HEALTH TIPS
MY HEALTH QUEST JOURNEY
This is a page of advice I started composing for my first official client for a health consultation. It turned into this Health page. This is a compilation of my own personal health practices and applied research. These are all things that I tell my friends or family when they have health issues or goals and ask me questions.
I just turned 50, which seems to shock people. (In a good way!) All of the pictures of me on this site were taken within the last 3 years or very currently. It was never my intention to try not to age 'normally'. My intention was only to feel healthy and vital, to be connected with my body, and to have clarity of mind and emotion - for life. I have danced, done yoga and enjoyed being physical all my life I noticed early on that what I ate, how I used my body. and how I responded to its needs, affected all of my experience, including my thoughts and emotions. I began to experiment with different ways of eating when I was in my late teens.... in combination with practicing different body disciplines.
My health studies included Ayurveda and Macrobiotics, metaphysics, meditation, energy work, massage and pressure points, Yoga, Somatics, Body Mind Centering, and instinctive forms of movement such as Dance Improvisation and Contact Dance, Trance Dance, Ecstatic Dance, and 5 Rhythms Dance. Along with my interest in drumming, I studied traditional African and Diaspora Dances and their accompanying musics. As well, I noticed how music affected me, because I started drumming at the same time. I delighted in the clarifying and energizing effects of being rhythmic - whether playing drums or dancing to drumming.
My journey has been far from perfect, and having the health and vitality that I have requires daily focus, effort, and conscious choice. The world we live in can more easily promote the opposite of health and vitality, so it takes strong desire and intent to create. But it is so worth it! Nothing is better than feeling great physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. And they are all connected. Physical health thru diet and exercise make life sweet and exciting! I believe we are meant to fully inhabit and enjoy our amazing bodies, and to perceive life from such a healthy organism. Because when our bodies are not in a state of health, neither will our minds or emotions be able to be in a state of perceptive clarity.
MY HEALTH DISCOVERIES THRU DRUMMING, DANCE, AND TRADITIONAL CULTURE
Health and well being habits work their way into everything that we do. For me they are a large factor in my music and dance work. This is my first health posting, on January 3, 2012.
My exploration of rhythm was always with attention to its effects on many levels. And I was curious about how rhythm was used for individual, tribal, and planetary well being by the traditional cultures at its roots. So rhythm practice has been a strong part of my health and development. I am told that my drumming sessions (classes and workshops) are healing. A class never feels complete or good to me unless I feel a shift in energy in both myself and the group through our drumming. I also feel very connected to place when I teach, and need a space that is peaceful and clean energetically and physically. When the 'Connection' happens in the music and the group, I am aware of the energy of our music affecting vibrationally not only the room and building we are in, but also the land, and further, the field of the earth, and the connected skies. To be honest, it feels like we affect the whole Universe when the music is good. This may sound esoteric, but if you look into quantum physics or current scientific discovery, you will see that vibrational reality is a proven fact, if not a widely accepted one by general public.
I hope you enjoy this info and find it useful for yourself. Please contact me if you have any inquiries about my work, or if you wish to book a health consultation, study dance or drumming with me, or book me for a performance!
My contact info is at the bottom of this page.
MY 33 BASIC PRACTICES FOR HEALTH:
These have developed over a lifetime of study and application. I have drawn from intuition, principles of Ayurveda, Macrobiotics, Food Combining, and various bodies of Raw and Living Food practices info. What I am sharing with you is only what I know has worked for me. My main teachers are listed below. Following is information for gradually creating your health, based on my own journey and applied research.
1) GO SLOWLY WITH CHANGES
2) FOOD. HABIT, AND EMOTION
3) HYGIENE
4) FRUIT
5) LEAFY GREENS
6) CHEWING
7) INCREASE NUTRITION WITH HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF RAW FOOD.
8) SNACKS
9) LIGHTLY COOKED FOOD AND SLOW COOKING
10) GRAINS & ANCIENT GRAINS / KEFIR & TRADITIONAL CULTURED FOODS
11) BREAD
12) FOOD COMBINING
13) NUTRIENT PROPORTIONS
14) PROTEIN
15) EATING ENVIRONMENT
16) REST
17) ACTIVE EXERCISE
18) RECEPTIVE EXERCISE
19) INTERNAL DIALOGUE
20) CLOTHING & BEDDING
21) SOAPS, BATHING, AND LAUNDRY
22) AIR QUALITY
23) RAW OR COOKED?
24) HEALTH, THE BIGGER PICTURE
25) TOUCH
26) ATTITUDE
27) YOUR BODY KNOWS
28) CONNECT WITH NATURE
29) TAKE IN LIGHT
30) RECEIVE DARKNESS
31) TAKE BREAKS
32) TAKE SMALL STEPS & REMIND YOURSELF
33) REFERENCES & RESOURCES
1 GO SLOWLY WITH CHANGES
Take gradual steps by introducing small changes. Do not try to change all your habits at once. Accept yourself as you are now and be gentle and kind. Listen to your body and trust your intuition to shape your unique journey.
2 FOOD. HABIT, AND EMOTION
Pay attention to what you eat, when, and why, and bring more awareness to your current habits and their effects. For this purpose, try keeping a Food Journal. Include tracking your exercise, light, and sleep. Keep the entries small and brief, so it is doable. It will also be easier to get an overview later if your entries are brief. Review how you did weekly. Observe compassionately and be patient with yourself. Congratulate your successes and forgive everything else! Trust that you are building gradual and long-lasting change.
3 HYGIENE, INTERNAL & EXTERNAL
Clean your mouth in the morning first thing, then drink a cup or 2 of water to clear and charge your digestive system. Make a goal of drinking a liter of water before you take your first meal of the day. Afterwards, wait 20 or more minutes before eating. Thank the water first, before you drink it. Consider its aliveness, and all the information and experience it carries, from its constant cycling through our atmosphere and Earth. (See Masaru Emoto for scientific research on water memory in molecular structure.) Rinse with water after eating snacks or meals. Clean your mouth at night before bed. Flossing is best done at night.
Find the simplest most natural toothpaste that you can. Let your toothbrush dry out well between uses. Wash it with soap every few days, and change to a new brush frequently. You'll know when its time. Keep it fresh and functional.
DRINKING WATER
Most city waters have chlorine added, which is bad for the body. You can let it off-gas by filling a glass jar or jug at night with your next day's need and letting it sit open. Shake the water before you drink it, or pour it from high so it mixes with air. Oxygen keeps it alive and charged. Or buy BPA free plastic bottles and fill up at a natural deep spring once every couple of weeks. There are some around Vancouver. Like everything that we ingest now, it is difficult to find pure drinking water to purchase. Research is key, but also trust your body's response: pay attention to the taste of your water and how you feel when you drink it. Your body should shout YES!!! -when it enters your mouth.
BATHING
Wash your body regularly. Rub your skin vigorously in warm water baths or showers with a rough cloth or loofa sponge to remove dead cells, dirt, and activate circulation. Use a minimal amount of gentle, natural soap only under arms and in crotch. Soap is not necessary for skin and disturbs its natural ph balance. It also removes natural oils. Use minimal shampoo. The less you shampoo, the better for your scalp and hair. Once a week is sufficient. Washing with water at other times is fine. But if you are a heavy meat or junk food eater, you will need to wash frequently, to remove the detoxifying elements and smells from your body. Find shampoos and soaps that have minimal ingredients, and research the long names of things online to know what you are getting. Some substances are natural and harmless, others have no business on or in your body. Anything you put on your skin or hair gets absorbed internally. Do your research.
If you take a bath, shower or squat shower off as the water goes down the drain. You will not only rinse off physical debris, you will also release electro-magnetic charge accumulated from cel phones, electricity, computers, and the many invisible waves around us at all times. The water grounds into the earth through the pipes. The other way you can release is by walking barefoot on earth. This is great in summer but harder when it is cold. In summer I water my garden a little every night in barefeet. I tangibly feel the difference. If you want an extra boost for your circulation, skin health, and energy after bathing, shower with cool or ideally, cold water quickly to finish.
4 FRUIT
Start your day with fruit if you can. Allow 30m to digest before eating anything else. Eat your fruit alone. The exception to this would be to eat in the same meal hemp or sesame milk (pulp strained out). I find it seems to be ok to combine seed milks with fruit, if you don't have time to ingest them separately. It probably slows down the digestion of it a little, but not crucially. It takes about 30m for fruit to digest, if eaten alone.
Start by eating 1 piece of fruit in a meal or snack. Build to 3 or 4 pieces of fruit a day. Have some at breakfast. Some for snacks. Eventually you can make breakfast a fruit meal and have several pieces, or more. Build gradually. Fruit in the morning gives you instant very light energy, and does not slow you down as heavy breakfasts do.
Or save your fruit quota for late night eating on nights when you can't eat a proper dinner early enough. Fruit digests quickly and easily. If you eat fruit instead of other foods late, it will digest quickly and still allow your Liver to complete its rest / cleaning and detox cycle, which goes from about midnight to noon. Ideally you should not eat late at night, but sometimes it is unavoidable. In which case, fruit is the best choice for a meal. The fruit can be whole, or blended into a smoothie or green smoothie.
I am now eating 3-4 pieces of fruit as one of my meals each day, and find it is extremely satisfying. It gives me great energy with no sleepy digesting time. I find that on the days I don't have 3-4 pieces of fruit, I have cravings at the end of the day. This is precisely what the 80/10/10 fruit/greens/fat raw vegan diet describes. If you get a large percentage of your carbohydrates from fruit, you will feel satisfied.
5 LEAFY GREENS
Add leafy greens to your lunch and dinner. These give alkalinity to your meals. The body functions best if it has a higher alkalinity than acidity Leaves will also give you high mineral content, for nutrition. Your body will welcome the nutrition, and you will find with time that you will naturally be attracted to eating more whole, live, alkaline food. Make a simple salad with a light dressing of lemon or cider vinegar, and a little oil and himalayan salt. You can cut or tear up, then toss or rub your greens with salt, oil and lemon dressing, and then let them sit for 15 minutes or up to a few hours, to break down the cell walls so your body can access the chlorophyll, which is high in mineral content as well as providing calcium and protein. Rubbing the greens will make them the most digestible. Sesame oil rubbed greens are delicious. Every oil has its unique flavor qualities.
The chlorophyll cells in green leaves are like rectangular boxes, protected by tough fibers that need to be broked open. This happens thru blending, or thorough chewing, (or light cooking) and is greatly aided, in salads, by treating the leaves to oil and salt rubbing. Even tough winter Kale becomes soft and delicious with dressing rub. Greens can be torn, shredded or sliced as you wish, before rubbing. Cows have 3 stomachs to digest their greens. We have one, but we can use other tricks, like blenders, light cooking, or the dressing rub. Try making a blended soup with root vegies and potato, and blend with raw greens after they are cooked. You include some raw this way, and access live chlorophyll (liquid sunshine).
For salt, get the large crystals (Himalayan salt is best), and grind them fresh each use if you can, in a Suribachi grinding bowl - from a Japanese store. If too much trouble, buying pre-ground salt is 2nd best. Due to the sad fact of Ocean pollution and nuclear contamination, I have begun to use the pink Himalayan salt. This salt is ancient, and mined from mountainous or high areas. The mountainous areas or high plateaus that it is found in were once below sea level, then got pushed up high with time and possibly thru long ago earth cataclysms. The salt was formed at a time when the Earth was unpolluted by humans. Safer to eat, at the moment, than sea salt. (Let's hope we can clean up our act! If we all do our part and take responsibility with small and large actions, we have the power to change the current direction of the destruction of our planet, into one of restoration and vitality through our love and respect).
6 CHEWING
Count your chews and chew each bite 20 to 30 times. 'Chew' your nut or seed milks, or your green drinks a little, also, to mix them with digestive saliva. Chew consciously to gain maximum nutrition from your food. If you don't break it down enough with your mouth, your body will not have access to the nutrients. Digestion is a process that starts in the mouth, with the work of teeth and saliva. Taste and enjoy your food, communing with it. Pay attention as you eat. Breathe. An old traditional adage says, "The stomach has no teeth."
7 INCREASE NUTRITION WITH HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF RAW FOOD
Heating food reduces its nutrition and decreases its Kirlian energy field / bioenergy. Gradually increase the amount of raw vegetables that you eat with cooked food in a meal. Incorporate more raw fruits, seeds and nuts into your diet. Now when I eat cooked food or comfort foods, I crave at least 50% raw greens or vegies with it. See what feels good for you. Your body will tell you. I know that my craving for greens with cooked foods is my body's signal that it needs both higher nutrient density in a meal, as well as the alkalizing effect of raw, living foods.
Make it a habit to eat a little raw vegetables and leaves and sometimes nuts and seeds with your cooked food. I end up eating way less cooked or comfort food this way, because I get full and satisfied nutritionally by adding some raw Meals do not have to be fully raw if that is not natural to you. Lightly steamed, stir fried or baked vegies, and lightly cooked brothy soups are also excellent. Cook food slowly and at the lowest possible temperatures. Or if steaming, cook briefly.
The amazing thing about the body is that as soon as you give it high nutrition or healthy conditions, it will ask for more, recognize what makes it feel great, and tell you! It is also powerful in surviving in less than ideal conditions, so it will function, though not optimally, with poor nutrition or things like not enough water, light, rest, affection, fun, etc. The body is like a faithful dog. It stands by you and loves and serves you no matter what. But if you give it optimum conditions, you will find that your 'normal' looks vastly different than society's standards. And if you eat as the mainstream and don't do your own research, you will end up as the mainstream, living with less and less energy, getting chronic disease, and aging with pain and malfunction, dependent on a medical system that suppresses natural medicines and health practitioners and profits from people's disease.
8 SNACKS
Snack on whole vegetables or pieces, and fruits if you need, or nuts, (don't eat nuts with fresh fruit) or drink seed, nut or hemp milk. Dates and figs dried are excellent quick energy foods. They can be combined with nuts and seeds. Or also eaten with fruit. They offer long lasting, high energy, and are nutritionally dense. But use as a treat, not a daily food. Fresh fruits are better. Green smoothies are also a great quick energy fix. Make them with leafy greens and fruit. If you want you can add hemp hearts for a longer lasting, slower digesting meal. A Vitamix or other type of high powered blender is helpful to create a completely creamy and delicious texture, where the greens are completely broken down. This also makes all the chlorophyll accessible to the body.
Rinse your mouth after eating green smoothies, and also after eating dried fruit. It is sticky and has high concentration of sugar. If you do not rinse, it gets into the teeth spaces and lines the gums and can be a serious cavity creator. Dried fruit can be worse than candy this way. Rinsing with water after any meal is always good for long term dental health.
9 LIGHTLY COOKED FOOD AND SLOW COOKING
When you do cook food, cook it at the lowest possible temperatures, by steaming, stir frying, baking. Or cook in brothy or blended soups. Stay close to the stove and check frequently. Overcooking means loss of life force, flavor, and nutrients. Nutrients are what give food flavor. Beware tasteless pap forms of food! These are nutritionless, and make your body work for nothing. They also leave you feeling unsatisfied, unbalanced, and full of cravings!
10 GRAINS & ANCIENT GRAINS, KEFIR & TRADITIONAL CULTURED FOODS
Wash and then soak your grains (such as rice, millet, buckwheat, oatmeal) - overnight or for a few hours. Rinse well till water is clear, and then cook in less water than usual, to compensate for water absorbed. Water can be 2 to 3 times more for dry grains, depending on the texture that you like. So compensate from there, if you soak. Bring to a simmer and then cook at the lowest possible temperature just until done. Ancient grains have highest nutrition: Quinoa, Millet, Amaranth, Barley, Lundberg Brown Rice (good organic California farm).
CHIA SEED RAW PUDDING: Chia seeds can be used raw. Soak 1 to 8 Chia to water overnight or for 3 to 4 hours. Stir to prevent top seeds from floating on skin of water and not absorbing it. The soaked Chia becomes like a tapioca pudding, but highly nutrient dense. Chia is an ancient South American grain that has not been hybridized for non nutritional purposes, as have other grains in modern times. Chia is called a 'Super Food', which means that it is nutrient dense and has a naturally strong genetic makeup.
Modern grains such as wheat have been hybridized to change them for greater size, increased gluten, better storing properties, and other things which have nothing to do with health, and which adversely affect health. Ancient grains are superior in flavour and nutrient density. But do remember that the soil is first - If the soil food is grown in is stripped, dead, and / or boosted by chemicals, then the food is empty and toxic.
Soaked Chia can be put in green smoothies, or used as a tapioca like base for a raw fruit pudding. Add fruit of your choice, and flavours such as rose water, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger. Sweetener is also nice: I use Maple Syrup or Agave Nectar. Hone is hard to mix since the Chia is room temperature, not hot or warm. You can also add coconut milk if you like. It is optional. The Chia pudding recipe is delicious also with just the fruits, sweetener, and spices.
Also incorporate ancient cultured foods like Kefir, Yogourt, Kombucha Tea, Kim Chi, and Sauerkraut. These are just a few examples of cultured foods, which are a part of every traditional diet. They provide a source of beneficial intestinal bacteria, and break down and preserve the food they grow in, making its nutrients available to the body.
11 BREAD
When you eat bread, eat bread made by the ancient leavening method of sourdough, it is more living. Barley, Kamut and Rye are good grain flours. Or eat Silver Hills sprouted grain bread. Silver Hills breads are very light and fluffy, and highly digestible. Yeasted breads from unwashed unsprouted grains are not as good for you.
Try to minimize your bread eating so you don't fill up on starch. This will leave more hunger for nutritionally dense foods or foods that have high bio-energetic energy, as living / raw foods do.
12 FOOD COMBINING
Food combining rules: Fruit alone let digest 30 minutes before eating other foods. Eat starches and leafy greens or any vegies together, only small amount of fat with, if eating with a dressing, sauce, or just adding the fat. Proteins with non starchy vegies, or if you eat protein with starches, make the starches smaller than the protein in proportion.
13 NUTRIENT PROPORTIONS
80/10/10 I have found is the most satisfying way of eating. I have been practicing this for 6 months now and it is the most energizing and easy diet that I have yet tried. 80% fruit, 10% leafy greens, 10% fats from seeds or nuts. If you find this interesting, you can work towards it. If not, incorporating elements of this also work well. This is a raw food diet. It is the way I eat mostly, now. With this dietary guideline informing my choices, I have the highest energy, and the most mental and emotional clarity (yes, food absolutely influences one's thoughts and emotions). I still am eating about 30% lightly cooked foods, but am mostly raw vegan. Check out Dr. Doug Graham's books or online info for the 80/10/10 diet. This diet satisfies your energy needs by providing most of your carbs from fruit. Leafy greens provide minerals, and seeds and nuts or nut milks provide fats. Protein is present in all 3 in varying amounts. Check the research online at source. I've read it and tested it with my body, and it feels accurate and excellent. Best form of diet yet for me.
14 PROTEIN
Don't be worried about not getting enough protein. Protein is present in leaves, nuts and seeds, and even in vegetables and fruits We need far less than we have been told by the meat and dairy industry. Be more concerned about getting a satisfying amount of carbs, small amounts of healthy living fats (important to have these unheated), and a variety of lots of lightly cooked or raw vegies. The meat and dairy corporations have created a cruel industry where animals suffer greatly in severely inhumane conditions. The industry hugely and negatively impacts the environment also, polluting water, taking agricultural land for growing animal feed, and destroying soil. Not to mention polluting the psychic atmosphere of our planet with the severe suffering of the animals. As the human population grows exponentially, it becomes doubtful that eating and keeping animals can continue to be viable as a food source. Whereas a vegan diet could provide abundantly without harming or overburdening our planet.
Use small amounts of oil or fat with your food prep. MInimal is best. Unheated unprocessed oils are best. Keep fats oils and nuts and seeds cool in storage.
15 EATING ENVIRONMENT
Eat in a peaceful environment. Create the energy of this with your intention and inner state even when you cannot be in an ideal physical environment.
16 REST
Get enough rest. You know it is enough if you feel rested when you wake or get up. You know also by the clarity and peacefulness of your emotions, the availability of your energy for your day, and by the clarity of your mind. And you will know if you are rested by the quality of your physical energy. Exercise will feel enjoyable and wonderful, and you will embrace the work of your day.
17 ACTIVE EXERCISE
Do exercise that makes you breathe hard and sweat at least 3 times a week. Ideally every day. Sometimes exercise in front of a mirror so you can gain awareness of your movement habits, improve your posture, and bring motion to places in your body that are frozen. Such areas will turn to tension, pain, and some form of dis-ease eventually, if you don't bring energy, breath and motion there. One thing I believe about the body is that if you use it actively, keep oxygen, blood, feeling, awareness, and motion circulating thru it, and exercise to raise your metabolism to a sweat regularly, it will stay healthy and alive.
When your body gets the continual message 'I am alive!' it behaves accordingly, and does not age 'normally'. In our modern world, aging is decay. Thru all ages of my life, I have noticed that when a feeling of dis-ease or 'aging' sets into an area, I then mobilize and bring movement, breath, awareness, etc, to the area, as well as attending to rest and diet, and it changes, subtly but clearly, until I think in my new state that I was imagining things in the first place. Fear and expectancy of aging, in the sense of decay and dis-ease, can become a self fulfilling prophecy. I believe that when humanity lived in a more earth and cosmos connected way, in the distant past, and had more knowledge, that we lived much much longer, and aged in health, not in disease and deterioration, as today. I suspect we could also pass consciously. Faint strains of history and indigenous beliefs point toward this.
18 RECEPTIVE EXERCISE
Quiet exercise with an internal focus complements aerobic and very highly active exercise. Muscles need to be stretched and other systems of the body, such as bones, nerves, organs, fluids - benefit from conscious presence thru movement, self massage, breathwork, rocking, or stretching. Stretch your body regularly. Include resting poses in which to be present in your body in a relaxed state. Calm and still your mind simultaneously. Do this at least 3 times a week. Make it realistically happen by intending a short session of 15m daily. Before bed is ideal. You will very often end up doing more once you start, because it feels so good.
19 INTERNAL DIALOGUE
Observe your self talk, and add more praise. Appreciate yourself and thank yourself intentionally. It may feel fake at first, but be an actor. It will become a habit, just like other negative habits were learned. You can consciously choose and program yourself with new thoughts, and new habits. We talk internally to ourselves all day - make it conscious some of the time. It will train your mind and improve your attitude. Don't let the world around you and the mainstream media be the loudest voices in your head!
20 CLOTHING AND BEDDING
Wear natural cloth. Cotton, wool, linen, silk, etc. No polyester! Allow your skin to breathe. Especially no poly in sheets or bedding. Polyester and artificial fibers also collect electrical charge / positive ions (these are bad for the body) to collect in the cloth and against your skin. Also pay attention to how a dye feels. Some commercial cloth dyes are more toxic than others. I recently bought an organic cotton dress and am amazed at how my body relaxes and how my skin feels with it on. Very different than my other clothing. Cotton also is grown and treated with mega chemicals. These remain in the cloth. Wash new clothes many times before wearing, especially if heavily dyed. For sleeping, I recommend sleeping naked. Use a feather or cotton filled pillow, so there is no off-gassing from foam, especially where you sleep. Or use no pillow. I have slept for years on my back with no pillow, on a very thin mattress - a hard bed. It is good for the spine.
21 AIR QUALITY
Sleep with an open window. Air becomes dead, negatively charged, and toxic if it is not moving. If you work in an office building, you can bring in a small fan, or turn on a ceiling fan. This purifies and energizes the air without charging it in a way that is bad for the human body. I heard of an expensive study that was done on the effectiveness of many different air conditioning / filtration systems. It was found that a simple ceiling fan and a slightly open window created the best air quality, far and above air 'conditioning' which ionizes the air in such a way that it is irritating to the human body and adversely affects our energy fields.
22 SOAPS, BATHING, AND LAUNDRY
Reduce and eventually eliminate all chemical products from your hygiene. Read labels carefully. Anything you can't recognize or can't pronounce is likely to be a chemical. What you put on your body is instantly absorbed by your cells. You also breathe it in. Research substances online. Raw food literature often has the most cutting edge information on anything to do with ingesting substance, or wearing it, or applying it to the body. Pay attention also to the things you use in your home, ie cleaners, incense, carpets and cloth, furniture, stuffings in pillows and mattresses. The more natural, the better.
If clothes at a store make your skin feel itchy or uncomfortable it could be due to toxic dyes or pesticides and herbicides in the cotton. Some cloth or dye will be worse than others. Trust your skin to tell you what to buy. Wash new things 2 or 3 times before wearing, to get excess dye and chemicals out. Don't use fabric softeners in the wash or dryer. Chemicals! Buy your soaps from the health food store. The simpler the better. Use minimal amount of soap in laundry, as well as in dish washing, as well as in bathing! Bathing you can clean your skin by rubbing with a loofa or washcloth, and use a small amount of soap on your crotch, armpits, and head. The rest does not need soap. Do yourself and others a favor and don't use toxic perfumes. If you like scent, wear it where you won't rub it on others when you hug them! And use something natural, like essential oils or resins. I like Shea butter for my skin, and use nothing else on it for moisturizer. If you have dry skin, increase the amount of natural oils in your diet. I prefer doing so with nuts and seeds. Others recommend cold pressed oils such as olive or flax for eating. Start anywhere and let your body and intuition guide you.
23 RAW OR COOKED?
Do not feel that you must eat raw because of any of this info. The same food lightly and consciously cooked is also excellent for the body. But I do recommend eating a high degree of raw, or as much raw food as you can, with your cooked food, or alone. Especially eat leafy greens with your cooked food. Nuts and seeds also are best raw, so that the oil is not denatured. If you want to lose weight, intend to eat 3 or 4 pieces of fruit a day, and be prepared to be surprised how satisfied you feel! The high nutrition and high carbs from fruit reduce cravings for other stuff, or for overeating.
I have been eating high raw for 10 years. Each year I increase the amount of raw, and go simpler, out of preference for how it tastes and makes me feel. My current diet is consistently 70% raw, mostly vegan, and most of this is whole fruits and vegies. I prefer this more and more over making salads or green drinks. I enjoy the energy field of a plant - vegetable or fruit, nut or seed, as close to its whole state as possible. I buy local nuts in shell, unroasted, unheated hemp hearts, and non-irradiated organic sesame seeds. I soak these and make milks out of them, or eat the nuts whole. Seeds can be ground onto salads. Eating an entire day of whole foods, but cooked, makes me feel ill, and gives me strong cravings for raw vegies and fruits. My body demands whole, raw food, and pure water. I regard cooked foods as entertainment, now, rather than nourishment. I accept that I still have a certain attachment to them, for now. And I trust that as time goes by, I will increasingly let them go.
24 HEALTH, THE BIGGER PICTURE
Take in light, maximum nutrition, air, enjoyment, and love.
Put out enjoyment, appreciation, happiness, love, and positive words and thoughts (to others and yourself) as much as possible. It will naturally increase.
Engage your energy in the form of exercise - a variety of activities that make you breathe and sweat, balanced with restful contemplative activity that makes you stretch, move, and inhabit your body consciously. Walking is excellent, as is running. Dancing is also excellent. Dancing in front of a mirror for observation exponentially increases your results. You will see where your body is fluid and where it is frozen. Bring motion to the frozen parts and thus increase your health and prevent dis-ease. Dancing circles, spirals, figure 8's thru your body heals many issues. Take classes with teachers who have studied movement deeply, and embody an energy that you like. Examples are yoga, ecstatic dance, martial arts,
25 TOUCH
Touch is a basic human need, on an emotional, spiritual, and physical level. If you are not in an intimate relationship, get hugs from your friends, exchange massage, and touch yourself lovingly. The body does not differentiate emotionally from touch of another to self touch. You can hug yourself, massage yourself, stroke your skin lightly and lovingly, and rock yourself. Don't be shy! We all need touch. You may be surprised at how good self touch feels. One of my favorite yoga teachers incorporates tender moments of self touch in her classes. She also plays great music, which appeals to the body's desire to move and have fun, ranging from funk, disco, old rock n roll, jazz, to classical western or yogic music. She encourages emotions. In her classes, you cry, laugh out loud, have so much fun, and feel to the depths of your soul. I have a pad by my mat in her class only, because the range of emotions and the depth and embodiment call forth poetry. My other favorite yoga teacher has deeply studied traditional yoga, and incorporates it with knowledge from other movement disciplines e
26 ATTITUDE
Focus more on your successes than your failures or weaknesses. What you focus on is what grows. Be patient and trust that your intention is bringing you to your goals, and that your body will guide you, as you learn to listen and respond to it.
27 YOUR BODY KNOWS
Your body should be your ultimate authority. Do your research and study, but tweak according to what your body tells you it wants or likes in the present moment. Modern education and medicine have us well trained to give away our authority and not participate actively in creating our health or our lives. Doctors are among the poorest in health of our world, (what does that tell you!?) - and yet the highest paid and most respected by profession. Pharmaceutical medicine is based on profit and control, not health. Intervention style medical treatment takes the power and responsibility away from the individual and encourages people to be passive victims regarding the state of their health. Even the term 'patient' for hospital or clinic goers indicates that a person must be patient and wait - for what - others to do 'it' for them?
The above is not to say that Doctors as individuals do not care about people or don't truly desire to help them. It is just that the medical system is firmly in place and anyone in it becomes part of a larger machine that is in motion. This medical machine is a system and a body of thoughts that has inertia and momentum. Its form adheres to principles which do not support health, but rather attack disease. The system does not change its perspectives or priorities quickly or easily, even though individuals using it or working within it might want it to.
Take charge! Inform yourself. Trust your ability to create and maintain your health by listening and responding to your impulse and feeling. Trust your body. It is an ancient, wise organism. Trust your feelings. Desire is good. Make the goal of your healthiness to be deeply attuned to your body and self, in a state of physical and energetic awareness, and in alignment WITH it.
Work towards shifting your perception of your body and mind from being 2 different and separate things...into experiencing the triad of body, mind and spirit as one Unified Whole. This creates empowerment and direct Knowing. Noone can take this away from you. It is free. It is your natural right...your natural state of being. And it is accessible 100% of the time. Trust your inner radar and it will guide you to the information and resources that you need.
28 CONNECT WITH NATURE
We don't live 'on the Earth', we don't live 'with the Earth'. We ARE Earth. We are recycled beings. Water, air, light, and matter flow thru us on cellular, atomic, and metabolic levels. These same elements are moving in and out of all bodies of the planet. It is a system of exchange, constantly in motion micro and macro-cosmically. We share matter with all beings. The same process is constantly taking place on Cosmic levels. - So, go outside! Connect with plants in your garden, trees on your street. Rain, clouds, light. Animals. I constantly see unusual birds, because I look for them, and I feel them. I see Eagles regularly, Hawks, Ravens, and many small birds. I see migrations of earthworms late on certain nights. I see strange bugs, and I feel plants and trees, and feel them feeling me. I feel and witness my plants in house and garden growing extraordinarily for me from my attention and love. So get out there and receive and give! You will be surprised at what comes back to you, and what becomes a flow of communication and delightful and mysterious exchange.
29 TAKE IN LIGHT
It is very important to receive light into the eyes, for brain and hormonal functions, and to receive light on your skin, for Vitamin D production, for one thing. Do not use sunscreen in summer. It is toxic. Instead, exercise awareness of when your body has had enough sun. Let light enter your eyes. It will improve your emotions and also regulate your hormones.
30 RECEIVE DARKNESS
Do not be afraid of the dark. At night, use soft and indirect lighting in your house. This allows your hormones to be at correct levels towards resting the body and mind. When it is time for bed, darken your room as completely as possible, for deep rest. Heavily curtain your bedroom windows to block out artificial light. And open a window for fresh air thru the night as you sleep. Keep electronic devices away from your bedroom. And also, enjoy the dark time for its quiet, its contemplation, its dreaming, its void....and its intimacy and creativity. Enjoy not only the dark of night, but surrender to the cycles of light and dark, and enjoy the dark time of year, in winter, especially around winter solstice, Dec 21. The time leading up to and from it is an ideal time for deep reflection, rest, and contemplation. From this you will naturally move with greater energy towards the active times of great light in Spring and Summer. Try to unplug from calendar holiday frenzies and be attuned with yourself. And attune with the natural world. You are a part of it. It is a part of you.
31
TAKE BREAKS
Congratulate yourself for focusing, working hard, and making changes. And then let it all go! Take times to just relax and enjoy yourself. You'll get back to your disciplines.
32 TAKE SMALL STEPS AND REMIND YOURSELF
Based on this counsel, make a list of some small steps you want to implement and glance at it daily, either at the beginning of the day, maybe while you eat, or at the end of your day. Congratulate yourself on small steps and small changes. Keep a health journal and spend a few minutes a day with it to make conscious your habits and remind yourself your goals.
DO NOT EXPECT SUDDEN OVERNIGHT CHANGES OR TO BE ABLE TO DO EVERYTHING AT ONCE!!!! :-)
Be patient and steady.
33 REFERENCES & RESOURCES
Some of my favorite health teachers to resource on youtube, online, or in print. Do your own research and let your body and your intuition guide you to what is right for you.
Dr. Doug Graham 80/10/10 raw diet
Rozalind Gruben Healing from emotional eating and eating disorders (Is married to Doug Graham).
Dr. Gabriel Cousens Cured Diabetes thru raw food diet, translation of traditional diets in raw food form, (especially Ayurvedic), qualities of foods and nutritional knowledge.
Freelee / Freelea / aka 'The Raw Fit Bitch' 80/10/10 raw diet and being an athlete. Australia. Great online videos and blog.
Frederic Patenaude 80/10/10 diet as well as incorporating aspects of this knowledge into different diet approaches. Also eats some cooked food at times. Canadian from Montreal.
Boutenko Family aka 'The Raw Family' Mom Victoria Boutenko now eats a little cooked food, but is mostly raw. The kids are still raw, I believe. These guys are a great source of greens and green drinks info. Healed themselves of obesity, diabetes, asthma and numerous other chronic and degenerative diseases thru raw food - going from a standard american diet overnight, to 100% raw vegan.
David Wolfe Raw food with a focus on super foods and ancient foods, Chinese herbal healing, etc
Markus Rothkranz Raw foodist, big into natural wild foods accessible around us now, even in cities. Film m
Don Tolman Great researcher and speaker. Whole and natural foodist, as opposed to raw foodist. Don has deeply researched traditional indigenous and ancient knowledge of diet and health from all over the world, searching out scrolls and ancient texts to reveal forgotten wisdom. Info on whole foods, natural diet and living. Don also specializes in uncovering the truth about the medical system, agribusiness, GMO foods, and food and its control by corporations for the intention of profit, not health or people. Don also exposes how Agribusiness destroys health, land and soil, pollutes our water, and is trying to get complete control over all food on the planet thru Genetically Modified Organisms aka GMO food.
GMO FOODS It is very important to minimize ingestion of these. This is what fills supermarkets and any stores that are not health food stores. GMO's do not stay isolated - they contaminate the genetic makeup of plants they come in contact with. The seed cannot be contained, and travels thru wind, animals, etc. It also crosses genes with natural plants. If destroying genetics in plants that have been developing on our planet since the beginning of time is not truly evil, I don't know what is. Taking patents out on seeds and claiming ownership of seed is also dangerous and contrary to life. If seed drifts over to neighboring lands, Monsanto has been known to take that farmer to court and claim their crops. Seed of this type cannot be legally shared, sold or given away, either. It is owned by Monsanto. It contains its own built in pesticide mechanisms. The work of Monsanto is despicable. Research it online or watch the film Food Inc. to get informed. And then avoid most commercial and especially packaged foods....unless you know they are Organic or labeled Non GMO.
The Raw Food World: Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes Monarch
A lovely couple with a unique take on raw food and maximum nutrition, and a great sense of humor! They are respectively American and British, currently residing in Ecuador. They are into all kinds of raw foods and superfoods. They also just successfully homebirthed, with a very short and smooth labor, and no midwife. They also did a lotus birth, where the placenta is not cut at the umbilical cord, but rather is kept attached to baby, put in a cloth bag and salted to preserve it for a few days. The baby is not shocked in any way by a cutting from its body. These 2 did a blog video shortly after the birth, and it is remarkable and deeply moving! More proof to me of the power and beauty of being truly human in a natural way. They did their research, they were prepared on every level: Energetic, mental, physical and practical, and they are a shining example of what is possible, and what is our forgotten birthright as humans. Find them online by their names, or by The Raw Food World.
____________________________________________________________________________
I hope you enjoy this info and find it useful. Please contact me if you have any inquiries about my work, or if you wish to book a health consultation, study dance or drumming with me, or book me for a performance!
navaro@tribal-bliss.com
or find me on Facebook: Navaro Franco
https://www.facebook.com/NavaroFranco
MY HEALTH QUEST JOURNEY
This is a page of advice I started composing for my first official client for a health consultation. It turned into this Health page. This is a compilation of my own personal health practices and applied research. These are all things that I tell my friends or family when they have health issues or goals and ask me questions.
I just turned 50, which seems to shock people. (In a good way!) All of the pictures of me on this site were taken within the last 3 years or very currently. It was never my intention to try not to age 'normally'. My intention was only to feel healthy and vital, to be connected with my body, and to have clarity of mind and emotion - for life. I have danced, done yoga and enjoyed being physical all my life I noticed early on that what I ate, how I used my body. and how I responded to its needs, affected all of my experience, including my thoughts and emotions. I began to experiment with different ways of eating when I was in my late teens.... in combination with practicing different body disciplines.
My health studies included Ayurveda and Macrobiotics, metaphysics, meditation, energy work, massage and pressure points, Yoga, Somatics, Body Mind Centering, and instinctive forms of movement such as Dance Improvisation and Contact Dance, Trance Dance, Ecstatic Dance, and 5 Rhythms Dance. Along with my interest in drumming, I studied traditional African and Diaspora Dances and their accompanying musics. As well, I noticed how music affected me, because I started drumming at the same time. I delighted in the clarifying and energizing effects of being rhythmic - whether playing drums or dancing to drumming.
My journey has been far from perfect, and having the health and vitality that I have requires daily focus, effort, and conscious choice. The world we live in can more easily promote the opposite of health and vitality, so it takes strong desire and intent to create. But it is so worth it! Nothing is better than feeling great physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. And they are all connected. Physical health thru diet and exercise make life sweet and exciting! I believe we are meant to fully inhabit and enjoy our amazing bodies, and to perceive life from such a healthy organism. Because when our bodies are not in a state of health, neither will our minds or emotions be able to be in a state of perceptive clarity.
MY HEALTH DISCOVERIES THRU DRUMMING, DANCE, AND TRADITIONAL CULTURE
Health and well being habits work their way into everything that we do. For me they are a large factor in my music and dance work. This is my first health posting, on January 3, 2012.
My exploration of rhythm was always with attention to its effects on many levels. And I was curious about how rhythm was used for individual, tribal, and planetary well being by the traditional cultures at its roots. So rhythm practice has been a strong part of my health and development. I am told that my drumming sessions (classes and workshops) are healing. A class never feels complete or good to me unless I feel a shift in energy in both myself and the group through our drumming. I also feel very connected to place when I teach, and need a space that is peaceful and clean energetically and physically. When the 'Connection' happens in the music and the group, I am aware of the energy of our music affecting vibrationally not only the room and building we are in, but also the land, and further, the field of the earth, and the connected skies. To be honest, it feels like we affect the whole Universe when the music is good. This may sound esoteric, but if you look into quantum physics or current scientific discovery, you will see that vibrational reality is a proven fact, if not a widely accepted one by general public.
I hope you enjoy this info and find it useful for yourself. Please contact me if you have any inquiries about my work, or if you wish to book a health consultation, study dance or drumming with me, or book me for a performance!
My contact info is at the bottom of this page.
MY 33 BASIC PRACTICES FOR HEALTH:
These have developed over a lifetime of study and application. I have drawn from intuition, principles of Ayurveda, Macrobiotics, Food Combining, and various bodies of Raw and Living Food practices info. What I am sharing with you is only what I know has worked for me. My main teachers are listed below. Following is information for gradually creating your health, based on my own journey and applied research.
1) GO SLOWLY WITH CHANGES
2) FOOD. HABIT, AND EMOTION
3) HYGIENE
4) FRUIT
5) LEAFY GREENS
6) CHEWING
7) INCREASE NUTRITION WITH HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF RAW FOOD.
8) SNACKS
9) LIGHTLY COOKED FOOD AND SLOW COOKING
10) GRAINS & ANCIENT GRAINS / KEFIR & TRADITIONAL CULTURED FOODS
11) BREAD
12) FOOD COMBINING
13) NUTRIENT PROPORTIONS
14) PROTEIN
15) EATING ENVIRONMENT
16) REST
17) ACTIVE EXERCISE
18) RECEPTIVE EXERCISE
19) INTERNAL DIALOGUE
20) CLOTHING & BEDDING
21) SOAPS, BATHING, AND LAUNDRY
22) AIR QUALITY
23) RAW OR COOKED?
24) HEALTH, THE BIGGER PICTURE
25) TOUCH
26) ATTITUDE
27) YOUR BODY KNOWS
28) CONNECT WITH NATURE
29) TAKE IN LIGHT
30) RECEIVE DARKNESS
31) TAKE BREAKS
32) TAKE SMALL STEPS & REMIND YOURSELF
33) REFERENCES & RESOURCES
1 GO SLOWLY WITH CHANGES
Take gradual steps by introducing small changes. Do not try to change all your habits at once. Accept yourself as you are now and be gentle and kind. Listen to your body and trust your intuition to shape your unique journey.
2 FOOD. HABIT, AND EMOTION
Pay attention to what you eat, when, and why, and bring more awareness to your current habits and their effects. For this purpose, try keeping a Food Journal. Include tracking your exercise, light, and sleep. Keep the entries small and brief, so it is doable. It will also be easier to get an overview later if your entries are brief. Review how you did weekly. Observe compassionately and be patient with yourself. Congratulate your successes and forgive everything else! Trust that you are building gradual and long-lasting change.
3 HYGIENE, INTERNAL & EXTERNAL
Clean your mouth in the morning first thing, then drink a cup or 2 of water to clear and charge your digestive system. Make a goal of drinking a liter of water before you take your first meal of the day. Afterwards, wait 20 or more minutes before eating. Thank the water first, before you drink it. Consider its aliveness, and all the information and experience it carries, from its constant cycling through our atmosphere and Earth. (See Masaru Emoto for scientific research on water memory in molecular structure.) Rinse with water after eating snacks or meals. Clean your mouth at night before bed. Flossing is best done at night.
Find the simplest most natural toothpaste that you can. Let your toothbrush dry out well between uses. Wash it with soap every few days, and change to a new brush frequently. You'll know when its time. Keep it fresh and functional.
DRINKING WATER
Most city waters have chlorine added, which is bad for the body. You can let it off-gas by filling a glass jar or jug at night with your next day's need and letting it sit open. Shake the water before you drink it, or pour it from high so it mixes with air. Oxygen keeps it alive and charged. Or buy BPA free plastic bottles and fill up at a natural deep spring once every couple of weeks. There are some around Vancouver. Like everything that we ingest now, it is difficult to find pure drinking water to purchase. Research is key, but also trust your body's response: pay attention to the taste of your water and how you feel when you drink it. Your body should shout YES!!! -when it enters your mouth.
BATHING
Wash your body regularly. Rub your skin vigorously in warm water baths or showers with a rough cloth or loofa sponge to remove dead cells, dirt, and activate circulation. Use a minimal amount of gentle, natural soap only under arms and in crotch. Soap is not necessary for skin and disturbs its natural ph balance. It also removes natural oils. Use minimal shampoo. The less you shampoo, the better for your scalp and hair. Once a week is sufficient. Washing with water at other times is fine. But if you are a heavy meat or junk food eater, you will need to wash frequently, to remove the detoxifying elements and smells from your body. Find shampoos and soaps that have minimal ingredients, and research the long names of things online to know what you are getting. Some substances are natural and harmless, others have no business on or in your body. Anything you put on your skin or hair gets absorbed internally. Do your research.
If you take a bath, shower or squat shower off as the water goes down the drain. You will not only rinse off physical debris, you will also release electro-magnetic charge accumulated from cel phones, electricity, computers, and the many invisible waves around us at all times. The water grounds into the earth through the pipes. The other way you can release is by walking barefoot on earth. This is great in summer but harder when it is cold. In summer I water my garden a little every night in barefeet. I tangibly feel the difference. If you want an extra boost for your circulation, skin health, and energy after bathing, shower with cool or ideally, cold water quickly to finish.
4 FRUIT
Start your day with fruit if you can. Allow 30m to digest before eating anything else. Eat your fruit alone. The exception to this would be to eat in the same meal hemp or sesame milk (pulp strained out). I find it seems to be ok to combine seed milks with fruit, if you don't have time to ingest them separately. It probably slows down the digestion of it a little, but not crucially. It takes about 30m for fruit to digest, if eaten alone.
Start by eating 1 piece of fruit in a meal or snack. Build to 3 or 4 pieces of fruit a day. Have some at breakfast. Some for snacks. Eventually you can make breakfast a fruit meal and have several pieces, or more. Build gradually. Fruit in the morning gives you instant very light energy, and does not slow you down as heavy breakfasts do.
Or save your fruit quota for late night eating on nights when you can't eat a proper dinner early enough. Fruit digests quickly and easily. If you eat fruit instead of other foods late, it will digest quickly and still allow your Liver to complete its rest / cleaning and detox cycle, which goes from about midnight to noon. Ideally you should not eat late at night, but sometimes it is unavoidable. In which case, fruit is the best choice for a meal. The fruit can be whole, or blended into a smoothie or green smoothie.
I am now eating 3-4 pieces of fruit as one of my meals each day, and find it is extremely satisfying. It gives me great energy with no sleepy digesting time. I find that on the days I don't have 3-4 pieces of fruit, I have cravings at the end of the day. This is precisely what the 80/10/10 fruit/greens/fat raw vegan diet describes. If you get a large percentage of your carbohydrates from fruit, you will feel satisfied.
5 LEAFY GREENS
Add leafy greens to your lunch and dinner. These give alkalinity to your meals. The body functions best if it has a higher alkalinity than acidity Leaves will also give you high mineral content, for nutrition. Your body will welcome the nutrition, and you will find with time that you will naturally be attracted to eating more whole, live, alkaline food. Make a simple salad with a light dressing of lemon or cider vinegar, and a little oil and himalayan salt. You can cut or tear up, then toss or rub your greens with salt, oil and lemon dressing, and then let them sit for 15 minutes or up to a few hours, to break down the cell walls so your body can access the chlorophyll, which is high in mineral content as well as providing calcium and protein. Rubbing the greens will make them the most digestible. Sesame oil rubbed greens are delicious. Every oil has its unique flavor qualities.
The chlorophyll cells in green leaves are like rectangular boxes, protected by tough fibers that need to be broked open. This happens thru blending, or thorough chewing, (or light cooking) and is greatly aided, in salads, by treating the leaves to oil and salt rubbing. Even tough winter Kale becomes soft and delicious with dressing rub. Greens can be torn, shredded or sliced as you wish, before rubbing. Cows have 3 stomachs to digest their greens. We have one, but we can use other tricks, like blenders, light cooking, or the dressing rub. Try making a blended soup with root vegies and potato, and blend with raw greens after they are cooked. You include some raw this way, and access live chlorophyll (liquid sunshine).
For salt, get the large crystals (Himalayan salt is best), and grind them fresh each use if you can, in a Suribachi grinding bowl - from a Japanese store. If too much trouble, buying pre-ground salt is 2nd best. Due to the sad fact of Ocean pollution and nuclear contamination, I have begun to use the pink Himalayan salt. This salt is ancient, and mined from mountainous or high areas. The mountainous areas or high plateaus that it is found in were once below sea level, then got pushed up high with time and possibly thru long ago earth cataclysms. The salt was formed at a time when the Earth was unpolluted by humans. Safer to eat, at the moment, than sea salt. (Let's hope we can clean up our act! If we all do our part and take responsibility with small and large actions, we have the power to change the current direction of the destruction of our planet, into one of restoration and vitality through our love and respect).
6 CHEWING
Count your chews and chew each bite 20 to 30 times. 'Chew' your nut or seed milks, or your green drinks a little, also, to mix them with digestive saliva. Chew consciously to gain maximum nutrition from your food. If you don't break it down enough with your mouth, your body will not have access to the nutrients. Digestion is a process that starts in the mouth, with the work of teeth and saliva. Taste and enjoy your food, communing with it. Pay attention as you eat. Breathe. An old traditional adage says, "The stomach has no teeth."
7 INCREASE NUTRITION WITH HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF RAW FOOD
Heating food reduces its nutrition and decreases its Kirlian energy field / bioenergy. Gradually increase the amount of raw vegetables that you eat with cooked food in a meal. Incorporate more raw fruits, seeds and nuts into your diet. Now when I eat cooked food or comfort foods, I crave at least 50% raw greens or vegies with it. See what feels good for you. Your body will tell you. I know that my craving for greens with cooked foods is my body's signal that it needs both higher nutrient density in a meal, as well as the alkalizing effect of raw, living foods.
Make it a habit to eat a little raw vegetables and leaves and sometimes nuts and seeds with your cooked food. I end up eating way less cooked or comfort food this way, because I get full and satisfied nutritionally by adding some raw Meals do not have to be fully raw if that is not natural to you. Lightly steamed, stir fried or baked vegies, and lightly cooked brothy soups are also excellent. Cook food slowly and at the lowest possible temperatures. Or if steaming, cook briefly.
The amazing thing about the body is that as soon as you give it high nutrition or healthy conditions, it will ask for more, recognize what makes it feel great, and tell you! It is also powerful in surviving in less than ideal conditions, so it will function, though not optimally, with poor nutrition or things like not enough water, light, rest, affection, fun, etc. The body is like a faithful dog. It stands by you and loves and serves you no matter what. But if you give it optimum conditions, you will find that your 'normal' looks vastly different than society's standards. And if you eat as the mainstream and don't do your own research, you will end up as the mainstream, living with less and less energy, getting chronic disease, and aging with pain and malfunction, dependent on a medical system that suppresses natural medicines and health practitioners and profits from people's disease.
8 SNACKS
Snack on whole vegetables or pieces, and fruits if you need, or nuts, (don't eat nuts with fresh fruit) or drink seed, nut or hemp milk. Dates and figs dried are excellent quick energy foods. They can be combined with nuts and seeds. Or also eaten with fruit. They offer long lasting, high energy, and are nutritionally dense. But use as a treat, not a daily food. Fresh fruits are better. Green smoothies are also a great quick energy fix. Make them with leafy greens and fruit. If you want you can add hemp hearts for a longer lasting, slower digesting meal. A Vitamix or other type of high powered blender is helpful to create a completely creamy and delicious texture, where the greens are completely broken down. This also makes all the chlorophyll accessible to the body.
Rinse your mouth after eating green smoothies, and also after eating dried fruit. It is sticky and has high concentration of sugar. If you do not rinse, it gets into the teeth spaces and lines the gums and can be a serious cavity creator. Dried fruit can be worse than candy this way. Rinsing with water after any meal is always good for long term dental health.
9 LIGHTLY COOKED FOOD AND SLOW COOKING
When you do cook food, cook it at the lowest possible temperatures, by steaming, stir frying, baking. Or cook in brothy or blended soups. Stay close to the stove and check frequently. Overcooking means loss of life force, flavor, and nutrients. Nutrients are what give food flavor. Beware tasteless pap forms of food! These are nutritionless, and make your body work for nothing. They also leave you feeling unsatisfied, unbalanced, and full of cravings!
10 GRAINS & ANCIENT GRAINS, KEFIR & TRADITIONAL CULTURED FOODS
Wash and then soak your grains (such as rice, millet, buckwheat, oatmeal) - overnight or for a few hours. Rinse well till water is clear, and then cook in less water than usual, to compensate for water absorbed. Water can be 2 to 3 times more for dry grains, depending on the texture that you like. So compensate from there, if you soak. Bring to a simmer and then cook at the lowest possible temperature just until done. Ancient grains have highest nutrition: Quinoa, Millet, Amaranth, Barley, Lundberg Brown Rice (good organic California farm).
CHIA SEED RAW PUDDING: Chia seeds can be used raw. Soak 1 to 8 Chia to water overnight or for 3 to 4 hours. Stir to prevent top seeds from floating on skin of water and not absorbing it. The soaked Chia becomes like a tapioca pudding, but highly nutrient dense. Chia is an ancient South American grain that has not been hybridized for non nutritional purposes, as have other grains in modern times. Chia is called a 'Super Food', which means that it is nutrient dense and has a naturally strong genetic makeup.
Modern grains such as wheat have been hybridized to change them for greater size, increased gluten, better storing properties, and other things which have nothing to do with health, and which adversely affect health. Ancient grains are superior in flavour and nutrient density. But do remember that the soil is first - If the soil food is grown in is stripped, dead, and / or boosted by chemicals, then the food is empty and toxic.
Soaked Chia can be put in green smoothies, or used as a tapioca like base for a raw fruit pudding. Add fruit of your choice, and flavours such as rose water, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger. Sweetener is also nice: I use Maple Syrup or Agave Nectar. Hone is hard to mix since the Chia is room temperature, not hot or warm. You can also add coconut milk if you like. It is optional. The Chia pudding recipe is delicious also with just the fruits, sweetener, and spices.
Also incorporate ancient cultured foods like Kefir, Yogourt, Kombucha Tea, Kim Chi, and Sauerkraut. These are just a few examples of cultured foods, which are a part of every traditional diet. They provide a source of beneficial intestinal bacteria, and break down and preserve the food they grow in, making its nutrients available to the body.
11 BREAD
When you eat bread, eat bread made by the ancient leavening method of sourdough, it is more living. Barley, Kamut and Rye are good grain flours. Or eat Silver Hills sprouted grain bread. Silver Hills breads are very light and fluffy, and highly digestible. Yeasted breads from unwashed unsprouted grains are not as good for you.
Try to minimize your bread eating so you don't fill up on starch. This will leave more hunger for nutritionally dense foods or foods that have high bio-energetic energy, as living / raw foods do.
12 FOOD COMBINING
Food combining rules: Fruit alone let digest 30 minutes before eating other foods. Eat starches and leafy greens or any vegies together, only small amount of fat with, if eating with a dressing, sauce, or just adding the fat. Proteins with non starchy vegies, or if you eat protein with starches, make the starches smaller than the protein in proportion.
13 NUTRIENT PROPORTIONS
80/10/10 I have found is the most satisfying way of eating. I have been practicing this for 6 months now and it is the most energizing and easy diet that I have yet tried. 80% fruit, 10% leafy greens, 10% fats from seeds or nuts. If you find this interesting, you can work towards it. If not, incorporating elements of this also work well. This is a raw food diet. It is the way I eat mostly, now. With this dietary guideline informing my choices, I have the highest energy, and the most mental and emotional clarity (yes, food absolutely influences one's thoughts and emotions). I still am eating about 30% lightly cooked foods, but am mostly raw vegan. Check out Dr. Doug Graham's books or online info for the 80/10/10 diet. This diet satisfies your energy needs by providing most of your carbs from fruit. Leafy greens provide minerals, and seeds and nuts or nut milks provide fats. Protein is present in all 3 in varying amounts. Check the research online at source. I've read it and tested it with my body, and it feels accurate and excellent. Best form of diet yet for me.
14 PROTEIN
Don't be worried about not getting enough protein. Protein is present in leaves, nuts and seeds, and even in vegetables and fruits We need far less than we have been told by the meat and dairy industry. Be more concerned about getting a satisfying amount of carbs, small amounts of healthy living fats (important to have these unheated), and a variety of lots of lightly cooked or raw vegies. The meat and dairy corporations have created a cruel industry where animals suffer greatly in severely inhumane conditions. The industry hugely and negatively impacts the environment also, polluting water, taking agricultural land for growing animal feed, and destroying soil. Not to mention polluting the psychic atmosphere of our planet with the severe suffering of the animals. As the human population grows exponentially, it becomes doubtful that eating and keeping animals can continue to be viable as a food source. Whereas a vegan diet could provide abundantly without harming or overburdening our planet.
Use small amounts of oil or fat with your food prep. MInimal is best. Unheated unprocessed oils are best. Keep fats oils and nuts and seeds cool in storage.
15 EATING ENVIRONMENT
Eat in a peaceful environment. Create the energy of this with your intention and inner state even when you cannot be in an ideal physical environment.
16 REST
Get enough rest. You know it is enough if you feel rested when you wake or get up. You know also by the clarity and peacefulness of your emotions, the availability of your energy for your day, and by the clarity of your mind. And you will know if you are rested by the quality of your physical energy. Exercise will feel enjoyable and wonderful, and you will embrace the work of your day.
17 ACTIVE EXERCISE
Do exercise that makes you breathe hard and sweat at least 3 times a week. Ideally every day. Sometimes exercise in front of a mirror so you can gain awareness of your movement habits, improve your posture, and bring motion to places in your body that are frozen. Such areas will turn to tension, pain, and some form of dis-ease eventually, if you don't bring energy, breath and motion there. One thing I believe about the body is that if you use it actively, keep oxygen, blood, feeling, awareness, and motion circulating thru it, and exercise to raise your metabolism to a sweat regularly, it will stay healthy and alive.
When your body gets the continual message 'I am alive!' it behaves accordingly, and does not age 'normally'. In our modern world, aging is decay. Thru all ages of my life, I have noticed that when a feeling of dis-ease or 'aging' sets into an area, I then mobilize and bring movement, breath, awareness, etc, to the area, as well as attending to rest and diet, and it changes, subtly but clearly, until I think in my new state that I was imagining things in the first place. Fear and expectancy of aging, in the sense of decay and dis-ease, can become a self fulfilling prophecy. I believe that when humanity lived in a more earth and cosmos connected way, in the distant past, and had more knowledge, that we lived much much longer, and aged in health, not in disease and deterioration, as today. I suspect we could also pass consciously. Faint strains of history and indigenous beliefs point toward this.
18 RECEPTIVE EXERCISE
Quiet exercise with an internal focus complements aerobic and very highly active exercise. Muscles need to be stretched and other systems of the body, such as bones, nerves, organs, fluids - benefit from conscious presence thru movement, self massage, breathwork, rocking, or stretching. Stretch your body regularly. Include resting poses in which to be present in your body in a relaxed state. Calm and still your mind simultaneously. Do this at least 3 times a week. Make it realistically happen by intending a short session of 15m daily. Before bed is ideal. You will very often end up doing more once you start, because it feels so good.
19 INTERNAL DIALOGUE
Observe your self talk, and add more praise. Appreciate yourself and thank yourself intentionally. It may feel fake at first, but be an actor. It will become a habit, just like other negative habits were learned. You can consciously choose and program yourself with new thoughts, and new habits. We talk internally to ourselves all day - make it conscious some of the time. It will train your mind and improve your attitude. Don't let the world around you and the mainstream media be the loudest voices in your head!
20 CLOTHING AND BEDDING
Wear natural cloth. Cotton, wool, linen, silk, etc. No polyester! Allow your skin to breathe. Especially no poly in sheets or bedding. Polyester and artificial fibers also collect electrical charge / positive ions (these are bad for the body) to collect in the cloth and against your skin. Also pay attention to how a dye feels. Some commercial cloth dyes are more toxic than others. I recently bought an organic cotton dress and am amazed at how my body relaxes and how my skin feels with it on. Very different than my other clothing. Cotton also is grown and treated with mega chemicals. These remain in the cloth. Wash new clothes many times before wearing, especially if heavily dyed. For sleeping, I recommend sleeping naked. Use a feather or cotton filled pillow, so there is no off-gassing from foam, especially where you sleep. Or use no pillow. I have slept for years on my back with no pillow, on a very thin mattress - a hard bed. It is good for the spine.
21 AIR QUALITY
Sleep with an open window. Air becomes dead, negatively charged, and toxic if it is not moving. If you work in an office building, you can bring in a small fan, or turn on a ceiling fan. This purifies and energizes the air without charging it in a way that is bad for the human body. I heard of an expensive study that was done on the effectiveness of many different air conditioning / filtration systems. It was found that a simple ceiling fan and a slightly open window created the best air quality, far and above air 'conditioning' which ionizes the air in such a way that it is irritating to the human body and adversely affects our energy fields.
22 SOAPS, BATHING, AND LAUNDRY
Reduce and eventually eliminate all chemical products from your hygiene. Read labels carefully. Anything you can't recognize or can't pronounce is likely to be a chemical. What you put on your body is instantly absorbed by your cells. You also breathe it in. Research substances online. Raw food literature often has the most cutting edge information on anything to do with ingesting substance, or wearing it, or applying it to the body. Pay attention also to the things you use in your home, ie cleaners, incense, carpets and cloth, furniture, stuffings in pillows and mattresses. The more natural, the better.
If clothes at a store make your skin feel itchy or uncomfortable it could be due to toxic dyes or pesticides and herbicides in the cotton. Some cloth or dye will be worse than others. Trust your skin to tell you what to buy. Wash new things 2 or 3 times before wearing, to get excess dye and chemicals out. Don't use fabric softeners in the wash or dryer. Chemicals! Buy your soaps from the health food store. The simpler the better. Use minimal amount of soap in laundry, as well as in dish washing, as well as in bathing! Bathing you can clean your skin by rubbing with a loofa or washcloth, and use a small amount of soap on your crotch, armpits, and head. The rest does not need soap. Do yourself and others a favor and don't use toxic perfumes. If you like scent, wear it where you won't rub it on others when you hug them! And use something natural, like essential oils or resins. I like Shea butter for my skin, and use nothing else on it for moisturizer. If you have dry skin, increase the amount of natural oils in your diet. I prefer doing so with nuts and seeds. Others recommend cold pressed oils such as olive or flax for eating. Start anywhere and let your body and intuition guide you.
23 RAW OR COOKED?
Do not feel that you must eat raw because of any of this info. The same food lightly and consciously cooked is also excellent for the body. But I do recommend eating a high degree of raw, or as much raw food as you can, with your cooked food, or alone. Especially eat leafy greens with your cooked food. Nuts and seeds also are best raw, so that the oil is not denatured. If you want to lose weight, intend to eat 3 or 4 pieces of fruit a day, and be prepared to be surprised how satisfied you feel! The high nutrition and high carbs from fruit reduce cravings for other stuff, or for overeating.
I have been eating high raw for 10 years. Each year I increase the amount of raw, and go simpler, out of preference for how it tastes and makes me feel. My current diet is consistently 70% raw, mostly vegan, and most of this is whole fruits and vegies. I prefer this more and more over making salads or green drinks. I enjoy the energy field of a plant - vegetable or fruit, nut or seed, as close to its whole state as possible. I buy local nuts in shell, unroasted, unheated hemp hearts, and non-irradiated organic sesame seeds. I soak these and make milks out of them, or eat the nuts whole. Seeds can be ground onto salads. Eating an entire day of whole foods, but cooked, makes me feel ill, and gives me strong cravings for raw vegies and fruits. My body demands whole, raw food, and pure water. I regard cooked foods as entertainment, now, rather than nourishment. I accept that I still have a certain attachment to them, for now. And I trust that as time goes by, I will increasingly let them go.
24 HEALTH, THE BIGGER PICTURE
Take in light, maximum nutrition, air, enjoyment, and love.
Put out enjoyment, appreciation, happiness, love, and positive words and thoughts (to others and yourself) as much as possible. It will naturally increase.
Engage your energy in the form of exercise - a variety of activities that make you breathe and sweat, balanced with restful contemplative activity that makes you stretch, move, and inhabit your body consciously. Walking is excellent, as is running. Dancing is also excellent. Dancing in front of a mirror for observation exponentially increases your results. You will see where your body is fluid and where it is frozen. Bring motion to the frozen parts and thus increase your health and prevent dis-ease. Dancing circles, spirals, figure 8's thru your body heals many issues. Take classes with teachers who have studied movement deeply, and embody an energy that you like. Examples are yoga, ecstatic dance, martial arts,
25 TOUCH
Touch is a basic human need, on an emotional, spiritual, and physical level. If you are not in an intimate relationship, get hugs from your friends, exchange massage, and touch yourself lovingly. The body does not differentiate emotionally from touch of another to self touch. You can hug yourself, massage yourself, stroke your skin lightly and lovingly, and rock yourself. Don't be shy! We all need touch. You may be surprised at how good self touch feels. One of my favorite yoga teachers incorporates tender moments of self touch in her classes. She also plays great music, which appeals to the body's desire to move and have fun, ranging from funk, disco, old rock n roll, jazz, to classical western or yogic music. She encourages emotions. In her classes, you cry, laugh out loud, have so much fun, and feel to the depths of your soul. I have a pad by my mat in her class only, because the range of emotions and the depth and embodiment call forth poetry. My other favorite yoga teacher has deeply studied traditional yoga, and incorporates it with knowledge from other movement disciplines e
26 ATTITUDE
Focus more on your successes than your failures or weaknesses. What you focus on is what grows. Be patient and trust that your intention is bringing you to your goals, and that your body will guide you, as you learn to listen and respond to it.
27 YOUR BODY KNOWS
Your body should be your ultimate authority. Do your research and study, but tweak according to what your body tells you it wants or likes in the present moment. Modern education and medicine have us well trained to give away our authority and not participate actively in creating our health or our lives. Doctors are among the poorest in health of our world, (what does that tell you!?) - and yet the highest paid and most respected by profession. Pharmaceutical medicine is based on profit and control, not health. Intervention style medical treatment takes the power and responsibility away from the individual and encourages people to be passive victims regarding the state of their health. Even the term 'patient' for hospital or clinic goers indicates that a person must be patient and wait - for what - others to do 'it' for them?
The above is not to say that Doctors as individuals do not care about people or don't truly desire to help them. It is just that the medical system is firmly in place and anyone in it becomes part of a larger machine that is in motion. This medical machine is a system and a body of thoughts that has inertia and momentum. Its form adheres to principles which do not support health, but rather attack disease. The system does not change its perspectives or priorities quickly or easily, even though individuals using it or working within it might want it to.
Take charge! Inform yourself. Trust your ability to create and maintain your health by listening and responding to your impulse and feeling. Trust your body. It is an ancient, wise organism. Trust your feelings. Desire is good. Make the goal of your healthiness to be deeply attuned to your body and self, in a state of physical and energetic awareness, and in alignment WITH it.
Work towards shifting your perception of your body and mind from being 2 different and separate things...into experiencing the triad of body, mind and spirit as one Unified Whole. This creates empowerment and direct Knowing. Noone can take this away from you. It is free. It is your natural right...your natural state of being. And it is accessible 100% of the time. Trust your inner radar and it will guide you to the information and resources that you need.
28 CONNECT WITH NATURE
We don't live 'on the Earth', we don't live 'with the Earth'. We ARE Earth. We are recycled beings. Water, air, light, and matter flow thru us on cellular, atomic, and metabolic levels. These same elements are moving in and out of all bodies of the planet. It is a system of exchange, constantly in motion micro and macro-cosmically. We share matter with all beings. The same process is constantly taking place on Cosmic levels. - So, go outside! Connect with plants in your garden, trees on your street. Rain, clouds, light. Animals. I constantly see unusual birds, because I look for them, and I feel them. I see Eagles regularly, Hawks, Ravens, and many small birds. I see migrations of earthworms late on certain nights. I see strange bugs, and I feel plants and trees, and feel them feeling me. I feel and witness my plants in house and garden growing extraordinarily for me from my attention and love. So get out there and receive and give! You will be surprised at what comes back to you, and what becomes a flow of communication and delightful and mysterious exchange.
29 TAKE IN LIGHT
It is very important to receive light into the eyes, for brain and hormonal functions, and to receive light on your skin, for Vitamin D production, for one thing. Do not use sunscreen in summer. It is toxic. Instead, exercise awareness of when your body has had enough sun. Let light enter your eyes. It will improve your emotions and also regulate your hormones.
30 RECEIVE DARKNESS
Do not be afraid of the dark. At night, use soft and indirect lighting in your house. This allows your hormones to be at correct levels towards resting the body and mind. When it is time for bed, darken your room as completely as possible, for deep rest. Heavily curtain your bedroom windows to block out artificial light. And open a window for fresh air thru the night as you sleep. Keep electronic devices away from your bedroom. And also, enjoy the dark time for its quiet, its contemplation, its dreaming, its void....and its intimacy and creativity. Enjoy not only the dark of night, but surrender to the cycles of light and dark, and enjoy the dark time of year, in winter, especially around winter solstice, Dec 21. The time leading up to and from it is an ideal time for deep reflection, rest, and contemplation. From this you will naturally move with greater energy towards the active times of great light in Spring and Summer. Try to unplug from calendar holiday frenzies and be attuned with yourself. And attune with the natural world. You are a part of it. It is a part of you.
31
TAKE BREAKS
Congratulate yourself for focusing, working hard, and making changes. And then let it all go! Take times to just relax and enjoy yourself. You'll get back to your disciplines.
32 TAKE SMALL STEPS AND REMIND YOURSELF
Based on this counsel, make a list of some small steps you want to implement and glance at it daily, either at the beginning of the day, maybe while you eat, or at the end of your day. Congratulate yourself on small steps and small changes. Keep a health journal and spend a few minutes a day with it to make conscious your habits and remind yourself your goals.
DO NOT EXPECT SUDDEN OVERNIGHT CHANGES OR TO BE ABLE TO DO EVERYTHING AT ONCE!!!! :-)
Be patient and steady.
33 REFERENCES & RESOURCES
Some of my favorite health teachers to resource on youtube, online, or in print. Do your own research and let your body and your intuition guide you to what is right for you.
Dr. Doug Graham 80/10/10 raw diet
Rozalind Gruben Healing from emotional eating and eating disorders (Is married to Doug Graham).
Dr. Gabriel Cousens Cured Diabetes thru raw food diet, translation of traditional diets in raw food form, (especially Ayurvedic), qualities of foods and nutritional knowledge.
Freelee / Freelea / aka 'The Raw Fit Bitch' 80/10/10 raw diet and being an athlete. Australia. Great online videos and blog.
Frederic Patenaude 80/10/10 diet as well as incorporating aspects of this knowledge into different diet approaches. Also eats some cooked food at times. Canadian from Montreal.
Boutenko Family aka 'The Raw Family' Mom Victoria Boutenko now eats a little cooked food, but is mostly raw. The kids are still raw, I believe. These guys are a great source of greens and green drinks info. Healed themselves of obesity, diabetes, asthma and numerous other chronic and degenerative diseases thru raw food - going from a standard american diet overnight, to 100% raw vegan.
David Wolfe Raw food with a focus on super foods and ancient foods, Chinese herbal healing, etc
Markus Rothkranz Raw foodist, big into natural wild foods accessible around us now, even in cities. Film m
Don Tolman Great researcher and speaker. Whole and natural foodist, as opposed to raw foodist. Don has deeply researched traditional indigenous and ancient knowledge of diet and health from all over the world, searching out scrolls and ancient texts to reveal forgotten wisdom. Info on whole foods, natural diet and living. Don also specializes in uncovering the truth about the medical system, agribusiness, GMO foods, and food and its control by corporations for the intention of profit, not health or people. Don also exposes how Agribusiness destroys health, land and soil, pollutes our water, and is trying to get complete control over all food on the planet thru Genetically Modified Organisms aka GMO food.
GMO FOODS It is very important to minimize ingestion of these. This is what fills supermarkets and any stores that are not health food stores. GMO's do not stay isolated - they contaminate the genetic makeup of plants they come in contact with. The seed cannot be contained, and travels thru wind, animals, etc. It also crosses genes with natural plants. If destroying genetics in plants that have been developing on our planet since the beginning of time is not truly evil, I don't know what is. Taking patents out on seeds and claiming ownership of seed is also dangerous and contrary to life. If seed drifts over to neighboring lands, Monsanto has been known to take that farmer to court and claim their crops. Seed of this type cannot be legally shared, sold or given away, either. It is owned by Monsanto. It contains its own built in pesticide mechanisms. The work of Monsanto is despicable. Research it online or watch the film Food Inc. to get informed. And then avoid most commercial and especially packaged foods....unless you know they are Organic or labeled Non GMO.
The Raw Food World: Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes Monarch
A lovely couple with a unique take on raw food and maximum nutrition, and a great sense of humor! They are respectively American and British, currently residing in Ecuador. They are into all kinds of raw foods and superfoods. They also just successfully homebirthed, with a very short and smooth labor, and no midwife. They also did a lotus birth, where the placenta is not cut at the umbilical cord, but rather is kept attached to baby, put in a cloth bag and salted to preserve it for a few days. The baby is not shocked in any way by a cutting from its body. These 2 did a blog video shortly after the birth, and it is remarkable and deeply moving! More proof to me of the power and beauty of being truly human in a natural way. They did their research, they were prepared on every level: Energetic, mental, physical and practical, and they are a shining example of what is possible, and what is our forgotten birthright as humans. Find them online by their names, or by The Raw Food World.
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I hope you enjoy this info and find it useful. Please contact me if you have any inquiries about my work, or if you wish to book a health consultation, study dance or drumming with me, or book me for a performance!
navaro@tribal-bliss.com
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