Are You On A Hero's Journey?

Hi Juice Feasting Friends,

What does the film Never Cry Wolf have to do with Juice Feasting?

The Hero's Journey!

I (David) addressed the connection at the Raw Food World Conference here in Vilcabamba, Ecuador this week in my two-hour presentation on Juice Feasting: A Modern Hero's Journey.

The film is based on Canadian writer and legend Farley Mowat's book Never Cry Wolf. The hero is sent on a government study into the arctic to study wolves - alone. It is a story of one person's solitary hero's journey of the call to adventure, trials, self-discovery, and finding perennial truths that society has forgotten.

The Hero's Journey is a going out, and a return, and during the talk I spliced in excerpts from Never Cry Wolf - the movie - to illustrate this path. I highly recommend both the short book and the beautiful film in building a knowledge and a felt-sense of what the Hero's Journey is.

If you are working to transform your life, you are on The Hero's Journey!! I have dedicated a whole Day of JuiceFeasting.com to this important mental / emotional / spiritual aspect of Juice Feasting and life transformation. I have a 50-minute talk on The Hero's Journey on that day, complete with an interview with Angela Stokes about her 92-Day Juice Feast.

Members can find this excellent Day here: Day 9: The Hero's Journey

You will also find a talk by Joseph Cambell on The Hero's Journey on Day 9, as well, along with a whole file I have created for you to download and enjoy.

(If you are not a member of JuiceFeasting.com. you can sign up now and receive access to the entire 92-Day Program, with 92 Days of important files, videos, articles, information and inspiration to spur you on in your own Hero's Journey!!!)

WHAT IS THE GREAT STORY OF MY LIFE?

The great psychologist Carl Jung asked himself, "What is the myth I am living by?" Jung, when he realized he did not know, wrote, "I took it upon myself to get to know 'my' myth, and I regarded this as the task of tasks."

This question burns in many of us. What is the great story of my life?

If you want some help answering it, look to Joseph Campbell. The Hero with a Thousand Faces is an excellent book, and even more approachable is the series The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell presented on PBS. You can find it here:

Enjoy Day 9 of the Juice Feasting Program, and the discovery of the deep mythology and meaning of your life. You are on a Hero's Journey!

With peaceful steps,

David Rainoshek

Hanging out with my daughter Sophia between busy moments!

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South of the Equator!

Hello Dear Friends!

I am writing to you while listening to a beautiful cacophony of highland birds and looking out over big yellow hibiscus flowers to a lush green valley and hills beyond.

Yes, we are in Ecuador in the gorgeous valley of Vilcabamba!

Our decision to come was both a long time coming and very swift. Long time coming as in we've been wanting to come down for a visit ever since a friend of ours told us he was buying land down here in late 2007, and very swift as in deciding to come one week and flying down here the next!

We had everything in storage accept what we needed for daily living, we didn't have a lease or mortgage to maintain, we have very good friends who live here and who just happened to have a guest house where we could stay while we got situated, we were set! All that was left was to buy a ticket, and so we went for it.

Just half a week after arriving here, we moved into a beautiful little house tucked into a garden, right next door to our dear friends and are feeling very blessed to be here.

But, phew, what a ride the past year has been! We have been on a whirlwind tour of free-style daydreaming and the pursuit of so many different possibilities it makes my head spin! Little Sophia, who is not even two yet, has already lived in 5 different houses (if you count our tent-home of last summer as a house!) and David and I have toyed with the idea of at least 10 more. You would think we were out to break a record! Now we are off on yet another adventure.

We are here until mid-September at the earliest, gently exploring and staying open to where life will take us.

Each day it feels easier and easier to be here, the sharpness of so suddenly adjusting to a new place is slowly wearing off as we build community and explore the land surrounding us.

I'll leave you with a few pictures, and for more you can always check out our Flickr site!




Baby Rain Dancing in the Rain.

Oh, and I had the most crazy amazing juice yesterday morning. For the first time in my life I tried Passion Fruit Juice, squeezed by my love David (click on the link for health benefits of this juice!) If you really want to try a high voltage juice, this one is for you, bring on the passionate juice baby!

Sending love that you are all well and juicy,
Katrina Rainoshek
www.JuiceFeasting.com

Closing the Feast!

Wow!

We've come to the close of the January Juice Feast! Today was the infamous "prune day," the day when solid foods begin to slowly come back in after an extended time of juicing. For more information on closing your Feast, be sure to check out Breaking The Juice Feast!

And, for a little inspiration, here is my favorite Feast Breaking video:

After her epic 92 Juice Feast in 2007, the beautiful Angela Stokes-Monarch shared her first prune and inspired many to embark on Juice Feasts of their own. Here she discusses her Juice Feast, just prior to breaking the feast with her first meal in three months... Recorded live on Feb 20th, 2007.



Read more about Angela's juicing and raw journey at http://rawreform.blogspot.com

Congratulations to all who joined in on the January Juice Feast, may your adventures continue with blessings!

All love,
Katrina Rainoshek

Wednesday Thoughts From Kyra and Baby Smoothies

I enjoyed this beautiful passage today, borrowed from the pages of The Green Room (our membership forum) :

January Juice Feast. Day #6

"Yesterday I was very much enjoying and deeply appreciating the arrival of the longed-for sensation of peace and relaxation that Juice Feasting brings ... one of its greatest gifts. I've done many Juice Feasts, some long, many short, and this is the first time I am consistently incorporating an easy and effortless daily meditation and deep breathing, and what a difference this makes. It is a boost into the stratosphere of feeling wonderfully empowered about life, bringing a peaceful feeling that anything and everything one desires can be manifested via focused attention and allowing. I love how Juice Feasting facilitates new thoughts, sweeping away the limitations of yesterday, and building a momentum of positivity that grows day by day."

~Kyra

Beautifully in line with what we hope for all those Juice Feasting: an awakening into possibility and a loving boost in personal growth!

And, just for fun, some smoothie pictures with the little one!

Snowdrop and smoothie and little one dancing, waiting for her lunch.Serious smoothie drinking. She drank down all 8oz of this one, it is a keeper! (Apple, spinach, blueberry, and banana.)
The smile she gave me when I said "smile for the camera!"

Enjoy your moments!

All love and light,
Katrina Rainoshek

Green Beauty Soup

Well, I've fallen madly in love with photography again and as part of my plan to take my skills to the next level, I have committed myself to Project 365. Yep, a photo a day for a whole year. So far I am 26 days in and have already learned so much, especially that I have more to learn than I ever imagined! I'm having a lot of fun with it.

Today's photo was the above, Green Beauty Soup, and I felt that it was worth writing about here. I can't seem to get enough of it, so simple to make, so satisfying, and so full of those leafy greens that make my world go round. Getting a pound of leafy greens (or more) per day into your body is one of our top priorities, we want you to THRIVE!! This is why David is always talking about the "Four Means to Get Your Greens," because getting in that many greens can seem daunting until you realize that you can:

1. JUICE your greens. We all know about green juice.

2. Eat your greens in a beautiful, colorful SALAD. We all know about salad.

3. Blend your greens into a green SMOOTHIE. We all know about green smoothies.

4. Blend your greens into a green SOUP. We all know about green soups.

(If you don't yet know all about these things, Google around and find some recipes to play with. There are so many people blogging about raw food and raw recipes now, and you will be in good company. Learn how to make versions of these things that knock off your socks so that you will be inspired to make more and prosper! You can also check out my favorite raw food books here.)

Yep, simple as that. If you do at least three out of those four, JUICE, SALAD, SMOOTHIE, or SOUP, you'll be getting in close to a pound and probably more of leafy green goodness.

The Four Means to Get Your Greens can be added to any diet, any time, for a wonderful boost to health and vitality. So, if you just finished a cheese burger from Burger King, try starting with a green smoothie every day, and work your way up to having a green smoothie, green juice, cheese burger, and then a green soup :).....I'll be honest, I don't usually do three, but almost every day I have at least two of the four and get in close to a pound of greens because I make my morning smoothies so heavy on the greens, and my soup, salad, or juice so loaded with leafies.

Here is today's version of Green Beauty Soup:

Start with guacamole. Mash two ripe avocados with the juice of one lemon, a generous dash of Celtic Sea Salt, a generous dash of dill, and 4-8 cloves of crushed garlic.

Then, blend in your high-speed blender the following: 1/2 pound spinach. 1/2 pound mixed baby greens. 1 handful of cashews. 1 TBS hemp oil. 1 small head of broccoli. 1-2 cups water. Blend on high until nice and creamy.

Next, pour your blended greens over your bright green guacamole and mix the two together. Add more salt and dill if needed. Garnish with big red pepper pieces to crunch on the side, and sprinkle with hemp hearts and cashews.

Serves two lucky darlings.

I made this as a good-bye lunch for my mom who headed off on the 3 o'clock ferry today, on her way down to California to be with her husband who is working there for the winter. I wasn't crazy about the broccoli, but it was still delicious. Sophia enjoyed sucking on a piece of red pepper while we enjoyed the soup.

YUM!!

In other news, the January Juice Feast sold out (!), and is currently flowing along beautifully with an amazing group of folks. The next group Juice Feast lead by David Rainoshek will be during the Third Annual Global Juice Feast...more information to come on that soon!

Love and leafy greens, Katrina.

Raw Food World TV Show

We had a fun chat with the hosts of the Raw Food World TV Show the other day, Mat Monarch and Angela Stokes-Monarch....here it is!

Part One: Attuned Awareness after birth, episode #348 Today we had the pleasure in interviewing David Rainoshek. David discusses how they juicefeasted before conception and how more attuned awareness is experienced after birthing a new child.



Part Two: More on Juicefeasting w/David Rainoshek, Episode #349 Today we've got the second part of this Q & A discussion with the Rainoshek's. We go deeper into discussing Juice Feasting... Enjoy...

Membership!

Well, in beautiful HARMONY, we have had SEVEN lovely people leave their favorite juice recipes on our doorstep, and in return, we have SEVEN 30 Day Memberships to send their way! If you were one of those seven people who left a favorite juice, please send me an email at: katrinarainoshek@gmail.com that includes your first and last name and email address and I will set you up with a membership!

Here are the seven favorite juices, yum yum!

1. Cucumber/ Celery/ Cilantro/ Burdock Root/ Parsley/ Dandelion Greens/ Ginger/Lemon or Lime/ Red Bell Pepper/ Apple or Pear
*add cayenne after all ingredients are juiced. ~NaturallyMariam

WOW, what an amazing, full juice! Full of powerful medicine, this one will really take you places!

2. My favorite juice is what I call my "soup juice". Satisfies dinner cravings while juice feasting every time: Carrot/ cilantro/ parsley/ celery/ green onions/ spinach
Tastes like a soup broth of carrots, celery and onions..
My 16 month old, Mara, loooves my juices, too!! ~Jamie

So glad to hear that lucky little Mara is getting beautiful green juice! I loved "soup juices" too while Juice Feasting, and made a similar one to this but with tomato and basil added too! So good!

3. My favorite juice is really quite simple but oh so satisfying:1 head of greens/ celery/ apples/ carrots/ lemon ~Michelle

This is one of my favorite combos too, clear, clean, light, hydrating, and nutritious! I also like adding cucumber to mine too.

4. carrot/ apple/ celery/ ginger/ lemon ~Melomel

I've been adding ginger to all my juices for the winter too, a great way to stay warm from the inside out.

5. celery/ cucumber/ lacinato kale/ lime/ fennel ~Christine

I love the freshness of fennel and lime!

6. My favorite juice is made of celery/ cucumber/ kale/ apple/ lemon. Sometimes I add some ginger. ~ Lisa

Pure goodness. My sister has a juice just like this at Cafe Bliss called Pure Green. I always get a quart of it when I am there!

7. An old, simple, favorite is one we call Sunshine Rising: 10 Carrots/ 4 Apples/ 1-2" Ginger ~Rees

That sounds delish! We need some Sunshine Rising in these winter days of North! I love it that these ingredients can be found locally at this time of year here, we've been drinking lots of carrot/apple/ginger juice in this house!

Thank you all for your beautiful juice masterpieces! I look forward to having you on www.JuiceFeasting.com and hearing more about your juicy adventures....

Sophia and I making an evening juice: baby bok choy/ cucumber/ celery/ apple/ lemon, and ginger.

With blessings and love, Katrina

Happy Juicey New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR DEAR FRIENDS!!

Greetings from a wet, rainy, and winter-y west-coast island where post-Christmas finds us cozy, happy, well-fed, well-loved, and peaceful.

Our days were light on the gifts, but rich in time with family, good food, walks through the trees, and laughter.

We pulled a Christmas time favorite off the shelves after I experienced some last minute guilt and panic on December 24th about not having done any Christmas shopping! Bill McKibben's Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case for a More Joyful Christmas is much loved by my family, and this year allowed me to fully reconnect with what is most important after I got swept away by a moment of Christmas flap.

In addition to an invitation to re-think your Christmas traditions, Hundred Dollar Holiday contains a succinct history of how it is that we came to celebrate Christmas the way we do (with a fat man in red coming down the chimney, the feasting, the tree, the gifts, etc.) The history of Christmas may surprise you, and if you already feel that it is over-commercialized, your feelings will be validated when you learn that Christmas was in part "the thin edge of the wedge by which many Americans became enmeshed in the more self-indulgent aspects of consumer spending...a crucial means of legitimizing the penetration of consumerist behavior into American society."

What we really want and need in Christmas is quite simple:

Peace, stillness, and quiet. Time with LOVED ones. An invitation to be outdoors. Community. Relationship with the Divine. Non-consumer activities with children (and adults). An outlet for human creativity in LOVE!!

If this sounds about right to you, do check out this little gem of a book, you'll love it!

As I write, we are drawing to the close of 2009. It has been a quiet evening for me. David is away in California at an event, and Sophia, myself, my mom, and my Oma celebrated the end of 2009 with four generations of women. Delight was on all of our faces as we loved and appreciated the generations before and after us! Needless to say, I was the only one left awake at midnight!

I am so excited and up-lifted about the year to come, may it be a beautiful continuation for all of us! It is coming in on a flood of JUICE in our world, as it seems that everyone is inviting in the new with a clearing of the old, cleansing with that nectar of the gods, fresh fruit and vegetable juice! Here are just a few of the juicy happenings to bring in the New Year....

~Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes-Monarch are currently Juice Feasting at the Tree of Life on all GREEN JUICES!! What a fantastic place to get juicy (Patagonia, AZ is where David and I Juice Feasted in 2008!)

David and I are going to be joining Matt and Angela via Skype on January 7th for an installment of the Raw Food World TV Show all about Juice Feasting, and answering your Juice Feasting questions! If you have a question you would like to send Angela to be asked on the 7th, please email her by January 6th at angela@rawreform.com. We always have fun with these two so do be sure to tune in and send in your questions!

~Shazzie is inspiring as many people as she can to join her on a 10 Day Juice Cleanse We were very excited to see that she Juice Feasted beautifully for 28.5 Days this past summer. "Juice feasting gives you great clarity and single-mindedness. I asked and I received, very quickly indeed." ~Shazzie

~ Sproutman (Steve Meyerowitz) is leading a 7-10 day Juice Feast for the New Year. As Steve says, "You clean your car; you clean your yard; you clean your house. Now it’s time to clean your inner house! Give your liver a break and your immune system a boost."

~And of course, David Rainoshek is leading a January Juice Feast, beginning on January 15th! There is still time to sign up for this and I can promise it will be an amazing way to bring in 2010, so be sure to check out the details and see if it calls to you!

Testimonial from one of our Autumn Juice Feasters:

Dear David
Thank you for one of the best experiences I have had to date in juicing (and I have done a great deal!) One of the reasons I decided to invest in your 1 month coached cleanse was because I wasn't sure if I could actually do 30 whole days!!. I found the daily check in calls with you held me accountable and enthusiastic and as a side benefit to weight and toxicity loss I was able to look deeper into my emotional attachments to food with the tools you discussed during the weekly group call ins. It was an truly enjoyable and effortless experience thanks to your expertise and lightheartedness.
Wishing you all the best to you and your new cleansers!

September Death
Founder/Head Chef
www.redcarpetcleanses.com

Oh so juicy! I'm sure that I haven't included NEARLY everyone who plans on getting juicy this season, so if are and would like to be included in this blog post with a link to your blog/website, let me know and I will up-date!

AND!! If a 30 Day Juice Feast sounds a little more involved than you are ready for just yet, don't forget to check out the 2010 Winter Liver/Gallbladder Flush LIVE with David Rainoshek, Elaina Love, and Chris Whitcoe. This interactive cleanse will start on January 10 and run through till January 17!

AND!! Last but not least, in THANKS and GRATITUDE to our on-line community for sharing in such a beautiful year in 2009, we would love to offer 7 memberships to www.JuiceFeasting.com! If you feel it is your time to get juicy and would love a little help along the way, please let me know by posting a comment and sharing your favorite juice recipe. If you have never made a juice in your life, just let me know what your favorite drink is (even if it is beer!) I will be randomly choosing 7 people for 30 Day Memberships, and announcing the winners on January 12!

I look forward to sharing many beautiful adventures, growth, splendor, and much love with each and every one of you in the coming year, be it in person or via blog-land!

Many blessings and oh so much JUICE for a healthy, happy, and inspirational YEAR IN 2010!

xoxoxoxox

Katrina (with David sending his love from California, and Sophia sending hers from dream land, sleeping on her Mommy's tummy in the Ergo!)

Juicers and Blenders and Snow!

Hello!

David, Sophia and I are still enjoying Texas, although it hasn't been sunny for all but about an hour! It even snowed, and Sophia has had her first snow here in Houston.

In other news, our dear friends Angela and Matt were recently in a bad car accident, and to aid themselves in speedy recovery, they both undertook a one week Juice Feast. This is from Angela Stokes-Monarch:

'Tis the season to get juicy, fa la la la la, la la la laaaaaaaa...let's jump in with:

Easy Juice Feasting with the Hurom Juicer

As many of you know, Mr. Monarch and I had a pretty intense car crash two weeks ago, in Pennsylvania. Immediately afterwards, we began a week-long Juice Feast to help expedite our healing process, which definitely seemed to help us enormously in terms of fast regeneration. At the same time as this week-long juicing session, we were travelling back from the east coast to the west coast to be back in time for my next immigration interview. Time was pressed, driving 8-12 hours a day with no real breaks, across the whole country. SO, we were EXTREMELY grateful during this juicy journey to have our new Hurom Juicer with us to handle the juicing duties. Neither of us had ever Juice Feasted with a Hurom before and it was a GREAT experience to try this out for ourselves. We had heard reports of people being able to make a GALLON of green juice in 15 minutes with this amazing new machine and now we got to try it out for ourselves ;)
If you're not familiar yet with the wondrous little Hurom, it is tagged as a 'slow juicer' and even has a picture of a snail on the packaging and YET, the name is kind of ironic, as it is the FASTEST slow-moving juicer we've ever used...Mr. M and I actually recently did a comparison video between the Green Star and the Hurom and the contrast was HUGE - see here below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_blKzX5NFdU

Juice Feasting with the Hurom was indeed FAST - we would wake up in hotel rooms, juice up a few gallons of juice each morning, store it into glass jars, pack them with ice blocks into a bag and get on the road again for the next 8-12 hours. The juicer is quiet, fast, efficient, easy to clean and the juice stays good even through to the next DAY (as we found out one day when we couldn't quite handle all the carrot/fennel/romaine juice we'd produced that day ;) If I was to do another lengthy Juice Feast again, I would definitely want to have a Hurom at my side - we LOVE it :)
We have Hurom juicers for sale HERE (we also have a 220v model that works in the UK now :)

enjoy :))))

SO much love to Angela and Matt both, we are so grateful that they are both OK and still continuing to shine their light!

We are currently using David's first little Samson juicer, the one that he used for his first ever Juice Feast in 2003. It lives here in Houston at his parent's house, and it has been making us some beautiful juices. It is quick to juice and super easy to clean as well!

We also brought our Vitamix with us, and I can tell you, you don't want to be stuck in Texas with out a Vitamix. You don't want to be stuck anywhere without a Vitamix for that matter! Still my absolute number one favorite appliance.

Sophia helping mama make the morning Green Smoothie.

Sophia has been dabbling in Green Smoothies for a few weeks now, and this morning we shared our spinach, strawberry, orange, and banana smoothie with her. She LOVES them and goes "mmmmmmMMMMMmmmmm" while she sucks away on finger-fulls of goodness.

That is all for today! May your days be merry and bright!

With much Love and Blessings,

Katrina, David, and Sophia

Love Your Liver!!

Hello all!

Here is something fun: (and it comes with a 30 Day Membership to JuiceFeasting.com!)

The One Week 2009 Autumn Liver/Gallbladder Flush LIVE!

Facilitated by:

What happens when three professional Holistic Lifestyle Coaches, who happen to be friends, decide to do a liver/gallbladder flush? . . . They invite the world!

Chris’ Idea: “I was going to do a Flush anyway, and there are a lot of people out there who would love expert guidance during their own process,” says Chris Whitcoe, M.A. in Live Food Nutrition, and co-owner of Vivapura: Pure Superfoods for Life.

So he called up Elaina Love, professional Live Food Chef and Instructor, Lifestyle Counselor and owner of Pure Joy Planet, who has just completed her 11th flush as the organizer and facilitator of the Mt. Shasta 5-day Cleansing Retreat. “I knew that with Elaina’s experience, we would be able to answer just about any question or concern,” says Chris.

Elaina’s On Board: "When Chris called me with the idea, I thought it was fantastic! What a great way to reach those folks who weren't able to make the Mt. Shasta cleanse and to help the numerous others who have called me over the years for guidance on cleansing. Co-facilitating a Live Telephone Support Cleanse really excited me because both Chris and David are so knowledgeable and experienced, plus just super fun guys, and the three of us together would be able to deliver so much more than any of us could do alone. Being able to speak to someone every night of your cleanse and get invaluable tips and coaching is beyond amazing. Not only that, but you will get to laugh and enjoy being on the phone with the three of us."

Enter David: “I also realized that many people would desire to take it even further, and what better than a Juice Feast?” thought Chris. He then enrolled long time friend, David Rainoshek, also an M.A. in Live Food Nutrition, creator of the 92-Day Program on JuiceFeasting.com who also wrote/researched (with Gabriel Cousens, M.D.) the book There is a Cure for Diabetes. David adds, "I'm all about the accessibility of information and transformative life practices. Let's make this something everyone can do at home."

So a beautiful collaboration unfolded – the intention is to support You, part of this extended family dedicated to healing, purifying and energizing!

So join Chris, Elaina, and David for . . .

The One Week 2009 Autumn Liver/Gallbladder Flush LIVE!

The Introductory Conference Call is FREE -
this Sunday, Oct 25 at 6pm PST
with Elaina Love, David Rainoshek, MA, & Chris Whitcoe, MA

The cleansing begins: November 2, 2009

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS!!

and to discover the importance of a healthy liver and gallbladder!

Sunday, October 25th 6pm PST
FREE Introductory Info Session Conference Call
Dial-in Number: (712) 432-0111
Access Code: 308152#

Checking In With Blog Land!

Hello!

Wow, it has been over four months since I last wrote here! And what an amazing four months!

Here are some highlights:

~We gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl on June 22, 2009. She was born at home on Salt Spring Island in to her Daddy's hands, 7lbs 12oz, 20.5 inches, pure joy and radiance.

We named her Sophia Katarina and have been smothering her in kisses and hugs ever since. She is almost four months old now and thriving on 100% mama's milk. She loves to nurse and suck, and delights in putting everything she can get her hands on into her mouth! Her excitement when she realizes she is about to nurse and the look on her face when she is full of sweet milk are some of the most beautiful things I have ever known. She sleeps in the bed with her Mama and Papa and wakes up with radiant smiles for us every morning. Sophia's newest trick is rolling over, and she even wakes up in the middle of the night to grunt away and work at it, the bed has become a baby gym!

Here is Sophia's first week in pictures!

Here is our Summer in pictures!

(I have been working on a new blog that is all about my experiences with pregnancy, birth, and motherhood and I will let you know when that is up and running!)

~In Juicey News, the Autumn Juice Feast is in full swing and just past the half-way mark. David is coaching a fantastic group of 8 people and I am loving being on the periphery of such juicy excitement.

One of the Autumn Juice Feasters (and our friend from Patagonia, Koali) is keeping a gorgeous blog over at Simple Healthy Beauty that I have just spent all morning reading, and happily reminiscing about my own magical adventures in Juice Feasting. For more blog pleasure, check out this I Love Me Some Juice Feasting! post by Phil Bolsta. Phil has done a fantastic Q&A about his experience with Juice Feasting that you might enjoy.

For those of you who are interested in joining a group Juice Feast in the future, keep your eyes open for an announcement about the New Year's Juice Feast, set to start in January, 2010! You can also register with www.JuiceFeasting.com if you'd like to receive email announcements about our work.

~Cafe Bliss is a hit and keeps getting busier and busier! I am so proud of my sister, and so excited to see our community loving the raw food glow! I was there yesterday with Sophia, and watched as two young men toasted each other with shots of E-3Live as I had some of Heather's amazing lasagna, a moment of perfection. Cafe Bliss was featured in the most recent edition of our local weekly, Monday Magazine (will post link if I can find it!) and was also mentioned in the Globe and Mail! For more on Cafe Bliss, join us on Face Book.

Ayrie and the new Bliss boards

Bliss Blueberry Cheesecake

Heather, Sarina, and the giant Bliss zucchinni

~I just compiled an album of Raw Food pictures from our Flickr account. Although my center of gravity is still on raw-vegan, I have been eating more as a "Whole-Foodian" with my pregnancy and now as a breast-feeding mama. This has been a wonderful and important shift for me to make, but I still love the beauty and simplicity of raw food and so created this album as an inspiration to myself! I hope you enjoy it too!

I think that is it for now, I hear my sweet Sophia calling my name!

I hope you are all well and have had a beautiful summer,

with many blessings and peaceful steps,

Katrina, and with love from David and Sophia!

The Growing Bliss Ball

Hello All!

Just a quick note so say that growing a baby has continued to be a complete joy for both David and me. The baby is now considered "full term" which means it could come any day now! Or, it could be another 4 weeks...we are quite happy to welcome our little beloved one whenever he/she is ready to come. We are all tucked in to a cottage on a mountain for the birth and I have been feeling myself falling deeper and deeper into the magic of it all.

Baby is in a good position (head down), my blood pressure is good, my urine is good, my iron is good (I am really excited about this one...my iron has only dropped about 7 points and is still in a good range. Many women during pregnancy will see a 30-40 point drop in their iron causing anemia. Hooray for nettles and lots of leafy greens!), and I was just tested for GBS and tested clear of it (happy about this too as it means I won't even have to consider taking antibiotics during labor, which is what the medical world would have me do if I did have GBS. Hooray for lots of top quality probiotics and good bacteria!) We are all very happy and I am very excited about the nearing birth day!

We are very much looking forward now to meeting this beautiful being who rolls and dances away in my belly.

Here are a few growing bliss ball photos:

Enjoying Daily Juice in Austin, TX. March 18, 26 weeks.

YUMMY!!

David saying hello to baby. Houston, TX. March 23, 27 weeks.

Lilly kisses for my little blossom. April 26, 32 weeks.

A beautiful sunny spring day on the beach. April 27, 32 weeks. (Yes, I went swimming!)

Making nori stix at Cafe Bliss with Finn. May 17, 35 weeks.

Mama and Papa to be. May 30, 37 weeks.

Happy in the "Birthing Cottage", ready for baby! June 4, 37 1/2 weeks.

(I've created a pregnancy photo album on our Flickr account too, which you can see HERE.)

I hope everyone is having a BEAUTIFUL summer, and we look forward to introducing our beloved baby rain one day soon!

With peaceful steps and many blessings,

Katrina, David, and baby in the belly.

Global Juice Feast Day 84!

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Taken in a place with no name (See more photos or videos here)

I Love Fresh Garden Greens!

Juice Feast Day 84

The Daily Juice Journal:

This morning I made 3 quarts of GVJ with cucumber, celery, spinach, romaine, dandelion greens, kale, baby garden greens, parsley, baby tumble weed, carrot and apple. I also made 2 quarts of orange and pineapple.

TOTAL JUICE: 5 QUARTS JUICE

Added to juices: Vitamineral Green, kelp, bee pollen, spirulina and maca.

Also taken: Vitalzym, MSM, astragalus tea, coconut oil, DHA/flax oil, antioxidant extreme, Max Stress B, Internal Parasite Formula and water.

Personal Journal:

It rained last night and for much of today! Hooray! I felt better almost immediately with the rain last night, as soon as the dust settled. We talked to our neighbor today too, and she said that a lot of people in town got flu/cold like symptoms from the dust storm. I've never been in a dust storm, and I can say that I am very glad it is over!

Here is a little video my mom and I did on her last day here in AZ with us, me on Day 80, mom on Day 22! Enjoy!




With love,

Katrina and David

Global Juice Feast Day 58!

I Love Berries!
Juice Feast Day 58

The Daily Juice Journal:

This morning we made 5 quarts of GVJ with cucumber, celery, spinach, arugula, romaine, lemon, carrots, and apple. We also made two quarts of orange, grapefruit, and lemon, and two quarts of watermelon, cherry, blueberry, apple and lemon

DAVID:

2 QUARTS GVJ, 2 QUARTS FRUIT.

TOTAL JUICE: 4 QUARTS JUICE

KATRINA:

3 QUARTS GVJ, 2 QUARTS FRUIT

TOTAL JUICE: 5 QUARTS JUICE

Added to juices: Vitamineral Green, kelp, flax/DHA oil, bee pollen and maca.

Also taken: Vitalzym, NCD, burdock root tea, antioxidant extreme, Max Stress B, cayenne, and water.

Your Questions:

What time period after my feast is over (I'm thinking 60-70 days) can I get my bloodwork taken with accurate readings. I know from experience having my bloodwork done immediately after a two week juice fast that the numbers were skewed a bit.

I'd like to wait and have it done when everything is normalized and I can get a "true" reading.

Thanks

We Say:

As far as we know, you can have your blood tested almost immediately. After about a week you should get a true reading on your blood work.

Another Question:

Great post guys, and as always lovingly supportive and informative.
So I have some news to report and ask: Since ending the JF and eating solid foods (about a month now), I have been so bloated and gassy that it reminds me of how I felt when I first went raw. Now despite this, my elimination has never been better --huge amounts of stools several times a day!:)So one would think that this would be bringing the bloating and noxious gas down, but it's not. It's as though my elimination has gotten much better but my digestion has gotten worse or at least super sluggish? Everything I put in me, whether it be something light like fruit or salad, or something cooked and more dense (I am not doing 100% raw, more like 70 or 80), doing good combining or bad combing, juice or nuts -- EVERYTHING seems to create gas and bloating ( I look 3 months pregnant sometimes!) and SUPER noxious gas, despite all my elimination and colonics ( once a week with good cecum releases). I am feeling really gross and kind of frustrated. I know the JF was so good for me in many ways, but I feel worse post than I did pre in terms of my digestion:( I am taking probiotics and going to amp that up by a lot and see if that helps. Any other insights or suggestions?
As always big hugs and deep gratitude!
xxkyle

We Say:

Hello Kyle!

Oh dear! So sorry to hear that this is happening to you! Your story is somewhat curious to us as I am sure it is to you, as gas and bloating are usually signs of being “stopped up” and it sounds like this is not the problem for you. It is also not a common experience for most people after a Juice Feast, and I say this not to make you feel bad, but so that other readers don't get worried their plumbing might be off after Feasting. We are all so very different, but usually people experience a stronger digestive system after cleansing it out. So, lets see if we can figure out what is causing this situation for you!

Our only guesses, with out knowing your full situation, are that you have low stomach acid and are not fully digesting your food before it enters the small intestine (which would lead to both bloating and gas) and that perhaps a colonic once a week is more than you need, and is working to flush out the good flora and bacteria in your colon needed for good digestion.

We agree that up-ing your probiotic intake is a good idea. Focus on bifidus cultures, rather than acidophilus which are acid forming when taken over time. You could also try taking Vitamineral Green, which is loaded with good probiotics among other things.

If it makes sense to you that your stomach acid might be low, you can focus on lots of green juices and green smoothies, celery for sodium so that your stomach is lined with alkaline mineral and can create nice strong stomach acid, and you could also try taking supplemental digestive enzymes and a HCl supplement and see if this helps. Victoria Boutenko’s book Green For Life is a great resource for understanding HCl, and what we can do about strengthening it for excellent digestion. Sunshine and cayenne are also great at stoking the digestive fire.

Other little tips for increasing digestive strength:

1. Chew your food really well.
2. Drink lots of green juice and green smoothies. Drinking green juice supplies the minerals needed to digest whole food.
3. Try eating a large portion of your calories as blended foods, such as green smoothies and green soups.
4. Engage in vigorous exercise.
5. Practice the “breath of fire” by inhaling passively, and exhailing in bursts through the nose as you pull the lower belly in.
6. Get direct sunlight to as much skin on your body as possible daily.
7. Get a sufficient amount of sleep and rest.
8. Try drinking some water about 10 minutes before you eat to flush out your stomach, which will cause it to re-supply with fresh, stronger stomach acid. Do not drink while eating, and wait about 30 minutes after eating to drink.
9. Try supplemental HCl, digestive enzymes, and probiotics.
10. Eat as much of your calories from fresh, enzyme rich, raw foods as possible. Avoid dehydrated foods, which can cause bloating and gas in those with weaker digestion.

I hope that one or two (or all) of these things help towards increasing your digestive fire! Remember that these things can take time, so be patient with it, and in the mean time remember to say when you fart “better out than in!” In our house, when ever someone farts, the other says “I love you!” kind of like “bless you” for a sneeze. It might be kind of silly, but it certainly makes the farter feel less yucky, and makes the non-farter realize that they really do love the farter no mater what, which can be a good thing to remember when the room is filled with noxious gasses from your loved ones inner realms making you wonder if you love them in that moment.

The last things we might guess, and these of course would be our last guesses, and without knowing your history we could never say for sure, are that you perhaps have an engorged area of your colon, or a transverse collapsed colon. Both of these situations would cause the gas and bloating. You could ask your colon hydrotherapist if this is a possibility for you. If either of these are the case, you can shrink your colon back down with the use of white oak bark and ginger, by following the white oak bark and ginger protocol of Juice Feast Breaking. You could use these two herbs for several months if necessary. Also check out Day 3, Day 4, and Day 84 of the 92 Day JuiceFeasting.com Program for more information!

Let us know how things go for you!

Personal Journal:

Another glorious day on juice! What to say….can I tell you I feel deeper love and gratitude than EVER!!?? Oh sweet greens!!

That is enough for today,

With love and thanks,

Katrina and David