your source for the reliable information and support you
need to reclaim your health and energy, naturally.
In this issue you will find:
Local Events
Feature Fruit: Dates
Recipes
Feature Articles:
Fasting for Health
Yoga for the Raw Lifestyle Part III: Saucha (Purity)
I hope you saw my recent announcement about my upcoming trip
to Costa Rica. I will be embarking on a fasting and resting
retreat run by Doug Graham, and will be in Costa Rica from
January 1st until February 9th, for a total of about 6
weeks. In the interest of sharing this natural healing
experience as much as possible with my readers, I have
written an article for you explaining the hows and whys of
hygienic fasting. I think you will be excited, as I am, by
the potential in store for us if we can but get out of our
body's way, and simply provide sufficient conditions of
rest.
I will send one more regular newsletter in December, and
then will send a few journal entries from Costa Rica in lieu
of formal January newsletters. I hope you will enjoy
"coming with me" on this adventure of a lifetime!
I've also included some fun winter-time recipes, and another
installment of yoga philosophy for the raw lifestyle, off
the mat. In the spirit of my upcoming purification through
fasting, I've chosen to focus on saucha, or purity.
raw health leader Don Bennett:
"There's good news re: the scare that the USDA wants to
pasteurize leafy greens . . . someone got the info a little incorrect,
so relax, our greens are safe, for now."
regulate the growers' practices, by requiring them to test
their produce at certain intervals for contamination, and by
making certain regulations about soil conditions. I
apologize for contributing unwittingly to the frightening
rumor that got going somewhere in the well-intentioned raw
community, and I thank those of you who submitted coments.
Stay alert, as there are certainly indications of the possibility
of this kind of proposal coming forth in the near future.
Arbor Farms on Tuesday, December 11th, ONE WEEK FROM
Raw Food Potluck, Sunday, December 16th, 1 - 3 pm,
1801 Avondale Ave. 995-0875
(Jan. & Feb. potlucks will be held at the home of Heather
Shirley in Ann Arbor. Address & phone will follow. Dates:
Sun., Jan. 20th and Sun, Feb. 24th, both 1 - 3 pm).
Wednesday and Friday mornings at 9:30 and 9:00 respectively.
Call Ellen to register, 995-0875.
Feature Fruit: Dates
tree was revered by some of our earliest ancestors in North
Africa. The prolific fruit provided the staple food for
thousands of years (and still does in some regions), and the
tree provided other life-supporting raw materials, including
shelter and shade (very important in the extremely hot, arid
climate required by the date palm!). According to one
source, date palms rooted in tubs were the first modern
importation to this country, coming from Egypt to California
in 1890!
Mohammed said to the Moslem people, "Honor your material
plant, the palm, for it was created from the clay left over
after the creation of Adam (on whom be peace and the
blessings of God.) . . . There is among the trees one which
is preeminently blessed, as is the Moslem among men; it is
the palm." (Esser, William L., Dictionary of Natural Foods,
Natural Hygiene Press, 1984, p.54.)
200 pounds of fruit in a year! There are more than 7,000
varieties, though only about half a dozen are familiar to
most people. Fresh dates are often described as "soft" or
"wet", "semi-dry", or "dry", depending on their consistency
when ripe. Dates can be eaten fresh and juicy, or after
they have dried slightly while still on the tree. Covered
and refrigerated, they will keep well for 6 months or more.
Dates are a nutritional powerhouse, rich in iron, calcium
and vitamins, and higher in potassium than bananas. Dates
are also one of our most alkaline foods. They contain 60%
natural sugar, too, making them the most concentrated source
of sugar found in any plant.
technically a dried fruit, but share the characteristic of
high sugar concentration).
The date is classified as a sweet fruit, so it combines best
with sweet or sub-acid fruits and/or greens. It should not
be combined with fat or protein foods. When shopping for
dates, you want to be sure that nothing has been added to
them, such as preservatives or other sweeteners. Avoid
commercially made coconut date confections. When you
experience the sensation of a properly ripened juicy date,
you will see that it is perfectly delicious and complete all
by itself!
My favorite source can be found at www.TheDatePeople.com.
They are a small and very dedicated family business on a
10-acre farm in southern California, and they grow and ship
many wonderful varieties of tree-ripened dates. They can
describe each one to you over the phone.
troughs, or wrapped in a lettuce leaf), for a snack or even
a whole meal. You can also use them to sweeten some raw
food recipes such as smoothies, sauces, puddings or pies.
This is their season, so treat yourself and enjoy what
winter has to offer!
**************************************************
RAW ALMOND SOURCE FOR LOCAL READERS:
Arbor Farms is currently carrying UNPASTEURIZED organic
almonds originating from Spain. Be sure to make sure the
label says unpasteurized. For now at least, the price is
the same as for the now heat treated California organic
almonds. (ALL California almonds must now be pasteurized by
law, which renders them not raw.)
****************************************************
GREAT MAIL-ORDER SOURCE FOR ORGANIC
CITRUS FRUITS! www.flnaturalcitrus.com.
to inspiring interviews with exciting leaders in the raw food world!
Winter-time Recipes
Remember: Mono-meals (as much as you want of just one food)
are always the easiest to digest (and to prepare!) and leave
you with the most energy to spare. I provide simple,
properly combined recipes for those times when you desire
extra fun and variety.
Pineapple Perfection
Blend 12 oz. chopped fresh pineapple with 16 oz. of young
coconut milk OR 16 oz. fresh-squeezed orange juice. (To
make a rich shake, add the soft coconut meat as well and
blend thoroughly.)
Apple Supreme
Chop 2 - 3 apples or pears and place in a bowl. Blend ½ cup
of pitted dates with just enough water to make a fairly
thick sauce, and pour over the apples. (You can also pour
this yummy sauce over chopped bananas!)
Sweet Smoothie
Blend bananas and dates 2:1 with just enough water to make
desired consistency. Optional, add 1-4 celery stalks to
mellow the sweetness.
Place 1 lb. of baby spinach leaves in a salad bowl. Blend
8oz. tangerines and 8 oz. cucumber for dressing. Garnish
with ½ oz. raw pine nuts.
Fasting for Health
By Ellen Livingston
"Fasting is a period of comprehensive, maximal rest
augmented by abstinence from all foods." (Graham, Douglas
N., Hygienic Fasting, 2001, p. 2.) This is the type of true
fast I am writing about here, in which only pure water is
taken in, to satisfy thirst. Notice Dr. Graham's emphasis
on rest. In order for the body to direct maximum energy
toward healing during a fast, sufficient rest is critical.
This means rest on all levels: physiological, sensory,
psychological, emotional, and digestive.
voluntary abstinence from all food and drink, except water,
as long as the nutritional reserves of the body are adequate
to sustain normal function. This is a state of relative
physiologic rest." (Fuhrman, Joel, M.D., Fasting and Eating
for Health, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1995, p.8.)
Fasting is not starving! The body is wise and knows how to
live off of its plentiful reserves, consuming excess fats
and waste proteins and converting them to glucose to use for
fuel, and always carefully conserving all vital tissues. A
trained fasting supervisor knows how to recognize the many
signals the body gives when it is running low on available
reserves, and requires re-feeding. Even very slim people
carry enough nutrient reserves in their tissues to safely
fast for a significant period of time without even remotely
engaging in the biologic processes of starvation.
Today the term "fast" is often used very loosely to describe
a whole variety of dietary programs, which generally involve
abstaining from certain food items, or taking in only
certain juices or powdered formulas, etc. in an effort to
cleanse the body, usually carried out while still working
and tending to the demands of daily life. While some of
these approaches can be beneficial, I want to make it clear
that in this article I will be discussing the safety and
benefits of a program of deep rest on all levels, while
ingesting the required water only.
are removed, and the body is enabled to fully express its
capacity to self-heal. Health is our normal state, and is
maintained through healthful living. The human body is
always, always doing its best to create the state of perfect
health that it innately knows. Unfortunately, we get in the
way. We feed our bodies all manner of improper food-stuffs,
we take in all kinds of toxins, and we allow ourselves to
become chronically stressed and dangerously enervated,
leading ourselves into a state of chronic acidosis toxemia.
It is only a matter of time before the toxic load we have
created overwhelms our body's normal ability to maintain its
desired homeostasis, and the often uncomfortable symptoms of
disease appear, indicating the heroic efforts our body must
now make to reduce the toxic overload. At this point we
usually find a way, either through drugs, medicinal herbs or
other ingenious interventions, to suppress or override the
uncomfortable symptoms so that we can feel better quickly
and maybe even continue our unhealthful habits.
Unfortunately, we usually have not removed the cause of
disease, and true healing does not take place.
organism, when provided with healthful conditions. Any
person with any symptoms of dis-ease is a likely candidate
for a fast, because the body heals itself most rapidly while
fasting and resting. The digestion of food taken in daily
requires a tremendous output of energy. Other physical,
psychological and emotional demands we put upon our bodies
and minds also use up tremendous amounts of precious energy.
All this activity can drain the body of energy that might
otherwise be used to fuel the healing processes in an overly
toxic body. This state of overall enervation causes the
body to accumulate acids faster than it can eliminate them,
leading to the aforementioned acidosis toxemia. During a
true fast, the sources of hyperacidity are eliminated, and
the body can come back into balance.
Consider what Dr. Joel Fuhrman has to say about the benefits
of an extended period of fasting: " . . . the blood
pressure will drop, the level of retained metabolic wastes
will fall, and the blood vessels will begin to soften and
rid themselves of hard sclerotic plaque. . . . The tissues
throughout the body's systems will begin to purify
themselves and the rejuvenation process of the fast will
have begun. . . . Within a short period of time, allergic
and mucus-filled individuals clear their nasal passages,
asthmatics breathe easier, arthritis sufferers report their
pain is resolving, and cardiac patients begin to have
increased circulation to their hearts. . . . Fasting has
been repeatedly observed to alleviate neuroses, anxiety, and
depression. . . . The body's wondrous ability to autolyze
(or self-digest) and destroy needless tissue such as fat,
tumors, blood vessel plaque, and other nonessential and
diseased tissues, while conserving essential tissues, gives
the fast the ability to restore physiologic youth to the
system. By removing or lessening the burden of diseased
tissue, including the fatty tissue narrowing the blood
vessels, fasting increases the blood flow and subsequent
oxygenation and nutrient delivery to vital organs throughout
the body. . . Fasting enables the entire system to focus on
the elimination of superfluous tissue and the retained waste
that it was unable to break down and remove in the feeding
state." (Fuhrman, Joel, M.D., Fasting and Eating for Health.)
Other physiologic changes during a fast include significant
weight loss, low (but steady) blood sugar, a slowed
respiratory rate, and heightened sensory and kinesthetic
awareness. On a supervised fast, the person's overall
condition is monitored daily, and the length of the fast is
subject to many factors and thus is determined along the
way, not beforehand.
Fasting is more comfortable than most people imagine.
Because fasting enables "cleansing" of the internal system,
overly toxic individuals may experience some initial
symptoms of detoxification such as headaches, dizzyness,
fatigue, cough or excess mucous, skin eruptions, diarrhea or
other discomforts as the toxins become mobilized for
removal. Usually these symptoms (which by the way do not
occur in those who are in excellent health) subside after
the first few days, and hunger also typically goes away by
the second or third day.
Throughout the subsequent days or weeks of the fast,
occasional symptoms may arise temporarily as the body
continues to mobilize and eliminate toxins. The body is
wise, and will always use the safest, gentlest methods of
elimination when possible. Mostly, the faster will have the
opportunity to enjoy a state of rest and a mostly
comfortable, if fascinating, healing process, given the
properly supportive fasting environment. It is important to
trust in the body's wisdom, and to know that to the extent
that it still has the vitality to do so, the body will
always move itself toward a state of greater health when
provided with the right conditions, and the body has the
perfect agenda for this truly awesome accomplishment.
tuned for my upcoming posts about my experience.
Recommended reading:
Herbert Shelton, Fasting Can Save Your Life.
NOTE: I will personally be fasting with others at a secluded
retreat center in Costa Rica, closely supervised by Dr. Douglas
Graham, my personal health coach of several years and author
of The 80-10-10 Diet. My fast will begin Jan. 1st, and will
last an appropriate number of days or weeks, after which I
will have sufficient re-feeding and rebuilding time before
returning home in early February.
believing that the infinite creative Power is behind you.
-Paramahansa Yogananda
Saucha (Purity)
By Ellen Livingston
The Yamas and Niyamas are an ancient code of ethics created
to guide yogis toward a pure life, and they make up the
first two limbs of the eight limbs of ashtanga yoga. The
Niyamas are about constructive discipline, or
self-regulation which will help the practitioner to maintain
a positive environment in which to grow. The first of the
five Niyamas is saucha, which means purity in both mind and
body. This requires making choices about what you take in
through all channels - eyes, ears, nose, mouth, mind.
Impurity can be viewed as any entanglement of consciousness
in things or circumstances which have no constructive
relationship with the higher goal of yoga, Self and
God-realization.
We can purify our body through a vegetarian diet, pure air
and water, sunshine, and the asanas, or physical postures of
yoga, as well as regular bathing and other healthy lifestyle
practices. In yoga tradition the body is considered to be
the vehicle for nurturing the spiritual being, a means to an
end but not the end in itself. Purity of body facilitates
spiritual development and self-realization, the ultimate
goal of yoga. When the body is healthy, free of blockages
and without pain, we can direct our energy to the higher
development of our mind and heart.
A pure mind and heart results in cheerfulness,
one-pointedness, and a clear vision of the self. With a
pure mind, unencumbered with extraneous clutter and
imbalances, we can maintain emotional equilibrium and
express clear intentions. We are free to show loving
affection and true appreciation of others. We feel worthy
of good experiences, and can feel and express our gratitude.
Our energy becomes clear and effective, and our life
becomes pure self-expression.
There are many ways to cultivate purity of mind. Looking at
some of the remaining eight limbs of yoga, we can exercise
pranayama (breathwork), self-study, and study of the
scriptures. We can practice meditation, concentration, and
surrender (to God). We can also chant, sing, repeat
mantras, practice japa (repeating the Lord's name), fast,
observe silence, and engage in various rituals. We can
laugh, love, spend time in nature, clear away clutter of all
kinds, and turn off the T.V. We can help to clean up our
planet, protect the rights of children and animals, engage
in right livelihood, serve others, and keep a daily journal
of our appreciations.
Saucha, or purity, is freedom from everything which cannot
be brought into harmony with the higher aim of yoga, our
self-realization and spiritual union with God, or however we
choose to name our source.
Oh Lord,
May my body become pure.
May I be free from umpurity.
May I know myself as Divine Light.
Oh Lord,
May my mind become pure.
May my self become pure.
May I know myself as Divine Light.
May I realize You with my purified understanding.
May I realize the highest bliss with my purified
understanding.
May I realize You who are the highest bliss with my purified
understanding.
To your radiant health and energy,
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