 ruby red grapefruit
Dinner:
Oooo, la la! Let me not forget anything we ate at my friends', Glen Colello and Lisa Storch's four course raw gourmet dinner called, 'A Taste of Asia.' This was held at their raw cafe, Catch a Healthy Habit, in Fairfield, CT, and was cheffed by Frank Giglio, inspired by the two months he recently spent in Bali immersed in its culinary arts.
We started with what I will call an 'Amuse Bouche' (amusement for the mouth - a little pre-app tasting served in fine restaurants) of mini vege sushi rolls with a delicious, creamy dressing
Appetizer: Fantastic! kelp noodles in lettuce pouches with a thai "peanut" almond butter sauce - just delicious!!
Entrees: The first was a nut meat creation wrapped in a rice paper pouch that was so yummy in itself, tied with a piece of grass. It was floating in a foamy creme broth made from Chaga and Shitake and reishi mushrooms (all healing mushrooms), some from Frankie's home area of Maine.
The second was an array of shredded vegetables in delicate piles, with mushrooms and sea veges piled up in the center - just gorgeous - on top of sweet parsnip rice
Dessert: This was to-die-for:
We have renamed it Molten Lava (thank you, John), as opposed to Molten Lava Cake, it was just the darkest cacao (my guess directly from the bean) oozing it's chocolate lava, topped by raw ice cream with mandarin infusion and little chips of a caramel-like wafer scattered. This rivaled and topped any version in the best 5-star restaurant!
I may not be getting all of the ingredients correct, because it's been a couple of days since I started this post, but you get the general picture; MAGNIFICENCE!
Oh, and all accompanied by fresh spring water and green tea
Since this is my first post of the New Year, I want to speak about an understanding I came to during the month of December. "Even the Torturous Moments Become Embraceable" is the title of this post. Let me go right to the question we all ask ourselves from time to time; "Why am I Here?" It was many years ago that I understood that we each have a purpose here; mine is to to offer people, through counseling, a new way of being with themselves; to heal their bodies, minds and spirits joyfully. I am clear that is why I was born during this time. But I recently understood the other reason why we exist at all. This reason is directly opposite to how we are taught to deal with the "downs" of the "ups and downs" of life. I believe that we are here to profoundly Be with every moment of our lives; all aspects and all events, in order to witness our own personal evolution and heal our most wounded places. If you believe in lives before this one, that would inclide our karmic wounds from those times as well. We have a profound opportunity to transform the torturous into the embraceable. The mantra "out there" is that life is unfair. Cries of, "Why me?", or, "It's so unfair? Why did this have to happen?" abound. We have lost the point entirely, and our communities of government and religion and healthcare miss the true teachings. Even though you may hear a friend or family member say that something bad that happened to them was really a gift, in general, we expect that life will throw us blows and that those moments cannot compete with the good times. I think we miss the opportunity in being fully present to our own transformations, when we view one moment as less than another. Consider this: Maybe we are here for ALL of it, and it's the ALL that allows for our highest evolution.
I know this may read as very controversial, as some really crappy things happen in our worlds, including death and destitution, but you already know we are not high enough to understand some of those "Why's." Consider that the point may be all of it; maybe it's all related equally to our existence and evolution on this earth.
December was a month for me of healing some of my deepest and oldest emotional wounds of identity and sense of self as intimately related to others. I went down into the mud and rose up again. It hurt so much I felt it in my body. Would I do it again? Definitely, as the enlightenment that has come from the depths of pain has me clear about why I am here, and I shine brightly from having healed an element of my past in my evolution as a human. It's that simple.
Just some food for thought for the day. I would love to hear from you with your own take on it...
With Love & Respect,
Hope & The Holistic Empire
Saturday, November 27, 2010
The Sacredness of Choice
Happy Thankgiving, dear readers!
Food Today:
Breakfast:
4 slices Manna Millet Rice bread with raw creamy almond butter
10 oz. water with MSM powder
Lunch:
salad with red leaf lettuce, purple cabbage, avocado, carrot, mushrooms and sprouts, with nutritional yeast, ume plum vinegar, Bragg's Amino Acids and olive oil
This month is most important to balance. It is the time to let go of the mantra of perfection and pick up the more powerful tool of "choosing."
What do you choose today?
Yesterday, I chose to be filled with joy at my dear friend Liz's home, as I was invited for a Thanksgiving gathering, along with my boyfriend John, Liz's partner Michael and their respective children.
Michael is a vegetarian and reared his children as such. Liz and Michael create a vegetarian meal each Thanksgiving.
This meal was not raw, and did include multiple desserts (one of which was my raw chocolate ganache). So, I chose to eat and enjoy every mouthful of this luscious meal; from the warm carrot soup, to the wasabi mashed potatoes and pureed turnips, to the mock turkey pieces made from Seitan (delicious!), to the sweet potaotes baked with maple syrup. This lusciousness was followed by a homemade apple cobbler, my raw ganache, pecan pie and pumpkin pie. I ate it all. I loved it all. I was extremely full from three Thanksgiving meals (Wed, Thursday and Friday), but I appreciated each morsel of food. During the days, I ate raw and alkaline. I didn't starve out or binge in the other direction. I ate normally. I also took a run every day and did some yoga.
The weekend also included a couple of meals out with my honey and friends; those meals were not raw, either.
Now it's Monday, and I'm back to my normal routine. More holiday parties coming up.
There might be a party where I eat only salad and veges, or bring along and avocado; at another, I might have pie and cooked vege dishes. Does this mean I am not raw? No, it means I appreciate food and the intimacy of holiday traditions with dear friends and family. It means I choose what I desire at any given moment, and each choice assimilates within me at the highest level. My path of raw is clear; it is a life-long path for which I am grateful every day. There are also many parts to who I am, and sometimes I expand into those parts and take a turn to the left or to the right for a moment. I always come back to my clear path.
When I do veer off, I do it without guilt or self-flagellation, but with gratitude for the ability to choose anew every day.
The more deeply I cultivate my inner garden of self-love and clear vision, the more I trust my daily choices to always guide me back to my path.
I offer this to you, dear readers; life is to be filled with the wide open arms of embracing your choices. Trust in the beauty of this gift; no need to fear if we have faith.
Please write in and share your choices.....
With Immense Gratitiude for Each of You in My Life,
Thank you for believing in me and in The Holistic Empire
Hope
Food Today:
Breakfast:
4 slices Manna Millet Rice bread with raw creamy almond butter
10 oz. water with MSM powder
Lunch:
salad with red leaf lettuce, purple cabbage, avocado, carrot, mushrooms and sprouts, with nutritional yeast, ume plum vinegar, Bragg's Amino Acids and olive oil
This month is most important to balance. It is the time to let go of the mantra of perfection and pick up the more powerful tool of "choosing."
What do you choose today?
Yesterday, I chose to be filled with joy at my dear friend Liz's home, as I was invited for a Thanksgiving gathering, along with my boyfriend John, Liz's partner Michael and their respective children.
Michael is a vegetarian and reared his children as such. Liz and Michael create a vegetarian meal each Thanksgiving.
This meal was not raw, and did include multiple desserts (one of which was my raw chocolate ganache). So, I chose to eat and enjoy every mouthful of this luscious meal; from the warm carrot soup, to the wasabi mashed potatoes and pureed turnips, to the mock turkey pieces made from Seitan (delicious!), to the sweet potaotes baked with maple syrup. This lusciousness was followed by a homemade apple cobbler, my raw ganache, pecan pie and pumpkin pie. I ate it all. I loved it all. I was extremely full from three Thanksgiving meals (Wed, Thursday and Friday), but I appreciated each morsel of food. During the days, I ate raw and alkaline. I didn't starve out or binge in the other direction. I ate normally. I also took a run every day and did some yoga.
The weekend also included a couple of meals out with my honey and friends; those meals were not raw, either.
Now it's Monday, and I'm back to my normal routine. More holiday parties coming up.
There might be a party where I eat only salad and veges, or bring along and avocado; at another, I might have pie and cooked vege dishes. Does this mean I am not raw? No, it means I appreciate food and the intimacy of holiday traditions with dear friends and family. It means I choose what I desire at any given moment, and each choice assimilates within me at the highest level. My path of raw is clear; it is a life-long path for which I am grateful every day. There are also many parts to who I am, and sometimes I expand into those parts and take a turn to the left or to the right for a moment. I always come back to my clear path.
When I do veer off, I do it without guilt or self-flagellation, but with gratitude for the ability to choose anew every day.
The more deeply I cultivate my inner garden of self-love and clear vision, the more I trust my daily choices to always guide me back to my path.
I offer this to you, dear readers; life is to be filled with the wide open arms of embracing your choices. Trust in the beauty of this gift; no need to fear if we have faith.
Please write in and share your choices.....
With Immense Gratitiude for Each of You in My Life,
Thank you for believing in me and in The Holistic Empire
Hope
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
"Shifts Happen"
Hello Dear Readers and Welcome to Autumn!
My Food Today:
after a fabulous yoga class:
No Breakfast (in yoga)
Lunch:
Rockin' Guacamole with avo, tomato, onion, Bragg's, sea salt and cayenne
with Foods Alive flax crackers
Dinner:
Marinated brussel sprouts from Red Clover organic farm in Seymour, CT; sliced in half and marinated in Bragg's Amino Acids
AMAZING (I will be blogging about these olives) raw red cured olives from Whole Life Superfoods in Gresham, OR
Maple flax crackers with raw almond butter and coconut lucuma cream from Vivapure, pure coconut superfoods
This past weekend, I was in a workshop with the world-renowned yoga teacher Beryl Bender Birch. Aside from the physical asana practice of yoga, of which we did plenty!, we also spent time delving into the philosophy of yoga as well as dissecting the Yoga Sutras. One of the wonderful things that Beryl shared was that "Shifts Happen." Just when we get attached to one thing in our lives; whether it be a relationship, a job, a location, a current situation, it can change in a breath. At this point, I want to pay homage to my dear friend, colleague and partner in crime and counseling, Dr. Joanna Bronfman. Joanna just blogged brilliantly http://shrink-w-rap.blogspot.com/2010/10/illusory-musings.htmlwith her musings upon seeing the new Woody Allen film, "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger." I commented on her blog and discussion about a line in the film, "Sometimes the illusion is better than the medicine," by saying that since life is an illusion anyway, we can create it to be whatever we desire. To add to that, what we really have is what is here and now; all that is present at this moment, because "shifts happen," and this moment may become something completely different. Therefore, attachment on this level does not serve us in sustaining joy.
You have all heard me blog about my running. For the past few years, I have been running outside, even through the cold winters at six degrees. I started running at age sixteen, on and off for years; my dad was my first running partner. It's in my blood, with an already goal of a half marathon completed and a long-aspiring goal of a marathon (and a secret fantasy of an Ironman) held in my heart.
So, why did my body decide to suddenly stop running many miles, without known reason or any catastophic event?
For the past two and a half months months, I have gone back and immersed myself in yoga, running now only on opposite days; no longer running five, seven or nine miles; instead running two and a half or three miles. At first I was upset, as running has "defined" who I am for quite awhile. Then I grieved. But as I entered into yoga, I allowed myself to go deeply and expand. I met myself where I was at and opened the doors to new insights each day. Running is constrictive in the body and expansive in the mind; yoga is expansive in the body and quieting of the mind. The level I was at in my life in my own personal development was asking for mental quiet and physical expansiveness.
I understood that as we develop, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, we need our daily practices to correspond to this new person we've become, but our egos have a hard time allowing that.
Why would I want to be the person who was running two years ago to heal her heart after the painful ending of a relationship, when who I am now is the goddess opening to love?
We hold on and hold on to that which we've become attached, so afraid to let it go or lighten it up, so afraid that it marks our identities, when who we are in our evolution has already shifted and requires concrete rituals and daily ways of living to match.
A woman open to love needs to continue to expand her heart everyday; how perfect is heart-centered yoga for that?
And by the way, your food might also change, so be open to new possibilities there, too.
As long as each new level, and with it each new way of living, honors your soul, you will be in the right place.
"Trust the change you already are." Hope
PS- I'll keep you posted on the marathon as my evolution continues...
My Food Today:
after a fabulous yoga class:
No Breakfast (in yoga)
Lunch:
Rockin' Guacamole with avo, tomato, onion, Bragg's, sea salt and cayenne
with Foods Alive flax crackers
Dinner:
Marinated brussel sprouts from Red Clover organic farm in Seymour, CT; sliced in half and marinated in Bragg's Amino Acids
AMAZING (I will be blogging about these olives) raw red cured olives from Whole Life Superfoods in Gresham, OR
Maple flax crackers with raw almond butter and coconut lucuma cream from Vivapure, pure coconut superfoods
This past weekend, I was in a workshop with the world-renowned yoga teacher Beryl Bender Birch. Aside from the physical asana practice of yoga, of which we did plenty!, we also spent time delving into the philosophy of yoga as well as dissecting the Yoga Sutras. One of the wonderful things that Beryl shared was that "Shifts Happen." Just when we get attached to one thing in our lives; whether it be a relationship, a job, a location, a current situation, it can change in a breath. At this point, I want to pay homage to my dear friend, colleague and partner in crime and counseling, Dr. Joanna Bronfman. Joanna just blogged brilliantly http://shrink-w-rap.blogspot.com/2010/10/illusory-musings.htmlwith her musings upon seeing the new Woody Allen film, "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger." I commented on her blog and discussion about a line in the film, "Sometimes the illusion is better than the medicine," by saying that since life is an illusion anyway, we can create it to be whatever we desire. To add to that, what we really have is what is here and now; all that is present at this moment, because "shifts happen," and this moment may become something completely different. Therefore, attachment on this level does not serve us in sustaining joy.
You have all heard me blog about my running. For the past few years, I have been running outside, even through the cold winters at six degrees. I started running at age sixteen, on and off for years; my dad was my first running partner. It's in my blood, with an already goal of a half marathon completed and a long-aspiring goal of a marathon (and a secret fantasy of an Ironman) held in my heart.
So, why did my body decide to suddenly stop running many miles, without known reason or any catastophic event?
For the past two and a half months months, I have gone back and immersed myself in yoga, running now only on opposite days; no longer running five, seven or nine miles; instead running two and a half or three miles. At first I was upset, as running has "defined" who I am for quite awhile. Then I grieved. But as I entered into yoga, I allowed myself to go deeply and expand. I met myself where I was at and opened the doors to new insights each day. Running is constrictive in the body and expansive in the mind; yoga is expansive in the body and quieting of the mind. The level I was at in my life in my own personal development was asking for mental quiet and physical expansiveness.
I understood that as we develop, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, we need our daily practices to correspond to this new person we've become, but our egos have a hard time allowing that.
Why would I want to be the person who was running two years ago to heal her heart after the painful ending of a relationship, when who I am now is the goddess opening to love?
We hold on and hold on to that which we've become attached, so afraid to let it go or lighten it up, so afraid that it marks our identities, when who we are in our evolution has already shifted and requires concrete rituals and daily ways of living to match.
A woman open to love needs to continue to expand her heart everyday; how perfect is heart-centered yoga for that?
And by the way, your food might also change, so be open to new possibilities there, too.
As long as each new level, and with it each new way of living, honors your soul, you will be in the right place.
"Trust the change you already are." Hope
PS- I'll keep you posted on the marathon as my evolution continues...
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
What is Your Body Telling You?
MMM, Delicious Food Day:
Breakfast:
Crazy Cacao:
Coconut water, superfoods (Vitamineral Green, Dark Mint Maca, Earth, Fruits of the Earth), raw almond butter, banana, cacao
Lunch:
1 Himalayan fig
4 Foods Alive Mexican crackers with smear of raw tahini
Dinner with Lori:
Hope's Love Soup: 3 avocados, 1 Valencia orange, coconut water, splashes of Bragg's Amino Acids and sea salt, with fresh corn off the cob and diced red pepper
Vitamix all the ingredients except the corn and pepper; add them in for chunk
This soup turns a luscious vibrant green
Hope's Stuffed Shroom Caps:
Marinated Portobellas: rub Bragg's on the them, first lightly washing them and then cutting off the stems so the mushrooms can turned upside down and stuffed
Save the stems, except for very tips, and marinate those as well; all for a couple of hours
Soak raw walnuts for a couple of hours
Drain and rinse the walnuts
Put them in a food processor, adding 3 carrots, olive oil, nutritional yeast and sea salt to taste; keep adding water till the consistency is right
Stuff the caps and eat!
Lori's Kale Salad:
Kale, avo and tomato; YUM!
Lori's Strawberry Pie with date-pecan crust
Coconut Bliss naked Coconut Ice Cream
Exercise: Thoroughly cleaned my home
I thought this post from Janine would be helpful to share, as I'm sure alot of you experience this:
Janine:
YES.....just had an epiphany late last night that I overeat and have been in denial/ignorance about it. I get terrible indigestion when I do. The challenge is to be clear about it and be consistent with eating smaller meals. I remember the book "Fit For Life" going into depth about proper food combining and it makes total sense.
OK, so identification is the key to transformation, Janine! We normalize not feeling well. Improper food combining is the cause of many people's indigestion and reflux. Also, if you are eating late at night or less than 3 hours before bed, can you let that go? If you divide your breakfast and lunch, and eat every two hours with smaller meals, that will help (1/2 breakfast at 8:00, 1/2 breakfast at 10:00, 1/2 lunch at noon, 1/2 lunch at 2:00). Let me know how this goes.
When I eat too late (like while blogging!), I go to bed feeling "off" and full; I wake up feeling sluggish and my eliminations are more of the "detox" type
When I do poor food combining, I am "gassy".
Our bodies thrive on the right fuel.
Are you having an "Ah Hah" moment about your own eating patterns and resulting body responses? Please write in and let me know...
Breakfast:
Crazy Cacao:
Coconut water, superfoods (Vitamineral Green, Dark Mint Maca, Earth, Fruits of the Earth), raw almond butter, banana, cacao
Lunch:
1 Himalayan fig
4 Foods Alive Mexican crackers with smear of raw tahini
Dinner with Lori:
Hope's Love Soup: 3 avocados, 1 Valencia orange, coconut water, splashes of Bragg's Amino Acids and sea salt, with fresh corn off the cob and diced red pepper
Vitamix all the ingredients except the corn and pepper; add them in for chunk
This soup turns a luscious vibrant green
Hope's Stuffed Shroom Caps:
Marinated Portobellas: rub Bragg's on the them, first lightly washing them and then cutting off the stems so the mushrooms can turned upside down and stuffed
Save the stems, except for very tips, and marinate those as well; all for a couple of hours
Soak raw walnuts for a couple of hours
Drain and rinse the walnuts
Put them in a food processor, adding 3 carrots, olive oil, nutritional yeast and sea salt to taste; keep adding water till the consistency is right
Stuff the caps and eat!
Lori's Kale Salad:
Kale, avo and tomato; YUM!
Lori's Strawberry Pie with date-pecan crust
Coconut Bliss naked Coconut Ice Cream
Exercise: Thoroughly cleaned my home
I thought this post from Janine would be helpful to share, as I'm sure alot of you experience this:
Janine:
YES.....just had an epiphany late last night that I overeat and have been in denial/ignorance about it. I get terrible indigestion when I do. The challenge is to be clear about it and be consistent with eating smaller meals. I remember the book "Fit For Life" going into depth about proper food combining and it makes total sense.
OK, so identification is the key to transformation, Janine! We normalize not feeling well. Improper food combining is the cause of many people's indigestion and reflux. Also, if you are eating late at night or less than 3 hours before bed, can you let that go? If you divide your breakfast and lunch, and eat every two hours with smaller meals, that will help (1/2 breakfast at 8:00, 1/2 breakfast at 10:00, 1/2 lunch at noon, 1/2 lunch at 2:00). Let me know how this goes.
When I eat too late (like while blogging!), I go to bed feeling "off" and full; I wake up feeling sluggish and my eliminations are more of the "detox" type
When I do poor food combining, I am "gassy".
Our bodies thrive on the right fuel.
Are you having an "Ah Hah" moment about your own eating patterns and resulting body responses? Please write in and let me know...
Monday, July 12, 2010
Am I feeling at ease today?
Today's Food:
Breakfast:
2 black plums
32 ounces lemon water
Lunch:
Salad with romaine, aduki and lentil sprouts, carrot and daikon with dulse, nutritional yeast, olive oil and sea salt
herbed olives
28 ounces lemon water
Snacks/Dinner:
Some beautiful Summer cherries
2 Balls of Laughing Giraffe Organics Vanilla Almond Gluten Free Snakaroons (Raw)
Today's Exercise:
5 mile run at the beach
Janine posted a great question on facebook in response to my blog, so I am sharing it with you:
"Great answers...I enjoyed reading. Do you EVER have a bad stomach day now that you eat Raw or has that put an end (for the most part) to indigestion for good?"
That's an excellent question. The only times I might have indigestion are if I have done poor food combining, eaten too much or eaten too late at night.... Each of those taxes our digestive system.
Are you feeling too stressed and run by the time clock of daily tasks?
I recommend starting your day with a glass of lemon water. When you hold this glass in your hand, allow it to be a guide for the smoothness of your ensuing day. Meditate on the water as you drink it, and it cleans out your liver.
Now think about this: How can I take each moment in my day, no matter what I am focusing on, and bring in that same release and relaxation? Let me try.
Food is merely a metaphor for our lives; try and digest each moment in this way.
Today I noticed how much my daily focuses created a constant underlying tightness in my body and a need to accomplish.
So, I took "opposite action." When I needed to finish something and felt that sense of urgency, I purposely got up and took a break to shift my energy with it. When I had to take notes, I purposely stopped taking notes and had some lunch. Later, I had much more energy and fluidity in my note taking. When I needed to wash dishes, I left them in the sink. Suddenly, my body was completely energized to wash the dishes.
I reminded myself that each and every moment of my day is my choosing in how I live it. Only I can shift that energy. I "played" with this concept all day, and at some point, I realized what was important; it wasn't what I thought. I suddenly understood that I could let go of this "push" and allow for my natural flow. From this place in my body, more got completed and it was a soulful unfolding of productivity from my higher self.
Trust; try it and see what happens.
Breakfast:
2 black plums
32 ounces lemon water
Lunch:
Salad with romaine, aduki and lentil sprouts, carrot and daikon with dulse, nutritional yeast, olive oil and sea salt
herbed olives
28 ounces lemon water
Snacks/Dinner:
Some beautiful Summer cherries
2 Balls of Laughing Giraffe Organics Vanilla Almond Gluten Free Snakaroons (Raw)
Today's Exercise:
5 mile run at the beach
Janine posted a great question on facebook in response to my blog, so I am sharing it with you:
"Great answers...I enjoyed reading. Do you EVER have a bad stomach day now that you eat Raw or has that put an end (for the most part) to indigestion for good?"
That's an excellent question. The only times I might have indigestion are if I have done poor food combining, eaten too much or eaten too late at night.... Each of those taxes our digestive system.
Are you feeling too stressed and run by the time clock of daily tasks?
I recommend starting your day with a glass of lemon water. When you hold this glass in your hand, allow it to be a guide for the smoothness of your ensuing day. Meditate on the water as you drink it, and it cleans out your liver.
Now think about this: How can I take each moment in my day, no matter what I am focusing on, and bring in that same release and relaxation? Let me try.
Food is merely a metaphor for our lives; try and digest each moment in this way.
Today I noticed how much my daily focuses created a constant underlying tightness in my body and a need to accomplish.
So, I took "opposite action." When I needed to finish something and felt that sense of urgency, I purposely got up and took a break to shift my energy with it. When I had to take notes, I purposely stopped taking notes and had some lunch. Later, I had much more energy and fluidity in my note taking. When I needed to wash dishes, I left them in the sink. Suddenly, my body was completely energized to wash the dishes.
I reminded myself that each and every moment of my day is my choosing in how I live it. Only I can shift that energy. I "played" with this concept all day, and at some point, I realized what was important; it wasn't what I thought. I suddenly understood that I could let go of this "push" and allow for my natural flow. From this place in my body, more got completed and it was a soulful unfolding of productivity from my higher self.
Trust; try it and see what happens.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Welcome Back! Answers to Your Questions on Eating Raw
YAY!!! Welcome back, readers! It's been over a month since I've written. My first break came when I was involved in counseling a week-long intensive (12 hour days), and that led to a number of other commitments.
I have missed "being" with you and connecting with T.H.E. Blog! community.
Tonight seemed like the perfect night to resume T.H.E Blog!, first, because I just got done with a scrumptous meal at Pure Food & Wine in NYC, and second, because the person with whom I shared that luscious raw meal is my dear friend Heather. Heather is pregnant and will be giving birth to her first baby in September, and I am her "coach"/support partner through her pregnancy and birth. Today, Heather and I went to a birthing class and then to dinner, Heather's first time at Pure Food & Wine. I wonder what her baby inside thought of the meal? Anyway, birthing seems a perfect time to resume my blog.
What I ate:
Breakfast:
Raw Morning Madness with coconut water, frozen banana, superfoods (Earth, Vitamineral Green, Fruits of the Earth and Dark Mint Maca - all from Healthforce Nutritionals), raw almond butter and a bit of agave
Snack:
Raw Revolution Raspberry bar
Dinner:
Starter:
Shaved Fennel salad with red fig, orange sections and black truffle seasonal mushroom
Entree:
Porcini Ravioli with cashew cream sauce
Dessert:
Raw ice cream sundae
coconut waters
My friend Torsten in Switzerland had commented on my blog back in April. As I try to answer all comments, I was surprised this one somehow missed me, so I thought I'd include both it and my response in the body of this post:
Torsten writes:
"Thank you for offering to answer questions.I have been on a partial (up to 80%) raw diet since the beginning of the year. Both me and my wife have been losing some weight although that was not intended and necessary. The thing with raw food is that it seems to keep me going only for a short time and I have to keep snacking on (raw) things during the day.I also had some setbacks with raw energy bars and mashed taters going bad before I could finish eating them.Since easter we have had more cooked foods again and I "sinned" by eating some chocolate. But I acutally feel pretty good and my wife tells me I look good too.So the question is: Why can food that is - according to the raw food books - bad for me make me feel and look good?"
Torsten, I love your story and questions. I will try and answer all of them. OK, so when we go raw, we first detoxify and "clean out" our systems. We never "build" until we first "clear," otherwise it would be like putting new seedlings for a garden on top of uncleared earth; they cannot grow properly. We need to give this some tie, as the raw lifestyle is like no other health and food protocol.
The weight loss tends to come as we start to "let go" of old waste and accumulations. When you stay on the raw lifestyle, the weight evens out; you often put some back on, and you definitely stop losing.
Early on, you might feel a lack of energy; in order to feed the organs finally in the proper way, the body often pulls some fuel away from the muscles and tissues. You can feel tired and sometimes even achy. Fatigue can come in when we are releasing years of "adulterated" eating and other habits.
Also, what you are eating may not be working to your benefit for 3 reasons:
1. Improper food combining:
3. You are leading off your day with good intentions but not the appropriate choices. Start with some fruit; then have a green juice or a raw smoothie. If you want a snack, wait an hour and then maybe have a handful of nuts (just a handful). Then at lunch, try a large salad with avocado and seaweed, or some avocado, tomato and sprouts rolled up in a collard leaf. These are just some examples; experiment on your own.
As for the energy bars and taters going bad, it takes some practice to see how many days the shelf life of "live" food is; definitely not the same as preserved food.
And finally, Torsten, we never sin or eat "bad" food. Food is always nourshing. We always want to process it that way as we eat it, no matter what we choose to eat. Then we can choose the foods that keep our cells alive and dancing.
Why you may initially "feel" and "look" good is because your body only knows one way of eating to keep it alive. That's why some people think that they cannot digest raw veges or other foods, as their sytems only know one way of eating, but that way has adulterated the body for so many years and prevented it from being able to properly digest the proper high-level foods. Once you really clean your system out and detoxify, and stay with it, your body will start to respond properly and then fully thrive, and you will look and feel better than ever!
I hope this helps you on your path.
I look forward to reading and responding to more comments from readers.
In Health & Joy,
Hope
I have missed "being" with you and connecting with T.H.E. Blog! community.
Tonight seemed like the perfect night to resume T.H.E Blog!, first, because I just got done with a scrumptous meal at Pure Food & Wine in NYC, and second, because the person with whom I shared that luscious raw meal is my dear friend Heather. Heather is pregnant and will be giving birth to her first baby in September, and I am her "coach"/support partner through her pregnancy and birth. Today, Heather and I went to a birthing class and then to dinner, Heather's first time at Pure Food & Wine. I wonder what her baby inside thought of the meal? Anyway, birthing seems a perfect time to resume my blog.
What I ate:
Breakfast:
Raw Morning Madness with coconut water, frozen banana, superfoods (Earth, Vitamineral Green, Fruits of the Earth and Dark Mint Maca - all from Healthforce Nutritionals), raw almond butter and a bit of agave
Snack:
Raw Revolution Raspberry bar
Dinner:
Starter:
Shaved Fennel salad with red fig, orange sections and black truffle seasonal mushroom
Entree:
Porcini Ravioli with cashew cream sauce
Dessert:
Raw ice cream sundae
coconut waters
My friend Torsten in Switzerland had commented on my blog back in April. As I try to answer all comments, I was surprised this one somehow missed me, so I thought I'd include both it and my response in the body of this post:
Torsten writes:
"Thank you for offering to answer questions.I have been on a partial (up to 80%) raw diet since the beginning of the year. Both me and my wife have been losing some weight although that was not intended and necessary. The thing with raw food is that it seems to keep me going only for a short time and I have to keep snacking on (raw) things during the day.I also had some setbacks with raw energy bars and mashed taters going bad before I could finish eating them.Since easter we have had more cooked foods again and I "sinned" by eating some chocolate. But I acutally feel pretty good and my wife tells me I look good too.So the question is: Why can food that is - according to the raw food books - bad for me make me feel and look good?"
Torsten, I love your story and questions. I will try and answer all of them. OK, so when we go raw, we first detoxify and "clean out" our systems. We never "build" until we first "clear," otherwise it would be like putting new seedlings for a garden on top of uncleared earth; they cannot grow properly. We need to give this some tie, as the raw lifestyle is like no other health and food protocol.
The weight loss tends to come as we start to "let go" of old waste and accumulations. When you stay on the raw lifestyle, the weight evens out; you often put some back on, and you definitely stop losing.
Early on, you might feel a lack of energy; in order to feed the organs finally in the proper way, the body often pulls some fuel away from the muscles and tissues. You can feel tired and sometimes even achy. Fatigue can come in when we are releasing years of "adulterated" eating and other habits.
Also, what you are eating may not be working to your benefit for 3 reasons:
1. Improper food combining:
Mixing fruit with protein, or protein with carbs, when they all digest at different rates, creates fermentation in the body. This does not allow for proper assimilation of your food and that can create fatigue. You also need to wait enough time between certain foods. For example, don't have your protein, even in a smoothie with nutmilk, and then have fruit. The fruit only takes between 15 minutes and an hour to disgest, depending on the type, and the protein can take 4-6 hours. Have your fruit, wait 1/2 hour and then have your smoothie
2. You are eating too much, being used to how we consume cooked food. Your body is being overloaded with raw and does not have time to digest and adjust to this new lifestyle. Don't put 20 ingredients in your food. Keep it simple and clean. Unless we are running a marathon, we do not need to frontload.3. You are leading off your day with good intentions but not the appropriate choices. Start with some fruit; then have a green juice or a raw smoothie. If you want a snack, wait an hour and then maybe have a handful of nuts (just a handful). Then at lunch, try a large salad with avocado and seaweed, or some avocado, tomato and sprouts rolled up in a collard leaf. These are just some examples; experiment on your own.
As for the energy bars and taters going bad, it takes some practice to see how many days the shelf life of "live" food is; definitely not the same as preserved food.
And finally, Torsten, we never sin or eat "bad" food. Food is always nourshing. We always want to process it that way as we eat it, no matter what we choose to eat. Then we can choose the foods that keep our cells alive and dancing.
Why you may initially "feel" and "look" good is because your body only knows one way of eating to keep it alive. That's why some people think that they cannot digest raw veges or other foods, as their sytems only know one way of eating, but that way has adulterated the body for so many years and prevented it from being able to properly digest the proper high-level foods. Once you really clean your system out and detoxify, and stay with it, your body will start to respond properly and then fully thrive, and you will look and feel better than ever!
I hope this helps you on your path.
I look forward to reading and responding to more comments from readers.
In Health & Joy,
Hope
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Keep it Simple in Summer
Friday's Food:Breakfast: after another hot and fabulous run
Synergy Kombucha Strawberry drink with probiotics, ernzymes, antioxidants, amino acids and polyphenols
Nuts Online Raw Sprouted Granola
Lunch: at The Stand, Norwalk, CT
Curried Collard Wrap with raw almond pate
Choco-Cherry smoothie with cacao, flax seeds, nutmilk, dried cherries and banana
Dinner:
Cantelope soup (see blog below for recipe)
Nick's Lovely Summer salad with mixed spring greens, veges and olives; some avocado with lemon-olive oil dressing
Irina's licious Chocolate Chia pudding
Late Night Alchemy Chocolate made by Stasia; aphrodisiac
Thursday's Food:
Breakfast: after a powerful 6 mile run
An amazing juice of Winter carrots and a bit of sweet potato and beet from Genesis Organic Biodynamic farm in Blairstown, NJ, Swiss Chard, Granny Smith apples and celery with Healthforce Nutritionals Superfoods: Earth, Vitamineral Green and Vanilla Spice Maca- this juice rocked, gave me high energy and filled me up for the whole day
Snack:
Laughing Giraffe Organics Raw & Vegan Cranberry Orange Granola
Dinner:
Lori's Rawsagna - fantastic!!!!
Salad with radicchio, frisee and avocado with dulse, nutritional yeast, olive oil and sea salt
Dessert:
Lori's Key Lime Pie!!!!!
24 ounces water
Wednesday's Food:
Breakfast:
1/2 cantelope; YUM! after a 6 mile run and sprint
Lunch:
Laughing Giraffe Organics Raw & Vegan Cranberry & Orange Cacao Granola
Grape Kombucha (probiotics, enzymes, amino acids, antioxidants, polyphenols)
Dinner:
Bowl of gazpacho with chopped up celery
guacamole with 1 avo, Ironbound Island dulse, Herbamare, lime, nutritional yeast, onion, sprouts; with Foods Alive Mexican Flax crackers
Salad with romaine, sprouts, garlic stuffed olives, walnut pieces and granny smith apple; with nutritional yeast and olive oil
Dessert:
Lori's raw chocolate ganache with pecan cacao crust and strawberry drizzle
32 ounces water
Raw can be so simple:
Last night I went over for dinner to the home of my dear friends, Irina and Nick. Due to my schedule, I did not have time, as I usually do, to prepare a dish in advance. So, I stopped at the market and picked up two ripe cantelopes, which have been so delicious lately. At my friends' house, I blended up 1 1/2 cantelopes with 1/2 small container of coconut water in their Vitamix, poured it into bowls, and we garnished it with fresh mint. It was beyond fabulous, and the color was lush and beautiful (picture to come soon). It could have been served in any restaurant; we all loved it.
So, keep it simple in Summer.
Just to let you know, I will not be blogging for this next week due to my counseling time commitments. I will be back blogging a week from today.
So, keep honoring your soul with all of your choices, and have a great week!
Love,
Hope
The Holistic Empire
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
A Smile and a Song
Lori's Raw Pasta Pesto
Friday's Food:
Breakfast:
Yes Yes Yes! Morning Maniac Elixir with: 1 fresh Thai coconut water and meat, water, frozen banana and flax seeds with Superfoods extraordinare: Health Force Nutritionals Earth, Vitamineral Green and Vanilla Spice Maca - a luscious green powerhouse of energy
Lunch:
Nuts Online Pink Salt & Cracked Pepper Mixed Nuts & Seeds
Dinner: at One Luck Duck Takeaway, NYC:
Taco Salad with romaine, spicy taco crumble, pico de gallo,guac and cashew sour cream; cilantro-lime dressing
Sushi Rolls: Marinated shitake, avocado, asparagus, red pepper, pignoli and jicama rice, nama shoyu
16 ounces water
Thursday's Delicious Food:
Breakfast: after a glorious misty drizzle 6 mile run:
Nuts Online Sundried Rosemary Garlic Pistachios & Almonds
1 Thai coconut, out on the porch with a straw; water and meat
Lunch:
Fruit Smoothie with frozen strawberries, fresh banana and fresh apple juice
Raw kale salad
Dinner:
2 bowls of Mrs. Green's gazpacho with slices of avocado (all organic tomato, cuke, onion, green pepper, garlic, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, herbs, spices, sea salt)
Dessert:
1/2 pint of One Lucky Duck Raw Oreo ice cream
Wednesday's Yumminess:
Breakfast:
Nuts Online Hemp & Greens Superfood Cereal (while hiking)
Lunch: at Pinemeadow Lake, after an ecstatic hike and swim:
Nuts Online Sundried Marinara Almonds & Pistachios
Salad with mixed greens from Genesis Farm, raw Amish goat cheese, sprouts, olives, dulse, nutritional yeast; with olive oil and sea salt
67 ounces of water
Dinner:
Sunflower seed pate smeared inside red leaf lettuce leaves
Lori's Chocolate Pudding
Tuesday's Ecstatic Food:
Breakfast: After a great run:
1 Thai coconut, out on the porch with a straw; water and meat
Some raw Amish goat cheese
Snack/Lunch:
1 Foods Alive flax cracker with a little sunflower seed pate
Nuts Online raw Sprouted Granola
Taste of my shipment of fabulous seaweeds from Ironbound Island, Maine - the most fabulous dulse
Snack:
Mango smoothie with water, frozen mango and banana
Dinner at Lori's:
1 taco sandwich: romaine leaves filled with raw taco crumble, guac, cashew cheese and tomato; ROOOOOOckin!!!!!!
Bowls of zucchini pasta with raw pesto;WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWoahhhhh!!!!
Dessert:
Tropical Pie: mango, banana and coconut pie;aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
"Isn't it better to walk around with a smile and a song than with a face eleven miles long?" Jimmy Durante
I hear this sung most Saturday mornings as part of the opening to David Rothenberg's fabulous Saturday morning show on WBAI 99.5 (both political and theatrical).
This morning his words really struck me in a different way, as I realized how much they echo my beliefs. We always have the capacity to choose how we walk through each moment and each day in our lives; no matter what.
Some circumstances we cannot control; sometimes our own inner reflections of our outer lives surface in us, almost knocking the wind out of us. Even then, we still have the choice to decide how we want to "be" in the face of each life happening. We have an opportunity in our lives to hold a "smile and a song" in our hearts as we navigate the sometimes stormy seas; it is merely who we are and how we choose to live. Our lives are now, and when we can shift the low feelings into remembering that we can access a deep feeling of balance, calm and joy Inside of us at any time, we can create a life of deeper meaning for ourselves. Sadness, grief, hurt and anger have very beneficial places for self-expression and for the markings of loss, relationships and self-growth. What I am speaking of is our deeper energy; how we hold our place in this life with every breath we take. We can be deeply sad and also hold this larger foundation of "well being" in our core. That enables us to live powerfully and feel powerfully at the same time. Yesterday was the anniversary of my dad's passing three years ago. My father and I had a very deep and connected relationship, and each year at this day I feel him and mourn the fact that I cannot now turn to him and give him a hug. But something I read in the prayer book, as I lit the yearly Jewish memorial candle that burns for twenty four hours to mark this day, struck me as much as a truth as the depth of feeling I was experiencing: "There are three ways in which we respond to sorrow. On the first level, we cry. On the second level, we are silent. On the highest level, we take sorrow-and turn it into song." (based on Abraham Joshua Heschel). We do have the right and the availability to live our lives in song every day. May you sing the song that is uniquely yours.
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