Let it ALL OUT. =D *big hug*

Dr. Mercola talks a lot about new schools of thought (like German New Medicine, for example) that treat illnesses as primarily emotional in root. So, healing/detox, to me, seems like it can happen on an overlapping series of levels...

hug

I think crying spells are cleansing for the soul. I also think that what we eat not only affects our bodies; it affects our spirits. That's why people fast to get closer to God / more in touch with their inner beings. I know it to be true for me -- when I do a cleanse or eat 100% healthy, fresh raw, I start thinking more about the deep things of my soul and want to make that area of myself "right", but when I eat junk I just want to go to sleep and drink Smooth Move tea and get rid of it all. So the first scenario happens more and more.

I think you get emotional detox for sure..

but I am able to rationalise better now raw than before

I am a very sensitive soul..but I now know I just have to shut off..not easy for me..but I have learnt to and not be concearned about other people's wellbeing at work as it could cost me my job

it has allowed me to control my emotions better, shut off if i need to.. have quiet time...and deal with stress better

Since going vegan, I turned into such a sap when watching emotional scenes- even in cartoon movies! Despite this, I used to be obsessed with extremely gory horror films, but since eating more raw foods, I've graduated away from them and sold a lot of my collection off.

Maybe I was looking for something in those films, but then my change in diet help ground me, and I didn't need to watch them anymore. I don't frown upon them, they just don't really figure anywhere in my lifestyle.

that's kind of interesting

going from extremely gory horror films to being teary eyed at cartoons

i say that this raw things is potent indeed !

:-) Sometimes I feel embarassed about it in front of my boyfriend, who's used to me trying to be a badass!

I wonder if the sensitivity is also there because a lot of raw food websites do have a loving community, and maybe some of that 'live and let live' attitude rubs off?

I have always been a rather sensitive person, which is probably why i noticed conventional food taking a tole on me. Since going raw (even more so since eating mostly fruit) i find that i am extreemly sensitive. But in a good way. I think that since i am eating food that god created i am more aware of and tend to stay away from the things he did not create. i turned 21 in january and on my birthday i had one drink and called it a night since then i have only had maybe 8 drinks. i just dont like the way it makes me feel like i used to. i would rather eat a mango.
Also right now i am spending some time with my father because he is getting old. I bhelieve that if i was not eating raw foods and if i was not so sensitive i would not be able to really and treasure this time. My mind is not so complecated and i am not trying to go a million miles a minute any longer so i can really just sit back with him and just enjoy his company and love.
being this sensitive is a gift from above that i am truly greatfull for

I can relate to what rawdanceruk wrote.

I have always been very sensitive. I know I would not be happy if I were to become more so. I am better able to deal with my sensitivities now. Before It was a struggle for me. In some cases it is still a struggle but I am more logical now. I sometimes felt like I needed to shut off my emotions to deal with certain situations (especially when it came to animals and rescue) and now most of the time I am able to let myself feel the sorrow and still keep a clear head. I feel like I can handle more emotionally and I will be able to accomplish more of my goals without the fear of depression.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2008 02:11PM by pakd4fun.

sounds like some sort of release and detox, Brian.

oh and ditto about the TV. Never had one. Never will.

i am so sensitive that when i saw a billboard that had mickie dees quarter pounder on it spilling and oozing with carcass

i felt my whole body and psyche feeling nauseated

i couldn't wait for the line to turn green as if that would magically erase the offending visuals LOL

also, i don't even like raw things to even RESEMBLE meat whatsoever

it ruins it

when i go to a market and i can smell the raw meat odor from behind the glass case

it repulses me

i am glad that i am a pro when it comes to shopping... it literally takes me under 5 minutes flat to get my grocery shopping done

well, my point is that before raw, things like that didn't seem to phase me one iota

and now... if someone eats meat in front of me, i have to distract my mind so that i am "unaware" of what they are doing otherwise i feel revolted on a deep level

i have seem to have gotten "more" sensitive than before

yeah.. same with being around a lot of people

before i LOVED being in crowds

got a kick out of big events where there were OODLES of people

i felt " at home" and happy

loved big parties etc etc

and now?

i feel reaaal picky just hanging out with ONE person

let alone a bona fide party

so.. yeah... things have changed

not sure if its good or bad

just is

on the flip side

sensitivity has been a plus

enabling me to sense things that i may not have been able to sense prior
very keen motor skills
since olfactory senses are heightened, taking a hike in nature is awesome... the scent of the plants are far more redolent

the way clouds stretch across the sky, a simple stone lying in water, the sound of water ... the smell of water... the feel of a slight adjustment in the breeze

everything is heightened

nature becomes more fascinating

then u want to protect it more

because it is such a vivid part of ones life

<<<since olfactory senses are heightened, taking a hike in nature is awesome... the scent of the plants are far more redolent >>>

My olfactory glands have become super sensitive. I went for almost ten years without them working at all and since going raw they started working again. Now they have gone nuts. I find myself obsessed with sniffing everything. It's hard to explain the sensation. It is like an orgasm back behind my nose. When I feed the horses I suck in that sweet smell of feed and when I clean my house with smelly cleaner or even when I get gas I can't stop myself from sucking in anything that will hit that gland.

I have also become more sensitive to touch. I notice this most while brushing my teeth. It feels like a massage. I don't want to stop. My mouth has never been so clean.

Very interesting about the smell heightening.
I think its happening to me also.
Things like paint bother me more than before,and unfortunately I work with it in my hobbies all the time.But thats what respirators are for.
But its neat how a smell can bring back a memory instantly.....

Smell of cloves instantly reminds me of Christmas.
Fresh cut grass=summer.
Funnel cake=carnivals.
diesel fuel=the bus stop when I was in elementary school.
Coppertone lotion=the pool or a beach.
Oak burning in the fireplace=winter.
Fresh cut pumpkin=Halloween.

Oh,songs do this too.
Doesnt a particular song bring you all back to a memory?
Its really fascinating to me.


Brian



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2008 03:16PM by Raw1228.

Yes.

Summer smell-rain on hot cement and that hot kiddo copper smell.

Rush "Tom Sawyer" takes me back to goin' fast at the skate rink.

Journey "Open Arms"- skating slow with Darren Baker.

Led Zep- 'Driving around' in the back of a car in ninth grade.

Cool!!
I love Rush's songs too.

For me Elton John "Philadelphia Freedom" bring back that bicentennial summer in a sec.

Many of McCartney & Wings songs bring back memories of childhood.

Carpenters..we had an 8-track tape of them we wore out during Sunday drives in our 71 Chevy wagon.

I am really dating myself here arent I?

As far as that summer rain smell...nothing is quite like it.

All good stuff here.

Brian

I clicked on this thread because of the title. I am reading Angela Stokes' e-book called Raw Emotions. I figured this thread would be about this book. I haven't read all the posts but didn't see any mention of the book. She certainly has a lot to say about emotions in the book. Really a terrific book I might add.

Years ago I read a book called "When Food is Love" and I'd have to say that these two, for me, are similar in core content. From what I remember of the "When Food is Love" book, it's just that Angela Stokes' book is in a raw food context, the other not at all. I wasn't ready to get on with really healing when I read that first book. I'm still struggling to let myself heal even now but I'm more accepting of healing.

Emotions emotions emotions. I teach English at a private English language school to mostly elementary school kids after their regular school day. I really really really really don't like this most of the day, most days. I so so so push and shove against what I feel. And boy do I ever see how I use food to keep myself sane. Thing is, it ain't keeping me sane!

Just wanted to say that. And to say that I am so glad this forum / board thrives. I used to enjoy reading the posts and commenting often. Haven't done that much in the past many months. But I do expect to be back someday. I look in from time to time and usually find something great.

Thanks everyone for being.
Troy.



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

I had some raw emotions thundering tonight...

Sometimes I will start to cry if I talk about something that resonates very deeply with me. It is simply the profundity of the resonation that instantly moves me to weep. This has never happened to me, before raw--and it is always, somehow, related to the preciousness of life, one way or another. Never before have I been able to feel how simultaneously precious, fragile, beautiful, and unique each and every life is. This is something totally imparted to me by living members of the vegetable kingdom. =D (Edit: or also a side effect of no longer filling the body with items of mass production?)

Tonight, for example--there's a conflict my (SAD) boyfriend has been obsessed with trying to drive between us lately, and it is, "HOW WILL WE FEED OUR CHILDREN?! It's going to be a battle every day!!" While that is a topic on its own (I found new insight!), relevant to this discussion, I was trying to explain the concept of bringing awareness to everything we eat. I said to him, I think that if you are going to eat meat, at the very least, you should be aware of the animal that gave its life for your nourishment, and be grateful.

He got very snide and defensive. "I don't suppose YOU stop and thank god every time you eat an apple!"

I just looked at him, and the minute words rolled out of my mouth, the tears began to flow. I said, maybe I do.

And never in a thousand years would I have predicted those words to come from me! (Kind of like how I despised children and vowed to despise them for life... until raw changed all of that.)

I can't tell you when I started doing it, but I've just started taking a moment to appreciate the awesome foods I have before I eat, these past few months. It was never something I bothered with or even cared about before, I used to always roll my eyes on the inside when I would eat at someone else's house and they'd say grace. But as I learn more about the impending global food crisis, massive dieoffs of major pollinator animals, the general unsustainability of modern life... it really is a miracle that we can just go to the closest grocery store and pile our carts until they are overflowing with such delicious, pure, healing foods.

But it was just sort of something I did privately in my own mind. I didn't realize how deeply it was impacting me. And once again, raw has amazed me by showing how the simplest intention can sprout into something awesome.

Long story short, I only consciously realized the graciousness the lifestyle was fostering inside me. And something so simple and sweet as graciousness just instantly burnt a hole through my chest and made me weep.

I'm seriously like the Grinch, and raw foods have made my heart grow three sizes too big. And it just keeps growing...!

The only thing that kind of frustrated me was that my boyfriend didn't understand. He kept asking, "Why are you so SAD? Why can't you just ENJOY life?" I FEEL and EXPERIENCE and REAP JOY from life more than I ever have before! Life is just so overpoweringly AWESOME sometimes I have to cry before my brain scrapes through language to find a poor substitute in words for the experience!

Honestly. What DOES biologically active plant matter qualitatively do to our brains...?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2008 05:10AM by phantom.

phantom

can relate only too well

they say that the length of the shadow is in proportion to the brightness of the light

was it buddha who said to suffer what there is to suffer and enjoy what there is to enjoy?

i've come to the conclusion that when i suffer simultaneously when i am enjoying something ( due to the exquisite awareness that this too is fleeting)

i have done my duty

in half the time

I had lunch with a friend yesterday. I think she could be a good friend. But.

She piled her plate high with all this dead bird muscle.

It was so gross.

I am sad to say that it made me sick on so many different levels. I tried very hard to push it back to the far recesses of my mind, but I am afraid I will always have reservations with people who eat like this, which is most people.

Meanwhile I made 4 trips to the salad bar. And she was judging me for eating fruit and vegetables in the same meal.

<<Meanwhile I made 4 trips to the salad bar. And she was judging me for eating fruit and vegetables in the same meal>>.


oh holy cow!!!!

that is HILARIOUS arugula !!!

had dinner with someone long time ago

and he is a carnivore to the max - - muchO!!

and he is a self proclaimed lover of all sugary things, things that come in pouched bags ( pretzels, Doritos) and things that can out survive the lifespan of a tortoise ( twinkies, and other hostess items)

anyhoo... he sees me putting some lettuce- y items from the salad bar on my plate

then .. i put some strawberries on it

as i am eating my dinner, he says " you know... it really isn't good to mix fruits with other things ( like i haven't heard that before)

and i just say "yeah... i know what u mean, man" and continue eating my dinner

and his frothing incisors that have threads of read and brown dripping from it is thrashing rabidly back and forth on his carnivorous fare like someone playing the harmonica on bones of flesh...

and he gives me the EVIL eye for mixing my lettuce with a coupla strawberries

go figure

whatever

life is good

[ whatever

life is good]

Yes. It's better for us, but this dealing with carnivores is vexing.

"and his frothing incisors that have threads of read and brown dripping from it is thrashing rabidly back and forth on his carnivorous fare like someone playing the harmonica on bones of flesh... "

^HAHAHA XD

And yet... not so funny at the same time. =S

the REAL funny part
is that

i still think that overall

he is still sort of a cool guy

went to a museum with him once

i loved his neverending enthusiasm

go figure

I used food to numb my emotions. After my emergency surgery this past Yule, I was on heavy painkillers to the point of coma for 7 days, then I was on serious narcotics until the end of January. Once I shook off the fog and started getting back to eating right I found I'd turn to food to numb myself again. Overeating cooked food gave me the same feeling as taking percoset or codeine. It took longer than I'd hoped, and I'd had a few failed attempts, but I'm finally back to 100% raw again. This is week 4. I hope I can keep it up. Dealing with all of the emotions that led to the surgery has been extremely difficult and I'd immediately and unconsciously/automatically turn to food. Then I realized it was giving me that feeling I wanted to avoid- being stuck in a fog. I think I'm ready to handle things now and use different, healthier tools. I need to let go of this baggage, not pile more on.

Hi Rawtastic,

<<Dealing with all of the emotions that led to the surgery has been extremely difficult and I'd immediately and unconsciously/automatically turn to food.>>

I'm sorry that you have had such a trying time due to the surgery, causes that led up to it and the physical pain that you have had to deal with. When I had to deal with extreme physical pain ( the type that made me stay up all night because it was so unrelenting) staying raw and drinking veggie juices helped me to keep my sanity and gave me hope that things would get better...and thankfully I have no more of that insane pain anymore.

You really need to give yourself some green brownie points for getting back to raw. Four weeks is a tremendous achievement. Be gentle on yourself. Like they say " easy does it."

I agree with the person who said the SAD diet dulls our emotions. When I started eating raw about a year ago, I immediately felt a fog lifting from my body. There was a fog that clouded my concentration, my attitude, my energy. The emotions were so intense, the rush of feel good energy flooded my body and still does today. I had an awakening about my purpose in life, about why I was placed on this earth. These emotions don’t just vibrate within me, I notice they vibrate around me and have drawn others to me. I have been surprised how many influential people in my community have reached out to me to help me with my life’s work. I think these people are starved for the nutrition that nourishes the body as well as the soul.

A friend of mine has been very angry for several years. Every time I see her she is filled with more and more rage. Our circle of friends has dropped her and refuses to spend time with her. One time I stopped by her house and she had three cakes on her dinner table and she was stuffing her face with them. I see the way she uses foods to fill the hole in her heart. I think she is a symbol of how out of touch we are with our food and ourselves.

In the past, whenever someone was negative towards me, I felt I had to one up them and say/do something even more negative. Now, I just bless them and send them on their way. I feel more at peace with myself and others, and it seems to draw out positive emotions in other people who aren’t even on a raw plan.