Welcome to another edition of the Living Yoga Newsletter,
your source for the reliable information and support you
need to reclaim your health and energy, naturally.
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In this edition you will find:
Events and Announcements
Feature fruit: The Mango
Spring Recipes: Mango madness!
Food Separating and Combining Made Simple
Effective Stress Relief with Point-to-point Breathing
Feature Article: Part II of My Fasting Story
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The NEW High Energy Diet Recipe Guide
is now available through Living Yoga!
This is Doug Graham's best recipe book,
boasting "Over 100 Scrumptious Recipes
Made Entirely From Whole, Fresh, Ripe,
Raw Foods!"
Call nowfor your copy, 734-995-0875
or email ellen@livingyoganow.com
You will not find another recipe book like this anywhere!
These deliciously simplerecipes follow correct food
separating/combining principles, and each dish has a
corresponding chart showing its total calories as well as
macronutrient stats (weight in grams and % of carbohydrate,
protein, and fat.)
This will become your primary recipe guide as you
transition toward a raw vegan 80-10-10 diet. My own
copy is just a few months old, and already showing wear
from so much use!
This recipe guide is the perfect companion book to
The 80-10-10 Diet, also by Douglas N. Graham, and
also available through Living Yoga.
Order both, and you'll have everything you need to get
started, or tokeep moving in the direction of perfect health!
To order your copy today, call (734) 995-0875
or email ellen@livingyoganow.com.
"Got fruit? Got vegetables? Got all we need."
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Our 80-10-10 course is off to a great start, with a big
group of motivated students! For those of you who missed
it this time around, you can be sure that I will offer this
course again, and in different formats to meet everyone's
needs. Be sure to notice all the events coming up this
month . . . The Great American Meatout is this Sunday in
Ferndale from noon-5pm. Come to my talk and food demo
from 12:15 - 1:00, then visit me at my table, I'll be there
all afternoon.
I hope you enjoy Part II of my fasting story, my experience
of the first week of the actual fast. I loved the feedback
I received from Part I - keep it coming! (To catch up our
new subscribers: I recently completed an extended healing
fast on water only, and I am sharing excerpts from my journal.)
I've featured the mango this week because I am
starting to enjoy great deals on some delicious mangoes,
and as they are now coming into season you will see them
everywhere soon! Check out the mango recipes I've selected
to share with you.
I am currently seeking students for my home yoga classes.
Please consider the experience for yourself, or tell your
friends who are interested in yoga. These classes provide a
unique opportunity to experience yoga in a small, intimate
environment, and to sample great raw food snacks as well!
I hope you are inspired by this week's yoga article.
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Events and Announcements
The Great American Meat-Out: Sunday, April 13th, 12 - 5
p.m. in Ferndale. Living Yoga will have a table, and I
will give a food demonstration at 12:15. Visit
www.vegmichigan.org/meatoutfor details and directions.
Bring the whole family and come out to support this well
attended annual vegetarian event with lots of vendors and speakers!
Yoga Classes: Wednesday and Friday mornings, 9:30 - 11
in my home studio. Seewww.LivingYogaNow.com for details.
Join at any time, first class is free! Save with a 10-class pass.
3rd Sunday Raw Food Potlucks - Next one on April 20th,
1 - 3 pm at 1801 Avondale Ave. Call 995-0875 for details
or visit www.LivingYogaNow.com .
FourthThursdays at Arbor Farms Market: Next talk on April
24th, 7-8:30 p.m. April topic: Springtime cleansing and
invigoration are the gifts of a delicious Raw Food Diet . . .
You can learn how! In May we'lllearn to makehealthy
salad dressings.
Please pre-register by calling the store, 996-8111. $10.
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Feature Fruit: The Mango
The mango has been cultivated as far back as four thousand
years ago, and has been revered for as long in many
cultures. In this century, many varieties have been
planted in Florida, Central America, and the West Indies,
and mangoes now appear in all the best markets in the north.
Mangoes may be large or small depending on the variety.
Color varies as well, from apricot yellow to orange, red,
and green, and even all these colors mixed. The mango has
a large oblong seed, a tough skin, and a deliciously sweet
and sometimes tangy flesh with a smooth, fine texture, which
ranges in color from yellow to deep orange.
The easiest way to obtain the mango flesh is to cut the
fruit lengthwise, slicing close to the flat sides of the
seed, then spoon out the flesh from each half. (You can
also peel the small edge of skin that remains around the
seed, and slice the remaining bit of flesh from the seed.)
Some popular varieties are the Ataulfo, which is small and
yellow, with a silky-smooth flesh, and the Kent, which is
large and multi-colored (mostly green and red), with a very
sweet, bright orange flesh. Mangos make a wonderful
mono-meal, and also combine spectacularly in raw salads,
soups, pies, and sauces.
Recipes
Remember, the best "recipe" is one kind of fruit eaten by itself,
fresh and ripe and luscious, as much as you desire!! But for another
kind of fun, here are some others to try . . .
Sweet Tomato Cups, serves 2
2 medium sized unblemished tomatoes
2 small or one large mango
A few sprigs of fresh cilantro, to taste
Directions: Slice each tomato in half and scoop out the
flesh, making four little "cups". (Save the tomato flesh to
put in a soup or on a salad.) Separate the "cheeks" from
the pit of the mango(s), scoop out the flesh and dice into
small chunks. Finely chop the cilantro, and mix it in a
bowl with the mango chunks. Spoon the mango-cilantro
mixture into the tomato cups. Serve two "cups" on a single
lettuce leaf.
Note: for extra flavor, the tomato cups can be placed in a
dehydrator at 115 degrees for a few hours, or in the sun.
(Low-fat) Mango-Red Pepper Dressing, from The High Energy
Diet Recipe Guide, by Douglas N. Graham
4 oz. mangoes
4 oz. red bell peppers
Directions: Peel and de-seed the mango. Blend and Pour!
Ellen's notes: This is also delicious with a couple of
celery stalks blended in, or a bit of cilantro or parsley
slightly pulsed in at the last minute.
Mango-Tomato Soup, from The High Energy Diet Recipe Guide,
by Douglas N. Graham
8 oz. mangoes
8 oz. tomatoes (Doug suggests heirloom)
Directions: Blend ¾ of the mango and ¾ of the tomato. Cut
the remaining mango and tomato into small chunks and stir
into soup blend.
Ellen's notes: This is also good with a sprig of cilantro
slightly pulsed in. Experiment with the tomato-mango ratio
-- you simply can't go wrong with this one!
Spicy Mango Smoothie, from Instant Raw Sensations, by
Frederic Patenaude (see link after the recipes to order
your copy today!)
2 medium mangoes, diced
½ to 1 cup water
½ cup arugula
1 cup spinach
Instructions: Blend all ingredients together, using more of
less water as needed.
Fred's Notes: The arugula gives a kick to this smoothie!
Strawberry-Almond Salad (the strawberries are coming!),
from The High Energy Diet Recipe Guide, by Douglas N. Graham
1 lb. red leaf lettuce
4 oz. cucumbers
4 oz. strawberries
1 oz. almonds
Directions: Chop lettuce into a large bowl. Peel and slice
the cucumber and mix with the lettuce. Blend the
strawberries and almonds together and use it to dress the
salad.
Click here to find out more about Frederic Patenaude's extremely
popular, versatile recipe book, Instant Raw Sensations!
You can also call 734-995-0875,
or email ellen@livingyoganow.com
to order your copy today.
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Food Separating and Combining Made Simple
by Ellen Livingston
Proper food combining, or separating, as the case may be,
is essential to your efficient digestion, absorption, and
elimination. Most people are not aware of the serious
consequences of consuming improper combinations of foods,
and don't know the simple principles for success. Poor
food combinations lead to sluggish digestion, the creation
in the body of harmful by-products like alcohol, gas, and
acetic acid, and all sorts of disease. When foods are
separated correctly, digestion proceeds unimpeded, nutrients
can be properly assimilated, and energy is made available
for other things!
There are many factors that affect digestion, such as
lifestyle, timing, environment, habits, energy level,
exercise, emotions, the number of ingredients in the meal,
quantity of food, amount of chewing, whether liquids are
consumed with the meal, and more. This is beyond the scope
of this article. What I will share with you here are the
basic principles for determining which foods can go
together happily, and which food combinations are best
avoided.
The ideal meal for simplest digestion is the "mono-meal",
or one food by itself, enough to satiate, and eaten on an
empty stomach. Anything other than this scenario adds
complexity to the meal experience, and thus to the
digestive process. A mono-meal can leave you feeling
completely satisfied, well-fueledand comfortable for
several hours, with totally silent digestion that you will not
even be aware is going on. This is a real joy!
Most of us do want to combine our foods some of the time,
however, and we can learn some basic principles to help us
choose combinations that will digest relatively easily.
Fruit should be eaten alone or with leafy greens,
celery or cucumber. Within the main category of sweet
fruits (as compared with non-sweet fruits such as cucumber,
zucchini, bell pepper, and tomato), there are different
classes of fruit such as "sweet" (banana, date, fig, dried
fruit, some grapes), "sub-acid" (apple, pear, peach,
cherry, plum, mango, apricot), and "acid" (citrus,
pineapple, kiwi, berries).
Fruits within the sameclass can be combined well, for
example, bananas and dates.
It is a fair combination to have sweet fruit with sub-acid
fruit, or acid fruit with sub-acid fruit, but a poor
practice to combine sweet with acid.
Only acid fruits can be digested with fatty foods such
as avocado, nuts, or seeds. All other fruits should be
eaten separately from fatty foods. Melons, with their
especially high water content, are best eaten alone, or with
other melons.
As long as you are following a raw vegan diet, there are
only a few other basic food separating/combining rules to
observe: fatty foods like avocado, nuts and seeds combine
well with all leaves and other non-starchy vegetables. For
best results eat only one type of fatty food should in
a day (i.e., choose nuts OR avocado in your salad), and
have some days in which you do not include fatty foods.
Tomatoes do not combine with starches, such as potatoes,
corn, peas, beans, or grains. Nuts and seeds also do not
combine well with starches.
Many people find that the easiest practice is to consume
fruits during the day (perhaps with some greens, celery, or
cucumber), and to save most vegetables and fatty foods for
the evening meal. In this way, the quick digestion of
fruit proceeds easily, and is not ever "held up" by the
much more complex, slower digestion of the tougher
vegetables, starches, and/or fatty foods.
These basicsshould get you started. In subsequent articles I will
explore more dimensions tothe whole "art" of food combining,
conscious eating, and digestion. Following the basic
guidelines presented here will really make a difference in
your energy levels and overall well-being. Happy digesting!
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My Fasting Story, Part II: The First Week
by Ellen Livingston
Our first night together is spent at a hotel just outside
of the capital city of San Jose. Upon my arrival from the
airport, I meet the woman who is to be my roommate for the
duration of the fast. She is young and very chatty, and I
worry that her bubbly energy will bother me. Later I will
appreciate her as the perfect roommate for me - she is
solid, thoughtful, calm, positive, and deeply spiritual.
Her mantra: "It's all good".
I get a big, excited embrace from a beloved roommate at
a previously attendedDoug Graham event - we did not know each
other would be here! She is here to intern, so she will be
taking care of me. I also connect with another faster who
is a friend of a close friend of mine. I reconnect with
Lennie, Doug's primary assistant, and enjoy a big fatherly
bear hug from Doug himself. I feel the familiar pulse of
my raw tribe. I am deeply a part of this loving,
supportive web. I can hardly believe I am really here,
after all the years of talking about it.
A beautiful, simple dinner of pineapples, mangoes, and a
cucumber-tomato salad is served, with little green Costa
Rican oranges. It tastes unbelievably good, and I eat
well, knowing this is the last food I will have for a long
time! We are a big group, 22 in all, 12 of us fasters. We
are an impressively international group, with people
hailing from England, Sweden, Australia, eastern and
western Canada, as well as eastern, western, southern, and
central United States. Some have already begun their fast,
and don't linger long at the dinner table. But we are all
introduced, and Doug sets the stage for
what promises to be an incredible journey of healing,
together.
I have a private conversation with Doug at the end of
dinner, and again share with him my fears about what my
emotional journey will be like on the fast. Doug
encourages me to stay in the present moment, where, he
assures me, "Everything will be fine". I want to believe
him, I want to get to know myself in the present moment -
no past, no future, just now - but I wonder, could this be
a form of running away, of avoidance or denial? Later in
the fast I learn a simple, effective method to acknowledge
and release emotional baggage from the past that is
weighing me down.
Day 1 of the fast
We make an early start, skipping breakfast (!), and have a
glorious 6 hour bus ride through the mountains to the Rio
Chirripo Retreat - the beautiful, rustic facility chosen
for our fast. We begin to get to know each other during
the bus ride, and a mood of excited anticipation is
palpable. Many times during the day I feel hungry and have
a strong desire to eat, but by evening this drama has
subsided. Our rooms are simple but adequate, with a
bathroom in each. We have a wonderful balcony, and our
view of mountains and valleys is breathtaking! My generous
roommate lets me take the big bed by the window - "It's all
good", she says cheerfully.
My roommate and I crawl thankfully into bed at 6:30 p.m.
It is dark, and chilly (I sleep in long johns, socks, and a
fleece jacket). We keep the window open because the
mountain air feels so refreshing! I can hear the rushing
waters of the Rio Chirripo in the near distance, and the
chirping of insects. Deep sleep comes easily.
Day 2
I experience the first of many gorgeous 7 a.m. mountain
sunrises, rising from bed to watch from my balcony today.
The interns are busy bringing us water refills and
monitoring us for blood pressure, hydration, weight, body
temperature, and any symptoms, insights, or emotional
dramas we experience. They have been instructed to get to
know us well this first week, so that they will recognize
any red flags in our subsequent behavior as the fast
progresses. They rotate every 5 days, so that each intern
has a chance to work with each faster, thereby expanding
their training experience.
Today Doug and Lennie offer their first formal lecture and
discussion, an event to be held every day throughout our
stay, from 1 - 4 p.m. in the spacious and beautiful main
building, about 25 yards from our rooms (a distance that
will come to feel long in the weeks ahead!). In today's
lecture Doug compares the medical model to natural hygiene.
A medical doctor amongst the fasters is brought to tears, as
she recognizes the full impact on herself of the
incongruence between what she is learning here about health
creation, and what she has learned in her medical training
about thetreatment of disease.
I am definitely slowing down physically, but my roommate
and I are still able to enjoy a short hike down to the
river, and to the pool. Soon we will say goodbye to the
pool until after our fast is completed, as it is located at
the bottom of a big hill, and Doug warns us that we will
not be able to get back up this hill just a few days from
now.
My only symptoms so far are excessive urinations, a little
emotional fragility and lonesomeness for my children, a
slight white coating on my tongue, and some overall
weakness and chill. I am not hungry till evening, but then
I really want to eat! Doug has advised us not to talk
about food.
I am reading a big book called Saint Francis, and tonight
it brings me to tears as I recognize the depth of my desire
to shed more and more of my material possessions, the depth
of my awareness that they don't mean much to me. I want to
unveil the true source of happiness. I suffer because I
don't know how to do this in today's world. I am aware
that a perceived need to chase after money and things
constantly distracts me from pursuing my deepest truths.
Day 3
I am up at 5:30 this morning, with the first birdsong. As
I sit on my balcony listening to yoga chants through my
ipod and awaiting the sunrise, I enter into a state of pure
bliss. Tears of joy stream down my face, as my heart seems
to swell and swell to proportions much too big to be
contained in my body. (This is an experience that I will
get to enjoy many more times on this fast.)
I feel good today, and have more energy than I did
yesterday. My only physical complaint is an intense ache
in my lower back. Doug says this is related to the
vigorous cleansing work going on in my kidneys at this
early stage of the fast. I suspect it is also from the hard
mattress I have here. I get some relief from a back rub
by one of the interns, and some gentle yoga postures. I am
able to enjoy one more short swim in the pool. We have
been advised to request of our bodies no more than gentle
movement, and to taper even that over the next few days.
The point of this fast is total rest, as near as possible.
In lecture today we share our symptoms - everyone has a
coating on their tongue. Doug introduces the "Laws of
Life", which we will make a daily study of throughout the
fast. We are all still experiencing waves of hunger that
come and go, but it seems that these are subsiding
gradually. My roommate and I both notice that our teeth
now feel super clean and smooth. My breath is still sweet
(unlike some of the other fasters! I think this is due to
my low-fat raw vegan diet for years preceeding the
fasting). I have lost 1.5 pounds since yesterday.
Day 4
I feel fine again today, and my back and hip soreness is
dramatically better. I am quite lightheaded when I first
get up, but this quickly gets better, too. I enjoy another
picture-perfect mountain sunrise from my balcony, again
entering into a delicious state of pure, uninterrupted
bliss. Later, I day-dream about what I want more of in my
life. My current list: Nature, fresh air, sunshine,
laughter and play, yoga, chanting with others, meditation,
playing music, simplicity, heart connections with my kids,
romance, art-making, love, health, abundance, FREEDOM!
We get afascinating lecture today about levels of consciousness,
with a video of a talk on this topic by Robert Sniadach.
Also, another Law of Life from Doug, and a discussion about
colon health and hydration. I learn more from Doug
everyday - he seems to be a continuous fountain of
knowledge. I am too tired to record all that I am learning.
Day 5
It is harder to get up for the sunrise this morning, but I
manage to and am glad for it! I don't feel much different
today, just more tired andslower. Today I decide I will
commit myself to a year of doing my very best to create
health in all areas of my life. For me at this point, that
means sleep and stress need my laser-sharp focus.I determine
to hold onto the health benefits I am receiving from this
fast.
I dream and dream and dream today of the simpler, quieter
country life I long for. I expend all of my available
energy writing out plans and goals, and making lists,
charts, and drawings of my schemes. What an amazing
experience to have the time to do this!
In lecture today we share our personal stories with each
other, stories of cleansing, fasting, and discovering
80-10-10 (Doug's diet and lifestyle program). I share some
of my long story, and I am very touched by one of the
intern's stories. She tells of her long time going it
alone as a single mother, and of her ongoing struggle to
find and connect with a new tribe, a new purpose and a new
lifestyle.
I decide that I must drop the story I tell myself so often:
that life is hard and I have to pull it all off by myself;
that it's so hard to earn a living while raising three
kids as a single parent; that it is not right to have to
give up home schooling to pay the bills. I resolve to take
back my personal power, to stay the course, to follow my
heart and to do what I know is right and true, and to trust
that the Universe will support this path that is taken with
heart. I remind myself that with total health on my side,
anythingwill bepossible! I make a plan for my return home for
how I am going to create an environment conducive to
getting sufficient rest and sleep.
Day 6
I feel very good today. I am well rested, have good
energy, no lightheadedness, no nausea (which has come and
gone in tiny waves previously), and I am at peace. In
fact, I am aware of many blissful moments of deep happiness
and profound gratitude simply for knowing that I know what
I love, and I know what I want. I don't know all the
how-to's, but I know the important stuff. I revel in a
beautiful vision that arises in a dream: I am teaching at
a yoga and raw food retreat, and I am one of the musicians
for the chanting we are doing. I am expressing myself with
such gloriously complete joy and freedom!
The deep love I feel for my three beautiful, remarkable,
totally unique children makes my heart swell up out of my
body-space again. Life is good, so very good. It seems I
could never tire of time to just bask in this wonderful
place of peace, contentment, and appreciation for my
existence. It is such a precious luxury to daydream like
this, to open and close my eyes as I wish, for hours and
days on end.
Today I read all of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, one of my
most treasured stories, and the inspiration for my new last
name. Then, more of Saint Francis. By evening I am tired,
and feeling soreness in my hips againfrom my too-hard mattress.
I also feel vague sensations across the top of my stomach
and/or in my esophagus, where my primary disease symptoms
have been presenting for so many years. Could healing
action be taking place there now? I have no way of knowing
exactly what my body is up to, and just have to trust its
intelligence and know that my body is always doing its very
best to create health.
Day 7
One week! All of the fasters are doing well, and we've had
no major dramas. A couple of women are having trouble with
nausea that causes them to have difficulty taking in
sufficient water. With a tiny bit of watermelon blended
into the water, they are able to keep enough down to avoid
serious dehydration. Bowel movements have mostly ceased
for all of us. Everyone's blood pressure has dropped
significantly, and we are cautioned to be very careful when
we transition from lying to standing to walking. I have
lost about 8 pounds in this first week, as have all the
fasters. It is mostly water weight, we are told, and the
weight loss will now begin to slow down.
I had a restless night in my uncomfortable bed. My hips
were hurting, and my mind was churning with thoughts.
Happy thoughts, about plans and possibilities for the
future, when I return home. I got very stimulated with
these thoughts . . . this morning I am uncomfortably aware
of how much I have to learn about mind control. I really
let my mind get carried away last night, and the health
consequence is that I lost a night of sleep.
It is so easy to become attached to all my planning and
scheming, to become attached to the stimulation,
excitement, and entertainment this excessive mental
activity provides. But it leads to unhelpful enervation,
and ultimately drains me. True happiness (and profound
relief!) is mine when I let go of my attachment to all
these possible plans and outcomes for my life, and drink
instead from the simple beauty of nature, and the sweet
nectar in my heart.
I fall asleep out on the balcony in my hammock this
afternoon, and I am visited by a strong, clear voice in my
dream. The voice says simply: "It all boils down to
this!". I am excited that I am apparently about to receive
the true meaning of life, that kernel of truth we all yearn
for . . . . instead, I wake up. I feel disappointment, but
then I think maybe the message is that it's all contained
in the present moment, "this". I think about this
throughout the remainder of the fast.
I spend time today considering whether it is necessary to
process and understand my "emotional baggage" from my past,
or whether it can simply be acknowledged and systematically
purged? Or, by turning my attention fully onto creating
what I want more of in my life, will this old baggage
become so ineffective, unneeded and powerless that it
simply falls away painlessly? In my health coaching I
teach my clients to put their attention on the new foods
and habits they want to bring into their life, rather than
on what they want to be rid of, and to trust that with time
and practice the new will simply replace the old.
I feel no need for emotional drama. I am content to just
be, to just observe, to simply exist. I borrow some big
square foam pillows from the main building, and secure them
under my bottom bed-sheet. This proves to be a major
project, as I am feeling physically weak, and in this state
hauling these big pillows around is real work! As I sink
into bed for the night, my sore hips find relief at last. . . . .
Stay tuned for Week 2, comingin our next newsletter!
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"You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your
desire, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed.
As your deed is, so is your destiny."
-Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.5, translated by
Eknath Easwaran
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"For a sweet and juicy life, eat fruit."
-Doug Graham
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To your radiant health and energy,
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