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Monday, 06 September 2010 00:47

The Joy For Life Retreat - You Too Can Have This Experience!

Written by Anand Wells

Our dear friend Jennie Murphy from Raw Pleasure has kindly allowed us to use her article/review about the Joy For Life Retreat - Thailand 2010.

The Joy For Life Retreat in Thailand, run by the Boutenko family along with their friend Tom Compton was one of the single best experiences of my life. It literally has changed my life and my way of thinking in such a positive way.

Every morning we were served massive trays of glorious fruits such as mangosteens, watermelon (tastes completely different in Thailand compared to Australia. Quality!), rambutans, jackfruit, mangoes, durian, dragon fruit, bananas, and so much more. We were also welcomed to the day with amuch green smoothie as we liked and each one was unique and delicious. Lunch time saw us with more fruit and a savoury smoothie as did dinner. At night we had a sweet green smoothie served as pudding.

The Joy For Life Retreat in Thailand, run by the Boutenko family along with their friend Tom was one of the single best experiences of my life. It literally has changed my life and my way of thinking in such a positive way.

Never has my appetite for food been so satisfied. Every night I went to bed feeling completely satiated! No nightly cravings, no dreaming of food. I was completely and utterly happy food wise.

After a single day I felt my energy returning even though I'd travelled a long way and was surrounded by people I didn't know. I'm extremely shy by nature and it's not the easiest thing for me to be in a group of strangers but everyone was talking to each other so it was easy to sit at the fringes of the conversations and join in a little. I didn't feel my normal worry at all and after a few days was comfortable with most of the people there.

Sessions with Tom were a little less easy to get used to. I've been to many many different kinds of therapy over the years and while some of these therapies have helped a little, nothing got right down to grass roots like Tom and Byron Katie's “The Work”. I had read a little about The Work before I left, arrogantly decided it was mumbo jumbo, a load of hog wash and that I definitely was not going to do it. I went to the first session, skipped the second and I was hooked in session 3. I can say, that hands down, The Work with Tom is the best emotional 'sorting out' or clearing that I have ever done. I can see why people grab it with both hands and just do it. I cleaned so much trash from my emotional body that by the end of the week I felt completely different. So much lighter and brighter... I even started a sing along on the bus on the last day which sounds cheesy but was really fun!

When I went to Thailand I was in a bad way. I had overworked myself to the point that I was making some serious mistakes, I couldn't keep up with life, I felt trapped, depressed, not at all creative. I was exhausted and making myself sick with my thoughts/emotions. I had no energy to exercise yet couldn't sleep and I found it very difficult to be positive about anything. I even tried to get Bill to take my place at the retreat so I wouldn't embarrass myself in front of a bunch of people I didn't know and also because I just didn't have the energy to interact with people. Even my closest family and friends had been neglected for months.

Going to The Joy For Life retreat was fantastic because it got me out of my comfort zone and away from my habitual routine which enabled me to embark on a new routine without any interference. If you are struggling with raw, or struggling to go to a lower fat style of raw eating then a retreat is the way to go in my opinion. It really does give you the chance to break those bad habits. By the time you get home, if you are like me, you will feel so great you will just want to continue doing what you were doing.

Joy For Life returned my peace of mind to me. Since I've come home my family and friends have noticed huge changes in the way I approach things. I'm much calmer, happier, more rational, less flighty and nervous. I feel like I've tamed myself. Not only that but I lost 7kg while on the retreat. I was all bloated when I left and couldn't fit into my favourite jeans comfortably. Now they are nearly falling off! Also my eyes have straightened out. I have a lazy eye that is slightly turned and it annoys the hell out of me, but my eyes are perfectly straight right now. My vision improved, my skin improved, my hair is faaabulous and my body feels right again.

The combination of the green smoothies and fruit clearing the body, along with The Work clearing out the mind, being surrounded with like minded people and having total support both during and after the retreat is mind blowing. It's so hard to put this into words for you, just how wonderful it is

On top of all of this we did a Salsa lesson with Sergei, there was early morning yoga with Briana, educational DVD's at night, a local Thai production which not too many of us understood but we realised that it was a comedy, glorious mountains all around, afternoon classes with the Boutenko's, laughter with new friends and more.

The Joy For Life retreat is incredibly under priced. That included the accommodation and food as well as travel from the hotel to the resort and back. It was worth a lot more than was charged that I can tell you. Victoria, Sergei and Valya all worked tirelessly to ensure that things moved as smoothly as possible and to help everyone settle and feel comfortable. Towards the end of the week when people realised the value of what Tom was teaching us he was booked solidly. He even had a booking on the bus from the retreat back to the hotel on the last day! That's dedication.

I've stayed in email contact with several people from the retreat and all are reporting the same experience, that they had an amazing time, learned a lot about themselves and are incorporating both the green smoothies and 'The Work' into their daily lives with great results. Phew! It's so great to know it's not just me!

I can't speak of this experience highly enough. Bill and I are trying to work things so that we can be at the next Joy For Life retreat together. Hopefully we will see some of you there and give you a hug and a smoothie :).

Credits: Thank you M.Kidd!

Note: I had a few people read over this for me to check for spelling mistakes etc and more than one asked if this article is a paid advertisement for The Boutenko's. It is not. I truly got soooo much from this experience that has helped me in every day life back at home it feels vitally important to share the experience with you. I'm sure that the Boutenko's and Tom Compton are grateful, but that is not the objective. If I hadn't enjoyed the retreat, and felt that it was one of the best things I'd ever done I would say nothing about it and move on. :)

The Boutenko's and Tom Comptom will be holding a Joy For Life Retreat in Australia for the first time over Easter (April 23rd -29th 2011) in an idyllic location in Northern NSW

You find out more here http://www.joyforliferetreat.com/

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Friday, 27 August 2010 02:28

The pre-polluted baby - by Dr Sarah Lanz (PhD)

Written by Anand Wells

‘What do I do for a living?’ I get asked. ‘I work in research. We slice and dice placentas and umbilical cords and examine the chemical compounds in them’.

The response is often one of disgust, which is unfortunate because dissecting the human body tells us a great deal about what is in it - and what shouldn’t be.

So what have we found in placentas and umbilical cords?

Lots of things: waste by-products – pollution from incinerators, dioxin, teflon, PCBs, and heavy metals; consumer products – sulphates, parabens, phthalates, fragrances, flame-retardants, plastics, and preservatives; probably the most disturbing of all are the industrial chemicals banned over 30 years ago; and most notably, organophosphates (pesticides).

The evidence of health impacts from organophosphates continues to grow – links to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, diabetes, asthma, chronic fatigue syndrome ; birth defects, brain damage, infertility and cancer - prostate, mammary, breast, and ovarian cancer. The most recent data from 1139 children aged between eight and fifteen found that children with higher residue levels of organophosphates were roughly twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. This evidence is not really surprising when you think about it. Organophosphates are designed to kill agricultural pests by disrupting (and destroying) specific neurotransmitters in the brain. Why would we think that they would do no harm to the human body? And given that babies and children are particularly vulnerable to environmental chemicals due to their lower body weight, metabolic rates, and detoxifying enzymes, and that they do not process or excrete toxins the way adults’ bodies do, it is not surprising that children of this generation are experiencing so many debilitating health problems. Consider also, that the babies we are testing are getting these chemicals in utero. We are birthing a generation of pre-polluted babies!

So the take home message for parents is simple - for our kids to flourish in this world, they are dependent on the natural environment. Toxic environment equals a toxic body. This means, go organic and demand protective policies that remove these pesticides from the food chain.

By Dr Sarah Lantz

Organic Farm Share Member/Owner http://organicfarmshare.com/

Dr Sarah Lantz (PhD) is a research fellow at the University of Queensland, mother, author of the bestselling book Chemical Free Kids:Raising Healthy Children in a Toxic World

& all round chemical conscious parenting nut.

Visit her blog at

www.nontoxsoapbox.com

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Thursday, 19 August 2010 00:24

The body knows best

Written by Anand Wells

Written by Dr Steven M Katz B.Sc,D.C & Karen Katz B.Sc

Directors of the Infinite Potential Centre in West Burleigh & fellow Organic Farm Share Member/Owners

In the main stream culture we are taught from an early age to consider ourselves as ‘sick’ when in fact our body is ‘well’ and is doing its job. This was brought home to us vividly when we visited our youngest son’s Kindergarten and asked the children this question: “When I have a cough or a runny nose, is it a good thing or a bad thing?” A resounding “bad thing” came back at us. When we explained another view of this, we were met with a lot of puzzled and questioning faces. As a couple, we have educated our children with a more empowering story about their bodies to the one that most of their peers receive.

The media and certain ‘health’ professionals would have us believe that symptoms are a sign that something is ‘bad’ or wrong with us rather than evidence of a body doing its job effectively! It would have us ‘go into battle’ with the symptom rather than seeing it as a sign that we may need to slow down a little, take some extra care and also trust in the body’s ability to function the way it was designed to. Symptoms are the body’s mechanism for getting rid of what doesn’t serve it and doing some internal housecleaning. If we trust this, then the body can do its job more quickly and effectively. If we are listening to the body, then we can also support it in this cleansing process by paying attention to the quality of the ‘fuel’ we are putting into it. You wouldn’t put leaded petrol into an unleaded car and expect it to run properly.Our body is similar. Put good quality, ‘clean’ food into it and it will reward you with enhanced health, increased energy, and vitality. You will look and feel wonderful!

Our environment exposes us to a plethora of toxins.It is in the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. Some of these things we can control, most we cannot. Choosing to eat ‘clean’ or Organic Food free of the pesticides and chemicals that conventional foods contain will decrease our toxic load. Our body will have less need for discharging or getting rid of what doesn’t serve it (symptoms). In addition, research shows that organic food contains higher levels of vitamins and minerals, the building blocks for a healthy body. When we choose organic foods, we place less chemical stress on the body and in turn it performs more optimally. A less toxic and better nourished body is a happier one!

Your health is in your hands…

What do you choose?

To find out more about Organic Farm Share community owned farms vist www.organicfarmshare.com

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Friday, 30 July 2010 00:05

Growing old? It is never too late to reverse disease and aging

Written by Anand Wells

Unlike death, life comes with no guarantees.Our bodies will all age and eventually die. The good news is that it is possible to stack the odds in favour of living a long health and happy life through diet and lifestyle choices. Conversley it is also possible to speed up disease, aging, suffering and death through the choices we make. From my observations, most of us (whether we know it or not) are engaged in the second option.

It wasn't until the age of 40 that I began to notice that my body was aging. Until then I felt mostly bulletproof and somewhat immortal. At 40, I started getting aches, pains and stiffness which I assumed were normal for my age as many friends reported similar symptoms. From now on I assumed my body would gradually decline in health, agility and vibrancy as I entered middle and then old age.

Then, at the age of 42 I was introduced to a predominantly plant based living food lifestyle and everything changed very quickly. The aches and pains disappeared, my energy and vibrancy increased, I felt happier and younger than I had in years. Not only that, my liver function tests normalised for the first time since contracing the hepatitus C virus 20 years earlier.

Despite feeling good and being exceptionally healthy, one thing I noticed after 6 years living a live food lifestyle was that I was a little on the skinny and gaunt side of things. This is something friends and family would often point out. While I have always been quite active and enjoyed sports I had not paid much attention to my body's appearance and had certainly never entertained the idea of trying to build muscle. This all changed at the age of 46. I wanted to find out if a midde aged man eating a predominantly raw plant based diet could put on weight and build some muscle. Could I still further reverse the aging process? I took out my first gym membership and began to work out. Within 3 months I had gone from all time low weight of 62kg up to 67kg. Within another 3 months I had hit 70kgs and was still lean but muscular.

I turn 50 in just over 12 months and am in the best shape of my life. While the raw lifestyle revolutionised my health, regular exercise has taken it to a whole new level. By regular exercise I don't mean going for a 30 minute walk everyday. I mean working out hard for 1 to 2 hours a day, 6 days a week! My body loves it! Yes it was painful to begin with but the benefits so are worth it: Here is what I have noticed apart from the obvious

- greater strength and endurance

- much more productive at work

- more energy than before

- naturally high

- sleep better

- more flexible

- clearer thinking

- feel more confident

- happier

- Runi is even more attracted to me!

It is so cool that you can feel and look better and better the older you get! This goes against all we are taught and see around us, however, it really isn't necessary to lose muscle tone and put on weight as we grow older. Bring on 50, 60, 70 and beyond! These could be the best years of our lives and to a large degree the choice is ours. Grow old gracefully or painfully.

My good friend Jennie from Raw Pleasure recently introduced me to a great 90 day home workout program called P90X. I am now 48 days into the program which includes yoga, body weight exercises, cardio training and more. It is an excellent all round fitness program (apart from the eating plan which includes too much cooked and processed food for my liking - I have created my own predominantly raw, plant based eating program)

I currently weigh 72kg. Here is a photo (top) to show you what is possible for a 49 year old body, plus a photo taken 3 years ago (bottom) when I was 62.5kg and 46 years old (after a 7 day fast). While I do not recommend the P90X nutrition plan, if you are already quite fit and would like to take your health an fitness to a new level it is awesome.

I hope this inspires you to realise that it is never too late to turn your health, fitness, body and life around. While it may not be possible to reverse aging indefinitely it is absolutely possible to put the brakes on and turn back the clock, especially if you have been leading a less than healthy lifestyle up until now.

Anand's High protein workout recovery drink

Because one of my aims has been to build more muscle I have been concocting my own protein recovery drink which seems to be doing the trick. Here is the recipe.

Tools: Blender

1 Thai Drinking coconut - water and flesh (high in electrolytes)

2 TBS Sunwarrior Raw Vegan Protein Powder - I like chocolate flavour (85% bioavailable protein)

4-5 TBS Bee Pollen (all essental amino acids)

4 medjool dates -pitted (energy and taste)

1 TBS Spirulina (65% protein, high in long chain fatty acids and a powerhouse of phytonutrinets)

1/2 cup raw goats kefir (B12, protein, probiotic bacteria) Optional

Directions:

Open drinking coconut -(I like to use a cleaver for this) and add the coconut water and flesh to the blender.

Add all other ingredients and blend!

Blend until smooth - Enjoy!

">Watch Anand's video on how to open a coconut HERE

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Friday, 16 July 2010 01:42

Getting more life from your greens

Written by Runi Burton

Knowing how to store your food is a very important factor in maximising its nutritional value. Any type of storage results in some deterioration. Produce bought from the store has already begun to lose vitamins, with nutrient losses increasing each day. Wilted produce contains far fewer nutrients than its fresh counterpart, especially Vitamin C content which is partial to rapid decay . While a certain amount of nutrient loss is inevitable, we can minimize it by purchasing the freshest possible produce and storing it under the following optimal conditions:

Dry and place all leafy greens in airtight containers in the fridge to prevent loss of moisture and vitamins.
Store cucumbers and eggplant in paper bags in the fridge crisper.
Refrigerate carrots in bags or containers that allow for air circulation and to protect them against heat and light.
Place tomatoes in a basket that allows the air to circulate. If you place them in the fridge they will lose their flavour.
Don’t refrigerate any produce that continues to ripen after picking, for example bananas, avocados and stone fruit. These should be stored in a brown paper bag at room temperature until ripe.
Store citrus fruits at room temperature for several days, alternatively store them in the fridge for up to two months.
Apples should be refrigerated and it is best to store them away from any vegetables to prevent the vegetables from spoiling.
Store your vegetables whole. Sliced vegetables exposes the flesh to air and light, which helps quickly break down the nutrients.
Store root vegetables in a dark, cool place.

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Thursday, 24 June 2010 03:16

Everybody needs an organic farm

Written by Alf

REGENERATION FOR GENERATIONS

“Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course …that may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know.” (1)

Humankind first exceeded the world’s capacity to regenerate itself in the 1980s. Within one generation (30 years) from that point, our human activities have outpaced the world’s capacity to regenerate itself by 30% (2). This means that if we continue at our current pace, within just one more generation, we will exceed what our planet can provide by 100% requiring the equivalent of two planets to maintain our lives. An impossible equation!

These findings although almost impossible to comprehend by most of us, have been substantiated by numerous authorities. From this point forward sustainability is no longer a suitable word, as who wants to sustain a deficit let alone a decline? Regeneration is the only word that describes the appropriate activities required to reverse the direction we are headed in.

Sustainability - the ability to sustain and supply food and other necessities for life into the future can now only be truly accomplished if we begin to restore and revive. In other words, we must regenerate what we have exhausted.

THE DOMINO EFFECT

The ecological bankruptcy we are facing is mainly due to a massive conversion of land to agricultural use (3).

If one were to ask, what is the one change we could make in the world that would have the greatest flow on effect in solving the planet’s problems? The answer is agriculture.

The consequences of ‘modern’ agriculture practices are vast: soil degradation, water pollution, health problems and global warming are just some of the repercussions of today’s agricultural system. Clean up agriculture and you have an immediate impact on all these issues.

Over the past century, human activities have increased CO2 in the atmosphere by over 35% from around 280 parts per million to now over 380 parts per million. When we consider energy consumption, carbon displacement into the atmosphere, reduction in soil fertility and petro-chemical usage, agriculture is responsible for approximately 30% of global warming.

The fertiliser, pesticide and agricultural chemical industries are growing at a rapid pace whilst environmental and health consequences grow in parallel. Many health professionals consider a large number of ‘foods’ to be a major health risk. Looking at the use of synthetic pesticides alone we see that they are being linked to a range of health disorders which include decreasing male fertility, obesity and Parkinson’s Disease whilst also being ranked among the top three environmental cancer risks.(4)

The transformation of agriculture will have a domino like flow on effect on all the resulting issues that are having a devastating impact on our planet.

INACTION IS A DECISION

In light of the gravity of the current situation, each one of us needs to concern ourselves with the growing of our food and we clearly have a serious choice to make. There are two visions for the future of our agricultural (food) system:

The industrial vision of agri-business is by far the dominant force and sees food as a commodity to be obtained from anywhere it is produced for as little as possible, then traded and consumed anywhere it gets the best price regardless of the effects it has along the way.

The alternative vision is one of a local, regenerative food system that contributes to a local economy and therefore the betterment of society. It is a system that greatly reduces the reliance of fossil fuels and synthetic chemicals, a system that nurtures and replenishes.

ENVISIONING A NEW MODEL

Most attempts today to create a local food system mimic what is already being done by the dominant food players, and we simply cannot get different results from doing the same thing. In fact, mimicking the current food system is the major obstacle to bringing about a successful local food system as it amplifies the two major intertwined challenges of local food systems: variety and logistics.

Simply put, the smaller the variety of food on offer, the wider the range of distribution required. It is almost impossible to run a local food based enterprise without variety of choice for the customer. The lack of variety results in supplying only a portion of what a person usually requires when shopping, with people then needing to go shopping again to purchase what was not available from these services. Buying this here then going there to buy the rest results in a far larger ecological footprint.

All of the current options on offer contain a fragment of what is necessary to truly revolutionise our food system. What we need is a new way to bring a large variety of locally grown organic food directly to more people.

THE OWNERSHIP SOLUTION

It could be argued that we don’t have an environmental problem but, in fact, a disconnect problem. We need an agricultural system where each of us is intimately connected to where our food is grown and to who grows it; a system that supplies all our needs and not only a portion.

So how does this come about? The key word is participation. The problems we face are not ‘out there’ – they are happening right here, right now and will keep happening as long as we continue to participate in the current systems. Through participation we have created our current food system and it is through participation that we can do the reverse.

In more direct terms, it is about ownership. Owning an enterprise in all its facets - the land, the production, the business of distribution and the profits – consequently results in responsible participation. We take care of what we own. Ownership is commitment and creates relationship. There are many people who want to make a greater contribution to the regeneration of our communities and environment. Ownership will directly align self interest with objectives such as creating a local nutritionally dense food system.

A truly regenerative process can only emerge when one owns a stake and if we have our eyes wide open, it is clear that the stakes are high.

As a Hopi Indian once commented “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for”.

Alf Orpen

Co-founder of Organic Farm Share

www.organicfarmshare.com

www.alforpen.com

(1) Warning to Humanity 1992

The Warning to Humanity was signed by over 1,500 members of international science academies. Sixty-nine nations from all parts of the Earth were represented, including each of the twelve most populous nations and the nineteen largest economic powers. The full list includes a majority of the Nobel Laureates in the sciences.

(2) Living Planet Report 2008

The Living Planet Report is WWF's periodic update on the state of the world's ecosystems. It describes the changing state of global biodiversity and the pressure on the biosphere arising from human consumption of natural resources.

(3) The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005

Commissioned by United Nations Secretary - General Kofi Annan at a cost of US$24 million, it was conducted by 1,360 experts from 95 countries representing various organisations including the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

(4)

Influence of pesticides on male fertility

Bretveld R, Brouwers M, Ebisch I, Roeleveld N. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Radboud University. Nijmegen Medical Centre. The Netherlands

Obesity and pesticides:

Dr Paula Bailliu-Hamilton MD, BS, D. Phil

Frederick vom Saal. Professor of Biological Sciences University of Missouri-Columbia

Parkinson disease and pesticides

Deborah Cory-Slechia Professor of environmental Medicine and Dean for Research. University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Pesticides and cancer

Prescriptions for Nutritional Healing 1997

2nd edition Balch JF & Balch PA

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Friday, 11 June 2010 04:27

The Tao of Eating

Written by Runi Burton

This week I've been looking at the idea 'I need to get back on track with my eating'. There are lots of tips out there for getting back on track – like drinking green juice, reviewing your goals, committing to exercise, locking the cupboard, or going to a health retreat. But when I was gearing up to 'get back on track' I started to question – 'What is this track that I think I have come off and is it acutally possible to get off track?'

My relationship with food cycles through periods of eating more and eating less. In my youth the cycles were more extreme as I moved through periods of binging and then dieting. Now my cycle moves through times where I eat light meals and exercise more, to times were I regularly eat high-fat foods and exercise less. No matter how hard I try to always stay in the 'good' zone the 'bad' zone always returns. No matter what strategies I employ to stay on track, I always get off track. No matter how many times I try to solve this problem, the problem returns. I have looked at this issue many times before and I'd either end up despondent or forever searching for a new way to solve the problem. But much to my delight this week I went somewhere new!

If the 'bad' always follows the 'good' could it also mean that the 'good' always follows the 'bad'? Could my cycle of eating be just like the yin-yang symbol with light food following heavy food and heavy food following light food? Can I actually just relax and trust my body to take care of itself without trying to control the process? Just as my eating goes into the 'bad' zone without my control, could my eating return to the 'good' zone without all this thinking and effort to get back on track? When I asked myself these questions I found the answer was a resounding and celebratory 'yes' - after every period of eating heavy foods my body naturally starts to crave lighter foods.

The more I look at my relationship to food, the more I find that it doesn't have much to do with food at all! Food is just a mirror of what is going on for me emotionally at the time. When I try to control what I am eating, I miss what food can show me, that inside me I am tensed, nervous, fearful, angry or sad. And until I have understood and brought the negative feelings to light, my struggle with food continues on. When I let my relationship with food just be, just watch it go up and down like the waves on the ocean, my emotional and mental terrain comes out of a mirky fog and sharply into focus. And when this happens, I have something that I can work with that can make a difference.

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Friday, 14 May 2010 01:13

Shock! Another raw food teacher admits to eating cooked food

Written by Anand Wells

The headline for this blog post is tongue in cheek as you would realise if you have been to one of our classes.

I just wanted to highlight how easy it is to become fanatical when we believe what we are doing is the right way and only way not only for ourselves but for everyone else. Recently several well known raw food teachers including the Boutenkos and Paul Nison have disclosed that after being 100% raw they now consuming a very small portion of cooked food (and in Paul's case animal protein too) in their diets. Some of the more extreme elements of the raw food movement have condemed them, saying this is proof that their approach to raw food is flawed and have even offered them coaching to help them get back on track again :-)

Personally I do not subscribe to the 100% raw vegan religion. I would prefer to live free of labels and continue to explore life with an open mind and heart. I recently read about a 15 year raw vegan who has begun to add some raw goats milk products to his diet. He said that for the last 7 years as a 100% raw vegan his health began to decline, however, he was so attached to the concept and identity of being 'raw vegan" he would not consider trying something new even though his health was cleary suffering. I think this is a beautiful example of how we can become rigid and cling to ideals even when they are no longer serving us.

I have been 99.9% raw for the past 6 years and vegan for the past 15 months. Previously I would not consider cooking my food though I would eat non-raw condiments such as tamari, nori and tahini. Now for an experiment I am sometimes adding a very small amount of cooked sweet potato, pumpkin, amaranth or shitake mushroom to my salads, using them like a condiment and I have to say I am thoroughly enjoying it! Does this mean I have failed? It may to some readers, however, to me my life is richer and I am free from yet another restricting self imposed label.

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Friday, 14 May 2010 00:41

Transforming my relationship with food - memoirs from The Joy For Life Retreat from Runi

Written by Runi Burton

Anand and I recently returned from a trip to Thailand where we attending the Joy for Life Retreat. The retreat was hosted by the Boutenko Family (aka Raw Family) so it will be no surprise that we feasted on green smoothies, tropical fruit and greens for the entire week. Head chef for the retreat was Victoria Boutenko herself (author of Green For Life and Green Smoothie Revolution). Being the world’s pioneer in green smoothies means that Victoria is the collection point for the world’s best and exotic green smoothie blends. Tree-ripened tropical fruit such as mangosteens, mangoes, durians, bananas, papaya, longans, custard apples and rambutans are cheap and readily available in Thailand, as are a plethora of super-tasty Asian greens. With this abundance of food Anand was in heaven.

The retreat not only featured green smoothies but The Work of Byron Katie (which can be shortened to just ‘The Work’) led by our delightful facilitator, Tom Compton. The Work is a process of self enquiry where we look at our stressful thoughts and enquire into their truth. It is a simple, profound and often humorous process which can be done by anyone, anywhere, anytime. The Work presents an opportunity for the mind to open and for our stressful thoughts to fall away. The Work has proved to be very beneficial in the area of addiction. Byron Katie, the originator of The Work says it is not food, or drugs, or alcohol, or work that we are addicted to but to stressful thoughts and if we deal with our stressful thoughts our addictions just naturally take care of themselves. For some time I have noticed the relationship between stress and my eating habits. Whenever I was stressed and overworked I would snack between meals, but when I would relax and be at peace my eating habits would just fall into a natural easy rhythm. During the retreat, I had the opportunity to ‘do the work’ on many stressful beliefs and saw how readily I enter into a stressful state in order to get things done. The Work led me into a profound state of peace, a beautiful effortless space where the stressful thoughts that arose in my mind kept dropping away and love, awe and gratitude took their place.

Since returning to Australia, I have continued to do The Work on stressful thoughts arising throughout the day. Many negative feelings that I thought I just had to put up with have transformed through The Work into beautiful expanded states of being. I am surprised at how accessible peace is on a day-to-day basis, particularly in the midst of running a busy business. One of my most exciting experiences was when I becoming stressed about speaking to our team about being late for work and was concerned that I was making a big deal about nothing. I had started to gobble a few handfuls of nuts and was convinced that I was snacking because I was hungry and that I was too stressed to be able to deal with being hungry and the situation at hand. Anand suggest that I do The Work. I uncovered a strong yet vulnerable state where I was able to deal with the situation with the team with humour and friendship. But what surprised me the most was that the feeling that I had been calling hunger disappeared and all cravings for nuts vanished. I am also enjoying being in my body and enjoying feeling not so full. I seem to be looking to The Work to deal with my feelings rather than pleasure in food. A huge relief is that I am able to trust my natural appetite to guide my choices rather than trying to control my intake of food. I have the wonderful experience of doing The Work on my stressful thoughts and watching in wonder and surprise as my relationship with food is beautifully taking care of itself.

I think it was quite ingenius of Victoria to combine Green Smoothie Fasting/Feasting and The Work of Byron Katie in the Joy for Life Retreat. Both are profoundly healing in their own right and when combined make the process of healing easy and fun. Both are incredibly simple and easy to make into a regular habits. And both give us quick access to a profound state of delight and joy. The Joy For Life retreat will be coming to Australia towards the end of 2010. We will let you know how you can book into the Joy For Life retreat in following newsletters. You can find out more about Green Smoothies at www.greensmoothiechallenge.com and www.rawfamily.com and more about The Work of Byron Katie at www.thework.com.