Posted in Uncategorized on 09/27/2011 12:40 am by Banana Commander
Blessings all!
It’s the last of the 2011 Farm of Life Video’s!! I cant believe it!!
I had such a amazing time there this year,
I am sure you will see n feel just that in this Farewell Farm of life, bday parties, mangosteen madness, “hairy balls” Un-BBQ Bash Video!!
Enjoy it!
Showcasing a few amazing recipes from my Upcoming “Cravings Busters Transitional Raw Recipes” now set to release in the New Year, A amazing raw Chili being one of 3 Chili Recipes that will be shown in the new book. Some of my Favorite Raw Pizza’s showing two “crusts” and a not shown third simple no fat crust! Amazing “Caramelized” Onion Chili Burgers, by far the best raw burger I have ever made or eaten, all with almost no fat including a no fat option! This video also displays the amazing Chef skills Of the wonderful Lisa Sobolewski of www.lisasobolewski.com as well as My Beautiful singing with Lisa S as well as Lisa Palmer Dean of “Palmer Chiropractic TV” and The Palmer Wellness Center! Pam Just filmed and scowled at our singing ahahha Just kidding thanks Pam! Watch out for a Upcoming interview of me On Lisa Palmer Deans Web TV, as well as my Interview of her on The Raw Advantage!
We had a few b-day Bashes and going away Parties in my final week at the Farm of life, Blessings and love to Ron and his wife, Jackie, Jose, Pam Queenie and all the awesome Guests I got to know n enjoy time with in those final days.
Thousand thanks and much love to Brian n Joesphine Calvi the owners, facilitators and Hosts at the Wonderful Farm of Life!!! I am so excited to come back for 2012, flowing with The Raw Advantage Skateboard, Surf, Yoga Raw food retreat!!!
IN Taylor Snipes Words (my Ombre, Team Raw Advantage Shipper and epic Surfing Instructor)
“Want to learn how to succeed on a raw foods lifestyle? Want to share in the company of like-minded friends on the amazing Farm of Life, Costa Rica? Want to learn how to surf (taught by me! Taylor Snipes in world-class waves, skateboard, take unlimited yoga classes, raw food prep classes, and other lifestyle and educational classes (as needed)? Want to chow down on incredible tropical fruits–mango, pineapple, banana, ROLLINIA, etc.–as well as eat amazing low-fat raw gourmet meals prepared by Chris Kendall? Wanna hike to pristine waterfalls and drink nectary coconuts all day long? Wanna wanna? Don’t miss this year’s The-Raw-Advantage.comCosta Rica retreat!! It’s gonna be awesome! ”
and
“Not to mention, it’s AFFORDABLE. Around $1200 for the week, including transportation to/fro the airport. All you can eat deliciousness, surfboard rentals, unlimited yoga, classes, fresh pristine spring pools, sun-gazing, one-on-one lifestyle coaching by Chris Kendall or myself as needed…The-Raw-Advantage.com Costa Rica Retreat will be focused on helping YOU enjoy and grow as much as possible in an absolutely incredible, safe, loving, abundant environment, the Farm of Life, Costa Rica. Watch this video for a glimpse into the epicness ”
I really hope to see you there and hope you have enjoyed both Videos!!!
Till next year at the Farm of Life
Featuring the 1st ever Skateboarding, Surfing, Yoga Raw Retreat ever!!!
Nestled in at the Beautiful Farm of Life in Costa Rica this coming January 2012 from the 7th to the 14th!!
On to the Video!!!
Feeling Amazing coming off my fast I bounce excitedly showcasing jumping jacks and Ninja Kicks on the Rebounder!!
Rebounders are a amazing exersise tool combining areobic activity with stregth and fun! They can really help allot with Lymph drainage especially for people with tender joints as its easier on them than jogging or running, Unless perhapps you jog or run with proper technique. The bouncing action helps clear toxemia from the body as you exercise every cell with the constant resistance or g force in multiple directions. A perfect exersise to help detox and build helathy bones and joints! It has been said 15 minutes on a rebounder is like a half a hour Jogging, I cant substanciate this but do know it is a really amazing workout!
The exercises you could do are countless, in Washington with Dr Douglas Grahams Health and Fitness Week we did a entire exercise set using the rebounders without even jumping on them!!
Since my fast I have made a promise to myself that I would do at least between 3 – 5 minutes of activity / workout / play before eating any meals of sweet / juicy fruit. Working out before sweet meals simply helps with the uptake and absorption of the food we eat, effectively earning our meals or using up muscle glycogen making space for more to be absorbed. While a nice long or intense exercise session is great even a quick intense 5 minutes of alternate jumping jacks and pushups can really get your body pumping helping in many ways! Enjoy more micro workouts and you will find yourself extending them into longer ones here and there anyways!
With the intent to make a recipe for your viewing pleasure my plans were seemingly foiled by a consult in the kitchen at the Farm of Life. Queenie and her fabulous transformational day and bright disposition helped bring out some new creativity (bless you Queenie)! To the Fruit Ninja Master, Dubbed into English!
Sorry you will have to watch to hear the Dubbed English Ninja MOvie
Todays Ninja Recipe!
Cool Tropics!
1 Pinapple
1 bunch Mint
3 big sweet Mangos
Hands!
Dice all of the pinapple and place in a bowl, reserve hull/husk/shell/skin
Dice the cheeks/sides of 1 – 1 1/2 mangos in with the Pineapple
Place the rest of the mango in the blender, squeeze and “Rake” the pinapple remains into the blender getting all the juice and little bits
Place 1/2 of the mint in the blender and blend away to desired consitancy!
Pour over top of the Cubes!
Dice remaining Mint and lightly sprinkle on top!
Enjoy this cool Tropical Treat!!! mmmmm
I really hope you enjoyed this video n recipe!!! wishing you much
Posted in Uncategorized on 09/10/2011 09:52 pm by Banana Commander
Blessings All!!
This is a exciting video for me, its the very first recipe video from my upcoming book “Cravings Busters Transitional Raw Recipes”. Due to extreme busyness the books release has been delayed although I am aiming to have it finalized and up on my site for xmas or newyear 2012!!
I promise it will be worth the wait, blessings n thanks for your patience!!
In this video I expose my humble beginnings into the raw Diet via David Wolfe, sharing how he in part directed me on my path. With that I dedicate my first recipe video from my new book to him dubbing it David Avocado Noni Wolfe Stew!
Enjoy the video!!
After reading ‘Nature’s First Law: The Raw Food Diet’ By Arlin – Dini – Wolfe, which according to a more than a few reliable sourcs was(mostly, word for word) plagiarized from the classic book “Raw Eating” by Arshavir Ter Hovannessian, I knew that a Raw food diet would be a huge part of my journey toward optimal health. Despite the strong message of the book I wasn’t left with the knowledge on how to properly apply the diet, certain aspects simply didn’t make sense. I got the image and message the “Cooked Food is Poison” A theme repeated at the end of every Chapter but didnt really understand what a normal day would look like. I understood before reading this book that raw food was superior to cooked but still up untill reading this book I never considered eating a 100% raw diet, i mean I had never met anyone who did so. The more mainstream Raw Books I read the more confused I got, simplicity wasnt in the design nor was it layed out with much common sence in the application. Instead of going 100% raw I simply ate fruit until dinner and would eat a cooked vegan dinner of a whole food starch/carb (sweet potatoes, rice and Quinoa) with a abundance of steamed baked or boiled veggies.
A few short weeks later I met Dr Douglas Graham at “A Taste of Health” a vegan festival in Vancouver. Within the First lecture I attended with Doug I came to fully understand the simplicity of the raw food diet introducing to me our Species specific diet. It all came together with science backed common sense, Doug’s being simply radiated vitality, compassion and truth. I went to every talk Doug put on that day, stayed after with him to talk and went 100% raw the next day! After going to Dr Grahams talks all the next day I came to feel that Other Leaders in the movement were over complicating matters simply to provide the room for their supplements, super-foods, elixir type mumbo jumbo and enzyme powders in the wake of confusion. I actually was angry at these people, I will admit namely David Wolfe, feeling that they were preying on innocent health seekers whom would do anything a “guru” said to reach better levels of health. I came to understand that many people following such a program, which I learnt to often be high fat as well as poorly combined, led to less than optimal health as well as a feeling of lack, which once again opens the door to seeking for the next superfood, elixir or supplement that many “gurus” coincidently provide. Always the best, highest in “x” nutrient or oldest magic gem used by ancient tribes but always set with a hefty price tag availale exclusively through brand A. Comming to see this side of the raw movement I felt empowered by the simplicty of Dr Douglas Grahams approach, his vitality, the raw glow and truth he emitted deciding then and there to dedicate my life to spreading and living according to Natures Design on our species specific diet.
It took me near 4 years of applying the lfrv (low fat raw vegan) lifestyle, coming to love myself more fully in thought, word and action, before I felt ready to really dedicate myself to effectively help others. It was at this point that I started my website and started coming into my flow as a Raw Lifestyle Coach utilizing my training as a RHN or Registered Holistic Nutritionist. Part of my healing journey was actualized by attempting to release all of the pent up anger, judgement and hate I felt toward anyone and everyone in my life. I remember individually going to those people that I had hurt, called names or held anger to in my past asking their forgiveness, telling them how I felt at the time and why I no longer wished to hold those feelings. This was such a powerful release that it empowered me to attempt to think and act in such a way that could only lead me to more loving interaction. Living in such a way that would prevent me from needing to ask such forgiveness again, flowing more in accordance with my highest self.
Part of this choice has been choosing to let go of the word hate, to attempt to let go of judgement and only radiate love, a continuing journey that could take one concious moment or a lifetime. I feel blessed to release these thoughts and feelings from within me, I no longer hold any angst or anger toward anyone within or outside this movement, each and everyone acting in accordance with their perception, marching to the beat of their own drum, all in accordance with the perfection that is. It was through Davids flow that I came to my own, I in fact thank him much and wish to dedicate my first Showcased Recipe from my upcoming “Cravings Busters Transitional Raw Recipes” dubbing it
“David Avocado Noni Wolfe Stew!”
I called it this because Two of David’s 3 Middle names are “Avocado” and “Noni”. This stew has both of them, Noni is a rare ingredient and one I havent seen in any other recipe! It tastes like a cross between blue cheese, hot peppers, touch of garlic and dirty socks… I Love it!! ahah
Noni is also know as the starvation fruit, the vomit fruit and is know to be antiinflamitory as well as a pain killer. I put that all aside as i simply love the flavor. Noni’s are know for growing in a multitude of elevations in the tropics, from the beach to the mountains they grow. Most people allow the noni to self juice by keeping them in a covered jar, within a few days to a week the “juice” will fill the jar ready to be drank. I prefer to eat the noni whole fresh and very ripe, in fact i find they taste best left under the tree in the sun for a few days to a week!
There are 12 noni tree’s at the Farm of Life each and every morning I check each and every one of them to see my bounty for the day mmmmm wanna come noni play with me? Check my Raw food, Yoga Surf, Skateboarding reatreat at The Farm of Life this coming January 7th – 14th!! For more info Click Here!!
I hope you enjoy the video and the recipe!!!
DAVID AVOCADO NONI WOLFE STEW – From Me to You!
For a Banana Commander sized serving!
1 lb ripe Noni
1 large Avocado
1 bunch of Green Onions
1 handful of salt free Sun dried Tomatoes and Medjule Dates
2 lbs delicious fresh Tomatoes
1 small bunch Nappa Cabbage
2 bunches of Boc Choy
1 Bunch of your favorite Herb or mixed Dark Greens
Optional Radish!!!
!!Warning this is a huge helping and would prolly feed 2 – 4 non banana commanders with a big appetite!!
Watch watch watch the video for the assembly information, its easy as peeling a banana, ok well a bit more difficult but hey its pretty easy!!!
Posted in Uncategorized on 08/31/2011 11:55 pm by Banana Commander
Blessings all!!!
I am so excited to share this interview with you all!
I count myself extremely blessed to call Dr SAM a good friend, colleague and source of inspiration, I know you will too.
Everyone can benefit from his vision, experience, insight, knowledge, love radiant energy clarity and of course his outstanding Physical Therapy!
Dr Samuel Arthur Mielcarski has been a low fat raw vegan for over 12 years and has had over 15 years as a health and rehabilitation specialist.
His amazing book (and Ebook) ”Dr SAM’s Revolutionary Rehab Manual” has changed many lives for the better, I love it so so much I am now a affiliate for his book!
Simply click the link above to Get yours today I cant recommend it highly enough!
Wether you have been injured in a accident, are experiencing wear and tear from athletics of simply have bent yourself out of shape from poor alignment and mechanics (as most of us have) or if you simply wish to take your athletics and health to a new level Dr SAM’s Revolutionary Rehab Manual is for you!!
I also happen to know that he offers a full money back guarantee as well dont jah know!
To learn more, pick up a copy and also receive a simple free mini e-course dubbed
I will be posting my videos from there, including a whole bunch kitchen time, yoga time, exersise fun and tons of Interviews with people like, Dr Douglas Graham, Anne Osborn, The Raw Brah’s, Tony Wright, Dr.Samuel Arthur Mielcarski (a.k.a “Dr. SAM“ ), Karen Ramzi, Dan the Man “Life Regenerator” Mcdonald and many more!!
I am so so excited to flow all of this to you in the upcoming weeks, but first I will need catch up! Oh my!
Today I am going to post here a Nice little interview Dan the Man Mcdonald, the “Life Regenerator” did on my on his youtube channel last week. Dan Mcdonald has a huge internet following stemming from his fun honest uplifting from the heart informative daily youtube videos. I feel blessed to call him a freind n look forward to flowing with him more!!!
Hope you enjoy the video its dubbed
“RAW FOOD RECIPES BY MASTER CHEF CHRIS KENDALL”
hahah hadta post that! Weeee!!
I am going to try to fire a few new videos off in the next two days before I goto Dr Doug Grahams 80/10/10 Simply Delicious Culinary Skills week as well as his Yoga Health And Fitness Week ! So so so stoked, I have wanted to go for so long to learn with n from the best, I will most definatly be Unstoppable after this amazing Learning Opportunity!!!!
There is still time to Sign up For These events, they are in Sedro Wooley, not far from Seattle
Feeling Mighty Blessed, tons of new fun vids from there to come too!! Whoo whooo!!!
P.s If anyone wishes to get a copy of my “101 Frickin Rawsome Recipes” by doing a trade I am asking that some of my interviews be Transcribed. If you are intereseted in transcribing a interview for a ebook let me know by contacting me at info@the-raw-advantage.com
Posted in Uncategorized on 08/28/2011 03:03 am by Banana Commander
Holy mango, this is the first ever video I have posted that is
on the same day I filmed it!!
Love it!!!
Hurricane Irene is on the way, it was a epic day of fun, fruit sharing growing n
flowing together with what nature provides!!
Love love love it!!!
Hope you enjoy the video much
Rain or shine bathing in the light wind and water of the divine,
Shining brightly ourselves meeting the gathering storm
Come enjoy Sheep Meadow in Central Park at 11 am sat morning
A Frickin’ Fruitluck of earth shattering proportions, whole fresh ripe raw fruits, no prep needed, yoga singing dancing playing, nothing fixed just saying its all open in the spirit of sweet togetherness!
Its a historic day!!!
1. I am posting my first video ever that I actually filmed on the same day!! whoa!!!!! Fricking Fruitluck in Central Park NYC!
2. Hurricane Irene is coming, its on the way n touched us just a little bit today!!! This could be the biggest storm NYC has seen in over 50 years!!!
3. NYC has its First Frickin Fruitluck!!!! A gathering of Epic Proportions!!!
Hurricane Irene in Central Park NYC Live, watch the epicness here!! Whoaaaa!!
Posted in Uncategorized on 08/12/2011 10:30 pm by Banana Commander
Blissings All!!!
So so so stoked to bring this Raw Food Retreat opportunity to you!
Letting the cat out of the bag in the title I am offering the first ever Raw Food Diet, Yoga, Skateboarding Surfing Retreat January 2012 at the amazing Farm of Life in Costa Rica!
Featuring all the local whole fresh raw ripe organic fruits and vegetables you can eat, amazing 80/10/10 style meals, the option of two Low Fat Raw Gourmet nights, one on one Raw Lifestyle Coaching, Raw Food prep Classes, World Class Surfing Breaks, amazing Skateboarding Spots, Kundalini Hatha and Raw Power Yoga, Amazing Waterfalls and Hikes, Reiki treatments / training and lessons on all of the above, you truly cant miss this event!
The video tells much more, I hope you enjoy it and are moved to come enjoy the Raw Food Retreat with me!!
The Farm of Life is simply way to sweet of a spot to keep to myself, it has become such a joyous part of my life that I couldnt wait to share it with all of you. Coming to you the 7 th to the 14th of January 2012 this truely is the first ever raw food retreat focusing also on yoga surfing and skateboarding.
For much more information and to sign up for this retreat visit my Retreats Page,
Dont wait too long this event is sure to fill up fast!
Posted in Uncategorized on 08/12/2011 10:00 pm by Banana Commander
Blissings All!!!
Ooh oh Baby I lke it Raw, ohh baby I like it RAWWWWRRRRRR!!!!!
Its my bday my bday n no better way to celebrate it than to flow this Interview. Truly the most inspiring Interview I have seen or done, Much Love to you Jose, to continual growth in all ways, Always
I am so excited to share this inspirational Insightful Uplifting interview between Jose Gonzalez and Myself at The Farm of Life.
Jose came to The Farm of Life to recreate and redefine himself through enjoying the Raw food Diet, learning Yoga, creating Positive thought Patterns among other healthful lifestyle factors. Arriving weighing over 300 pounds, feeling like he was at the end of his rope, Jose truly shows us that everything is in our hands. Raw Food Diet and weight loss? Just watch the video and see what I dub “A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial”.
The Raw Advantage Interviews Jose Gonzalez, A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial
Chris Kendall: This is Chris Kendall from The Raw Advantage with another awesome interview. We’ve got here Jose at the Farm of Life. How are you doing, Jose?
Jose Gonzales: I’m going great.
C: So how long have you been here at Finca de Vida?
J: Fifty something days now.
C: Fifty something days. So, you know, we’re going to have some before and after pictures. This is ridiculously amazing changes that you went through. How do you feel about your time here so far?
J: I’ve fulfilled everything I needed to.
C: Yeah?
J: And more.
C: So, you know, coming from where you are right now, when you were in the months before you came out here, how were you feeling, how are things different two months ago?
J: Wow. It was a complete difference. I was feeling, every single day I was feeling lethargic. I was feeling depressed. I was feeling like, I just, had no reason to live. Like I was just, living but I wasn’t really truly alive.
C: Yeah.
The Raw Advantage Interviews Jose Gonzalez, A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial
J: And I was just eating very badly. And absolutely no conscious what I was putting inside my mouth.
C: Yeah. So, how long were you thinking about making changes before you really stepped up and made the leap to do something like this, come out to Finca de Vida?
J: It took me about a year to finally get the courage to come to a place like this. But I’ve been looking for about a year now.
C: Oh wow.
J: And at first I backed down, coming here. But then, like, my family just pounced on me and a friend, ‘You have go! You have to do it! You’re going to regret it if you don’t.’ So I just booked my airline ticket and I didn’t look back. Boy, has this been an amazing ride.
C: That’s so awesome. So, a year, that means that it’s probably been a years that you’ve been going down that path where you felt more and more depressed and worse and worse. To a point where ‘I can’t take this anymore, I’ve got to do something.’But then to muster up that energy and that self-love to really do something about it, took some time, hey?
J: Yeah, I was on my tipping point. And thankfully, you know, I didn’t tip. I came here and wow. I just feel so great. So good. So full of joy. So full of peace. Everything, the raw foods. The yoga. You know, the mentoring, the guidance, your coaching. Everything was amazing.
C: Bless you man, thank you. It’s been so fun learning and growing with you the last two months we’ve had a lot of time to spend together. As you’ve said, we’ve gone a lot of yoga, as well as, lots of talking about nutrition and the mental aspects. What were some of the hardest things for you over these last two months? Like, the physical change of the foods? Are you battling mental or physically trying to challenge yourself with exercise? What were some of the biggest challenges for you?
J: Well, as you can remember, physically I was feeling fine. It was all up here. [points to his head] It’s all up here.
C: Yeah.
J: I had very bad cravings. At one point I even wanted to leave.
The Raw Advantage Interviews Jose Gonzalez, A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial
C: Yeah, I know you did. [laughs] I know you did.
J: And all of y’all helped me. Even if it was a word, an action or something. All of that just kept me here. And you know, fighting that mental battle. And making me realise that I’m the one that can control things.
C: You’re the creator.
J: Exactly. My mind doesn’t control me. And all of that just helped me so much.
C: As you were saying before. Watching the observer as you learn from ‘The Power of Now’. Amazing book, hey?
J: Yes, very very good. And enlightening. It has helped so much as well.
C: Yeah, for sure. The resources here are amazing, hey? Between all of us here with support and exercise, the fresh air, the barefoot walking and the books. And of course, all the fresh food.
J: Oh, the food. It’s amazing. I love fruit, man. I love vegetables now.
C: So, before you came here, would you have been saying that? Would you have been saying ‘I love fruit! I love vegetables!’?
J: No way! No. Fruit was my enemy.
The Raw Advantage Interviews Jose Gonzalez, A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial
C: Fruit was your enemy! [laughs]
J: No, I can’t eat fruit because I start getting sick. It was just the food combining that was making me sick, actually.
C: Yeah.
J: And now, I know how to eat it. It’s so delicious. I love it.
C: It’s such a different feeling, hey? Lifting you up when you eat a meal instead of dragging you down, depressing and subduing you.
J: I got to learn that too, yeah. How, what a feeling it is to eat all this stuff and actually feel good and not feel like I need to take a nap.
C: Yeah, I know you’ve had a lot of huge changes. How much weight did you lose while you’re here?
J: Well, I lost a grand total of 43 lbs (19.5 kg).
C: So awesome.
J: I was close to 300 lbs (136 kg) and I leave in the 250s.
The Raw Advantage Interviews Jose Gonzalez, A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial
C: And this is just the beginning. This is the stuff you can take home. As we’ve talked about, help others with, and share, share your knowledge. Helping others grow at the same time, helping yourself grow.
J: I definitely want to just teach everything, like Brian (owner of Finca de Vida) said, I’m taking a toolbox of knowledge.
C: For sure.
J: I’m going to share that toolbox with everyone.
C: So awesome, man. So exciting. We’ve done a lot of yoga too and I remember, when you first came here you were saying, ‘I want to be a yogi. I want to be able to do crazy amounts of yoga.’ And at that time, you’ve only had very little, little exposure to it, really. So, how’s that treated you? How do you feel you’ve grow? I’ve seen you go from barely being about to do a pose to being able to being about to do a full flow class, and strength and athlete yoga classes, how’s that been so far?
J: First I have to thank you. ‘Cause I mean, you were the master in all the classes, helping me, guiding me and I have to thank you ’cause the classes were so much fun.
C: It was so fun, man. I loved it too.
J: And, you know, when I got here I knew that I wanted to learn how to do yoga. And I was so glad you were here, you know, who could teach me. Once I got here, I just got into it. I didn’t let my weight hold me back. People tell me, ‘Oh I can’t do yoga because I’m too fat.’ No, I just went into it. I noticed a tiny difference, tiny difference. And then those difference started adding up.
C: Yeah.
The Raw Advantage Interviews Jose Gonzalez, A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial
J: And now, it’s such a huge difference. And I feel like, you know, even though I still have a lot to go, I’ve gone so far that now, it’s, you know, I can see myself doing even more intricate poses.
C: For sure. You have natural tendency for it, you have such open hips. You’ll see some more of that, it’s so awesome, man. You definitely, from beginning to now, had so many improvements and I can tell you’re only going to improve more and more. And like you said, be able to share that with your family, too. And do stuff in your own classes at your own pace and stuff like that.
J: Yeah, I want to do that.
C: Yeah it’s all fun, you know. That’s the joy of learning new things. Always spread what you because once you learn something, you know more than someone else. We’re all teachers and we’re all students, right?
J: Definitely.
C: We’re always teaching and learning from each other. So I know also that you said that before you came here you had some back problems, some sciatica, on the left hip. And you didn’t really want to tell anyone because you didn’t it to prevent you from doing all this stuff. What’s up with that?
J: OK, yeah when I got here. Actually before I even got here, I was having lower back problems. And they were pretty bad. Every time I bent down, I had to find a position to bend down in order not to hurt myself because it was hurting more and more and more. And when I got here, I didn’t tell anyone, as you know. I probably mention that I had a little bit of a back ache but I never went into how bad it really was. And with conjunction with yoga, eating the raw fruits and vegetables and all of that, the pain is completely gone.
The Raw Advantage Interviews Jose Gonzalez, A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial
C: So awesome, man.
J: Completely gone. I can bend down. I even tried it, yesterday, I bent down every which way I possibly could and no pain.
C: Nothing? Nothing.
J: No pain at all.
C: It’s only going to get stronger and stronger. The classes you’ve been doing, as I said, you know, they do sort of focus on that area, the core area, which all strengthens your back. And losing the weight, it’s all so awesome, man. Definitely doing all you can do to make yourself feel better.
J: Yeah. And that little change has improved my confidence, my self-esteem, my happiness so much, because when you have pain and then you feel healthy again, you realise how much that pain was bogging you down.
C: Yeah, no doubt. [laughs] I’ve seen the change. I’ve seen the transformation. And being happy and being yourself. Coming out and not being internal.
J: Yeah and all of that, you know, you (Chris), Brian, Jodi (owners of Finca de Vida), everyone here at the farm.
C: And Lisa.
J: Lisa! Everyone here at the farm has helped me so much. With, you know, you boost my confidence, and eventually, the tape recorder in my mind starts playing all of that, all of these confidence-boosting thoughts. And the thoughts changed and the action changed. It’s so awesome.
The Raw Advantage Interviews Jose Gonzalez, A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial
C: And the action, right? Sometimes reverse it, start with the words, go to thoughts and the actions all follow. That’s so awesome. Also, you’re talking about how before you’d wake up and take a long time to get out of bed. How has all that kind of changed?
J: Oh, wow. Again, complete difference. When I got here, I was waking up and it took me a long time to get out of bed. Before I got here I’d stay in bed for 30 minutes, tossing and turning, I couldn’t get out of bed. When I woke up, instead of feeling energised, I felt like I was actually just tired from a 12 hour work day. And now I wake up and I’m like, I’m turn on.
C: Ready.
J: Yeah, ready for the day. I feel great.
C: So now, what are some of your favourite meals? What do you love to be eating? What have you been eating since you’ve been here?
J: [laughs] It’s like I’m going through a fruit phase, right now. And I love it.
C: You’ve had a few, right? You’d have some where it was all fruit, and you’re like ‘I don’t really want fruit, I want cucumbers and lime, some salads.’ Then you’re back to the fruits again. You’re just embracing it all.
J: Everything, it’s just like small little phases. Oh I’m craving this fruit, so I eat a bunch of it. And then I start craving this other fruit and I’d eat a bunch of that. And it’s just, I’ve gone, like pineapple, I’ve gone back to it several times, I love it. Watermelon. All of these fruits, I’ve having a love affair with them.
The Raw Advantage Interviews Jose Gonzalez, A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial
C: It’s so awesome, man. So awesome. And they love you as much you love them, which is the most beautiful thing.
J: And they make me feel so good.
C: Yeah. So you’ve been mostly mono meals? Right, lots of mono meals, tonnes of simple recipes here and there. The other night we made some simple pasta. And of course, being here 2 months we did some transitional stuff, we had some chilli, tacos.
J: Raw vegan chilli.
C: Raw vegan chilli. What were your favourite of those?
J: Oh definitely, hands down the raw vegan chilli. That was amazing. It was like one of the best foods I’ve had, whether they were cooked or raw. It was so so good.
C: Awesome. So glad you like it.
J: So filling. And at the same time, it didn’t bog me down. It didn’t make me want to go take a nap.
C: It was a no-fat chilli. There’s actually zero overt fat in this raw vegan chilli.
J: It was incredible. I mean, the food you have made has been incredibly delicious. So nutritious. I’m just gonna miss it all.
The Raw Advantage Interviews Jose Gonzalez, A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial
C: Remember, I have my book. So you’re going to be able to bring that home and share that with your family. And I showed you some of these recipes, they’re really easy to make.
J: They are.
C: Not that hard at all. That’s awesome, man. You know, it’s been really awesome being here with you, and sharing and growing with you.
J: It’s the same with you.
C: It’s been mutual for sure. I’m really looking forward to talking more. And anytime you need anything, reach out, for sure.
J: Thank you.
C: Stay in touch with us here, too, ’cause we’re going to put the before and after pics from here in the months to come. Keep us up to date. It’ll be awesome. We want to help encourage you and stay with you, anything we can ever do, you know.
J: Thank you so much, Chris. You have been amazing, an amazing teacher to me, an amazing friend, I couldn’t have asked for more. Thank you so much.
C: It’s been my pleasure, man.
J: Thank you.
C: You saw it here at The Raw Advantage. This is Jose coming to you live from Finca da Vida. Blessings. We’ll see you again.
The Raw Advantage Interviews Jose Gonzalez, A Raw Food Diet Weight Loss Testimonial
Hope you really really enjoyed the interview and Pictures!!!
Frickin Fruitluck of mass Proportions In Central Park of NYC!!!!
So so so excited!!! Enjoy the video!
Check the poster below for more details
Frickin Fruitlucks were started on the idea of having simple raw food gatherings focused on enjoying whole fresh ripe raw and preferably organic fruits and veggies in their natural state. The focus on fruit, no need for prep work, bowls, knives forks or any tools, rather eating whole foods as you would in nature. Enjoying good conversation, yoga, play, exercise, mediation, handstands ahah really anything that fits the vibe n flow or the roll of any individual is welcomed and encouraged. Simply enjoying the sun with some fun fruit loving peoples, raw, rawcurious, vegan vegancurious, omnivorous everyone is always welcome. Sure to grow into events of epic proportions bring your freinds family pets kids even that couzin you rarely see. We can go over the concepts of raw foods, the low fat raw lifestyle, fitness, rainbows really anything your heart desires.
Very excited to enjoy one in Central Park of New York City, My first time to NYC, gotta make a splash with this Fruitluck!!
Confirmed guests include Myself yeaaaaaaa, Aimee ohhhhhh, Miss Organic weeeee, Durian Rider yeeeee, Freelee ohhhhhhh, Sr Sam yippppppp, Lisa S arrrrrrrrr and so many more!!! Come enjoy the raw vibes in NYC lets raise it a notch higher!
Posted in Uncategorized on 08/08/2011 09:07 pm by Banana Commander
Blessings all!!
Most stoked to complete the Waterfasting Videos!!
Here we have day 12 and 13, the way I came to break the fast, why as well as info on breaking a fast in general. I also include the before and after pictures
P.s Its the final countdown to the Woodstock Fruit Festival!!! Its not too late to sign up, it will be the most amazing event of the year I am sure!! For more peep my last post here!
I hope you enjoy it tons!!
Day 12, what a day. Pretty simple actually, nothing to amazing to report, mellow and relaxed, did a bit of computer work otherwise kept it simple.
I had initially planned on writing about and making videos on both Sungazing as well as the Cool Pools, Brian and Jody covered this so well on their youtube channel I simply will provide their links Great Channel n much awesome info BTW Much love to Farm of life n especially Brian and Jody Calvi
Later in the day a bit of a thunderstorm, really exciting I love thunderstorms, during this time I had my first break from the water fast, I drank some coconut Water!! Coconut water and Lemon lime water (diluted with lots of water) are some of the best things to come off a fast with as they prime, or prepare the stomach by inducing digestive secretions and wake up the digestive organs with little to no energy. I will admit drinking the Coconut water stemmed from being tempted to enjoy the sweetness, not to mention feeling physically ready to come back into the world of eating n exersising. I enjoyed a few cups worth and decided to wait untill the next day to fully decide if I would break the fast.
Perfection in the process, all in a constant state of perfection, moving in the direction of the highest vibration!! Love it!
Day 13 came, lucky 13 ahha I dont believe in luck rather simply follow intuition consciously creating my experience. I came to the decision that bay 13 was a perfect day to break my fast. I was excited about eating, exercising and coming back into helping guests and the Farm of Life itself! Also Ill admit there was a huge bounty of fresh ripe Banana’s Pineapple, Mangos and Cantaloupes that didn’t have enough mouths to be taken care of! haah I was ready! Nothing to prove, simply moving in the moment.
Some would say I didn’t follow the Perfect Protocol, waiting until salivation and a fully clear tongue, in the moment I felt I had gone deep enough especially with the simple pure diet I enjoy full time!
My first food.. a Beautiful perfectly picked ripe farm of life pineapple!!! I had been thinking of pineapple and desired it intuitively, truely it was one of the best things i ever had eaten in my life. This is normal, the first food you eat tastes better than you have every tasted, that is as long as its of good quality. I have had a few people tell me that Pinapples have not worked well for them in breaking a fast, creating some stomach pain, Myself I felt great doing so. Most often people break their fast on Citrus or Melon, especially watermelon. Eating very small meals, especially the first one is most conducive to slowly restarting the digestive system. For most this may be a small slice of watermellon or a half cup of juice diluted with water. I Chose 1/2 a really small pineapple. MMM it was so so so so good!!
4 – 6 very small mono meals the first day, 4- 5 the next day and by day three 3 – 4 meals should be adequate. Depending on the length of the fast you may not want to add vegetables (meaning leafy greens) untill day 2 or 3, if longer than mine even longer. Once again I do not suggest doing fast longer than 2 – 3 days without supervision.
Later in the day I finished the pineapple, then had some exercise before 1/3 a cantaloupe. Later I enjoyed a mango and a half and for dinner a few banana’s. By day two I mono ate banana’s all day and day three I almost felt right back in full swing. Amazingly I nearly felt 100% right after eating, most of the time it takes a while to get back in the swing but I truely felt quite strong and able fast!
Enjoy some Before and after photos!!
Rawwwwwwwwrrrr!!!
Thanks Gratitude and Blessings to Brian and Jody of The Farm of life, For sure a amazing amazing beautiful place to learn and apply all the principals of a natural healthy hygienic lifestyle enjoying the best raw food and if you desire a affordable supervised fast
I am going to include some awesome Information that Loren Lockman graciously provided me with to help out, including other fasting practitioners and insights from his 15 years of fasting people at his centre, Thanks Loren, I really appreciate your insights information and helping hand!
Loren Lockman:
“Alan Goldhamer run’s the largest fasting center in the world now, in Northern California. Tanglewood was larger until Goldhamer moved to new quarters in Panama 5 or 6 years ago. He’s been fasting people for at least 20 years full-time.
Keiki Sidwha, Alec Burton, and Dave Scott all have more than 50 years of experience fasting people, and are all still working, though not nearly as much as before. No one alive has more experience than any of these guys.
John Fielder is in his 70′s and has been fasting people quite a long time as well, though I can’t say how long. I met him at a Natural Hygiene Conference back in the early 90′s and he was in practice then.
There are two more guys, one in Israel, and one in South Africa who both have been supervising fasts for a while. The guy in Israel may not be very active, but the South African doctor runs a full-time fasting center and sees a lot of people, which is true for everyone else on this list as well.
Tanglewood was expressly set up to help anyone who wants to get well, and I have worked hard to keep our prices as low as possible and keep going.
It may seem like going from supervising 3-5 day fasts to supervising much longer ones is not a big deal, but that is not the case. Frankly, it takes the body between 5 and 7 days to get into the process, so shorter fasts are never particularly profound. I’m not suggesting that they aren’t beneficial or powerful for an individual, but they are never working at a deep level because it takes a while to get to that deep level.
Our average guest fasts 24-25 days, and I’ve taken thousands of people through this process, fasting nearly 150 for 6 weeks or more. Often, we don’t even see intense cleansing happening until someone has gone more than 21 days.”
“Usually people bounce back pretty quickly after relatively short fasts like yours. I know most people wouldn’t call two weeks short, but we rarely do fasts that short here anymore. Given that it takes up to a week to get into the deepest part of the process, one usually just doesn’t go that deep in that amount of time.
Raw foodists often think that their x yrs raw means that they are clean, but I’ve fasted hundreds of raw foodists — maybe a thousand — and virtually every one was significantly dehydrated, (whether lfrv or not) and virtually every one had a huge cleansing experience.
People often think that a raw diet — or a fruit based diet — is cleansing. The truth is that no diet is cleansing. A fruit based diet simply provides the body with fewer impediments to cleansing than any other. The body does the cleansing, and no matter what one is eating, the majority of our energy goes into processing food, leaving relatively little energy for serious cleansing or healing. What happens is usually just the tip of the iceberg. This is why a properly-conducted, long-enough water fast is many, many, many times more powerful than eating the best diet (or doing anything else) in terms of cleansing. And the more one eats, the less cleansing the body is able to do, so all of those folks trying to get as many calories as possible in are getting far less cleansing benefit than they would if they were listening to their body.
I’ve had many long term raw foodists, even when eating very simply have huge cleanses. One woman, after more than 10 years on simple lfrv was shocked at what happened for her in three weeks of fasting. Another guy here earlier this year had been raw since he heard me speak 12 years ago and finally came to fast. All this time he’d been thinking that because he was raw, he didn’t need to fast. I finally convinced him to come, and after about 10 days, his body started to eliminate photographic developer. He was really surprised, and so I said, “But you’re a photographer. That’s not really so surprising.” Then he told me that he hadn’t developed his own pictures in over 40 years. Hadn’t touched the stuff!
I will unconditionally guarantee you that fasting for 21 days or more would be the single most powerful thing that you’ve ever done. And I’d be willing to bet too, that like most people, despite your excellent diet, you aren’t even close to being properly hydrated. In five years, and over 1000 people measured, less than 10 have been even close. and all but one had done long fasts with me and than followed my recommendations afterward.
It’s true that some of the people who have transitioned while fasting were probably going to transition anyway, but this is certainly not always the case. Often people who don’t really have the experience are not properly interpreting the signs.
Not eating for several weeks is a serious thing and not something to mess around with. And this is not really something one wants so learn by just doing it. Usually it makes far more sense and endangers fewer people to learn at the elbow of someone who really has the experience and expertise.”
True Gems, thanks again Loren!!
I really aprecite your sharing and alowing me to spread your words to my readers.
Even as I broke the fast I felt and knew a longer fast would be in my future, when and exactly for how long?
Posted in Uncategorized on 08/07/2011 10:03 pm by Banana Commander
Oh my oh My!!!
I gotta say I am really really really Excited!!!
The Woodstock Fruit Festival is sooo near I can almost taste the abundance of sweetness!!
From the endless supply of Whole Fresh Ripe Seasonal Fruits n Veggies to the amazing Classes and Presentations from the Leaders of the Raw Food Movement!!!
Forming new friendships with like minded people, learning and growing together with those exhibiting the health n freedom one would wish for cant be beat!!!
I am really excited myself to be offering both Kundalini/Kendalini yoga as well as my Raw Power yoga, not to mention a abundance of amazing sipmple 811 style raw recipes as I head up the kitchen for the dinner buffett!!
If your on the fence, this is the time to decide, It quite simply will be the raw/health/fitness/rawsome event of the year to attend. Here is a quick rundown with some link s to learn more!!!
Last Chance! The Woodstock Fruit Festival – A Historic First!
Ok everyone this is it!
The Woodstock Fruit Festival is almost upon us.
Don’t miss this Historic lifetime event! Be at the First Woodstock Fruit Festival – where it all started!
Join the World’s leading authorities on a fruit-based raw vegan lifestyle, be ‘the change you want to see in the world’.
Imagine:
Being in the presence of hundreds of other fruit eaters. Make friends (and maybe lovers) for life! Eat all the fruit you desire!
The event is being heavily subsidized this year, take advantage of the rock bottom price!
Check out the highlights of the festival here > http://www.thewoodstockfruitfestival.com/page/highlights-1
From playtime morning fitness class with Dr Doug Graham, fantastic nature, mountain creeks and ponds, to live rants with Durianrider, Yoga with Chris Kendall all in the beautiful Catskill mountains.
The location (Menla Mountain Retreat Center) is so sacred that it’s even owned by the Dalai Lama himself!!
Come join us for an unforgettable week from the 18th of August to the 25th”
It’s not too late!
Posted in Uncategorized on 08/06/2011 06:31 pm by Banana Commander
Blessings All
Wowser day 11,
Going pretty deep here, letting out some skeletons, some skeletons oooooohhhhhh.
Raw Vegan Confessions, or better yet “Confessions of a Raw Vegan” copyright don’t even try it, thats one of my next book titles.
If you use that you will looks really really silly, the date im writing this is forever on the net and will hold up in court!!!
IM deadly serious, and deadly btw.
To get a sneak peak enjoy the video!!
Into day 11, feeling quite good actually, not quite as elated as day 10 but feeling really good. While its not optimal, I have been moved by passion, purpose, intuition as well as a explosion of creativity to work on my computer during the fast. Doing much work behind the scenes, adding widgets, buttons, pages and such to my website, excited to come to serve others more efficiently as well as loving writing my book “Cravings Busters Transitional Recipes”.
Getting into some confessions of a raw vegan, letting out those skeletons!
Well, i apologise if your just reading as your going to have to watch the video to catch it. I will update this post with a written blog all about it, but in the moment I am having a family reunion and wish to stay present here.
I really hope you enjoy the video, I will let you know in a future post when this has been updated!
Posted in Uncategorized on 08/04/2011 11:45 pm by Banana Commander
Blessings All!!
Its that time again!
Every second month 1/2 of all my donations accumulated from my recipe book go to a different charity decided by those donating.
Drum roll!!!!!!!!!
This month Kiva vaturned out to be the winner of the “101 Frickin Rawsome Recipes” donations Charity vote!!!
A Really sweet site that helps those without the funds to grow their business’s, accomplish projects and feed their families, effectively helping alleviate poverty. All loans eventually get paid back to you in the form of credits, from there you are able to lend them out to another project, individual or business in need!! Really cool! I helped two different fruit vendors in the Philippines with the money needed to buy more produce to sell.
Right from Kiva’s site:
“We are a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.
Since Kiva was founded in 2005:
612,118 Kiva lenders
$232 million in loans
98.79% Repayment rate
We work with:
135 Field Partners
450 volunteers around the world
59 different countries
Why we do what we do
We envision a world where all people – even in the most remote areas of the globe – hold the power to create opportunity for themselves and others.
We believe providing safe, affordable access to capital to those in need helps people create better lives for themselves and their families.
How we do it
Making a loan on Kiva is so simple that you may not realize how much work goes on behind the scenes.
Kiva works with microfinance institutions on five continents to provide loans to people without access to traditional banking systems. One hundred percent of your loan is sent to these microfinance institutions, which we call Field Partners, who administer the loans in the field.
Kiva relies on a world wide network of over 450 volunteers who work with our Field Partners, edit and translate borrower stories, and ensure the smooth operation of countless other Kiva programs.
100% of every dollar you lend on Kiva goes directly towards funding loans; Kiva does not take a cut. Furthermore, Kiva does not charge interest to our Field Partners, who administer the loans.
Kiva is primarily funded through the support of lenders making optional donations. We also raise funds through grants, corporate sponsors, and foundations.
We are incredibly thankful for the support that has enabled us to do the work that has touched the lives of so many people.
Posted in Uncategorized on 08/03/2011 09:52 pm by Banana Commander
Blessings All!!!
So so excited to rawkout another Fruitluck here in Saskatoon!!
This one is a special Fruitluck I plan to do every year on 811, that is the 11th of the 8th month!!!!
Come enjoy some Whole Fresh Ripe Raw Fruits and Veggies with good company in Victoria Park by the skateboard park wedensday the 11 at 11 am to 2 pm : )
Any questions comments or concerns can be met along side the fun in the sun playing, doing yoga, skateboarding, feasting, running, jumping!
This fruitluck is in Honor of Dr Douglas Graham and his amazing book “The 80/10/10 Diet” (which I recommend very highly).
If you don’t know the relevance of 811 I will shed some light. 811 is simply a shortened name for of 80/10/10. This is simply a calorie nutrient ratio, what it means is that for optimal results, to flow with our species specific diet we are best served by getting 80 % or more of our calories from Carbohydrates and 10% or less of our calories coming from Protein and Fat. The biggest, longest, most well researched studies on human nutrition as well as the healthiest longest lived people in the world all point to the same formula, a high carbohydrate diet lower in fat and protein.
Its amazing actually, when we simply eat from fruits and young tender greens, eating enough to meet our caloric needs, our nutrient ratios automattically fall into the 80/10/10 guidelines! Focusing on fruit for calories, greens for extra mineral density and smaller amounts of nuts and seeds makes sence from a seasonal persepctive as well as a physiological perspective. This is how the animals in nature that we are genetically closest to eat. The smarter and more peaceful the primate the more fruit they eat and the less leafs and animal products. The Bonobo (a pigmy chimpanzee) eats on average 2% or less of its diet from animal origin and eats more fruit than any primate, This Monkey has the intelligence of a 8 year old child! Doug didnt re invent the wheel here, he took what was known in both Nutritional science as well as sports science and applied it to a raw vegan lifestyle with unbeatable results!
To say Doug has impacted my life would be a vast understatement, meeting Dr Graham over 7 years ago changed my life profoundly pointing me in the direction and path I am now on filled with passion and purpose. I feel blessed to consider him a mentor, a role model, and a friend. With that I wish to give thanks to him, his book and the example he is setting for us all. Truly a lighthouse helping bring about unparalleled levels of health and fitness all while growing in compassion for all living beings!
Thanks Dr D!!
To celebrate 811 day This fruitluck will follow the 80/10/10 principals just as all of my fruitlucks do!! Simply bring as much of your favorite fruit, no need to cut it up, prepare it or even bring a knife. Tender young greens and fruit veggies such as cucumbers, tomatoes and sweet peppers are great additions if you so choose!!! We will sit in the sun, talk and share expereinces, I can answer any questions reguarding 80/10/10 or the raw vegan lifestyle. We can all enjoy yoga in the park, running, playing, handstands, skateboarding anything we wish!!!
Really excited to bring this to saskatoon this year, I hope to see you there!!!
Much Peacelovenseasonalfruit ck
P.S Dr Douglas Graham puts on many events of his own, in fact some of the best events I could ever recommend anyone attend!!! Here is his event scedual for this year, and here is his web site link
Posted in Uncategorized on 08/02/2011 06:01 pm by Banana Commander
Blessings All!
Getting into Day 10 with a really special anouncement!!!
SO so so so excited!!!
Check it out to see!!
Starting off with abundance and joy, as we all have or rather are!
Day 10 I awoke feeling clear and great, well barely can say that I awoke as I didn’t sleep much over the night. It was a eve of excitement, of bliss and thoughts of creation. Planning all I wish to create over the next months and years! From “Cravings Busters Transitional Recipes” ( I wrote out over 200 Recipes) to Improving my site, content videos, creating many new books I have brainstormed. I am so excited to create and improve content recipes and tips that can help people acheive their health and fitness goals.
SO much on the go, enjoying making it all grow!
Big announcement, Nicci Gafen (AKA “Miss Organic” the owner n brains behind the best Organic produce distribution in Melbourne Australia) and I are teaming up for a cross Australia Speaking, workshop, retreat extravaganza!!! I will be going out to Australia come this october (their spring) for a few months spreading the raw vibes all over OZ!! Love it!!
Thanks so so much Miss O for everything, feeling really blessed and excited more announcements on this as we create the Schedule and events!!!
To check her rawsome site out, great tips, recipes and of course Organic Produce Orders Go Here!
All in cycles, feeling really great, blissful in fact, but who knows around the corner could be a deeper pocket to clean out.
Almost feel like its a good time to break the fast, but am going to ride it out and see what comes up.
Posted in Uncategorized on 07/30/2011 04:37 pm by Banana Commander
Blessings all!!
Todays video starts off with day 8, a dark n dismal day and then goes into day 9, light n n exfoliating!
Day 7 disapeared… im just as confused as you are!
Hope you enjoy it along with the Skin Brushing info!
Into day 8, another dark emotion filled day a day of acceptance.
I look like a Sith lord all hooded and dark, oh my!!!
Spending alot of time with myself the last fewdays, been a process of relaxing and calmly observing my thoughts emotions and energy coming more and more to loving all. I feel truely blessed, all in its perfect place and time. When we can come to see all thought, all emotion all sitatuions as perfection inherent in our process. Perfection in the process!
All experience for the sake of experience for a more clear enlightened choice. Delving deep into our tissues and emotions in a fast such as this, everything is bound to come up. Dark emotions and thoughts come, its wether we see them accept them and let them go, or rather lock on to them with graspingness, fear and judgement that they effect us or helps us rise up!
Its through grattitude for all, acceptance and love through clearly seeing the gift of all of reality that we come to a state of bliss, a state of oneness. A process of continually choosing, they say the difference between the student and the master is that ” the master keeps choosing the same thing over and over again” hmm. What are you going to choose?
I wish to share with you all the sweetness of Skin Brushing
Dry skin brushing can be a really awesome addition to your lifestyle. A old practice backed up by application as well as science. Its a fact that you skin is your largest elimination organ, amazing to note that it releases a pound of waste each day! As it is the quickest to regenerate (that we see) it typically is also the first organ to show symptoms of imbalance or toxicity. Its so amazing as I always find that within the first 2 – 3 weeks one goes on a 100% raw diet the entire skin lofts of a layer and becomes much more smooth and clear, often lips drying then softening.
The skin has been called the 3rd kidney as it eliminates up to a quarter of our toxemia from the body (the lungs are the 2nd kidney). Without healthy clear clean skin we cannot efficiently release toxins, this can contribute to rashes, acne, hives, itchiness, body odor, or even eczema and psoriasis. Of course the internal environment is of the utmost importance in this, clean on the inside less to deal with on the outside. The raw diet is by far the best diet for skin health available to us. All that said skin brushing can help clear dead skin cells, excreted wastes and external pollution (including dirt and skin care products (i don’t recommend)) that can build up and clog your pores. Clogged pores inhibit your skin from effectively releasing toxins. Exposure to sunshine also helps our body detoxify and eliminate toxemia found on the surface of the skin. Sunscreens, oils and body creams can not only disrupt this but also create much more of a problem than one could think. I write much about this in my “10 Sure Shot Ways to Drastically Improve your Health” ebook available for free when you sign up to my mailing list here.
To a extent if toxins are unable to escape through the skin they then can be either stored in fat cells adding to cellulite and other fatty deposits, or they re-circulate back into the blood stream to the kidneys, liver and other detox organs. Skin brushing, sunbathing, exercise as well as bathing and a water and nutrient rich raw diet can do wonders for your skin health facilitating all of the above!
Exfoliating the skin is great for creating radiant and vibrant looking skin, skin brushing is a great way to accomplish this. Most people dont know it’s also an excellent tool to help increase circulation, strengthen the immune system, stimulate the nervous system, tone the muscles and improve digestion? Here is a list of some of the benefits of dry skin brushing:
Removes dead skin cells
Stimulates blood and lymph flow.
Stimulates the hormone and oil glands
Reduces cellulite
Strengthens the immune system
Stimulates the nervous system, tones the muscles, tightens the skin
Nurtures your body
You can use any brush or better yet a natural loofa like I have!!
Brush your dry body before you shower or bathe, most enjoy it in the morning.
Start at your hands or feet best for sure to brush toward your heart. Use brisk circular motions or long, even strokes.
Brush all the way up your legs, then over your abdomen, buttocks, and back. If you have cellulite on your hips and thighs, concentrate their a little longer. Apparently to help the dissolving of cellulite, brush for 10 minutes daily for several months.
Brush lightly on sensitive areas like breasts and more firmly on areas like soles of the feet.
When you reach your arms, begin at your fingers and brush up your arms, toward your heart. Brush your shoulders and chest down, always toward your heart.
Avoid brushing anywhere the skin is broken or where you have a rash, infection, cut or wound.
Finish by taking a shower and if you choose, use cold/hot therapy to further stimulate the lymphatic system and improve circulation.
Exercises such as rebounding, jogging, playing, jumping, anything that creates increased blood flow and a up and down motion helps with lymphatic drainage. Enjoy it all!!
While some rigid techniques give a set number of strokes or can even take a 1/2 hour to complete I believe in moving fluidly in the moment, taking the time and the number of strokes that feel good to you. 5 minutes can be all it takes, even a quick minute or two can have a profound effect. Remember this is but one useful tool, the more you have in your tool belt the better equipt you are for self and others.
I hope you enjoyed this, taking the time to pamper ourselves is quite gift, one that is energetially felt within our entire beings, Go ahead pamper yourself, your worth it
Posted in Uncategorized on 07/26/2011 09:47 pm by Banana Commander
Blissings all
Got another fun fasting day blog post for you!
Today I will be focusing on Enima’s, Colonics, Colon Hydrotherapy as well as Herbal “cleanses”.
I hope you find it insightful
Oh n a BIG P.S I just got my Interview with Ellen Livingston of Living Yoga Now Transcribed, so if you wish to read this uplifting and informative interview check it out here!
To the Video!!!
Still testing the Transcribing (with a few additions) let me know if you prefer this or my usual writing style.
Oh my day 6, you caught me in Bed!!
Well guess what Ive been in bed nearly all day, didnt leave bed untill about 2 o’clock then went up and watched Harry Potter 5!! Yea Im a harry Potter fan, I like it!
Anyways, I watched that with some of the guests here at The Farm of Life .
Pretty much just came back to bed and have been watching some documentaries and listening to some insightful audiobooks I love. Some great ones are “The Power of Now” By Ekhart Tolle and “Conversations with God” by Neil Donald Walsh. Been catching up on some inspirational flows, otherwise keeping it really mellow yellow.
Today I took another demon poo, oops Elimination! Really stinky one!!
Pretty much emptied out I think.
Thunder storming out here today, nice relaxing rainy day. Pretty calm and relaxing.
Today I want to talk a little bit about Enema’s (Enema’s Colon Hydrotherapy, Colonics and other Backward Flows, Pun intended) because a lot of people really love them. Many Practitioners think they are the best thing in the world, preached as something you should do all the time or any time your starting a fast, ending a fast, creating a new lifestyle blah blah blah.
Hey, ya know I have some really good friends who perform enimas or more so colonics and colon hydrotherapy and I know they do so out of the belief that it is a really good helpful practice. From my learnings and imho its not only a unnecessary process but also a dangerous and enervating one that actually lessens our growth, more to that below.
In this way (mouth) out that way (bum) one more time
In this way (mouth) out that way (bum)
Ya know when you are eating primarily or exclusively from high water content high fiber foods there is absolutely no need to go up the bottom side and try to clean out your colon. Your colon health begins with what you put in your mouth.
I would much rather see someone goto the root of the issue, making permanent lifestyle ( Exercise, hydration emotional poise all effect digestive and colon health) and dietary choices, creating healthy habits that would in turn create balanced colon health. In the end Enema’s, colonics, and colon hydrotherapy are just westernized thinking of quick fixes or band-aid fixes. Instead of taking responsibility and going to the root cause many people use these processes as a way to seemingly negate the effects of their choices, only then compounding them.
While the practice of enema’s itself is pretty old, back to at least the ancient Egyptians as well as the Greeks, they were presented under false assumptions of our physiology. They believed the colon was the sewage system of the body in that it needed to be cleaned out to prevent auto-intoxication. The truth of the matter is there are many types of beneficial bacteria in the colon further decomposing foodstuffs responsible for the absorption of many beneficial byproducts. All of these processes belittle the bodies natural eliminative power as well as wash out the “good and bad” bacteria present within the colon. Eating of healthful whole foods high in water and fiber is a much safer and surer way to achieve good bowel and intestinal health.
Unlike some Hygienists I would say there Maybe, Maybe and this is a big MAYBE for me, be some times when a session or round of Colonics may be a ok option, but still not without some risks. This may be in the case of someone abruptly and drastically switching their food intake from high fat animal foods to a predominately or fully raw vegan lifestyle. IN this case one MAY experience a faster eliminative cycle using them to going into a fast or the new lifestyle to help ease detox or discomfort from bloat. Regardless of this Maybe, the better route in my honest opinion would be to have a week of simple easy to digest cooked vegetarian eating to slowly clean out the intestines and bowel then move into a 100% raw lifestyle.
Its a truth that Enema’s, Colonics and Colon Hydrotherapy are really a enervating process’s that comes with a list of possible dangers. For one I have heard of people who become dependant on colonics for elimination, dodo’s. In other words they cant go to the bathroom without a colonic or enima. Thats pretty horrible!
Something else to look out for is the cleanliness and sterility for the equipment being used. The colon is a warm damp place with various bacteria in a delicate balance, poorly sterilised equipment can lead to infections such as amoebic infection and may interfere with the colon’s ability to shed dead cells. Other rare but serious complications include gastrointestinal perforation from improper insertion.Some colon cleansing regimens disrupt our natural fluid and electrolyte balance which may lead to dehydration and salt depletion. Repeated or excessive cleansing programs can lead to anemia and malnutrition.Excessive use of enemas has also been associated with cardiac problems such as heart failure,and heart attacks related to electrolyte imbalances when used with coffee.
Another thing I have seen happen often is that people become pysiologically addicted to colonics, using them as a quick fix or as a band-aid like recourse for any “slips” or digressions from their dietary regiem. Any time one slips from their ideal, eats too many nuts or has a binge and eats “whatever” outside of their “ok” foods they run to a colonic to, in their mind, avoid the consequences.
Taking Colonics as a Magic pill or something that will save them from the responsibility of their own actions. In the end this is a false precept and one that can stagnate / inhibit personal and dietary growth. Each action has a consequence, side stepping often ends up simply shifting or compounding the issues that manifest the initial problem.
I think that its really important that we make lasting changes and that we live with what we do to ourselves. That way we develop long lasting habits that are the best for us.
Just my thoughts anyways, I would much rather put good food in my mouth, something that tastes really good, is high water and fiber and by its nature will push everything through in the perfect transit time. All fruits and veggies (excluding natural antibiotics and irritants such as garlic, onions, ginger, hot peppers etc) are natural probiotics supporting the natural balance of beneficial bacteria in your gut as well as in your colon. Without this balance and bacteria we wouldn’t be alive or well by any stretch of the word. So as long as your eating good foods, food combining well, exercising there is absolutely no need to “help out” your colon.
The whole scare or idea of there being a caked on intense thick thick mucous layer of impacted DODO along your intestines and colon I just really don’t see this as truth. From the sources I have read, the people I trust, such as Dr Douglas Graham, whom have talked to Dr’s who do intestinal and colon surgery or actually open up cadavers and can see what is inside the colon there is no evidence to support this theory. The intestine is like the inside of your mouth, do you find peices of food stuck there? No no it passes through.
I do acknowledge that one can create out pockets in their intestine getting foodstuff and matter stuck in there. This is a area of interest of mine and something I am going to do more research on going directly to the source asking people who work inside of humans as a profession. Ive seen too many Hucksters, hucksters how do you like that Harley, aka Durianrider, love that word ahah thanks, who sell thier super duper mega fiber supliment with clay and physillium husks to clean out your intestine saying you have to eat a whole bunch of this and that powder or product, only 19.99, and take rounds of colonics or colon hydrotherapy to be “clean”. Taking peoples power away creating “solutions” out side of self, creating the illusion of a need that isnt there. All that stuff is really expensive dangerous and ridiculous!
Save yourself some money, enjoy eating the fruits and vegetables that you enjoy and reap the benefits. Its that simple.
Enjoying day 6, Im going to go to sleep here, peace n love.
Posted in Uncategorized on 07/20/2011 01:54 am by Banana Commander
Blessings All
Today I expose a very personal, for a long time private time and part of my life in “Water fasting Day 5″
Getting into negative emotions, thought patterns, beliefs and how to accept love and growth through them.
I hope you enjoy it much!
Going to give transcribing a shot, let me know what you think!
ok I may add a few little tid bits and edit a bit too haha ….
Im sitting on a ant hill!! Oh my I hope that doesn’t get me!
Day five still alive still kicking and breathing, of course I am day 5 is nothing..
Ive been allot more restful the last 24 hours, went to bed early. Felt pretty tired yesterday actually, and a little bit grumpy.
A little grumpy!!
Its been a while since ive been really grumpy and I was on the border of pretty grumpy. That makes allot of sense actualy as days 3, 4, and 5 going through allot of deep tissue cleaning. I had already gone through all of the contents of my intestine and bowels in days 1 -3, max 4, metabolizing the leftovers and residues which can be quite intense.
We did a awesome Tibetan Bowls session up at the yoga platform here with Brian Calvi of The Farm of Life . It was amazing, the tibetan bowls, there is 7 of them each attuned to resonate in the frequency of a individual chakra. Going through a bowl session each is “played” or “rung” in a specific, or intuitively led order to help awaken, revitalize, balance and stimulate ones auric field. It can be quite relaxing or stirring depending on the session. A awesome meditative practice bringing one deeper into the self, a great practice at the farm. A good half hour session with the bowls, thanks Brian.
Today I wish to talk a little bit about Do Do….. Elimination sorry. Elimination. The first two days I had one, the third day I had two, I didn’t have any on the fourth day, then today on day five I had a really stinky Do Do…. elimination. It was big, it was kinda gross. That pretty normal though, ive done allot of fasts and its pretty much the same kinda flow that usually goes. Moving out the old making room for the new. Thats how she goes.
I am not a advocate of Enemas nor colonics, preferring to allow the body to move at the pace and in the manner it sees best. There are some dangers and flaws in thought with the “Enema cure” IMHO, something I will dedicate a whole post to in the future.
I also want to talk a little bit about Thoughts. You maybe wouldnt guess it, but you probably should guess it…
Its not always bright sunny rainbows and sunflowers and all that kind of stuff. Everyone has dark thoughts and feelings at times, maybe only the enlightened masters don’t. Or who knows maybe more accurately they do but simply do not grasp on to those thoughts instead they see them, accept them, love them and let them pass.
This just brings me to my last 24 hours, I had a little bit of a dark spell. I felt some emotions and had some thoughts that I haven’t had for a really long time. It has allowed me to look closer at those thoughts and feelings, seeing them, accepting them and attempt to give love to them. When you give love to things that people would typically shush away and try to cover up and repress, then you’ve worked through them. When you accept and love something it no longer has to consume you, or be a part of your life. You then can be free to choose a different reality as its all choice, joyous choice.
When I was younger, in my last few years of lots of alcohol, cigarettes, crappy foods and light drug abuse, including marijuana and magic mushrooms, I came to a place in those times where I became quite depressed. I really did start to hate myself, to the degree that honestly most nights I wished myself dead. I wished that I wouldn’t wake up the next morning. When I was on flights I would pray that the plane would crash, im not kidding! Its really Scary, but that really shows the lack of self love I was experiencing as well as the lack of love I felt for everyone else on the plane as in those moments I didn’t care, I was just like F#ck it all!
I just didn’t care, that was the state I had gotten to. I came to know that there are allot of people in that state. I started looking around at that time and found that allot of people weren’t really happy, they were just going through the motions. It seemed most people were actually quite depressed but at the same time they felt obliged to just keep on keeping on, I guess because thats what everyone else is doing.
When I found the raw food diet most of those symptoms went away really quick, within days. In fact within the first week of going 100% raw I felt so elated and so overjoyed with my life sitting in Bliss that it led to my knowing that this (Being a Raw Lifestyle Coach) was what I wanted to do full time. Even in my first week, my first month raw! When I went to nutiriton school I had no plans to use my knowledge for anything other than for my own self, for skateboarding as well as my friends and family or if someone asked, but really just for my self.
When I went raw I was like Holy Mango, This is It!! It hit me so hard that I knew I want to spread this, I want to devote my life to to helping others feel and experience the blissful changes I did.
I remember sometimes actually feeling and saying aloud “I would rather die than do anything else” (work as a Raw food holistic lifestyle coach).
I’ve gotten a little off topic but whatever happens thats how it flows grows and goes, all perfect, the best thing.
IN the last 24 hours Ive been having some of those old thoughts, you know not to the degree of wanting to off myself or anything but like to the extent of thinking, “Oh man I just want to quit everything and run away.” Just like “Everything is too much, there is so much going on” just getting out of the present, feeling overwhelmed with emotions, with toxemia floating though my body to be eliminated. I was feeling anxiousness inside me, some of that was creeping a back in, giving me another chance let it go.
I really just look at it like, as in any circumstance where we come into contact with someone feeling some emotions mirrored back to us, or as in this case as we bring them up in ourselves delving deep within, its just a chance to heal. A chance to see those issues, to see those beliefs, to see those judgements and fully be them, fully feel them with unconditional love and acceptance. I have been a bit more judgmental these last 24 hours blaming things outside of my self, why, cause its allot easier in the short term, but more challenging in the long term.
Really what does it do?, it gives you a chance to look at those thoughts, feelings and emotions to really see if they really fit your vision of your highest self.
To really just see that there is perfection in everything, everything is here for a reason. All these things are here, everything in this world is here for a reason. Every thought, every emotion, every action they are here for us to experience and to choose what our highest choice is. For us to choose who we want to be, what we want to create in this world. What we want to create within ourselves so it can be Without and all over. Everything that we Create within we eventually see and create without.
With that I am actually feeling allot better, allot of that has passed. The extra mega intense Do Do.. Elimination.. has helped clear allot from me. Putting focus on accepting and loving these emotions and feelings has helped move that stagnant toxemia and energy.
Just seeing all these judgments, or when we see “faults” (a misconception in the first place) in other people, or when someone aggravates you, or when you have some negative thoughts. Chose to see it , accept it, and love it.
Fully Love it!
Accept it, its just part of you. If you cant love all of you then your going to end up with some blockages. Thats just how it goes!!
So seeing it, accepting it, loving it and then letting it go then picking the highest choice, picking the choice that supports your highest self, supports who you want to be, what you want to create in this world.
Thats just what I have been feeling, what I am attempting in every moment to live up to myself.
Each moment anew, no need to think about the future, no need to worry about the past and whats happened.
Just right now, right here, creating yourself anew.
Creating your highest vision of yourself, living, loving, laughing, enjoying
If you could, please take this short Survey in order to help me in making the stuff you really want 
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