Clean, open, uncomplicated - that’s what I am experiencing ...

Thirty-two days ago I decided to eat raw vegan food for one day as an experiment in “clean living”. My diet was already pretty healthy (I thought). I have been vegan for nearly five or so years, vegetarian for about ten or eleven before that. My interest in food keeps me reading, learning, and questioning all I can on the subject. Through my research, as I mentioned in an earlier blog, I began to realize that through cooking I have been destroying most of the nutritional value of my food. As a result, I decided to try it raw, vegan, organic, and whole, to see if I felt a difference. One day at a time.

I set the following parameters:

·        If I wanted to continue for more than one day I would do so, but with the understanding that I was committing to only one day at a time.

·        If I wanted to eat something cooked, I would do that as well, without any negative feelings or judgment.

·        That I would embrace the preparation of food as a sacred act. This means having positive healing intention, often chanting mantra or having it playing in the background, and imbibing my food with love during preparation. Allowing only positive energy in my food.

I felt that in order to truly benefit from a clean diet, I would have to feel clean, not only physically, but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually as well. The past thirty-two days have offered opportunities for me to understand what that really means. As the days went by I noticed that my asana and meditation practices had taken on a new shape; I started practicing a few series’ from the Bihar school which I have found to be very cleansing and awakening. About three weeks in, I became more mindful of my interactions with others and decided consciously to be less involved in or concerned about other people’s opinions and decisions. I felt a natural release of petty concerns toward and about others and their choices – their issues are not my issues, etc. And this too felt very clean, as if I had wiped  away a layer of unnecessary film that hads been clouding my vision. I am feeling less tired and am putting more energy into my time at home, into my close relationships, and working toward being as transparent as possible. By focusing on myself and on things of which I truly have some control I have more energy and more time to do the things I love.

So here I am at day thirty-two; I am starting the day with juice and moving on from there. I have been drinking plenty of water and am feeling very centered and grounded.  Will I continue eating raw? We’ll see. With my new perspective on nourishment I have felt a lifting, a sloughing off, or a finishing of work that has been in progress for a while. It’s as if I needed to step across a line or strip away another layer in order to be in the next space. Eating raw has been that step. Clean, open, uncomplicated - that’s what I am experiencing. By each “letting go”, I have found a huge release and an opening of some sort – much bigger than expected. I am raw today and it feels really good : )