Granted I talk to my friends in AZ and I realize it is better to be a baked good than a scorched human, with a heat index of 117 there, I tell everyone I meet in Wilmington upon hearing ‘how hot it is’ that they have no idea how good it feels here compared to there.
I know I posted a few days ago that me and Watermelon are to have our shine under the sun, however, as the main taster for this weekend’s Raw Lecture and tasting, I have to postpone my sharing with you of the benefits and joy of the Watermelon cleanse.
Not to worry, after too much Raw food treats and delights, my body will be ready for the nourishing effects of the overabundance of liquids come Sunday.
Which should make for a perfect extension toward Wed Vgena/Raw pot luck.
I for one am not a Raw Chef. Nor am looking to become one, however, my partner is a Raw Chef. Many of her creations are on this blog, and soon she will have an E-Book about Raw food.
We are planning on working together, over the next few months, on a 4 season Raw Book, which will bring concepts from Macrobiotic and Ayurveda to help support the nutrition and success of anyone reading.
Check her out in action, creating Raw Lasagna and Raw Raviolis from beets. Simply amazing.
If you are in Wilmington, NC you should come over this weekend for Raw Tasting and Lecture on Summer Season – the season where Raw food and Ayurveda meet.
We drove all the way to Raleigh, NC today. A 2 hr drive from the beach in order to procure necessary ingredients for this weekend Raw and Ayurveda presentation we are planning.
What many Raw Food people do not recognize is that there are limitation to any strict regimen, and that principles from ancient practices can shed light on how to make your food choices that empower the body. Ayurveda recognizes 3 season, and thus also 3 body types that arise from those seasons.
Summer season with its heat index on the outside, growth of fresh fruits high on the trees, and certain cooling vegetables is the perfect Raw season for all body types. Choose your diet and choose your season, and you will be surprised as to what you will learn that can keep you on the Raw path with ease, taste and success.
We will be working on a 4 season Raw Book/Blog in the next 8 months, drawing on insights from Ayurveda and Macrobiotic on how best to utilize nuts, herbs, super foods and local produce.
Ayurveda is the science of life, a science of over 3000 years. There is much we can learn from it, even if we are choosing a more modern eating style.
Watermelon is not my favorite fruit, though I grew up with it in Israel. It is still a staple at my family’s home at the end of any large meal. My wife loves it and is always excited in summer season with the availability of fresh organic watermelons.
Now when I say it is not my favorite, i am not saying I don’t like it, i just prefer the sweetness of pineapple, the tanginess of the green mango, the slipperiness of the sweet orange mango, the fresh cut apple on a stick, peeled oranges, or cleaned lynchee and rambutan, but those I learned to love in Thailand and India where their price and availability allows for daily consumption. Here, in the US one satisfies their fruit buzz with peaces, apples and watermelons.
So I woke up to water and watermelon juice. And was doing really great all day. Carrying a large bottle to the beach filled to the rim, discovering that watermelon is worse than beer. Once you unplung the cork, the flood is quickly returning. Gotta love the ocean.
I would have survived the whole day, but alas, a travel trip to Wal-Mart brought out an unadulterated cravings for Morning Star Spicy Wings. It was on slae causing the watermelon to lose the battle.
I am well aware of the consequences to the nervous and physical system, but that is the beauty of this blog.
I will do the mistake, take the road that many of us think about, and show you how to get back on track.
Many of us fall under the pit fall of fried food, which unlike my dinner fall out which consisted of green rich salad, with apples, nuts and lemon dressing to soften the digestion and enliven the cell with cleansing powers.
A sampling of simple pasta with oil and corn, pinch of spicy peppers which brought a sampling of enlightment to the day. The power of simple combination which, when done correctly brings out a calm and reflection to the magic of life. I will have to write and provide a picture about it in tomorrow’s post.
Then I had my wings, when my belly was ready to receive a more processed combination of imitation meat. With a side of raw honey.
A glass of red wine to help swirl some Rumi pleasure in my belly assisted the experience which was shared with my son who had a much larger bowl of the pasta as his dinner.
The watermelon cleanse will happen this Thursday, the body will now recover through water, fruits and simple macrobiotic heating foods.
My wife had told me a few months ago how David Wolfe, the Raw Lifestyle promoter, recommends and actually does 3 day watermelon fasts to cleanse his body, and to energize. She tried it, but lasted only one day. I am considering exploring that plateau tomorrow, and will keep you posted as to what happens and how I feel through it.
Having just moved to a new home and new town, a cleanse is in order. It is the middle of summer, and watermelon are abound, which sparked the Wolfe memory.
Are there other benefits for watermelon fasting? Let me recount the ways….
The watermelon is a whole body cleanser.
It has positive effects on the kidney, bladder, heart, stomach, colon, liver and more!
For many people the kidneys are under tremendous strain. They may in fact be losing their effective ability to clear toxins in many individuals. Why? Protein, alcohol and caffeine all put strain on the kidney.
I don’t drink coffee, nor eat red meat, but beer is a fond beverage in my day to day.
We’ll see what changes in the next 3 days….stay tuned…
Amazing how numbers lead us. I did not even try for it, and yet, we are settled in our home, moved into an apartment with a lease, so we are no longer “raod trippin” on day 66. So close to route 66, and the number that makes others cringe…6.6.6…but we are elated to be at the ocean.
What will the summer bring? that is something no one knows, but with raw food classes, Thai massage enhanced training, nutritional counseling, we are hoping the new town will find us with open arms as we do our best to give everything we can.
Look us up in Wilmington, NC through our web sites –
Considering that we had to deal with looking for a new home as the house we had secured fell through in the last minute, we were lucky to get on craiglist and find a few sub lease options in Wilmington, NC.
As it is 4th of July weekend, we decided to to stay through to the day of the fireworks, and leave that afternoon. My wife had arranged for me to work with Sarma Melngailis, who was truly a wonderful person to work with. For someone who has inspired to so many NYC residents and raw food lovers around the world, it was an honor to be able to give something in return.
We left in the later afternoon, watching the city get ready for their evening Independance Day celebration, and though we would miss the fireworks over the Hudson, we felt at peace and ready for our next adventure in Wilmington, NC.
As the sun descended and the horizon expanded in front of us, we could spot in the distances of the major cities fireworks beginning to light up the sky. The East side of the USA is rather mountainous which is rather green in trees and fauna, which means that one if often shrouded in forest growth rather than rolling green meadows such as the Mid-West. So you can imagine our exaltation as we approached Washington, DC, choosing to take I-95 through the city rather than go around it, recognizing that on Sunday night there would not be any traffic, out in the distance of the city, in a section of the road that spreads for a few miles without any of Mother Nature’s barriers, a close up display of fireworks.
At first we just thought we had a great view that would disappear any moment, though as we continued driving and reaching nearer and nearer, the road seemed to go right into the fire itself.
AS the fireworks grew larger and larger, and more cars steered to the outer and inner medians stopping to admire the display, I turned the car to the inner median and joined the spectators in admiration. For our son to have his first fireworks display this was front of the house tickets.
We finished our drive to the beach in the morning and the first apartment we looked at came with some furniture and thus was a perfect fit. With Oct 5th being a holiday and there was no way to change the lease till tomorrow, we stayed in a hotel, allowing ourselves one last night of “road trippin”
65 days of exploring the US with my wife and son, reflecting how easy yet demanding a daily ashtanga practice is, where it does not matter where you are, it is easy to practice if you have a mat and enthusiasm.
We crossed many states, and were hosted by amazing people, road trips, like challenges never end, they simply remind us of the trip that really needs to be explored, the inner journey, the discovery of who we truly are, and what gifts we have for this world. In the words of Jelluladin Rumi – “every morning we wake up empty and scared, wondering who we are and what we are suppose to be doing here. Don’t go into the study and read a book. Pick up a musical instrument and play. There are one thousands ways of kneeling down and kissing the ground. Let the beauty you love be what you do.”
WHY - Wellness, Health, Yoga 