In the Juicing Groooooooooove..

Yep, we're already 6 days into this juicefeast. Hard to believe; it's really gone by sooooooo fast and really really smoothly. I'm loving the GreenStar; I don't know if I mentioned but I picked up a coarse filter so now I can juice fruits (watermelon is absolutely heavenly!) and pretty much everything.

Today I had
1L: spinach, celery, apple, lime, ginger
1L: watermelon
1L: yam, carrot, apple, ginger, cinnamon
1L: water
1 small cup of blueberry herbal tea
1L: beet greens, chard, apple, lime, ginger

I felt really elated today, especially earlier in the day. Just euphoric. Filled with bliss and happiness. It was a beautiful feeling. Over the day it gave way to fatigue... so much so I was ready to go to sleep at 8 tonight. LOL Still, despite the tiredness I feel really great.

I was at the tai chi workshop for 5 hours, of which we probably did 2 hours of actual physical exercise. However the lectures and oral teachings were VERY helpful and informative and I really do feel I benefitted a LOT from this weekend. I know I will get the MOST from this workshop if I can begin to incorporate tai chi into my daily life... the same as I row most days, and eat raw all the time... it would be very nice to do tai chi (and reiki) daily as well. I know this is where my life is drawing me, and I also know that making new habits is actually not all that difficult (mostly it's our mental clutter or blocks that prevent our success).

I was really blessed to be able to talk with another person who has experience fasting during the workshop. He's 79 and has been practising tai chi for over 20 years. Although he didn't in his younger years, he now treats his body very well, cleansing, fasting periodically, eating mostly raw, doing all kinds of things to improve his health and longevity. He reminded me several times during the weekend to be gentle on my body during this feast. I was grateful to have someone to talk to about how things were going; someone with experience of where I am. A few other people just looked at me like I had 3 heads, and one even said how extreme juicing was (in their view). One woman asked what the "symptoms" were of the juice feasting working...

Why is it we think that cleansing or fasting is somehow detrimental to our health? (It is with intention that I use the words "we" and "our" in that question, for I realize that I *am* the other people I talked to; I am you, and I am me. That might seem really deep and beyond comprehension, but to grasp even the tiniest of the true interconnectedness of life is profound. Just be with it; sit with it and see how you feel about it)... anyways, yes, why IS it that we see taking care of our bodies "extreme"?! Isn't putting animal flesh fried in fat or oil into our bodies.... how can we even call that food? Sure, a carrot was a living plant while growing and I realize that we are ALL consumers, even those of us that eschew consumerism are continually consuming throughout our lives. I think most people that eschew consumerism are actually eschewing materialism - the unnecessary consumption of material goods above and beyond the necessary. I digress...

Someone asked if I was doing this for weight loss or for religious reasons. Neither, really. I'm doing it because I was drawn to it, because I think we end up storing negativity in our bodies and it is important to periodically release that and rejuvenate and rebuild our bodies. Negativity might be ingested or enhaled toxins from our environment, it might be negative thoughts we have or stressful situations... things we can't quite get a handle on, that can't quite process... we store those things somewhere, don`t you think... maybe as tension in our lower backs or shoulders (or other skeletal joints), or maybe in our excess fat, or in our cell memories. Hard to say exactly where it's stored, but it's in there somewhere. As far as religious reasons for fasting, I'd say I`m doing it more for spiritual reasons than religious, as I don`t adhere to any one organized religion, but I do consider myself a very spiritual person.

What I`m getting at is that people who are not familiar with juicing or fasting try to fit it into their mental schemas somehow, into the box of familiarity. And maybe it doesn`t fit so they label it extreme or wacky. That`s okay. I`ve planted the seed; exposed them to the IDEA. Perhaps one day they`ll come across something about juicing or fasting that might open them up further to the idea. Or not. Either is just fine. :) After all, we are exactly where (and WHO) we need to be in this very moment.

Namaste