Rocking the boat is what we are here to do! Isn’t it exciting and exhilarating when you stand up for what you truly believe in? Our time has come, and the old ways are not working anymore. Paradigms are crumbling and new ones are rising in their place. As we understand eternal truths, we see the world for what it is, and understand how desperately things need to change. We align with our higher purpose, the divine intelligence, and see what our life’s path is. What mission have we been given? What is our role here at this time? It is to wake the world up, to guide humanity through the massive shifts and changes that are taking place. And of course, that starts with ourselves. We must awaken ourselves. We must keep the balance between being masters of our own reality, taking full responsibility for our lives as a manifestation of our own inner state of being; and being of service, helping to awaken the sleeping masses, and doing everything we can to help people through these times. And you know what the best part is? It’s fun. Believe it or not, the universe actually wants us to be happy, it doesn’t want us to suffer. And the more we work with the universe, the happier we become, the less we suffer.
We are used to a duality in our minds over food. When I grew up, I had issues around my weight. I was trapped in a no-win situation. I could either eat and feel fat and sluggish, or I could not eat and feel clear and light, but spaced out and weak. As most teenagers do, I was worried about how I looked. I fluctuated between liking the look of my body and feeling happy about myself by not eating, or satisfying my instinctive biological need for food, but not really liking myself. I turned to drugs to help me see my way out of this duality, to escape into an artificially induced state of oneness and bliss. The chemicals I put into my body for years didn’t do me any favors physically. But they did open me up to a higher state of being, an understanding that I could experience life the way I wanted to. I understood that my life’s path involved trying to find ways to recreate those highs naturally, to adopt lifestyle choices that could assist me in living in my highest truth. I turned to raw foods and yoga, and have been working with those disciplines for over two decades now. I can honestly say the process has been revelatory. It has been an arduous and at times painful journey, but the results just keep coming, and they keep getting better and better. Every time I am opened up to a whole new level of being in myself it blows me away.
This journey is like peeling back layers of an onion. You peel back one layer, you make improvements in your diet by adding certain foods and cutting out others, make changes in your lifestyle to move closer to having the life you really want. For a while you feel amazing, on top of the world. But then you uncover a whole other layer of issues, another set of physical, emotional and mental blocks to work through that had been lying hidden deep within you, but are now out and exposed because you have peeled off the rubbish that had been covering them. This process never stops, it is the path we follow as humans, and the more we are in it, the more we learn to love it, to accept it all, not to resist but to enjoy it all, the ups and the downs; the pain and the pleasure are equal gifts, two sides of the same coin.
So how can foods have such a powerful transformative effect? Thanks to films like What the Bleep? and The Secret, and books like The Hidden Messages in Water, people are beginning to fully grasp the concept Buddha taught us, “With our thoughts we make the world.” Everything is energy, and everything is connected. Every thought we have, every action we take, affects the quantum field. The universe is a living breathing intelligent mass and we are inextricably a part of it. If we focus on something long and hard, we affect the quantum field. If we tell the universe over and over, “I haven’t got a boyfriend, I haven’t got a boyfriend,” what’s the result? No boyfriend. If we replace that with, “I am attracting a beautiful loving nurturing relationship into my life,” result? Result. The skill is in maintaining that focus and intent when the spanner gets thrown into the works, when we have to deal with the stuff that we manifested for ourselves without realising pops its handsome head up. Every single food in this book gives us a boost to such a degree that we feel noticeably better about ourselves. When we feel better about ourselves, we take more forthright action, make clearer decisions. Challenges are more easily overcome, obstacles more easily dissolved. That’s Raw Magic in a nutshell; it’s a win-win-win situation. Your body, your health, your mind, your life, your family, your friends, your planet; everyone’s happier. It’s a simple concept, but it really does have the power to change the world. It’s time for us decide for ourselves that this is the future, and the future is now.
Photo by Nicolas Thorsen
I made the conscious decision to “become a raw fooder” in 1993, and I can say, hand on heart, that every year it keeps getting better. For sure, there are challenges that arise in my life: I uncover emotional issues I need to work on; I encounter situations in my life that I need to change to move forward; more problems occur that demand a clear sharp focus to resolve; physical detoxification and healing comes up. But month on month, I find myself with increased levels of vitality. The joy I feel just through existing on this beautiful planet bubbles up and up; the energy and enthusiasm I have for life surges through my veins. The positivity and passion I feel for making the world a better place just keeps growing, no matter the setbacks I encounter on the way. I am more able to keep a clear intention and understand the steps I must take to reach my chosen goals. Every time I reach a new level of awareness and understanding, another one opens up before me. This journey is infinite, and it just keeps getting more magical.
I see raw foods as an integral part of optimum health and vitality. When you are eating pure plant foods with all their energy and life force intact, you are assisting your body in tuning into its own wisdom which is aligned with that of the earth from which the plants have grown. One of the basic tenets of raw foods is to eat food as close to the source as possible, sunfoods. So we don’t generally eat animals and animal products, because the animals have gained their nourishment from the plants, and the plants are one step closer to receiving energy direct from the sun. Many of the superfoods grow in mountainous regions, e.g. maca, gojis—they are literally closer to the sun! Raw foods assist us in helping our bodies vibrate at the highest possible frequency; eating this way unlocks the potential within us to become more fully who we are.
Raw foods form the basis of a successful health program for a variety of reasons.
Enzymes
When we heat food above 42° C (118° F), the enzyme content is destroyed. Enzymes are necessary for almost every function in the body, especially digestion. As children, our bodies manufacture all the enzymes we need, but after adolescence we stop being able to make them ourselves and become dependent on food sources to get them. Enzymes are associated with aging; a diet high in enzymes promotes youthfulness and immortality! I consider them so important, I take extra enzyme supplementation with my raw food diet, which I find gives me even more energy and strengthens my immunity.
Nutritional Content
Nearly all foods have a higher nutritional content when eaten raw; heat destroys many vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. There are a few exceptions, such as lycopene, found in tomatoes and carrots. Lycopene can still be absorbed by the body if the cell walls have been broken down, by juicing for example.
Whole, Unprocessed
Generally, raw fooders eat foods that are less denatured. They are consuming less chemicals and artificial additives and preservatives with their foods. They are getting more fiber, and a higher water content.
Alkalinity
Thanks largely