A Time of Love...

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the streets, snow is glistening…well, not here in Australia actually…yet with some of you though I hope… ;) WOW…what a magical time this is…Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas and all sorts of other yum-fests and reflections occurring worldwide simultaneously and under the loving gaze of the Full Moon in Cancer…how blessed we are :) Wherever you are and however you may be enjoying this ‘Holiday’ period, I send you bountiful wishes of joy, upliftment and peaceful unity…
Here’s a little of what astrologer Lisa Dale Miller shares about this full moon:
http://astrowisdom.com/thisfullmoon.htm

“This is the Full Moon to swim in the unbounded ocean of love that connects us with the rhythm of life and all other sentient beings.
This is that once a year when the Full Moon is posited in the astrological sign it rules, making the force of love and trust so abundant that the heart just naturally opens.
Make this a “get real and get committed” Full Moon: a Moon for setting an intention to love yourself and others even through the hard times. Cancer rules emotional healing of all kinds and this is the Full Moon to make an effort to bring love back to all your relationships; especially between family members.
This is the Full Moon to stop and really appreciate our loved ones: to fully embrace them, look deeply into their eyes and let our hearts soar in the recognition of oneness. It is also a great Full Moon to do something wonderful for the primary caregiver in your family.
Cancer’s greatest gift is the consideration of the needs of others over our own needs. To help others and relieve suffering is strengthening for everyone: to disregard others, only weakens oneself.”

Mmmmm…what a fitting end to the major moon cycles of this year :) To check out Lisa’s full account, see HERE.

On December the 23rd I had:

1 pint water
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #1
= 8oz water, 2oz apple juice, 1 tbsp liquid bentonite, 1tsp psyllium powder
Followed by 10oz water mixed with 1tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1tsp raw honey
1 pint red chicory/spinach/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/daikon/radish/celery/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #2
1 pint cucumber/apple/mizuna/red chicory/celery/spinach/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/daikon juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #3
1 pint beetroot/cucumber/apple/ginger juice (YUMMMMMMMM ;)
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #4
1 pint 1 pint red chicory/spinach/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/celery/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #5
2 cups water

Here’s a quick question that came in a couple of days ago as a blog comment:

“When you make a green juice, Do you put it in a Vitamix and then nut milk bag? Why do people do this? It seems like the hard way to me...Please help!”
Laura

Hmmmmm…thanks for the Q, Laura…my current answer is that I do not use a Vitamix to make juice. We use a twin gear juicer – examples of which you can see HERE. When I was Juice Feasting this time last year, I did often use the Vitamix/nut milk bag combo however, as I didn’t have a good juicer on hand at that time in Costa Rica and actually also found it a lot easier and faster to use the blender anyway. Using the blender is MUCH faster in comparison to a quality, twin gear juicer – both in terms of food prep time (no need to cut veggies small to fit in juicer hole), machine use time and time spent cleaning afterwards. The downside is that using the blender/nut milk method leaves you with a less high-quality juice, which oxides faster and has often been mixed with a little water. HOWEVER, many people are still happy to choose the blender option, when the time/cleaning benefits are considered. Now, in comparison to the speed of using, for example a Breville Juice Fountain of course, the blender/nut-milk bag method may seem clumsy and pointless. The amount of liquid you actually get out of the produce when using something like a Juice Fountain though is less than using a twin gear OR the blender method, if you’re thoroughly squeezing the contents of the nut milk bag that is ;) Personally, I prefer to always use a nut milk bag to double-strain juice anyway, even if it’s from a twin gear, as there is always SOME pulp left in the juice and I want it as obstruction-free as possible… Hope that all made some sense – there are advantages and pitfalls to all the methods described – it just depends what suits your lifestyle and choices best… ;)

On December the 24th I had:

1 pint water
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #1
= 8oz water, 2oz apple juice, 1 tbsp liquid bentonite, 1tsp psyllium powder
Followed by 10oz water mixed with 1tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1tsp raw honey
1 pint red chicory/spinach/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/daikon/radish/celery/cucumber/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #2
1 pint red chicory/spinach/mizuna/all-kinds-of-greens/carrot/daikon/radish/celery/cucumber/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #3
1 pint tatsoi/bok choy/cilantro/cucumber/apple juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #4
1 pint tatsoi/bok choy/cilantro/cucumber/apple/orange juice
‘The Cleansing Drink’ #5
2 cups water

So, today has been the 7th and final day of my Psyllium-Bentonite Cleanse. It’s been a great experience overall. I’ve released a LOT of old dark nasty stuff from my intestines and my energy has been pretty good throughout. Compared to my energy levels when I first did a cleanse like this, abt 4 years ago, my energy levels this time were superb ;) Back then I was almost incapacitated – I spent most of the week in bed. I’d only been raw for about a year at that point – and abt 70% raw, not fully raw like I am now, PLUS, I’d never done any colon cleansing at that point, so it was all very new to me. This time round I’ve been very functional in comparison ;)
I’m definitely excited to get back to eating solids tomorrow though and not be doing full-on enemas twice a day ;) Very different to the end of my Juice Feast back in February – as you may recall, I was not at all excited to get back to solid foods back then. Watermelons are just looking so appealing to me to EAT now though :) Tomorrow is Christmas Day here and I intend to celebrate my Christmas gift to myself of a freshly cleaned out system by gently mono-mealing on melon :) YUMMMMMMMMMM… Would I do a cleanse like this again? Yep...not for a good few years again though, if at all - it's a pretty hardcore process...

If YOU want to enjoy a cleanse soon, after the usual ravages of this season, do take a look at what Steve at Raw Vegan Radio is up to – he’s hosting the ‘Biggest Group Cleanse, EVER’, starting on January the 7th for 21 days, with tons of online support through e-books, podcasts, webinars and more…you can see all about it HERE. (Worth taking a look, if only to see Steve’s before and after pics – WOW – I’ve never seen his 'before' shot before – pretty impressive transformation… :)

Blissful Holidays to All :)
Angela. xxx