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 food: Wild Spring Greens
Spring Recipes
6 Ways to Get Enough Calories on a Diet of Raw Fruits and
Vegetables
Feature Article: Part III of My Fasting Story
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Thanks to all of you who came to The Great American Meatout
last weekend - it was a huge success! My son enjoyed a
public food demo debut, as he assisted me with a raw soup
presentation for a crowd of at least 50 people.
Spring is definitely in full swing now, and it's the
perfect time to harvest the earliest wild edible greens for
your salads. I have described them for you in this
newsletter. I have also included information about
securing sufficient calories on a diet of raw fruits and
vegetables, because so many of you have expressed concern
about this.
And lastly, I present the third installment of my fasting
story, excerpts from the journal I kept while completing a
healing fast on just water in Costa Rica this winter, under
the expert supervision of Dr. Douglas Graham.
In the next edition, I will show you some edible flowers
you can plant this spring that make exquisite garnishes for
your raw dishes. It's simple to make your meals a work of
art!
Happy Spring!
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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!"
or email ellen@livingyoganow.com
You will not find another recipe book like this anywhere!
These deliciously simple recipes 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 to keep 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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Events and Announcements
The next 80-10-10 Class is forming! This 8 week course
has been a big hit, and I'd like to offer it again, on
Monday evenings (7-9pm) from June 9th - July 28th.
Please let me know right away if you are interested!
You can see a description of the course under the
Services tab at www.LivingYogaNow.com.
Yoga Classes: Wednesday and Friday mornings, 9:30 - 11
in my home studio. See www.LivingYogaNow.com for details.
Join at any time, your first class is free! Save with a
10-class pass.
Fourth Thursdays at Arbor Farms Market: Next talk on May
22nd, 7-8:30 p.m. May topic:"Whole Food Dressings that Keep
YourSalad Healthy! Learn to make your own . . . ."
Please pre-register by calling the store, 996-8111. $10.
3rd Sunday Raw Food Potlucks - Next one on May 18th,
1 - 3 pm at 1801 Avondale Ave. Call 995-0875 for details
or visit www.LivingYogaNow.com .
Raw Food Potlucks local folks may want to explore:
3rd Sunday (Ann Arbor) -
http://www.livingyoganow.com/services.html or
http://rawfood.meetup.com/312/
1st Thursday (Livonia) -
http://vegmichigan.org/events/index.php
1st Monday (Lansing) - http://www.livinghiho.com/page12.html
1st or 2nd Friday every other month (Sterling Heights) -
http://www.rawteacher.com/bethwilke/?p=calendar
2nd Thursdays (Toledo) - Bob Avery 419-382-1850
3rd Saturday (Lansing) -
http://www.livinghiho.com/page15.html
3rd Wednesday (Jackson) - Char Raby 517.529.9073 or
charjackr@sbcglobal.net
Last Thursday (Southgate) -
http://www.risingsunyoga.com/Newsletter/September/Sept07News
Letter.htm
Monthly (Flint) - http://www.sustainablyraw.com/index-3.html
2nd Wednesday (Muskegon) - Angel Reflections located on
Sherman and Glenside blvd.
Monthly (Southfield) -
http://rawfood.meetup.com/361/calendar/7018479/?gj=sj29
Ester Floyd
Monthly (Grand Rapids) - Carlos Dominguez 616.450.0726
email: little.chow4u@gmail.com
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Harvesting Wild Spring Greens
By Ellen Livingston
Wild greens can be an especially nourishing addition to
your diet. Because they are not pampered by a gardener,
wild edibles have developed strong survival properties,
such as extra long roots with which they can tap water in a
dry spell. These long roots help the wild plants to draw
in more nutrients than commercially grown plants. Many
wild greens are especially high in vitamin C, and they are
wonderful tossed in salads, or added to raw soups.
Some of the most common, pleasant-tasting edible wild
greens in our area are chickweed, violet, clover,
lambsquarters, purslane, plantain, and malva. Others that
are stronger tasting or bitter include dandelion and garlic
mustard. Many of the wild edibles taste best when young
and tender. Dandelion leaves are best in the spring,
before the plants flower and the leaves become much more
bitter.
It is not a wise practice to taste wild leaves on your
walks, unless you know the identity of the plant and
whether or not it is safe to eat. I had a traumatic
experience this week when I decided to taste a small young
leaf of a skunk cabbage plant that I saw on my walk in the
woods. It was such a lovely bright green, and looked so
succulent and delicious! And I had heard stories of people
eating them, boiled . . . I only took a tiny taste, and
almost immediately my entire mouth, tongue, and throat
commenced to sting and burn with powerful intensity! This
extremely uncomfortable burning sensation continued for
several hours - it was excruciatingly painful to swallow.
24 hours later I was still experiencing a (more mild)
stinging sensation. I learned my lesson the hard way, and
I will take my field guide with me next time!
A couple of great field guides you may want to purchase
include the Peterson Series Guide called Edible Wild
Plants, byLee Peterson, 1977, and Edible Wild Plants: A
North American Field Guide, by Thomas S. Elias & Peter A.
Dykeman, 1990. These give valuable photos and detailed
descriptions for each wild edible.
Chickweed, dandelion, plantain, clover, violet, and garlic mustard are
available now, and lambsquarters and purslane are following
right on their heels. My personal favorites, for their
mild but delicious flavors and textures, are chickweed
(delicate and sprout-like), purslane (wonderfully tart and
succulent), and lambsquarters (savory, a great substitute
for spinach). All of these are readily found as "weeds" in
yards and parks (just be sure no spray has been used in the
area). Chickweed and purslane generally trail along the
ground, and lambsquarters grow upright, sometimes in
profuse quantities 2-3 feet high. The flowers of
dandelion, violet, chickweed and malva are also edible.
Here are the latin names, to help you with correct
identification, as some of the wild edibles (noteably
dandelion) have not-so-edible look-alikes!
Common chickweed: stellaria media
Dandelion: traxicum officinalis
Garlic mustard: alliaria petiolata
Violet: viola
Purslane: portulaca oleracea
Clover: trifolium
Plantain: plantago
Lamb's-quarters (Pigweed): chenopodium album
Malva: malva neglecta (member of the Mallow family)
When harvesting wild greens, take only 10% of the plant,
leaving some for the animals, and keeping the roots in
tact. You can also vary the locations that you pick
collect from. Choose sites that are well away from busy
roads to avoid pollution from car exhaust. For the
freshest leaves, gather in the morning before the sun
becomes hot. The best leaves are to be found before a
plant is in full flower, and has directed its energy away
from its leaves.
I hope I have inspired you to be adventurous with your
salads this spring and summer, and add in some highly
nutritious wild greens, it's free!
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Recipes
Wild Greens & Strawberry Salad
Toss baby greens with wild greens you have harvested (for a
total of about a pound).
Blend 8 oz. organic strawberries with 1 oz. parsley, and
dress your greens with this mixture. Garnish with a few
sliced strawberries and cherry tomatoes.
Low-fat Mango-Celery Dressing
Blend 8 oz. mango. Dice 6 oz. celery and pulse it in the
blender with the mango, leaving it somewhat coarse. Dress
your wild greens with this sweet blend!
Celery Slaw (from The New High Energy Diet Recipe Guide,
by Dr. Douglas N. Graham)
1 ¼ lbs. celery
8 oz. red bell peppers
12 oz. tomatoes
1.5 oz. walnuts
1 lemon
Directions: Grate the celery and bell peppers (a food
processor helps). Blend tomatoes and walnuts into a
dressing. Mix it all together and serve with lemon on the
side.
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6 Ways to Get Enough Calories on a Diet of
Raw Fruits and Vegetables
by Ellen Livingston
1.Make sweet FRUIT the staple of your diet! Sweet fruit
has lots of calories, and provides your body immediately
with its perfect fuel, glucose. (Do not rely on fatty foods
for your major calories!)
2.Eat specific meals, rather than continually grazing, and
eat until you are fully satiated at each meal. Eat extra
fruit meals until you are able to eat enough calories from
fruit at a meal to hold you for several hours.
3.Eat simple meals, of few ingredients, to ensure the most
efficient digestion, assimilation, and utilization of
calories.
4.Gently stretch your stomach to its potential capacity
to take in high-water foods (from its shrunken state, due
to a lifetime of eating concentrated cooked foods), by eating all
you care for at a meal, and then another bite or two.
Within a couple of weeks of this practice your stomach will
have regained more of its natural flexibility, and you will
be able to enjoy eating more fruit at each meal.
5.Be active, move your body vigorously, and perform
strength-training exercises. These efforts will increase
your appetite, as well as your body's ability to take in
and process more calories.
6.Get enough rest and sleep! When you are well rested,
everything works better. You will have energy to exercise
and be active, and your appetite and digestion will
function optimally.
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My Fasting Story, Part III
by Ellen Livingston
Note to new readers: In January I completed at 26-day
hygienic healing fast on water only, in Costa Rica under
the supervision and guidanceof Dr. Douglas N. Graham.
You can find the first two installments of this story at
www.LivingYogaNow.com , at the bottom of the
"Newsletters" tab. Part III, below, completes the first
half of the story. The rest is coming soon!
Day 8
I have a new intern monitoring me this week. I am still
feeling fine, still passing the "grip test" (a handshake
test of overall strength and vitality). My only new
symptomthis morning is some soreness in the roof of my
mouth. I dreamed of food last night, but not the addictive
cooked foods Doug said we might revisit. In my dreams it
was all luscious, juicy ripe fruit! I attribute this to
the fact that I have adhered to a raw frugivorous diet for
several years preceding this fast.
I had a moving conversation with my new intern about the
power of NOW - the idea that what you focus on expands, so
if you focus on what you want to create, outworn negative
emotional patterns and habits naturally fall away, from simple
disuse.
I begin to turn further inward today, and become
uncomfortably aware of how much in my life I have
identified with the emotion of sadness, and with the
experience of suffering. This has become a part of me that
does not want to leave easily. It's been my companion,
however self-destructive; sadness and suffering have been
experiences I can deeply connect with, and their depth has
often given me a welcomeexperience of aliveness. What I want now
is to feel that aliveness, that depth of emotion,through joy
instead ofthrough sorrow. I want joy, happiness, peace,
easefulness, restfulness, vibrancy and health to be my
constant companions now. I am not afraid of sorrow and
suffering, I just want to release my lingering identity
with them, and make more room for joy to be dominant.
I spend my energy today dreaming and planning projects to
manifest when I return home, namely my dreams for an
affordable place in the country, where my children and I
can live more naturally, and closer to Nature. I feel a
deep knowing that when we focus on our real, uncompromised
dreams, the resources appear and we are supported in our
efforts.
After some intestinal discomfort this afternoon, I released
a large watery stool, and then felt exhausted the rest of
the day from the effort. Doug told me that, given my
history of intestinal disease, he would not be surprised if
I have digestive tract activity throughout much of the
fast, and not to worry. This is another lesson in trusting the
process, trusting my body to take appropriate healing
action at all times.
Day 9
My energy is quite a bit lower today, and I am still
experiencing some intestinal discomfort and unusual looking
diarrhea. This drains me, but Doug continues to assure me
it is productive, and part of my healing. I wonder where
it is coming from, what exactly is going on inside of me?
But not even Doug can really answer that. I must trust my
body's wisdom, so I do my best to relax and allow my body
to do the work it must do, knowing that it will choose
routes of elimination that cause me the least harm or
discomfort possible.
It feels very good to cultivate this new friendship with my
body, this relationship of trust and respect.
Day 10
With renewed energy this morning, I resume my dreaming and
planning for a place in the country. From this place on my
fast, removed from the daily trials and tribulations of my
normal life-space, an unshakable confidence arises within
me. I feel so clear about what I want, what I need, and
what I must do to get there. In this moment, I am
convinced that I can do it!
I make plans to put my house on the market as soon as I
return home. Doug has warned us that because of the
"keytones" in our blood during a fast, we are not in a good
position to make any big decisions, since we may not be thinking
as clearly as we believe we are. And, he warns, just like an
alcoholic we will likely be in denial of this fact. I remember this,
but still I am sure that I am thinking quite clearly! (Is this denial?).
Day 11
More abdominal discomfort and foul yuck emanating from my
bowels in the night made for restless sleep. I am also
seeing hints of blood in my urine and in my stools. I
check it out with Doug - he asks if it is a lot of blood,
and when I tell him "no", he simply reassures me that all
is well. I am still learning to trust my body. I have
also noticed a persistent dull ache in the middle-right of
my back. I wonder if it could be in my gall bladder, which
has been previously diagnosed as "markedly abnormal", but
Doug suggests it is my kidneys, working hard again.
Perhaps these physical discomforts, and anxiety associated
with them, is what prompts me to question yesterday's
confidence about manifesting an immediate move to the
country. Now I am busy convincing myself to take it slow,
to keep things as easy as possible while I continue to
heal. But a competing voice rises from someplace
primordial and shouts, "But your heart says go now, it's
time!"
My material desires are simple, so it seems
frustratingly ironic that achieving them appears as such a
complicated endeavor. I resolve to listen to my heart, and
stop letting my analytical mind talk me out of my real
dreams. I take back my power now, and know that I am ready
to LIVE, and to take the necessary risks in the process. I
am ready to be true to my heart, my soul, my Self.
I make a simple list of THINGS I KNOW FOR SURE:
1.I want to be fully present for the rest of my kids'
childhood, creating wonderful adventures together.
2.I want to live in the country (and someday in a warm climate).
3.I want to live and teach yoga and natural hygiene, and
cultivate exceptional personal health.
4.I want to attract a loving partner.
5.I want to make music and art.
Day 12
I weigh in at a mere 98 lbs. today, down 12 from where I
started. 12 pounds in 12 days.
Most of it came off in the first week - in the last few
days I've only lost 1.5 pounds. I'm feeling weak today, a
little foggy or hazy, and a little bored. At lecture today
Doug challenged us to make a list of 100 personal goals. I
take the challenge, manage to come up with 75, and feel
moved and inspired by what I want to accomplish! Of course,
moving to the country makes the top of the list!
I find myself still immersed in visions of this move. The
"how's" are still daunting at times, the fears still very
real and present at times, but my heart still so true and
clear.
I spend a good part of today alternately inspired and
irritated with my fervent business planning and list
making. Inspired because I seem to have an endless supply
of ideas, and irritated because I'd like my mind to take a
well-earned REST already! I re-commit to cultivating
my meditation practice.
Day 13 - half way there!
Physically, I am just coasting now, with no dramas, and feeling
fine. I am surprised today when the scale says I weigh 3
pounds less than yesterday! I am down to 95 pounds, and
looking rather "skeletal". Again, I am confronted with the
process of learning to trust my body, and to trust this
fasting and healing process. I definitely don't like to be
this thin. It frightens me a little, but Doug and others
here are extremely supportive and reassuring. Many times
they have seen thin people like me get very skinny fasting before,
and they are not even phased by it, so I relax with it as
much as I can.
I feel supremely empowered and ready to take on my life,
yet still a little scared around the edges. Maybe it's a
case of fearing my light, my greatness, and my divinity
more than my darkness, as described in the often quoted
words of Marianne Williamson. In any case, I call my close
friend who has just become a realtor, and divulge my
intention to sell my house. The ball is rolling outside of
me now, and it all feels exhilaratingly real and possible.
I am also aware, in a self-chiding sort of way, that I
should be focused on resting, and not allowing myself to
expend a lot of fervent energy making big plans and
decisions.
Day 14
The strong, absolutely clear voice visited me in my dreams
again last night. The message is this:
"If you love something unconditionally from your past, you
can bring it with you."
I hope you have enjoyed this edition of the Newsletter. Until
next time,
To your radiant health and energy,
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