Opening to Receiving :)

I’m not sure that I’ve ever been so excited to write a blog post…or had the feeling like my fingers are falling so much all over each other to get what I’m feeling out onto the screen in front of me…

(Deeeeeeeeep breath… ;)

I feel like I experienced a quantum leap in my reality today. I feel like a different person. I feel, for the first time perhaps in my *life* - or at least the first time as an adult – that I am truly open to receiving. Receiving love from others, receiving acceptance, receiving connection…receiving whatever is lovingly given. This may sound like some “new age blahblah” perhaps to some people reading this…yet for me I truly feel today like a veil has been lifted…like I’m experiencing life suddenly in technicolour…like *everything* is different…I hope to be able to convey this experience here in a way that helps others to relate to it…

So, what happened…?

Well…I’ve recently been delving deeeeeeeeply back into the world of “Non-Violent Communication” (NVC, also sometimes known as “Compassionate Communication”). What I’m seeing is that for me, this way of communicating and being is HUGELY powerful as a tool of self-transformation. HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGELY powerful. It has such resonance with my soul, with my way of being, my way of understanding myself…more than any other “transformation tool” I’ve *ever* used…

I learnt of NVC for the first time many years back now – perhaps eight years or so ago, on a retreat in the UK…it very much resonated for me then, yet I was at that time also very much diving into the raw food world, developing my website, books, coaching etc, so, I integrated what I swiftly could of NVC and it then took somewhat of a “backseat” for me these last eight or so years…

In the last few weeks I’ve been immensely enjoying reading a number of NVC books, mostly around parenting issues in relation to NVC. I’ve read perhaps six or so books in this field in the last few weeks and the more I read, the more NVC becomes integrated into my life, my thinking, my patterns and the more and more and MORE I love and appreciate it…

Which brings us to today.

I had a space of about 40 minutes alone this morning. I was feeling exhausted. I decided to get centered, take a deeeeeep breath and use NVC to look into what was going on for me right then. In I went.

After prodding around a bit, I could see that the main feeling with me was one of anxiety. Ok, got the feeling. Now, what was going on *behind* that feeling of anxiety? As I delved and dug and burrowed into this picture, what I came up with was this: I was feeling anxiety in relation to a number of upcoming social engagements – meetings with friends, events and so on.

Why anxiety?

What was not feeling fulfilled in me to such a degree that just thinking of these social events would trigger a feeling of anxiety in me? Again I dug and dug around, looking for the answer that TRULY felt like it resonated…and what I saw was that at these kind of encounters, what I was looking for was acceptance, love and connection…and the *anxiety* was there because rather than ever allowing myself to actually RECEIVE these things to any significant degree, I had instead been holding myself in a life-long pattern of feeling "obligated" to GIVE these things to whoever else was around me, non-stop, constantly, until I felt totally drained.

I would not allow myself the space to RECEIVE almost *anything* from anyone…just little threads here and there to keep myself alive…otherwise I just felt obligated to give give give give give, relentlessly…and no matter how much I would give, I would always wonder if it was “enough”…no WONDER I would usually walk away from social encounters feeling totally exhausted ;O

…and no wonder that the mere idea of such encounters being upcoming in my near future would trigger feelings of “anxiety” in me…feelings of “oh man, here we go again, get ready to givegivegivegivegive, get ready to feel totally exhausted”… It is like I’ve been feeling obligated to take on the “responsibility” for the happiness and well-being of everyone around me for years on end, without being available to RECEIVE almost anything for myself except scraps…WOW :O

As I said, others may read this and think “so what?”, or “what is she babbling about…?”, yet for me, right now, this is all feeling absolutely MONUMENTAL and I have the feeling that there may be many others out there, women especially, who may read this and feel some resonance with the patterns I’m describing and…who knows, maybe even through my sharing, others may feel that they find some kind of a “short-cut” to realising what they are experiencing too…

As I looked at this picture in myself of giving-giving-giving and not being open to receiving…as I cracked that apart, I felt, in my energy body, a massive shift…I felt and “saw” it in my energy field, as my heart chakra opened up with a soft green light in an OPENING/receiving cycle that just wasn’t seemingly there before, or certainly not open in the way I could sense it opening now…I felt the warmth of the opening as it spread across my heart space…it felt amazing…I was moved to tears.

Suddenly everything felt different – everything – my whole life…so, here’s an arrayed snapshot into some of what I’ve been feeling/sensing for the last few hours: I feel lit up, hyper, bubbling, disorientated at this huge new sense of energy flowing through my system, I keep getting visions of running on hill-tops, bursting with energy; I feel like I’ve been living a “half-life” until now, without even remotely realising it; I keep wondering “why would anyone have ever listened to a word I said until now…?” – couldn’t they SEE I wasn’t fully there?; also wondering: “how did I get anything done living that kind of half-life?”…marvelling that I survived at all, let alone managed to offer the world anything that feels “significant” in any way; wondering if other people have lived all their lives feeling this way too, or if not, how different things have been for them; huge feelings of gratitude to realise these things NOW at least…and especially while Oria is still relatively young, rather than not taking the time/space to check into all this until she is already grown and has potentially taken on the same energetic patterns fully for her life too; huge feeling of gratitude and relief too for the tool of NVC to help me to see these things clearly – I’ve worked with MANY healing modalities over the years and nothing has come close to this for me personally to just be able to get into the CORE of what it is that I’m feeling and wanting; the energy sensation currently in my body feels very similar to the feeling I get when I eat raw chocolate – the blowing open of the heart chakra, the increased synchronicity, the “high”, yet this is all completely energy-based, no physical consumption of anything involved and hopefully there will be no significant “come down” ;) …I deeply hope and trust that this new awareness will stay with me now and integrate fully…

I want to make something else clear…I do not feel that the primary place for me now to receive from is other people…I feel that it is from Spirit/Source/God/Nature, or whatever you might like to call that energy that is beyond these little human forms we’re apparently in…I was recently reading shaman Little Grandmother’s beautiful book and one part in there that really resonated for me was where she describes the pattern most humans seem to have these days of “feeding” from each other energetically rather than connecting to and fuelling from Source, from the infinite well of pure potential and love that surrounds us…this feels to me like the REAL place to truly receive from…

So what does any of this mean in “practical” terms? For me it feels like there is the possibility for me to relax more now in social settings with others. I can let go of feeling “responsible” for everyone in any context, “obliged” to keep things feeling “nice” and flowing…I can just relax, if I choose, keep my heart chakra space open to receive as well as give and…see what arises ;)

I don’t attach any expectations to holding this space completely open steadily all the time now that I’ve witnessed it…I do feel like there’s been a fundamental shift in my being though and I feel so very grateful for it and wanted to share something of this experience here.

If you would love to explore NVC more for yourself, we have an NVC book you might enjoy HERE – I’d *HIGHLY* recommend checking this technique out… :)

Brightest blessings to you all,
Angela. xxx

Why I haven't been around online the last few weeks...

I’m BACK :)  

As you may possibly have noticed, I’ve been more or less “absent” online in the last few weeks…today I finally have the energy to connect again, so here I gratefully am :)

I want to share what has been unfolding for me this end the last few weeks… I basically became uncharacteristically extremely unwell and ended up in bed for almost two weeks. I believe the situation began with some kind of infection or virus, then spiraled from there, leaving me still slowly rebuilding my energy daily right now.

On the morning of October the 10^th I awoke to a sudden very odd sensation in my head and body…a lot of pressure in my head, a feeling of “not being in” my body, vision behaving strangely and so on…after a few hours I laid down again and pretty much ended up in bed for the next two weeks, bizarre symptoms playing themselves out over time…hot and cold flushes, sweating, semi-delirium, complete loss of appetite, pressure in head, extremely low energy, strange vision, huge difficulty moving the physical body and so on…

This illness was extremely odd for me to experience, as I am *not* used to feeling ill anymore at all… At this point now today, all of the strange “symptoms” have passed and I am more or less back to my usual self, though it definitely feels like I am still rebuilding my vital energy day by day…my sleep pattern had also become completely messed up from being in bed so long, so I am still working on getting back into a more typical flow… 

 

More than anything, I am left with a deep and clear message once again in my life that *health is the greatest wealth* - trulytrulytruly, without our health, we have so little…health and vitality are such incredible gifts, so often overlooked I feel, when we are used to having them with us… 

While I was in that semi-comatose state in bed, I would see what other people were doing around me, how fast they moved, how quickly they could think and speak, the number of things they could do in a day and I was just in complete awe…from the place I was in, it all looked *impossible* - in the space of a day it was literally all I could do to drink some juices, eat something and shower – the rest of the time I was just there, in bed, in a daze of symptoms and semi-delirium…very odd to experience…

When I would connect to Spirit during this time and ask them what was going on, I always got the same response – an overall “blankness”, basically a message to "keep out of it", the over-arcing feeling that everything is fine and being taken care of – I may not understand the process at play now, that doesn’t matter, I am still being supported and carried and at some point it will all make sense, this is a necessary part of the process… The message seemed to be more or less: “you just do what you can to keep the physical body alive right now and we’ll take care of the rest, at some point this will all make sense.” Wow…pretty bizarre to be experiencing…just trusting in the unfolding flow, especially as I pretty much had no option in terms of energy anyway; I could barely move or think, so it all very much felt like a space of surrender and waiting to see what was unfolding…I felt much like I imagine a caterpillar does as it languishes and liquefies in the chrysalis, deconstructing into a mush, trusting the process and eventually emerging on the other side, brighter, stronger and ultimately transformed… :)

Now that I am more-or-less out the other side of this health “drama”, it is amazing to me to be able, for example, to make a batch of flax crackers, as I did yesterday…I had wanted to do that for about two weeks, yet it literally would have felt impossible for me to do so even a week ago…to note yesterday that there was enough vital energy back flowing through my system to perform such a task without feeling completely and utterly exhausted by the end of it was such a bright blessing and I am so grateful :)

This experience the last few weeks reminds me of a similar illness I experienced when I was about nine years of age – as I recall it came on just as suddenly and left me totally wiped out on the sofa for more than a week, swirling in symptoms and semi-delirium… No-one ever knew what it was I was dealing with, it just came, did whatever it did and moved on…

Perhaps my current detox process just finally hit that age of my life and I am reversing back through that curious stage again – who knows… ;) I do recall that after I came through that experience at the age of nine and finally had some vague appetite again, my parents whisked me up to the local corner shop to buy whatever sweets, chocolates and other treats I would eat – lol – while I certainly won’t be taking that approach this time around, I am definitely grateful to be able to eat again…you may notice that there are no food logs for me here in my blog for the last few weeks – there wasn’t much to make note of and I had no energy to do so anyway… we’ll see if I can get back on track now with making my usual notes… ;) 

For now, I am SOOOOOOOOOOO grateful to still be here in the game, to be feeling more vital life energy in my system day by day, able to walk around again, converse with people, do a few more activities each day, eat and drink with more ease and so on – again, a huge reminder that *health is the greatest wealth* - may you all be feeling truly vibrant and healthy, today and always… :)

All love, 

Angelalalaaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

Honouring My Body-Mind-Spirit :)

THANK YOU all for all of your beautiful birthday messages and well-wishes this week - they have all been received with a full heart of joy :)

In case you missed my "birthday message" in my newsletter this week, here is a recap:

This Wednesday, August the 10^th, marked my 33^rd birthday :) I feel so very grateful to have made it this far into the game and today wanted to  honour and send gratitude to three of my most constant companions on this journey so far: my body, my mind and my spirit...

*Dear Body - I am humbled by your resilience, your forgiving nature, your desire to live and thrive despite whatever comes your way, your strength. When I consider the traumas and challenges you have experienced over these years together, I feel both a sense of sadness at all that you have endured and also such a huge sense of gratitude for your perseverance through this all. I love and honour you with deepest respect and appreciation - you are the vehicle through which I currently get to participate here on Earth and I desire to do my very best to help you stay strong, present and healthy for the rest of the game here.

*Dear Mind - now where would we be without your incessant commentary, chatter and observations? ;) Thank you for your insights, your humour, your creativity, your kindness  and all the funny little games and tricks that you share... While I am saddened that for so many years you were immersed in a mostly other-than-uplifting stream of input/feedback loops on which to reflect and co-create, I am sincerely delighted to now note how rich, gentle, generous and playful your presence tends to feel. Thank you for your flexibility, your willingness to let go, your attention-to-detail and your clarity. May I do my best to help you stay clear, positively-orientated and supple in the coming years...


on August the 7th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
an orange squeezed over a little bowl of granadilla pulp
bowl of grawnola with fresh apple chunks and coconut water
2 cups coconut water blended with Moringa Powder
water of two young coconuts
bowl of kelp noodles dressed with yummmmmers carrot/avo sauce, with Curry/Kraut/Chia crackers on the side, followed by a chunk of Mr. M's outrageous Pili Nut "white chocolate"
water of a young coconut
2 cups water


on August the 8th I appreciated:

1 quart water
1 cup mandarin/granadilla/maracua juice
chunk of papaya
2 cups coconut water blended with Ormus Greens powder
bowl of kelp noodles dressed with yummmmmers carrot/avo sauce, with Curry/Kraut/Chia crackers on the side, followed by a chunk of Mr. M's outrageous Pili Nut "white chocolate"
water of two young coconuts
2 cups water




*Dear Spirit - thank you for your profound gifts of intuition, honesty, care, resilience and upliftment. Thank you for reminding me so gently through all the challenges that you are here, that I have support and that all, ultimately, is well. I breathe deeply with gratitude into the space that you hold here and honour your desire to connect, share and help inspire others. Thank you for your sincerity, directness and gentle reminders that it's all just a game...may I do my best to bring us all along safely, happily and healthily as this game continues to unfold...

It is fascinating to me, to reflect on the various elements that apparently go to make up "me" - we seem to be so multi-layered, multi-faceted, complex in some way...each part with its own role(s) to play and contribute, intermingling to create the impression of one unit from the outside... Personally I am very grateful for all the parts that go to make up "me" and currently contribute to the flow I am experiencing here, which I enjoy very much and feel blessed to be co-creating...

So, as I set off around the sun again this Wednesday on the anniversary of my "Birth-On-Earth", I breathe a deep breath of appreciation for every part of my being and radiate brightest blessings throughout my whole energy field and beyond, to all of YOU - may you all feel and acknowledge the blessings of your life flow here and truly appreciate the wonder of these embodied experiences - enjoy... :)


on August the 9th I was blissed with:

1 quart water
1 cup orange/granadilla juice
a yummmmmers dragon fruit
2 cups coconut water blended with Greener Grasses
bowl of energy soup fresh from the garden, with curry/kraut/chia crackers on the side, followed by two little sliced apples with almond butter
water of two young coconuts
2 cups water


on August the 10th it was my 33rd birthday and I enjoyed:

1 quart water
1 cup orange/maracua juice
bowl of yummy thick greeeeen smoothie: papaya, mango, masses of garden greenery
amazing raw potluck joys of various salads/pates etc with *PHENOMENAL* blackberry/cherimoya cheesecake and a Mr. Monarch pie masterpiece :)
water of two young coconuts
2 cups water


One raw yumster, Eden, is currently working on a project about sustainability practices amongst African Americans and would LOVE to hear from y'all if you have some stories to share - here's her message:

Dear Friends,

I am working on a magazine article query regarding the presence of sustainable lifestyle practices amongst African American individuals and families. I am hoping to connect with and interview African Americans who for whom any of the practices listed below are a significant part of their day to day life. 

• Homesteading

• Homeschooling

• Gardening & Sprouting – (enough to provide all or at least 80% of the family’s produce needs.)

• Permaculture farming

• Hunting & Fishing

• Built their own home with their own hands

• Live off grid

• Raise own animals for food and wool

• Beekeeping

• Sell anything that they gain from the above to supplement or provide family income.

If you know of anyone, I would love to receive a reference or introduction from you. They can either contact me on facebook (Eden Fadzo Chuislekuda), email me or call me: edenganya@msn.com or 520-216-4144.

ENJOY :)

All love,

Angelalalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

The Tribe To Which I Belong...

I am *thrilled* to say that Mr. Monarch and I just released, for the first time EVER, a DVD of our talks, called 'Raw Food Transformations' :))))
The DVD includes individual talks from Mr. M and I, then a joint food demo on 'Eating Raw on The Road' - all three sessions were filmed live before audiences at the The Living Light Expo in Fort Bragg last year :)

Mr. M just put together the most SPECTACULAR trailer for this DVD - I would recommend checking this trailer below out just for entertainment, if nothing else ;)

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=102138720

 
SO, for the first time ever, you can experience our live talks from the comfort of your own homes :) As you can see in the trailer above, we had never done a live food demo before. I suspect that the highly professional 'Living Light Culinary Institute' where this DVD was filmed had also never encountered anything like our child-like kitchen antics during a food demo before either, which raised more than a giggle from the audience ;) This DVD is over 2.5 hours long and is packed with truly valuable information.

Click HERE to purchase the all-new 'Raw Food Transformations' DVD!

on January the 10th I was blissed with:

1 quart water
shot of wheatgrass juice
2 cups greeeeen juice from The Tree of Life Cafe
1.5 cups coconut kefir - LOVE it :)
2 cups greeeeen juice from The Tree of Life Cafe
3 cups greeeeeeeeeeeeeen juice
4 tbsp bee pollen, 20 chlorella tablets, handful of spirulina crunchies
2 cups water
2 cups greeeeen juice from The Tree of Life Cafe
3 tbsp bee pollen, handful of spirulina crunchies
mug of herbal tea
2 cups water


on January the 11th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
2 cups greeeeen juice
mug of herbal tea
shot of wheatgrass juice
2 cups greeeeen juice from The Tree of Life Cafe
2 cups greeeeen juice from The Tree of Life Cafe
4 tbsp bee pollen, handful of spirulina crunchies
mug of herbal tea
2 cups water
2 cups greeeeen juice from The Tree of Life Cafe
2 cups greeeeen juice from The Tree of Life Cafe
3 tbsp bee pollen, little handful spirulina crunchies
2 tbsp bizarre sticky mixture of sunflower lecithin with hemp oil - wow ;)
3 cups water

MORE *exciting* raw job opportunity news for y'all...

Would you love to go and play in Puerto Rico, at one of the original Ann Wigmore Institutes? Making energy soup, loving the wheatgrass, helping people to help themselves heal, soaking up the sun and grinning profusely? (I would ;) Well, the dear buttons over there at the Institute would like two more jolly crew members please...they are looking for a 'Head Chef' and a 'Kitchen Member' - sounds blissful...if this interests you, you might want to sharpen up your knives and tap out an email to reservations.annwigmore@yahoo.com, asking for an application for these positions...you can also see more about the centre at the site www.AnnWigmore.org - ENJOY :)


on January the 12th I loved:

1 quart water
shot of wheatgrass juice
2 cups greeeeen juice from The Tree of Life Cafe
2 cups greeeeen juice from The Tree of Life Cafe
1 cup coconut kefir
3 cups greeeeeeeeeeeen juice
2 tbsp coconut oil with 40 chlorella tablets
1 quart water
mug of herbal tea
2 cups greeeeen juice from The Tree of Life Cafe
2 cups water


on January the 13th I was blissed with:

1 quart water
1 cup greeeeeeeen juice
mug of herbal tea
1 cup water
2 cups greeeeen juice from The Tree of Life Cafe
1 cup coconut kefir
4 tbsp bee pollen
3 cups water
4 tbsp bee pollen
2 cups water
2 cups greeeeen juice from The Tree of Life Cafe
1 quart greeeeen juice from The Tree of Life Cafe
2 cups water

Today is Day 30 of Green Juice Feasting for me here at the Tree of Life...it has been a FABULOUS experience...aaaaand...I don't feel ready to eat yet ;)

For now I'm going to continue doing what I've been doing and we'll see how it unfolds...the results I have seen in terms of the Chiropractic/alignment work I've been doing here, along with the colonics, Green Juice Feasting, resting, singing, being in the sun and so on have been literally life-changing, once again...I feel SO blessed :))) I love it here...
One of the MAIN new threads of reality I've been experiencing recently is how much *clearer* messages from Spirit/Source/The Universe seem to be coming through - it feels so easy to pay attention to the guidance that's coming through right now...there is the sense that this flow is ALWAYS there of course and in this current state and place I am in, it is simply very effortless to access and enjoy that flow...a few days ago, for example, a piece of poetry started to be 'downloaded' through me - I got out a pen and paper and started to scribe - the result is here below - I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the experience of allowing it to move through me...I have not really written poetry since I was a teenager and this is the second poem that has come through in the last few weeks now - nice :))))

The Tribe

The tribe to which I belong

Loves to be in the sun

And they rejoice in song.

They can be recognised

By their calm, loving eyes,

Pupils open wide,

Welcoming you to see inside...

Nothing hidden

No shame

Open and loving and flowing with the game...

These people feel compassion,

Nurture love and satisfaction.

They are kind with all whom they encounter,

Be they old friend, sales rep or debt collector.

Love is the key in every connection;

In my tribe this is recognised and honoured without exception.

The tribe to which I belong does their best

To support, encourage, co-operate, enliven,

Express sincere gratitude and raise the vibration.

In this tribe there is love for the land,

For Gaia and all her inhabitants

There is a reverence for life in every form.

There is a softness, a stillness and space held open for things to transform.

In this tribe, it is known that the only constant is change...

In this tribe, we accept that we can choose to release pain.

This tribe flows with opportunities, with gratitude and grace.

This tribe opens up doorways to help transform the whole human 'race'.

This tribe has members far and wide

Who resonate with a glow

Of health, connection and vitality

And...this tribe continues to grow...

Wherever you see someone helping another to sincerely connect and feel loved,

There goes my kin, from this beautiful tribe, sharing upliftment and trust.

Love, compassion, integrity,

Patience, clarity, ease;

My tribe resonates all of these values sincerely

And rides blissful waves of synchronicity.

This tribe has no fees or annual meetings,

No membership cards or local clubs.

When you join this tribe, you will simply know it,

For you will know that you are love.

All love,
Angelalalalaaaaaa. xxx

Meditation and Cleansing...

Here’s a reader Q that came in recently from Sarah:

“I was just wondering if you could be more specific about how you handled the electricity moving through your body so that it could be a "whole body" experience. This has been my experience more than once, but I've experienced a particularly powerful and overwhelming case of this recently. You know, this is one of the reasons why I haven't become 100% raw--I feel much too ungrounded even at 80-90%. I'm seem to be okay at 60-70%, though. Any thoughts? In light, Sarah”

Thanks Sarah :) HMmmmmm, yes, meditation and deep breathing were my main avenues for transferring the impact of the energy into my third eye chakra into a more whole body experience. Here is something I wrote recently about the way that I meditate, which perhaps might resonate for you:

I go into meditation seated cross-legged, with my hands rested on my knees, palms upwards, ready to receive and thumb and first finger connected in the endless loop of being. I try to be seated either outside in nature or somewhere facing out of a window towards trees. I like to connect in with tree energy as I ground myself into the reality of each day. I feel deep reverence for the simple majesty of trees – how the larger ones in particular have been there for decades upon decades and seen so much come and go, yet remain still and quietly observing, peaceful, in the midst of it all. They help me to get perspective, especially if small details in my life seem to be dominating my thoughts and actions.
I close my eyes, breathe deeply and begin to connect in to the universal energy.
I start with my base chakra and work up through my whole energy system, connecting in to the bigger energy field through each of my portals, energising my whole being. As I focus on the root chakra, I see it connecting as long red roots, emerging from my body where I’m seated and going deep down into the earth, grounding me into the earth energy and re-affirming my presence here on Earth at this time, in physical form. Then I move up to the second chakra Chakras 2 to 6 I visualize all as flowing through me from front to back, in the lower abdomen, which is involved with creativity, sexuality and finances. I acknowledge the flow of energy there too – this time visualizing it as a constant swirling stream passing in through the front of my body and out through the back – open and orange in colour.ck in this way. Moving up, the third chakra, in the solar plexus – personal power, the image we have of ourselves and portray to the world – I visualize as a swirling yellow flow passing through me from front to back. This chakra is my biggest holding point and it often requires a little extra attention for me to feel real release and flow here. Then I move to the 4th chakra, in the area of the heart – the place of love, emotions, feelings, which I see as a beautiful green flowing light. The fifth chakra, in the throat, is associated with communication, embodiment and truth and this I see as a blue flow through my neck area. In the centre of my forehead is my 6th chakra, the ‘Third Eye’ – my connection to my intuition and guidance. This is my strongest point of contact with meditation. I see it as a flowing purple or white light through my forehead and generally receive the biggest single energy hits through this point. Lastly, the crown chakra – number seven – I see as a white or violet or golden light, reaching up and out through my crown, way up into the universe, like a many-petaled lotus opening and reaching out to the skies. This is my connection with the whole Universe and all oneness. I call the energy to flow into me from both the base and top of my system simultaneously – from the Earth and the Heavens in unison and as it merges in the middle of my body in the heart chakra, I visualize it bursting forth from my being in floods of green light and love, from both the front and back of my body, encircling my body and spreading out love to all. I call for the energy to fill my whole being with love, light and healing. I feel my ‘aura’ or ‘eighth chakra’ or whatever you like to call it – my whole energy field fill with light and love – it is white and strong and like a huge egg-shaped bubble of ‘protection’ around my being. Once I am tuned in like this, mostly during meditation I try to stay with my 6th chakra. I breathe deeply and feel so relaxed to connect in to the whole of oneness through this point. I feel the field of all the other inter-connected beings in this Universe – my brothers and sisters in this big game of life and beyond that, in the whole Universe. I connect in and give love and gratitude to all. I try to just be in that space as much as possible, though my mind inevitably wanders at times. I draw myself back in by taking a quick tour up through my charkas again, or focusing my attention back to my 6th chakra. The energy flows through my body in huge waves as I call it in and it feels wonderful. Sometimes it is so strong that parts of me shake from it – like my hands. It is not dissimilar to the sensation of being electrocuted, though much more pleasant. Sometimes if I am not feeling very strong physically, like during a fast, it can actually feel quite challenging for me to bring the energy in like this, as it is so huge and my structure feels too weak to support it at that moment. Then it’s best for me to ask for a toned-down version at that point. I’m never given more than I can truly handle. Sometimes I help myself regain focus in meditation by reminding myself how I am just a tiny piece of the Universe, a little spark of the life force, here to experience life in human form and that it’s all just a game. Ultimately everything is always alright and I can go ‘home’ to Spirit at any point, but right now, being this being and playing the game of being human is my current focus of attention. This helps to widen out my perspective and connect me in to the bigger picture a lot more, realising the details of my current existence are a tiny slither of the enormous greater picture that surrounds us. Another way I draw focus is to ask myself to be totally present in that moment – not in the past, thinking of things that happened yesterday and not in the future, wondering abt the day ahead, just right here and right now, sitting on this cushion, listening to those birds chattering outside, connecting to this whole Universe. That really helps me get into place. I see this part of my daily practice as the part where I am ‘listening’ to the universe and spirit, rather than talking and asking – I get myself as ‘blank’ as possible, as a conduit for the energy of the Universe to flow through me. Sometimes I am given key insights for the unfolding of the day or future ventures in those moments. Sometimes it is more just a clean flow of loving energy, filling my being with healing. I just try to be still and present, listening to any promptings of the Universe as I would listen to the talking of any friend sat with me – with an open perspective. I usually sit in meditation for around 15 minutes. Towards the end, I take another tour through my chakras, firing them up once more for the day ahead, filling my being with light, then I raise my hands in prayer position to touch my third eye chakra and acknowlege that all is love. My hands then lower to my lap, where I hold them palm-up in a receiving position and calling in my truth from the energy of the Universe, directly into my hands, I state in my head ‘I am filling up with my soul’s truth’. As I feel that energy move into my hands, I turn them over, releasing that power into the structure of my body. I repeat that three times. So ends my morning meditation.
Throughout the day, I take the space to reconnect to my chakra system in this way whenever I feel the need or whenever I remember. This is a really key process for me. Whenever I feel confused, ungrounded, jostled or out-of-place, I breathe deeply and connect in to my chakras, from the base up, filling my being with light and drawing energy and support from the Universe. If I am in a particularly challenging situation, or have been ‘out of contact’ for a number of hours, the energy rush I am given can feel enormous. I am always so appreciative of re-connecting like this and it renews my sense of wonder and stability in this world...

That was a pretty lengthy explanation - hope it helps ;)


on June the 10th I had:

1 quart water
mug pau d’arco tea
2 cups juice: spinach/celery/cucumber/sprouts/ginger/endive/carrot
2 cups delicious smoothie: macadamia butter, yacon powder, carob powder, maca, green powder, water
2 cups water
3 cups juice: parsley/cucumber/celery/endive
veggie/chia crackers with tahini, avo, sprouts. Salad of spinach, sprouts, dulse, mung bean sprouts, dressing of pumpkin seed butter/ACV/kelp powder/water
2 quarts water

on June the 11th I had:

1 quart water
mug of rooibus tea
3 cups juice: spinach/celery/cucumber/endive/cilantro
1.5 smoothie: macadamia butter, yacon powder, carob powder, maca, green powder, water
2 cups water
Salad of spinach, sprouts, dulse, mung bean sprouts, dressing of pumpkin seed butter/ACV/kelp powder/water, with raw crackers on side
1.5 cups juice: celery/cucumber/endive/cilantro/spinach
2 cups smoothie: soaked almonds, yacon powder, carob powder, maca, green powder, water
2 cups water

As you may have noticed, my food intake is a bit different suddenly than it has been of late ;) I’m doing a parasite cleanse and am currently off all overt sugars - fruit and dried fruits. It’s advisable to come off sugary things while taking in the strong ‘anti-parasite’ herbs, so that your internal environment doesn’t seem like such a cushy place to live anymore ;)
Being off sugars actually feels really easy-going so far – maybe because I’ve been eating so many yummy fruits lately that I’ve had my fill for a while ;) I’ve been wanting to do a parasite cleanse for many months and it kept not feeling right – now it feels like the right time and I started 4 days ago, on Tuesday. I am basically drinking green veggie juice 2x a day, eating one larger ‘salad’ meal in the middle of the day and one or two blended drinks each day too, with a nut/seed base and powders. It means I'm consuming lots of greens, sprouts, nuts/seeds etc. I am using a few low/no glycemic sweeteners like yacon powder, lucuma powder, carob powder, goji powder, which don’t seem sugary enough to mess up my balance ;) The herbs definitely seem powerful – I’ll be doing this for 3 weeks, so I’ll keep you updated with how it unfolds ;)
(BTW, someone wrote in recently asking what ‘ACV’ means in my food logs – it’s apple cider vinegar ;)

on June the 12th I had:

1 quart water
mug rooibus tea
2 cups juice: celery/cucumber/spinach/endive/parsley
2 cups smoothie: macadamia butter, yacon powder, carob powder, maca, green powder, water
Salad of spinach, sprouts, dulse, mung bean sprouts, dressing of pumpkin seed butter/ACV/kelp powder/water, with raw crackers on side. 3 tsp goji berry powder = yummmmmmm :)
1 quart water
mug of ‘clarity’ tea
3 cups juice: celery/cucumber/spinach/endive/parsley
3 cups water


On June the 13th I had:

1 quart water
mug ‘clarity’ tea
3 cups juice: celery/cucumber/spinach/endive/parsley
3 cups smoothie: macadamia butter, almonds, carob powder, yacon powder, green powder, kelp powder
mug of peppermint tea
3 cups water
2 cups juice: celery/cucumber/spinach/endive/parsley
bowl of salad: spinach/alfalfa sprouts/mung bean sprouts with dressing of pistachio butter, ACV, kelp powder, water and chia crackers. Followed by 3tsp goji powder
mug of rooibus tea
2 cups water


Reminder: Mr Monarch speaks tomorrow, Saturday the 14th in LA, starting 7pm. If you’re in the area and not already attending, the details are below if you’d like to go along – the previous limit has been lifted on the number of attendees now and there are already over 100 people signed up – I think it will be a great event :) Of course I would LOVE to actually be there in person too – for now I’ll be with you all in spirit though – ENJOY :)

Los Angeles, CA - Raw Food Transformational Talk with Matt Monarch
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The Meeting Room
7:00 - 10:00 pm
$12
The Meeting Room
2999 Overland Avenue,
Suite 205
Los Angeles, CA 90064
For More Information and R.S.V.P. Contact:
Diana
562-493-8461
diana29@verizon.net
http://www.rawfood.meetup.com/202
Matt Monarch, author of 'Raw Spirit' & 'Raw Success', and Raw Food Educator has been eating 100% raw for nearly 8 years now. You can learn more about him at www.rawspirit.org.

ENJOY :)
All love,
Angelalalalalaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

THAT'S Entertainment...

This morning smthg arrived in my inbox that left me sobbing uncontrollably with joy and appreciation. It was a video link to a ‘talent show’ in the UK, featuring a guy called Paul Potts. Paul is a very gentle, unassuming, sincere young man from Wales. He is a phone salesman. He was bullied as a child and says he ‘never understood why’. He also says his voice was always his best friend…just watch the clip and you’ll see why…this quiet, introverted ‘underdog’ opens his heart and his mouth and sings opera with extraordinary passion and a voice comparable to any world class tenor. It is simply awe-inspiring to see. As I listen to him sing, I sense pure spirit working through him – he seems to be absolutely in flow as he sings…for me it is so beautiful to see someone who has clearly experienced a great deal of confidence issues in his life shine so magnificently and truly – no ego glory, just a direct and sweeeeet connection to the divine core in himself and all of us - the audience and judges are greatly moved and me…? I’m shaking with tears, blown away by the beauty of his sharing...seeing him reminds me that we are ALL illuminated from within with that divine spark of glory that connects us to the infinite…so few people seem to open up their light and let it shine…and in this video, Paul Potts does just that…whatever perceptions people may have of him from the outside, the glory within this man shines here with absolute clarity. I have no idea what is happening with this talent programme in the UK…so perhaps he’s a household name there already and I’m months behind in receiving this video…in any event, this man is a beacon of light in my eyes and I’d love for you to see him sing – you can see the clip here:

http://www.maniacworld.com/Phone-Salesman-Amazes-Crowd.html

on November the 27th I had:

1 quart water
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 small custard apple
3 cups romaine/sunflower greens/zucchini/cucumber/carrot juice
2 pieces of magic raw pizza from Mr Monarch – base of soaked buckwheat blended with coconut flour. Topping of avo mashed with sundried hummus and fresh chopped tomatoes, powdered with coconut flour and pieces of sundried tomato
3 cups water
½ a ‘rollinia’ fruit, ½ a tiny red-fleshed papaya, 1 big juicy mango and a yummy medium-sized papaya
2 cups water
2 cups cucumber/sunflower greens/carrot juice
nori wraps with curry hummus, followed by Ulimanamana chocolate balls = *danger*danger* cracao-ed and dangerous raw woman… ;)
2 cups water

OOoooooOoOoOoooo, yesterday we visited ‘Tropical Fruit World’…yeeeeeeeeee-HAH :) This is a little bit like a kind of fruit ‘Disneyland’…yet look beyond the slick pre-packaged tourism tracks and you’ll find a farm that has been growing fruits since 1908, is about 80% organic and sports a greatly knowledgeable and friendly staff. We tried a few different things, my favourite of which by FAAAAAAAAR was the ‘rollinia’ fruit…we apparently got THE last fruit of the season and it was definitely worth it…WOW…this fruit LITERALLY tastes like lemon meringue pie…UN.BEL.IEV.ABLE…we’d never tasted anything like it…we would have bought cases of the things if they’d had anymore…

on November the 28th I had:

1 quart water
1.2 quarts watermelon/orange juice
bowl of papaya flesh with lime juice
bowl of avo mushed up with lime juice and Celtic seasalt, wrapped in nori rolls, with Mexican powersticks on the side
2 cups water
2.5 cups spinach/parsley/cucumber/carrot/ginger juice
1 mango and 3 durian pods
3 cups green smoothie: peach/banana/romaine/dandelion/clover/spirulina with a diced apple and half a handful of sultanas for chewability
3 cups water

Hmmmm...and while we’re on the topic of ‘Disneyland-like' places, I stumbled on a very eye-opening article on the Freshtopia Vlog recently. Apparently the ‘It’s a Small World’ ride at Disneyland has been closed for re-fitting, as the boats are frequently getting ‘grounded’ under the weight of their passengers. Yes, obesity has become so common place amongst Americans that the boats can no longer bear the passenger loads and the ride is being re-fitted to reflect the changes…WOW…you can read the whole mind-boggling exploration into an apparently ‘not-so-small-world’ HERE: http://freshtopia.net/vlog/?p=150

One love,
Angela. xxx