Posts made in October, 2009

This is just another example of how things are going when I am in alignment with higher consciousness. It’s a place of trust and listening to that inner voice that guides you in the direction you want to be in.

I have been riding a blissed out state lately. I have made the decision to live in the magic of life and honestly, it is proving it to me. If only everyone remembered this what a wonderful world this would be. However, my world has been rocking out so I know I am making a difference just by changing my own conscious state.

So, when was the last time you worked out your soul? C’mon now, I dare you to give it a shot. Start strengthening your higher self by just remembering who you are and knowing it is all here for you. Let it happen!

So, how do you get out of a traffic ticket: INTEND IT! Ask and it is Given! It’s granted as soon as you ask, so just let it play out (aka allow it)!

To be honest when I received tickets to attend an International Alchemy Conference I didn’t really know what to expect. I really didn’t even know exactly what “alchemy” meant. However, after seeing that Dr. Masaru Emoto and Don Miguel Ruiz would be speaking I knew it had to be a good thing. Upon arrival to the event someone stopped me and mentioned that I did not “look” like someone who was into alchemy. What does an alchemist look like anyway? Once I walked into the conference everyone looked normal to me & I didn’t feel out of place at all.

I was thrilled with the opportunity to hear Dr. Emoto speak. The room was packed, but somehow I was able to get a front row seat. He spoke in Japanese and had a translator, but his jokes and charm were not diluted in the translation. I felt goosebumps throughout his entire speech. According to Dr. Emoto goosebumps are messages from our DNA that deciphers consciousness. I couldn’t agree more. I usually know something is powerful by my goosebumps.

I first learned about him from the film “What the Bleep Do We Know” with Hidden Messages in Water. That was so powerful that I did the rice experiment in 2007. I even posted a blog on water earlier this year. I was blown away by the results and have forever been changed. As Dr. Emoto explained, water is consciousness and within it is our message from God.

Dr. Emoto shared his journeys of healing water around the world and found that within a short time after a ceremony a rainbow would appear. Some of them were double rainbows that were not common to the area at all. He explained that a rainbow is a symbol for peace. Suddenly I was taken back to a memory of when I lived on the North Shore of Hawaii. Everyday I would smell a light scent of pineapples and see a rainbow right in my backyard. Most of the time it would be a double rainbow too! What a beautiful thing to experience!

Dr. Emoto shared the Law of Vibration. He demonstrated resonance and how a perfect pyramid magnified and extended the vibration. AMAZING demo! He shared that music is vibration and water loves beautiful vibration. He feels strongly that music is medicine. I couldn’t agree more. He expressed that even more important than listening to beautiful music was to sing. Our bodies, like water love music and we can feel the vibration emanating from us. He said the person who invented karaoke should have won a Nobel Prize. I agree! In spirit of that, we sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” paying close attention to the lyrics. The IZ version happens to be one of my most favorite songs ever. I actually felt inspired to sing more knowing that I was healing my body. I am making a point to sing everyday!

We enjoyed his photos of water’s response to different environments from placing water on a photo, exposing it to beautiful music and words. Speaking negative words has a negative effect on the water and of course, since our bodies are at least 75% water we must be aware that it also affects our bodies negatively. Positive words create beautiful sound. Dr. Emoto called our bodies “Little Universe”.This inspired me to speak more positively. I’d love to only speak eloquently and beautifully especially since I know it not only affects my body, but consciousness itself. Dr Emoto explained that consciousness is information from God and it is locked in our DNA. We can unlock DNA from water. He shared that water is the connection between God and Man.

The most beautiful crystal formations came from the words “Love and Gratitude”. He broke down the yin & yang balance of these words:

Love – Gratitude
Fire – Water
Oxygen – Hydrogen
Live – Death
Active energy – H2O- Passive energy

His message was to have love and gratitude with every sip of water we consume. In his ceremonies he says to water, “Water we are sorry. Water we love you. Water we respect you. Water we thank you.”

In addition to Dr. Emoto, I enjoyed listening to Don Miguel Ruiz speak. He is the author of Mastery of Love which is one of my top 10 favorite books. I loved bumping into a fellow raw foodist, Courtney Pool who works at Tree of Life. She was beaming with beauty and light. I was thrilled to see many raw foodists & yogis at this event. I was in heaven with the Om Gym. This looks so fun. It is like having yoga poses and various stretches with an assistant to get you deeper into the pose. Range of motion is crucial to our bodies. I find it interesting that the most flexible people tend to have very open minds too. Another mind body connection, eh? An open body = open mind? Hmmm..

I receive lots of questions on how people can start up their own wholesale organic produce buying club in their area. Even though our area has well over 800 members, this system can work with as little as 10 members. As a raw foodist I can tell you this service is ABSOLUTELY a dream come true to have! I get produce from local farmers and BEFORE it goes to the stores. So it’s fresher, cheaper, and more convenient. I have participated in the IEOPBC since 2008 and wouldn’t be as successful with the raw food diet if it wasn’t for this service.

Here are a couple videos I have made showing what happens at our meetup:
A Quick Tour of the Co-op
Almost ready to Start Distribution
An Example of a Share

Here are 10 Steps on Starting An Organic Produce Buying Club

1. Select Organizers This is a service that does not make a profit. We do this as a community service. An organizers incentive is a complimentary member share and a volunteer share. It really isn’t much as far as materialistic benefits, but here is an organizers perspective on Is it Worth it? Here is an example of different organizer roles and duties:

Organizer 1 handles THE BOOKS, maintains receipts, deposits, financial records, licenses, insurance, etc. (we are incorporated as a business who just never profits rather than a non- profit), and tracks members who have paid and how many shares we need to purchase for.

Organizer 2 handles THE WEBSITE updates w/ photos, polls, answers members emails/questions, etc. This person keeps everything up to date online, sends out messages, emails, etc and keeps everyone informed. Posts produce share photos online.

Organizer 3 handles THE PRODUCE by placing the produce order, inspects, and makes sure we are getting what we paid for, and picks it up.

Organizer 4 handles THE SET UP, DISTRIBUTION & CLEAN UP Manages volunteers, distribution & volunteer duties. This person makes sure the place is left looking better than when we arrived and that all materials are put away.

All organizers are present when the meetup takes place to usher shares to members, to accept payment for future shares, write receipts, check names off the list and see that all things run smoothly.

2. Find local farmers who are willing to sell to your group at wholesale. In addition, find a local organic distributor who can sell you produce that local farmers do not carry if there is not enough supply per demand. We place our orders on Thursday mornings to be picked up for that following Saturday. We also accept donated produce from members who have excess from their gardens. Often we receive rosemary, basil, oregano, and mint.

3. Decide how much you are going to spend per basket & set up a payment system. We currently charge $22 for a basket. $20 goes to produce and $2 is for delivery costs or other items like baskets, gloves, brooms, etc. We also charge a $10 annual membership fee that covers our legal fees. We accept cash only or pay pal payments. No checks. We collect cash only payment for the following week(s) at the time of distribution of shares. We do accept pay pal payments until Wednesday evening at 7 PM.

4. Get your delivery system in check. Find out if you are paying to have someone deliver the produce to you or if you are going to pick it up yourself. We currently rent a U-haul trailer and pick up our produce from various local organic farms. Whatever we need to keep the basket balanced we pick up from Better Life Organics in Los Angeles. If you decide to have it delivered hopefully you can receive it just before distribution otherwise you need to plan for refrigeration.

5. Find a location to distribute produce (restaurants w/ outdoor covered patio, parks w/ covered area, etc.). Decide on a time and place that is always the same. We do every Saturday at 10 AM at Farm Artisan Foods. We are consistent in our time and location and that I feel has made this very successful. If you chose a park location be sure that you do not have more than 50 members on site at a time otherwise you are subject to a permit.

6. Get supplies to run the show like baskets (we got ours at a local 99 cent store), brooms, dustpan, gloves, trashcan, rags, cash box, etc. We like members to bring their own ice chest, basket to swap out, or canvas tote. We do reserve some of the produce boxes for people who forgot to bring something to take their produce home in.

7. Set up volunteer opportunities. We allow 10 volunteers to come and help with picking up produce from local farmers and bringing it to our meetup, to help with set up, distribution, and clean up. This process starts at 9 AM with setting up & distributing produce to baskets. From 10- 10:45 members pay for next week(s) share and/or pick up their produce. At 10:45 we begin clean up at 10:45 and finish at 11:00. Volunteer receive a volunteer basket. This is the produce that we are not able to distribute evenly amongst all the members. We also donate a basket to the owners of the restaurant in thanks for allowing us to use their site before the restaurant opens for business.

8. Contact Local Food Banks, storehouses, halfway homes, shelters, etc to donate any extra produce that was not claimed by a member. If produce is not picked up by 10:45 the member forfeits their basket and it is donated to a charity. Sometimes someone who forgot to buy a basket shows up and can buy the persons share and that first member will be refunded their money or it will be used for a future share.

9. Set up an online presence page on meetup to keep all your members informed, connected with other members, to receive reminders and updates.

10. Get license and insurance to be safe. We did not start this way, but after we experienced so much growth we decided it was the best way to go. Even though we never make a profit we are incorporated just in case someone falls ill, slips on the site or for whatever reason we may need this protection. We found that being incorporated was easier to do that establishing ourselves as a non-profit. We do charge a $10 annual membership fee that covers our license, insurance and other legal costs as well as miscellaneous costs.

Once you are up and running you can always contact local papers and get written up like this article. Here is a review by one of our members on Local Harvest. If you haven’t already, feel free to check out our website for more info.

Isn’t funny how quickly things can change when you shift your perspective from “I am not good enough so I MUST lose weight” to “I love myself so much that I want to treat my body with love and respect”? It’s an empowering shift moving from a state of forcing your body to be a particular way to allowing your best body to come forth.

I remember losing 10 pounds EFFORTLESSLY in 2007. I didn’t stick to any strict menu or have a set workout routine. I just focused on feeling good. I found that I was preoccupied with living and not the number on my scale. I did make it a point to sweat everyday, but that was as simple as cranking up the music and dancing while mopping my floors. Besides that my focus was just to stay happy. It wasn’t long and everyone asked me how I went from 118 to 108. I felt sort of guilty because I didn’t make that my primary focus. I didn’t even try, it was just a by product of feeling good. I have decided to go back to that method after realizing that the egocentric way I have been TRYING this year so far hasn’t given me the results I wanted. I remember that quote “Insanity is repeating the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.”

I needed to shift into the heart. I have started looking at myself in a loving way. I have been focusing on what I do have and what I am thankful for. I am also paying more attention to what my body is able to do rather than how it looks.

Here are a few things I have been feeling lately:

I am so happy that my body is free of pain.
I am so thankful my body has healed from several injuries.
I am thankful this body has given birth to two amazing children.
I am thankful for my energy, youth, and vitality.
I am grateful that I can pick up sports with ease and participate in all sorts of recreational activities.
I am thankful for my feminine curves.
I am thankful I have found raw foods.
I am thankful I love being healthy.
I am thankful I love yoga and all forms of exercise.

I love my body and look forward to showing it how much I love it through giving it a little daily love and attention. Here is a great quote from my favorite yoga instructor, Bryan Kest “The integrity of the web is dependant on the resiliency of every strand”.

Remember to take time to honor your body in more ways than the ones that affect you aesthetically.

Here are 2 other related articles/blog posts about self acceptace and loving your body:
9 Days to Bikini- Ready: Self Acceptance & Loving Your Body is Listening to Your Body

A Special thanks to Lenette Nakauchi who sent two videos that go along with this message:
Abraham on Weight & Abraham on Natural Weight Loss