Vilcabamba World Raw Food Gathering, May 2010

Vilcabamba World Raw Food Gathering, May 2010

Visit, Learn and Play in the Sacred Valley of Longevity

In May 2010, raw foods enthusiasts from around the world intend to gather in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, for an informal, free–flow, unstructured, empowering and educational cell–ebration in the Sacred Valley of Longevity, from May the 4th to the 14th, 2010.

Join David "Avocado" Wolfe, Matt Monarch, Angela Stokes–Monarch, The Wheatgrass Messiah, as well as yogis and superheroes from around the world.
Simply get there. Join up with the group and get ready to explore a week or so of spontaneous joy and connection together in the sacred Valley of Longevity.
Bring your senses of humour and adventure, your water bottles, flashlights and hiking shoes...leave behind your expectations, left–brain worries and stilettos…

Please be aware that Vilcabamba is a small town; if you intend to join this gathering, please come with a sense of respect and honour towards the local community, culture and ways of life – we can co–create an enjoyable, enriching experience for everyone!

This gathering is truly a co–creation; no–one is specifically 'in charge' of organising events, transport, lodging, etc...there is no participation 'fee' involved and everyone is free to create, invite, participate and enjoy as inspiration guides them...the Vilcabamba area is an active wonderland of synchronistic flow, so step into the river and enjoy the journey...

on November the 17th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
3 cups greeeeeen juice: celery, fennel, spinach, parsley, mixed local greens from NJ, apple, ginger
2 Tbsp bee pollen and 30 chlorella tablets
1 quart greeeen juice from Liquiteria in NYC
bowl of coconut bell pepper soup with a shared flax cracker/salad at Bonobo's in NYC, followed by a bottle of the diiiviiiine coconut chai and 1.5 mesquite balls – YUMMMMM :)
2 cups 'royal flush' juice from Liquiteria
3 cups water
3 cups goji juice with Marine Phytoplankton, a cup of STRONG, handmade herbal medicinal tea from Jeff the Rawtographer
2 cups water


on November the 18th I loved:

1 quart water
1 quart greeeeeen juice from Liquiteria
1.5 cups greeeen juice from Liquiteria
picnic lunch of romaine wraps stuffed with Summer's 'Cheeze' recipe, fermented :), dulse, sprouts, cucumber, followed by 2 mesquite balls from Bonobo's
bottle of coconut chai from Bonobo's – WWWWWWOOOOWWWWWW :)
1 quart water
3 cups goji juice with Marine Phytoplankton
2 apples with 3 Tbsp bee pollen and 3 Tbsp goji powder
1 cup goji juice with Marine Phytoplankton
2 cups water

We could enjoy hikes together in Vilcabamba, raw food talks, foraging walks, horse–back riding, yoga sessions, group meditations, hot/cold spring adventures, farm tours, parties, drum circles, food demos and whatever else we might feel inspired into...

We have created a new community website for this event, where you can connect with other people about travel, accommodation, learning Spanish, researching the Vilcabamba area, making suggestions for activities together and so on – you can join that site freely and connect with others, HERE: http://rawinecuador.ning.com.

Vilcabamba is blossoming into a little hub in the Andes of raw food orientated/yogic/conscious/eco–friendly, like–minded community. Well–known for the longevity of its residents, the region is traditionally home to an unusual number of centenarians, seemingly due to the outstanding soil/air/water quality in the area and the relaxed pace of life. Life in Vilcabamba is very simple and easy–going, with many people still riding around on horseback, children playing safely in the streets late into the evening and life centered around the simple town square.

Vilcabamba is remarkably fertile and the climate in the area is described as 'like spring all year round', with food growing in abundance and houses built without either heaters or air conditioning...rich greenery, stunning views and rainbows abound...

This world-gathering of raw food enthusiasts and superheroes is a one-time only event. We're sure that we'll be talking about it for the rest of our lives...

on November the 19th I was blissed with:

1 quart water
3 cups greeeeeeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, mixed local greens (SPICY ;), fennel, parsley, spinach, romaine, ginger, lemon, apple
bowl of energy soup with flax crackers and 'cheeze' sauce on the side, followed by an apple
1 quart water
1 cup greeeeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, mixed local greens (SPICY ;), fennel, parsley, spinach, romaine, ginger, lemon, apple
30 chlorella 'nuts', 2 Tbsp bee pollen, an apple, a curry powerstick
3 cups water
3 cups goji juice with Marine Phytoplankton
2 cups water


on November the 20th I appreciated:

1 quart water
2 cups greeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, zucchini, kale, parsley, romaine, ginger, lemon
catered gourmet raw lunch including YUMMY coconut–cilantro soup, pad thai, orange creamsicle cheesecake and various samples of yummy new raw breads and cookies coming to the store soon ;)
1 quart water
20 chlorella tablets
2 apples and 2 gorgeous homemade raw apple cookies
mug of herbal tea
3 cups water

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Vilcabamba Resources

If you are not familiar with the Vilcabamba area, here are some resources you may find useful:

Photo tour from Mike Adams, the Health Ranger (www.NaturalNews.com) – http://www.naturalnews.com/PhotoTour_Vilcabamba-Ecuador-Homes_1.html

Videos from The Raw Food World TV Show of Vilcabamba – http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=TheRawFoodWorld&view=videos&query=vilcabamba

Assorted articles on Vilcabamba on NaturalNews.com: http://www.naturalnews.com/Vilcabamba.html

***Remember to join us at The Vilcabamba Raw Food Gathering May 2010 Community Website: http://rawinecuador.ning.com to meet up with your fellow travelers, share suggestions and more...***

The Facebook Events page for this gathering can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=185007941314


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Travel and Accommodation:

The easiest way to get to Vilcabamba from afar seems to be as follows:

Fly to Quito, take a smaller domestic plane from there to Loja in the south of Ecuador (the nearest big town to Vilcabamba), take a taxi/bus/car from Loja to Vilcabamba.
The domestic flights between Quito and Loja can be booked with TAME –http://www3.tame.com.ec/eng/index.htm.
(Those of you coming from Europe might like to check out Air Comet – http://www.aircomet.com)


To find a place to stay in the Vilcabamba area, try visiting:
http://www.seekvilcabamba.com/Projects/VGuide/VStay.aspx (hotels, guest houses and rental info, plus lots of other great info to explore on this site ;)

Vilcabamba on WikiTravel: http://wikitravel.org/en/Vilcabamba

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We look forward to playing in paradise with you :)

All love,
Ms. Stokes-Monarch. xxx

The Continuum Concept :)

I am thrilled to say that Mr. Monarch and I finished reading the amazing book 'The Continuum Concept' by Jean Liedloff today. WOW. If you haven't read this book yet, which discusses the profound impact on health and well–being of carrying babies around CONTINUOUSLY for the first eight or so months of their lives, I HIGHLY, highly recommend you check it out.
This book was actually first brought to my attention about 6 years ago and it took me all this time to get round to reading it...I'm SO glad I did :) As a quote says on the front of the book "If the world could be saved by a book, this just might be the book."
Liedloff lived for a number of years among 'stone age' native people in South America and the contrasts she noted in the health, vibrancy, joy and well–being between the people there and in our 'civilised' society were enormous. She captured the main differences in this book and offers suggestions for how we might get back to a similar state of simpler, healthier living...the MAIN suggestion she offers along these lines is the absolutely CRITICAL point of carrying/wearing babies during their formative first few months/year.
Liedloff gives harrowing examples in the text outlining the ways in which most children in our societies are left alone to cry in cribs, totally separate from their mother or anyone else, for hours on end. The devastating sense of abandonment, loneliness and pain that these babies feel without any real way to discharge their energy field and so little skin-to-skin nourishment impacts most people in our societies for the rest of our lives... In stark contrast to this bleak start in life, Liedloff relays how children in the tribal culture are always carried, welcomed and fully involved in the society and grow into loving, co–operative, independent, social, dependable people.
This is truly a remarkable book and one that shares 'ancient wisdom' that seems so obvious when one reads it – of course it makes sense to treat baby humans this way, instead of leaving them alone in 'plastic boxes', in boxey rooms with no fresh air, to cry themselves to sleep... Just like reading about the idea of eating raw food might logically lead to an 'ah–HAH' ;) moment for many people, this book opens out a whole other area of life for our society to re–consider...I am SO grateful to have read this book prior to bringing children into this world...(and again, no, I am not pregnant or intending to start having children anytime soon – we are very interested in 'conscious parenting' though ;)
If you'd love to check out this amazing book, you can do so HERE – I would LOVE to see even more people enjoying this book and passing on this critical message and life practice...

on September the 27th I loved:

1 quart water
1.5 cups greeeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, spinach, romaine, cilantro
bowl of YUMMMMMMMMY coconut–durian 'pie' made by the ingenious Mr. Monarch, by blending together coconut meat, Irish Moss, freeze–dried durian, sunflower lecithin and lucuma – WOW :)
1 quart water
2 apples with spirulina crunchies and bee pollen
3 cups water


on September the 28th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
3 cups greeeeeeeeen juice: celery, parsley, romaine, fennel, spinach
bowl of energy soup with half an orange bell pepper, followed by half a Jake's Unbaked Goji Bar and a little pecan butter – YUMMMMM :)
1 quart water
2 apples with spirulina crunchies and bee pollen
1.5 cups goji juice with Marine Phytoplankton
2 cups water

I am currently further thrilled at the fact that I seem to be able to read in moving vehicles these days without getting motion sick...I read the whole of The Continuum Concept out loud in the car, these last few days. This is very interesting to me, as prior to being raw/the last few years, I would get VERY motion sick if I tried to read in cars. Interestingly, Jean Liedloff actually mentions in The Continuum Concept that many issues such as motion sickness, seasickness, vertigo and so on seem to be CULTURAL in many ways - apparently these kinds of conditions are very rare among many indigenous/tribal communities worldwide...wow...I always say that for me, eating raw is all about coming more into alignment with nature and my true being...well, maybe that has also now shifted to remove motion sickness from my being ;) Or maybe it's just that I've been on the road for so many years now that my body is just accustomed to being in motion and can handle anything on the move ;) Whatever the cause, I'm very excited to now be able to read on the very lengthy journeys we experience most days on the road - I actually now kinda enjoy the car rides, as it means we get to access amazing books together, learn, ponder, share ever more...I think we've actually read about 10 books together in the last 2 weeks this way - FUN :)))

on September the 29th I was blissed with:

1 quart water
3 cups coconut water with Greener Grasses, Merlin's Elixir and Mucuna
pod of durian and a little bowl of blended pudding: durian/frozen blueberries/Irish Moss/Sunflower Lecithin/Lucuma Powder – YUMMM :)
1 quart water
2 apples with spirulina crunchies and bee pollen
3 cups water


on September the 30th I loved:

1 quart water
3 cups Goji Juice with Marine Phytoplankton
bowl of energy soup with a piece of Lydia's sunflower bread/almond butter, followed by three slices of dried mango – yummmmmm ;)
1 quart water
2 apples with spirulina crunchies and bee pollen
mug of vanilla/hazelnut tea

Upcoming Tour Dates:
Sooo, speaking of life on the road, myself and Monsieur Monarch are still on tour...right now we find ourselves in sunny ol' Florida, after a trek over here through the deep south (WOW – I have never seen landscapes in the US like that; humid sticky swamp areas and myriad waterways presumably teeming with alligators/crocodiles... ;)
We will be all over the east coast and then heading back west from here over the coming 2.5 months... Here below are most of the confirmed dates so far and if you'd love to help us set up a talk in YOUR area, then just drop us an email at angela@rawreform.com and we'll see what we can co-create ;)

*Oct 8th - Naples, FL
*Oct 18th - St. Augustine, FL
*Oct 21st - Cordova, TN
*Oct 22nd - Nashville, TN
*Oct 24th - Louisville, KY
*Oct 26th - Columbus, OH
*Oct 27th - Cincinnati, OH
*Nov 11th - Virginia Beach, VA
*Nov 17th - New York, NY
*Nov 21st - York, ME
*Nov 22nd - New Jersey
*Dec 2nd - Cleveland, OH
*Dec 5th - Holland, MI
*Dec 12th - Pittsburgh, PA

You can see ALL the talk details HERE...we hope to see you out there in the coming months... ;)

Blissful love and beautiful resonance,
Ms. Sto-Mo. xxx

Raw in Ecuador :)))

This is my first post from Ecuador :) I am sooooooooooooooo excited to be back with my beloved Mr. M again and to begin the next phase of our lives together :)
We arrived here to Quito late last night and today we go down to visit our land in Vilcabamba, in the southern part of the country. We are feeling EXTREMELY blessed and blissed :) We intend to continue posting daily shows over at TheRawFoodWorld.tv, so check in over there too if you’d love to see what we’re up to...
I have never been to this continent before and am feeling a wonderful sense of adventure and expansion :) In the last few months in the UK, I have been gently massaging the parts of my brain that used to understand Spanish – I guess we’ll be finding out in the next few days how much has been resurrected from the tombs of my memory banks ;) At the moment things seem to come out of my brain more in Icelandic, which is not sooooooo useful here... ;)

on March the 22nd I had:

1 quart water
mug of pau d’arco tea
3 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, parsley, endive, fennel, ginger, apple
2 cups energy soup with okra and tahini
mug of spicy tea
3 cups water
2 cups hemp milk with a little bowl of YUMMY raw pudding, containing sunflower seeds, soaked dried apricots, persimmons, cinnamon and chia :)
2 cups water


on March the 23rd I had:

1 quart water
mug of pau d’arco tea
3 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, parsley, fennel, endive, zucchini, ginger, apple
½ pineapple
2 cups energy soup with tahini and okra on the side
mug of spicy tea
3 cups water
2 cups hemp milk with a bowl of DELICIOUS chia pudding – chia, hemp milk, carob, chunks of apple – YUMMMMMMMMM :)
2 cups water

Speaking of The Raw Food World TV Show, did you catch some our recent episodes? Much fun methinks ;)
If you’d love to see what we’ve been up to, here are a couple of recent links below to see...

*An interview with the divine Shazzie at her new home in a lovely community in the south of England (check out the uber–cool nose pose ;)

*An update on the doggies we rescued from Mexico earlier this year – :O – I was BLOWN AWAY personally to see the difference in them...and soooooooooooo grateful :) See HERE.

*Mr. M and I re-united again here in Ecuador, after THREE MONTHS apart :)))) See HERE.


on March the 24th I had:

1 quart water
mug of pau d’arco tea
3 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, parsley, fennel, endive, zucchini, ginger, apple
2 cups energy soup with tahini and okra on the side
mug of spicy tea
3 cups water
2 apples
2 cups hemp milk with a bowl of DELICIOUS chia pudding – chia, hemp milk, carob, chunks of apple – YUMMMMMMMMM :)
2 cups water


on March the 25th I had:

1 quart water
mug of pau d’arco tea
3 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, parsley, fennel, endive, zucchini, ginger, apple
2 cups energy soup with tahini and okra on the side
mug of spicy tea
3 cups water
2 cups hemp milk with a bowl of DELICIOUS chia pudding – chia, hemp milk, carob, chunks of apple – YUMMMMMMMMM :)
tablespoon of bee pollen
½ a papaya
mug of ‘love’ tea :)
1 cup water

EEeeeeeeek, apologies to those of you who have been trying to purchase tickets to our upcoming events in Seattle and having issues with the online store checkout... Apparently the system was showing up ‘sold out’ signs and error messages – apologies. The events are still on and there are still tickets available ;)
You can see the details and purchase tickets for the full–on plush gala fundraising evening on April 10th HERE.
You can access more info and tickets for our talks the next day at Bastyr University HERE.
Again, I am sooooooo excited to be speaking at a university, potentially accessing many fresh, open, vibrant younger minds – if anyone in the Seattle area would love to help spread the word about these events, please contact monika@rawwashington.org and she’ll happily hook you up ;)

We also now have talk dates set up for April and May in many other places in Oregon/California/Nevada – you can see all the events on Mr. M’s highly organised page HERE (wow, you’d think he was the one with all the Virgo in his chart... ;)
More talks to come, all over N. America, all being well...if you’d love to help us set up an event in YOUR area, please drop us a line at angela@rawreform.com and we will see how we can flow together...

THANK YOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU :)
With love, gratitude and ENORMOUS excitement from Ecuador :)
Miss Angela Stokes. xxx