What Are *YOUR* Top Character Strengths...? :)

Have you ever taken the fascinating "Survey of Character Strengths" test over at AuthenticHappiness.com? Thanks to Brian Johnson over at PhilosophersNotes.com, I was alerted to this interesting, free little test which takes perhaps 20-30 mins to complete and will reveal *your* top five strengths from 24 postulated key character strengths in life...fun :)
You can access this free test HERE (go to the "Questionnaires" tab and choose "Via Survey of Character Strengths" test) ...and if you're interested, here are my apparent five top character strengths, based on this test:

Hope, optimism, and future-mindedness

Curiosity and interest in the world

Gratitude

Love of learning

Spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith

What about you...??? ;)

On September the 9th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
1 cup mandarin/granadilla juice
cup of greeeeen juice with wheatgrass and more...
little bunch of amazing dark grapes, a dragon fruit
water of a young coconut
2 curry powersticks
2 cups herbal tea
bowl of energy soup straight from the garden with sauerkraut on the side, plus 2tbsp Andreas' magical oils, followed by a few dried figs
1 cup reishi/shilajit/ormus tea
little handful of raw homemade "Mexican" coconut chips
2 cups water


In case any of you missed our "Huge Announcement" video last week, you can check it out HERE - it's already had around 20,000 views as I write this - we are suuuuuuuuuuper-excited for this new flow in our lives - thanks for all your kind words of excitement and support :)))


on September the 10th I appreciated:

1 quart water
3 cups watermelon/orange juice
30 chlorella tablets
little bowl of coconut yoghurt with papaya and Lydia's Berry cereal
3 cups water
water of a young coconut
little bunch of amazing dark grapes
chia/kraut crackers with avocado, sauerkraut, tahini, Sea Clear :) Followed by a chunk of Mr. M's Pili Nut "Chocolate"
1 cup water


on September the 11th I loved:

1 quart water
3 cups watermelon/orange juice
30 chlorella tablets
a dragon fruit, a few granadilla, a few "Andean Blueberries"
bowl of kelp noodles with "Mexican" raw sauce, followed by a little handful of dried jackfruit
2 cups water
water of a young coconut
chunk of Pili Nut "Chocolate" from Mr. M
2 cups water


My new "Raw Emotions" course at The Academy for Optimal Living is due to start soon, on September the 27th - if you didn't enroll already, here's a reminder of the deeeeeets:
    
I am *SUPER*-excited to announce that I have been invited to teach a course based on my book Raw Emotions this coming autumn for The Entheos Academy for Optimal Living :)  
This Academy is the brain-child of the delightful Brian Johnson of PhilosophersNotes.com and his radiant goddess Alexandra Jaye Johnson of MyGoddessLife.com. I think this Academy is SOOOOOOO COOL :))) ...and I am so thrilled to see how effortlessly this project seems to be unfolding for this dynamic duo - it feels like there is very strong energy from the Universe behind this one... The basic idea of "The Academy" is to serve as a place for people to learn about truly useful information for creating their Optimal Lives for themselves...forget a crusty old university schedule sagging under the weight of physics classes, history lectures and tedious maths tuition and other left-brain blah-blah...this Academy is all about useful, practical, insightful sharing of the yummiest kinds - think classes on nutrition, positive psychology, health and well-being, creativity, meditation, parenting, relationships, spirituality, money, conscious business, sustainability and much more - YEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAH :) ...and all under the loving guidance of various "experts" in each respective field...

The "Raw Emotions" course is set to start on September the 27^th at 7pm Eastern and to run for 8 consecutive Tuesdays at the same time... If you can't make the sessions live, everything will be archived for later access. This course will dive into all of the key concepts of "Raw Emotions", including:

• The Raw Lifestyle and Emotional Healing
• Seven Ways of Eating - The Role of Consciousness in Food Choices
•  Examining Physiological and Psychological Addiction
• Tell-Tale Signs of An Overeater and Creating Our Optimal Vision
• Three Steps to Restructure Emotional Connections to Food
• Exploring the Emotional Detox Process
• Top Tips for Healing
• Maintaining Maintenance

You can check out aaaaaaaaaaaaall the juicy details and get signed up for this autumnal joy class HERE: http://www.entheosacademy.com/course/Raw-Emotions and you can see a short intro video from Brian on the Academy here: http://www.entheosacademy.com - see you "on campus" ;)
    
 
All love and vibrations of pleasant serenity,
A. Stokes-Monaaaaaaaaaaaaaarch. xxx

Reflections From An Ancient Forest...

Mmmmmmm, I enjoyed sharing some fun reflections in my newsletter this week from an ancient Ecuadorian forest - here's a recap in case you missed the flow:


WOW...as I write this, we just got back from a powerful, inspiring walk in the nearby Podocarpus national forest here in Ecuador...I have been wanting to go hiking in the forest here ever since we came to Ecuador and today we finally made it out into the hills... What an incredible TREAT ;O
I feel very moved and transformed by this simple two-hour walk in the wilderness...my mind echoes with the quote from Henry David Thoreau: "In wildness is the preservation of the world." This feels distinctly true and significant to me right now... It was so interesting to be out there, in this ancient forest, surrounded by ferns, native trees, orchids, hummingbirds, butterflies and seemingly endless biodiversity... the air felt so *rich*, moist, nourishing and clean...
Up in the cloud forest, the range of flora, the greenery and moistness seemed to be in sharp contrast to the currently parched "dry season" landscape of most of this area...it is so odd to think that this whole area probably used to be just like this - primary forest, untouched by human madness, rich, dense, teeeeeming with life and energy, before clear-cutting for cattle raising became the norm...
It felt so REAL to be out there in that peaceful, serene wilderness, even if it has man-made nature trails with signposts for us to follow...I felt such an easy and direct sense of connection to nature/the divine... It then felt pretty surreal to come back out of there and drive along human-made tarmac roads, see road signs, houses, cars, people in clothing, churches and so on... everything right now outside of that pristine forest environment has a sense of "unreality" to me - what *are* we humans doing here...?
(Continued below...)


on August the 19th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
1.5 cups watermelon/orange juice
1 cup intense greeeeeeen/carrot juice
5 granadillas
bowl of yummmmmmers cucumber/dulse/avocado/kim chi salad, stuffed into nori sheets with Sea Clear, followed by a small handful of dried jack fruit pieces
water of two young coconuts
chunk of fresh papaya
2 cups water


on August the 20th I loved:

1 quart water
8 granadillas
2 cups water
3 tbsp spirulina crunchies
water of a young coconut
bowl of yummmmmmers cucumber/dulse/avocado/kim chi salad, stuffed into nori sheets with Sea Clear, followed by a small handful of dried jack fruit pieces
water of two young coconuts
mug of herbal tea




The majority of us seem to be living so dramatically removed from an "original" state of being in nature as to make our lives seem almost farcical from my current point of view... Walking in the forest today, we were contemplating how different a human might be if they grew up in that kind of environment - what would they eat, what would their connection with nature look like, where would they live, what would they focus their attention on...? In contrast to the kinds of possibilities that seemed to arise in th at context, even current human choices that we might consider "eco" or "green" seem frankly bizarre in comparison - running an organic farm for example, or buying food from a health food store, running an "eco-friendly" business from a computer, making a superfood smoothie in a high-speed blender or going on an "eco"-holiday rather than a standard trip... Wow, humans strike me as so very odd sometimes...such a strange presence here on Earth...our actions and interactions seem so at odds with the quietness, presence and clarity of pure undisturbed nature...which is always there in the background, quietly carrying on with its own reality, while the maddening whirl of modern human reality spins and jumbles on over the top, like a bizarre superimposed cartoon of psychotic, parasitic behaviour...
Hmmmmm, well, perhaps that may sound harsh to some people and of course we are all part of this current co-creation... my intention here is certainly not to try to "blame" anyone for our current context, I was simply really struck today by the beauty, majesty and clarity of the pristine forest and wanted to share some of this perspective here, to pe rhaps serve as a little reminder to us all, myself very much included, that as Thoreau stated, "In wildness is the preservation of the world."

Long live Gaia :)))

(You can see some more of my pictures from this trip on Facebook HERE and a little video of our forest reflections HERE - enjoy ;)

on August the 21st I appreciated:

1 quart water
6 granadillas
water of a young coconut
2 cups greeeeen smoothie: papaya, mango, greeeeens from the garden
bowl of yummmmmmers cucumber/dulse/avocado/kim chi salad, stuffed into nori sheets with Sea Clear, followed by a small handful of dried jack fruit pieces
water of two young coconuts
chunk of Mr. M's rawmarkable Pili Nut "Chocolate"
mug of herbal tea


on August the 22nd I was blissed with:

1 quart water
6 granadillas
2 cups "Chocolate Milk" green juice: spinach, romaine, carrot, alfalfa
water of a young coconut
bowl of yummmmmmers cucumber/dulse/avocado/kim chi salad, stuffed into nori sheets with Sea Clear, followed by yummers raw desserts at a potluck party: blackberry "cheesecake" with Andean blueberry sauce, durian ice pie, fruit salad :)
water of two young coconuts
1 cup water


In other news, it was also fun to see this week that Bernando LaPallo, the healthy Arizona centenarian, just turned 110 :) A truly vibrant leo brother - check out an ABC report on his 110th birthday reflections HERE - long live this inspiring example :)


All love,
Angelalaalalaaaaaaaaa. xxx