Back in the 'real-world'...

Ok...I'm out of the blessed sanctuary space of 'retreat-world' and back in the 'real-world' now...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek ;) There are MEN in the 'real world'...and hotdogs that turn on rotating spits...and big cities...;) and yet we can of course choose to be at peace with it all and at every moment...and I do...

On May the 3rd I had:

1 litre water
250ml orange juice
750ml celery/chard juice
400ml water
400ml hot water with lemon
slice of watermelon
400ml water
1/2 bowl of spring greens with avo/oj/lime juice dressing
500ml veggie juice
1 litre water

On Monday we're starting up the 4-week series of Juice Feasting Teleconference calls - yeeee-HAH ;) I'm excited...I love this new communication medium for sharing the message with many people at once, without us all having to be in the same physical place ;) Somebody recently left a comment on this blog actually, asking why use juices rather than smoothies? i.e. why remove the fibre? Well, I see JUICE like medicine - it's like an elixir. You take a big pile of vegetables and ALL the nutrients in that whole stack get condensed down into a glass for you to drink. ALL those nutrients can then enter directly into your body and bloodstream in the most easily absorbable, assimilable way...Whereas, if you took the same stack of veggies and blended them together into a SMOOTHIE...for a start you are going to have a HUGE smoothie - a lot of volume to consume - either that, or you use fewer veggies, which of course then means less concentrated nutrients available for your body. Then, when you take the smoothie into your body, it still has the fibre in it, so it is more work for the body to use it efficiently. You are still activating a lot of energy for digestive power - whereas juices are very undemanding in terms of digestive power. The whole idea with Juice Feasting is that we're taking a BREAK from solids - we're moving the emphasis from digestion to elimination for the body's energy. So, that is why we use juices and not smoothies. The only real exception to that tends to be for those who are diabetics or have blood sugar issues - they can benefit from leaving some of the fibre in, especially at the start, to help soften and slow the impact of any sugars into their system. Hope that all makes sense ;)
So, if you have questions like that you want answered about JF, do join us for the 4-week teleconference series - you can read more about it here:

http://www.rawreform.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,36/category_id,12/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,55/

on May the 4th I had:

1 litre water
750ml veggie juice
400ml prune soak water
6oz soaked prunes
500ml water
150g watermelon
500ml celery/carrot juice
1 litre water

Right now I feel the most unwell that I have at any point in the last 5 years since going raw. Before I went raw, I used to ALWAYS be unwell, moving from one illness to another to another. These days, I just don't usually get illnesses. Right now my tonsils are swollen, my sinuses are draining in every direction they can and my voice is crackly. Wow. It is SO strange to feel so ill again and to remember that this is how I used to feel pretty much ALL the time and just accepted that as my normal state of health. So, why is this happening...? Well, it all started with a harmless little detox process of ear candling. I had never had this procedure performed and was fascinated to see what would happen...a friend administered the wax ear-tubes, which are lit at one end. As they burn, suction is created inside them and it helps to draw out any old wax and toxins lodged in the ears and sinus cavities. All well and good. I had the treatment and it was absolutely amazing - the stuff that came out of me just blew me away...suddenly I could breathe more easily, my hearing was clearer and here were this inch-long RODS of old orange earwax on a plate before me that had been drawn out of my body. I was very excited. I have known for a long time that there was a blockage in the sinus tube that runs under my right eye and I hoped that this finally would help that heal. Off I went, lavendar cotton buds in ears to aid their healing, feeling very pleased. The next day however, I took two planes. Hmmmmm. Sinus cavities and planes don't tend to mix so well together on the best of occasion and mine were now in a delicate state. They did not seem to appreciate the trips. I arrived to Kansas feeling immense pain in my head and sinus cavities, very weak and completely dis-embodied. It literally felt like my being was a couple of feet above my body and I could not get it down. I could barely comprehend what people were saying - my head swam. I went to the home of my host and laid down. Everything felt completely surreal. I awoke the next morning hardly able to swallow, as my tonsils were so inflamed. I coughed up a lot of mucus, yet swallowing is still an issue. When I was growing up, I often had tonsillitis. I usually used antibiotics to suppress the symptoms. It seems a lot of those old toxins are working their way out of me now...for which I am of course grateful - better out than in - but it vertainly is painful right now to even swallow - that's why my intake has been pretty much liquid the last couple of days...I can't handle anything else - my body is trying to heal...so, would I do ear candling again? YES, absolutely, I would just make sure I'm not going on any planes soon after ;)
All love,
Angela. xxx