Five Tips for A Vibrant Raw Valentine :)

The latest RawReform Newsletter went out today. If you missed it, you can see the whole thing HERE and below are some highlights:

OoOoOoooo, International *Spread the LOVE* Day is coming up sooooooon, on Feb 14th :) Mr. Monarch says he's taking me on a surprise date that day - nice ;) What about YOU? Who will you be spreading the love with...and how?
My sense is that most people these days lead remarkably stressful lives - how about a few ideas to lower those cortisol levels and relax into a yummy, flowing time together? Here are five top tips for a Vibrant Valentines Ext-Raw-Vaganza:

1. Forget the cut flowers - gift someone you love a *living* plant or tree :) You might even do some seed or tree-planting together as a special Valentines date - imagine sharing the fruits of your work together months or years down the line - what a wonderful way to seal that special bond :)

2. Forget the slimy mainstream chocs too ;) If you're gonna give chocolates, maybe give 'em raw style, babeee...we have a tempting array of raw chocs to woo your loved one with this season...we even have special gift packs like the 'Chocolate Lover's Gift Pack' - see all those packs HERE. If raw cacao is not your tonic of choice, you can always rustle up some wonders in the kitchen with raw carob instead (which we happen to have as an 'At-Cost' special this month ;). Or check an inspiring raw recipe resource such as GoneRaw.com for fabulous chocolate/carob truffles, cakes, cookies and more...

3. Been eyeing some bling-ey jewellry for your loved one? Hmmmm, what about indulging them with their very own Whiffer necklace instead? Keep them tanked up on smooooth smelling vibes all day every day with one of these aromatherapy necklaces and essential oils. ...and while we're on the subject of aromatherapy, how about sinking into a wonderful lavender-scented bath with your loved one this Loveday (filled via a water filter of course ;) Or luxuriating in a shared massage with jojoba oil, essential oils, cacao butter, shea butter or something else rich and dreamy...


On January the 29th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
2 cups greeeeeen juice
2 cups green smoothie: persimmon, sunflower greens, spinach, chia flour, vanilla, water
2 cups green smoothie: persimmon, sunflower greens, spinach, chia flour, vanilla, water, with a handful of baby persimmons on the side
3 cups water
2 cups greeeeeen juice
2 cups green smoothie: persimmon, spinach, sunflower greens, chia flour, water, with 4 tbsp acai powder
3 cups water


on January the 30th I was blissed with:

1 quart water
double shot of barleygrass juice chased by shot of carrot juice
3 yummmmy date samples at the market, handful of baby persimmons
cup of greeeeen juice
2 cups water
luscious big greeeeen salad at Living Light FUNdamentals class, with basil-tomato dressing, followed by 4 tbsp acai powder
various samples at the FUNdamentals class: almond milk, green smoothie, buckwheat granola bar, carrot cake
2 cups veggie juice
2 cups water

4. Expensive Restaurant Date? Mmmm, maybe instead your loved one would be uber-thrilled to share a cosy, (beeswax/soy) candle-lit meal with you at home, or with a group of yummy raw friends? You might find inspiration in a raw recipe book or DVD, create a sublime menu of lovingly-made choice dishes and enjoy it together in peaceful surroundings...mmmm, nice :) Or maybe you have a desserts party together, maybe you actually make the food together, maybe you have a picnic outside, maybe you take the leftovers out on the street to share with the homeless...ooooo, how many ways can *you* find to share the love? ;)

5. Visions of Love - maybe your loved-one would be thrilled this Valentines Day to co-create a vision board with you of your *ultimate* lives together - you might use drawings, writing, cut-out pictures, photos...whatever works, to create together a stunning visual cue of your shiniest possibilities - deeeeply nourishing, inspiring, connecting, creative and...free :) Enjoy...

Happy Love-Day, Love-Month and ever-flowing Lovelyness to you all, however you choose to enjoy this season of hearts... :)

(...btw, one RawReform blog reader, Nathalie the "Raw Foods Witch", up in Canada, would love to let you know she has a special book full of guidance on how to manage a relationship where one partner is raw and the other not...for lots of loving tips, you can check out her book HERE... ;)

on January the 31st I enjoyed:

1 quart water
2 cups veggie juice, juice of a tangerine
2 cups greeeeen smothie: persimmon, spinach, sunflower greens, parsley, chia flour, water, with 4 tbsp acai powder
2 cups reishi/shilajit/ormus tea
2 cups greeeeen smothie: persimmon, spinach, sunflower greens, parsley, chia flour, water, with 4 tbsp acai powder
2 cups water
2 hachiya persimmons with 4 tbsp acai powder
2 cups reishi/shilajit/ormus tea
2 cups water


on February the 1st I loved:

1 quart water
2 cups reishi/shilajit/ormus tea
2 cups greeeen juice
2 cups greeeeen smothie: persimmon, spinach, parsley, chia flour, water, with 4 tbsp acai powder and an apple
2 cups water
2 cups greeeen juice
2 cups greeeeen smothie: persimmon, spinach, parsley, chia flour, water, with 4 tbsp acai powder
2 cups water

...and the giveaway carnival plays on :) This month our dear friend and wiseman of the web, Mr. Steve Pavlina has generously agreed to offer a copy of his oustanding book 'Personal Development For Smart People' to one fortunate reader :)
If you're not yet familiar with Steve or his work, he is one of the most widely read, popular and prolific writers in the field of self-development and blogging today. He also happens to be a raw foodie, entrepreneur and is very very clear and direct - we love him :) I did a little review of Steve's book, back in Nov '08 when I was reading it - see HERE.
This book is a remarkable collection of ideas that could very easily transform your whole life, so, if you'd love to get your mittens wrapped around a shiny new copy of Mr. Pavlina's brainbaby, just send in your answer to the following question, to angela@rawreform.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it :

"What is the 'smartest' piece of guidance you would give
to a teenage version of yourself?"

Send your answers in to angela@rawreform.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it by March the 1st to be in with a chance of receiving the shiny new book prize...the winner will be drawn at random and with a grin in early March ;)

All love,
Angelalaalaaaaaa. xxx

Please Fit Your Own Oxygen Mask First...

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

on May the 4th I had:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shell, Holly, Anthony, Margi and RawFoodRightNow

ENJOY :)

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

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

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

One love,
Angela. xxx