Today's Meditation:

"This perfect moment is all there is."

My goal for today is to be present in each moment of my day. Being present - not worrying about the past, not daydreaming about the future.

This perfect moment is all there is.

Meditation on Nepal by Anthony Christian

Goodbye August.

My birth month.

Another year older, and still in search of this.

The Honeymoon is Over.

I have been raw and mostly fruitarian for almost 3 years. This lifestyle has brought me much health and happiness, and a way of seeing life that I had only imagined before.

I have gone through many different experiments trying to find the best way for me, and ultimately for everyone, if that is possible. I was just doing what I thought was best at the time. I wish health and happiness for everyone.

There have been its ups and downs though. Due to many days of eating little and fasting throughout the past year, I have felt the onset of deficiencies, lack of energy, depression, and further teeth and bone problems, as well as a spacey mental feeling. So while cooked diets have their cancers, diabetes, and other issues, raw diets can have their problems too if it's not done right. With so many different diets out there, it is hard to know what "the right way" is.

I still believe in the raw diet 100% and I want it to work for me long-term. The more the world changes, the more the raw vegan diet makes sense for us, the animals, and the planet. I just have to be smart about it from now on.

So I do vow to eat better in my raw diet and be smarter from now on.

Every day now includes greens in a green juice or green smoothie, as well as the occasional vegetable juice, and a variety of fruits. A few avocadoes each month, not each day. No nuts or seeds. Trying to eat more sweet fruit, more calories, and adding bananas or dates helps. Paying attention to ratios. Also supplementing B12.

I feel so much better now. I can finally breathe again and awake refreshed. I feel that euphoric and vibrant way I felt when I first started raw. Where I want to smile at everyone and love the world so much.

I just don't want all my health, happiness and identity to depend on being raw. I don't want to obsess. I just want to be me.

Today:
Breakfast - Cucumber-celery juice, 1 honeydew, 1 canteloupe
Lunch - Green Smoothie (6 bananas blended with the juice of 1/2 head of celery and 1 bunch of kale)
Snacks - 1 honeydew melon, 2 peaches, cherry tomatoes and okra

Giant peach from the farmer's market

Everything.

Everything and everyone is so unique and has their own special gifts and lessons, their own kind of intelligence and creativity to bring to the world. Each has their contribution. Cherish everyone and everything, and give thanks for every blessing. It's all happening and happening so perfectly and beautifully all around us and within us in every moment.

Words can't express how I really feel lately. Sometimes it's our best thoughts that just can't be put into words - that would only restrain them.

Love is everywhere.

Today:
Breakfast: Carrot-red pepper juice, 1 pineapple, few bites of a local watermelon
Lunch: 1 honeydew melon, 15 dates blended with water
Dinner: Green smoothie (10 bananas blended with juice from 1 bunch of collard greens and 1 head of celery)

Favorite Green Juice.

This delicious and refreshing green juice is a daily drink of mine. It is extremely alkaline and nutritious and makes a great breakfast drink to start the day.

Celery-cucumber-cilantro-lemon Juice

2 heads of celery
1 cucumber, peeled
1 bunch cilantro, leaves and stems
1 lemon

Put celery, cucumber, and cilantro through the juicer (I use Breville Juice Fountain). Run the cilantro through with the celery stalks in order to extract its juice and flavour. After all is juiced, squeeze in 1/2 to a whole lemon, to taste, and stir together.

This juice is high in essential nutrients including the minerals sodium, calcium and silica, which are essential for strong bones and teeth as well as healthy skin and hair. These minerals are not easily found in the raw vegan diet, but are abundant in this green juice. Cilantro leaves are rich in calcium, iron, carotenes, and vitamin C, which it happens are great antioxidants. The lemon combines with the calcium to form calcium citrate, which is easily absorbed by the body. Vitamin D from the sun will complement the nutrients in this juice nicely.

Drink up and enjoy.

Pranayama.

Something new I am learning is different meditations and breathing techniques. Usually I watch videos of them. Then I observe how I feel during and afterward. Today's breathing technique was from this video - the Full Yogic Breath. I am starting off with basic techniques.



Starting in a seated position, with good posture and chin slightly dropped, breathe into the abdomen for four counts, next into the ribcage for two counts, and then into the chest for two counts. Now retain the breath. Hold it for as long as you can. When you feel the need to breathe, begin by exhaling from the chest and ribcage for six counts, and then from the abdomen for two counts.

It is pretty intense. After one yogic breath I would take a few deep breaths, before doing another yogic breath. Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

During this breath I felt very aware. I also felt a strange feeling, as if I was a stick figure inside a human body. I felt aware of the body and energy fields surrounding me. Afterwards, I felt positively high like there was glitter in my veins instead of blood. I would love to start and end my day this way.

My week.

I am trying to be more open. Trying to let more people get to know me. I have always been a quiet person, who usually keeps to myself. I like to listen more than talk. I keep everything inside. So it is a challenge for me. But I have been inspired by so many people who have shared their thoughts, lives, wisdom, hopes, writings, pictures, paintings, observations, joys and sorrows, good days, bad days, ideas, views and visions with me.

I think I have beautiful thoughts and a wonderful life. I would like to share more with the world. So I am trying to be open to everyone and everything, even if that means getting hurt at times.

I am saying yes. Yes to life.



After 2 years on a fruit diet, I am still amazed at many things. After getting so used to feeling a certain way, something will come along to remind you of a way you used to feel. I smashed my toe, it was very painful at first; but only two weeks later, it is almost completely healed. (I am not posting a before and after picture, unless anyone wants to throw up.)

Even my teeth seem to be healing nicely after all. In some time I will post a before and after picture of them. I have an affirmation that I try to repeat daily: "My teeth are healthy, strong, and white."

My sister visited last week, and was asking me for toothpaste. She was also asking where the shampoo and conditioner were...oops. As gross as this would sound to a cooked food eater, I never have bad breath now, not even in the morning. My hair hardly ever gets dirty. A couple of times a month I rinse it with baking soda and water only. It is freeing not to need all those products. I could make a list of hundreds of other things.

But I digress.

As for what I ate this week, I couldn't have said it better than Fruity Jules (but I will summarize): I was going to have just tangerine juice all week. But it seems it is the end of their season, they are not as sweet, and watermelons are starting to come in now. I got several big ones with seeds. So this week I had some tangerine juice, papaya, and champagne mangoes, and lots of watermelon.

Today:
Breakfast - juice of 10 honey tangerines, and 1 papaya
Lunch - 4 champagne mangoes
Dinner - Bowl of fruit salad that I brought to a party (pineapple, strawberries, grapes, watermelon and kiwi. Yes always trust the fruitarian to bring the fruit salad.)
Later - 1 small watermelon and 4 red bananas
It was a long day. But a good one.

Wishing you all every beautiful thing. ♥