OOPS

I think my favourite thing to do (subconsciously) must be PUTTING MY FOOT IN MY MOUTH. I did it (yet again) last night. YEESH. I really wish I'd learn to THINK before I speak. Good grief. How many times in my life have I been told that?!?! Now I've offended someone and am digging myself out of a hole I had no intention of being in in the first place. Open mouth. Insert foot. Feel horrible for days afterward. I'll let you know how life goes, attempting to get out of this hole.

LMAO I guess it's a fitting way to end one month and start a new month tomorrow... a clear, fresh month, ripe with possibilities. Let's just start anew, shall we?

I have to go back to my village now.

Abundance

I laughed last night as I realized that I had brought into the home, yesterday alone, nearly $650 in raw food! (Actually it was more than 3x that amount, but the rest is going to friends who ordered in on the food co-op order). Craziness. So what do you get for $650?

40 lbs of frozen blueberries (fairly local; within 200 kms)
40 lbs of frozen raspberries (again, within 200 kms)
10 lbs of 3d yr transitional, unpasteurized almonds
1 lb of maca powder
5 lbs of golden flax seeds
4 lbs of sunflower seeds
6 lbs of unhulled sesame seeds
14 lbs of khadrawi dates
1 lb of goji berries
3 lbs of hemp seeds
50 sheets of raw nori
1 lb of lucuma
1 lb of cacao powder
8 oz of herbed olives
35 oz of virgin organic coconut oil
1 lb of pecans
2 lbs of walnuts
46 oz of agave nectar
2 lbs of pumpkin seeds
2 1/2 kgs of whole cashews
... and maybe something else I've forgotten! ;)

So you can see by the list I'm totally stocked in my raw food pantry now (this isn't, by any means, a complete list of what's in my raw food pantry. Oh no. I've got even more items in the pantry - shredded coconut, cacao nibs, carob powder, mulberries, dried mango, sundried tomatoes... lots more). This morning I made some lovely hemp milk, after soaking the seeds overnight. And today I've enjoyed 2L of green smoothie and 1c of nut mix (cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, gojis, cranberries, banana slices), and 3 bananas and an apple.

And as much as I'd love to continue chatting, I really simply MUST get outside into the glorious sunshine. I've been inside at the local craft fair all day helping my son sell his birdhouses, and the sunshine outside has been calling me for hours now.

Lights Out!

This Saturday, March 28th, 2009, I will be turning off the main electrical breaker to our home for one hour, at 8:30 p.m. PDT and join others around the globe in making a stand for Earth.
We've done this the past 2 years and invite you to join us. wwf.ca/EarthHour

From their website: "Earth Hour is a symbolic event. Turning off our lights for an hour won’t stop climate change but it does demonstrate that our individual action is important and adds up to make a big difference. More importantly, it sends a very powerful message to government and world leaders that people want policies and regulations put in place that can achieve meaningful emission reduction to help fight climate change."

Benefits of Eating Raw

Having a great morning! (oops, it's afternoon already. Shows you how late we got up, LOL)

My son & I watched Raw: The Living Food Diet by Jonathan Schniedman last night (the documentary part, not the recipe part) that we got out from the library, and it just reaffirmed for me the many reasons why I have chosen to go raw, and will continue to stay raw. (And watching it with my son was a very non-preachy way of having him understand why I eat this way and the many benefits available to one on a raw food diet). To get a perspective of how popular the raw living foods lifestyle is becoming - there are 2 copies of this DVD in our library system, and 43 requests for it!!

First, is for reasons bigger than me - eating raw connects me to the Earth, to Spirit, to everyone and everything around me - the interconnectedness I feel on a raw foods living diet is unbelievable. I feel (very strongly) that eating raw is one way of "putting your money where your mouth is" (LOL) - it is one very loud way of speaking up for a better world - eating raw takes less natural resources than the SAD. It is, imo, better for the environment. No packaging necessary, and you can compost everything you make. I am not in a position to work with a NGO overseas doing peace-making work; so when it came down to sitting with the question, "how can *I* make the world a better place?", living raw foods was the answer. We all eat about 1,000 meals a year... when I choose to eat raw foods (or at least vegetarian or vegan cooked meals), I am taking a stand for what I believe in. If it takes 16 lbs of grain to make 1 lb of meat, then for every raw meal I eat, I am freeing up enough food resources to feed 7 other people globally. That makes me feel good about what I'm choosing to eat. Raw food is not about a LACK or restriction in my diet. It is a celebration of abundance, of the many MANY foods that are available from the Earth... I haven't even TRIED all the fruits, vegetables, nuts or seeds that we are blessed with!! There are so many options on a raw food diet. It's all about abundance. :)

Second, for health reasons. I'm healthier on raw foods. My weight has stabilized at a personally-healthy place (which is, incidentally, 75 lbs lighter than I was 3 yrs ago) and along with that weight loss has come many benefits of good health - low cholesterol levels, perfect blood pressure readings, regular blood sugar levels, and other indicators of good health. When I eat foods that are live and raw, I use the enzymes in that food to help digest the food, not requiring metabolic enzymes in my body to leave their very important tasks throughout the body to come and assist in digestion. Not to mention that over flu season I rarely get even a sniffle, and when I do, I recover VERY quickly. My body has regulated itself; with regular exercise and raw foods, I know that, for example, my reproductive cycle is as it should be: cyclic, regular, and aligned with the Earth. My sleep cycle, too, has aligned itself with the Earth - I go to sleep earlier and wake with the birds, generally; and it's seasonal - I sleep a little more in the winter and a little less in the summer. My skin glows, literally radiant from the inside out. This is beauty at its best. Healthy. Healthy. Healthy.

Third, I choose raw for mental clarity. Eating raw, my mind is clear. You know how you feel after you eat a big SAD dinner - like turkey dinner, for example? That after-meal sluggishness that overtakes you? Never happens with raw food. I can eat as much as I want and never get that awful so-full-I-need-to-undo-my-belt kinda feeling. I feel full, but I'm not bursting. My thinking is very clear... I don't know how to explain this, other than there isn't a feeling of fogginess in my thoughts, and I feel very aligned with my intuition.

Fourth, for spiritual reasons. I'd hazard a guess that many people who go raw are caught unaware by the spiritual aspect of going raw. If we realize that we are light beings, then we can understand how raw food is natural, it is sunlight captured by the food, and you are then eating the light energy directly... if that sounds far-off for you, think about how good a fresh apple tastes from the tree, as opposed to baked apple crisp. Why do you think we need to add the sugar and flavours like cinnamon to apple crisp or pie? Because we've baked the flavour (and enzymes) out of the fresh raw apple! The freshness, crispness of a fresh apple is unsurpassed in flavour and energy. After eating an apple, you're ready to go, your body is recharged and energetic. After eating apple crisp, you're sluggish and your body is working overtime trying to digest something that lacks its own enzymes.

I could go on, but you get my point. If you're struggling with going raw or the whole idea of raw, living foods, try this - how about just adding: a glass of water first thing each morning, a piece of fresh fruit before (or for) breakfast, a small salad or some kind of raw vegetable(s) before your lunch and dinner. Start small. You don't have to necessarily go 100% raw overnight; in fact, many raw foodists advise against that. Just try adding these aspects into your regular diet for 30 days, then maybe up it a bit the next month - have one meal a week meatless, and then slowly build up to where you're having most meals without meat. Eventually you may find yourself having a raw meal here and there, to having most meals raw. Try incorporating more whole foods like whole cooked grains rather than white flour or white sugar that is so common. As time goes on, you'll be surprised at how far you've come.

Personally, I went from the SAD to a 100% vegan diet overnight nearly 3 yrs ago, and then nearly a year ago went to a very high raw diet overnight. However, having been vegan (a mostly whole-foods vegan at that), I think my body had done a lot of detoxing and cleansing already, which made the transition easier. I can see how my body has transformed so very much over the past 3 yrs... I'm now going through a detoxing at a level where I'm beginning to clear from my cells' memories resentments and emotional attachments that I never felt able to handle (and fwiw, as I've mentioned lately, it's really uncomfortable going through detox, but I'm sticking with it, although at moments lately I've felt overwhelmed with sadness and a (how can I describe it...) chasm of darkness and depression. It's been really, really challenging, and detox is not something I've spent a lot of time reading about or learning about, amidst the abundance of literature and information out there about the many many positive benefits of raw foodism. The funny part (to me) is that raw food is about releasing the toxins of the previous SAD diet. It's not the raw food that is depressing or sad; the cooked foods contributed to it... I would eat SAD foods to deaden my emotions, to hide from dealing with reality in so many ways... my cells have just "become what I ate", and now on raw foods, I'm starting to release them, to cleanse them, at this VERY deep level. Amazing.

I am so committed to the raw food lifestyle; I can't imagine having the burger, fries and soda that I used to think I enjoyed so much. I love that each time I put food into my body, it is nourishing my physical body, as well as kind to the environment, and it is a very profound spiritual moment of honouring my Self. It is like a bell ringing, calling me to mindful awareness of what a wonderful gift this moment and life is. When people say raw food is about living "the Truth", I know exactly what they are getting at.

Go forth and enjoy the Raw-ness!
Enthusiastically,
~n~

Fuzzy Navels...

Got this recipe from Youtube - Ani Phyo... and it was delicious! Thanks, Ani - you're a great chef!! ;)

Fuzzy Navel Drink
2 oranges
2c water
1 vanilla bean
1c soaked pecans
1/2c pitted medjools (I used 6 dates)

Blend well. Apparently it serves 3, but not around here. I consumed the L by myself! (I *guess* I coulda shared, LOL. Coulda... shoulda.... ;) It tasted maybe a little too pecan-y - I could've put another date in and possibly another orange to correct that, but it was actually quite good. It's been a loooooooooong time since I've had a "real" fuzzy navel, although I do remember them being quite yummy. Oh, and ladies.... can I just whisper this to you: Diva cup. SERIOUSLY. Invest in one. You will be SOOOOOOOOO happy with it. ;) 'Nuff said.

Our food co-op just put a humongous raw food order in. I had run out of so many items - I had a 'raw food wish list' on the fridge and would just add to it as I ran out of things. The last order was about 3 months ago (maybe longer) so it's good to have this going through right now. Raw nori coming, lucuma, all kinds of nuts and seeds, dates, maca powder, soap, coconut oil, gojis, LOTS of stuff coming. It takes about a week to arrive, and the company we deal with has EXCELLENT with customer service. :) I'm just so pleased-as-punch that I've got the women in the food co-op hooked on this company and their raw foods (our food co-op bulk orders through a local company that sells processed natural and organic foods - not too much fresh or raw items. While that's great for the other members of our household - org canned tomatoes, for example, or flours, sucanut, crackers, or other dry goods, I am moving more and more towards keeping more fresh foods in the house... hoping that everyone will imbibe in them a little more often).

The kids had to come with me to tai chi class this morning, so I packed them a yummy snack...
a few of each: dried goji berries, cherries, blueberries, and cranberries, along with a medjool each, pitted with a pecan in each side, and a few almonds each. Also some whole wheat crackers and cheddar cheese, and some cooked (cold) organic edamame for my daughter (her most FAVOURITE thing to eat), and half a cucumber sandwich for my son (on homemade org whole spelt bread). They were SO quiet during the class it was hard to remember they were there!

Yesterday I made some more flax crackers, sesame milk, almond butter, almond dream bars (the almond butter is gone now, lol), and a raw apple pie. It felt so GOOD to prepare some things ahead of time. This morning I made some sunflower seed pate that I will have with the flax crackers later, with some sprouts and veggies. yummers.

Oh dear, the rowing machine is calling me... really must go. Have a rawkin' great day!
~n~

Well, I haven't quite completely sorted through the emotions that arose during last week's detox... that may take some time. In the meantime, life is going on each day and I'm able to continue on 'as normal'. It's not that you stuff everything back in, until the next time it bubbles up and catches you unaware (lol) but rather that life really does go on, especially when there are others in your household who depend on you for sustenance - for providing meals and clothes and companionship and love. So you have to, sometimes, put your own personal growth/needs aside and step up to the plate and play the game, eh.

I'm still mentally contemplating how to put the past behind me, how I can get some closure on those issues that surfaced... and maybe this moment isn't quite the right moment yet. Who knows. I do know that one day I will be able to put it behind me, and I'm actually looking forward to it (after FINALLY realizing how not useful holding onto the past has become in this case).

Rowed yesterday which felt really good, although of course I dreaded getting down to it. Human nature, I guess. I'm doing it again today... procrastinating. Blogging instead of rowing. lol

I made a lovely raw apple pie on Friday night which I took over to family's on Saturday night for dinner. I loved that it was safe for one person there, who has both diabetes and celiac disease, and who doesn't usually get to eat any dessert (because the rest of the family just eats their SAD desserts of which he cannot partake). I guess because I made it Friday night the tbsp of lemon juice soaked into the apples and tenderized them, making them soft as though the pie were cooked. I wish I'd taken a picture of it before we cut into it - it really looked yummy. I used pecans and raisins, coconut, and a little cinnamon in the crust. Then sliced a couple apples and drizzled with lemon juice. The other apples I pureed with some cinnamon, nutmeg and raisins. This went over the sliced apples in the pie shell, and then topped with a little shredded coconut & raisins. DEEEEEElicious. Everyone who had some enjoyed it.

I suppose I'd better go row. SIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH LOL I'll have a nice sense of accomplishment once I'm done in half an hour, though. Later today I'm going to make almond butter, sesame milk, flax crackers, and probably some guacamole. Oooooohh and probably some yum-pots (almond dream bars - Matt & Angela's recipe).... LOVE those!!!

Update: I *did* get around to rowing today and am glad it's done. The procrastinating is worse than the exercise itself. LOL

Greetings, Spring!!!

Fittingly, it's pouring rain on this, our first day of spring. The rain reminds me of tears and crying, and that's something I've been doing the past couple days. Oyyyyy. In the past year of being raw, I really haven't had a detoxing moment like I've just had. Out of the blue, something bubbled up inside and all of a sudden I felt very overwhelmed with some issues I'd been stuffing deep deep down inside for several years.

Many months ago I had a dream one night about it and woke up in a cold sweat - unable to sleep, feeling something akin to terror - as I realized, "Oh right, I've never dealt with that. It's just sitting there, deep inside." At that time, I really didn't feel capable or strong enough emotionally and mentally to be able to deal with it. But now I guess I'm able to tackle this (I don't feel like I've consciously said, 'yes, bring this on now, I feel capable'; rather, it's more like a sense of almost being forced to deal with it as it is coming up now. I'm simply dealing with it as it comes up, not sitting in fear of what it might mean to deal with it and release it - does this make sense at all?). All in all, it has in fact been really really challenging and hard to work through (exactly what I was afraid of! LOL)

So how does one survive detox? (LOL) I've been really conscious of keeping up my water intake, making sure I get enough rest/sleep, eating very healthy raw foods, lots of dark leafy greens to aid the detoxing process.... I really need to exercise a little more - I've only put in 3 workouts this week so far, instead of the 7 I'd usually have in by now, so that would help, too... But I've been very conscious to be compassionate and gentle with myself as I go through this detox experience, really listening to my body.

Anyways, I don't really want to talk much about the issue itself. Just the surrounding detoxing experience... what this whole thing is teaching me is to release, just like what SPRING symbolizes. Spring is a time of releasing the darkness of winter, embracing the upcoming abundance of summer, celebrating the fertility of spring - the blossoms, the bees, bulbs of daffodils and tulips poking through the soil, birth and the possibilities of new ideas and creativity... A time when birds return and the birdsong chorus at dawn multiplies each day - the beautiful sounds of the birds awakening each morn.

On my sister's blog she wrote about rabbits, a symbol of spring: "Rabbit totem is actually ruled by Hecate, goddess of the crossroads. She reminds us of the importance of change, helping us to release the past, especially things that are hindering our growth, and to accept change and transitions. She sometimes asks us to let go of what is familiar, safe, and secure and to travel to the scary places of the soul. " You can say that again. Spending much time in thought the past couple days has helped me realize that I've been stuffing things deep inside, holding onto resentments that are in the past, and now I can see how they are hindering my growth, and I really need to learn to release them to move forward (I'm working on that - what will that look like in this case? hmmm). It has been really 'comfortable', holding onto what is familiar and 'safe' - stuffing everything down - but now, learning to deal with it openly and releasing it, setting myself free, is the challenge. (Free to do what? to be what? Who will I be if not the person I was, the person who held onto this resentment and stuffed this thing inside for so long? This is part of the releasing process.... and its applicable in our lives in so many ways.... when we first start to release weight, for example, we have a preconceived idea of 'who we are' - we are a person who is X number of pounds/kilos/stones... And then to release some weight and slowly we realize we are so emotionally attached, so invested, in being a person of X pounds/kilos/stones... who are we if we are not that person we thought we were?! And that is where I'm at... trying to sort out for myself, who am I if not that person who is so emotionally attached in holding onto the past? What possibilities lie before me in this moment? And that is where the joy of spring is found - the possibilities... for they are infinite for each of us in this moment.

RELEASE THE PAST!!

FREE YOURSELF!!

Be the Joyous, Radiant Being that you truly are!!!!!!!

ahhhhhhhhhhhh, that feels better!! :) LOL

Skin changes on raw food...

So I've been floating along at the exact same weight for more than 10 days now and then suddenly, overnight, drop 2.5 lbs?! (no, not 25... just 2 1/2, LOL) i'm attributing it to hormones, b/c i haven't done anything different in the past 24 hrs...

Yesterday I had:
7 - 12 oz glasses of water
breakfast: 1c of muesli and 1c sesame milk and 1 banana
lunch: 5 lettuce wraps with salsa and guacamole and cucumber slices in them.
snack: 1 oz clarity chocolate (goji/blue-green alge)
dinner/supper: 2 L of green smoothie (1/2 a large bok choy, 1c sprouts, 2 bananas, frozen berries (blackberry, blueberry, red raspberry, black raspberry), 2 tsp Enerex greens powder, 15 chlorella nuts, filtered water, and 2 tbsps ground golden flax)
snack: 1 orange and 15 chlorella nuts

I did an hour of tai chi (teaching) and 5 kms of rowing yesterday.

I'm a little surprised lately how clear my skin has been - it's looking very hydrated and healthy - I don't want to jinx myself but it appears the roseacea (which I understand is very similar to (or is) a candida type issue) has mostly gone away, after MANY years (more than 10!). I remember exercising when I was 18, 19, 20, and people would say, WHOA - I think you should stop exercising, your face is FUSCIA!!! (I felt fine, but the roseacea would flare up from the body's heat during exercising.) Up until recently, whenever my body would start to 'overheat' (from being in a super-hot or crowded room, for example), the roseacea would flare up. I'm really hoping that I'll be able to control it with the raw foods... figure out if there is a certain food that's a trigger and eliminate that food (which is one reason I've consciously been trying to increase the amount of dark leafy greens/algae/seaweeds that I eat daily; I think they'll be very healing). I've been very resistant to using steroidal creams on my face (as is the standard medical treatment for roseacea) and have just lived with it for the past 10+ years. I am finding this winter that my hands are quite dry, but with the colder-than-usual weather we've had, that's not surprising. Certainly at 3 to 4L a day of water, I'm getting enough liquids in, I'd think. Overall though my skin is looking very very healthy these days. Beauty from the inside out, from within. That's where to start, eh.

I'm feelin' pretty blissed out right now - this very moment is awesome! I've just had 24 oz of water and am looking forward to exercising today and having some delicious raw foods that I will mindfully prepare for myself. A few 'life details' to attend to, but mostly we'll be spending a lovely day together as a family. It doesn't get much better than being in the company of those you love. :)

Namaste'
~n~

Food Log...

Yesterday's food log:

• 2 Probiotic capsules throughout the day - one in the morning and one in the evening.
• 1L of water first thing in the morning with lime slices
• Followed by 1 1/4L of green smoothie - 1/2 a large 'head' of org bok choy, 2 org bananas, 2 tsp Enerex greens powder, 15 chlorella 'nuts', 1c frozen pitted cherries, 1 tsp goji berry powder, 1/2 tsp camu berry powder, and enough water to blend. Forgot to add 2 tbsps of ground flax. It makes 1.5 L of smoothie; I shared with the kids, but ended up drinking most of theirs - I guess they weren't so crazy about this combination!
• 1 org banana
• a plate with 1c org (alfalfa & clover) sprouts, 1/4 of a large red pepper sliced up, half a dozen flax crackers of different flavours, and probably 1.5 c of guacamole (I used 1 1/2 avocados) - recipe for guac. from Jennifer Cornbleet's book - see below.

• Another L of water throughout the day while out and about
• Stopped in at Cafe Bliss and had a spicy nori stick (yummers) and a mint square (dd LOVED the mint square (well, who DOESN'T like chocolate?!) and had a LaraBar cherry pie for a snack, too)
• Another L of water with lemon slices
• 1 org banana
• 1 org navel orange
• a generous cup of muesli and 1c sesame milk (muesli recipe courtesy of Jennifer Cornbleet's book, Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People)
• 15 chlorella nuts

I skipped out on exercising yesterday. That's okay. I'll be teaching an hour of tai chi this morning and will row 5 kms this afternoon. :)

How about you? How'd your Monday go?

And a very HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!! to you today.... Do you have a special raw green food you'll be making? I'll be making a green smoothie and later some guacamole to have with flax crackers, I think. :)

Do you choose your children's diet or let them choose?

It's Saturday and thank GOODNESS we have nothing on the calendar - nowhere to go, nothing to do. The kids have HORRID colds; they're veritable germ factories right now! Not nice.

We've been having green smoothies each day with camu camu berry and goji berry powders and of course the greens powder (Enerex) and chlorella in them... trying to fend off the cold (I haven't got a trace of it yet; I'm hoping my raw immune system is in top form - seems to be)... fwiw my kids eat cooked food (1 vegetarian & 1 omnivore, their choice) and i do often wonder if they ate raw if it wouldn't boost their immune systems as well.

The whole debate about do I let my children choose their own diet or do I decide for them is one I think of a lot. It's sort of silly. I mean, I don't leave alcohol sitting on the counter and say, hey, choose for yourself, okay? Or I don't leave cigars or cigarettes out saying the same thing. Knowing what I know about cooked food, WHY do I even have it in the house at all?!? Well, part of it is that when I transitioned from the SAD to a vegan diet 3 yrs ago, it was an abrupt/overnight shift and I felt it would be unfair for me to suddenly dictate that all non-vegan foods must go... NOW! How would that respect where the others in the family were at in their journeys? dh is a BIG fan of meat & potatoes, not to mention alcohol... ;) I mean, less than 24 hours earlier, I'd been quite content (or so I thought) eating SAD foods. So who was I to demand they go?! Fast forward 2 years and I decide to go raw. Again, I have the same debate in my head. Who am I to demand that all non-raw foods go? Can't I be tolerant - nay, accepting - of my dear family's food choices? I have thought that the best way to win them over to raw, to influence them, is to radiate joy on my raw diet... just being the healthiest, happiest me I can possibly be on raw foods. And hopefully, just hopefully, it will rub off on them. :) (Now you know my subversive plan, lol) Anyways, it has been a struggle, having non-raw foods around and making non-raw meals (being the primary chef in the house).

Something else I've thought about from time to time (and this might be tmi for you, lol, depending on where your mind goes) is what an intimate relationship would be like where both people are raw. I spend perhaps an indecent amount of time wondering what it must be like... ever since I saw a poll on a raw vegan website about whether you would only date other raw vegans, or would the other person's dietary choice not matter to you. Some of the comments from people who would only date other raw fooders appeared pretty, um, extreme, at the time... and yet, in a way, I could also see that if both people were on such a rawsome journey at the same time, so connected to your food, to your spirit, to everything in your life... how authentic your relationships could become.... (drifts off into a daydream yet again).... oh, sorry. I'm baaaack. lol Anyways, if you have thoughts on this, please do share.

Most of my thoughts lately have been on the (rather grandiose) plans I have for spring & summer.... things like tilling the field and planting oats and flax and possibly some wheat (did I mention I have to fence the field, too - and it's larger than an acre?!). Like building a cob oven and getting a chicken coop and run built so that we can get chickens in a month or two... Like building a 3-bin compost system and also a composting toilet. Like finishing the railing on the front deck, stairs, the garden path and retaining wall, and getting the herb garden weeded and looking lovely (and producing food, most importantly!)... Like fencing in the fruit trees so the deer and bears will leave them alone. SOOOOOO many (outdoor) plans, and just little ol' me makin' it happen. :P It's late winter. This always happens to me this time of year. ;)

I've now logged 6,679,333 meters (that's 6679 kms, or the distance from Victoria, BC to Corner Brook, NFLD... one way, LOL) on my rowing machine in the past 56 months, an average of 119,273m a month, or about 120 kms a month (and there have been many months where I did nothing). Right now I'm rowing each weekday for about 25 minutes (5 kms a day), so that's 100 kms a month. Very reasonable. (that's soooooo unlike me. )

Food Security...

Last night I went with a couple friends to see a movie screening - in our town they call it "Awareness Night" movies, movies to increase your awareness on subjects (like next month there's a screening of a documentary about lyme disease as a teenager here battles for her life from it, for example). Anyways, I was particularly excited about last night's movie, "Island on the Edge." Involved were Nick Versteeg, Don Genova, and Jason Froud, locals passionate and involved with the island's food security.

I guess I should stop here and let you know what food security is. When I think of food security, what comes to mind is that our beautiful island, 50 or 60 years ago, produced ~85% of the food the inhabitants consumed. Today that number is closer to 6%. In the event of a disaster - whether the island was cut off from transportation, or if our major food market in California experiences a natural disaster, for example - our island only has enough food to last 3 days. 3 DAYS. 72 HOURS and every grocery store shelf on the entire island would be bare. So when I talk about food security, what I'm getting at is that as islanders, we need to be a little more concerned with where our food comes from, knowing it comes from safe producers, hopefully more locally, so that we're not using huge amounts of fossil fuels to get it to our plate. Food security means knowing where your food came from, knowing who grew it or raised it, and making intelligent choices in this regard. It's about sustainability. I know we're on a pretty large island; I think smaller islands have a greater awareness of security and people on the mainland generally, imo, have no concept of it. Hard to imagine the whole 'we are one' mentality when there are 7500 kms between you & the other side of your country. But we ARE one. There is only one earth and land is a FINITE resource (another hard concept to grasp for those of us in Canada). Certainly land is one of the issues why food production on the island has decreased - people (especially young people, like those of us under 40) cannot afford land that is ideal for agriculture. Not only land is an issue, but also trying to entice people (again, especially young people) into the farming career is a hard sell. Sure as Michael Ableman said, there's lots of sex going on on farms, but that in itself isn't enough. Money pays the bills, and farming today is not an esteemed career choice. (Unlike in Cuba, where their farmers are respected as the entire society APPRECIATES where their food comes from). So trying to attract people into farming, there's another issue. Then there's the whole issue of no education. I don't know much about farming, about growing my own food, and yet stubbornly, I persist each year. We need to help young people (and I'm talkin' kids here) connect with their food. If they can, at a very early age, learn to appreciate where their food comes from, if they can learn the skills necessary to grow it themselves, if we can show them how much FUN digging around in the dirt can be, how much fun it is to watch the magic of a plant growing and then producing food for us.... this is what it's all about. Change is afoot, and all is not yet lost.

A short movie at the beginning of the evening showcased the Richmond Sharing Farm - started by 6 grandmothers on a small plot, they grew 6 rows of food and donated it all to the food bank. They started with a budget of $621. This year their budget is in excess of $135,000 and they will produce something like 60,000 lbs of food for the local food banks. All from 6 women with a vision. So don't tell me it can't be done. It can. Change is you... and me.

Here's something else to ponder. Why is it that North Americans only spend about 10% of our incomes on food (I think I spend ~25-30%, personally), when there are many other countries in the world that spend much larger percentages of their income on food? The movie illustrates this poignantly when a manager from Thrifty Foods says that years ago (10? more? I can't remember) bananas sold for 59c/lb. And the day (during this past year) when filming took place? Bananas were STILL 59c/lb. STILL. Years later. As a society we've become addicted to cheap food. Doesn't matter if it's good for the environment. It's cheap. And we're all about cheap.
I also watched another movie I got out from the library the other day: The Future of Food. Very good movie. (Not that this is the entire movie by far, but...) There's an interview with the farmer from Saskatchewan and his wife who had been growing canola for years and years and saving their own seed. Then Monsanto comes and tests their fields and next thing you know they're being sued for 'illegally obtaining GM canola seed and planting it." Nothing of the sort. Why is Monsanto going after small farmers like this guy anyways?! In the end, I think it said the Supreme Court of Canada upheld Monsanto's position that because they had patented their GM seed, that it did not matter HOW someone obtained it (in this case the wind had blown the seed onto the farmer's property from passing trucks (with improperly attached tarps) hauling the GM seed after harvest). In this case, the farmer didn't even WANT the GM seed on his property. He certainly didn't want it mixing in with his own seed (which it did) that he'd been saving for years (and which he was forced to destroy - can you imagine how upsetting that must've been to have to destroy years and years worth of work like that). You can imagine how devastating the whole ordeal must've been for this couple. Absolutely ridiculous that patent laws are this powerful. Absolutely ridiculous. And tell me again, WHY are we allowing corporations to patent GM anything?! Seeds are living things. In the past you couldn't get a patent on a living thing like a seed... AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH.....

But do not despair.... because there *IS* hope. There are many people like you and me (and the women from the Richmond Sharing Farm) that CARE about our food and where it comes from... that will stand up for what is RIGHT. (when the hell did patent laws supercede morality?!) So what can you & I do?

• I will continue to increase my support for my local organic farm, participating in their CSA box program.
• I will continue to increase my support of local farmers, shopping at the farmer's markets.
• I will continue to attempt to grow my own food, as feeble as I feel in my attempts.
• I will continue to seek out education on farming and sustainable small-scale agriculture.
• I will continue to save my own seeds, as much as I can.
• I will continue to increase my support for heirloom varieties of all produce.
• I will continue to speak up in support of local, organic food producers, letting store produce managers, for example, know that I support local farmers and would like to see more local produce on the shelves.
• I will continue to educate myself, and others on these issues.

Because it's important, dammit.

CARE ABOUT YOUR FOOD!!!

Getting Clean Water

I've been contemplating, for some time, the different options out there in water filtration. (And there are many.) Reverse-osmosis filters, carbon block filters, uv sterilizers, ionizers, distillers... on and on. In this month's Alive magazine they had a small bit about this new SteriPEN, which is a handheld UV light which can sterilize 1L of water in 90 seconds at the push of a button. Check out the website here for more info on it - it retails ~$100 Cdn. The RO filter system I like is a 6-stage filtration with an added alkaline filter on it from Aquasmart in Burnaby - which retails for ~$700 or 800. Most RO filters I've seen run in the $400-$500 range. You can find them at places like Home Depot, and possibly even Costco.

At the moment I'm using our camping filter system... it's a handheld pump from MSR, a carbon block filter, with the drops for added protection. I *know* our water from our community water system is potable, but it's chlorinated, and although we're upgrading (or possibly already have) to a UV filtration system, I cannot BELIEVE how much better the water tastes after being filtered. When I think about how much chlorine is in my skin each week after swimming, and I think about the chlorine I've been drinking in our water, I'm really grateful for this small filter. Sure it takes 10 or even 15 minutes each day of standing there, pumping.... pumping... pumping... but it is totally worth it, imo. It makes me grateful for water, something I think many of us take for granted. When I drink a glass of the filtered water, I realize that I took that time to filter the water, knowing it was better for my health. It might seem crazy to those of us with busy lives - so hectic that you can't imagine where you'd find 15 minutes in your day to hand-pump 7L of water...

... which is why I've been thinking more and more about how grateful I am to have TIME. I am so very grateful that I live simply. If I had to go out and work tomorrow I'd probably opt for part-time and sell off many (most) of my possessions and live even more simply (certainly in a smaller house). (What brings all this thinking on, you ask? I've just finished reading Living Simply with Children, a great book. Discussing it with a friend who also lives simply, she said some simple living advocates opt for a 100-possession rule. I'm not sure I'm ready for THAT but I could certainly use some simplifying in my life, which is why this month I am considering letting some of my volunteer positions go).

But right now I'm going to get myself a glass of water ;) & head off to the morning tai chi class.
Namaste'
~n~

Snow in March???

Wow - we got snow in March! That's weird. lol Our island got dumped with snow overnight and this morning... our house at 7:30 this morning had about an inch (the grass was still poking through) but it snowed heavily the next 3 hours and by 10:30 we had a good 4" (10 cm). Crazy. We had a meeting in town to go to (that yes, I could've cancelled), but I am very grateful to have AWD on the car (and I carry chains) so I figured I'd be alright. WELL. I should say that the 20+ kms into town are, at the best of times, hilly & curvy, and when they are covered in inches of snow are pretty slick. There were 4? 5? cars in the ditch, or sideways in the middle of the road (on blind corners on hills), making road conditions treacherous. Even on the straight stretch, I managed to do a complete 360 with the kids in the car... at more than 60, closer to 70 kms/hr. FREAKY. My raw vegan heart jumped into my throat. Luckily, we ended up between the telephone poles, and all was good. A few seconds of mindful breathing from us all and we were on our way. Yes, I drove more carefully after that, so it was a learning lesson. I haven't done that (spun out) in close to a decade.

Anyways I need to... scratch that - want to - go and exercise now, so I'm going to go now. But just before I do, can I just ask you other raw vegans out there - have you tried chlorella nuts, and do you like them?! I picked up some the other day and I tried 2 and well, they taste like.... like algae or seaweed or something. I couldn't quite embrace the taste of them yet. Maybe they'll grow on me. I really think they'll be good for me, so I'm determined to overcome my initial response to them but I'm wondering how others eat 30 or 45 of them at a time!!

The other thing I picked up was a greens/grass powder. I have been looking for something like VitaMineral Green (buy it here if you like) but couldn't find it locally so I opted for another brand, Enerex Greens Rx (buy it here). Fwiw, our local health food store was $15 more expensive than I found it for in the health food store in the nearest city - so it paid to shop around in my case. I'm REALLY enjoying it, and worked out the cost per day ('cuz I'm like that - constantly calculating things out in my head) at ~$1.20 per day. So that's quite affordable, imo.

Can you hear that? It's my rowing machine calling me.... Must go now. lol :)

BLISS...

I found bliss yesterday morning at the continuing tai chi class in town... Once a month there is an class for instructors to keep up their skills. I don't know what was different at this particular class - perhaps it was that the majority of the 30 or 40 people in attendance have all been practising tai chi for many years (I can imagine that combined it would amount to several hundred years!!), perhaps that they have such incredible focus and concentration from their many years of experience. My continuing instructor recently said that practising tai chi is about finding stillness and that peaceful place inside... that remark really resonated with me as yesterday morning I was able to really concentrate and get into that zone, and for the entire practise I was both energized and relaxed and once again really able to find amazing strength through relaxation (in our culture this seems like an oxymoron - how can you relax while being in positions that require strength from your muscles? (similar to yoga in this regard) but once your body's structure is lined up, your body can actually relax into it and the position will yield incredible strength) Anyways, tai chi class yesterday morning was pure bliss. I really REALLY enjoyed it and was very glad I made the trip into town for it.

Afterwards I went to a friends' and had lunch (a beautiful raw salad) and I'd picked up some raw chocolate treats at Cafe Bliss but I felt SO BAD as I unintentionally harmed my dear friend - she began to have an allergic reaction to something in the treats!! Yikes! Thankfully we had some allergy medication on hand, but it was QUITE sobering to say the least. Thank GOODNESS she was alright.

And later my dh & I were actually able to spend an evening out on the town together! We went to a pub for dinner (I had salad and water), to a lecture by author Richard Louv, who wrote Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit-Disorder and then to yet another pub (LOL) with friends of my husbands' (I had yet more water and a veggie tray)... (I wanted to balance my wish to go to a lecture on a saturday night with my dh's wish to spend the evening at the pub with friends, so this is what we agreed on. I think it worked very well - we both enjoyed the evening greatly, just being in each others' company).

On the subject of Last Child in the Woods: what a GREAT book, talking about how important access to nature is in our children's development (and our own!)... and how social pressures or our own fears are keeping us from spending more time in nature, and yet how natural and healing spending time in nature is.... I highly recommend you read this book) Anyways the lecture was really interesting, especially for dh who hadn't read the book, but grew up building tree forts on wide expanses of acreage. I am ever-so grateful our children have access, right outside the front door, to greenspace. I LOVE that our house looks out onto forest in virtually every direction. I LOVE that we have a creek running through our backyard. I LOVE that we have a forest right there. Perfect for tree forts and hide-and-seek and all kinds of imaginative and creative games. I LOVE that we are literally a 5 minute walk to the beautiful beach, that you can hear the waves crashing from inside our home. That really is something else; I still find that calming, even after more than 10 years!! The benefits of being surrounded by and so close to nature were definitely HUGE factors in us buying rural property.

In this moment, I am so grateful for yesterday and all its experiences. I am grateful for the wonderful tai chi class in the morning and sense of community from the other people in the club. I am grateful for Cafe Bliss and their delicious organic, raw, vegan foods. I am grateful for the wonderful friendships in my life. I am grateful for Richard Louv and his book, and the very important message in it. I am grateful for my dh, for our time together. I am grateful for my in-laws who enjoyed spending the evening with our children, who welcome us all into their home all the time. I am grateful for all the healing water I drank yesterday, and for choosing to nourish my body with raw vegan foods all day, even while out all day.

~namaste~

Body Health

Today is turning out so very very well! I think it all started when I woke up. LOL (Don't all days start like that?) I hung the laundry on the clothesline to dry - first time this year, and that always makes me happy... the children had friends over for a visit (making everyone happy)... and generally it's a fantastic day... (why wouldn't it be?! why am I so surprised by this?)

Went to the chiropractor today for another adjustment - 4th visit since my back went out 2 1/2 wks ago... last Thursday I think I told you how he got it EXACTLY in alignment, as evidenced at tai chi class that night when my donyus and toryus were sooooooo relaxing... Anyways today he says my legs are the same length (uh.... good), and able to extend 45 degrees up (he says some people who are really into flexibility & yoga & such can get up to 60 degrees, but he says 45 degrees is really decent)... My back seems to be more or less staying in alignment between visits now, so now I can go 2 wks, and then hopefully 4 wks, and hopefully then 2 months, and possibly even 3 between adjustments. (Wouldn't that be great?!)

He is really quite surprised, I think, at how quickly I'm healing from putting my back out. He has said even though chronologically I may be 34, I seem to be healing like someone in their 20s. (YAHOOOOOO I said silently to myself) The chiropractor figures I'm operating at about 90% 'efficiency' - there are small things that can be adjusted as needed, but he thinks we're going to just be tweaking things, not moving things in a major way.

He gave me a mini-lecture (or started to, anyways) on the importance of exercise on our health - how even 5 minutes a day can benefit our backs & autonomic nervous system, organs, etc. The next level to see noticeable benefits is, in his opinion, 20 minutes, 3 times a week. I stopped him right there and said, okay, I'm doing a half-hour of cardio 6 times a week, as well as tai chi 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours a week. "Oh! Then I think you're doing enough." I think so, too. LOL

I had to laugh when he went on to say that, with quite a high level of confidence, I seem to have no tumors, major health issues (Type II diabetes, heart blockages, risk of stroke, osteoperosis, or dementia later in life, etc) or even mental health issues (that's when I laughed). In his experience, people with these health concerns generally have spinal mis-alignments.

Over the past 34 months, I have come (on my own) to realize the importance of regular exercise. Not only does it help me deal with life's little stresses, it keeps my body functioning at a high level. Spiritually, I believe I benefit from sweating every day. My menstrual cycle is regular when I exercise regularly. My weight is stable. It improves the functioning of my organs, like an increased lung capacity (I can swim 25m underwater!). It improves my mood (and sex life, or is that tmi, LOL). It helps ward off chronic diseases that are rampant among North American adults. Regular exercise helps me sleep more soundly. There are so many benefits to exercise, it's a wonder that there are days when I still procrastinate and dread getting down to it. Bad habits die hard, I guess. LOL Because really, moving our bodies is fun. They are built to move.

Between regular exercise and a very high raw food diet, I believe I am taking responsibility for my overall health. Add to that preventative measures like regular chiropractic care, or massage, or whatever you choose to do, and you're on the right track.

Mmmmm... must go refill water glass.
Here's to your health.... and mine! ;)

Today I am Grateful.

Today, I am grateful. For sunshine. For rain. For strong friendships. For new jeans. For family. For telephones. For my children (takes a moment to go snuggle them). For my loving husband. For personal growth. For a sense of stability, security, and safety. For pure water. For living, raw foods that nourish and heal and invite awareness. For the universal light force of Reiki. For the unknowable - the adventures that are the future - I leap off into the future willingly and freely... the jump is the journey that is this moment.

(Did you know I've been bungy-jumping twice - once @ 18 & again @ 28? 140 foot drop off a bridge over a beautiful natural canyon above a cold, rushing river... Breathtaking. And let me tell you - 140 feet looks much higher when you're above than below. LOL)

And, I'd like it publicly noted that I am, in earnest, going to eliminate wheat and the remainder of cooked food (what little there is) from my diet completely from this moment forth. I say that now, lol, in a moment where I'm not eating anyways, nor am I tempted to. Ask me again when I stand before a loaf of freshly-baked organic raisin bread while the little monkey-doodles are asking for 'just a slice' of warm bread. ;) I have made the time to read more of Angela Stokes' e-book, Raw Emotions. It's coming out in print soon; an absolute must-have book for anyone who wants to honestly deal with their emotional demons and baggage. Anyhow, not to leave you hanging, but I really want to get back to reading it. lol Do hope you understand. :)

Much love & blessings,

~n~

deeeeetox...

I cannot believe how nasty detoxing can be. Shouldn't really come as a surprise, but honestly, in the past 10+ months I've been raw, I really haven't had an experience like I've had the past little while... it's like it's this ongoing, low-grade-simmering kind of detoxing... what I've noticed is that I seem highly emotional & reactive - just look at me funny and I'll get all weepy on ya - and generally less able to cope with life's little stresses; I just seem less happy overall, for no apparent reason - life is great, it's fantastic, so why am I not light-hearted and joyous?! Where has my sense of humour gone - is it hidden under the sofa?! ;P Add to that a release of mucous & also sleepiness - last night I slept 10 hours solid, and this is becoming not-so-unusual for me the past couple weeks. As well, last night I had a headache (I rarely get headaches), so all this together, for me, spells d-e-t-o-x. Thankfully, after a solid 10 hour sleep I woke up refreshed, and happy(!)... (did it last? well, not so much the entire day, but still, it helped tremendously to have a fresh outlook in the morning). Today was also a day I purposely took off of exercising. Exercise is VERY helpful for managing detox symptoms and knowing I'm detoxing, I did consider foregoing the day off, but I want to maintain a high level of motivation, and the occasional day off is helpful.

I am so committed to eating raw. I cannot imagine going back to the standard diet. No way. I'm glad I didn't have any detox symptoms like this when I initially went raw or it might have wavered my resolve. 10 months in there is NO WAY I'm going back on cooked food as the staple part of my diet - I'm not going to backslide even to a vegan diet. I'm not maintaining 100% raw all the time (as you can see from my food diary below), but on the whole, if you look at the week, I'm 100% raw usually 4 days a week and the other 3 days I end up having something like 1/2 a piece of toast that one of the children left sitting on their plate at breakfast, or something - the rest of the day I'm totally raw, but that 1/2 a piece of toast, I include in my food diary (so I guess over all the food I eat in a week, I'm 90+% raw if you look at it that way - it's not like I have entire meals or entire days with no raw foods - the cooked food is always something minor in the course of the day), and I've noticed that these temptations I succumb to are nearly ALWAYS wheat products. What a HUGE trigger wheat is for me. I DO sometimes wish I lived in a hermitage, all alone (a cob one, LOL), where I could surround myself with only raw foods, but alas, I have a loving and supportive family whose company I enjoy tremendously, so I choose to live with them instead and have the temptation of wheat constantly in my kitchen. It's making me stronger, each moment I choose to go without it, right. ;)

Today I had:

• 3L pure, filtered water throughout the day, some with lime slices, some not
• 12 oz soaked prune 'juice' & 6 soaked prunes
• 1c muesli with 1c sesame milk
• a large spinach salad with mushroom and red pepper and Ani Phyo's creamy curry salad dressing (off Youtube) - DEEEEEElish
• 1.25 L smoothie - a good 3 or 4c of greens from the yard (corn salad, kale, dandelion, chickweed, arugula, whatever else I snipped from the garden), a banana, a few frozen apricot halves, 1c frozen local blueberries, 1c frozen local raspberries, 2 tbsp ground flax, 1 tbsp maca powder, 1 tsp goji berry powder, 1/4 tsp camu berry powder, 1 tbsp local honey (I'm out of dates, raisins, and agave; as a vegan, I don't usually consume honey)... I think that was it...
• and a couple chocolate chip cookies (homemade & mostly organic ingredients, but not vegan) and a handful of air-popped organic popcorn, neither of which were raw. See what happens when i give in to emotional eating? in an instant, i stop honouring myself. i could sit here and berate myself for doing it, but i'm not going to. I guess I was trying to slow down (prolong?!) the detox, I don't know. Actually, I was simply trying to avoid dealing with stressful situations that arose (ya, that's helpful, isn't it.... oops, I've made a commitment to myself: no sarcasm). I think tonight I'm going to read some more of Raw Emotions. :)

Young Daughter: "Why is called Mount Fuji?" (pronounced 'foooo-ji')

Young Son: "I don't know why it's called Mount Fuji." (pronounced 'fooooo-ji' also)

Young Daughter: "'Cause there's lots of food, probably."

They both giggle.

Today I am grateful for my very VERY supportive and loving family, standing solidly by my side as I go through these emotional moments of detox. I just loved being with them this weekend. I am very grateful for my children's vitality and energy (even if sometimes my introverted self finds it somewhat distracting or over-the-top, LOL). I am grateful for the delicious fresh greens I harvested from our garden/yard today. I am grateful for a roof over my head and clothes and more-than-enough food available to us all. I am grateful for my good health. And I am very grateful you decided to read my blog today. ;)

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