A Breath of Fresh Air...

So, we’re back in Australia now and really appreciating the clean air ;) It’s lovely to breathe so freely and we’re once again detoxing like crazy, releasing lots of accumulated nonsense from the last few weeks, waking up daily with mucus streaming (sorry if that's TMI for anyone ;). I actually completely lost my voice in Thailand, as the pollution was so intense that I had a hacking cough a lot of the time – it was very odd to experience – can’t remember the last time I lost my voice and it seems that I associate things like that with having tonsillitis etc when younger and feeling horrendous...well, nothing like that now – I felt mostly fine – the hacking cough just wrenched my voice away. Usually I sing often in the space of any day and it’s been odd to not be able to do that recently, or to have some odd squeaky noises pop out if I do try to sing ;). My voice still isn’t 100% back yet – it’s getting there though... Here in Australia all is sunny autumnal days of blue skies and rustling leaves in amazing shades of red, orange, brown, pink and yellow...very chilly compared to Thailand – I’d rather have fresh air right now though than heat... ;)

on May the 17th I had:

1 quart water
2 cherimoyas
3 cups spinach/Jerusalem artichokes/celery/parsley/carrot juice
2 cups water
romaine wraps – avocado, tomato, cilantro, karengo seaweed, with yummy macadamia/flax crackers on the side
3 cups water
2 cups spinach/Jerusalem artichokes/celery/parsley/carrot juice
3 ladyfinger bananas and 1lb cherries
1 quart water

For those of you in the UK or thereabouts, be sure to shimmy along to New Horizons at Inspiral in London this Tuesday (the 20th) to hear Philip McCluskey of LovingRaw.com share about his colossal weight loss experiences with raw foods and his recent 100 day Juice Feast. WOW :) Sounds amazing – his presentation is titled ‘Half the Man’, as Philip has lost nearly 200lbs since going raw 2 years ago, from his top weight of 400lbs :O – a phenomenal journey. If you can’t make it along to his event, you might enjoy to watch some of his yummy videos HERE or check out his blog HERE...
ENJOY :)

on May the 18th I had:

1 quart water
3 cups celery/spinach/parsley/carrot juice
2lbs cherries
2 cups water
pumpkin seeds, wakame seaweed fronds, romaine lettuce leaves, cilantro, followed be a few dried apple ring pieces
2 cups water
2 cups celery/spinach/parsley/carrot juice
bowl of blended yum: dried figs, almonds, spirulina
1 quart water

Here's some info on new products from my latest newsletter, in case you missed it ;)
We’ve been adding ALL kinds of wonderful new products to the RawReform Store lately, from Spirooli Slicers, Greek flax crackers and Colosan colon cleanser to the 9th book in the Anastasia Series, Barberries, new E3 Live flavours and all kinds of books and yum in-between. You can see ALL our new products HERE. http://store.rawreform.com//products_new.php?

Here are MY top five favourite new items:

Onion Bread - Finally, the raw foodist's ultimate solution to bread cravings. This is definitely the best raw onion bread we've tried - soft, chewy, with a deliciously more-ish flavour, similar to fried onions. Great with any kind of topping/spread or served as a sandwich, with a tasty raw burger. Beat those bread/pasta cravings once and for all ;) Enjoy :)

Goji Powder – WOW :) This goji powder is SO vibrant, easy to add into smoothies, sprinkle over grawnolas for an extra hit of nutrients or mix up with other powders to make bliss balls and raw cakes. Gojis are fabulous for supporting the thyroid, kidneys and the immune system. They are a GREAT source of vitamins A & C, B vits, protein and iron.

Bliss Conscious Communication by Happy Oasis - Fabulous guidance for free-flowing, fun conversations. I recommend this book in ‘Raw Emotions’. It helps people to become more conscious about how they communicate and cease using a limited vocabulary. It can help you to understand exactly how your thoughts and the words you say have a real impact on the world. Yummy :)

Ulimana Chocolate Brownies and Spreads – Ok, WATCH OUT for these products. They are off-the-scale gorgeous raw chocolate creations from those lovely Ulimana people in North Carolina who make the sensational truffles. Now they’re making brownies and spreads too and you can even buy tubs packed solid with the mixture they use to make the truffles (my favourite). These products are truly incredible edibles...enjoy :)

Yacon Powder – This is my current favourite of all the different low-glycemic raw sweeteners out there. I tried this for the first time recently and LOVE it – it’s sweet and tasty without being OVERsweet. Yacon is a root vegetable from S. America that is said to be NO glycemic (as the sugars cannot be absorbed by the body), as well as acting as a probiotic – WOW, pretty impressive for a sweetener ;)

To see ALL our new products, click HERE: http://store.rawreform.com/products_new.php?

All love,
Angelaalalalaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

Time to Leave Thailand...

We’re back in Australia now. It was fun to go and play for a while in Thailand...we also found some aspects of being there a little challenging though – primarily the pollution factor...from car fumes to pesticides to litter, it felt a bit full-on for us... Here are some of my recent observations about life in Thailand:

1. In general, Thai people seem to me to be happy, relaxed, smiley, kind, generous and content. Indeed, enjoyment seems very embedded in the national psyche. One of the guiding principles of Thai culture is ‘sanook’ or ‘fun’ – if smthg is not ‘sanook’, there’s not really any point doing it ;) LOL – love it ;) People ensure to enjoy themselves together wherever they are – even at ‘work’ ;) – this is a nation who seems at some level to really get the idea of enjoying our time here...they could be thought of as a very heart-centred people in this regard...

2. ‘Tis a country where the bathrooms are generally very...wet ;) LOL...they seem to take the term ‘water closet’ literally and the whole bathrooms are usually like ‘wet rooms’, tiled throughout and quite often with no shower curtain or anything to separate off a bathing area – everything just kind of merges into one big sloshy fun room ;) I like it. Having grown up in England, where even the bathrooms obscurely tend to be carpeted, this is a refreshing alternative to me. ‘Tis also a country where I tend to shower a lot – at least once a day and sometimes up to 3 times a day. It’s very hot and humid and while I love sweating, I don’t like feeling sweaty for extended periods – I think that’s a throw-back from my obese days, when being hot and sweaty felt very uncomfortable to me...

on May the 14th I had:

1 quart water
2 cups INTENSE veggie juice (cabbage, celery, cucumber, cilantro, carrot)
water of 3 young coconuts with another quart of intense veggie juice
big bag of rambutan
3 dragon fruit
1 quart water
½ a fresh pineapple
½ a fresh durian
1 quart water


3. People tend to travel by motorbikes/scooters. They seem VERY skilled at riding them and very few people seem to wear helmets. It’s not uncommon to see people riding along on a motorbike while sending a text message (SMS) on their phone, carrying cardboard boxes, holding their babies and so on ;) Very young children routinely travel on the bikes and many speed past with 2 or 3 tots on board... It’s pretty remarkable to observe, for us. They seem to start learning to ride them very young too – a few days ago we saw an absolutely classic sight. A Thai girl who looked literally about 9 years old rode past us on a big black motorbike, pulled up at the side of the playground, then excitedly ran with her arms flailing towards the playground toys, where she sat and played. LOL...nobody batted an eyelid, while we mused on the fact that if a similar scene were played out in the US/UK, the parents would most likely end up arrested or smthg ;)

4. While we’re on the subject of children, I’d love to mention the distinct lack of strollers/pushchairs/prams in Thailand. I literally didn’t see a single one there, or any of the assorted baby-related paraphernalia that tend to go with them (except the packaged milk powders ;). Thai people carry their babies and when they’re old enough, they walk. I appreciate this simplicity. It also seems like it would be very challenging to even try to use a stroller/push-chair there if you wanted to – the kerbs are often VERY high off the road – up to a foot or more off the road – not very conducive to pushing baby strollers around... (BTW, there is a WONDERFUL book on the benefits of carrying babies, called ‘The Continuum Concept’.)

on May the 15th I had:

1 quart water
plate of fresh fruit: papaya, pineapple, rambutan, mangosteen, banana
water of 2 young coconuts with wheatgrass powder
amazing raw food restaurant feast at Rasayana in Bangkok – platter of taco cups, raw lasagne, raw pizza, pesto pasta, followed by banana ice cream with amazing macadamia/carob wafers
1 quart water
water of 2 young coconuts and 8oz carrot juice
2 divine mangoes
1 quart water


on May the 16th I had:

2 quarts water
1 cherimoya, 1 persimmon
2 cups water
romaine wraps stuffed with avocado, alfalfa sprouts & karengo seaweed, with some gorgeous macadamia/flax crackers on the side
1 quart water
3 little persimmons
1 pint water

5. One thing I find very challenging about life in Thailand is the pollution. It is shocking to me. As I mentioned before, the Thai culture seems mid-way somehow between ‘tradition’/old ways and haphazardly embracing aspects of a more ‘western’ lifestyle, with an apparent emphasis on...plastic and pesticides (see below for more on pesticides). Litter is abundant in most places, streams and rivers bubble with untold chemical concoctions and the streets are hazy with petrol fumes (so much so that we actually bought face masks to walk around in and Mr Monarch is of the opinion that the last 3 weeks in Thailand have aged him a couple of years ;O ). In many ways, this country is like a potential paradise (beaches, warmth, exotic fruit, coconuts, elephants, friendly people, inexpensive, etc), then not far underneath that surface, there is a much murkier reality. It’s like they’ve taken on different aspects from the ‘west’, yet managing those things doesn’t quite seem to flow well...or maybe they’re just not as adept at hiding it as other countries ;) People in western countries often speak of ‘throwing things away’, raising the question of ‘where is ‘away’?’, while in Thailand one almost gets the impression they don’t even bother to make landfills/other solutions to manage all the rubbish that’s generated from the packaged foods – people just drop it where they are – ‘away’ is...well, right here actually...imagine how abundant the soil everywhere would be if all those dropped items were fresh food scraps instead ;)

6. On the subject of fresh foods, pesticides and other poisons are a major issue in the Thai food chain. Some of you have been writing in asking why we’ve not been eating any veggies lately. Well, that’s why...it’s VERY challenging to find anything organic, so anything we’ve been eating tends to be smthg with a thick skin, so that we’re at least hopefully limiting our exposure to toxins. We were very blessed to have access to amazing organic veggies at the health spa where we stayed on Koh Chang – hence we were drinking veggie juices daily and eating veg-meals there. However, most of the time it seems wiser to focus on thick-skinned fruits and coconuts, though having said that, we hear that many people inject durians in Thailand with all kinds of toxins, as well as picking them before they’re ripe and dunking them in Sodium Dioxide to get them to ripen quicker – eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek... Fortunately a friend who used to live in Thailand advised us to ask vendors in Thai for ‘durian ban’ – smthg like ‘wild durian’. These are smaller, rounder fruits that usually haven’t been meddled with as much. We hear that organic farming is starting to be more common in the north of Thailand now, in the Chiang Mai area, which is encouraging... ;)

I’m definitely gonna miss the coconuts – love, love, LOVE having fresh coconuts every day, they feel soooooooo good to me...and all the fruit was fun...and the elephants... ;) We’ll have another video ready sometime soon hopefully concluding our adventures there...for now, bye-bye Thailand and thank you :)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Show Your LOVE :)

WOW – did you see the review of ‘Raw Emotions’ posted over on RawFoodRightNow.com yet? They just posted it up a couple of days ago and it was so much fun for me to see this book summarised from someone else’s perspective. So much of my time and energy this last year went into co-creating this book that it’s kind of challenging for me to get perspective on it anymore – you know that feeling? When you’ve worked on something so intensely, you’re just immersed in it and can’t get an overview...well, this review helped to show me what it was that this book is all about ;) LOL... They even give a section-by-section breakdown of what the book contains...
Here are a few little excerpts from their review – you can read the whole thing HERE.

“In Raw Emotions, Angela Stokes takes her six years of experience overcoming a lifetime of emotional eating addictions, and provides a practical and spiritual blueprint for traversing the inner raw emotional journey. From identifying how your emotions are tied to food, to creating your Optimal Vision, and following up with an incredible wealth of very useful tips and tools, Angela has run the gambit in Raw Emotions. The book is a complete guide. From start to finish, Angela winds you around each potential pitfall and giving you "power-ups" along the way for those extra tough times. This book truly is a wealth of information. We are confident that any reader interested in really exploring, releasing, and finally overcoming their troubles with going and staying raw will obtain serious benefit with a read through of Angela’s Raw Emotions. She knows this journey, inside and out. She's lived it. She's been there, and because "success leaves clues", it's highly recommended that everyone who is considering (or has!) changed their diet significantly in the more raw direction, grab a copy and read with an open mind and heart.”
Thanks guys :) You can read that whole review HERE and purchase Raw Emotions HERE.

on May the 12th I had:

1.5 quarts water
water of 2 large young coconuts
masses of rambutans
2 cups water
2 tbsp bee pollen and a small handful of dulse
1 small round delicious durian
2 quarts water

Are you familiar with the world of ‘RawBabyAlex’ and mum Melissa Gilbert? If not, Melissa has been documenting her raw food baby’s progress online for quite some time and it makes fascinating reading – especially for anyone interested in raising kids raw. Melissa has actually compiled two wonderful e-books of all the different recipes that Alex has loved as he’s been growing up, from baby foods to toddler treats. (He is such a healthy big boy now that his blog has actually been moved along to ‘Raw ToddlerAlex’ ;) Melissa also keeps her own lovely blog at RawMom.blogspot.com, as well as writing regularly for the info-packed raw magazine Pear.
Unfortunately, this amazing little raw family are having some pretty challenging times at present...in February they were burgled and all their possessions were taken. They moved house and even state, only to discover that they cannot find work in their new location and that very soon they will likely be homeless. They are in a time of crisis. On her most recent blog, Melissa writes that she visited the local food bank to try to get something to eat. They had no raw foods, except 5 bunches of celery, which they gave her. When she got home however, she realised they were almost totally rotten and unusable. Melissa is an incredible mother and gives tirelessly and with so much love to the raw community through her writings. I would feel so sad to see this amazing young family living out in the scorching Arizona desert in a tent with seemingly nowhere left to turn. They really could use some support right now - this is an opportunity to help out an incredible raw family. Instead of just asking people to donate money to help them with their situation however, I’d love to recommend that you invest in Melissa’s 2 fabulous ebooks – ‘Sunsational Raw Baby Food’ and ‘Sun-Sational Smoothies’. They are just $10 each, available from her site HERE. Imagine the difference $20 could make to a family that is in dire straits right now...and YOU get smthg wonderful too – two recipe books packed with tried-and-tested recipes ;) I sincerely hope the raw food community will reach out and support this loving family unit in their time of need...please feel free to re-post this message and pass it along to others in the raw food community too...and enjoy the recipes ;)
(P.S. If you DO feel moved to simply send a donation to the family, their Paypal email address is loverawlife@gmail.com) Thanks.

on May the 13th I had:

1.5 quarts water
large amount of fresh rambutan
water of 2 large young coconuts
bowl of blended yum: bananas, coconut meat, spirulina, maca, vanilla powder, with some seaweed on the side
2 quarts water

Many health-orientated people in Canada have become concerned this week about ‘Bill C-51’ – if you haven’t heard abt this yet, here’s the ‘skinny’ from the lovely Natasha of SimplyRaw.com:

“If the Bill is passed, it will affect all Canadians' rights to health through the regulation of vitamins, minerals and herbal supplements. Currently, many of our councilors and MPPs are unaware of the details of Bill C-51. Canadians need to be informed and act immediately as it is a very serious matter. I just blogged about Bill C-51 at http://www.ottawaraw.wordpress.com Here is the online petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/billc51FI”

Thanks Natasha...Canadians, the Bill ball’s now in your court ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Pressure

We’ve left the little raw food oasis at The Spa on Koh Chang now and we’re back on the Thai mainland, at a beach-side resort where the beach is about 10 strides from our room. Yummy :) We’ve had some wonderful adventures in the last few days. A couple of days back, we had Thai massage for the first time since we got here. WOW. It was INTENSE. I was absolutely amazed at the power hidden in these teeny-tiny, petite little Thai women ;) LOL...in terms of intensity, I think this actually rivalled a massage I had once from Igor Boutenko (Dad in the Boutenko family) – and anyone who has ever had a massage from this huge Russian powerhouse knows how hardcore his technique is... Well, I asked the Thai massagist for ‘medium’ pressure and I was literally squealing at times...I can only imagine what Mr Monarch was experiencing beside me, as he asked for ‘strong pressure’...eeeeeeeeeeeek ;O They use this VERY potent herbal balm on the back, which acts like ‘deep heat’, penetrating deep into the tissues. Aside from that, they also seem remarkably adept at pinpointing the exact points of most tension if a body and NAILING those areas with vice-like pressure...eeeeeeeek ;) I think I’ll ask for ‘soft pressure’ next time... ;)

on May the 8th I had:

1 quart water
shot of wheatgrass and water of a young coconut
bowl of mango/banana raw ice cream, ‘raw chocolate pie’ and a raw spirulina energy ball
2 cups water
½ a deliciously ripe pineapple
shot of gotukola juice and a glass of carrot/celery juice
2 cups water
bowl of papaya/coconut meat/spirulina smoothie with some seaweed on the side (sounds odd, tasted GREAT ;)
3 cups water

on May the 9th I had:

1 quart water
shot of wheatgrass juice and water of 2 young coconuts
3 cups water
cup of warm water with lime juice and honey
big bowl of banana/mango ice cream with honey/cinnamon sauce and bee pollen
2 cups water
1 tbsp wheatgrass powder
½ an incredible pineapple,1lb rambutan
a few pods of yummy durian, a few mangosteen
1 quart water

We were also delighted to go on a beautiful elephant trek in the jungle. REALLY yummy experience. It seems there’s not many places for elephants to live anymore here – humans have taken everything over. Many elephants now live in sanctuaries instead. We visited one of these sanctuaries on Koh Chang (which actually means ‘Elephant Island ;) We got to swim in a river with the elephants & scrub them down, then we climbed up ontop of them and trekked through the jungle. Naturally we were on the elephant who stopped to eat durian on the way – it was absolutely classic. I love their big huge round padded feet, which they use to just squish the durian open, then pull the pieces out to enjoy – nice style :) We also got to hand-feed them masses of bananas afterwards too. They seem so gentle to me. They also apparently have the biggest brains of all land animals – very intelligent and responsive. One of my favourite stories that I heard in recent years was that after the Tsunami here in the India/Thailand area in 2004,
in some areas, the elephants who had fled to higher ground before the tsunami struck then came back down and carried human children up to higher ground. WOW. I don’t know if that happened in this reality or not – I’d like to think it did though...and if it did, then what an incredible act of compassion, after all that humans seem to have done to take over elephant areas...

on May the 10th I had:
1 quart water
water of 2 big young coconuts with wheatgrass powder
1.5 lbs rambutan
3 cups water
an entire AMAZING little jack fruit – absolutely incredible, one of the best meals I’ve ever had – perfectly ripe, sweet like candy and DIVINE
3 cups water
water of 2 big young coconuts with wheatgrass powder
bowl of blended yum: bananas, pineapple, coconut meat, spirulina
3 cups water

on May the 11th I had:

1 quart water
water of 2 large young coconuts with wheatgrass powder
a few rambutan and half a fresh pineapple
3 cups water
another entire little amazing jack fruit
2 cups water
bowl of blended yum: bananas, coconut meat, spirulina, with a few gojis swirled in
1 quart water

While we’re on the topic of large ‘natural disasters’, I’m sure it hasn’t escaped your notice that Burma is in a state of crisis right now after the cyclone that hit last weekend. Some of you have written in asking if we were affected by the cyclone. Physically, no – we were far away from Burma when the cyclone hit – on the east side of Thailand. We do however feel concern and compassion for the current situation there. As I write this, I believe the amount of aid being permitted into the country is still very small. However, one organisation I’ve received information from this week – Avaaz - is collecting and sending money directly to the monks IN Burma, who are providing people directly with shelter and help. Avaaz has received over $1million in aid this last week from worldwide donations. You can see their site HERE if you’d like to contribute. I presume there are also many other organisations collecting and channeling aid money in a similar way to this too – Avaaz is just one that I’m aware of, if you’d like to send some financial support for our brethren in Burma...

One love,
Angela. xxx

Raw Home Study Course Out Now...

Today is the day that the Ann Wigmore Home Study Course I mentioned last week goes on sale, at 12pm EST. Apparently there are fewer than 500 copies of the programme for sale and I think I heard that the last time they did a print run like this, they sold out in 48 hours...Oooo la la ;) SO, if you’re interested in getting into details with Wiggie’s ways, you might wanna click over HERE and get your hands on a course while they’re available again...
Or if you missed my blog post last week abt this new course, you can read all about it HERE.

ENJOY :)
One love,
Angela. xxx

(P.S. We went on an AMAZING elephant trek in the jungle today – more details and hopefully a video aswell to share soon... :)

Email Offerings...

I receive many interesting items into my inbox on a daily basis and I thought I’d share three of the recent most yummy items...

1. 25 Statements to Happiness, sent to me by ‘Shanel’.
I’ve never seen these statements before, set out like this – I think they’re beautiful. They also happen to accurately sum up the way I see life, so I’m delighted to share them:

25 STATEMENTS TO HAPPINESS

1. Most of the time, I have a great time!
2. I am content with my professional career.
3. I listen to my inner feelings and let them guide me.
4. Every day, I laugh and smile a lot.
5. I rarely become annoyed or angry.
6. People in general like me and my company.
7. I don’t get easily afraid of anything.
8. I rarely feel stressed out.
9. I adapt easily to changing circumstances.
10. I don’t feel the need to compete with anybody.
11. My life is a great adventure and so much fun!
12. I don’t spend much time worrying.
13. The world is beautiful and full of opportunities.
14. I sleep very well at night and wake up refreshed.
15. I usually focus on the solutions and not the problems.
16. I feel relaxed most of the time.
17. I know my abilities and feel confident most of the time.
18. I feel mostly fine, even when I’m alone.
19. I have no regrets over past mistakes.
20. To me, arguments are a waste of time.
21. I’m always open to new ideas and concepts in my life.
22. I live the way I choose and I let others do that, too.
23. I don’t blame or intimidate others to get what I want.
24. If I’m not happy about something, I take the initiative to change it.
25. I like myself the way I am.

I hope you enjoyed those and that lots of them resonate for you too – or if not, that you might perhaps take steps onwards to gradually incorporating more of these ways of being into your daily rhythms, for more jooooooooyyyyyyyyyyyyyy :)

on May the 6th I had:

1.5 quarts water
water of 2 young coconuts with a glass of green juice
large fresh papaya with a bowl of banana ice cream and a sprinkling of bee pollen. ‘Cayenne cooler’ drink on the side...
1 quart water
shot of gotacala juice with glass of celery/carrot juice
bowl of blended yum: banana, coconut meat, spirulina, with karengo seaweed on the side
1.5 quarts water

2. Next up is yesterday’s daily email from Brian at ThinkArete.com – as I’ve mentioned more than once, I LOVE these free daily inspirational offerings and this one on ‘Regaining Your Balance’ really spoke to me:

“Here’s an exercise I often use to capture the importance of having a clear intention to regain our balance:

Stand up. Put your arms straight out. Make sure you’re in an area that’s big enough so you can spin around. Alright. Now, spin. Give yourself a good 5-10-15 spins. Whatever it takes to get you a little off-balance. Alright. Now once you get there, I want you to stop spinning. Then, I want you to do two different things:

First, I want you to put your hands together like you’re praying and stare at your finger tips—it brings you back to balance AMAZINGLY quickly. Then, I want you to quit staring at your fingertips and instead I want you to look all around you—up, down, far away, to the right, to the left…just look everywhere. Notice how that makes you feel. If you’re like me, it probably makes you feel nauseous.

For me, this is a perfect metaphor for having a clear intention in our life. When things get stressful (i.e., we’re “spun around”), we have a couple of options: we can look all around us to get a sense of perspective (which usually leads to more confusion/nausea); or, we can focus on what we know to be true, what our intention in life is, what the purpose of that experience is, etc.—that clarity brings us back to balance as quickly as staring at our fingertips.

So, the next time you’re spinning—have a clear intention: know that your highest intention is to grow as a more enlightened, loving, balanced, growth-oriented human being (or whatever it is for you) and come back to that to re-gain your balance.

Try it out! Methinks you’ll dig it.”

This spoke so much to me, as spinning like this is smthg I do every morning anyway, as the first of the 5 Tibetan Rites, so I can totally relate to this analogy – LOVE it, thanks Brian :)

on May the 7th I had:

1 quart water
mug of lemongrass tea
glass of carrot/celery juice, glass of green juice and water of 2 young coconuts
big bowl of banana/mango raw ice cream with bee pollen
1 quart water
a few durian pods, 4 mangosteen, 8 rambutan
2 cups water
shot of gotacala juice, water of one young coconut
6 rambutan
1 quart water

3. Finally, here is an email request for some help with 'digs and gigs' from some very talented musicians from the Auroville Community in India who have been invited to play at 2 huge festivals in the UK (Sunrise and Glastonbury) and are looking for some suggestions/assistance with accommodation and extra gigs. They are the people who made the ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ album that I listened to pretty much on loop while writing Raw Emotions and which we have for sale in the RawReform Store:

“The band is called Emergence. You can listen to samples of their music here: myspace.com/emergencemusic.
The band plays its own brand of Acoustic Indo-Pop and this is their first UK appearance as a band, although as individuals most have international experience. They have an invitation to the UK to play at the prestigious music festivals, Sunrise and Glastonbury, at the end of May and the end of June respectively.

These festivals, while being an incredible chance for them to play their music, is also an opportunity for them to share some of their experience and inspiration.

They are living diverse life styles. On the one hand they are devoted farmers and environmentalists and on the other hand serious musicians trying to bring their music to another level. It is ok to be a farmer and a serious musician. It is even great! this diversity is rich and inspiring! Emergence going to UK and playing at these shows is not just about a band going abroad and doing some music. It is about people who ACTUALLY live on the land, close to nature, who have something valuable to say.

Krishna lives in Auroville www.auroville.org on a farm called Solitude - http://www.auroville.org/environment/agri_farms.htm
Solitude is a farm based community which has been producing crops on a small scale and growing it's own food, including oil seeds, dhals, rice, millets, vegetables and fruits, working towards self sufficiency for the past 12 years.

The farm is also a market farm, supplying a wide array of fruits and vegetables to the local population. The crops they have chosen to grow include indigenous grains, gourds, beans and fruits. These fruits, vegetables and millets have mostly disappeared from peoples diets ever since the Green Revolution and our home style organic restaurant supports the re-popularisation of these foods.
Here are some sites that you can look at about Solitude:

myspace.com/solitudefarm
solitudefarm.blogspot.com”

If you are in the UK and think you may know of somewhere the band members could either stay, put on a gig, or give presentations about their incredible farm work, in the month of June, please feel free to email me at angela@rawreform.com and I can put y’all in touch. I think they'd be fabulous guests to enjoy the company of - wow, all that natural gardening wisdom and musical mastery rolled into one - if I lived somewhere, I'd invite them over ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Please Fit Your Own Oxygen Mask First...

A few people have written lately to ask our thoughts about air travel and our carbon footprints.
Hmmmm, well...airoplanes and airlines have featured a lot in my life, in fact you could even say that my very existence was the result of the airline industry – my parents met while working at Gatwick Airport in Sussex, back in the 70s. Growing up 6 minutes from the airport, in a family where pretty much everyone worked in airlines, travelling by plane was one of the cheapest/easiest ways to travel for me and I’ve been flying since I was 6 years old. So, my associations with planes run deep.
However, in the last few years, travelling by plane has ceased to feel like fun to me. Quite aside from the absurdities of airport security and luggage restrictions these days, the carbon emissions/environmental impact and also the effect on my own health have become increasingly troublesome to me. Whereas I used to ENJOY plane travel, the plastic meals and all - I just don’t feel that great when flying anymore. I believe this has a huge amount to do with becoming more and more sensitive the longer we are raw – radiation, toxins, recycled air and so on seem to have more of an impact on me now than before, though I can also recover quicker, given conducive conditions after the flight. It also just feels odd to me these days to be so ‘disconnected’ from the land. Flying through the air, especially on long flights feels very ‘ungrounding’ to me, literally ;) It’s an odd sensation and it feels like it takes some time for the other levels of my being to catch up to the physical once I’ve landed.
So, where do we go from here? Ideally, as I’ve mentioned numerous times, the Monarch and I would like to get to a piece of land where we can settle asap, to get on with creating our own ‘Motherland’, along the lines described in the Anastasia book series. It is our desire for that piece of land to be in California somewhere, which is Mr. Monarch’s homeplace. HOWEVER, what is holding us back from going and getting on with that right now is that we are waiting for my visa for the US. Hence, we’re still on the road for now...exploring other possibilities... I’ve been travelling for most of the last 12 years now and, as I’ve also mentioned before, I’m done. I’m ready to STOP and put down some solid, beautiful, loving, nurturing roots somewhere, preferably travelling overland/by water after that, as and when it seems necessary. The Monarch and I have actually spoken often of travelling by boat between places – we’ll see how that works out, as we both get very sea-sick ;) I imagine we’ll probably still take some planes at times...just not so often...
In the meantime, a few of the things we do to help offset/reduce our carbon footprints are supporting the wonderful Woodland Trust in the UK (which preserves native forests and plants new trees), living and promoting the raw vegan lifestyle (e.g. buying local/seasonal, organic, not using a dishwasher, not producing so much ‘absolute waste’), encouraging the way of life described in the Anastasia books, along with recycling, refusing extra packaging, choosing hemp/organic clothes, consciously switching off unused electrical items and lights and so on. (I've also planted a great number of trees in my time - incidentally, that is in fact exactly what I was doing on 9.11.01 when the Twin Towers were hit by planes - I had no idea what was happening until much later in the day when I returned from the fields and heard the news...) Recently, I’ve also been delighted to see that some airlines have started to offer a ‘carbon offset donation’ choice when purchasing tickets. You can make a donation that goes towards planting more trees and protecting native forests. Certainly seems like a step in a positive direction for now, at least while planes are still flying... ;)

on May the 4th I had:

1 quart water
water of 1 young coconut
glass of greeeeeen juice
3 cups water
zucchini pesto pasta, with nibbles of other dishes: vegetable terrine, nori rolls and lasagne, followed by banana ice cream with bee pollen = yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm
1.5 quarts water
glass of greeeen juice
1 quart water

Eeeeeek, I’ve just been TAGGED again ;) Seems a new game of tag is in process and the ext-RAW-dinary Ms. Suki Zoe just nabbed me with this explanation of the game:

1. pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. open the book to page 123.
3. find the fifth sentence.
4. post the next three sentences.
5. tag five people.

Hmmmm, ok...well, the nearest book to me right now is one I found in the spa library called ‘Half My Size’ by Suzie Elelman, written by another woman who lost half of her body weight. Page 123 says:

“I often use the term ‘self first’ and get asked if there is a difference between being selfish and putting your self first. My best analogy is when you’re on an aircraft and during the safety drill they emphasise that you should put your oxygen mask on first before assisting others. You also have to learn to find time to put yourself first and that is often the hardest thing to do.”

WOW, that was an appropriate little tie-in with the airoplane discussion above ;) Also very interesting to me, as I have previously used this exact same analogy in my own writing abt the importance of taking care of ourselves first ;) LOL – there’s that remarkable collective consciousness at work again ;)
Ok, so now I get to tag 5 more people, eh? Me choose

Shell, Holly, Anthony, Margi and RawFoodRightNow

ENJOY :)

on May the 5th I had a juicy day of:

1 quart water
water of 2 young coconuts, glass of green juice
water of 2 young coconuts, glass of green juice, 2 tbsp YUMMY bee pollen
3 cups water
water of 1 young coconut, amazing ‘cayenne cooler’ drink = blend of lime juice, cayenne pepper, honey and ice
water of 1 young coconut, glass of carrot/celery juice
2 cups water
glass of watermelon juice
3 cups water
glass of carrot/celery/pineapple juice
big glass of lime juice mixed with honey and water
1 tbsp green powder
3 cups water

WOW, this was my first day ever of Juice Feasting where SOMEONE ELSE made all the juices :) FUN :) It was SO nice to just go and choose smthg from a menu each time I felt the pang of hunger – and to try out all kinds of different drinks that I wouldn’t normally make for myself. I LOVE the lime juice drinks – especially the one with cayenne – Yeeeeeeeeee-HAH ;) They remind me of a drink I used to have daily when I lived in Sri Lanka – the mother of the family I stayed with would give me a similar drink as ‘medicine’ – her version however was water, lime juice and TABLESPOONS of white sugar – eeeeeeeeeek ;) I’m very happy to be on these versions with raw honey now instead...add a pinch of mineral-rich salt for a GREAT electrolyte drink...yummmmmmmmm...

One love,
Angela. xxx

With Gratitude...

We’re on Koh Chang now, a little Thai island near Cambodia. After arriving and spending our first night in a slightly bizarre place here, where the windows didn’t open, the air conditioner blasted smoke and I woke up with a cat next to me in bed...we moved on today ;) The universe graciously led us instead to a simply GORGEOUS raw food/health spa resort...WOW...green juices, a whole raw food menu, colema boards in the bathrooms, salt water swimming pool, massage & steam room onsite, meditation/yoga classes, free bikes to borrow, videos such as ‘What The Bleep’ and ‘The Secret’ showing daily – this place is a modern raw foodist’s dream ;) YUM. The eatery here was actually featured as one of the ‘Top 50 Restaurants in the World’, in the international magazine Restaurant. Yeeeee-HAH :)
I’ve been reflecting a lot the last few days on how Thailand often appears to me like a country caught between ‘tradition’ and a more ‘Western’ culture that seems to permeate in many-fold manifestations... It is a land RICH in interesting raw foods, for example – durian, mangosteen, rambutan, coconuts, various greens and so on, yet there are shops everywhere RAMMED with ‘plastic’ packet foods, candies, cakes and so on. I ventured into one supermarket to discover an ENTIRE AISLE of boxed baby milk/formulas… :O Literally DOZENS of different pasteurised, packeted, homogenized, filler-packed brands of expensive, mucus-forming cow’s products to clog your kids up with. Shocking. Familiar big-name company logos abound and there seems to be a national fascination with plastic bags. Pretty much anything you purchase will be handed to you in a plastic bag, even if it’s already IN a plastic bag to begin with... ??? ;) People even drink their SODAS from plastic bags...lol...vendors like to keep hold of the glass soda bottles, to send them for re-filling (hmmmm...nice, kind-of ;), so they pour out the customer’s sugary acid-forming concoction into a little plastic bag, throw in some ice and a straw and off they go...quite remarkable... At the same time, you’ll see roadside stalls and markets STACKED with fruit, everywhere you go. One thing I personally find a little challenging to integrate is that in the fresh street markets, there rarely seem to be specific areas set up for different kinds of food products, e.g. a veggie stand area, a meat/fish area etc – everything is just intermingled all over the place, so in-between the luscious jack fruits and mangosteen, one readily comes face-to-face with live frogs, eels, crabs and so on, along with various entrails and untold macabre scenes (to me), from which I avert my eyes and nose...just really not my kind of thang ;) Hence I’m feeling very grateful and blissed to have landed up today in a place that serves yummy, organic raw vegan foods and juices and seems to be more eco-focused than other places we’ve stayed so far...yummm... :)

on April the 30th I had:

1 quart water
water of 2 young coconuts
big bag of rambutan with a few pieces of papaya, jack fruit and a lady-finger banana – YUMMMMMMM :)
2 cups water
water of 2 young coconuts with wheatgrass powder
6 durian pods, 2 mangosteens and 1 rambutan
2 cups water
little bowl of 2 mushed lady-finger bananas with spirulina and a small handful of pine nuts/goji berries mixed in = yummm :)
1 quart water

on May the 1st I had:

1 quart water
water of 2 young coconuts with wheatgrass powder
a handful of rambutan, 4 mangosteen a lady-finger banana
2 cups water
smoothie of coconut meat, lady-finger bananas and spirulina
2 cups watersmoothie of coconut water/meat, leftover dried mulberries, karengo seaweed and spirulina – YUMM :)
1.5 quarts water

Some of you wrote to say that you had difficulties with the links for the ChiDiet site that I posted a couple of days ago – I’m sorry to hear that. If you would still like to enter the giveaway contest to win one of the two free ‘Raw Food Home Study’ kits, you can click HERE.
Better get over there quick though, methinks, as I suspect they’ll be choosing the winners soon...

on May the 2nd I had:

1 quart water
water of 3 young coconuts with green powder
bowl of smoothie: banana/coconut meat/spirulina, with karengo seaweed on the side ;)
1.5 quarts water
½ a small durian, 6 mangosteens, a lady-finger banana and a dragon fruit
1.5 quarts water


on May the 3rd I had:
1 quart water
water of one BIG young coconut with spirulina
big bag of rambutan
glass of greeeeeeeeeen juice
shared meal of raw dishes – lasagne, veggie terrine, nori rolls, followed by banana ice cream with cinnamon/honey sauce = YUM
1 quart water
INTENSE shot of gotacalla juice (said to be GREAT for aiding memory/brain-function)
Yum bowl of blended bananas/coconut meat with spirulina and a little karengo seaweed
1.5 quarts water

BTW, for anyone who has never seen the Monarch and myself speak in public and is maybe wondering what our events are like, here are a couple of sweet little recent reviews from 2 yumsters who attended our Melbourne event:

Here’s a snippet from Helena’s post:

"When I first heard that Matt and Angela were coming to Melbourne I did what most people do and googled them. After watching Matt’s vids on YouTube, and reading about Angela on her blog. I was doubtful about spending an entire afternoon listening to a young guy from California, sporting dreadlocks and a tanned body, talk about his great adventures eating raw. Angela; well, her story sounded good, but I didn’t have a weight problem and have always been wary of D*** word..."

You can find out what she thought of our talks and read her whole in-depth piece HERE:

It was lovely to meet Joanne from RawMom.com too at this event – here is a snippet from her write-up:

“The afternoon was utterly inspiring. Matt was down-to-earth, intelligent and intense, telling us of his experience and that of others, but also going into the science behind eating raw. He didn’t hold back from frank discussion about – ahem – colonics and gas, and other not-oft-mentioned unmentionables! Angela glowed (as evidenced in the photo of her and I), and gave a personal account of the physical and emotional changes she underwent on her raw journey, during which she lost 160lbs/72kg and gained a whole lotta health and happiness. Gosh, they’re really a lovely couple, and I just love that they want to make the world a better place.”

Awwwwww ;) You can read all of Joanne’s musings HERE:

THANKS to you both for sharing your reflections, lovely ladies ;) ...and hopefully one day we will connect with YOU too, dear reader, at another venue in space and time, if thou dost desireth it...

One love,
Angelalalalalaaaaaaaa. xxx

Last Chance to Volunteer@ Raw Spirit Fest for $150...

Public Service Announcement:
If you’re thinking of registering as a volunteer for the Raw Spirit Fest in Arizona this September 12-14th, I’d highly recommend doing it NOW, as the volunteer price increases from tomorrow, May the 1st, from $150 to $200. I had intended to give a little more warning on this one – sorry ;) I hope you’re still able to register today though if this is smthg that excites you :)
Volunteers get 6 free nights’ camping, access to all the festival fun (during and outside of helping times ;) plus a free raw vegan meal daily, in return for 5 hours of helping out per shift, with a minimum of 15 hours total shared. Some of the things you could be assisting with include:

Volunteer J.O.B.s (Joys Of Being ;)

1) Set up/ Breakdown: before and after festival requiring good physical condition to set up tents, stages, etc..

2) Hygiene: maintaining the pure atmosphere of the festival

3) Food Service: preparing meals for attendees

4) Registration: administrative duties pertaining to registration.

5) Floats and other: anything from security, vendor assistance, stage work, parking, food and water pick up, presenter assistance, etc.

...and many other different joyful adventures – you can read all about it in the ‘volunteers and jobs’ section under the 'Info' category, HERE. ENJOY…and I hope to see you there :)

MUAH :)
Angelelelelelelalalalalalalalalalalalalalalaaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

Thailand Video and Raw Food Study Course ;)

We’re in Chanthaburi now – the durian-growing capital of Thailand and hence, most likely, the world ;) The smell of durian is just in the air here in many places and as it is harvest time right now, there are enormous stacks of the fruit EVERYWHERE. It is absolutely incredible to see, for us. On the bus on the way here from Bangkok, we saw literal truckloads of durian passing us on the roads, while all along the roadsides, markets are stacked high with the ‘king of fruits’ and open warehouses reveal enormous containers of the spiky spectacle...it’s phenomenal...
We went out for a wander today to the local markets in the area we’re staying in. The market vendors were amused to see our enthusiasm for their fruits, especially the durian ;) (See the video below for evidence ;) There were so many amazing fruits available, including sapodillas (another one of the Monarch’s favourites), rambutan, mangoes, jack fruit and something I’ve never seen anywhere before which tasted like a cross between a white sapote and a grapefruit – bizarre ;) Things seem SO inexpensive here – like less than $1 US for a whole fresh durian, opened on the spot by the vendor. WOW... You can check out our adventures on video HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXC4m3zr7ws

on April the 28th I had:

2 quarts water
1 coconut water with wheatgrass powder stirred in
a ‘gourmet’ raw feast at Rasayana raw restaurant in Bangkok – WOW :) We tried various things: green veggie juices followed by spicy coconut soup, vegetable sushi, coconut noodle pasta, live pizza, raw papaya salad, banana/carob pie and carrot cake.
1 quart water
little handful of gojis
1 fresh durian
2 cups water

Yesterday we visited the Rasayana raw food restaurant in Bangkok. It is a beautiful little tranquil oasis of living cuisine amidst the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. Rasayana is attached to a healing centre that offers colonics, massage, saunas, yoga and other therapies. It was SO nice to be able to access organic, fresh, loved-up raw food and green juices. The menu was wonderful – a yummy blend of more traditional Thai flavours with common gourmet raw items such as spiralised pasta, pizza and so on. The food was absolutely delicious, gorgeously presented by very attentive staff and above all, very easy to digest, which is always a huge bonus ;) There was very little fat involved in the dishes we chose – most of the dishes contained lots of veggies covered with OUTSTANDING dressings and sauces – that is a great ‘secret’ of raw food prep – get a FABULOUS dressing to work with and you can persuade people to eat all kinds of veggies ;) LOL...we loved it. I also loved the experience of being in a restaurant with a WHOLE menu to choose from again. It’s a long time since I was in a raw restaurant and having a whole menu to choose from feels, to me, almost like being a ‘mainstream’ eater again, with many choices available, instead of trying to piece together a limp salad from a menu in a place that has minimal interest in raw ;) I would DEFINITELY recommend checking out Rasayana if you find yourself in Bangkok.


On April the 29th I had a fruity day of:

1 quart water
1 lady finger banana
2 coconut waters with wheatgrass powder
a handful of rambutan, a few jack fruit pods, ½ a sapodilla, 1 bizarre sapote/grapefuit-like fruit, a couple of durian pods
1 coconut water with wheatgrass powder
4 rambutan, 4 jack fruit pods, half a gorgeous little pineapple and 1 lady-finger banana
3 cups water
2 lady-finger bananas, a couple of durian pods, the meat of a young coconut, plus a handful of goji berries with pine nuts
1 quart water

My GOODNESS, there’s quite a tempest of yum brewing over on ChiDiet.com – have you seen? They are almost ready to re-release the ‘Raw Food Home Study Course’, based on Ann Wigmore’s teachings. It’s officially going on sale on Thursday, May the 8th. This is the completely updated, comprehensive version of this home-study course that has already helped people all over the world GO and STAY successfully raw, with an emphasis on greeeeeeens, cleansing, growing, exercise and other ‘Wiggie ways’ ;)
We were fortunate to see a preview copy of the course and it is RAMMED with information. Wow. Containing a complete 300-page 13-step study manual, 10 DVDs, a huge recipe book, audio interviews with transcripts, books from Ann Wigmore herself, a ‘free’ consultation and much more, this course is a BOUNTY of wisdom from one of our Raw Food elders, condensed, organised and handed to you in a package for easy digestion ;)
As a special launch prize, ChiDiet are GIVING AWAY 2 free sets of the course, along with a free 1-hour consultation with the man behind the course – Jim Carey. You can click HERE to find out more about that. Jim is also going to be doing a live call with Victoria Boutenko this Thursday, which anyone can join, where they’ll be discussing what a yumster Ann was, along with giving away ANOTHER free copy of the course – WOW – that’s 3 free copies you could win this week ;)
We often get emails from people asking WHERE they can go and study something about raw foods. Well, there aren’t yet a vast number of places to do that – and this course can be an ideal solution ;) Just learn in your own home, at your own pace. Maybe even buy a set among friends and enjoy it together – that tends to help with the motivation ;) You can find out much more about what will be in the course, as well as get a FREE Ann Wigmore e-book called ‘Why Suffer?’ and see a nice little video presentation by Jim called ‘Dispelling the Raw Food Myths’, by clicking HERE.

One love,
Angela. xxx