Five Things I Learnt On The Road Last Year...

I recently found some notes I'd been making on a piece of paper in the car, along the theme of five things that had become clear to me while living on the road for the MAJORITY of last year, while travelling, moving, darting in and out of places and houses and venues and lives...I thought I'd share these observations here with y'all today...

*'Nothing is Definite Until it is Done' - along our travels we meet people telling us about all kinds of projects, ideas and suggestions that they think are 'definitely' going to happen: books they are writing, new businesses they are 'definitely' going to do, websites they will have ready 'next week' and any number of other things that they are certain are going to unfold...in my experience, nothing is definite until it is actually done...so I tend to receive all this kind of information with an open, supportive heart and an awareness that things may actually unfold in another way than is being foretold... ;) There are so many myriad possibilities for outcomes and we all have a choice in every single moment, so thinking that things are 'definitely' going to happen can seem, to me, a little like openly tempting the 'trickster' energy to rise up and meet the path... ;)

on January the 20th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
2 tbsp YUMMY bee pollen
2 cups greeeeeeeen juice
bowl of blended chia yum: blended together green apples, sprouted chia flour, acai powder, maca, spirulina
1 quart water
3 cups reishi/shilajit/ormus tea
1 cup greeeeeen juice
4 tbsp acai powder
2 cups water

*'Don't Take Anything Personally' - I've mentioned this one before, with major kudos to Don Miguel Ruiz (The Four Agreements) - and it is such a powerful theme for me that it comes up here again. Living and sharing life 'in public' can create situations where energies that seem other-than-supportive seem to be directed towards us. The key to finding peace in these situations, for me, centres around stepping away from taking any of this energy flow personally. I send love to anyone who seems to be acting out in a way that seems other-than-congruent with universal unconditional love and compassion... Sending people love, compassion and healing energy seems to be the best I can do to shift the energy in these situations.

*Breathe Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeep - my first action in any situation that feels challenging is to breathe deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep...this feels calming, healing, empowering and is the quickest way for me to reconnect to source, besides which it is also free and easy to do... ;)


on January the 21st I loved:

1 quart water
2 cups greeeeeen juice
bowl of blended chia yum: blended together green apples, sprouted chia flour, acai powder, maca, spirulina
2 cups reishi/shilajit/ormus tea
3 cups water
2 cups greeeeeen juice
4 tbsp acai powder, handful of *amazing* new Hunza dried apricot pieces - WOW :)
2 cups reishi/shilajit/ormus tea
2 cups water


on January the 22nd I was delighted with:

1 quart water
3 cups greeeeeeen juice
bowl of blended chia yum: blended together green apples, sprouted chia flour, acai powder, maca, spirulina, sprinkled some ground pumpkin seeds on top
2 cups reishi/shilajit/ormus tea
3 cups water
1 cup greeeeen juice
4 tbsp acai powder, little handful Hunza dried apricots
2 cups reishi/shilajit/ormus tea
2 cups water


*Leafy Greens, Seaweeds, Sprouts - for me, these are the three basic food components to concentrate on ingesting daily, to feel healthy, balanced and consistently great. Naturally I consume other things alongside these three - these are just the BASICS to make sure I am getting into my body, in some form, every day... ;)

*Emanating Love to All - many people we come across seem to be carrying a 'pain body' with them to some degree or another...they WANT love, acceptance and to feel happy and yet they may speak and act out in a way that seems to suggest otherwise ;) In my experience, the more I am willing to extend a space of love, compassion and acceptance to everyone, the more easily my own life experience seems to flow...whereas resistance to any energy flow seems to escalate apparent challenges...after all, what we resist, persists ;)
I believe that anyone can hold a healing space of love open towards another being, IF they are willing to do so - it often comes down to a balancing game of pain bodies; who is willing to step up into the light of love, compassion and grace and hold a gentle space open for mutual healing...? Is it going to be an endless, morbid battle of 'my pain body is bigger than yours', or are you willing to step up, listen with compassion to others and spread the love...? ;)

All blessings to you all...
Angelalalalaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

Seaweed Safety and Spices...

I’m writing from the southern tip of Lake Taupo in New Zealand today...what a STUNNING area – the lake is just vaaaaast :) We’ve been travelling quite a lot the last few days, LOVING the scenery here, marvelling at the myriad hues of green, the enormous stretches of land, land, land, sans human settlements, the gorgeous pristine waters...yummy…we also gave talks yesterday in Tauranga – thanks to ye’ all who came out to play – it was fun :) We’re on our way south now...in fact, we’ve just confirmed we’ll be speaking in Wellington in a couple of months' time. We’ll be at the Crossways Community Centre, (Cnr Elizabeth & Brougham Streets) on Saturday 19 April from 3.30pm to 7.30pm, with a raw potluck after...hope to see you there if you’re in the area – you can see full details and book your place HERE: http://www.purewellbeing.com/index1.html.

on February the 22nd I had:

2 quarts water
juice of 3 mandarins juiced in the mouth ;)
20oz of celery/cucumber/parsley/spinach/lambs’ quarters/carrot juice
bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: papaya/dragon fruit/banana/peach/cherries/blueberries
1 quart water
1 tbsp green powders: wheatgrass and barley grass
bowl of homemade tahini/brazil nut butter mixed with mung bean sprouts, diced tomatoes/garlic, karengo seaweed, stuffed in lettuce leaves and nori sheets
1 quart water

This question came in recently about seaweed:

“I wonder about mercury in seaweed? If we must worry about mercury in fish, wouldn't it be in the seaweed also?”

Hmmmm, thanks for the Q...well, while personally I don’t feel that I ‘must’ worry about anything, I was intrigued about the content of this message and so asked our primary seaweed supplier - ‘Maine Coast Sea Veg’ for their feedback – here was what they had to say on the matter:

“Our mercury levels are so low that we actually stopped testing for several years. We started again in response to customer requests for the information.
The levels for mercury have been consistently undetected at 0.04 ppm.

We do testing for heavy metals every year, at the end of the harvest season. I have attached our Statement of Product Testing for 2007, which is the last year for which data is available. You can also check out the same document in our FAQ section online, at http://www.seaveg.com/faq6.php.

I hope that this is helpful. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours in Health,
Rae Urban”

Hmmmmm, interesting, eh? Hope that helps y’all feel even more yummy about munching on the ocean’s weedy wonders...I am SOOO into seaweeds at the moment, as you may have noticed in my daily food logs ;) Karengo, wakame, kelp, nori – LOVING it and it’s definitely nice to know I’m not massively stacking up my toxin load simultaneously... ;)
Ok, double-whammy food log now, due to being ex communicado on the road for a while there... ;)

on February the 23rd I had:

1.5 quarts water
3 mandarins
16oz carrot/cucumber/ginger/mint juice
bowl of cherries
2 cups carrot juice with Greener Grasses powder stirred in
3 cups water
bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: banana/blueberries/cherries/mulberries
1 quart water
2 cups carrot juice
bowl of avo mushed with diced tomatoes/garlic, mixed sprouts, karengo seaweed & cumin powder, served in lettuce leaves and nori rolls
1 quart water


on February the 24th I had:

2 quarts water
3 mandarins
24oz celery/cucumber/cabbage/parsley/spinach/lambs’ quarters/carrot juice
lettuce wraps stuffed with seed pate (soaked sunflower seeds/sundried tomatoes, blended with garlic), diced tomatoes, sprouts and seaweed
1 quart water
1 tbsp green powders
bowl of chia gel with fruit salad – blueberries, cherries, mulberries and apple
1.5 quarts water

Here’s another recent Q – from Ms. Amy...

“I'm wondering: do you use any kind of spices in your dishes (pepper, oregano, etc)? I'm just curious. I don't know if going without spices is for me, so I'll probably keep them personally, but I was just curious what "real" raw foodies do! Thanks. Making The Transition in Pennsylvania – Amy”

Thanks for the Q Amy :) Well...everyone’s different of course and some raw foodies will use herbs and spices, whereas others aren’t interested in them...I’ll certainly share with you what THIS ‘real raw foodie’ does though ;)
I rarely use spices anymore in foods I make myself – I do go through spates though where I might get REALLY into something – like cumin for example – some of you who’ve been reading this blog for a while might remember I got really into eating cumin with avocado and lime a while back – I was eating it literally every day, then I was just...done, not really interested anymore – though, coincidentally, I did get some out of the cupboard here yesterday in fact and enjoyed a bit with my meal ;) Sometimes I get interested in cayenne pepper and I think that may happen again soon...I feel it coming ;) Cayenne is an extraordinarily healing food – if you’ve never looked into the properties of it, I’d definitely recommend it – especially for anyone in cold, wintery places right now ;) I also absolutely LOOOOOOOVE cinnamon and just got a new bag of it a few days ago, so will start using that again soon, most likely…other than that, hmmmm...I don’t use much myself in the way of spices...
Herbs I enjoy include parsley, cilantro, mint and basil – the first two we use pretty often in juices and sometimes in salads/savoury meals, whereas basil and mint I tend to find more awkward to use in meals – it always seems like when you buy them, they come in huge bunches and unless I make pesto or ice cream or smthg, it just seems like way too much to deal with in one go, so I tend to just not even bother getting either of them ;) I’m not much into using dried herbs myself either... HOWEVER, if I eat some pre-prepared raw food like crackers or smthg that someone’s made, which contain herbs or spices, I usually feel fine about it. Mr Monarch on the other hand has been at this raw game longer than me and is not so enamoured of spices – he’s very sensitive to them and really feels the effect strongly when they’re in foods – he prefers to avoid them. A lot of raw foodists actually don’t feel good about eating herbs/spices – usually it’s people more into Natural Hygiene ideas who feel that way . Here’s a little blurb I wrote recently on spices that might help explain why, if this seems odd to you:

“Spices tend to be powdered forms of certain plants, in concentrations you would not easily come across in nature. Spices are made by powdering down a large amount of some bark, root, or other plant matter. You might even have a spice blend. The concentrated intensity of the spice can throw the body a bit out of balance, as you are getting a much bigger ‘hit’ of this food than you’d naturally be able to get hold of if you were just foraging things to eat in the wild. This can distort taste buds, block your ability to sense when you’ve eaten enough and so encourage eating in excess.”

As for the herbs, well, as mentioned above, some of them just don’t seem that easy to use – if you can’t imagine eating a whole bunch of mint or basil for a meal, some people question the idea of bothering to use them at all...;) Well...different courses for different horses – I hope that’s given you some ideas anyway about raw foodie herb/spice interactions...

One love,
Angela. xxx

Show and Tell...

I’m going to share today a few of the things y’all have been sending in on emails and comments…
Firstly I want to share a few impressive fruit/veggie pics which were sent in recently – some of you have probably seen some of these before on forwarded emails – I have no idea where they originally came from – I just think they’re really sweet – enjoy ;)























on February the 20th I had:

1.5 quarts water
4 mandarins
16oz celery/cucumber/parsley/carrot juice
½ avo mushed with sprouts, diced tomatoes/garlic and karengo seaweed, served in lettuce wraps and nori sheets
1.5 quarts water
½ small watermelon
bowl of green smoothie: banana/blueberries/spinach/lambs’ quarters, with extra blueberries and mulberries stirred in
1 quart water

Hope y’all enjoyed the power of that majestic Full Moon in Virgo :)
There were so many sweet messages after my last post, I thought I’d share a couple of comments here:

“All of that news of the Virgo and the Full Moon has given me a great deal of hope. My birthday is tomorrow!! It's a better time than ever to become healthy. S.”

Good for you, S :) I hope your healing is unfolding with grace, clarity and joy and that your birthday was blissful :)
Here’s another yummy comment:

“I love this post, Angela. Especially the part about climbing to the top of the mountain. I'm on Day 19 of my Juice Feast and I've lost 10.5 kg so far (23 pounds) and currently weigh 146.5kg (322 pounds). Every day in Pilates class there is something new I can do. I love it! My husband and I are planning a trip to Victoria Falls in December, which will include lots of physical activities like hiking and river rafting! Previously I would never have considered these things! Every day is a new discovery and brings new hope for a better, healthier life! My husband is already eating high raw and this is how we will be living after our Juice Feast. Life is good! The part about the moon in Virgo was also fascinating. I am a Virgo and definitely believe in natural healing. Thank you for being such an inspiration! H.”

WOW, thank YOU, H for sharing your amazing ongoing transformation – I’m SO pleased for you – enjoy the juicy journey...

on February the 21st I had:

1.5 quarts water
3 mandarins
20oz celery/cucumber/spinach/carrot/cabbage/lambs’ quarters juice
sunflower seed pate (soaked sunflower seeds and sundried tomatoes blended with a clove of garlic), stuffed in lettuce leaves with wakame seaweed, diced tomatoes and mung beans
1 quart water
raw potluck food: pieces of dried durian, a few hand-picked morton bay figs, little bowl of fruit salad, piece of mango/coconut cake with 'figgy pudding'
1 quart water

Agam wrote in recently saying:

“please do a blurb on b12, it's unclear to me weather it is needed if one takes 1T/day spirulina. how much b12 do we really need? and can you really feel the difference when you take it? what are the signs of deficiency? much love, agam”

Ok, here’s some B12 blurb I wrote recently – hope this helps ;)

What about Vitamin B12?
B12 deficiency tends to be a big health concern among vegan raw fooders.
This vitamin is essential for red blood cell formation, energy and nerve function. It is found primarily in western food sources in meat and dairy produce, so vegans often have low levels of it. Deficiency can lead to exhaustion, dizziness and blackouts. Other symptoms of B12 deficiency include anxiety, pale skin, blurred vision, poor memory, constipation and in severe cases, anaemia and nerve damage. It’s a controversial issue and some suggest there are in fact no reliable vegan sources of B12.
As for me, I feel like I do now get some B12 from the foods I eat - (algaes, seaweeds etc) PLUS I rarely wash my fruit and veg - I like having some soil/micro-organisms in there to help my system produce B12 and thrive ;) I also take good care of my colon, through both consuming probiotics and doing colon cleansing, which means my internal flora produce B12 for me too. To be certain I’m getting all that I need, I also take a B12 supplement regularly, which I feel is like my ‘back up’ in case the foods and internal flora really aren’t working. (I take the Hallelujah Acres Sublingual Tabs – see HERE.)
A couple of years into my raw journey, I actually experienced a serious B12 deficiency. At that time, my food intake was quite unbalanced, I was doing no colon cleansing and taking no B12 supplement. I was pale, dizzy and low in energy and ended up having blood tests to determine the cause, after a fainting spell. After discovering I had a low B12 count, I started taking supplements and my health improved rapidly.

To your vibrant, bouncy, shiny self :)
Ms. Stokes. xxx

An Attitude of Gratitude...

Three things I am grateful for today:

1. Waking up at 7am, running to the beach and enjoying my morning yoga and meditation with the seagulls in the black sand, crisp morning air and seaspray...
2. Speaking to a delightful crowd at a packed event in Auckland. Thanks to all who turned out – it was a pleasure to connect with so many of the kiwi raw tribe ;)
3. Eating so much seaweed. I recently declared to Mr Monarch that I would happily live on papaya and seaweed...I hold this to be true...the wakame and karengo seaweeds we have at the moment are just diviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine...we found it challenging to find seaweeds in Australia, so are very happy to be munching our way through bags of it again now...if you’d like more info about just WHY one might think it jolly to eat sea shrubbery, pls see this informative video courtesy of Dr Wolfe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkUrgi7pZlY

on February the 16th I had:

1.5 quarts water
30oz watermelon/orange juice
30oz celery/cucumber/zucchini/spinach/carrot/radish/cabbage juice
bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: banana/papaya/kiwi/goji berries/plum
1.5 quarts water
12oz celery/cucumber/zucchini/spinach/carrot/radish/cabbage juice
bowl of ‘apple flax’: blended apples mixed with groud flax/pumpkin seeds, with goji berries and karengo seaweed stirred in...yummmmmmmmmm
1 quart water

Three things I appreciate about New Zealand:

1. The greeeeeeeeeeeeeenery...this morning we drove through what seemed like a primitive rainforest to me – I found the trees and ferns and plant life just staggering in their beauty...I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stretch of greenery that looked so...pristine...I somehow had the impression it had barely changed in many centuries...it was like I imagine the scenery would be if one was to rock up on a deserted island in the South Pacific or somewhere – lush gorgeousness and SO many shades of green...mmmmmmmmm
2. Small population – YES :) I LOVE countries with small human populations...I find that people usually tend to be a lot nicer to each other in these countries...this was one of the things I loved most about Iceland, where I lived for 3.5 years, on and off...you can drive for hours on end in some areas of both these countries and not see a single other vehicle...there are many other similarities betwixt Iceland and NZ too, from my perspective – dramatic scenery, lots of sheep – in fact, quite probably more cattle than humans, glaciers and volcanoes, no major mammal life etc...
3. Maori culture – in no other country which the British and other Europeans decided to take over have I seen as much apparent embracing of the ‘native’ culture as here. Maoris seem vastly more ‘visible’ in society here than, for example, Aboriginis in Australia or Native Americans in N. America...there are Maori statues, sayings and place names all over, museums, businesses, artwork, jewellery, cultural gatherings and so on...not that there aren’t challenges still, I’m sure – I just find it interesting to see the way in which two very different societies seem to have found a way of integrating here, compared to similar scenarios in other parts of the world...

ommmmmmmmm February the 17th I had:

1.5 quarts water
30oz watermelon juice
bowl of fruit salad with chia gel: apple/kiwi/plum/banana
1 quart water
1.5 cups celery/cucumber/leafy greens/carrot/apple juice
½ serving of mung beans/tahini/seaweeds/pumpkin seeds mixture served in lettuce wraps
1lb of cherries
½ serving of mung beans/tahini/seaweeds/tomatoes/pumpkin seeds mixture served in lettuce wraps
1 quart water

The final thing I’d like to express gratitude for today is ‘Asana Kisses’. This cheekily named balm is one of the extraordinary products from yummy skincare company ‘Little Moon Essentials’. It is like a natural version of ‘Deep Heat’ and it performed incredible healing work on my body the last couple of days. I pulled a muscle in my back quite badly a couple of nights ago, when we were moving house. It was VERY painful. I’m not used to injuring myself much and find it a bit bizarre when I do. This injury left me unable to breathe fully into my left lung cavity without pain and any twisting of my torso was agonising. I assumed it would take quite a while to heal. I pulled out the aforementioned ‘Asana Kisses’ balm and slathered it over the painful area on my back before going to bed, for 2 nights in a row. By the third day, I was back to FULL functionality...I was amazed...this product is actually designed for ‘extreme sports enthusiasts’, to help heal injuries quickly...I’ve been carrying this pot of balm with me for quite some time on the road and had never had cause to use it until now...well, WOW is my verdict, this is potent stuff...I’d definitely recommend it for speedy, natural healing – you can check out all their products on the Little Moon Essentials site HERE and I do believe I’ve often seen their things in places such as ‘Whole Foods’ in N. America as well...we actually met Laura, the owner, many mooooons ago, in Arizona on a raw retreat – she’s a magical little raw pixie of joy and I for one am very grateful for these 'Kisses’ she offers the world ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Coastal Life...

I am SOOOOOOOOOOO excited…we've moved into our own place :))) There has been so very much movement and travelling in our lives recently and I was feeling completely ready to break up that pattern. Today we did it. We just moved into our own little flat on the east coast of Australia and it is absolutely WONDERFUL – I am just wiggling with excitement here…it was totally gifted to us from the universe – a serene, quiet hill-side setting with sweeping views over forests down to the ocean, a gorgeous garden (with a HUGE compost ;), uber-kind and friendly landlords and there was even a juicer waiting in the kitchen for us as we arrived ;O The kitchen window is like an observation tank at a zoo – it overlooks a trickling waterfall pond, where ‘water dragons’ bask magnificently in the sunshine. Many of these large lizard-like creatures live here – I counted 6 sitting out there at one point this afternoon – and they seem to be aware that we are behind glass and not there to trouble them…in fact, perhaps from their perspective they think they’re watching US in a ‘human zoo’ ;) I am just so thrilled to STOP somewhere for the next couple of months and get on with writing my book – yeeeeeeeeeeeee-HAH ;)

on November the 18th I had:

1 quart water
1 medium papaya
2.5 cups celery/cucumber/parsley/spinach/carrot juice
1 cup water
bowl of soaked mulberries blended with pistachios
2 cups water
3 cups cucumber/carrot/parsley/romaine juice
2 black sapotes
bowl of sea spaghetti covered with a mixture of avo mushed with spinach hummus, alfalfa, chopped tomatoes and Celtic sea salt, with baby spinach, sunflower greens, cilantro and sliced cucumbers on the side
3 cups water

SO many of you have written to ask ‘WHAT IS SEA SPAGHETTI…???’ Hmmm, I’m sorry it’s taken a while to answer this…
WELL…the sea spaghetti I’ve been eating in the last few months is, without question, one of my absolute FAVOURITE raw foods. It is a seaweed that seems to grow mainly around the shores of western Europe. It is completely phenomenal – have you tried it…? It’s LITERALLY like eating pasta…and forget sloppy stringy spiralised raw zucchini ‘pasta’ – THIS stuff is the real deal – it’s like al dente linguini – flat, long strips of chewy, soft, salty, ‘meaty’, nutrient-packed YUM. Sea spaghetti is rich in absorbable iron, potassium and vitamin c. The Latin name for this seaweed is Himanthalia Elongata and it’s also sometimes known as ‘Thongweed’ in English. Although it only really seems to grow in the oceans around western Europe, we have magic-ed some importing wizardry and now have this outrageously yummy product for sale in North America :) WOW (: This is, as far as we know, an exclusive – no-one else seems to sell sea spaghetti beyond Europe, so, I’m very excited that we now have it in the RawReform Store. I eat seaweeds almost daily – it’s SO key for getting plenty of minerals into your body - and this is easily one of the best I’ve ever tasted. You can soak it for just 30 mins and it’s ready to munch, I prefer to soak it overnight though – that way it seems to feel more easily digestible. You only need to use a small amount, as it’s SO dense and filling and expands a lot during soaking. After soaking, you can literally just eat it as it is, it’s SO delicious…OR make a sauce to pour over it…I like to just mix it up with something like pumpkin seed butter, Celtic sea salt, cumin powder and hemp seeds for example…yummmmmmm…then today we made a ‘sauce’ of mashed avo with alive hummus, chopped tomatoes and sprouts and stirred that in…you can create dishes that LITERALLY taste like the cooked pasta dishes you may be missing and craving – yet are SO much more nourishing for you – WOW :) Hmmm...I think I could rave on about sea spaghetti for a few more pages yet - I'll just let you go and see more about it for yourself though HERE and maybe even order some to try and... ENJOOOOOOOOOOY :)

One love,
Angela. xxx