Would you rather be RIGHT or happy? ;)

A few weeks back I was listening to Abraham–Hicks quite a bit. One thread of what I received via that input seems to have stayed with me, slowly percolated through my consciousness and membranes and is now asking to be expressed. So, here we go... ;)
The idea was about how children in our societies so often seem to be raised to be in COMPETITION with each other, rather than co–operation and how we carry this energy with us into adulthood.
We are taught to compete in schools, compare ourselves to each other with grades and awards, shamed if we do not get things ‘right’ and so on. Children develop fears around making errors, being laughed at or being ‘wrong’. We might move from being content little 4 or 5 year olds before schooling to believing we are inherently flawed, unacceptable and ‘wrong’. We may turn on each other, laughing at a classmate who gets smthg ‘wrong’ for example, rather than offering support. No–one wants to be the one to make an error – we want to be accepted, we all want, of course, simply to be loved. We may learn to seek love through the marks we get in classes and favourable comments from teachers or we might rebel against the whole system instead and find ourselves deemed even more ‘unacceptable’.
The point Abraham–Hicks were making in the piece I heard was that now, as adults, any experiences that we had along these lines are now way behind us. That reality is not here anymore...and YET, so many people go through life still acting out based on things they learnt back then – comparing themselves to others, laughing at or shaming those they consider ‘wrong’, pointing out ‘errors’ in others’ behaviour rather than supporting them. It's like we still feel the pressure of those eyes watching and judging us, even though the source of that original tension is loooong gone. Many still exert that pressure on others too - collectively, we may keep this judgemental energy alive.
Where is the love here? Where is the co–operation and support? We are adults now and we also have free choices in every moment about our thoughts, words and actions...how about stepping away from any competitive, fierce, fear–based energy and reaching out to others with LOVE instead? As a ‘straight–A’ student throughout my schooling career, this all speaks deeply to me, as I can really identify with both the intense desire to ‘be right’ and get those grades, plus also the softening later in life as I step further and further away from that whole system, towards unconditional love.
I was an expert at working the school system – I knew inside–out how to get A grades and yet ultimately...it all felt very un-fulfilling and empty to me – my real soul was not being seen or nurtured – it was like I was just accurately jumping through hoops on command...
This also reminds me of another great little point I absorbed from Abraham–Hicks. A few times I have heard them mention ‘would you rather be right, or be happy?’ I absolutely LOVE that...love, love, LOVE it.
This speaks sooooooooooo deeply to me (especially to the very strong Virgo component of my being ;) Would you rather be RIGHT in a situation, or be happy? Is ‘getting your way’ and being seen to be ‘right’ your ultimate fulfillment, or sharing joy and an easy flow?
Abraham shared a wonderful anecdote about Esther Hicks to illustrate this: apparently sometimes Jerry, her husband, hooks up the trailer to the back of their vehicle when they’re in a tight car park space and she gets irritated by it, because she doesn’t like the extra effort it takes to get out that way. On one such occasion, as she was about to start trying to get the vehicle out of the space, she noticed herself thinking ‘I hope we don’t get out’ and she laughed out loud, as she realised she would rather be RIGHT about whether it’s a good idea to hook the trailer on now or not, than HAPPY and flowing along on their journey. ;) I imagine most of us can pick out similar examples in our own lives and relationships...and where can we trace these patterns back to...? (Please note that I am not seeking to 'blame' modern schooling systems here, nor trying to suggest that schools are the only arena in which children receive this kind of conditioning...)

Hmmmmm...well, maybe it’s time now to let go of any deeeeeeep old patterns like these and move into a lighter, brighter, more loving flow? Well, I think so and I MUST be right, because I just gave myself an ‘A’ in unconditional love flow, ok? ;)


on Feb the 8th I had:

1 quart water
2 cups home–made rejuvelac
bowl of yummmmmy broccoli/zucchini salad
little mug of spicy tea
1 quart water
20 chlorella ‘nuts’
2 little apples
bowl of grawnola with blend of almond milk/carob/maca/lucuma/yacon/cinnamon/vanilla powders
3 cups water

OOoOoOooo, it’s a full moon in LEO tonight, during the time of Aquarius – yeeeeeeeeeeeeeee–HAH :) love it...as you may know, the Stokes is a lioness and the Monarch is a water–bearing gent, so I was muchly pleased to read the following charming little write–up this evening about the merging of these energies, on Lisa Dale Miller’s AstroWisdom site:

“Some think that Leo and Aquarius are diametrically opposed to one another. But I find their synergistic and interdependent relationship unique among the signs. Aquarius demands radical change, which cannot be accomplished without Leo’s talents: unwavering self-belief in one’s personal vision and true leadership. Leo demands creativity and caring, which requires the Aquarian rejection of personal glorification in favor of global identification. When balanced, the Leo/Aquarius polarity works hand in hand to further the evolution of human civilization. Our new President Barack Obama is a Leo with a Aquarius rising, so he exemplifies successful integration of these two energies.”

YUMMY :) ...and I didn’t know that abt Obama – interesting...you can read the whole of her summary about this full moon HERE.
THANK YOU all SOOOOOOOOOOO much for all the beautiful birthday messages Mr. M received yesterday too – he was awash in a wave of raw love ;) May it all be multiplied back to you all manifold...


on Feb the 9th I had:

1 quart water
cup of Wild Power tea
2 cups green juice: celery, cucumber, fennel, endive, kale, Jerusalem artichoke, celeriac, ginger, lime
bowl of broccoli/zucchini salad
little mug of spicy tea
3 cups water
2 cups green juice: celery, cucumber, fennel, endive, kale, Jerusalem artichoke, celeriac, ginger, lime
bowl of chia soaked in blend of almond milk/lucuma/maca/carob/vanilla/cinnamon/yacon powders
little mug of spicy tea
3 cups water

I’ve been poking around for tooooons from my childhood a lot recently on YouTube, as I was making a special playlist for mmmmmmmmmmmmy sister, Nicola (whose birthday happens to be tomorrow, the 10th, which is also my 'half-birthday' – this is a definite power time in my connective field – she and Mr. M were born 2 days apart in the same year. Happy Birthday ;)
Well, you can listen to the whole playlist I made for her HERE if you’d like to get a sense of my childhood musical influences ;) LOL… I especially wanted to share one song below though – ‘You can call me Al’ by Paul Simon, filmed in concert in 1986 in Zimbabwe I think – so FUN :) Just try to watch this and NOT smile/wiggle/giggle/enjoy ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rN7R6r0T48

All love,
Miss Stokes. xxx

Create your Own Jukebox :)))

I am feeling very pleased. I have long thought what a lovely idea it would be if one could watch YouTube clips back–to–back, all joined together into a big sequence of whatever you choose to view...WELL, I have recently learnt, via dear Shazzle–Dazzle, that this IS indeed possible :) Maybe you all knew this already ;) lol – I was very excited though about this discovery...
The way it works is through PLAYLISTS on YouTube – ah–HAH, that’s what they’re for ;) Anyone can create multiple ‘playlists’ of their different clips, then anyone else can also go and enjoy those lists, just by clicking on them – they load up and all run back–to–back, so you can get on with juicing or bathing or exercising or whatever you’re doing, with no need to keep going and choosing the next video to watch ;) You can literally create your own jukebox of all your favourite songs or interviews or...whatever you like – and all for free :) LOVE it...
Since learning about the wonder of Playlists, I have been listening to muchos Esther and Jerry Hicks/Abraham/Law of Attraction downloadings, via Shazzie’s playlists, which you can see HERE.
I have also created some playlists of my own, which you can see on my YouTube channel HERE. I have one with ‘Beautiful Songs’, one of ‘Music to Dance To’ and one with videos of myself and the Monarch from other peoples’ channels. SOOOOOO fun to create these music lists especially ;) I’ll surely be doing more with this – ENJOY :)
(N.B., to find anyone's playlists, just go to their channel - e.g. mine is at http://www.youtube.com/rawreform - and click on the little link for 'playlists' along the top of the screen, right underneath the white YouTube bar ;)

on January the 22nd I had:

1 quart water
1.5 cups greeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, parsley, kale, spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, alfalfa sprouts, broccoli, ginger, lime
30 chlorella tablets
2 tsp bee pollen
3 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, parsley, kale, spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, alfalfa sprouts, broccoli, ginger, lime
30 chlorella tablets
3 tsp bee pollen
3 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, parsley, kale, spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, alfalfa sprouts, fennel, ginger, lime
2 cups water
3 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, parsley, kale, spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, alfalfa sprouts, ginger, lime
1 cup water


on January the 23rd I had:

1 quart water
1.5 cup greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, parsley, kale, spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, alfalfa sprouts, fennel, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and tahini on the side
little cup of spicy tea
1 quart water
3 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, kale, spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, alfalfa sprouts, fennel, ginger, lime
3 tbsp Sproutein powder
3 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, kale, spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, alfalfa sprouts, fennel, ginger, lime
2 cups water

Ooooom, while we’re on the subject of Esther & Jerry Hicks/Abraham, here’s a very cool little nugget that came through from the PhilosophersNotes.com daily email today:

“People talk about the reality of their life as if it is important. And we want you to understand, it’s only the temporary indicator. Do you go to the gas station—your gas gauge is on empty—do you go to the gas station and look at your gas gauge in horror? “How did this happen? [Fun] Why, why, why did this happen to me?” Do you lay your head on the steering wheel and just sob? “Oh, look what it’s come to. [Fun] I’m finished. I’ve lived all of this life, and look where I am.” Or do you just fill up.”
~ Esther and Jerry Hicks from Money, and the Law of Attraction That’s classic. Meditate, dance, exercise, eat well, laugh, play, create, journal, read, smile, love, breathe deeply, pet your dog, think positive thoughts, imagine your ideal future with such intensity that you can FEEL it, do whatever you need to do to FILL UP. But don’t (pretty, please) look at your “gas” gauge in horror. No need to sob. Just fill up. :)

LOL – love it :) If you still haven’t signed up for your own free PhilosophersNotes account, you can do that HERE, to access multitudes of inspiring free MP3s, PDFs, lectures and more... :)


on January the 24th I had:

1 quart water
1 quart greeeeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, kale, spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, cabbage, alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, zucchini, parsley, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and tahini on the side
3 cups water
double shot of wheatgrass with lime and ginger
assortment of pieces of raw party ‘desserts’ – goji bar, spirulina balls, cake base, apricot cake – all yummmmmmmmmmmmy :)
3 cups water


on January the 25th I had:

1 quart water
1 quart greeeeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, kale, spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, cabbage, alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, zucchini, parsley, ginger, lime
3 cups water
40 tablets chlorella
1 quart greeeeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, kale, spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, cabbage, alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, zucchini, parsley, ginger, lime
3 tbsp Sproutein powder
3 cups water


OoOoOooooo, this is exciting – the London issue of ‘Time Out’ magazine recently did a big feature on raw foods :O oooooo lala – you know raw is going 'mainstream' when things like this happen ;) You can check the article out HERE – thanks to Chelle for sending this link in – the article is worth checking out even if only for the list of raw resources in the UK at the end of it – fun :)

All love,
Angela. xxx

Opportunity Knocks...

Listen up, ladies ;)
‘New Woman’ magazine in the UK have been in contact with an exciting media opportunity for anyone in the UK who has a raw weight loss story to tell:

"Has your friend inspired you to lose weight?
If so, please get in touch to take part in a feature in New Woman magazine. I'm looking for women aged 25 to 35 who have been inspired to lose weight by a slim friend who's into raw food. Perhaps you wondered what her secret was, and started copying what she ate...It would involve a short telephone interview and a photo shoot in central London on 5 December. Please contact Ruth Tierney on tierneyruth@aol.com."

on November the 23rd I had:

1 quart water
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 quart celery/parsley/random greens/carrot juice
½ a medium papaya
avo mushed with cilantro pesto, in nori rolls with cucumber, tomato and fresh sprouts
3 cups water
2 cups celery/parsley/random greens/carrot/sunflower greens juice
2 bananas and 2 black sapote
3 cups water
1 mango
2 cups water

When I was Juice Feasting this time last year, one of the most influential things I read during that time was ‘The Law of Attraction’ (LOA) by Esther and Jerry Hicks. We have now added this title to the RawReform store – YAY :) In recent years, the LOA concept has become very popular, especially due to the popular film ‘The Secret’, which shares similar information to this book (also available in our store). This book is a channelled piece of work and it imparts some very useful life tools, especially concerning visualisation. This book helped me a lot with releasing negative thought patterns and instead creating solid, positive intentions for my reality. You can see more about it and order a copy HERE.
Also, a little reminder that until midnight (PST) on November the 26th, you can use the coupon code ‘juice’ to get 10% off ANY purchase in the RawReform Store at the check out…ENJOY :)

on November the 24th I had:

1 quart water
3 cups celery/cucumber/alfalfa/carrot juice
½ a green/orange mamey, ½ a custard apple
3 cups water
big bowl of papaya flesh with lime juice squeezed over it
bowl of sprouts covered with tomato sauce made by blending together 3 tomatoes, 3 cloves of garlic and a few sundried tomatoes with 1/3 packet sundried tomato hummus. Sprouts/sauce stuffed in nori rolls with spinach
2 cups water
2 cups tatsoi/spinach/alfalfa/carrot/apple/celeriac juice
bowl of bananas blended with black sapote, swirled with goji berries
2 cups water

November the 24th sees the Full Moon in Gemini (6.30am PST). Lisa Dale Miller describes this as the moon of diversity - a great time for communication, networking, socializing and information sharing. You can read all about it here: http://astrowisdom.com/thisfullmoon.htm
I learnt something interesting recently. Apparently at the time of the full moon, any parasites in our intestines release their hold on our insides and this is an optimal time to flush them out. Hmmmm…well, I’m not sure how many parasites I have any more…I decided though today that I’d like to help move on out anyone who IS still in there – that’s why I made a tomato sauce with 3 CLOVES of garlic ;) The guys who told me about this process recommended using Wormwood tincture at this time of the moon cycle – I didn’t have that, so garlic was my anti-parasite choice…we’ll see what happens… ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx