TeamRAW

Good afternoon

I trust the warm Spring-like sun filled days are gettting you excited about the possibilities and opportunities that accompany Spring. A time for cleaning – inside and out…With warmer days and longer evenings on their way it is a good time to implement some of those healthful routines you have been thinking about.

I will be posting an entry for those of you that want to implement change or to transition to a healthier platform of life. It will have a few ideas on the small changes that you can make in your diet that will reap greater health benefits, so be on the lookout for that one.

Today I wanted to share a few of the facts that have occurred in my reading…

***Organic vs conventional…
*Monkeys know best!
After introducing a diet that comprised 10% organic, it was noticed that the chimps at a Copenhagen Zoo knew which was which!! Given a conventional banana they were seen to peel before eating discarding the skin. When given organic bananas they ate the whole thing, skin and all…Monkeys know best!!
*Organic food has much higher nutrients which are more bio available organic sodium (can be assimilated and used by the body). Organic sodium aids the manufacture by the body of HCL (hydrochloric acid) which is used to alkanalise food in the stomach before allowing to pass through the alkaline wall of the stomach. Oraganic sodium has a high potassium to sodium ratio whereas inorganic sodium has a high sodium to potassium ratio which is detrimental to the smooth self regulation the body is capable of (note in those suffering from acid reflux or leaky gut, chances are your body has insufficient organic sodium to utilise to make HCL – if the stomach cannot alkalise the food to pass through the wall it will send it back up whence it came…so, it is not too much acid it is a lack of organic sodium to produce the required HCL. Medications for these can further hinder the process by blocking off HCL production leaving the stomach helpless in digesting food!)

***Pollution is bad for the organic carrot and everything else
Today’s organic carrot has 10% higher lead levels than it’s 1975 counterpart…still grown organically bit further polluted by environmental factors.

***Fewer lettuce varieties available today than in 1900
In 1900 there were about 63 varieties of commercial lettuce grown in California. Today there are primarily 4…59 varieties tossed aside because they failed in the number one reason for choosing them…no not for nutrtional or taste were they tossed aside. The four we have today were chosen for their ability to travel long distances and sit on the grocery store shelf and in your fridge (umm getting an idea on how corporate dollars and power affect the very things we have available to eat.

***Vegetarians eat what is easily gathered and nothing that
would struggle to get away…yet to see my carrots trying to flee out of the juicer!

***Fruits and veggies are broken down by the body by fermentation, whereas animal flesh is broken down by purtification (yuk!!)…an average meat eating American carries about 5lbs of putrifying waste, causing an acidic environment in the body…imagine planting an apple and a steak, go back after a few days and see how each has broken down, this is what happens in your body…see below for more on the effects of creating an acidic environment…

***Annie Padden Jubb and David Jubb (among many other natural hygiene supporters) state that there are “only 2 types of disease…toxicity (from an overally acidic environment within the body) and enervation (a need for more electrical potential on a cellular level – think of your body’s cells as a circuit board requiring electrical impulses to set the body into self regulation)

***Fewer Americans grow their own food
In the 1950’s 1/2 of Americans tended their own garden, today this number has dwindled to 18%

***The loss of our topsoil
It takes approx 10,000 years of life and decay to produce 1″ topsoil and we are losing it at an alarming rate…just go out and pick up a handful of soil, does it feel loamy and rich or is it dry and without character…

Well, that is all I have time for today. Hope some of the above have inspired you to think about what you can do to make your life healthier whilst supporting the preservation of our natural resources.

So, I will leave you with a question (feel free to add your answer as a comment at the bottom of this post)
What have you done today to add an extra day to your life…

And remember our body regenerates ALL the time, it is possible to change your health ONE BITE AT A TIME…
have fun, experiment, add vitality to your life, eat fresh, be kind to yourself and find joy in every day.

With a peaceful step and hopeful heart
Shivie and Cemaaj

Good morning

I have so much to share and just not enough time to do it! Sorry I have been feeling pretty crappy since my last entry so it has been a while.

Today I would like to share some tips for “Skin fresh from the Kitchen”…The skin is the body’s largest organ of elimination, when it can’t get toxins out any other way, it will “force” them through the skin, hence boils, acne, pimples…so, we need to facilitate the removal of toxins by supporting our organs of elimination, namely the skin, kidneys, liver, lungs and colon.

It is also important to remember that the skin is a two way street, toxins can come out of it and they can go INTO it. What you put on your skin is ingested into the body, think again before liberally applying that deodrant under your arms (where absorbtion is at an all time high due to the lymph nodes being located there)…read the ingredients and unless it is an herbal brand it probably lists aluminum as the first (and therefore largest) ingredient…would you drink an aluminum smoothie? Probably not, so think again before applying and read the label before buying!

What better to put on your skin, especially on your face, than nature’s own bounty? There are many variations on this simple recipe, so go ahead and use your imagination. Tune into your inner self and see what you are drawn to in the kitchen…

Lavender Face Gauc
Just when you thought that over-ripe/bruised avocado was going to have to go into the composting bin, think again, more importantly, think SKIN, think FRESH…

Ingredients
1/4 ripe avocado
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tsp of uncooked oats, ground in a coffee grinder
spray of rose water
couple of drops of lavender and geranium
1 tsp jojoba/sweet almond oil
2 slices cucumber
relaxing music or water fountain

Preparation
Scoop out avocado flesh and mash until very smooth (think face mask, you don’t want big lumps in there!).
Add lemon juice and ground oats (polenta could also be used, grind a little finer in coffee grinder – this is the astringent (lemon) and the exfoliator (oats/polenta)
Add the remaining ingredients and blend well with a fork.
When the mixture is smooth, tie hair away from face and neck, apply Lavender Face Gauc over the entire (clean) face and throat, avoiding the delicate eye area.
Put on soothing music, lay back and apply a slice of cucumber over each eye.
Take 5-10 minutes to relax and be conscious of your breath.
Feel the coolness of the cucumber as it cocoons you from outside stimuli and calms the delicate skin around the eye, reducing puffiness…
Breath in the adaptogenic lavender (lavender can both soothe your mood and lift it, depending on what you need…such a clever and pretty little plant)…relax…
After 5-10 minutes, remove the cucumber and discard.
Remove the Lavender Face Gauc, with a face cloth and warm water.
Follow with Soothing Ginger Face Steam (if not doing the steam, close the pores of the skin with splashes of cold water or by lightly tracing an ice-cube across the skin to close the pores)

Soothing Ginger/Lavender Steam

Ingredients:
1 tbs of freshly grated ginger
1 large bowl
Hot water
2-3 drops of lavender
1 small, 1 large towel

Place the grated ginger in the large bowl and cover with boiling water, throw a small towel over the bowl to keep steam in, place bowl on kitchen counter (or somewhere flat and at a height which you cn lean over)
Drape large towel over head and lean over the bowl, removing the small towel as you drape the larger one around the edges of the bowl.
Take a moment and feel the heat of the steam, breath gently at first, until you are accustomed to the warmer, steamier, ginger moisture…draw back (keeping the towel draped around the bowl) if it is too hot, lean in more if you can take it…
Breathe more deeply, let that mositure and healing ginger penetrate into the lungs, feel your skin warming up and droplets of moisture forming…
When you have had enough (you will know) splash the face with cold water and take an ice-cube and hold inside a small face towel, leaving on surface exposed…trace the exposed side of the ice-cube around the face to close off the pores and give a tighter appearance to the skin…
Spray a little rose water and follow with organic coconut oil (butter) or with your regular moisturising routine…

Not only will you have saved the avocado from the composting bin, you will save a few dollars on prepared masks whilst giving your skin the benefit of an all natural treatment…your face will glow and people will tell you how good you smell (the lavender, rose, geranium and ginger will have penetrated through your pores and hair, leaving you smelling good enough to eat…)

If you don’t have all the ingredients to hand, you can make a basic avocado and lemon mask and then add any additional ingredients you have. If you don’t have essential oils in your bathroom cabinet, treat yourself to a bottle of lavender and see what you can do with it…add to plain body oils for a soft scent…add to “plain” hair/skin products, steams, add to bath water…you get the idea…each week or month add another oil to your collection, soon you will have your own mini apothecary in your bathroom cabinet…

Whatever you do, do it with joy and love. Be kind to yourself. Give yourself permission to take 20 minutes out of your day to do the mask and steam…you deserve it…

May your natural beauty always shine radiantly
Make it a RAW-some day
With peaceful steps
Shivie and Cemaaj

Good morning

I had been hoping to write this post since Friday but have been feeling a little crooked…I think it is the Chanca Piedra (”CP”) http://www.rain-tree.com/chanca.htm hard at work flushing out my kidney, it creates a feeling of hard pressure pressing against my kidney, but I welcome it if it is helping!!! Interestingly, having never heard of CP, I logged into www.juicefeasting.com and found that it is one of the recommended items for those going past 30 days. Whether or not it eradicates Ghost (the name of my strone; my Vagina Monologues Director, Sam, assigned me homework to “name my baby” as I am performing the birth piece) I know my kidney will be well flushed…and that brings us to the exciting part: the Global Juice Feast, hosted by David and Katrina Rainoshek http://www.rain-tree.com/chanca.htm.

It started Sunday, and requires 4 quarts of juice a day…at least 2 of which some be leafy greens and celery…to give you an idea we weighed everything this morning before putting it in the vitamix www.vitamix.com – lemon, kale, butter lettuce, romaine lettuce, red pepper, jalapeno, 1 head of celery each (very important for it’s organic sodium content, vital for optimal assimilation of nutrients and digestive health), ) and through the Green Star www.greenstar.com (carrots, apples, oranges, pears, lemon, ginger)…we juiced 17lbs of fruit and veggies.

I know, juicing takes so long, there is so much clean up – these are common comments I recieve when I talk about the nutrient dense benefits of a daily juice. Yes, we spent probably an hour in the kitchen rummaging through the veggies, washing and trimming them and then putting them through the juicer or in the blender (very cool, with the Vita Mix you can put in all the greens, press go and it literally pulverizes the veggies into a thick liquid, this could be eaten as a smoothie or for juice you simply pour through a nut milk bag and separate the fibre from the juice). Of course we are drinking a large quantity of juice and it probably take 6 64oz VitaMix containers to get enough juice.

To us, the time we spend making our juice is a meditation. We are gathering, cleaning and chopping Nature’s bounty and at the end of the process we have ALL our food for the day, no wondering what to buy and prepare for dinner, no washing dinner dishes (just 4 Mason jars each), nothing left to do but drink the juice. And tonight I will do the rummaging and prepping and make sure the sink is clean and empty so that tomorrow we can awake, drink our quart of water with juice of half a lemon and MSM and get straight to work on creating the juices for the day. It really does take alot of the thinking out of eating. We went to Whole Foods yesterday (I was not feeling great so we skipped the scant, rainy and unpredictable Farmers Mkt for a quick trip to Whole Foods). Once there, we hit the produce section and checked out. No wondering if we have everything, so long as we have carrots (5lbs a day – the numbers are for 2 of us), 2 heads of celery a day, 4lbs leafy greens, some apples and oranges, parsley, whatever else is organic and looking good, we are good!

Now, the other side of this is drinking all said juice. And let me tell you, for me this is a HUGE challenge. If you had handed me this juice to drink 2 years ago I would have refused to even try. Now I am committed to drinking 3-4 quarts a day for seven days…I am 3/4 way through my first green juice, I am struggling with the last 1/4. But struggling and doing it today are progress comapared to 2 years ago. I am doing this for my body. I don’t like greens but have learned to like them more and more, as my body adapts to a healthier level. So, if you don’t like certain things you may find that as your diet changes and your body evolves to it’s potential, that your tastes change. Two years ago I wouldn’t taste a green juice and now I am sitting here with my first quart, almost done. I am expecting my taste buds to get retrained and yearn for greens…for now though, I am taking a deep breath and thinking of the billions of cells in my body that are getting a reprieve from digestion. Now they can do some housecleaning and get this stuff OUT.

Talking of “getting stuff out”, this is sooooo important. Think of each cell as a little cage that in doing it’s job, creates waste as a by product. This is collected by the blood and taken around. A body that is not in a cleansing state has no way of emptying all the waste from all the cages, and the organs wouldn’t have time to process it by way of too much food needing digestion. So this waste accumulates and hides out deep in fat cells. This is the purpose of fasting or feasting in this case. By taking only juices and no fibre, the body realises that it doesn’t have to work hard for digestion, in fact all the enzymes in the juice are doing alot of the digestion for it, so now the body can do what it does best, work toward homeostatis…a balance. The alkalinity of the juices helps the saliva, blood and urine become alkaline rather than acidic. Many diseases cannot survive in an alkaline state, therefore if we eat a more alkaline diet (rich in green leafies…and much as I have difficulty with juice, I look at how much the juice contains and could not comprehend trying to just eat that volume of greens, juicing is definitely best bang for the buck!), so it makes sense that our bodies will thrive with all these nutrients.

That said, I have to go to work. So i must leave you and grab my juices on the way out. And i didn’t even get to tell you about my cleansing reactions and the subsequent enema and body brush I did to relieve them…guess I have told you now after all, and stop squirming about the enema, we all the feel the same the first time but like the juice the benefits, not to mention relief from cleansing reactions, far outweigh any squirm factor, open your mind and think about cleaning out your intestines and colon, your body and health will thank you for it. And here’s a very appropriate quote for the day, when thinking about something ask yourself:

IS THE JUICE WORTH THE SQUEEZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To work, wish I could stay here and chat with you…
Make it a fabulously, juicy, RAW-some day
Shivie and Cemaaj, Day 2, Global Juice Feast