Natural Energy Flowing...

WOW. I am just LOVING being back in Iceland soooooooooooooooooooooo much.
Last night was UBER-YUMMY – Sigur Rós and Björk gave a huge free concert in the botanical gardens in Reykjavík, attended by around 40,000 people. The weather was gorgeous, the energy in the crowd was buzzing and the performances were...simply superlative. The concert was called ‘Nature’ and was put on to raise more awareness of environmental concerns here and celebrate nature. (There was even a stall selling raw fruits and veggies, plus raw chocolate ‘bliss balls’ – so cute :)
Sigur Rós and Björk are two of my absolute favourite musical influences and it was SUCH a gift for me to see them BOTH play live in such a gorgeous context. I’m still grinning now as I write this :)))
There was one point where Sigur Rós (along with Amiina, the gorgeous girls who share stage with them) were playing a really high energy song, then Ólöf Arnalds and Björk came on too, banging big drums. It was SOOOOO fun to watch – everyone was dressed so vibrantly and the energy was HUGE – they looked like they were having SO much fun up there - everyone just doing their thing, spirit flowing, incredible energy :)))
OOoOooOoOOoooooo, I love Iceland :)))
The night before, we had a raw potluck here too and it was so lovely for me to connect to the energy again of the meetings that used to ‘keep me going’ when I lived here as a raw foodist in the beginning...the gatherings were much less frequent then – once a month or less often at times – now raw-yumsters meet up here every other Friday for sharing...and what a vibrant, healthy, happy bunch :) Tons of fresh greens and sprouts, tasty experiments, talented chefs and herbalists...and there were around 30 of us in attendance...it definitely feels to me like raw food interest has continued to blossom here in the years that I’ve been away… ;) YAY :)
Iceland actually recently topped the charts of a United Nations ranking of the ‘best’ place to live in the world (based on factors like wealth, health, education). Icelanders were also reported to be ‘the happiest people in the world’ in a 1996 study... These topics and more are explored in a beautifully insightful article on life in Iceland, printed in the Observer last week (forwarded to me by my equally fabulously insightful editor Sue ;) You can read that article HERE if you’re interested – it’s raaaaaaaaather long, so I won’t go into it now – just enjoy, if you feel inclined :)))

on June the 27th I had:

1 quart water
shot of wheatgrass
2 cups smoothie: lucuma powder, almonds, green powder, maca, vanilla powder, cinnamon, water, with goji berries and pine nuts for chewability
3 cups water
2 cups green juice: cucumber, celery, watercress, parsley, fennel, ginger, sprouts and amazing greens from the garden: chard, kale, tatsoi, arugula, other unidentified yummables ;)
plate of delicious raw food potluck loved-up food :) A cornucopia of greens, salad dressings, pates, nibbles, breads, crackers and so on – wonderful :)
3 cups water

A petite note-ette for all of those who are intending to play out with Mr Gianni and I on the telephone inter-change system on Wednesday cometh. The time of the event has shifted ever-so-slighty, due to the fact that I’m currently located a few hours ahead in time from the US...(8pm EST = midnight Iceland time...even if it doesn’t get dark here, I still like to go to sleep ;)
So, we've shifted the clockage back an hour and the talk will now commence at 7pm EST, 4pm PST, on July 2nd (with the chance to listen in to the whole thing for free for 24 hours after it manifests, I do believe...) Anyway, as and when you register for the call info, you’ll get all the details on there...I look forward to answering your Qs soon :) You can read all about it and submit your Qs HERE.

on June the 28th I had:

1 quart water
mug of rooibus tea
shot of wheatgrass juice
2 cups yummmmmmmmmmmmmy smoothie: lucuma powder, almonds, green powder, maca, vanilla powder, cinnamon, water, with goji berries and pine nuts for chewability
mug of ‘pleasure tea’
3 cups water
2 cups green juice: cucumber, celery, spinach, lettuce, parsley, fennel, ginger, sprouts and amazing greens from the garden: chard, kale, tatsoi, arugula, other unidentified yummables ;)
3 big luscious nori rolls stuffed with pine-nut/basil pesto, alfalfa, red pepper, cucumber, avocado and spinach. A little handful of cashew nuts
1 quart water
mug of ‘pleasure’ tea

OooOooOooo, exciting developments in the world of CHIA :) You may have read the ‘Chia Cheat Sheet’ article that I wrote sometime last year, outlining the background of chia, uses for the seeds, some yummy recipes and so on. It is one of our most popular articles – so much so in fact that now we’ve had it made into an attractive, colourful wall-chart that you can keep on hand in your kitchen :)
The charts are just $5.95 and are available from the RawReform Store HERE, along with bags of both ‘black’ and ‘white’ chia, ground chia, yummy Cocochia bars, ‘The Magic of Chia’ book AAAAAAAAND the gorgeous NEW ‘Chia Goodness’ all-raw cereal from Ruth’s Hemp Company. WOW, things are really movin’ and shakin’ in the chia world these days, especially since Oprah mentioned it on her show...and IMO, the attention is very understandable – it’s an amazing food – I recommend it to everyone, especially for beginners... ;)
SO, if you have yet to delve into the delicious world of CHIA, I suggest you strap on your ‘raw explorer’ love boots and get munching ;) See HERE for our whole range of Chia Yummables.

All love,
Angelalallallaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

Whaddaya Wanna Know...?

This is a quick little update to let you know that for the next 48 hours you can listen for free to Mr Monarch’s interview with Kevin Gianni last week, which is part of Kevin’s ongoing ‘Roundtable’ series of talks. You can access that interview HERE.

on June the 26th I had:

1 quart water
shot of wheatgrass
bowl of smoothie: blended almonds, lucuma powder, green powder, vanilla, cinnamon, maca and water, with goji berries and pine nuts swirled in for chewy-yumminess :)
mug of chai rooibus tea
1 quart water
2 cups green juice: cucumber, celery, watercress, parsley, lettuce, spinach, fennel, sprouts, ginger
3 nori rolls stuffed with spinach, mixed sprouts, avocado and a spread made from blending together jalepeno hummus with tahini, dill and water. Followed by little handful of pine nuts and goji berries
mug of choco tea
2 cups water

...and on Wednesday NEXT week, it’s time for me to have a public chinwag with Mr. Gianni too ;) On July the 2nd at 8PM EST, 5PM PST, we shall commence on a 70 minute live exploration of all things raw and especially weight-loss related...you wanna play? Everyone is welcome to join the call...and you can even shape the content of the discussion as you please, by sending in your questions ahead of time at THIS LINK. (Those of you who listened to Mr. Monarch’s interview may have caught the question I sent in for HIM ;) – if not, you can listen at the link above to find out what it was...and what his answer was... ;)
I look forward to answering your most exquisite and extraordinary questions on Wednesday :)
All blessings,
Miss Stokes. xxx

Inspirations...

I wanted to write a few notes for anyone who is a newcomer to this blog: firstly, WELCOME :) Thanks for joining us :) The readership here grows daily, so I thought I’d maybe go over a few things for those of you who are just joining this journey...
I started this blog back in November 2006, the night before I started my 92-Day Juice Feast. (The pic here is the first pic I ever posted, eating my 'final supper' before starting my feast the next day ;)
I had never even READ a blog before then, much less felt drawn to write one...however, I wanted somewhere to record my juicy meanderings, so I signed into Blogger and this new path began ;) I immediately fell in love with this communication medium, as it felt like ‘writing an email to the world’ – I could easily and quickly share what was happening in my life, with many readers...
Throughout my Juice Feast, I recorded what I drank daily. When I went back to solids, I then continued to write down what I consume, daily, HENCE, the daily food logs you see here, if you’ve been wondering why I write those ;) They also help me feel ‘accountable’ about my food choices (just like the Food Plans I recommend in my book ‘Raw Emotions’) AND many people seem to enjoy seeing what a 100% raw foodist actually eats from day-to-day...though one reader did write to me recently asking me to post pictures of what I eat, as they often sound really unappealing to her ;) LOL – as I replied to her, if the INGREDIENTS don’t sound great to her, I’m not sure the presentation is going to add much to the equation ;) I actually don’t have a stills camera with me at the moment – I hope I will have mine back at some point soon though and then I may indeed start posting food pics – stay tuned ;)
A couple of practical pointers: firstly, if there is anything you want to SEARCH for in older blog posts, just use the search box at the top left of the RawReform E-Journal homepage. For example, if you want to see what I’ve ever written about ‘lucuma’, type that into the box and it will bring up all the relevant posts ;)
Secondly, you can always look back through all the older posts month-by-month, in the ‘Archives’ section on the blog. Again, go to the blog homepage, then scroll down until you see ‘Archives’ on the right side of the page...
Thanks for all your continued lovely support and feedback... :)

on June the 22nd I had:

1 quart water
shot of wheatgrass
mug of choco tea
2 cups smoothie: lucuma, almonds, green powder, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, vanilla powder, maca, water, with goji berries and pine nuts stirred in for chewability
3 cups water
mug of choco tea
2.5 cups green juice: cucumber, fennel, spinach, parsley, freshly picked dandelion, lettuce, ginger
3 nori rolls stuffed with mixed sprouts, baby spinach leaves and spread made from blending jalepeno hummus, sunflower seeds, fresh cilantro, garlic and water. Followed by a little handful of pine nuts with goji berries
mug of choco tea
2 cups water


on June the 23rd I had:

1 quart water
mug of cinnamon tea
shot of hardcore strong wheatgrass ;)
2 cups smoothie: almonds, lucuma powder, green powder, vanilla, cinnamon, maca, water blended together with goji berries and sunflower seeds swirled in for chewability
mug of choco tea
3 cups water
2 cups green juice: cucumber, watercress, cilantro, fennel, ginger, spinach, sprouts
a red bell pepper
3 nori rolls stuffed with mixed sprouts, baby spinach leaves and spread made from blending jalepeno hummus, sunflower seeds, fresh cilantro, garlic and water. Followed by a little handful of pine nuts with goji berries
1 quart water


This week Mr. Monarch did an in-studio interview with Revvell Revati in California, discussing his book ‘Raw Success’, raw food travel, the blood gas theory, gas and bloating, his parents’ health and masses more, all packed into a dense half an hour ;O You can listen to the podcast free at THIS LINK.

ENJOY :)


on June the 24th I had:

1 quart water
shot of wheatgrass juice
2 cups smoothie: almonds, lucuma powder, green powder, vanilla, cinnamon, maca, water blended together with goji berries and sunflower seeds swirled in for chewability
mug of choco tea
3 cups water
a red bell pepper with a little handful of sunflower seeds
2.5 cups green juice: cucumber, watercress, cilantro, fennel, ginger, spinach, sprouts, lettuce
2 cups smoothie: almonds, lucuma powder, green powder, vanilla, cinnamon, maca, water blended together with goji berries and sunflower seeds swirled in for chewability
mug of choco tea
2 cups water

on June the 25th I had:

1 quart water
mug of choco tea
shot of wheatgrass
2 cups smoothie: sunflower seed butter, lucuma powder, green powder, vanilla, cinnamon, maca, water blended together with goji berries and sunflower seeds swirled in for chewability
mug of choco tea
3 cups water
cup of herbal tea
a red bell pepper
2 cups green juice: cucumber, watercress, cilantro, fennel, ginger, spinach, CELERY :) I FOUND CELERY :) YAY :)

I am absolutely LOVING PhilosophersNotes.com. Did you check it out yet? For those of you who didn’t yet tap into this resource, it’s like ‘mini-Cliffs Notes for self-development books’ and I think it’s really amazing.
As you may recall, this new service, created by ‘master-distiller-of-information’, Brian Johnson, offers you condensed versions of numerous wonderful books, such as ‘Authentic Happiness’, ‘Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway’, ‘Loving What Is’ and Eckhart Tolle’s ‘A New Earth’...there’s even Brendan Brazier’s ‘The Thrive Diet’ in there (yes, Brian is a raw food lover too... ;)

Brian takes all his favourite inspirational books like these and distills the offerings in each of them down into 6 page PDFs OR MP3 recordings of around 20 minutes, that you can listen to as you go about your day...
I’ve listened to around six of the Notes now and always find myself grinning profusely afterwards, as Brian offers up one ‘big idea’ after another, touching on so many fascinating insights and concepts...he explains things so clearly and articulately, with a lovely sense of humour thrown in to keep it all fresh and lively...
I’ve been listening to the MP3s while preparing juice or eating meals – I love that the recordings are so condensed I can easily get through a whole set of ‘Notes’ in one juicing session and come away with more than just my physical body feeling ‘nourished’ ;)
I highly recommend taking a look at the PhilosophersNotes.com site. You can even try out a couple of the titles for free there, to see what you make of them...AAAAAAAND, as a special offer to you lovely shiny raw people, Brian is also offering y’all 25% off the subscription prices, using THIS LINK.
I REALLY hope you enjoy tapping into this new resource as much as I am :)

All love,
Angela. xxx

'Better Than Roasted' Butter Bliss...

HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE :)))))
I hope those of you in the Northern hemisphere are loving the light, wherever you are :) ...and presumably happy WINTER solstice wishes are in order for our brothers and sisters down south...? Seems odd to contemplate now... ;)
I’m amazed daily at the LIGHT here in Iceland...I seriously don’t think it has been dark since I got here – nothing...just constant daylight ;) I love it...plus solstice and full moon all in one week, eh? How blessed we are... :)
…and for those of you who have been asking, yes, I will give a talk here in Iceland at some point in the coming weeks – details to be confirmed – I’ll post smthg here when more becomes clear...hopefully Mr. Monarch will be here too at some point and we can all play together...some of you have indeed been writing in, wondering if the Monarch and myself are still together ;) lol...mmmmm, still very much together, thank you...just apart in the physical at the moment, while we continue to wait out the visa process... :( He’s in the US at the moment, working on many exciting new projects, like stuffing all your orders with masses of free samples ;) ...hence the fact that he hasn’t blogged much recently either...he’s been working magic in other areas instead... ;)
All being well, we will BOTH be back enjoying life together Stateside before autumn equinox is upon us... ;) Until then, I’ll keep on soaking up the light here...

on June the 20th I had:

1 quart water
2.5 cups green juice: cucumber, cilantro, watercress, fennel, lettuce, ginger
2 cups smoothie: lucuma powder, almonds, pumpkin seeds, goji berries, green powder, water
1 quart water
shot of wheatgrass
bowl of sea spaghetti with sauce made from blended sunflower seed butter, fresh dill, cumin powder, green powder, garlic, Himalayan salt and water, with baby spinach leaves and spicy flax crackers
mug of ‘choco’ tea
3 cups water

OOoOOOOooooo, exciting buttery announcement:
So, that lovely Mr Monarch sent me a whole CASE of the divine ‘Better Than Roasted’ nut/seed butters a few weeks ago. As you may have noticed, they’ve been popping up in my food logs pretty much daily since then. WOW...this company seriously knows how to pack love into a product :))) Amazing...they soak all their seeds and nuts before they grind them down at low temperatures into these delicious spread-able pastes. These butters are proving so popular that the company actually bought extra, dedicated machines to keep up with the demand we’re sending their way ;O …aaaaaaaand, at the moment, they’re on sale on Mr Monarch’s site, at cost price – wow :) You can currently try any of the range from as little as $6.55 a jar – this is definitely a good time to try them out if you never have before...or stock up if you already love them :)
My favourite is the pine nut butter – WOW – liquidy, smooth, creamy, delectable ambrosia ;) Pistachio is probably my next favourite... they also have macadamia, brazil nut, apricot kernal, hazelnut, black sesame seed, sunflower and pumpkin seed butters. You can see the whole cut-price range at THIS LINK. Note that ground white chia seeds are also on sale there - $7.45 for a 1lb bag... :) These offers are valid only until the end of this month, so...enjoy now while the going’s groovy ;) YumMmMMmmmmmMMmMmmMmmmmmmm :)

on June the 21st I had:

1 quart water
2.5 cups green juice: cucumber, lettuce, spinach, parsley, fennel, ginger
2 cups smoothie: lucuma, almonds, pumpkin seeds, green powder, water with goji berries and pine nuts thrown in for chewability ;)
2 cups water
mug of peppermint tea
2 cups water
shot of wheatgrass
bowl of chia soaked in water, mixed with lucuma powder, goji berries, pine nuts, green powder, maca, cinnamon powder
mug of ‘choco’ tea
3 cups water

WOW, thanks so much everyone for the beautiful feedback that continues to flow in for ‘Raw Emotions’. I’m working on getting it ready for printing RIGHT NOW and hope that we’ll see it in a printed format within 2-3 months ;) I’ll keep y’all updated on progress with that...in the meantime, here’s a lovely review sent in by Jane:

“Firstly, I appreciated the fact that you don't assume everyone with an eating disorder is obese, or even overweight. Many Western women have horrible self-destructive relationships with food, which manifest in many ways and can be as devastating as obesity in Western cultures.

Secondly, I love the way you never preach, but offer stories, suggestions and tips based on your own experience of recovering from a difficult relationship with food! It's very easy to be intimidated and put off by dogmatic, extreme approaches to eating, which I've certainly encountered in the world of raw food diets. I appreciate your "middle path" approach. "One God, many paths," Gandhi.

Thirdly, I really, really love your holistic approach - it's all too easy to assume that recovering from eating issues/disorders is exclusively about food. It certainly isn't! You've included so many simple, practical, creative, interesting - and sometimes - fun suggestions for approaching a healthier relationship with food! I personally like the idea of a morning prayer and affirmations.

Finally, I'm very grateful for your list of recommended reading and have been working my way through one of the books: "Home Coming" by John Bradshaw, which is possibly one of the toughest but simultaneously healing books I've ever encountered.

My only criticism is that "Raw Emotions" isn't currently available in book format, as this is the sort of information, I'd like to carry around with me, or keep by my bed, so that I can dip in-and-out for inspiration.

Thanks again for your work Angela; I feel you devote a lot of time and energy to reaching out and supporting other people...and it's much appreciated.

Best Wishes,
Jane”

Awwwwww, thanks love :))))) Yep...hopefully that printed book version will be in your hands in just a couple of months' time... ;)
All blessings for now,
Miss Stokes. xxx

Raw Magic in the US :)

Raw Magic by Kate Magic Wood in the RawReform Store NOW

I’m delighted to say that we’re the first outlet to be offering ‘Raw Magic’ for sale in the US - the world’s first raw superfood recipe book.
Written by the UK’s marvellous Ms. Kate Magic Wood, this glossy new volume contains 160 recipes, demonstrating how to use superfoods like maca, goji berries, bee pollen, spirulina, cacao, purple corn and so on in yummy meals DAILY.
Containing dishes such as ‘Cacaoslaw’, ‘Flaxtastic Olive Bread’, ‘Super-Sexy Curry’ (see recipe below), ‘Buzz Cake’, ‘Superbliss Tart’ and ‘Quantum Cake’, Raw Magic is sure to go down as a classic in raw recipe book history.
The presentation of the book is absolutely GORGEOUS, with full colour photography throughout, taken by none other than Ms. Shazzie herself. This book absolutely blows the idea that raw foods are ‘boring’ out of your distilled water ;) Along with LUSCIOUS pics of the superfood creations, you’ll find many snaps of raw foodists munching on yumminess too – look out for myself and the Monarch on the back cover and inside, Shazzle-dazzle and little Evie, Dr. Wolfe, Super Goji Girl and many more.
This book is an absolute feast for your eyes, interest-nodules and hopefully your belly too, when you start preparing some of these nutrient-packed creations... ;)
Raw Magic is Kate’s 3rd raw recipe book and the recipes are really simply laid out and easy to follow. Before she gets into the recipe pages themselves, she also offers a very informative section on the various transformative properties of the different superfoods.
Kate’s vibrant creations are legendary, especially her cakes and when I first read through Raw Magic, I wanted to try some of these recipes IMMEDIATELY, like ‘Sky High Spaghetti’, ‘Ecstatic Being Salad’, ‘Tarts for the Tart’, ‘Chocolate Crispy Cakes’ and ‘Golden Goji Love’...YUMMMMM ;) I am also very excited to see that Kate has included a recipe for seaweed chocolate in this book – ‘Hi-Seas’. I lived on and off with Kate and family for a while in Brighton and seaweed chocolate was one of the YUMMIEST and most inspired things I ever experienced from Kate’s magical kitchen creations.
Here’s a note from Ms. Magic herself:

“Warning: daily use of this book will cause you to surrender to the divine love that flows through us all and take you on new paths of discovery and wonder. It also contains partial nudity and mild adult humour.”

You can order a copy of Raw Magic HERE :)
ENJOY :)

on June the 18th I had:

1 quart water
3 cups green juice: cucumber/watercress/oakleaf lettuce/spinach/cilantro/fennel/ginger
2 cups smoothie: lucuma, maca, carob powder, sunflower seed butter, green powder, water
2 cups water
mug of spice tea
shot of wheatgrass juice
bowl of sea spaghetti with sauce made from blending pistachio butter, dill, garlic, crystal salt and water
2 cups water
little bowl of blended goji berries, almonds, pumpkin seeds, lucuma
2 cups water

Hmmmm, so...I haven’t really located any suitable alternative herbs to use yet for continuing my parasite cleanse...not feeling very concerned though at present – the limbo feels fine to be flowing with...it’s interesting to me, to be ‘off’ fruits/overt sweetness for a while...feels very grounding and it’s not smthg I’ve really ever done ‘accurately’ as a raw foodist for any length of time.
As some of you may have read in Raw Emotions, there was a point in my early raw days when I lived here in Iceland that I was technically ‘off’ all sugars in my head, as I had an intense candida overgrowth I was aiming to curb. So, I agreed to stop eating all fruits and dried fruits, as part of the treatment. However, at that point, my relationship with food was still very sticky and compulsive and I would often find myself stuffing cooked sugary cakes and breads into my mouth anyway, regardless of the fact that in my head I was ‘off all sugars for my health’s sake’ ;) Aaaahhhhhh, the crazy world of compulsion... ;)
So, it’s interesting for me energetically that I am now again on the same piece of land, sans sweeteners, a few years further down the line...and this time actually doing what I intend to do...and having no issues with it at all now that there is so much more raw experience behind me – I no longer feel ‘eeeeeek, what do I EAT if there’s no fruit’ – I am actually really enjoying playing with the things I’m eating at the moment – greens, fats, sprouts and seaweeds mostly – hmmmm, well, we’ll see where this all leads… ;)

on June the 19th I had:

1 quart water
2 cups green juice: cucumber/watercress/cilantro/spinach/fennel/ginger
2 cups smoothie: lucuma, maca, almonds, pumpkin seeds, goji berries, green powder, water
mug of spice tea
2 cups water
shot of wheatgrass juice
bowl of sea spaghetti with sauce made from blending sunflower seed butter, dill, garlic, crystal salt and water
mug of spice tea
water water water…masses of it…it’s incomparable…love Iceland

Here’s a sample recipe from Kate’s book to enjoy – oooo la la…it's...

Supersexy Curry
By Kate Magic Wood, taken from Raw Magic, published by Rawcreation, April 2008.

Serves one
15 mins
Blender

Charged with superfoods, this dinner is perfect for feeding to your very own god or goddess.

1 large avocado
3 small tomatoes
2 sticks celery
¼ red onion
1 lemon, juiced
2 tbsp hulled hemp seeds
2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp maca powder
¼ tsp suma powder
100 g or 1 cup cauliflower
½ red pepper
50 g or 1 cup spinach
1 tbsp goji berries

Peel and pit the avocado, and put the flesh into the blender. Half the tomatoes, and chop the celery sticks into eighths, and put them in the blender too. Add the onion, lemon juice, hemp seeds and curry powder and blend to a thick puree. Add in the maca and suma and blend briefly. If you blend maca for too long it goes bitter. Remove the sauce from the blender and put in a bowl. Chop your cauliflower into small bite-sized pieces, and dice your pepper into pieces the same size. Stir the cauliflower, pepper, spinach and gojis into the sauce. Eat straightaway.


ENJOY :)
All love,
Angelalalaaaaaaa. xxx

Raw in ICELAND...??? ;)

I’m in Iceland :) I arrived yesterday and am very glad to be back :) As some of you who read this know, I used to live here, on and off, over a period of 3.5 years. I actually went raw here, way back in 2002. I haven’t visited for at least 2 years and it’s wonderful to be here again :)
Some of the things I LOVE about being here:

*I find the AIR and WATER quality off-the-scale amazing. The air is so clean it’s like you can get high just breathing here ;) Nowhere else in the world that I’ve been would I drink the tap water, except here – the water is just phenomenal – so clean and ‘pure’ tasting. It’s so odd to me to drink from the same tap I’ve just been washing dishes from... ;)

*The light...ohhhhhhh, yessssss, the light, the light, the endless light. It’s days away from summer solstice and the daylight here already pretty much doesn’t end...more-or-less 24 hour daylight is one of those magical things about Iceland in the summer :) Last night it was around 11pm when I went to bed – however, from looking out the window, it could have been 4 in the afternoon...I love it...midnight hikes anyone...? ;)

*Small population of humans – this is definitely key for me – there are around 300,000 humans in this whole country (smthg like the size of Ireland). That’s not many folk. I like that ;) While the human population worldwide apparently DOUBLED from around 1950 to 2000, the population here still feels reassuringly petite. I really appreciate the sweet ‘humanity’ this seems to foster between people – crime rates are very low, the general atmosphere seems relaxed and easy-going and it just feels like there’s so much more ‘head-space’ here than in other places – more room to think than in a space crammed with other humans ;)

*Stunning scenery – yep...Iceland is a natural wonderland – geysers, waterfalls, glaciers, mountains, horses, lava fields, rolling countryside, dramatic beachscapes – it’s got the lot...even Reykjavik, the capital city, feels spacious and ‘green’ compared to any other city I’ve encountered...

*It’s lovely to hear so much Icelandic again and flex the language nodes in my brain ;) I used to speak Icelandic pretty well when I lived here...in the interim, a fair amount seems to have fallen out of my brain, or at least fallen asleep, as I rarely use the language elsewhere (though I do enjoy passing a few choice words onto Mr. Monarch at times ;). It feels good to be immersed in Icelandic again and soaking it up...

Today was incidentally the ‘National Day’ of Iceland, wherein the majority of the population can be found wandering the streets in Reykjavik, enjoying outdoor entertainment and celebrating their independence :) It was fun to go downtown today and join the thronging masses...happy national day, Iceland :)

on June the 14th I had:

1 quart water
mug pau d’arco tea
2 cups juice: celery/cucumber/spinach/parsley
2 cups smoothie: brazil nut butter, yacon powder, carob powder, green powder, water
3 cups water
1.5 cups juice: celery/cucumber/spinach/parsley
handful of bee pollen/hemp seed and a morsel of raw chocolate (sans intense sugars)
3 cups water
3 nori rolls stuffed with baby spinach, alfalfa, broccoli and mung bean sprouts & jalepeno/cilantro hummus. 2 tsps goji powder
1 quart water

on June the 15th I had:

1 quart water
mug of rooibus tea
2 cups celery/cucumber/spinach/parsley/endive/fennel juice
3 nori rolls stuffed with baby spinach, alfalfa, broccoli and mung bean sprouts & jalepeno/cilantro hummus. Little ball of lucuma/maca/yacon powder/carob/water
1 quart water
pack of curry nori powerstix
2 cups celery/cucumber/spinach/parsley/endive/fennel juice
2 cups smoothie: pumpkin seeds, macadamia butter, yacon powder, carob powder, green powder, water
mug of pau d’arco tea
1 cup water

Hmmmmmm, something a little unfortunate happened. I accidentally left half of the capsules for the parasite cleanse I’ve been doing, in England...hmmmm...so, for today at least, my parasite elimination programme has been temporarily suspended – well, the herbal part of it anyway – I’ve continued to eat the same way today and intend to try to find an alternative source of the appropriate herbs here asap, so that I can continue...I’ll keep you updated how that goes ;) So far I haven’t noticed any HUGE changes since taking the herbs – it’s only been a week though and it’s intended to be a 3 week cleanse, so...we’ll see how it unfolds from here ;)

on June the 16th I had:

1 quart water
2 cups celery/cucumber/spinach/parsley/endive/fennel juice
salad of spinach leaves, mixed sprouts and dulse with flax crackers and brazil nut butter
1 quart water
a delicious orange bell pepper
2 cups water
2 tsp green powder
2 cups smoothie: sunflower seed butter, yacon powder, carob powder, green powder, water
3 cups water


on June the 17th I had:

1 quart water
2 cups green juice: cucumber, watercress, cilantro, spinach, fennel, ginger – yummmmmy :)
3 nori rolls stuffed with spinach, alfalfa, mixed sprouts and a mixture of jalepeno hummus with pistachio butter
mug of spice tea
1 quart water
handful of trail mix: almonds, pumpkin seeds, goji berries
2 cups water
2 cups smoothie: sunflower seed butter, yacon powder, carob powder, green powder, water
2 cups water

In April 2007, I facilitated a womens’ Juice Feasting retreat at Ronora Lodge in Michigan. It was a spectacular success, with many participants saying at the end of it that it was one of the highlights of their lives. Now Ronora has expanded its raw food facilities into the beautiful new ‘Raw Food Villa’ and will be offering Living Health Retreats this summer and beyond. I think this is a VERY exciting opportunity for anyone who is interested to go on an affordable 3-10 day retreat, get immersed in raw yumminess and connect with others on the same path. The current scheduled retreat dates are:

July 17-27
August 14-24
August 29-Sept 3 with Victoria Boutenko :)
September 18-28
October 16-26

You can see more details on their site: http://livinghealthretreats.com or you can also call them on 1-877-RAW-RAW8 (1-877-729-7298).
If you’ve never been to Ronora or heard about it, the land there is stunning – the caretakers keep most of it as a wildlife reserve and also buy up surrounding properties when possible, to add to this protected space. The property is 400+ lovely, quiet acres for you to explore and enjoy; it has a secluded private lake, acres of woods, wildlife, pristine pastures and miles of nature trails. There is a LOT of love at Ronora, plus space, fresh air, tranquility and now amazing raw food facilities too :) I’m excited to get back there when I can, to hold another retreat at some point...in the meantime, I strongly recommend you check out their schedule if you’re looking for a raw-friendly getaway ;)

ENJOY :)
All love,
Angela. xxx

Meditation and Cleansing...

Here’s a reader Q that came in recently from Sarah:

“I was just wondering if you could be more specific about how you handled the electricity moving through your body so that it could be a "whole body" experience. This has been my experience more than once, but I've experienced a particularly powerful and overwhelming case of this recently. You know, this is one of the reasons why I haven't become 100% raw--I feel much too ungrounded even at 80-90%. I'm seem to be okay at 60-70%, though. Any thoughts? In light, Sarah”

Thanks Sarah :) HMmmmmm, yes, meditation and deep breathing were my main avenues for transferring the impact of the energy into my third eye chakra into a more whole body experience. Here is something I wrote recently about the way that I meditate, which perhaps might resonate for you:

I go into meditation seated cross-legged, with my hands rested on my knees, palms upwards, ready to receive and thumb and first finger connected in the endless loop of being. I try to be seated either outside in nature or somewhere facing out of a window towards trees. I like to connect in with tree energy as I ground myself into the reality of each day. I feel deep reverence for the simple majesty of trees – how the larger ones in particular have been there for decades upon decades and seen so much come and go, yet remain still and quietly observing, peaceful, in the midst of it all. They help me to get perspective, especially if small details in my life seem to be dominating my thoughts and actions.
I close my eyes, breathe deeply and begin to connect in to the universal energy.
I start with my base chakra and work up through my whole energy system, connecting in to the bigger energy field through each of my portals, energising my whole being. As I focus on the root chakra, I see it connecting as long red roots, emerging from my body where I’m seated and going deep down into the earth, grounding me into the earth energy and re-affirming my presence here on Earth at this time, in physical form. Then I move up to the second chakra Chakras 2 to 6 I visualize all as flowing through me from front to back, in the lower abdomen, which is involved with creativity, sexuality and finances. I acknowledge the flow of energy there too – this time visualizing it as a constant swirling stream passing in through the front of my body and out through the back – open and orange in colour.ck in this way. Moving up, the third chakra, in the solar plexus – personal power, the image we have of ourselves and portray to the world – I visualize as a swirling yellow flow passing through me from front to back. This chakra is my biggest holding point and it often requires a little extra attention for me to feel real release and flow here. Then I move to the 4th chakra, in the area of the heart – the place of love, emotions, feelings, which I see as a beautiful green flowing light. The fifth chakra, in the throat, is associated with communication, embodiment and truth and this I see as a blue flow through my neck area. In the centre of my forehead is my 6th chakra, the ‘Third Eye’ – my connection to my intuition and guidance. This is my strongest point of contact with meditation. I see it as a flowing purple or white light through my forehead and generally receive the biggest single energy hits through this point. Lastly, the crown chakra – number seven – I see as a white or violet or golden light, reaching up and out through my crown, way up into the universe, like a many-petaled lotus opening and reaching out to the skies. This is my connection with the whole Universe and all oneness. I call the energy to flow into me from both the base and top of my system simultaneously – from the Earth and the Heavens in unison and as it merges in the middle of my body in the heart chakra, I visualize it bursting forth from my being in floods of green light and love, from both the front and back of my body, encircling my body and spreading out love to all. I call for the energy to fill my whole being with love, light and healing. I feel my ‘aura’ or ‘eighth chakra’ or whatever you like to call it – my whole energy field fill with light and love – it is white and strong and like a huge egg-shaped bubble of ‘protection’ around my being. Once I am tuned in like this, mostly during meditation I try to stay with my 6th chakra. I breathe deeply and feel so relaxed to connect in to the whole of oneness through this point. I feel the field of all the other inter-connected beings in this Universe – my brothers and sisters in this big game of life and beyond that, in the whole Universe. I connect in and give love and gratitude to all. I try to just be in that space as much as possible, though my mind inevitably wanders at times. I draw myself back in by taking a quick tour up through my charkas again, or focusing my attention back to my 6th chakra. The energy flows through my body in huge waves as I call it in and it feels wonderful. Sometimes it is so strong that parts of me shake from it – like my hands. It is not dissimilar to the sensation of being electrocuted, though much more pleasant. Sometimes if I am not feeling very strong physically, like during a fast, it can actually feel quite challenging for me to bring the energy in like this, as it is so huge and my structure feels too weak to support it at that moment. Then it’s best for me to ask for a toned-down version at that point. I’m never given more than I can truly handle. Sometimes I help myself regain focus in meditation by reminding myself how I am just a tiny piece of the Universe, a little spark of the life force, here to experience life in human form and that it’s all just a game. Ultimately everything is always alright and I can go ‘home’ to Spirit at any point, but right now, being this being and playing the game of being human is my current focus of attention. This helps to widen out my perspective and connect me in to the bigger picture a lot more, realising the details of my current existence are a tiny slither of the enormous greater picture that surrounds us. Another way I draw focus is to ask myself to be totally present in that moment – not in the past, thinking of things that happened yesterday and not in the future, wondering abt the day ahead, just right here and right now, sitting on this cushion, listening to those birds chattering outside, connecting to this whole Universe. That really helps me get into place. I see this part of my daily practice as the part where I am ‘listening’ to the universe and spirit, rather than talking and asking – I get myself as ‘blank’ as possible, as a conduit for the energy of the Universe to flow through me. Sometimes I am given key insights for the unfolding of the day or future ventures in those moments. Sometimes it is more just a clean flow of loving energy, filling my being with healing. I just try to be still and present, listening to any promptings of the Universe as I would listen to the talking of any friend sat with me – with an open perspective. I usually sit in meditation for around 15 minutes. Towards the end, I take another tour through my chakras, firing them up once more for the day ahead, filling my being with light, then I raise my hands in prayer position to touch my third eye chakra and acknowlege that all is love. My hands then lower to my lap, where I hold them palm-up in a receiving position and calling in my truth from the energy of the Universe, directly into my hands, I state in my head ‘I am filling up with my soul’s truth’. As I feel that energy move into my hands, I turn them over, releasing that power into the structure of my body. I repeat that three times. So ends my morning meditation.
Throughout the day, I take the space to reconnect to my chakra system in this way whenever I feel the need or whenever I remember. This is a really key process for me. Whenever I feel confused, ungrounded, jostled or out-of-place, I breathe deeply and connect in to my chakras, from the base up, filling my being with light and drawing energy and support from the Universe. If I am in a particularly challenging situation, or have been ‘out of contact’ for a number of hours, the energy rush I am given can feel enormous. I am always so appreciative of re-connecting like this and it renews my sense of wonder and stability in this world...

That was a pretty lengthy explanation - hope it helps ;)


on June the 10th I had:

1 quart water
mug pau d’arco tea
2 cups juice: spinach/celery/cucumber/sprouts/ginger/endive/carrot
2 cups delicious smoothie: macadamia butter, yacon powder, carob powder, maca, green powder, water
2 cups water
3 cups juice: parsley/cucumber/celery/endive
veggie/chia crackers with tahini, avo, sprouts. Salad of spinach, sprouts, dulse, mung bean sprouts, dressing of pumpkin seed butter/ACV/kelp powder/water
2 quarts water

on June the 11th I had:

1 quart water
mug of rooibus tea
3 cups juice: spinach/celery/cucumber/endive/cilantro
1.5 smoothie: macadamia butter, yacon powder, carob powder, maca, green powder, water
2 cups water
Salad of spinach, sprouts, dulse, mung bean sprouts, dressing of pumpkin seed butter/ACV/kelp powder/water, with raw crackers on side
1.5 cups juice: celery/cucumber/endive/cilantro/spinach
2 cups smoothie: soaked almonds, yacon powder, carob powder, maca, green powder, water
2 cups water

As you may have noticed, my food intake is a bit different suddenly than it has been of late ;) I’m doing a parasite cleanse and am currently off all overt sugars - fruit and dried fruits. It’s advisable to come off sugary things while taking in the strong ‘anti-parasite’ herbs, so that your internal environment doesn’t seem like such a cushy place to live anymore ;)
Being off sugars actually feels really easy-going so far – maybe because I’ve been eating so many yummy fruits lately that I’ve had my fill for a while ;) I’ve been wanting to do a parasite cleanse for many months and it kept not feeling right – now it feels like the right time and I started 4 days ago, on Tuesday. I am basically drinking green veggie juice 2x a day, eating one larger ‘salad’ meal in the middle of the day and one or two blended drinks each day too, with a nut/seed base and powders. It means I'm consuming lots of greens, sprouts, nuts/seeds etc. I am using a few low/no glycemic sweeteners like yacon powder, lucuma powder, carob powder, goji powder, which don’t seem sugary enough to mess up my balance ;) The herbs definitely seem powerful – I’ll be doing this for 3 weeks, so I’ll keep you updated with how it unfolds ;)
(BTW, someone wrote in recently asking what ‘ACV’ means in my food logs – it’s apple cider vinegar ;)

on June the 12th I had:

1 quart water
mug rooibus tea
2 cups juice: celery/cucumber/spinach/endive/parsley
2 cups smoothie: macadamia butter, yacon powder, carob powder, maca, green powder, water
Salad of spinach, sprouts, dulse, mung bean sprouts, dressing of pumpkin seed butter/ACV/kelp powder/water, with raw crackers on side. 3 tsp goji berry powder = yummmmmmm :)
1 quart water
mug of ‘clarity’ tea
3 cups juice: celery/cucumber/spinach/endive/parsley
3 cups water


On June the 13th I had:

1 quart water
mug ‘clarity’ tea
3 cups juice: celery/cucumber/spinach/endive/parsley
3 cups smoothie: macadamia butter, almonds, carob powder, yacon powder, green powder, kelp powder
mug of peppermint tea
3 cups water
2 cups juice: celery/cucumber/spinach/endive/parsley
bowl of salad: spinach/alfalfa sprouts/mung bean sprouts with dressing of pistachio butter, ACV, kelp powder, water and chia crackers. Followed by 3tsp goji powder
mug of rooibus tea
2 cups water


Reminder: Mr Monarch speaks tomorrow, Saturday the 14th in LA, starting 7pm. If you’re in the area and not already attending, the details are below if you’d like to go along – the previous limit has been lifted on the number of attendees now and there are already over 100 people signed up – I think it will be a great event :) Of course I would LOVE to actually be there in person too – for now I’ll be with you all in spirit though – ENJOY :)

Los Angeles, CA - Raw Food Transformational Talk with Matt Monarch
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The Meeting Room
7:00 - 10:00 pm
$12
The Meeting Room
2999 Overland Avenue,
Suite 205
Los Angeles, CA 90064
For More Information and R.S.V.P. Contact:
Diana
562-493-8461
diana29@verizon.net
http://www.rawfood.meetup.com/202
Matt Monarch, author of 'Raw Spirit' & 'Raw Success', and Raw Food Educator has been eating 100% raw for nearly 8 years now. You can learn more about him at www.rawspirit.org.

ENJOY :)
All love,
Angelalalalalaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

Retreats and Relief...

OOOoooo, here’s another exciting raw food job opportunity alert:
I was contacted this week by Florence in Canada, who is looking for three yummy beings to help run her spa and wellness resort at a 4* wilderness lodge in the Selkirk Mountains, BC. The roles are:

1) Cleanse Director
2) Raw Food Chef and Lifestyle Coach
3) Holistic Health Practitioner and Spa Services Coordinator

The centre will be offering raw food, body cleansing and health rejuvenation retreats.
The pay for these positions looks great, the scenery will definitely be stunning, the work rewarding and staff from outside the immediate area might also be able to live in the lodge during the retreat season (July-October).
Full job descriptions and details on how to apply for these positions are available on the retreat website - http://www.inner-cleanse.ca/ - click the ‘Employment Opportunities’ button, on the left-hand side. You can also read details about the retreats on the site.
ENJOY :)

on June the 6th I had:

1 quart water
1 mug of pau d’arco tea
3 cups cucumber/celery/pineapple/ginger juice
2 cups water
1lb cherries
yummy savoury meal of nori rolls stuffed with dill hummus, mung bean sprouts, baby spinach, lambs’ quarters and spicy cracker pieces. Followed by a DELECTABLE little bowl of goji berry powder, yacon powder and pine nut butter mixed together :O
cup of peppermint tea
2 cups celery/cucumber/cilantro/spinach/endive/fennel/ginger/carrot juice
2 apples and 2 tbsp of divine goji powder
2 cups water

on June the 7th I had:

1 quart water
1 mug pau d’arco tea
2 cups celery/cucumber/cilantro/spinach/endive/fennel/ginger/carrot juice
a delicious papaya
3 cups water
jalapeno/cilantro hummus with baby leaf salad, nori, Mexican flax crackers and mung bean sprouts. 2 raw chocolate bliss balls
3 cups water
3 cups celery/cucumber/apple/ginger juice
1lb gorgeous cherries and 2 tbsp goji berry powder
2 cups water

After the blog I wrote about travel last week, Makaela replied to say:

“Just like to mention, have travelled in India, & took the homeopathic remedies for malaria...and out of a few of us, the only ones that got sick were the ones taking the prescribed medication for malaria...the homeopathic work a treat .....& Helios etc. advise always for free...
Makaela”

WOW, that’s SO great to hear, Makaela, thanks for sharing that. I can remember taking rounds of the prescribed malaria tablets at least twice on travels in my younger days and they felt horrendous in my body, just as I’d heard they would be – nausea, headaches etc (and that from someone who was VERY accustomed to taking allopathic medicines at that point ;) Yes...very unpleasant pills, so it’s WONDERFUL to hear a raw foodie success story with taking the homoeopathic remedy instead...thanks :)
Incidentally, while we’re on the topic of nasty old medicines, I awoke one day this week to the taste of thyroxine in my mouth – which I stopped taking 6 years ago when I went raw (after being on it for abt 12 years). WOW...where had THAT been hiding...??? ;)

on June the 8th I had:

1 quart water
1 mug womens’ tea
big slice of watermelon
3 cups cucumber/celery/pineapple/carrot/ginger juice
flax crackers and nori rolls with pistachio nut butter, mung bean sprouts & lambs’ lettuce. Followed by a little ball of goji berry powder, yacon powder and pine nut butter together = total YUM ;)
mug of peppermint tea
3 cups water
2 cups celery/cucumber/endive/sprouts/lettuce/carrot juice
½ a yummy papaya
little ramekin (love that word ;) bowl of carob powder mixed with yacon powder and pine nut butter
3 cups water


on June the 9th I had:

1 quart water
1 mug pau d’arco tea
2 cups celery/cucumber/endive/sprouts/lettuce/carrot juice
½ a yummy papaya
2 cups water
2 apples with ½ an avocado, dulse, mung beans, pistachio nut butter and a few flax crackers
ramekin of carob powder/yacon powder/pine nut butter
1.5 quarts water
2 cups celery/cucumber/endive/cilantro/ginger/carrot/apple juice
sublime little bowl of blended green yum: macadamia butter, yacon powder, maca powder, carob powder, green powder, water
2 cups water

I’ve been reading a couple of the Postsecret books this last week. Have you been over to Postsecret.com? I’ve mentioned it before once or twice...I think it’s a fascinating project. If you’re not familiar, it is a ‘community art project’ wherein people anonymously send in their secrets that they’ve never told anyone before, written on postcards. These postcards are then displayed on the website, at travelling exhibitions and some of them make it into the Postsecret books (4 books have been published so far I think).

Frank Warren is the guy who started this project and had NO idea that it would reach the scale it has – I believe over 250,000 postcards have been sent in since he started in 2005. People write in about all kinds of things – unrequited love, deepest wishes, traumas, memories, suspicions, doubts etc. The books are amazing little collections of expressed vulnerability, truth and sincerity. You can almost sense the collective relief of letting these things OUT into the world, out of each individual’s head ;)

I remember when I first started to get into ‘recovery’ work, as outlined in ‘Raw Emotions’, one of the things that struck me the most was connecting to the vulnerability, fallibility and ‘humanity’ of others – realising that, wow, other people do things or have done things they don’t feel so great about and it’s ok to talk about those things, share them, release them and hey, maybe even laugh about it all afterwards ;) This is the same kind of transformative energy I perceive in the Postsecret project and books too. Indeed, I’ve heard of people reading one of these books and it helping catalyse them into whole new life paths...beautiful...
My favourite piece that I’ve seen in the 2 books I’ve been looking at over the last week seems to have been written by a young woman in Canada. She wrote that there were 6 things she felt unable to tell anyone – even her boyfriend, who she shares everything with. She wrote them down on 6 postcards and was going to mail them in to Postsecret. The next morning, she decided instead to leave them next to her boyfriend’s pillow as he slept and she left for work. A while later, he arrived at her place of work.
He asked her to marry him.
She said yes.
That actually moves to tears – I find the shift in energy so beautiful – that these things that have probably been holding her back from being fully present, open and loving for years are suddenly instantly transformed and released, in the light of acceptance and love. We’re all human. We all have aspects of clutter and shadow behind us – they don’t have to strangle-hold our experiences though, if we choose to let them out into the light...
Ahhhhhhhhh, breathing deep with gratitude here,

All love,
Angela. xxx

Fruity Feedback...

I’m re-reading Raw Emotions at the moment. I’m happy to see that it makes sense ;) LOL...after a couple of months’ break from it, I’m reading it over and getting it ready to go to print. I’m adding in a few little extras here and there for the printed version, like a ‘testimony’ page of peoples’ comments so far who have read the book. We’ve had some absolutely lovely feedback already and we’re certainly open to more if YOU’ve read 'Raw Emotions' and would like to share anything in regards to your experience with it. Here’s something sent in by ‘A’ this week:

“Hi Angela, I just wanted to tell you that I finished reading "Raw Emotions" last night.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for writing this book.

You have hit so many nails on the head for me in this book, I am very grateful to you. I am now in the process over going back through my notes to decide which concepts I am going to implement first.

I want so badly to heal my relationship with food and eating and you are such an inspiration to me. Now I see clearly why my earlier attempts at being raw or succeeding with any other way of eating have not been sustainable.
And, thanks to your book, I understand why eating raw foods can be an important part of the healing process. Maybe the time was right for me to get the message...and maybe it's about the teacher showing up with the student is ready.

Thanks again.
Best, A.”

THANKS, A :) If YOU have a testimony you’d love to share, or any comments, feedback, typo alerts or anything else about ‘Raw Emotions’ you’d care to send in, please email angela@rawreform.com and let me know :) You can also order the e-book HERE if you haven’t seen it yet...
THANKS :)

on June the 4th I had:

1 quart water
cup of pau d’arco tea
10oz celery/cucumber/cabbage/fennel/spinach/carrot juice
1lb cherries
2 cups celery/cucumber/spinach/fennel/cabbage/endive/lemon juice
spicy flax crackers topped with dill hummus, sprouts and dulse seaweed = yummmmm
little bowl of sweet stuff afterwards = GOJI BERRY POWDER (WOW), yacon powder and lucuma powder, mixed with water
3 cups water
10oz celery/cucumber/spinach/fennel/cabbage/endive/lemon juice
orange fruits meal: papaya/loquats/persimmon
3 cups water

Time for another story of Brighton magic :) A couple of days ago, a dear friend was leaving on a trip to London for the day. Just before she left, I said ‘Mmmmm, if I was going to London today, I’d go and eat durian there...’ ;)
A few hours later, I was walking down a street in Brighton and suddenly felt the energy of durian, as my attention was drawn to the left. I looked up and there was a Chinese supermarket there that I’d never seen before. Hmmm...I followed the clues and walked towards the store. I then SMELT the durian before I even saw it...and entered the shop to find 2 boxes of fresh, unfrozen durian sitting next to the door. :))) I’ve never seen durian for sale in Brighton before and was extremely excited. The owner told me she gets shipments of them every week in the summer time and this was the first shipment of the summer...and it had just arrived a few minutes before I got there. WOW. The synchronicities in this place are just beautiful :) I really feel like Brighton is an amazing vortex at times – things can certainly manifest quickly here... The cost seemed reasonable too, at £5.95/kilo – which doesn’t seem wildly different to London prices, if I recall correctly. I bought a gorgeous little fruit and ate it in the sun yesterday. If anyone else would love to go and partake of these magnificent munchables, the address is:

Ryelight Supermarket, 48 Preston Street, Brighton, BN1 2HP Tel: 01273 734954

ENJOY :)


on June the 5th I had:

1 quart water
1 mug pau d’arco tea
orange fruits meal: papaya/loquats/persimmon
3 cups celery/cucumber/endive/spinach/fennel/ginger/apple juice
a GORGEOUS little durian
1.5 quarts water
3 cups celery/cucumber/endive/spinach/fennel/ginger/apple juice
1 mug rooibus tea
1 cup water

I’ve been eating quite a lot of fruit (mono-)meals of late and REALLY enjoying them. Here are some of the things I’ve been appreciating:

1. I love that when I eat a fruit meal, I feel light afterwards, rather than ‘weighed down’ in some sense by fats/heavier combinations, etc. When we first go raw, for most of us, there’s a sense that we can almost ‘eat anything’ and we’ll still lose weight, feel healthier and lighter after meals and so on, even if we’re eating raw pizza and cheesecakes all day long – this is of course because we’ve STOPPED eating the really crazy toxic processed/cooked ‘foods’ and almost anything that’s raw is some kind of improvement. That all shifts, the longer one is raw. If I was to eat raw pizza, cookies, cakes etc all day long now, I’d be a mess...LOL...my body consistently moves towards a ‘cleaner’/simpler intake all the time. Whereas raw pizza might have felt ‘light on my stomach’ to me at the start of this journey compared to the junk foods I used to eat, that is no longer the case. Now FRUIT meals feel light to me and I like the ‘clean’ feeling of fuelling up on them...
2. Yesterday I was eating some gorgeous papaya in the sun (one of my absolute favourite foods). After eating, I looked at my skin and noticed my arms and legs looked a little dry. Hmmm, what to do...? Then I realised the answer was right there in front of me – the discarded papaya skin :) I picked it back up and rubbed it all over my limbs – I got my food, then they got theirs’ – wonderful :)
3. I’m feeling more and more that I definitely prefer eating fruits whole, as they are, rather than blending them, making them into cakes/puddings etc. It just feels SO good to me to eat something like that in its whole and natural form, giving blessings before I open it or bite into it, visualising where it came from, giving gratitude. It seems a very different energy to throwing something in a blender and shattering all the cells into a mixture of something else. I’m reading the classic book ‘The Secret Life of Plants’ at the moment, which is also impacting my thoughts around this a lot ;) Plants truly sense and respond to all our thoughts and feelings, as repeatedly outlined in this book with countless examples...
4. I love when supermarkets/stores sell off the BEST fruit really cheaply, because as far as their standards go, it is ‘overripe’, when in fact, it is absolutely IDEALLY ready for munching...this week for example, I got a clutch of divine persimmons that were perfectly soft and ripe for less than £1 ($2)...I see this happen a lot with bananas too...
5. Finally...GOJI BERRY POWDER...while this may be a dried fruit product, rather than something of the more succulent nature, I felt compelled nonetheless to mention it here. This week, three sachets of dried goji berry powder arrived here from Mr. Monarch in the US. (: W.O.W. :) This is one of the most sublime raw foods I’ve tasted yet. Absolutely delicious – it melts in your mouth and tastes sweet and fresh and bizarrely reminiscent of some kind of childhood sweets (not sure which...) You can literally just eat it straight from the packet on its own, it’s SO tasty...or add to any kind of sweet raw meal/smoothie/cake etc...you can get hold of some HERE if you’d like to treat your taste buds ;)

All love,
Angela. xxx

Travelling in the RAW...

I’m going to answer a couple of travel-related raw questions today that came in recently...first up:

“I am deciding to go & do a little travelling & wondering / hoping you might cover some of your essential tips for travelling in the raw possibly on your blog.....
Makaela”

Thank you :) Ok...let’s see...here are my Top 10 Essential Tips for travelling in the raw...

*BE PREPARED – take nutrient-dense things with you that travel well – e.g. – don’t take a watermelon with you on a plane ;) LOL – aside from the fact it would probably take up half your baggage allowance and quite possibly be confiscated at the other end, it’s not going to feed you for more than a day or two. Take foods that are somewhat the ‘opposite’ of watermelon – dense, concentrated things – nuts, seeds, crackers, goji berries, seaweeds, trail mixes, etc. Have these things with you, then get the fresh stuff where you are. If travelling by plane, pack as many foods as possible into your CHECKED luggage. Take whatever you're going to eat on the plane in your hand luggage (water-content rich things like cucumbers are good here ;) - try asking the security people NOT to x-ray your plane food - you might get lucky ;)
*FRESH PRODUCE – clearly, organic is usually preferable – you might not always be in areas where organic produce seems very forthcoming though, SO, aim for stuff with thick skins, if in doubt – papaya, pineapple, avocado, possibly durian ;) etc. If pushed, it seems preferable (though certainly debatable ;) to go for non-organic fresh produce than to choose any processed, packaged food instead. Do your best with what you find available and be sure to give your food lots of love, gratitude and blessings, regardless of origin ;)
*CHIA SEEDS are a FANTASTIC food to travel with, as they are very nutrient dense and bulk up in under 10 minutes to 10 times their volume, when soaked in any liquid. This is the food Aztec and Mayan messengers used to use, to keep them going on their travels. See the Chia Cheat Sheet for more info.
*GREEN POWDERS – definitely take green powders with you wherever you go – hopefully and preferably you’ll find fresh greens that you feel good about, wherever you end up – in the event that you don’t though, or you just want more greens – you’ll always have the powder as a back-up ;) VERY important to help keep us balanced/alkalised/mineralised, especially if you’re somewhere where the main things you’re munching are fruits and you’re getting a bit sugared-out ;) (If you can take some probiotics with you that are stable at room temperature/travel well, that will be useful too ;)
*COCONUTS – if you’re somewhere that has fresh cocos available – GO for it, preferably many times daily ;) I am in LOVE with fresh cocos – they are quite incredible – so balancing, nourishing, full of electrolytes, sterile environment (coco water can actually be used for blood transfusions for humans if necessary ;O...), they’re also anti-fungal/microbial/viral etc – oooooo, they’re just wonderful. Consume, often ;) In many cases, drinking coco water will be FAR preferable to drinking any water sources you’ll find, though do try to drink ‘pure’ water daily too (which will often mean bottled water...).

(Contd. below…)

on June the 2nd I had:

1 quart water
12 oz cantaloupe melon juice
2.5 cups celery/cucumber/fennel/cabbage/spinach/watercress/carrot juice
1lb yummmmmmy cherries
little bowl of blended green yum: mango/spinach/alfalfa sprouts/spirulina/kelp/avocado, with mung bean sprouts and pumpkin seeds stirred in :) delicious...
2 cups water
½ a delicious papaya
2 cups celery/cucumber/fennel/cabbage/spinach/watercress/carrot juice
cup of ‘womens’ tea
little bowl of chia gel mixed with finely diced banana and apple pieces
another cup of ‘womens’ tea
1 cup water

*RESEARCH – if you feel drawn to, it can be useful before you set out to do a little poking around on the internet etc to see what kind of options might be available where you’re heading – try search terms in Google like ‘organic’, ‘organic farm’, ‘permaculture’, ‘raw food’ and so on, for that area and see what pops up – you might suddenly discover that there’s an organic farm with a home-stay right in the region you’re interested in visiting... ;) Or you might locate some markets to go and check out that you wouldn’t have otherwise maybe found... (As always, you can check out sites like WWOOF.org – Willing Workers On Organic Farms – for places to do work exchange. Couchsurfing.com and Craigslist.com may also be useful ;)
*BELIEVE that you will eat foods you want to eat – i.e. don’t be in fear that there’s going to be nothing for you to eat – where there’s a will, there’s a way. Mr. M and I travel all over the world and have NEVER resorted to eating cooked/processed things – there is always SMTHG to eat, if you’re willing to focus energy towards finding it ;)
*EQUIPMENT – we find it useful to have a few basic items with us – a few spoons/forks/a sharp knife or two, a couple of wooden bowls, NUT MILK BAGS, water containers, etc. We use nut milk bags for sprouting on the road, as well as straining juice, etc. On this last huge trip down under, we ended up travelling with a blender AND a juicer – pretty intense ;) I would hope not to do that again and wouldn’t really recommend it (though it’s definitely nice to have access to those things – also depends a lot on HOW you’re travelling – if you have a vehicle of some kind, that can make a big difference ;) You could also of course travel with a little ‘personal blender’, which can be also used to make juices, IF you’re carrying a nut milk bag ;)
*HOUSE GUESTS – if you’ve never read it, you can hop over HERE to read an article I wrote a while back called ‘How to Be a Great House Guest’ – which was published by the Guardian online in the UK :)
*ENJOY – remember that whatever happens, it’s all just a game – a big ol’ cosmic giggle ;) Regardless of what appears to be unfolding around us, we can be happy in every moment, if we choose to be. Every experience is an opportunity. Life on the road can feel pretty intense at times, far from ‘home’, unfamiliar languages/places/tired/jetlag/etc etc... do your best, whatever the apparent circumstances are, to be with what is, with grace. Breathe deep...you might not have seen an organic kale leaf in 3 weeks...hmmm, life’s still ok though, right? LOL ;) Go with the flow...and ENJOY :)

Hope that helps :)

on June the 3rd I had:

1 quart water
1.5 cups pau d’arco tea
1 quart cucumber/apple/ginger juice
bowl of blended yum: banana/avocado/alfalfa sprouts/cilantro/spirulina/kelp powder, with mung bean sprouts and pumpkin seeds swirled in
3 cups water
1lb cherries, 3 loquats
20oz spinach/cucumber/celery/fennel/alfalfa sprout/cabbage/carrot juice
bowl of chia gel with papaya and finely diced banana, followed by a
little bowl of amazing yum mixture: GOJI BERRY POWDER (WOW), with lucuma powder, yacon powder and a little pine nut butter
3 cups water

Ok, onto travel Q number 2:

“I have a question. With all the traveling you and Matt do, are you required to get any vaccines before you are allowed into any of the countries you travel to? I want to do some traveling in the future but I am against vaccines.
Thanks,
Kim~”

Hmmmm...yes, I had a LOT of vaccines for international travel, BEFORE I was raw...pretty much all the vaccines that are offered in fact, except for yellow fever. My experience was that they were mostly very unpleasant. During my early detox as a raw foodist, my left arm would often swell up in red lumps and release pus - presumably old toxins from all the injections. (Sorry if that is 'TMI' for you ;)
SO, since I've been raw, I have not had any injections...and I've had no issues travelling anywhere...then again, I've been going to pretty 'tame' places mostly...the US, Canada, western Europe etc...
I'll say this though - I cannot recall EVER being checked ANYWHERE I have gone for proof that I've had vaccinations - and I've travelled all over the world...so, I'm not sure when/if it would really be an issue. Take obvious precautions, like not eating things with thin skins/no skins, avoid ice cubes etc and areas where it looks less than sanitary and...you can easily be fine and disease-free. I feel it's pretty unlikely much of any of the vaccines are still in my body - maybe some of them - and I have no 'fear' about going places, getting illnesses OR getting hassled for not having 'the right injections' ;) I guess I have the somewhat dubious 'advantage' that if they WERE to hassle me abt it, I have HAD an armful of toxins in the past and probably have some paperwork somewhere to show that I had them all done...as I said though, I cannot remember EVER being asked abt my injections by any border guards etc...
For other places to ask/read abt this - I would perhaps suggest curezone.org as a starting point, along with perhaps the 'Thorn Tree' forums on the Lonely Planet site...

ENJOY :)
All love,
Angelalalalaaaaaaaaa. Xxx