Today’s post isn’t specifically about raw foods. But, we wanted to post a few videos highlighting some interesting research by an Italian doctor named Tullio Simoncini, who just might be onto something HUGE! Dr. Simoncini treats certain cancer patients with ordinary sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), based on his premise that cancer is a fungal problem and that a solution of baking soda is anti-fungal. Naturally, he’s been vilified by the medical establishment for making such a seemingly simplistic claim. But, what if he’s right?

Here at Pure Jeevan, we’re very much into health research — not so much with an aim to cure any specific disease or ailment, but rather to understand ways in which our bodies can become what we like to call unbalanced, as well as the ways in which we might return our bodies to proper balance, when necessary. In this way, I suppose that we, like many in the natural health world, feel that the body is amazingly capable of healing itself (in many circumstances) as long as the body is able to find a favorable state from which it can properly do what it naturally wants to — which is to return the body to an optimal state of health.

Medical doctors don’t buy into this theory very much.  However, it’s certainly ironic how, where certain areas of standard medical practice are concerned, what I described above is exactly what doctors do. Take something like a broken bone, for example. A doctor does not normally attempt to surgically repair the bone itself. Rather, the standard and time-honored practice is to set the bone (say, with a cast), and then to let your body heal the break naturally, on its own, making those skeletal connections as only the imponderably complex, ever-evolving wisdom of the human body can facilitate. (True, doctors do often intervene these days with surgery for broken bones. But, their aim there is mainly to position the bones for proper healing, and/or to do things like insert pins in an attempt to improve functionality after healing. Either way, the procedure here still relies on the body’s ability to eventually heal the problem.) Standard medical knowledge in this area is without question outstanding — and this is why most people in the natural health world have little problem with going to see a medical doctor for emergency treatment.

Chronic disease treatments are another story. In the standard medical world, they’re generally aimed more at relieving the symptom rather than considering the cause. Diabetics, for example, are given insulin instead of being asked to change their diets. Here at Pure Jeevan, we’re generally more interested in learning about the root causes as well as the possible ways to reverse a given condition naturally — or, when that’s not an option, doing so as naturally as possible, working in harmony with the body’s processes.

So, it was pretty exciting for us to review these videos because of their simplicity, the more natural characteristics and components described, the way that Dr. Simoncini’s methods seem to cooperate more with the human body rather than by effectively poisoning it (as with chemo and other harsh chemicals). And, not only that, but considering the education in live blood and “Nadi Balance” work that Wendi and I have been accumulating, we’re excited that quite a lot of his theories fall in line well with the research we’ve been engaged with lately. Also, I’d just mentioned last week how we’d been interested recently in Dr. Gabriel Cousen’s book, “There Is a Cure for Diabetes.” In that book, Dr. Cousens relates the Seven Stages of Disease, a well known 80-year-old theory from a doctor named John Tilden. Quite interestingly, Tilden specifies that one possibility for the final, seventh, stage is “Fungation,” which basically means cancer. (There’s a pretty good summary of that here.) So, again, a lot of what Simoncini is saying strikes us as important.

In any case, while we may not be focused here at Pure Jeevan on, say, the causes and cures for cancer, the following videos did catch our interest this week because the hypotheses discussed fit in rather well with the overall body of research we’ve been doing over the past few years. So, we hope you find them informative and thought-provoking.

Tullio Simoncini – The Fungal Hypothesis 1/3

Tullio Simoncini – The Fungal Hypothesis 2/3

Tullio Simoncini – The Fungal Hypothesis 3/3

Site for further info: http://www.cancerisafungus.com/

Please Post on Facebook!	Please Tweet This on Twitter!
Visit:	View Comments

Here it is: Putting it all together. Here you’ll see what we use for our taco shells and how we build up our taco. Quite often, we also make a raw sour creme using cashew nuts and lemon juice. But, for these tacos, it’ll just be meat, salsa, and guac. Enjoy!

Taco Assembly

Use Romaine leaves for your taco shells or, as Wendi says, do a search for making other kinds of taco shells. (A good place to search out raw recipes is the All Raw Directory.) Top with:

• Shredded lettuce
• Taco meat (see previous recipe)
• Guacamole (see previous recipe)
• Salsa (see previous recipe)
• Optional: Raw Vegan Sour Cream (search our blog or the All Raw Directory)

There you go: Celebrate TACO WEEK by making your own tacos!

(And, by the way, we’re celebrating something special today, too:  KDcat turns 15 today!!! )

Please Post on Facebook!	Please Tweet This on Twitter!
Visit:	View Comments

Here’s the next component in our raw taco recipe — the guacamole. This is Wendi’s favorite component! Enjoy!!!

Raw Guacamole Recipe

• 3 avocados
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro
• 3/4 tsp salt
• optional: 1 med. tomato, scallion

Pulse in food processor until “meaty” consistency is obtained. Set aside in a serving bowl for the taco dinner!

Please Post on Facebook!	Please Tweet This on Twitter!
Visit:	View Comments

COntinuing with our Taco Week, here’s a quick and easy (and delicious) salsa recipe. You can really have a lot of fun with salsa, and can get highly experimental if you like. Almost anything tastes great in salsa. This one is fairly basic, so feel free to spruce it up with some of your favorite ingredients. Let us know in the comments section some of your favorite variations so you may inspire others!

Raw Salsa Recipe

• 4 med tomatoes, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 scallions
• optional: fresh garlic, onion, chilis, cayenne, etc.

Pulse in food processor until “meaty” consistency is obtained. Set aside in a serving bowl for the taco dinner!

Please Post on Facebook!	Please Tweet This on Twitter!
Visit:	View Comments

EVERYONE LOVES RAW TACOS!!! So, this week, we’re going to show you FOUR “Makin’ It Monday” videos instead of just one. These were filmed in Berkeley, CA, at our dear friend Carolyn’s apartment. We hope you love these recipes. We actually eat raw tacos quite regularly — especially when tomatoes are in season.

Taco “Meat” Recipe

• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup Brazil nuts (or more walnuts)
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• dash garlic powder
• 1 1/4 Tbsp. Tamari or Nama Shoyu

Pulse in food processor until “meaty” consistency is obtained. Set aside in a serving bowl for the taco dinner!

Please Post on Facebook!	Please Tweet This on Twitter!
Visit:	View Comments

You’re in for a treat with this recipe. Our Guest Raw Chef this week is Shivie Kaur, half of “The Cook and Butler” duo of TeamRaw. Wendi shot this video a few weeks back in San Francisco during Pure Jeevan’s recent cross-country tour! While there, Shivie and her partner Cemaaj created and served a delicious gourmet meal for Wendi and KDcat. The blog post from that visit was here. So, here’s Shivie sharing with you how to make an easy and delicious raw salad dressing!

Orange Asian Pear Ginger Salad Dressing

• 1/2 cup of orange juice
• flesh of 1/2 orange
• 1/4 cup raw cashews
• 1 asian pear
• 1 Tbsp. gresh ginger
• splash apple cider vinegar (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. agave nectar (or other raw sweetener)

Process in a high-speed blender until smooth and creamy.  Enjoy!

Please Post on Facebook!	Please Tweet This on Twitter!
Visit:	View Comments

Today we welcome Shea Lynn Baird from Monday Night Live. As you may recall from a few weeks ago, Wendi and KDcat visited with Shea and her husband Stephen during their 2010 Trip. While there, they all attended a raw food meetup, and Shea brought a wonderful Thai salad. She shared this delicious creation with all of you in this special guest raw chef edition of Makin’ It Monday, below:

Recipe

• 1/2 jar raw almond butter
• 2 large jalepeno peppers
• 3 large cloves of garlic
• about a 1-2″ piece of ginger
• juice of 3 large limes (or lemon)
• 1+ Tbsp. tamari
• dash of sweetener (maple syrup shown in vid)
• water as needed for consistency

Blend this dressing in a Vitamix and serve over a large salad of parsley, tomatoes, cilantro, romaine, cabbage, and avocado.

As always, we’d love to feature YOU on a Makin’ It Monday Guest Raw Chef Edition. For details on that, click here.

Please Post on Facebook!	Please Tweet This on Twitter!
Visit:	View Comments

Here it is, the final stop along our 40-day cross-country tour, Chicago, IL, before returning home to Jim! It’s been an incredible time, meeting so many wonderful people, seeing so much natural beauty across the country, deciding where we’ll relocate once our home sells, tasting incredible raw foods along the way, and spreading the word about the raw food lifestyle whenever an opportunity presented itself!

Below you’ll find the final notes I wrote about our tour, along with some videos and pictures of our final stop in Chicago, Illinois.

We definitely arrived in Chicago refreshed and ready for some adventures. So, we headed directly downtown to search out a new raw food restaurant that our friends Kathy and Danny Living had mentioned to us.

RAW, the newly opened restaurant by Polly Gaza and Carole Jones, is situated inside the Ogilvie Train Station in a recently constructed French Market food court. When we figured out how to get into the market, we were impressed. It’s a nice concept and has a fun feeling to it, just strolling along a market place (all while inside a large building housing a train station) that seemed as though it was almost outdoors. When we found the new RAW restaurant, we were thrilled. The colors, decorations, and displays were all very well done. We had to wait a while to talk with the owners, since the restaurant was doing some great business when we arrived. You can see a video we took of the owners, below, and find out more about the restaurant on their web site: Chicago Raw Food. The video was edited down because the sound quality wasn’t very good, but you’ll hear some inspiring thoughts from Carole about manifesting your dreams and how she and Polly simply manifested the restaurant by beginning with their thoughts. Carole advises: Live Your Passions!

After leaving the restaurant, we headed straight to Borrowed Earth Cafe to visit with our friends Kathy and Danny Living. For those of you who don’t already know them, Kathy and Danny are incredibly loving people who are down to earth and doing some incredible things with their lives (manifesting along the same lines that Carole touches on in the video, above, and also inspiring others along the way to live their dreams and treat the planet with kindness). We first met Danny and Kathy last year during a visit to Chicago, and we immediately loved them. If we hadn’t met them last year, our route back home during this tour wouldn’t have included a stop in Chicago. However, we did meet them and I wanted to spend more time with them so a stop in Chicago was added to our trip itinerary. I love their energy, their soft and gentle loving nature, and to top it off the raw foods they serve in their Borrwed Earth Cafe are delicious. So, KDcat and I were looking forward to spending time with them again (and Jim was sad to miss out on seeing them this time).

When I told Danny and Kathy that we were coming in for a visit during our tour, they asked if we’d be interested in talking to their raw food meetup group. We agreed, of course, and they introduced us to David Hanley, a member of their large group. David hosted us for our stay in Chicago and we had a nice time getting to know him. He’s into stairclimb racing, yoga, software development, loves fixing homes (like Jim does), raw foods, and so much more. In his home, David has a massage chair that KDcat really enjoyed a lot. David drove us to our talk at the meetup, where we met with even more incredible people. It was a large group, so we met at a Whole Foods meeting room not very far from the cafe. There were a lot of questions from those attending the talk, which I always enjoy. It’s nice to meet so many people who are interested in learning a about ways they can improve their health.

That evening, we shared with David the generous amounts of raw foods that Kathy and Danny had sent home with us for the evening. We enjoyed things like Borrowed Earth’s World Famous Salad, Burrito Loco, Sweet Potato Quesadilla, a green smoothie, some cheese cake, and the most incredible raw apple pie I’ve ever tasted. I’m not kidding about that statement, either. I used to consider myself queen of the apple pie back when I baked my foods, and this raw apple pie that Kathy and Danny have created was even more delicious than my best baked apple pie. If you don’t believe me, it’s worth a trip to Chicago just to check it out! Absolutely DELICIOUS! Maybe if enough people ask, Kathy and Danny will share the recipe with all of you through one of our special guest chef editions of Makin’ It Monday!

Before leaving Chicago and heading toward home, we stopped by Borrowed Earth Cafe once more to spend a little extra time with Kathy and Danny. We had great fun together and as much as KDcat and I were looking forward to being with Jim again, we wished we had more time to spend with Kathy and Danny. While there, we talked a lot about the power of intention and creating our futures. Danny also brought out some tuning forks and balanced my energy using them. Let me tell you, that was some powerful healing he was doing. After he was done, I felt euphoric and grounded all at the same time. I was filled with even more love than I normally feel flowing within and without my body. Wow! When I told Jim about it, we agreed that we’d like to learn more about tuning forks, too.

Danny and Kathy are always a wealth of knowledge and inspiration and I was sad to leave their company. Before going, they sent us out the door with even more delicious raw foods to feed us until we returned home. There was even some leftover to share with Jim when we arrived home the following evening!

Below, you’ll see a video we took while visiting Borrowed Earth Cafe last year during our visit to Chicago. You can see in this video how incredibly sweet Kathy and Danny are, but you can tell even better by meeting them in person, yourself. If you’re in the Chicago, IL, area, be sure to stop by and introduce yourself to them!

So, that ends our tour! After Chicago we headed back to Pittsburgh to be reunited with Jim. The next time we cross the country, we’ll be doing it together as a family. Being apart like we did it this time (which was necessary for budgetary reasons) took away from some of the fun we could have all experienced together.

Again, it was such a joy meeting so many of you as we visited different cities and states. Thanks, again, to everyone who hosted us and showed us a great time in your little part of the country! It’s a trip we’ll never forget, and one that will always bring fond memories to mind.

Lots of love to all of you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

p.s. Don’t forget to show support of our Trip Snack Sponsor, Natural Zing, who made the snack portion of this trip possible! Thanks, again, Helen and Jeff! We love you both!

We hope you’ll check out our generous snack sponsor for the trip, Natural Zing, who made our travels extra enjoyable! They have the best selection of raw food snacks, supplies, and appliances for a raw food lifestyle!

Please Post on Facebook!	Please Tweet This on Twitter!
Visit:	View Comments

So, what did you think about there being snow in New Mexico? Were many of you thinking it was more of a consistant hot climate like I used to think?

We left New Mexico, renewed, and headed to Oklahoma. Here’s where we left off yesterday:

When I arrived in Oklahoma, KDcat and I were surprised with how windy it was. The wind continued to be as severe as it was when we were in Prescott Valley, AZ. We started off our Oklahoma visit in Oklahoma City, where we met the lovely Penni Shelton, of RealFoodTulsa and RawFoodRehab. When Penni heard we were finally headed out on our tour, she asked if we’d be willing to do a talk for her raw food meetup in Tulsa. We agreed, of course, and from there Penni made other plans for some more fun.

Penni contacted the newly opened 105 Degrees raw food culinary training school, located in Oklahoma City, to see if there was a chance we’d be able to stop in and meet some of the staff and do some interviewing. I knew Russell James, one of the better known raw food chefs in the raw community, was going to be teaching at the school and hoped he’d be around so that we could meet him and ask some questions for our Pure Jeevan family members. Well, not only was Russell going to be there, but we were invited by Dara Prentice, a managing partner of 105 Degrees, to be special guests during the graduation celebration of the level one students. What a treat that was!

When Penni and I arrived at 105 Degrees, we immediately saw Russell sitting at one of the tables, having a meeting. I quickly snapped a picture of him and then we had a light lunch while he was in his meeting. Russell was brought over from the UK to share his culinary genius with students at 105 Degrees. If you don’t already know about Russell, be sure to check out his amazing raw food web site, The Raw Chef, where he shares many of his beautiful raw food recipes (which are like works of art).

The students wouldn’t be ready for us to join them for quite a while, so after our lunch we headed out to an Asian market to see what interesting raw food items we might be able to find. You can see some photos from that visit in the photo set, below. Then we headed back to the school to see what the students were doing on their final day.

I’m sad to say that the wonderful video footage I took of the graduation celebration, interviewing the students and hearing about their creations as they were being assembled, as well as a few separate interviews with Russell to inspire Pure Jeevan family members, didn’t turn out well enough to share here on the blog. The sound quality wasn’t very good because we were all in one big kitchen, everyone talking at the same time, and it was difficult to pick up on the intended sound for each video. The photos of the students’ creations and the celebration that day turned out great, however. So, those are visible in the photo set, below.

The students who were present, Vicki Morrissey, Aimee Dufresne, Austin Cummins, and Andrea Conneely created some incredible recipes. Not only were they beautifully presented to us for tasting, but they were unique and delicious, as well! Each student seemed to have at least one dish that really stood out above their other creations, something that was truly unique and creative, as well as delicious. I was impressed and I could tell that Russell was proud of how much the students had learned during their level one course with him. It was an honor to be invited as a special guest at their graduation celebration. We also met a couple of the Level Two students there that day, Alissa and Helen. If anyone out there is looking to hire a raw food chef, look no further than these incredibly talented students we met.

After the celebration, we headed to the unique apartment Penni rented for us for two nights during our stay in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The apartment building was round, and Penni joked that it was like a building from The Jetsons cartoon. It really did seem quite futuristic looking. Penni showed us around the building, which had a meeting room where I talked with some of the Tulsa Raw Food Meetup group the next day. During the talk, I met a lot of nice people and answered a lot of great questions.

Before leaving, I was able to meet Penni’s charming husband, Gordon, and her sweet dogs. Penni and I talked a lot, catching up on what each other has been doing since we were last together at the 2008 Raw Spirit Festival, and we interviewed each other for our web sites. Here’s the interview I did of Penni, where I asked her to share what she’s been doing with all of you. While I was away from the raw community during most of 2009, dealing with lyme disease, Penni created her own raw community group as well as published a book on cleansing (you can find her “Raw Food Cleanse: Restore Health and Lose Weight by Eating Delicious, All-Natural Foods — Instead of Starving Yourself” book through many popular online bookstores)! You can learn more about Penni and what she’s been doing by watching this interview:

To see the videos in which Penni interviews me, you can click below and be taken to her blog where she shares the videos. It’s a candid two-part video in which Penni asks me to share information about a lot of different things relating to health, diet, healing from lyme disease, and more. I hope you’ll check it out and let me know what you think!

You can also see these videos, commentary by Penni, as well as clips from my talk that day in Tulsa, by following the links, below, that take you to Penni’s Raw Food Rehab membership site:

Wendi Dee & I at 105degrees:

http://rawfoodrehab.ning.com/forum/topics/wendi-dee-i-in-okc-at

Wendi Dee in Tulsa:

http://rawfoodrehab.ning.com/forum/topics/wendi-dee-in-tulsa

Penni Interviews Wendi Dee:

http://rawfoodrehab.ning.com/group/mediaroom/forum/topics/wendi-dee-interview-by-penni

NEXT UP: Family stops in St. Louis, MO, and Geneseo, IL!

We hope you’ll check out our generous snack sponsor for the trip, Natural Zing, who made our travels extra enjoyable! They have the best selection of raw food snacks, supplies, and appliances for a raw food lifestyle!

Please Post on Facebook!	Please Tweet This on Twitter!
Visit:	View Comments

Hi everyone! It’s Wendi here, back to updating the blog and giving Jim a much-needed break. He did an amazing job with all he did while we were away (his full time corporate job; assisting me with a part-time computer job; keeping the house ready for realtors and potential buyers to stop by; dealing with some sad issues around our dog, Julia; connecting with our hosts and those requesting meetups/talks across the country; catching up with KDcat and I for a bit each evening to hear how we were doing; collecting pictures/videos/notes from me to then go through and create blog posts for all of you; helping friends fix up their attic into a useable place; and so much more)! He missed us a lot, and we missed him a lot, too.

So, here we pick up from where we left off with our travels yesterday…

It wasn’t easy leaving Arizona. KDcat and I both wished we had more time to play on the rocks in Sedona. But, we’ll keep that for a time when all three of us (next time with Jim) can be there to experience the wonder of that beautiful place. So, it was off to New Mexico! Since our host in Albuquerque was going to be busy until the evening, we slept in a bit before leaving Arizona.

In Albuquerque, NM, we stayed in the home of the beautiful Darshanie, who was out of the country visiting her daughter and attending the wedding of her brother. I met Darshanie at the Peaceful Valley Ashram a few years ago (the same ashram where I held a raw food spiritual retreat). She’s one of Leela Mata’s beautiful and talented daughters, creating candles which she sells as well as offering intuitive readings [click here to learn more about Darshanie]. It was wonderful to be invited to stay with Darshanie during our travels, and I was a bit sad that she wouldn’t be there when we arrived, but who would ever miss out on the chance to attend an Indian wedding?! If you’re ever invited to attend one, consider it a huge honor and accept the invitation. Indian weddings are breathtakingly beautiful in so many ways.

Greeting us at Darshanie’s place were her son, Shiva, his girlfriend, Cori, and Darshanie’s friend, Jeff. KDcat was especially fond of Darshanie’s cats, Daphne and Binx. We had a nice time talking with everyone, learning more about who they are and what they enjoy doing. As you’ll see from some of the pictures, Jeff plays the guitar; so, he and KDcat had some fun jamming together. Jeff also runs a yoga massage and wellness business there in Albuquerque, called YMAW.

We had a refreshing sleep and then headed out to Santa Fe the next morning, where we met up with our next host, Terri Mares, and her lovely friend, Sarah Moore. We had a raw lunch there in Santa Fe and then Terri and Sarah showed us around the cute little artistic town. Just like Arizona, New Mexico was quite windy. It was refreshing and beautiful at the same time — I love the wind. We enjoyed seeing the historic buildings and visiting some natives selling their crafts (KDcat found a hand-made, engraved brass guitar pick). We took pictures of some of the art in Santa Fe, which is filled with some truly talented artists.

When we arrived at Terri’s place in Las Vegas, NM, I was thrilled to be shown to my “Hogwarts” room. Terri is a big fan of the Harry Potter series, as are we here at Pure Jeevan, and she invited us to stay in her Hogwarts castle bedroom. What fun! She had a digital photo frame (all photos in the world of Harry Potter have moving pictures) that was filled with pictures she captured from our Facebook photo pages, since she knew we were a bit homesick. It was sweet to see photos of Jim waiting there for us to see!

It seems we’ve been visiting a lot of musically talented people as we’ve been crossing the country. At this stop, Terri’s daughter, Xena, and her friend, TJ, played guitar and sang songs to entertain us. We didn’t capture of picture of them playing for us, but we were able to get a video of Terri sharing her success with the raw food lifestyle. You can find out more about Terri by visiting her account on sparkpeople.com.

What an incredibly relaxing and healing place New Mexico is! My morning started off with a personal EFT session with Terri’s close friend, Sarah, whom we met the day before. KDcat and I both loved Sarah and Terri immediately. They are both very gentle, loving, fun people. My EFT session with Sarah was very healing. I have read about EFT, heard about it many times through friends who have had great experience with it, but never really gave it much time. I’m thinking Sarah is a gifted healer on many levels and brings to her EFT sessions something that may not always be there with other EFT practitioners. If you’re ever in the Las Vegas, NM, area and you’re interested in meeting a gentle healer, be sure to contact Terri and ask about meeting her friend, Sarah.

Later that day, we visited the Montezuma area, in the Gallinas Canyon, that’s within ten minutes of Terri’s place. We saw a beautiful place called Dwan Light Sanctuary. It’s so incredibly beautiful and peaceful. We took photos of us in the rainbows that are produced by the large prisms that make this place so special. We soaked up some of the colors and then headed to some hot springs. The springs had three tiers, starting with the hottest and getting to a nice very warm temperature. We sat for a long time, soaking up the healing energy of the water. I loved feeling the warm water, feeling the cold breeze, hearing the sounds of the hot spring, the wind in the trees, the creek at the bottom of the hill. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Then we took a drive to the top of the mountain, which is called Sangre de Cristo, to see the views. I did a quick video up there, saying how I thought I was done with the snow but here I was in New Mexico (which I thought was a dry, hot dessert) with my winter coat on again out in snow flurries!

[In this video, you'll see that Wendi's not too pleased to learn that she thought she left the snow behind her in Pittsburgh forever, only to realize that New Mexico gets snow, too. She's blissed out a bit, if you notice, from a day of intense healing (beginning with EFT, followed by incredible light healing, a soak in lithium hot springs, and now surrounded by nature's healing beauty).]

That evening we had a great time eating some raw foods with new friends. I met Miguel, a lovely man who used to be raw for many years and was inspired to get back into the raw lifestyle, again. He was a joy to talk with and I look forward to seeing him again in the future. We all talked about growing nourishing plants that are local to our areas, so that we can have abundance with little work of trying to tend to plants that are having a difficult time growing in a foreign climate. It was a lovely way to end our stay in New Mexico.

NEXT UP: Oklahoma!

We hope you’ll check out our generous snack sponsor for the trip, Natural Zing, who made our travels extra enjoyable! They have the best selection of raw food snacks, supplies, and appliances for a raw food lifestyle!

Please Post on Facebook!	Please Tweet This on Twitter!
Visit:	View Comments

Here’s part two of Wendi’s travelogue from Sedona:

After leaving ChocolaTree Cafe, and interviewing the lovely Kelly, we went to the famous Sedona Airport vortex spot, but there was no parking, so we drove to the top of the rock/mountain and there was a farmer’s market going on. We took a quick video of what was happening up there, to share on the blog. There was a cool musician playing: Vighas Kendzia, who plays piano, native flutes, sax, and more. He’s from musicfromthegarden.com and I told him he’d be on our site. So, if you made it here to check out the video, welcome, Vighas!

From there, we headed out to find a vortex spot that Kelly described. I’m not sure if we found the exact spot, but we really enjoyed the place we found. We ate our lunch there and it was DELICIOUS! The water, the trees, the large boulders, the fresh air…it was a very special place. We then drove to one of the more well-known hiking/vortex spots: Bell Rock. The hike in is a bit over a mile, then there is the climbing (which isn’t really recommended by the park officials, but it’s absolutely necessary to fully experience Sedona!). I gave KDcat some space to explore the area a bit on her own, as this was a very special time for me a few years ago. There is a certain energy and cleansing that happens when visiting Sedona. If any of you are going through changes in your lives, or feel like there is a shift that needs to happen, I highly recommend visiting Sedona for a few days. KDcat felt some powerful personal healing, which didn’t surprise me at all. It’s a place I’d love to visit every few years, or so, as it definitely holds some sort of healing energy. Maybe it’s just the views, or the peacefulness of being away from everything. Whatever it is, I highly recommend visiting Sedona and climbing around on the rocks!

Some of you know about my love of Sedona, AZ, especially those who were following the Pure Jeevan blog a few years ago. It was a visit to Sedona in 2008, for a Raw Spirit Festival, that my life dramatically changed once again. This time it wasn’t the food that was healing me, but it was related to the raw food lifestyle. I felt healed on many levels while there in Sedona, surrounded by the beautiful red rocks, cool and sandy earth beneath my bare feet in contrast to the warm sun on my skin, and embraced by a vibrant, loving community of like-minded individuals.

There’s a certain magic to Sedona, if you believe in such things (well, I suppose it’s there even if you don’t believe).  For me, I believe that we can many times find scientific reasons to explain much of the magic in this beautiful world, but that doesn’t have to diminsh the experiences we have. Sedona is known for its powerful vortex energy, which has a way of stirring up our own energy systems and bringing about healing, balance, awakenings, etc.  Is this energy measurable through science, or is it more metaphysical in nature? I don’t know and to be honest, it doesn’t matter to me. There were life-altering changes that took place while I was in Sedona in 2008 which rippled out beyond me and touched the lives of those very close to me, as well.

Here’s a quick video of a Sedona Farmer’s Market and a clip of KDcat and I at an area we claimed to be flowing with vortex energy, even though it wasn’t necessarily one of the more touristy vortex destinations.

It was in Sedona, during that 2008 visit, that I first met the president of Natural Zing, Jeff Rose. My friend Rawbin had mentioned to Natural Zing that I was a passionate raw foodie with an awesome raw web site who wasn’t able to manage attending the Raw Spirit Festival because of budgetary restraints. Well, Jeff and his wife, Helen, invited me to be a part of the festival in exchange for briefly checking on their booth during the event to tidy up things and put out more samples of raw food treats (and Rawbin shared her room at the festival with me!). Little did I know I’d be meeting a life-long friend, let alone someone whom I’d be sharing with all of our Pure Jeevan family, as well. But, that’s what happened. I met Jeff and felt like I knew him my entire life (later I met Helen and felt the same way!). He’s an honest, down-to-earth, witty, compassionate, loving person who wants to spread the word about the healing benefits of raw foods just as much as I do.

The time I spent with Rawbin and Jeff was priceless. With them, and others, I laughed, cried, played, and danced myself healed on so many levels beyond my physical body. I was reborn again, waking up fully healed from emotional trauma that even years of  therapy didn’t fully remedy. I returned home a different person and Jim was faced with meeting someone he hadn’t fully known in over 20 years. This is where the ripple effect of the vortex energy comes in. It was after I returned that Jim was able to go through his own transformation and healing. It wasn’t an easy time for him, or for us as a couple, but big changes and growth are necessary if we want to be fully alive and vibrantly experiencing this beautiful life we have.

I have a deep gratitude and love for Rawbin, Jeff Rose, and Natural Zing. My life wouldn’t be the same without them. As a result, Jim’s life wouldn’t be the same, and Pure Jeevan wouldn’t be the same, either. Once I returned from Sedona that year, Jim became a full partner here at Pure Jeevan. Natural Zing became a bigger supporter of our site and what we’re doing, as well.

So, now you know a bit about my love of Sedona and Natural Zing. You’ll continue to hear about Natural Zing, of course, because not only is the company run by fantastic people, honestly run, filled with love for the planet, passionate about raw lifestyle education, and extremely generous in many ways, but they’re our sponsor for this cross-country tour! So, please show them some love in return and check out their site and all they have to offer for those of us here in the raw food community. Be sure to tell them I spoke highly of them, too. It feels great to know how much we’re appreciated by others! You can click on their banner, below, to check out their site!

I know this wasn’t my usual travel post, but this particular location is dear to my heart and it didn’t feel right to not mention how special it is to me.

Lots of love to all of you!

Wendi
XOxoXO

Don’t forget to check out Natural Zing, by clicking on their banner, below!

More to come: New Mexico, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois!

We hope you’ll check out our generous snack sponsor for the trip, Natural Zing, who made our travels extra enjoyable! They have the best selection of raw food snacks, supplies, and appliances for a raw food lifestyle!

Please Post on Facebook!	Please Tweet This on Twitter!
Visit:	View Comments