GREENS

The green drink from Wild Oats is the easiest thing I've done, and it absolutely fills me with energy. But! It does clear the intestinal tract and since beginning to add these wonderful green drinks, I am finding I have more meat cravings which I didn't have at all in the beginning. It's due to what is old and stored in the intestines and as it clears, those sensory receptors in the intestinal tract signal "more meat!", so Lauren's suggestions of "colonics" are starting to sound like a good idea to get me through this. I was ready to knaw on ribs today! It was an overwhelming urge for meat. I didn't do it, but wow was it ever prevalent. Thankfully by the time I got home to my husband barbequeing steaks for the guys, I was past my craving. Instead I went in and took the veges and made a quick raw soup while they were eating and cut up fruit. It's been so absolutely easy to stay with this because I love my natural high and don't want to lose it!

I'm finding my relationship with my own body and emotions to be so much more present. I am not hiding from myself, I'm not fooling myself. I am really pleased with food, eating or not eating. It's my choice. I also notice that I am sleeping better, deeper and my psychic connections are more available, which in my line of work is a good thing! :) Life sings in a new way. Joseph Campbell said that all of life is conscious and that we really need to be available to that dialog. For me, going raw has been that final step to connecting to that vitality in what we eat. Food is alive! It is!

For me, this is a whole new way of engaging my world, my body, my beliefs. I've done the diet thing, the doctor thing-yep Rebecca you got it there, the best seller book thing, the neighborhood "let's all walk in the morning" thing, the "trainer" thing-and yep Pam, you did run into another set of beliefs and opinions. Good for you with staying with your own because trainers eat very differently and it works for SOME of them.

In going raw shamanically, it's about the body talk within our feeling body, and listening to it rather than finding a way to turn it off or shut it down. It's about what WE say-between us and our bodies, that counts. I like the greens-you may NOT! I want to love my food and preparing it again, you may not want to think about it that much. For me, I have had a lifelong love hate relationship with food, but for sure not everyone has that going.

Food took lots of different positions in my emotional body. Played lots of roles if you will. In another's family, it may not have. My mother used it to quiet the children, to make us behave, to reward us, to punish us, to exert control, to show her love. It was everything. Most ethnic households are the same-(My Big Fat Greek Wedding to name one close to my heart). "Have something to eat dear".

For some, food and not getting your share may be the trigger to overeating, for others, being forced to eat whatever was cooked-and be thankful for it, may be it. For someone else, food means comfort, for another punishment. One woman that had a gorgeous body and was just naturally slim said "Food has never been a big deal to me. I eat when I'm hungry. Just something to have to do." Then she smiled and said "But my mother was a TERRIBLE cook!" which meant she had no positive connections to food or eating or the good smells coming from the kitchen! :) Some of my very favorite memories from childhood are centered around food. And the smell of cooking. Limbic brain stimulation.

Today I was thinking wouldn't it have been cool to have learnt this as a youngster. I remember living in Florida and the neighbor woman saying to me "Why, you're just a little rabbit aren't you!" as I happily munched on a carrot. I was 2 or so. I remember that really clear. So when did I lose it? WAS it television? Is that the beginning of the numbing out? I am watching almost NO television now, funnily enough.