So glad you're feeling better today Sharrhan!

glad you are feeling better hun i was feeling a bit sideways lately since last weeks snow on wednesday

its a real bummer when you get all gung ho out in the garden thinking spring is early then get dumped on again by the white stuff

speaking of gardening are you gonna be doing your community garden this year again? how did it work last year for you did you get lots of stuff? was it a learning experience? i been meaning to ask you

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

>speaking of gardening are you gonna be doing your community garden this year again? how did it work last year for you did you get lots of stuff? was it a learning experience? i been meaning to ask you <

Actually, our Emily Street Garden group has found out that we are going to have to wage a legal battle to keep our garden. MIT is going to take back our land (which has been ours for over 30 years), as well as the house next-door for some kind of development. Apparently we may get to use the garden again this summer-- I'm not sure yet-- but after that we will have to try to either fight the seizure in court or get the city of Cambridge to give us another garden, which is a possibility. However, this garden is very special: we work as a collective unit, rather than having separate plots, and then as the crops are ready for harvest we share everything. The city, for some reason, doesn't normally allow this type of collective gardening, so if they give us another garden we will each have to grow our own little plots separately. I don't know enough about gardening and rely heavily on the expertise of others in my group, so I will quit my membership if that happens and figure out an alternate plan.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

MARCH FIRST!!! Did we think it would ever arrive? Time for my spring fast, even if it is snowing outside and 23 degrees. I've been warm as toast all winter, even when fasting, so I don't really care.

So far I've survived 2 days of water fasting pretty well! I haven't been hungry at all, though I know better than to let down my guard. I know I'm 'still toxic after all these years,' (heehee, that's slightly better than 'still crazy after all these years') and I really need to release a lot of toxic waste, both physical and mental, so I want to do a fairly long water fast. I'm committed to stepping back from things a bit and just resting and doing some walking a lot, and maybe a bit of music practice. I have to get into a certain receptive state and flow of energy to stay with my commitment to fast, or else I can easily trick myself into changing gears and switching to some other regimen that involves food.

Just got two books in the mail from PaperBackSwap an hour ago -- one on miracles and how they are created, and the other on higher dimensional beings intervening at this time to keep humanity on a safe course -- hopefully inspiring reading while I fast. Fasting isn't that enjoyable if you just do it for your health, but if you have a spiritual intent it can really be a wonderful experience.

I felt kind of zapped this afternoon, but I took a nap around 4:30 and when I woke up these energies I call 'the healing gift waves' were giving me energy and bringing me back to life. Does anybody else experience healing in this way? Over the last few years I've experienced waves of white, golden (and sometimes colors) light in my visual field when I need healing or I'm super-tired. They send out pulsing waves, like waves spreading on the surface of a pond. They show up if I am calm and meditative, and often just before I drop off to sleep. When I'm sick they get really intense and look almost like angel wings.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

That's beautiful. Yes, I've experienced waves of energy and waves of colour. The most intense recently at a very low point, actually I think a high point of feeling so low and having such insight of my condition and need...was meditating in this very begging helplessness and powerful waves "descended" and I was totally calmed and at peace.

Yes, lots of people cleansing. My short "about-face" fast of 3 days did a world of good for me. I feel so renewed. Fog has lifted. Mentally, physically...such a "wash", clearing. Now I can begin the rawfood journey again!

I'm into wishing people a super swirling twirling dancing flowing day....to you, too!

Elakti--
Wonderful! It's probably a common phenomenon that not much of anyone talks about because it's kind of hard to explain.

Waves of healing love, joy and peace to everyone!

BTW, I'm off the water fast already, but it was very good. I did it 2-1/2 days total. Woke up this morning, day 3, with a very white tongue, but I didn't feel sick like I do sometimes on the 3rd day, so i was pretty happy about that. But later today while out on an hour walk in the 25 degree weather I was just too enervated to continue with just water-- had to have some juice. I will continue doing intermittent fasting (juice + water + raw food) as my intuition directs me, and I'm sure when it warms up I'll be more in the mood to continue. In the summer it's easy. I remember the year before last I fasted on water and lemonade for a month, while working hard at my outdoor job that entails a lot of walking-- it was fantastic. So I'll just look forward to spring and summer.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

dang sharrhan that boils my barnacles about your garden .... why does it always seeem it is so much harder to have and maintain a healthy lifestyle , it really seems the powers that be make it so much tougher for folks living in the city in this respect,

between this and your story about the mayor picking on the homeless people makes me wanna fire off letters lol

its funny tho i get this funny feeling that by time it rolls around that you might have to fight them for the land .. either something better will come along or ..?

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

>between this and your story about the mayor picking on the homeless people makes me wanna fire off letters lol<

Even worse than that-- it's the Governor!

>its funny tho i get this funny feeling that by time it rolls around that you might have to fight them for the land .. either something better will come along or ..? <

Yes, I feel that way too Jodi, but the group is already forging ahead to find a good lawyer. More power to them; you never know! Cambridge is a progressive town, similar to Berkeley, CA, but in all honesty the development interests and big money people have made major inroads during the past 15 years, so that I hardly recognize our friendly little town anymore. Ever since Rent Control was rescinded (by a maddening statewide vote, as if people in other towns have the right to decide our fate??) the fatcats have predominated and the 'cultural creatives' and activists have had to leave. I'm not leavin' though, and neither is Jonathan!

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

ha ! good for them stick to their guns. i know you waited a long time on that list so i hope it all works out

there is so many little towns around here that are losing their little town feel too ... progress they say .. hmph to that lol

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I agree. Hmph to that "progress" stuff!

Sharrhan, about the color waves: I think I feel them, but I've never noticed actually seeing them. Maybe if I start looking.

I've noticed that all the colors of the natural landscape seem much more vivid and beautiful whenever my insides are cleaner.

Sometimes, especially when I'm lying out in the sun, I get a feeling like a gentle wave of body ecstasy flowing all through me.

I had that same feeling a few days ago as I was resting during a fast. Kinda neat.

twice in the last few years ive had experience with healing waves of light .. the first time being in india and the 2nd being sick with cancer in the hospital

its funny that both times were both reflective and relaxing times in mylife .. no stress from work or relationships or anything at all

i thinkits a great thing to tap into and wish i could more so on a daily basis, unfortunatly i dont get it when im living the day to day stuff it seems to come on in a crisis situation .. not that thats bad or obscure .. but i wish i could have it all the time

i think it is something that is always there but takes practice to nuture .. still working on that

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2009 12:23AM by Jgunn.

I love hearing others' experiences with the healing waves of light; at first I hesitated to mention them, but I'm glad I did. I now more strongly suspect they're a pretty common human experience, and I believe they might be the 'chi' energy or prana of the Taoists and Hindus, made visible or sensible to us in one way or another to us to alert us to their presence. Whatever it is, it's a blessing from the Divine. One thing I discovered in my experience with the 'gift waves' is that they like to be welcomed and they seem to almost respond to the desire and expectation to receive them. I find the most important thing is to let go of thoughts, usually while laying down in a quiet, slightly dark room. If I'm thinking too much, it just disrupts the flow and it stops. Sometimes when I've been anxious or in a bad mood, meditating isn't quite enough; I'll meditate and then take a nap. After the nap I'm centered and calm enough to be receptive, and voila: gift waves. ;-)

The aftermath of my 2-1/2 days of water fasting has been so interesting. I have realized something really important: I'M SO HARD ON MYSELF! What I tend to do in life, but especially in my raw food and health journey, is pick the most impossibly 'perfect' role models who would be really hard to emulate (there are a couple people I'm thinking of whom I admire for their amazing progress and ability to reach quite astounding goals) and then berate myself when I fall short of the standards they've set and realized for themselves. Sheesh! I realized I've gotta give myself a break and make more realistic and less heroic goals. My life doesn't revolve solely around the goal of evolving into a raw food 'goddess;' I have a whole life of other interests and goals, of which being healthy and eating raw food is a component. So many times I have set the bar so high that I couldn't possibly meet my own expectations-- which is what we do to sabotage ourselves!,lol.

I realized this week that there's a plan for ME, and I'm not going to do things like anybody else, and I should stop setting myself up for an illusory sense of failure. I was unhappy with myself for only doing 2-1/2 days of water fasting, but I've turned it around and now I feel really good about what I accomplished. Today when I was in a fitting room trying on clothes, I got a good look in a full-length 3-way mirror (can't see as much in my 3/4 mirrors at home) and was pleasantly surprised to see a much sleeker look. (I had really thought that the fast hadn't changed my physique in any way; clearly it has.) I genuinely liked the way I looked in my jeans, and my stomach was a lot flatter; thighs have tightened up a little bit. Everything seemed proportioned-- yay!!!

Yesterday and today I started noticing guys eying me and making funny flirtatious comments to me on the street-- I call this the 'street test.' Whenever I get significantly healthier and more fit, the guys in Central Square start calling out to me and trying to get my attention again. Believe me, when you're almost 60, it's a delight to have strangers say "Hey baby, you lookin' real fine, girl." etc., etc., blah blah blah. (Of course it means nothing, and I keep walking straight home to the waiting arms of my adoring husband, but I'm inwardly smiling all the way.)

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

kwan Wrote:
---------------------------------------------------
>
> The aftermath of my 2-1/2 days of water fasting
> has been so interesting. I have realized something
> really important: I'M SO HARD ON MYSELF! What I
> tend to do in life, but especially in my raw food
> and health journey, is pick the most impossibly
> 'perfect' role models who would be really hard to
> emulate (there are a couple people I'm thinking of
> whom I admire for their amazing progress and
> ability to reach quite astounding goals) and then
> berate myself when I fall short of the standards
> they've set and realized for themselves. Sheesh! I
> realized I've gotta give myself a break and make
> more realistic and less heroic goals. My life
> doesn't revolve solely around the goal of evolving
> into a raw food 'goddess;' I have a whole life of
> other interests and goals, of which being healthy
> and eating raw food is a component. So many times
> I have set the bar so high that I couldn't
> possibly meet my own expectations-- which is what
> we do to sabotage ourselves!,lol.
>
> I realized this week that there's a plan for ME,
> and I'm not going to do things like anybody else,
> and I should stop setting myself up for an
> illusory sense of failure.

Sharrhan, you are so right! Well put! BRAVO!

And congrats on the "street test"!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2009 08:14AM by suncloud.

It's amazing how we beat ourselves up like we do. I know for myself, I wouldn't talk to anyone the way I do when I'm being so hard on myself. Glad to know that it's passing. Sounds like you were feeling really down.

Glad to hear you're doing better. And what suncloud wrote: congrats on the street test!


Love,

Mona

A spiritual awakening is our greatest gift.

What I am is Gods gift to me.
What I make of myself is my gift to Him.

Great comments here.

For me, the purpose of eating raw is to ENJOY LIFE MORE, which is far more important than being a role model.
After all, do I want to be a role model of a miserable egotistic raw foods mentor, or a mentor who attains and exemplifies great joy in life via raw foods.
Do you get the idea here, i.e. means vs. end?

I choose to not follow the ego tendency for self-sabotage.
Nor do I give the ego ammunition in the form of guilt about a less-than-perfect daily performance in optimal eating habits, or whatever else.

Thanks for listening, and for being here.
You are all rawsome.
Rock on.

If you post a reply to this message and would like my feedback, it would be best to send me a private message to that effect. Otherwise, I may not check this thread for a while.

***Info from the advisors at HealthNVitality***

Kwan, you ARE a role model, a positive bright role model in several areas and it wouldn't diminish in any way by any particular appearance. I certainly understand what you are saying though, as everyone who knows me tells me I am so very hard on myself. I always say I am stating facts, but I also know that I AM too hard on myself. Thing is, we can't judge. We just don't know. Someone make 'look like' a wonderful role model, but we really don't know. Everyone is on their own path and I know I have to learn to treat myself as I would treat others, with the same understanding and empathy.

I turn 59 this month and as far as appearances go.....omg. This is something to deal with. Most of the time I am all right, but I have (seriously) aged majorly in past few years, and (seriously) in past year...skin tone, wrinkles,...I hardly recognize myself. When I am feeling better on inside, I am brave about it. I look in mirror and the reflection resets my priorities. I AM in last phase of life: what is important? Health, spirituality, human-ness. I see all these wrinkles and I know most is free radical damage and smoking and all that, so okay I trust in self-healing properties and am always trying to get on right track. I recently also accepted it a little more: Free radicals aside, I also tell myself that much that is on my no longer smooth young skin comes from all my emotions and intensity of feelings and expressions of all that. I see a face that has laughed and roared and wept and cried and expressed surprise and wonder and awe and disgust at injustices and and and and and. My face is now like reading lines on the palm, heh!!!! I used to be very pretty....and hardly knew it....now, well, so be it. It is still there a bit. And it is the eyes that really matter and what is behind them. So, yes, I am going through all this sort of thing.
But, recently, I have HAD to reach deeper acceptance of myself as reflected in mirror and I MUST not regret the youthful face but look at it now as some sort of painting/journal! 'sigh' Anyway, who cares, I'm going to start taking T'ai Chi!

You look rather beautiful, by the way.

What wonderful posts! Thank you, HealthNVitality and Elakti for your beautiful sharings. So true: the fantasy world of the ego and its obsession with bodily perfection doesn't satisfy; only love, joy and peace really matter.... and for me, MUSIC!! ;-p

For many years I made a little sideline/hobby out of grooving on the fact that eating a raw food diet (+ exercise and meditation) seemed to slow my aging process. Recently I think I'm just easing my grip on that aspect of my being and getting on with what really matters in life. No doubt I'll figure out some new way to still hold onto it-- the idea immediately comes to mind that I'd like to become a "gorgeous older woman." Ha ha, the ego is just relentless, isn't it?

What great things we discover on this diary forum, thanks to the unconditional support and warmth that we share with each other. I love it.

Hugs to all.!

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2009 03:41AM by kwan.

omg .. you want to BECOME an gorgeous older woman ???

sharrhan YOU ARE a gorgeous older woman !!

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Awww, thanks sweetie!

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Finally!, I'm feeling physically and mentally energetic again today. Yay!!! Jonathan and I have both been feeling ridiculously blaaaaaaah and tired for almost a week, for some reason-- I think we were probably successfully fighting off a flu virus. Today I'm ready for the gym, and feeling like myself again.

I've noticed an unmistakable pattern in myself over the years that I'm trying to change: I flit from one plan or regimen to another, sometimes all in the space of a few days, in an effort to find a way to tame my apptetite and find an optimal way to practice raw diet and cleansing. Well, in truth, there probably is no one 'best' way to do this, and maybe I'm just craving variety. So yesterday I typed up about 15 separate pages of basic raw food regimens that I've tried and generally liked in the past -- everything from Quantum Eating to juice fasting to 80/10/10 and doing green smoothies, and even water fasting. So now I will try intuitively picking a plan each day from my 'collection' of options and sticking with it for 24 (or sometimes more) hours to see how that feels, and I'm going to try to take some notes and be a little more analytical about how my choices affect me from here-on-in. I'm tired of being a flibberty-jibbet! ;-p Today I'm doing one big meal of fruit and greens later this afternoon, and drinking a lot of water.

Also, because it's been a long sunless winter here in New England I've started taking vitamin D. Will keep taking the vitamin D till late spring, when I'll be getting enough sunshine from my job outdoors and from all the walking I normally do.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Okay, check out up-to-the-minute recent developments on the thread about 'Too Bad I Can't Believe in God' on the 'Off-Topic' forum to see why I think a) this forum is pretty much finished and b) I probably will be looking for other raw food forums in the near future and I will be avoiding this one and no longer posting here. Someone has taken a page out of Napoleon's book and applied it to our humble little forum, and it's a damned shame.

Just finished reading the "other topics" forum Sharrhan, and I definitely share your concern.

The nature of the implied new rule (No debate? Ever? It's not clear) is such that it imparts a fear of even discussing it. If we attempt to discuss - even for clarification - does it mean we'll be removed from the forum? If so, maybe we'll both be gone by tomorrow.

Whatever the case, it seems like any rule changes should be posted on their own thread with a clear subject line, like "Rules Changes", rather than posted inside some other thread where others might miss them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2009 08:16AM by suncloud.

Suncloud--
We've been completely blindsided by these new rules. I don't see how we can have a vibrant or interesting forum when we're not allowed to discuss spirituality or even have friendly discourse/debate about anything. This is a clear case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Obviously, my ability to be a co-moderator will be null and void under these new conditions. Too bad; I was rather looking forward to it.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Sharrhan, congratulations on your new role as moderator. I support you completely, and I know that many others will be as pleased as I am.

I hope some system may be worked out among you, Bryan, and John, that is do-able, CONSISTENT, acceptable, and effective for minimizing contention on the board, while at the same time promoting a positive and informative flow of information!

Hey, suncloud!

Your inbox is full.

Yeah, I went to the gym and had a great workout this afternoon. My head cleared and I didn't even think about the whole snafu for about 3 hours. I'm sure it'll all get sorted out some way or other.

I'm rooting for a return to health-related (only) political posts on the health-related off-toic forum, among other things; that would be super.

I wonder if we could write up a simple request petition of our wants, and have everyone who agrees submit it to John and/or Bryan, or somehow everyone could sign it? (Not sure how we'd arrange that.) Then it would be real clear what we want to see done about discipline, as well as what we feel is missing from the board at the present moment. In a real sense this is OUR board too; we should have a say in how it's administered according to democratic principles.

Thanks for all your diligence and concern.

Sharrhan

blah i wouldnt worry bout it too much i dont think much is gonna change if anything. it seems that bryan is more keen lately to try and settle things and with your help sharrhan im sure the board will be a great place for discussions

i have a sneaky suspicion that john might be getting tired of hearing from us all when these issues seem to boil over and has asked bryan to deal with it lol

my suggestion is we should all try to settle things before they reach that point

i was wondering if the chat feature of the sight couldnt be utilized more to talk things out .. ya know ? get you an bryan in on a chat once in awhile to get things out in the air and open. the chat function works . just nobody uses it. some times i think things get lost in translation in the forums that wouldnt be so much in a live chat

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Jodi,
The chat idea is excellent! I never thought of that before. We should definitely do that. With regard to the 2nd moderator thing, I am waiting to hear from John and Bryan. At this point I'm not so sure it's a go. We will see. No big deal. Jay proposed it and John said it was going to happen, but I wonder if Bryan was informed? That could be awkward. If I were him, I'd want to know. I'll take a Zen approach and just wait and see.

Hi Sharrhan,

How are you doing with your new approach to diet? I know it's only been a couple of days, but I'm just curious how it's working for you so far.

Love,

Mona

If you find yourself in a rut, stop digging.

It's never to late to be what you might have been. -George Eliot

Hi Mona,
Actually, I'm still pretty undisciplined right now. I'm able to eat all raw, but goals go out the window as the day progresses. Just sticking to raw food is all I can handle right now. I seem to have, for the time being, gotten so run-down that I don't have the motivation to stick with a plan or a guideline. The past few days I've felt like I was (semi-successfully) fighting off a flu virus; both Jonathan and I have felt extremely lethargic, though we're very happy that we're not sick in bed. No cough, no aches, no nausea. Sometimes I feel a little warm, but I don't have a temperature. Maybe I'm going through the 'change' a second time, ha ha!

I think when the weather gets a little warmer my 'spunk' will come back and I'll either continue with my new 'pick a plan' approach or do a long juice fast.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Sharrhan, you're staying raw, and that's the main thing (IMO). If you're staying raw on your "undisciplined" days, then WOW, on your disciplined days,............!



I think Jodi's suggestion is great.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/2009 12:05AM by suncloud.