Confidence to BUST!

Did you ever notice that being CONFIDENT is considered a bad thing sometimes? If someone “toots” their proverbial horn, we call them arrogant.

Have you remarked how apologetic most people are for their very existence?

I can’t count the number of emails I get from women who apologize for taking up my time! On teleseminars it happens often that I hear clients invalidate themselves for one reason or a hundred. None of them legitimate. As far as I am concerned, there is no reason for invalidation. Not of others, and certainly not of ourselves.

Things like regret are just energy suckers. I mean, think of how much better we’d all feel if we just put our attention into the creation of what we wanted instead of the pain, regret or loss of what was not or could have been.

How much more confident would we be?

How much more FUN would we have?

Chins up, Chiquitas!! Self-confidence is the compass for charting out your LIFE. It’s what gives you the courage to create, to dream and build. Don’t wait for it to show up after you’ve ditched those “last 10 pounds.”

It’s going to come when you DECIDE for once and for all that YOU ARE a DIVA and you start taking up the space you deserve out there in the world.

That’s such a great word. “Diva”

We should probably clear up what it means. Check out these definitions that I whipped up on Google:

Literally, “goddess,” a female opera star. Often used to describe a demanding or fussy opera star.

WHOO HOO! I love that one! “Demanding and fussy!” Tee hee!

A female opera star of great rank or pretension; the original Italian word means “goddess.”

That’s more like it!

“This was a species of near-human stock, note for its wild hair coloration. Note that this is actually a reference to the Theelin race, specifically the females.”

What the…?

I’ll let you investigate that one further, should you wish it, although, I admit, I liked it enough to post it. Could be the fact that I feel this definition particularly applies to myself. Here’s the link!

A female opera star. Translated into “goddess”; may imply a demanding or high-strung star.

There we go. I think you’re getting the idea! Just thing of an opera singer. She can command tremendous space and has a HUGE presence.

Splash on some color, put on a skirt and flip your hair over your shoulders and and just imagine yourself about 1000 ft tall. Take up some space, make some music, let your voice be heard!

For heaven’s sake! The world needs a lot more people like you, so if you get out there and play at maximum volume, it’ll help pull the rest of the sparkly ones out from their hiding place in the sand!

Just Sparkle, Sista! Radiate the kind of self-confidence that makes heads turn. If you hear yourself apologizing for taking up space or time, just take it back and pretend it was a sneeze that escaped!

You’ve dynamite! Explode!! What’s the worst that could happen?

Sparkles EVERYWHERE!!

The Essence of Diva

It’s not that she necessarily needs high heels, manicures or sparkly jewellry (although it definitely heightens her glitter factor).

It’s not that she’s materialistic, (even if she does love shopping).

She sure is playful and spirited.

She believes in adventure and is willing to create it for herself even while carrying out what some might consider “mundane.”

And while her pretty clothes and artillery of shoes offer the oompf she needs on cloudy days, the real beauty of a diva radiates not because of what she wears, but of who she is. She finds her bliss in the passionate pursuit of self-discovery. And as she soaks in the sensations around her, she realizes that SHE is the source of so much light and so much love and so much passionate enthusiasm, that she can hardly keep herself still.

And that’s why she dances, releasing into the universe an intimate expression of her very being.

Goodness gracious. Is it ever FUN being a woman!

Muah!

xo
Tera

Health in Eco Sneakers

From the Desk of the Divas:

While Tera has been splashing in puddles and watching the
leaves fall in Montreal, Amy has been enjoying a visit from
her mother and a well-deserved break from the computer to cash
in on play time! And that’s why this week’s issue of Health
In High Heels has been appropriately renamed.

So this week we’re keeping it simple. We’ll take the time
to respond to some of the questions we’ve received from
clients, let you know what we’re up to this week, and then
next week we’ll be back in full color with Health in High
Heels after Halloween! We have some very exciting
announcements to make, so prepare for great things!

In case you’ve missed any passed issues, you can check them
out here:ARCHIVES of Health in High Heels
**************************
Here are some Questions and Comments we’ve been getting from
YOU:

“Just saw that Tera was in Montreal. I am as well, and I was
wondering, how do you deal with our climate and raw food??
Don’t you eat warm soups in winter? Baked sweet potatoes?
I would love to have your thoughts, or please steer me in
the right direction. Thanks. – Ellie”

Thanks, Ellie, for writing, and congratulations on a
successful 7 Day Detox!

As winter approaches, I am admittedly a bit nervous. Last
winter I moved to the tropics, and the one before that was a
bit too much to take. I really suffered with constant
chills. If I lean into the cooked food category it’s steamed
broccoli and other greens, or a warming vegetable soup.

The people that I know who succeed with raw during the
winter do eat more of the root vegetables like pumpkin and
squash. Of course, I’m a sucker for fluffy sweaters, hot
baths and fresh herbal teas!

I have really been considering making this a completely raw
winter and just experimenting with a bit more determination!
I’ll keep you posted!

**NOTE: Ellie and I will be meeting for a smoothie soon! For
any of you in the Montreal area, if you’d like to get
together, just drop a line and let me know!

Speaking of get togethers, did you realize that Amy and Tera
have NEVER MET!

It’s true! But we may be finally making it happen around
Christmas this year! If you think you’d like to join us for
a winter dinner in Montreal, please let us know. If there’s
enough interest, we’ll make an event out of it, and get
www.crudessence.com to help cater a tasty raw feast for the
Divas.

*********************************
“Does raw eating increase the oxygen flow in the blood? How
much is too much exercise while detoxing? I have started
with about 20 minutes cycling and 20 minutes walking, and
would not like to stop during the detox.”

One of the things that drastically reduces the ability of
oxygen to be transported in the blood is FAT. If you’re
coming off the Standard American Diet high in fat, you’ll
likely notice a big difference in your athletic endurance
and cardio vascular endurance right away. The best thing
you can do for your athletic training is to follow a
low fat diet and just watch how much less you huff and
puff on the hills!

There’s no reason that following a detox diet should mean
you need to reduce your exercise, unless of course you’re
really not feeling well. Exercise and sweating is a great
way to contribute to the elimination of toxins from the
body! You go, Girl!

********************************

“I’d be interested in knowing your beliefs on the
following: Olive Oil, Cashews, Grains, Agave, Braggs,
Cacao.”

We don’t believe these foods play part of a healthy diet.
While we definitely think chocolate is intoxicating, we have
to put the emphasis on the “toxic” part of the word. In our
upcoming product on Cravings and Emotional Eating we include
a fantastic article on Cacao and go into much greater detail
and explanation about some of the other foods you’ve
mentioned here.

Ultimately, we support foods that you could find in nature
and would naturally be attracted to eating them in their
unrefined state. The fruit that surrounds the cacao bean is
actually quite sweet and delicious, but the bean itself is
very bitter. Ideally, we leave it off the plate, but like many
women, have been known to succumb from time to time.

Braggs: I am truly THRILLED to have eliminated this food
from my life. I don’t believe that it is any better than
salt, tamari or other highly addictive seasonings. Any time
you start adding things like Braggs to your recipes, you
immediately violate your own natural taste buds and their
sensitivity to simple taste–a recipe for cravings and food
addictions no matter how you look at it.

I know a lot of people debate whether some of these
Foods are truly “raw” but we prefer to choose foods that
Are just fundamentally simple, natural and good for us.
Just because something is “raw” doesn’t mean we
Would necessarily eat it.

Olive oil is a refined product, and I consider eating it like
I would a pure fat injection. I know a lot of people use it in recipes,
but we don’t consider it a whole food, or necessarily a
healthy food. I mean, if you can find fresh olives that aren’t
bathed in salt and formaldehyde (or whatever it is they bathe them in)
Then your best bet for olive oil is to eat olives.

If you missed our previous issue on grains, you can check
it out here:

Check out the article on grains HERE!
****************************
“I have candida. I have been advised by a nutritionist to
avoid fruit, anything that has sugar in it really. How do I
get round this problem seeing as a large proportion of a raw
food diet consists of fruit?”

Fortunately, I have personal experience to back this one up.
I used to suffer from terrible Candida, and
eating a banana meant breaking out in a yeast infection. At
the time, it was severe enough that it caused me to end
breast feeding my son at 4 months old. We were infecting
each other left and right. Because it’s very easy to see
violent Candida flare ups after sugar consumption, people
easily blame sugar as the villain in the situation, which it
is NOT! It’s just that no one bothered to eliminate the
other variables. Namely, FAT!

Fruit and fruit sugar is the most natural thing you can eat.
Your cell’s basic fuel is glucose, so getting simple sugars
from fruit is easily assimilated by the body.

If you can keep fat off your plate for even just 3 days, you
will notice a dramatic improvement in your Candida
condition. Too much fat in the blood inhibits the ability of
insulin to transport sugars and causes blood sugar levels to
rise, thus Candida grows out of control to handle the situation.

*****************************
“I recently read your article about grains not being
fit for human consumption. What about beans and legumes?
Thanks!”

Amy is much more of a Bean Queen than I am, so we’ll let
her answer! Sprout it out, Sunshine!

Just think of all the beautiful salads and scrumptious
Recipes you can make with sprouted mung beans,
and lentils! Lots of people really enjoy sprouting
beans and legumes and include them in their raw
food diet.

Amy says “sprouted lentils and beans are a great
way to fill up and avoid the chills of winter, too!”

Ultimately, you’ll have to try ‘em out and see
what feels best for you! Haven’t heard anyone
developing insatiable cravings for lentil sprouts
or being addicted to mung beans.

We have heard rumors of kidney beans being
toxic when sprouted, so you might want to avoid
those ones!

Amy suggests avoiding grocery store sprouts
which are often handled poorly and can have
e-coli and molds.

*******************************
“I would like to learn to eat as simple as possible, is it
possible to eat raw deliciously without all of the
dehydrating and complex “gourmet” foods.”

Yes, it is! In fact, it’s the only way we recommend doing
it! Admittedly, when starting out it can seem difficult to
learn the ropes. That’s why we recommend the 30 Day Body
Enlightenment System for people who really want to learn the
ropes and get started on implementing the raw food diet as a
way of life.

It’s not that you need to learn fancy equipment, it’s just
nice to have some recipe ideas and the support of other people
when you’re trying to make such a dramatic life change.

The BES provides complete shopping lists, nutritional
support and a complete menu planner and you don’t need
anything except a reasonably good blender to make all the
recipes!

To learn more about the BES, you Click here now:

****************************
Update on the Poi:

As you know, last week we SOLD OUT of our poi! Well, we
received many requests from our readers to stock up quickly.
So we did! If you’re not spinning, yet, now’s your chance to
get in on the action!

Last night my roommate bought her first set of poi, and we
went to the park and had a FANTASTIC time watching her bonk
herself in the head! I’ve rarely laughed so hard or had
quite that much fun!

If you’re ordering, we highly recommend you think about
stocking stuffers now! Honestly, these little poi come with
instructions and are recommended for ANYONE ages 3-101!! If
you’ve ever struggled to find a decent Christmas gift for
$10 or less, here’s the perfect thing! Order Extra Poi when
you place your order today!

And that’s it for this week’s Health In Eco Sneakers!

Catch you next week in full color!

Love and hugs,

The Raw Divas

A Mango Minute for the kids

Yikes.

Just been reading on The Powder Room about something called a “lockdown drill.” I had no idea, but apparently these are now standard procedure in most schools in the US. You may be wondering, if you’re like I was,

“What the heck is a “lockdown drill”?

It’s when students drill what to do if a gunman comes into the school and starts shooting people.

Ugh. When I heard about that, I was really shocked. I guess I could probably admit that I live in a bit of a bubble. It’s one thing to isolate oneself from the world of cooked food eaters, but I realize more and more that I have also isolated myself from the doomsayers and pessimists of the world.

I get so many incredible emails from women transforming their health and their lives… inspiring the lives of others around them and feeling empowered about their health.

I find it most empowering to put my attention on the things I want to validate. It’s not that I am not willing to confront what is there, because I get that there is a lot of nasty stuff going on. I really get it. But frankly, I just don’t understand the point of reading about it, sitting in front of the TV being radiated by it, feeling depressed by it, and talking about it with everyone I meet.

I’d just rather put my energy toward what helps, heals and makes the world a better place to me.

So, I will not embark on an extensive rant on what I think about Ritalin, or “Attention Deficit Disorders”.

I will, instead, suggest that perhaps we can all start changing things by taking a minute to think about mangos.

Just send out the intention, the thought, the postulate that kids everywhere have lunch boxes billowing with fruit and vegetables!

Imagine schools full of children that thrive, that are free of drugs and are validated for who they are and what they dream of achieving not invalidated and drugged because they play with pencils and are distracted.

Honestly, thought preceeds action. Just take a moment to send your GREAT BIG LOVE out to children everywhere. They’re the ones in whose hands we will be entrusting the work of keeping this planet going when we’re gone. They have to face the things we can only imagine at best.

So just hold them in your thoughts.

their lunchboxes billowing with fruits and veggies…
their parents patient, attentive and willing to listen.
their spirit of joy, of creativity and confidence on fire and thriving.

Hold the vision of teachers everywhere finding the strength to be fully present to the needs of their students, validate their achievements, and listen to the little ones as they tell of their dreams and hopes for themselves.

And may money-hungry pill pushers sleep with cracker crumbs in their sheets!!

So this one goes out to the kids, with great respect, gratitude and hope that their path will be safely travelled in healthy, happy bodies!!

My Prince Chocolate

Walking past the most adorable chocolate shops in Montreal the other day with my daughter, I met the man of my dreams!

Le Prince Chocolat… (an adorable little character painted onto ceramic dishes!)

Naturally, it was love at first site, at which moment I decided to declare myself la Princesse Framboise (Raspberry). Since raspberries are my FAVORITE fruit and raspberries and chocolates taste absolutely marvelous together.

And this morning, as I was thinking about my Prince Chocolat, I decided that should he ever materialize himself in the physical universe, has got to play the piano and sing like Pierre Lapointe! And, of course, it’s Prince Chocolat not Chocolate. So he’s got to be French.

Ladies, if you haven’t found your prince charming, may I suggest a stroll past the chocolate shops. Perhaps you’ll be inspired, as I was, to create your own.

And of course, he’s got to appreciate my insatiable thirst for life, for color for PLAY and for fruits and vegetables!!

And he doesn’t need a car or a fancy job, but he’s got to be master of his own universe. He’s got to have the kind of personal integrity that makes the whole room change when he walks into it. Real presence, you know.

Oooh! Now THAT was self-indulgent. Dreaming is fun and you’re NEVER to young to play, play, play! And NOTHING, NOTHING is too strange or too impossible to dream up.

Truth be told, this new prince of mine is a few notches more fun than some of the “real boys” I’ve spent time with. Tee hee…

Love and hugs, Tera.

p.s.

My dad always said, “Paint the picture, then walk into it Tera!” Can you IMAGINE meeting a chocolate covered man in the streets!! Guess that’s another good reason to live in Canada, huh? Gotta keep my chocolate prince from melting.

Whatever you dream, make it defy all laws of gravity, make it impossibly magical and fulfilling, then LIVE IT, even if you have to close your eyes a bit to make it all happen.

Never taking life too seriously.

I learned some important things recently about the importance of having a spirit of play. In fact, I dare say it’s one of the most important things you could ever have.

How “seriously” do you take your job? your debts? your relationships?

Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not talking about irresponsibility here, but rather the idea that a spirit of play can be applied to just about any aspect or element of your life and somehow living gets a whole lot easier.

For many of us in the game of health, we have a tendency to take food seriously. I can’t count the conversations I’ve heard, and participated in, where the sole topic on the table is “I ate 100% raw, I didn’t eat 100% raw.”

That’s taking things “SERIOUSLY”.

I mean, at the end of a day, there are some questions worth asking ourselves:

What did you learn?
What did you do to make your life easier, more fulfilling?
Who did you help? Who helped you?
What changed? Who changed?
What dreams do you have and what are you creating for your tomorrow?
What made you giggle? What took your breath away?

You know, walking home at night, I go through a very dark park. It’s not lit at all and naturally, walking alone after 10:30 pm, I used to feel a bit “SERIOUS” about the whole thing. It’s not that I am irresponsible or careless. I’m not. But what I realized, was that by feeling fearful and nervous in the park, I was missing out on something.

THE STARS!!!

I mean, I realized for the first time tonight that this park, BECAUSE it’s not lit, is a magnificent place from which to see the stars!! So tonight I heard myself giggling in the darkness, looking up at the infinity of space and thinking to myself, how silly I’d been to miss out on all this juicy sparkle that was there just waiting to be noticed.

What sparkle are you missing out in your own life by taking things too SERIOUSLY?

Life IS a game, and you’re the one making the moves. Embrace a spirit of play, regardless of what life throws your way, and you and all those around you will be much better for it.

Love and hugs,

Tera

p.s.

Muah!

xox

Trick or Treat? A Clever Mom’s Guide to a Healthy Halloween

As the streets become more and more speckled with Halloween decorations, a spooky sort of vibe fills the air, spurring children into anticipation and preparations for their annual sugar overhaul. I remember as a kid bringing out a pillow case for the collection of my candy?and FILLING IT! I also have very vivid recollections of hurling over a toilet bowl a time or two.

If you?re anything like me, the approach of Halloween brings a certain sort of nervousness to the surface of my skin. I believe in compromises and a balanced approach to health, but ?candy? in any shape or form is just way out of my comfort boundaries. I?ve tried it all when it comes to creative solutions for a Healthy Halloween, and I?d like to share a bit about what worked and what didn?t.

The Deprivation Method

I think every hard-core health extremist tries this at some stage, only to realize that outside of moving to the jungle and tucking yourself away on a fruit farm, it?s nearly impossible to avoid the influence of the standard modern day family and their traditions and habits.

Admittedly, the deprivation experiments worked for a little while. I remember when my daughter Mika was 3 years old, she was offered a package of free Smarties in a movie store. I didn?t say a word. She just looked up at the man and said, ?No thank you. I don?t eat those.? Then smiled her innocent smile and took my hand.

One of my proudest moments of motherhood I can assure you.

However, as my little muffin became increasingly exposed to life in the ?real world?, there wasn?t much I could do to prevent the invasion of those colorfully wrapped poisons accompanying this holiday into her life. So when deprivation was no longer cutting the mustard, I had to get more creative about things.

Bring Halloween to Your House, and Be Willing to Get Gross

Okay, this one takes guts, sweat, creativity and hard work! I decided that if I couldn?t keep the kids from Halloween, I could bring Halloween home and thereby control the adventure myself.

One of my most memorable Halloweens as a kid was at the community hall where we lived out in the country. They had transformed the basement into a little haunted house, and had plenty of scary food things I had to stick my hand in. To the blindfolded, Spaghetti, jello and pickled duck eggs were “Bats Brains” “Goblin Guts” and “Old Lady’s Eyeballs.”

For a fun and healthy holiday, use peeled lychees for ?owl?s eyeballs?, grenadilla for ?frog?s eggs? and make a dish of ?Goblin?s Guts? from a thick green pudding of bananas, apples and spinach (chilled and firmed up in the fridge). The important part of this is letting them get their fingers in there. Sensation is everything. The grosser, the better!

One year for Halloween I rented a community hall. We planned games, had prizes and there was even a marvelous haunted house going on in the hall which saved me a bucket load of extra work! The kids were still young enough that this was acceptable and enjoyable. No one really asked about why there were no candies. There were other things? little toys and prizes, games and good friends.

So at the end of it all, while I had achieved a victory in preventing the consumption of sugar, I?d spent countless hours, dollars and a whole lot of energy putting this event together. Was it worth it? To a certain point, but I was sure that better solutions were to be had. So, that?s when I tried?

The Bargain

The next year, I decided that there was no way I was going go through all that hoop-lah again, just to avoid some sugar. The financial burden alone was prohibitive, never mind the number of hours that had to go into preparing for that event. (The thing that would have made it much easier, by the way, would have been a group of other parents as motivated as I was to create a Healthy Halloween. As it was, most parents wanted their kids out in the streets getting as much candy as possible so they could pillage the bowl at the end of the night!)

So, we inevitably decided to join the masses and walk the streets for Halloween like everybody else, BUT with a deal in place. The deal was that nobody touched any candy until we got into the car at the end of the night. At which point, they were both allowed 2 candies, then they had to pass over the bag.

They did it willingly, because the next stop was a supermarket with aisles and aisles of kids? toys. Which is where I let them loose to indulge in a different kind of consumption.

Feels a bit desperate looking back. There was still a lot of fear on my part in trying to avoid the evil sugar villain, and in my desperation I distracted them with toys instead. Nonetheless, I felt a victory had been won. That year had been much easier on the pocket book and my personal energy and resources than the previous year?s Halloween Party.

This year, I?m making it their choice!

The deal still stands. ?You give me your candy, I give you my money?, but this time it?s with a twist. The more candy I get, the more money I give. The choice is theirs. No ultimatums. No desperation. If they decide to cash in their stash for some money, they do. If they decide to keep their sugar, they can.

The one big thing I?ve noticed, is that the more I honor their right to choose, the more I am impressed, almost humbled frankly, at their ability to KNOW what is right for them and choose accordingly. The kids are already talking about how they?re going to spend their money this year and I haven?t heard much talk about chocolates or candies yet!

This year I?m also trying to put the focus on an adventure rather than a toy. Maybe we?ll go on a little trip by train, or out to the movies! Maybe we?ll go to a ceramic studio and paint our own pots!

I Don?t Wanna be a Wonka Mama

If you?ve not seen the movie Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, then do so! Willy Wonka himself is a perfectly brilliant demonstration of how deprivation just ends up creating extremism. His father was a dentist and a candy-despising tyrant!

There was a time when extremism served me. I?m not there now. I recognize the value of being balanced and conscious of the fact that health is about more than just food. Besides, there is something magical about walking the streets on Halloween, and seeing the costumed kids, proud parents and pumpkined paths – not to mention the ecstasy of a teeny piece of Halloween chocolate as it melts in your mouth!

Happy, Healthy Halloween

If I wasn’t so boring when it comes to food,…

…then I would definitely visit this dynamite diva for recipe inspiration:

The Daily Raw Cafe

I was literally paralyzed when I encountered her chocolate covered basil leaves…

Cream of mushroom soup caused all my childhood memories to come rushing back…

And this morning’s post (named in honor of our dear Diva Bob) was literally breathtaking.

I know I won’t eat any of these, I’m just far too conservative and “Hygienic” and well, I should just say it like it is: BORING!!

But I truly admire people that can eat that way and still feel good!

Anyway Teri, you have definitely made my heart skip a few beats with your super-creative approach to foods and your down-to-earth profile speaks volumes about just how very cool you are!

Three Cheers for another Raw Diva making ripples and waves in the lives of others!

Check out that basil limeade!!

Love and hugs,

Tera

What are you going to do about it?

Well, today is Blog Action Day!

A day to make a bit of noise in the name of environmentalism.

Admittedly, I’ve been feeling a bit of pressure, wondering what I could say that would really be of impact. The issue is one that really touches me deeply. I look at my kids and I just want a place where they can thrive, and roll around in green parks and have beautiful fresh fruits.

But when we consider ourselves as little people on this big spinning ball in space it can be a bit overwhelming to imagine how our efforts can make a difference. And yet, someone had an idea to do Blog Action Day, and because of that we’ve got a ripple the size of 15 000 blogs and 12 million people.

So where do you start?

Well, start by informing yourself.

There are a lot of places you can start. Here are my top three recommendations:

1. The Conscious Earth I like this guy because his writing is food for my brain. Especially this post: Skeptics, This Way, Please! *Remember, if you come across a word you don’t understand, LOOK IT UP!! Nothing worse than brain fog while you’re reading!*

2. Eco-Chick.com offers a fantastic list of resources for ecologically conscious clothing, home items, jewellry and just about everything under the sun! The site is run by an amazing group of people, and if you check out anything, then heck out the post on Elephant Poo Poo Paper! It just goes to show you that creativity counts! I mean, whoever thought of taking elephant poo to make paper!

3. Good Old Reliable Greenpeace. The Raw Divas contribute monthly to Greenpeace and encourage you to find an organization that you can support, too!

Now, there IS a lot of information out there. But don’t let it overwhelm you. The idea is to get informed and inspired, not to become a bitter, discouraged and hopeless environmentalist.

Read up and learn, but most importantly, take ACTION! Do something to make a difference and use these resources to inspire you on how you can do that.

Green Thoughts:

Mystics tell us the importance of living in the present moment, but I believe that real power is held in the dreams and goals that we build for tomorrow. Our thoughts now are creating what is to come and we’re all responsible for the situation as it exists and equally responsible for what happens tomorrow.

Let’s get busy. Start by holding a vision of a planet that thrives, with people in good communication, working together and inspired about their health, believing in their dreams and making the world a better place to be.

We have a lot to contend with this journey around the sun. Psychiatric medications, pesticides, and a battery of pharmaceuticals indicate that the health of the planet and her inhabitants is on a decline.

We know that there is a ripple effect. We know that as we take responsibility for our own health, it has an impact on the health of those around us. And on the other hand, unless you’re taking responsibility for your own health, how can you truly take responsibility for the health of others or the planet.

As far as I’m concerned, and this is just my opinion, the best way to make an impact on this planet is to affect change in your own life. Take the steps you need to feel better and live more fully. Start with you. As you continue to take back ownership over your health, you will become increasingly inspired to make a difference in the lives around you. But start with you. And then, naturally, your sphere of influence will continue to grow.

Ask yourself today what you can do to make a difference. And start by just changing the things in your life. The way you live, how you get to school, the products you buy.

Whatever it is, it IS making a difference, and the combined efforts of us all will be what finally turns things around.

Love and hugs,

Tera

p.s.

If you have a blog, please post green thoughts for this Blog Action Day. The bigger the ripple, the faster we get to where we’re trying to go.

Let Me Tell You What I Think About The Raw Food Movement

This week’s article received a lot of feedback from clients. Most of it tremendously encouraging and in agreement that we’ve got a long way to go to reach a place of mutual support and understanding within the raw food movement!

Check out the article below where Tera let’s her firey red-head temper loose!

Let Me Tell You What I Think About The Raw Food Movement
by Tera Warner

Okay, I admit that I?ve had more than my fair share of contradicting information when it comes to the ?right? way to approach the Raw Food Diet, and today I?d like to set the record straight.

This morning I received an article in my inbox and it was talking about the dangers of consuming too much fruit in the raw food diet. First of all, I love the author and felt like everything was written with great integrity and clarity. The proof was carefully laid out, and the reasoning behind it all was perfectly ?sensible,? and yet reading this article, I started to feel rather upset!

Why?

Because I could show you another link, well, dozens of them, in fact, that claim the complete 180 degree opposite of this to be true with as much ?sensible? reasoning and proof to back them up as well.

Frankly what shocks me is the fact that we can have two diametrically opposed camps in the raw food movement, and yet BOTH sides of the camp claim ?their? way is ?the right way? and then proceed to invalidate any other paths by claiming that they lead to misery and failure. The end result, as far as I am concerned, just creates a whole bunch of confusion for people who are looking to succeed in improving their health, and divides us as a raw food community.

The Fat-Fruit Controversy is not the only dichotomy in the Raw Food Movement by any stretch of the imagination. There are the Enzyme-elievers and Nay-sayers, the Sprouters vs the Doubters, the Juicers vs the Chewers, the Supplementers vs Puritan Hygienists, the Colon Flushers vs the Constipators.

You name it, there’s protest and dichotomy riddled throughout what we know as The Raw Food Movement.

And frankly, I think we should do something about it.

For heaven?s sake, we?re all raw foodists?we?re a global community of people inspired about health and passionately living as fully as we can. I think the impact we can have on this planet will be greater if we stand united rather than try and throw criticism and polarity into the soup.

How do we do this?

Well, if raw food leaders would start to speak from their personal experience rather than claiming to have ?the right way,? I think we?d be off to a very good start. Let?s face it, much of what we?re doing in this raw food movement still qualifies as a grand human experiment. As far as I can see, there is no ?right way,? there is only ?YOUR right way? and if there was a single ?right way?, we wouldn?t have nearly this much argument and dissention within the raw food movement, would we?

I?ve seen raw food ?experts? try to apply the raw food diet for more than 10 years, only to pack it in and decide that it wasn?t working for them! I?ve received phone calls from people who had tried EVERYTHING (High fat, low fat, sprouts, juice, and dehydrated goods) just to end up extremely ill and finding comfort only in cooked root vegetables and a small amount of meat.

Who am I to judge? Who are any of us to judge what is ?right? for them?

Frankly, as soon as any person claims they know ?THE truth? I just want to run in the opposite direction. There are no absolutes, as far as I?m concerned, and when it comes to ?truth? well, what?s true is what?s true for YOU!

It would be very easy, for example, to say that just because Dr Norman Walker lived to the ripe old age of 100 and something, and HE didn?t eat too much fruit, and flushed his colon then we should all reduce our fruit consumption and flush our colons.

But that just doesn?t make ANY sense. There are little old ladies in Japan who have been eating sushi their whole lives and digging potatoes out of their back garden living to the ripe of age of 100 and something, too! So should we all start eating sushi and picking potatoes?

No way!

How can you possibly begin to eliminate the infinity of variables that play into each person?s unique constitution, environment and history? You can?t! There?s no way to rationally ignore all the other factors in the equation in order to make any of these broad, sweeping statements about the ?rightness? of anyone?s diet or lifestyle.

I?ve seen too many people spontaneously healed from a lifetime of illness through spiritual awakenings and self-discovery to fall for the idea that food alone is the issue. They didn?t change anything about their food, but rather come to understand something profound about themselves, their history, and their very being, and that caused an extraordinary shift in their lives and their health. Wheatgrass and bananas had nothing to do with it.

I?d like to believe that we can create a space where people feel safe to do what works for them and that we can honor the ?rightness? of each person?s self-determinism and ability to know what is best for them. Let?s put all the options on the table, but let?s do it in the spirit of learning from each other and supporting each other to better understand health as a composite of a wide range of factors, including tolerance and compassion for others.

There is so much more to be gained by realizing that we?re all here doing our best to learn as we go and make the world a saner place in the process. With all these debates and dissention in the raw food movement, we become obsessed with FOOD, and forget how important our mental and emotional state is to the digestion of whatever we eat.

We see the same thing in raw food leaders who speak with disdain and intolerance for anything that is cooked. We create competition amongst ourselves as people passionate about health, rather than a spirit of tolerance and a desire to understand each other and ourselves better.

Here at The Raw Divas, we will continue to invite experts who practice many different variations of the raw diet, and we will even invite incredible people that live empowered lives and could care less about raw food!

What are your goals in this adventure of LIFE? To attach a label to your forehead, or to better understand your body and your self? Food is just one part of the equation.

Leaders of the Raw Food Movement Unite! We?re stronger together than we are divided, and as soon as one of us starts invalidating the success or personal choices of the other, we?re all sunk! Let?s admit and understand that there is much to be learned in the process of what we?re doing, and what works for one may not work for the other.

Raw food enthusiasts and seekers of health and high-energy living: Don?t let anyone invalidate what?s real for you! Observe what happens in your body and keep things simple. You will KNOW what works for you and don?t let all those enzymatic fermentation theories distract you from what you OBSERVE to be true about your body and its reactions.

We are all engaged in the process of learning more about ourselves and working towards a greater understanding of health and awareness. We do this best with a genuine desire to learn from each other?s experiences and by standing in the integrity of what we observe to be true for ourselves, and by speaking about it in those terms.

Thank you to each of you who bravely blaze a trail of tolerance, of community, and of mutual support, as we all evolve towards a greater understanding of each other and ourselves. We have much to learn yet. Let?s support each other in the process and we?ll all get to where we?re striving to go a lot faster.