Freshly baked bread

There is something about baking your own bread and smelling its delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen that is just so life affirming. I feel so happy that after several attempts at making bread recently and failing due to not being able to read Norwegian as well as i thought (and leaving out the crucial ingredient, thinking that it was in the flour mix already) i finally have 2 loaves in the oven and they are already smelling heavenly AND rising! The key seemed to be when i brought out my grandmothers wonderful bread bowl which has been languishing at the back of the cupboard for some time, it was the missing piece (along with the yeast) because then it all just klicked into place. Kneeding the bread in that bowl brought back wonderful memories of her and her delicious bread, as she always made her own. Infact she made everything herself and was very very good at it.

She was endlessly creative making us clothes ( even well into our teens and they were beautiful), dolls, the interior for the dolls house that my grandfather made us and among other things always delicious food. She was also very bright and interesting and had an incredible memory, being able to recall historical dates and events from almost any era and she often retold wonderful Greek Myths and legends from memory. She was someone that was loved by everyone that met her, she had such a gentle angelic energy and was unfailingly generous with her time and her love. She sadly died in 1992 of Leukemia and she has been hugely missed ever since. I still feel the need to pick up the phone or to pop down to her cottage in Hampshire to chat to her while she worked out in the garden or while she baked. She was the perfect grandmother in every way.

We shall see if my bread turns out as well as hers once did, it has been a long time since i baked 'normal' bread with yeast. It's for my husband and son whose stomachs are fine with this kind of bread ( it is spelt bread as it is a little gentler than wheat and they both do better on it. I try to keep the grains i use on a regular rotation and i don't use too many with gluten), but i shall simply enjoy the heavenly smell and perhaps bake some things from Naomi Devlins recent post from her blog "Milk For The Morning Cake". She bakes such delicious gluten, dairy free and SCD friendly cakes, breads, muffins and much much more. It is a treat just to visit her blog as she writes so beautifully and creates such inspiring recipes.

I also made a quick Banana Bread from Lucy Burney's "Optimum Nutrition for Babies and Young Children" ready for my sons lunch box tomorrow. It is one that i can have and have therefore already been munching on, too eager to wait for it to cool. Raw treats are still the ultimate treating food for making me feel good afterwards but this is comfort food at its best.

Banana Bread 

Ingredients 

100g (4 oz) Self rasing wholemeal flour or gluten free flour 

1.5 teaspoons of mixed spice

50g (2 oz) butter or coconut oil

75g (3 oz) sun-dried raisins

225g (8 oz) banana i.e 2 large bananas

1 organic egg, beaten.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C /350degrees F/ Gas Mark 4

Mix the flour and spice in a bowl. Rub in the butter/coconut oil and stir in the raisins.

In a separate bowl, mash the banana and egg. Stir into the flour mixture and put into a well greased rectangular loaf tin.

Turn the oven down to 160 degrees C /325 degrees F/ Gas Mark 3 on the middle shelf for 1 hour or until cooked.

Grandmothers are unique and can be uniquely amazing, mine certainly was and like the bread she baked she will live on in my memory forever.

The ritual of sharing tea

The thought of drinking tea makes me smile and brings back many happy memories of tea parties and drinking mugs of steaming tea with friends and family in almost every situation.
Tea drunk from beautiful china in places like West Hampsteads Bake a Boo tea shop in London, a tea place that has a vintage feel and a delicious range of speciality cakes and treats that are free from gluten and dairy ( they also do egg and sugar free treats). My sister and i would often cycle there to meet and share tea and gossip when i lived in London.

Bake a Boo, 86 Mill lane, West Hampstead, London

Memories of tea shared in friends homes when the moment arose- i think i have shared many cups of tea on my friend Nicole's comfy sofa with her and her husband Justin (our favourite for a while was Sleepytime tea by Celestial Seasonings), birthday parties and celebrations, tea shared out in the forest in the snow or on a beach on a cold day/evening when your hands and your body need warming, and one of the best cups of tea that i have ever had, not because of the taste but because it was so needed, was just after the birth of my son Theodore. It was the strongest black tea i have ever consumed, which normally isn't my thing, but somehow after a 13 hour labour it was all i felt like and it really did help to restore some energy. Infact for both myself and my husband it was just perfect timing, although i think he would have liked a good shot of whisky in his!

Now i turn to tea for my son. Firstly so that we can have lovely tea parties together with herbal tea brewed and left until luke warm when it is ready for him to gulp down with glee out of proper china cups.

But secondly as a recent addition to help him sleep, we have been brewing up a chamomile tea for him to drink while we have stories tucked up into bed together. Apart from that being a heavenly experience in itself it has been helping him to sleep better recently which makes for a very happy mama, papa and son.

I love the ritual and i love the sharing that goes with drinking tea together.

Luckily my family and many of my friends love it just as much as i do.

Spicey Millet cakes

OK it's not cake cake but it is a delicious savoury recipe by Susan Jane Murray that will have you coming back for more..and more and more. They are so easy to make, delicious to eat and really useful when you are out and about for lunchboxes for yourself or your children. I made them on sunday night and wasn't able to put any in the freezer simply because they vanished from under my nose, and not just into my own tummy.....honestly see for yourselves!

Susan Jane Murrays Millet Curry Cakes

dangerously delicious

1 &1/4 cups whole millet flakes

3-4 cups boiling water

1 tablespoon red curry paste

1 banana, diced ( it sounds odd but it simply adds sweetness, you can't taste any hint of banana flavour. I also added a handful of chopped apricots)

1 large carrot, grated

3 tablespoons mild curry powder

squeeze of lemon juice

2 crushed garlic cloves

4 scallions ( spring onions) chopped

1 cup of desiccated coconut

extra-virgin coconut oil to fry

(Addition: handful chopped coriander)

Susan Jane Murray says: "This recipe makes 8 chunky kind of burgers; 6 for the freezer, and 2 for tomorrow’s lunch. That’s 4 lunches in total (bonus!) provided you don’t wolf them all down while hot.
Cooking with millet may be entirely new to you and your apron. If so, lucky you found this ravishing recipe because I have uncovered some spectacularly appalling recipes during my research, which I vow to protect you from! All recipes in my book cater for digestion problems, but particularly those including millet. Remember, look after your gut and you will stave the aging process, boost your immunity, and jump start your libido. "

1. Dry-fry the millet on a low heat in a heavy based saucepan until a nutty aroma fills hits your schnez (approx 2 mins). This is called ‘toasting’ the grain to bring out the flavour.

2. In a cup, pour boiling water over the curry paste and stir. Add to the dry millet, with remaining cups of boiling water (the best bit - bubbles like a cauldron!) Cover with a tight lid for 20-25 mins on a low simmering heat. Watch it until it soaks up the liquid, and taste to see if it is cooked sufficiently.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the remaining ingredients. When millet has absorbed all the liquid, remove from heat and add curry powder. Replace lid immediately and let stand off heat for 15 minutes. We’re aiming for a dry and fluffy mash.

4. Remove lid, stir in the rest, and adjust seasoning to liking. It may need more coconut to bulk up and soak up moisture (although cooking in a heavy based saucepan eradicates this)

5. With slightly damp palms, shape into large burgers the size of your palms while warm. Do not allow mixture to cool and solidify before moulding. It’s quite beligierent and will cruely crumble on you, refusing to stick.

6. In a large frying pan, heat virgin coconut oil on high and fry one minute each side until golden brown. Note excessive flipping causes crumbling. Allow cool.

7. If freezing, do so before frying and fry upon defrosting. Allow to cool before packing into lunch box. Will keep in fridge for 3 days.

Serve with a huge green salad and SJM's Avocado Whip: avacado, lemon juice/cider vinegar, water, seasoning and then blend together, hmmm, it is official: Susan Jane Murray truly is a culinary genius.

Inspiration Cafe

My friends and i had such a fabulous time on sunday at the aptly named I n s p i r a s j o n s  k a f é . It is a once a month or sometimes twice a month Raw Food cafe run by raw food chef Anne Madhumavi Olsen in her home at Stubberud gård, Sørkedalen, Oslo. It was truly inspiring and i think if you had filmed us eating the Abundance tallerken/plate it would have made a fabulous advert for what she does. We were in raptures over every mouthful and were very voluble about how amazing we thought it all was. Each item was truly delicious and we ate our way through so many wonderful tastes and different types of raw food, it was just a treat to sample it all. We had raw pizza, raw pasta made from courgette with the most delectable sauce and  salads with delicious dressings and tapenardes. It was a wonderful tapas experience. We even found room afterwards to share some raw cakes, mmm what heaven and all eaten out in the sunshine looking out onto a beautiful view.

Her home is a beautiful old farmhouse called Stubberud gård out in the countryside to the west of Oslo ( we walked most of the way from the Røa T-bane past a large lake and the Bogstad gård, so worked up a good apetite) and the perfect setting for it all. It is has big, light rooms (good for the talk they had that afternoon and when the weather isn't so good and to live in too!) and a big balcony/patio out at the back where we sat to soak up the sun and sample the delicious food. It was a beautiful experience and very special to be welcomed into her home with such warmth and love. I loved having the opportunity to talk to people and sample various raw food items for sale and even have shots of wheatgrass ( not to be repeated on its own for me, although it was sweeter than i thought. I have previously only ever had it in powder form mixed with something else). She also had some some raw food kitchen equipment for sale and there were raw food books and magazines to browse through.

To sit out in the sun and munch our way through a heavenly feast of raw food that set our tastes buds on fire was just the perfect way to spend a sunday. We are already looking forward to the next one!
But next time i will definately bring my camera, so i apologise for the pictures here as i feel they don't come close to capturing the magic.

TRULY AN INSPIRATION


(P.S Update: Anne Madhumavi Olsen has now set up with Lars Grini the Helt Rå Food Cafes in Oslo and Sandvika. )

Moontime

I bought a MoonCup some months ago now (from the Helios health food shop here in Oslo, distributed by http://www.froya-natur.no/ ) thinking what a great thing it would be to make the tampons that i hate using a thing of the past, and to save some money into the bargain. But it took a conversation with someone who actually uses one to inspire me to finally use mine. What was putting me off? I think i just thought it was more complicated and more messy to start than it actually was and then i forgot about it once i had put it in the cupboard. My period actually started at the weekend so i tried it out yesterday and now i wonder why i haven't been doing it for years.

But what is a MoonCup you may ask? Well it's a reusable menstrual cup designed by women to be a convenient, safe and eco-friendly alternative to tampons and sanitary pads. It offers an end to the waste and expense of disposable sanitary protection.

It's "around two inches long and made from soft medical grade silicone. It is worn internally a lot lower than a tampon but, while tampons and pads absorb menstrual fluid, the Mooncup collects it. This means it doesn’t cause dryness or irritation, and also that it collects far more (three times as much as a ‘super-absorbent’ tampon’!). Because the Mooncup is reusable, you only need one so it saves you money and helps the environment, too.

The MoonCup is designed to be folded and inserted into the vagina, then removed, rinsed and reinserted up to every 8 hours. A light seal is formed with your vaginal walls, allowing menstrual fluid to pass into the Mooncup without leakage or odour. This seal is released for removal, allowing you to empty the contents, rinse or wipe and reinsert. Comfortable, convenient and safe: the Mooncup can be used overnight and when travelling, swimming or exercising."

The first time i found it a little tricky to insert as you have to fold it first to make it small enough to go in, so that was a little messy, but the next couple of times were fine.  When it came to removing it to empty, as brilliantly advised by said friend ( i think i would have panicked otherwise), i found i needed to use my pelvic floor muscles to push it forward in order to get hold of the stem and pull it out. She also gave me a good tip to empty it out in the bath/shower when you are at home as it tends to pool in the bottom of the loo and doesn't go away very easily, infact even after many flushes!! All you need to do when you are out and about is to carry a bottle of water to rinse it out with and then pour it into the loo. It is a brilliant idea and once you have used it once or twice it is as easy as using tampons.

I had been using Natracare sanitary products for years before this as their products are made from 100% certified organic cotton ( and have the only fully certified organic cotton tampons available in the world today)  as it was a natural alternative to most of the widely available sanitary pads sold today which contain a blend of chlorine-bleached pulp, polypropylene, polyacrylates and plastics. But no matter how organic they are they still fill landfills and it is expensive so i wanted to go one step further in using the MoonCup. I would also like now to use reusable cloth pads.....when i find some for sale here, although of course there are many washable and reusable cloth pads available for sale on the internet, like the LunaPads  and different websites that can help you to make your own. No excuse at all then!

Celebrate your moontime in a different way!

The Natural Recovery Plan

Alison Adams book "Chronic Fatigue, ME and Fibromyalgia- The Natural Recovery Plan"

I was sent this wonderful book recently and felt it was incredibly important to share a review of it here. I believe it will help a huge number of people with fatigue related illnesses and i love the fact that the author writes about many of the things that have helped me to recover from Chronic Fatigue so i know that this works.

As someone who had chronic fatigue for over 10 years and who had to find their own path to wellness i only wish that Alison Adams Book had been available years ago. This book is an absolute godsend for anyone with M.E, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, autoimmune diseases or even simply for anyone who wants to improve their general health. It looks at the symptoms of fatigue related syndromes and their causes and sets out clear guidance for a multifaceted approach, giving concrete solutions to help heal from this complex and devastating illness.

Some of the changes she suggests include:

o Diet and supplementation to support the body’s routes of elimination in order to help the body detoxify from such things as toxic metals, viruses/bacteria, Candida and parasites.

o Addressing old emotional wounds and issues - "Our illnesses are our greatest teachers and the greatest test of our strength"

o Cleaning up your environment by reducing further exposure to some commonly occurring toxins (such as from cosmetics and toiletries and diet as well as from environmental toxins, pharmaceuticals, amalgam fillings and vaccinations)

o Possible need to review dental work and remove an on going source of toxicity from amalgam fillings or dental infections such as root filled teeth, cavitations and gum disease.

She also gives you a wonderful understanding of your own body and about why the pharmaceutical approach is not working for these illnesses and just what incredible results this natural approach can produce. It is a book that gives you reassurance that recovery is possible, that you can heal and not only get your life back but a better one into the bargain.

"This book is a clear, insightful, informative and sympathetic guide for sufferers and practitioners alike, from someone who discovered the information the hard way" (quote from the backcover of the book)

See Amazon and the Book Depository for more reviews and information and also Alisons website www.thenaturalrecoveryplan.com/

 There is hope!

Raw Carrot Cake Delight

I love the idea of having Tea and Cake at the weekends, infact anytime i am a sucker for this. Is it because i am English? hmm i'm not sure, but it certainly makes me happy. It is especially lovely to feel good after eating delicious things, so i am ecstatic to find this delicious RAW carrot cake recipe. If it lasts the night we will be enjoying it this weekend too, hopefully outside in the sun as the forecast looks like it will be a warm and sunny one. I hope you enjoy yours too......out in the sun if possible!

For the Carrot Cake

(original recipe from the Two Blue Lemons Blog via the Childhood Magic Blog)  

4 cups shredded carrots (about 1.5 lbs)

1 cup dates (about 16 dates)

1 cup walnuts

3/4 dried apricots

1-1.5 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup raisins or currants

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

( Not wanting to wait until i could go shopping  i made mine without dates or apricots and used one shredded apple instead. Childhood magic added fresh lemon juice and a small piece of vanilla bean pod to the main recipe and the frosting)

For the Cashew Frosting

1.5 cups raw cashews

2 tablespoons honey or agave

3 tablespoons water

Additions: Fresh lemon juice and a small piece of vanilla pod

Alternate frosting:

Store-bought cashew butter sweetened with agave or honey to taste

Preparation - Carrot Cake

1. Grate the carrot in a food processor fitted with the grater attachment. (God bless you if you're going to grate all that carrot by hand!) Transfer to a large mixing bowl and set aside.

2. In the food processor, now fitted with the blade attachment, blend the dates, apricots, and walnuts until combined but not a paste . Add to the shredded carrots and mix.

3. Add the spices to the carrot mixture and blend.

4. Transfer the mixture to the food processor and blend in two batches until the mixture comes together and holds its shape.

5. Fold in the coconut.

6. Using a dry measuring cup (I used a 1/3 cup measure but you are your own Carrot Cake master) portion out the mixture and frost each cake with a heaping tablespoon of cashew frosting.

Preparation - Cashew Frosting

1. Whirl the cashews in the food processor, continuously scraping down the sides, until the cashews form a thick paste (a.k.a. cashew butter). This could take a while... just be patient and keep scraping! You can add a few tablespoons of water to encourage the cashews if you get impatient.

2. Add the honey (or agave) to the food processor and blend until incorporated.

Russell James also has a wonderful Raw Carrot and Orange Cake recipe but as i don't have a dehydrator i prefer the recipe above!

Wishing you a happy weekend lovely people

A Mother's Wish

I came across this beautiful wish of a mother for her child, via the Gentle Mothering Blogspot,  and wanted to share it here with you:

A Mother's Prayer

Into my will

Let there pour strength

Into my feeling

Let there flow warmth

Into my thinking

Let there shine light,

That I may nurture this child

With heart's deep spring of love.

~Anon

So be it.

A Magical Journey

I would like to share with you my most recent shamanic journey, it is beautiful and full of blessings that  i hope will filter down into my every day life overtime and touch yours too. 

I see stars, see light that is star bright. "Allow the mysteries of the universe to unfold and with it your dreams of a home, to nurture your children and to have light pouring through you. Light is upon you. Light is shining. You are shining. You are a shining, bright, happy, sunshine medicine woman." 

 I stand at my tree with my hands outstretched and they fill with stars, light blue in colour, all wishes for healing children. Each star is a wish to keep their hearts open and their spirit bright and alive. I  turn and i am surrounded by spirit children and a whole village of all ages around their inner circle. They all carry gifts and blessings, jewels that glint in the sun-beautiful rainbow coloured jewels and one by one they place them in my hands (I wear a golden crown suddenly with jewels and a bright purple one at my third eye) and they weave me in light and colour and support. They heal my fears until there is nothing but clarity and light. "You are a clear channel and you will attract beauty, love, health and wealth. These gifts that come in abundance are woven into your being to shine out to help fit the pieces together for others. The colours will find a place in each person. Soothing, healing, cleansing and renewing. Your crown is your beacon". I hold (oak?) seedlings in my hands which are planted in my womb and in a ring around my feet where my feet touch the earth, barefooted, deliciously feeling the moist, alive, purposeful earth. It has purpose, it has growth, it is wholly nurturing and enabling and i delight in touching it, feeling it, becoming at one with it. In between each sapling is a strong weave of golden light which is woven to support their growth. Allowing them to choose their path and direction, but also giving them unbending support which grows as they do. "It is natural to gift support to others, to help those who need it. It is possible when you come from a place of strength and wholeness in yourself. When you are whole you are able to help and support others. It is not a need, it is, it is a way that needs no asking. You see with clarity the need in others- the loss, the dents, the fracture, the veils that stop the light. The wholeness in you will allow you to be the healer you always wanted to be for yourself. A mirror of wholeness and golden light and love. Pure, simple, uncomplicated, shining, allowed to weave your magic or simply to allow the magic to take place. To let it all happen because wholeness brings faith, trust and true true happiness. This golden light is so healing, nourishing and divine, it is divine, it is the source and you are part of it. You have allowed the door to open again and there are no barriers. You were under an illusion that there were doors closed, but here you are radiant in knowledge, blessings and jewels of rainbow light radiating their healing and magic. They are you now, they are absolute, they are what always was and always would be: love in abundance. Your path is so clear- you are a parent, a mother, a wife and you are a healer, each time you meet someone who needs the light. You stand in this shamanic, healing, blessed space and cannot remember a time of such connection, love, empowerment, energy, light, hope and wishfulfilment as now. You bask in the glory of each moment here soaking up every ounce." The elders step forward now with different gifts- emerald glass/jewels with planetary and star wisdom, wisdom of all the ages. Green is the theme. Metatron, the angel, allowing the blazing orange light to light up each of these emeralds so that they shine.

Night has fallen and they stand out like glowing hubs/fire torches with magical powers-life enhancing, cleansing and healing any fragments, broken pieces, patterns of behaviour, refracted light and bringing out into the light hidden depths, hidden parts, untapped wisdom, untapped hopes and ideals. Belief that you can do something no matter what. Belief that nothing can stop you when you work for the highest good for all and from love. The emeralds have become like jewels in my hair, lighting my face and glinting in my hair. They sink into me, become a part of me and go deep deep into my psyche, into my cells, fires of warmth, energy and spirit. They heal, mend and connect. They talk to each other and they remember what it was like to be whole, to move freely, to be clean and clear and shining allowing the light and connecting with ease. They are delighted at this new speed of connection, they are permanently in touch so that everything moves easily and i am given a huge gift by a king (he also wears a golden crown). I undo the soft pink ribbon around the white box and inside on soft and fluffy sheepskin lies a clean, pink healthy baby -content, bright and so happy and safe. She giggles and sparkles. She has a twin boy who appears, i am not sure that i want him to be there, but he grows as i look at him, becoming a man and he hugs me with such love and strength and i see i also need this baby, this man in my life to nurture every part of me. The two babies embrace and join becoming a dancing ball of light which is gifted to me. I hug this ball of light to me and it bursts through any remaining barriers with the strength of its light. It pours into every part of me-the little girl- the bright energetic soul and the little boy the protecting, more grounded side. Both i need. They dance back and forth between one side and the other of me and strew their gifts. Silver coins of fortune, good fortune- so much luck and protection and delights. "They are important. Hold them but also let them flow freely because then they will keep replenishing endlessly." My feet are being painted, hennaed by the earth, my arms by nature, leaves covering my arms, tummy, back, head, legs. I am naked apart from leaves. I am nature- the trees, grasses, leaves, ferns, dells, moorlands, hillsides, flowers, spring, moss, baby clovers, dandelions- the wild things, the wild and natural parts to consume, to love, to be a part of .

 I dance in the streams and the brooks as the sunlight sparkles through the water glimmering, refracting jewels of light and movement all showered over me. Water is a blessing to cleanse, clean, clean out, washout and sparkle through your being. Your feet are washed in this delicious, singing, sparkling brook, you are again surrounded by your village of spirit helpers/family. They carry you and support you as you float down the gentle babbling stream of life. Yet it is so shallow that equally you could stand and walk, yet you choose to relax, to lie back in the sun and allow the gentle waters to support you. To gently soothe anything that needs to be, to hold you, love you as you grow and change. Welcome all these sparkling, bright, sunshiney jewels. Delight in the light and the blessings. Nurture yourself with raw and intuitively led foods - bless your food and allow love, only love, to enter your thoughts. You are at one. Thank you for sharing all that you are with us.

One final gift is from a little boy and then also from an old man. The little boy gives me a tuning fork to sound out the correct vibrations around me and the older man gives me a box of delicious foods to nourish me on every level to keep replenishing myself and my reserves forever. I thank them all so much and receive a collective hug and the old man wraps us all in his cloak and with his staff he winds us all in together until i am left in the clearing on my own with the magic wizards staff in my hands and all the gifts, blessings and wisdom safely wrapped up inside me.

What a deliciously magical and healing journey. I feel so blessed to have experienced it and it's ongoing radiant effects.

Earthy Joy and Watery Bliss

It is wet, muddy and raining today and i'm in heaven. We went away for the easter weekend leaving piles of snow that refused to melt to drive 6 hours north of Oslo to a place called Oppdal for a few days in the mountains to ski and to spend time with family. It was stunning and heaven to have some sun and to get the last possible few days of skiing in, not to mention some time with my husband and son. But after a winter of snow (5 months of snow on the ground) i am leaping for joy at the sight of brown earth on our return from the mountains. FINALLY the snow has melted.  No matter that it is raining and the ground is muddy, i can actually see the earth and it feels soooo good. I have just come back from a run delighting in being able to feel the earth beneath my feet along muddy paths through the parks and then down eventually to the river and into the forest. The water in the river was surging down over the rocks and boulders swollen to almost double its normal size with all this snow melt water, unlike the quiet months when it was frozen, yet mesmerisingly beautiful.

All we need now is for it to warm up a little and then we can leap into the lakes and get swimming.

Swimming in the lakes and fjords in and around Oslo has been one of the most amazing things about living here in Norway. There are a whole host of clean fresh water lakes with sandy beaches as well beautiful places to swim in the Oslo fjord from the mainland or from one of the many islands where it is common to see people picnicing and barbequeing in the summer. Sophie Cooke wrote a wonderful article about wild swimming in the north of Norway which is worth a read: 

 
As a child we always swam in local rivers, lakes and when we got the chance in the sea, even as early as february, if there was water we would swim in it. There is nothing that can compare to swimming in natural waters. Swimming in chlorinated pools can never compare.  

There is a great book called "Wild Swimming" by Daniel Start about swimming in wonderful little known natural places in Britain. It maps out perfect bathing places in the lakes and rivers in the UK with the most stunning photos to accompany the descriptions. In may 2009 a "Wild swimming coast" book came out  It is pure heaven just to look through these books and delight in these natural places.

Now that the ice and snow has melted what am i waiting for?

Clean up and clean out

Gosh starting to eat a high raw food diet in the height of the Norwegian winter did not seem crazy when i started, it seemed like something i just had to do and i didn't think too much about it. The fact is that i just felt i couldn't wait any longer and it just made so much sense to me, to eat things that would energise me and make me sing and zing with life and happiness. In the beginning i felt totally euphoric suddenly having more foods that had life and energy in them and my body just craved more and more and more. I was on an absolute high with the initial cleansing and empowering nature of eating these living foods as they drew out a huge amount from my cells and light seemed to be pouring into the space left behind.

I began to have a huge emotional detox almost straight away, which i actually welcomed despite the difficulties i felt with it, because i felt that i was re experiencing old emotions, illness and patterns of behaviour to finally clear them out for good and i felt so energised anything was worth that. I also felt like i was beginning to finally come into line with what i was meant to be doing in my life, things were opening up in more ways than one and it felt so good. However after about 2 months i began to feel that things were not so good physically as i began to feel heavy and stagnant,  my tummy started to feel rather sore and bloated, i had pain around the liver area and i began to feel rather jangley and as though things were not at all balanced and my skin as ever was showing the detox more than in the beginning.  I began intuitively to back off the greens a little and sought advise from a healer ( mainly for the huge emotional detox and stagnant feelings) who was amazing on every level. She also suggested that i do the same in terms of reducing the greens but to also add some cooked foods like brown rice to slow things down a little as the green and raw foods were releasing a huge amount at cellular level which was then putting a huge strain on my liver and kidneys with this toxic release from the cells, the pushing element had become too strong  My body wasn't able to pull it out of the body fast enough and i needed some support. She also crucially suggested colonics as a way to support this process and to bring my body back into balance. Funnily enough i had actually read quite a lot about this but just thought that i would do it when i had the money, but now i see it is more than nescessary to do it when you start this way of eating and as you go along, infact it is essential. However there is one thing you can do if you feel you can't afford colonics straight away which i  have just read about and that is a colon cleansing powder suggested by The Raw Food World called Colosan http://www.therawfoodworld.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=332 i think this would be good to use to start the process or until you can afford colonics. But i think ultimately that you need to have both. Here is a little of what the Raw Food World says about Colosan:  "Colosan is best taken in conjunction with colon hydrotherapy, yet it is also GREAT on its own for people who REFUSE to do colon hydrotherapy. Colosan works mainly inside the small intestine, which we can't get to with colon hydrotherapy. The acton of the oxygen helps balance fermentation & yeasts. The quick liquifying effects of old impacted matter often create energy shifts & reduction in bloating. If people do the initial suggested 5-day intensive use of Colosan, it frequently encourages them to keep going. "

One article that you might find useful about going raw is Matt Monarchs "How to go Raw?" article January 24, 2008 - http://www.therawfoodworld.com/blog/?p=518  as well as this article also by Matt which goes deeper into the reason for colonics:  "Colon Hydrotherapy 101" January 24, 2008- http://www.therawfoodworld.com/blog/?p=518. Infact if you go to the Raw Food World website http://www.therawfoodworld.com/ there are a whole host of useful and wonderful articles about the raw food lifestyle.

To deal with the emotional detox alongisde the physical i recommend Angela Stokes-Monarchs book "Raw Emotions" which "...goes beyond the physical, to examine the emotional and spiritual factors that contribute to our eating patterns...and gives you PRACTICAL, solid insights into how to create LASTING CHANGE :)


Whatever your current relationship with food looks like, RAW EMOTIONS, has something to offer you.

You'll learn ways to:

• understand YOUR emotional connections with food
• release patterns that no longer serve you
• examine your history with eating AND create your optimal vision for yourself
• re-connect authentically with your emotions
• address cravings and let go of overeating
• choose inspiring activities and resources to keep on track
• find balance in your food choices and lifestyle
• feel more connected, loving and joyful

Combining proven 'self-help' techniques with a raw lifestyle, 'Raw Emotions' contains 60 specific tools and action tips for engaging YOUR transformation.

This truly unique book, based on personal experience and extensive research, is a 'first' in the raw foods movement: an invaluable guide on how to 'dance' with and heal emotions that 'come up' when we change how we eat for our health."

So this new way of eating needs support in more ways than one, but once that is in place you really will be flying! Traditionally cleansing is easier around the spring Equinox ( march 20th 2010) when our bodies are being helped by the natural cycle of life, as new leaves and new life pushes forth and the dead wood falls away. So if you are thinking about trying more raw foods maybe now is a more natural time for it!