The Visionary Age...

Well, well, well...seems my recent post on bowel movements during Juice Feasting stirred up many curious questions in your noggins...we’ve been inundated with stool-related queries here - thank you ;) From ‘how is it that if I eat sweetcorn it comes out a day later having bypassed all the encrusted waste in my intestines?’ to ‘why am I not having bowel movements, if I’m doing juices AND smoothies?’ to ‘I’ve started Juice Feasting and am scared of doing enemas – do they really matter? I’m releasing lots of mucus through my nose…’

Ok…here’s my answer for that last one...
Enemas are very simple and not painful - nothing to worry about ;) You can even see videos of how to do them on YouTube ;) They are discussed to a degree in my book 'Revealing the Physical Changes', which you can see HERE.
Colon cleansing is EXTREMELY important while Juice Feasting - you won't be getting anywhere near the amount of cleansing benefits without doing some form of colon irrigation. Most of us are SO toxic and have so much to release - if you're not keeping up with that through internal cleansing, you can easily run into issues. Use a simple lubricant like coconut oil to help the process, take it slowly and I'd recommend some of the writings of either Dr Norman Walker (Become Younger, Colon Health) or my partner Mr Monarch (Raw Spirit, Raw Success) - you can also read many informative articles for free on Matt's website - see http://www.rawspirit.org and go to ‘Articles’.
If you really can't face the idea of enemas by yourself, maybe doing a PROFESSIONAL colonic would appeal more? Or use more Cascara Sagrada to keep things moving out of the system, or use other herbal formulas (e.g. 'Intestinal Movement Formula' by Healthforce), to move stuff out...it is imperative to keep things moving in some way though, for optimal cleansing...
Mucus is just clearing out of your body as a result of the DETOX you are triggering by Juice Feasting - DO AN ENEMA and you'll find this clears MUCH quicker - your body is just taking the opportunity to throw out stuff that's been building up for YEARS... Other things to help: do a sauna, sweat, exercise, tongue scrape, dry skin brush etc - just help your body RELEASE every way you can... ;)

on Feb the 4th I had:

1.5 quarts water
1 quart zucchini/watercress/cabbage/carrot juice
bowl of avo mushed with diced tomatoes/garlic, masses of sprouts – whero peas/sunflower seeds/pumpkin seeds/alfalfa/broccoli/mung beans, karengo and wakame seaweeds, served with cucumber sticks, lettuce leaves and bits of green crackers
1.5 quarts water
1 apple
20oz carrot/celery/spinach/parsley juice
3 dried figs
¼ pineapple
1.5 lbs cherries
3 cups water

Hmmm, sorry to hear the link was broken to Steve ‘Sproutman’ Meyerowitz’s book, in my last post ;( HERE it is again, for those of you who wanted to check it out. PLUS, if you missed his talk on RawVeganRadio many moons ago, I'd definitely recommend it - it's tres inspiring ;) You can listen to that HERE - it's now been moved to the 'Premium' area of the RVR site - they have a NEW offer on right now though, to try out the Premium area for just $1, for a limited time - so, seems like an ideal time to check it out ;)
…and for those of you who still don’t believe raw food fun can happen in the garden in cold places in winter, check out this super-cool picture of ‘Mrs Raw Snowwoman’ forwarded to us from Jan in Georgia this week ;) JUICY :)

on Feb the 5th I had:

1.5 quarts water
8oz orange/pineapple juice
24oz celery/carrot/watercress/kale
bowl of avo mushed with diced tomatoes/garlic, masses of sprouts – whero peas/sunflower seeds/pumpkin seeds/alfalfa/broccoli/mung beans, karengo and wakame seaweeds, served with lettuce leaves and a Mexican power stick
1.5 quarts water
24oz celery/cucumber/lettuce/radish/carrot/cilantro juice
2lbs cherries and a banana
3 cups water

February the 6th is the New Moon in Aquarius - time for radical change, according to Lisa Dale Miller – and this gorgeous occasion comes with a partial solar eclipse - oooo la la, how blessed we are ;) Here’s a few snippets of Ms. Miller’s report for this moon:
“Aquarius is often thought of as visionary: an energy that looks beyond the norm, questions accepted truths, boldly claims originality, flies in the face of reason; and flatly refuses to blindly follow the dictates of others.
The annular solar eclipse will add a bit of heightened energy to this New Moon. Partial phases of the eclipse will be visible primarily from eastern Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. For more information on the eclipse go to NASA’s Eclipse homepage http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/OH2008.html#2008Feb07A
The Aquarius New Moon asks each of us to awaken to the reality of our lives. To see it as it truly is (no rose colored glasses allowed) and then envision a better life; one free of old rules and restrictions that reflect your “I can’ts, I won’ts, I’m unable, and I’m scared”. This is a truth or dare New Moon. Recognize your present circumstances and then dare to vision beyond them, past the boundaries of the known into the unknown.
Aquarius is all about the “power of one” to change the circumstances of the many... Aquarian success comes from connecting to the needs of your generation and making your life a testament to upliftment.
The Aquarius New Moon is all about individuation and freethinking. It is a time to get free of self-imposed restrictions and think out of the box.
Think about how you can become a force for change at your workplace, in your neighborhood, and at home. Change is good! So this New Moon, commit to changing your life and you will change the world. Ride the wave of this mind-altering, life-altering New Moon Cycle.”

Mmmmm, beautiful...from a Leo full moon into an Aquarian new moon :) You can check out Lisa’s FULL report HERE...and GUESS WHAT – in just a few days – on Friday Feb 8th – it’s my own lovely Aquarian’s birthday ;) Yes, Mr Monarch fits the above description of Aquarian energy remarkably accurately, as those of you who know him well will appreciate ;) …and this free-thinking visionary will very soon be embarking on his next trip around the sun...you can send him some big raw birthday love to matt@rawspirit.org (pssssst, don’t tell him I sent you though... ;)

One love,
Angelallalalalalalalalallaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

The Growing Advantage...

I’ve been absolutely LOVING cucumbers and sprouts the last couple of weeks...this is very curious to me, as I'm usually not that into either of them...my body just says YES though at the moment – cucumbers smell diviiiiiiiiiiiiiine to me right now...I used to take care of large cucumber greenhouses in Iceland as a volunteer (around the time I went raw in fact) and really wasn't into eating them at all...others would be biting into them as snack food at breaks and I just found them tasteless and dull...I liked working with them - not eating them ;) Lately though I find myself happily munching into whole cucs too - how things shift ;)
I’m also really enjoying exploring different kinds of sprouts...if we were settled in one place, I’d love to use one of the EasyGreen Sprouters to be growing masses of young greens, sprouts and wheatgrass...a friend in LA has her EasyGreen constantly on the go and it’s incredible to see the amount of top-quality food she churns out of it for herself, for ‘pennies’ ;)
One of the questions I’m most often asked is ‘how do you eat well as a raw foodie, on a budget’???

SPROUT ;)

Grow your own micro greens and sprouts – year round, indoors, you’ll have a healthy supply of nutrient-dense, top quality nutrition. For clear guidance on growing your own fresh organic micro-greens and sprouts at home, see ‘Sprouts: The Miracle Food’ by Steve ‘Sproutman’ Meyerowitz.

on February the 2nd I had:

1.5 quarts water
1lb cherries
12oz kale/cilantro/celery/cucumber/spinach/carrot juice
bowl of avo mushed with diced tomatoes, SEEEEEAAAAAAAWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED and masses of sprouts – alfalfa, sunflower sprouts, broccoli sprouts, mung beans etc, served with lettuce wraps, cucumber sticks and a few crunchy dehydrated green crackers
1 quart water
little bowl of refreshing fruit salad: banana/apple/blueberries/papaya
12oz kale/cilantro/celery/cucumber/spinach/carrot juice
little bowl of soaked dried figs blended with hemp seeds
2 cups water
little bowl of fruit salad: banana/blueberries/orange/peach
2 cups water

Those working with a ‘budget’ might also look out for reduced organic items in supermarkets, or start a bulk-buying coop with other like-minded people. Buy filling/satiating, nutrient dense things in bulk or when you see offers – like spirulina, nuts or hemp protein powder…learn to forage and gather your own food…Volunteer your time at an organic farm/CSA/coop for a few hours a week, in return for good organic fruit/veg…or help out at a raw restaurant/facility if there’s any nearby…and yes, above all – GROW YOUR OWN ;)

on February the 3rd I had:

1.5 quarts water
4 black plums
3 sips of OUTRAGEOUSLY intense grapefruit juice
24oz spinach/celery/parsley/carrot juice
bowl of avo mushed with diced tomatoes/garlic, muchos sprouts – alfalfa/whero peas/sunflower sprouts/mung bean sprouts/soaked pumpkin seeds, karengo/wakame seaweeds, served with cucumber sticks and lettuce leaf wraps
1.5 quarts water
1 peach
24oz beetroot/cucumber/carrot/watercress juice
bowl of apple flax with 1 mushed banana and a handful of goji berries swirled in to chew
3 cups water

Why is it so key to grow your own produce? Well...many reasons...among them: it’s cheaper, you can pick and use your produce fresher, you know EXACTLY how it was all grown and cared for, you can grow exactly what you love, in quantities that work for you and if you’re using the method for growing outlined in Anastasia, the plants you grow will actually be producing food that is specifically beneficial and healing for YOU – pretty phenomenal ;)
Aside from all that though, I simply think that at this point in the story, it’s wise for all of us to start taking at least a bit more responsibility for our food supply, as things are pretty much undeniably going a bit ‘wobbly’ with the food chain worldwide. Prices for foods are sky-rocketing due to the ‘oil situation’ and the cost of shipping worldwide, mysterious laws are being passed to nuke raw products and we are likely to see many more big shifts in the structure of our societies and food chains in the coming years.
There are SO many humans here on Earth now (over 6 billion of us), that if everything was to collapse today and we all tried to go out and forage from the land, it seems HIGHLY unlikely that many of us would survive – partly from lack of foraging skills, mainly because there simply isn’t enough food OUT there for 6 BILLION people to forage...OVER ¼ of the Earth’s surface is said to be used in the processes of cattle farming alone…that means more than ¼ of the land has already been damaged in such a way that it currently yields little that we would want to eat...add to that deserts, concreted cities, glaciers, levelled forests and so on...and there’s just not much space left for us to feed from...those who grow their OWN food (and know something of foraging) will be the ones to thrive.
Now, I’m not prophesising doom and ‘the end of civilisation’ here ;) I just think it’s a salient point to consider...most people these days seem to ASSUME their food is going to come from SOMEONE else – grown, picked, processed, packaged by SOMEONE else – i.e. - not nature – another human, or many humans in a long chain of production. Most of us seem remarkably dis-attached from our food source... So, I feel now is an ideal time to start being proactive and get planting and growing some yummies of your own...and for those of you in colder climates, I would HIGHLY recommend you check out the books 'Four Season Harvest' and 'Winter Harvest Manual' by Eliot Coleman, who runs INCREDIBLE farms in the States, growing and harvesting ALL year round, in colder climates. You can see those books here: http://www.fourseasonfarm.com/main/books/books_eliot2.html#harvest.
As for me, my biggest desire is to get to a piece of land and start growing my own stuff...in the meantime, I’ll keep on sprouting, foraging and renegade composting my way along this current journey… ;)

ENJOY :)
One love,
Angela. xxx

Durian? At 50° North? In WINTER???

OOOOooooooo, I LOVE a bit of it – look at this nifty new raw t-shirt – I want, I want, I want… (The t-shirt and the durian ;) They’re $18 from this site HERE and they have other cool designs too, with more on the way ;) Yummy…

On September the 21st I had:

1 litre water
1 litre green juice with carrots
2 persimmons
avo/salt with tomatoes, spinach, flax crackers, jicama slices, a handful of hemp seeds
500ml water
10 gorgeous little dark plums
a few slices of delicious dried pineapple
700ml green juice with carrots
bowl of chia seeds soaked in water, with lucuma, maca and mulberries
1 litre water

I’m happy to see that more of you are able to use the ‘comments’ function for this e-journal now – very cool ;) In fact, last week sometime, the divine ‘Sara’ left a comment here that I am yet to respond to, so…here we go…here’s what she had to say:

“I was wondering how you felt about eating only local raw foods, especially if you live in a 4 season climate with longish winters? I experimented with a lot of raw foods this summer and it has been wonderful, but this question remains in my mind about whether the raw food diet is the right diet for the planet. Providing food from your local region seems to make a lot of sense to me and feel really right and indeed, most of the food I ate this summer was purchased from local farmer's markets. I noticed a lot of raw food super foods are definitely not local. Avacados, something I enjoy a lot are not local. I have thought of sprouting sunflower and buckwheat greens during the winter, but do you have any other tips on winter fare that is raw and local? I have frozen some blueberries and peaches picked fresh this summer from nearby farms. Also, i am transitoning to all of this and while I do enjoy more simple fare, I am far from the place in which you enjoy meals (after several years raw and a long juice feast). I would really, really appreciate it if you are able to find time to respond. Thanks and Namaste, Sara”

OOooooo, yummy – see my answer below…

on September the 22nd I had:

1 litre water
300ml green smoothie with banana, grapes and spinach
1 litre green juice with carrot
capful of raw aloe juice
nori rolls with avo/corn/tomato/red pepper/cumin salsa and spinach
500ml water
handful of dried pineapple rings and a banana
700ml cucumber/celery/apple/ginger juice
bowl of sea spaghetti seaweed with hemp seed, flax oil and granulated wrack
300ml beet/apple/carrot smoothie
1 litre water

MMmmmm-Hmmmmm, I hear you, sista Sara ;) Hmmmm…the perpetual pesky issues of local vs tasty vs sustainable vs healthy vs organic vs environmentally friendly and so on…many factors to consider here ;)
Here are my thoughts…in practical terms, I LOVE the Native American wisdom that everything you ‘need’ to feed yourself and your family is within 5 miles of you (or smthg to that effect)…many people simply don’t know enough about foraging to make that a viable option for themselves however… plus, yes, cold climates, winter, snow etc hardly lend themselves to an abundant local raw lifestyle…so, I love that you’re thinking abt indoor sprouting/growing greens through winter, that you’ve been freezing stuff in preparation and so on – GREAT steps, good for you :)
In terms of the question of whether this really makes sense on a global scale for humans, my feeling is this – humans have done a pretty remarkable job of spreading ourselves out and adapting to climates ALL over this globe, from starting out down round the middle, where fresh raw produce was in abundance, straight from the Earth and it is WARM…we’ve spread ourselves out and ‘made’ it work for us to be anywhere with processed/cooked foods/imports etc…and then some of us out in those colder places start to want to eat raw vegan…which just doesn’t seem to fit that ideally in the colder months in those places if you also want to eat locally…it’s like a monkey native to Costa Rica going to live in Chicago and demanding that he gets exactly the same bananas there as he used to get in the jungle…SO…hmmmmm…what to do…??? Well, indeed, you could follow other people who have spread themselves into those colder places and eat raw meat/fish to keep yourself tanked up over winter time…OR you could say ‘dickens’ to eating local/pollution issues and live on goji berries, durian and mangosteens all winter OR you might enjoy to try out some of the following:

*Focus your attention on: sprouts, dried foods, frozen foods, foraging skills and fermented foods.

*Listen to the interview with Steve ‘Sproutman’ Meyerowitz on RawVeganRadio (who have a fantastic new-look site by the way). He talks about how by growing and using our own sprouts, it’s possible to really live anywhere raw – even in isolation on a hillside with nothing growing on the land…it’s cheap and easy…a very inspiring interview…you can also see his wonderful sprouting books HERE.

*I would also HIGHLY recommend you check out the books and work of Helen and Scott Nearing and Eliot Coleman - these people work together on INCREDIBLE farms in the States, growing and harvesting year round with systems they've developed - I'd especially encourage reading 'Four Season Harvest' and 'Winter Harvest Manual' by Eliot Coleman - you can see those books HERE.

In the end, I feel we’re all just doing our best – so, whatever that means to you in terms of eating local, I hope you ENJOY it ;)

All love,
Angela. xxx