It's not just about the food!

Anthony Robbins in his Personal Power seminar explains human behaviour as being driven by two major factors - the urge to avoid pain and the urge to find pleasure. Or even more simplistically, you could say we want to feel good and not feel bad. So how is this connected to food you may ask?

If you have attended one of our classes you may have heard me tell the story of how I became raw. Many people come to a raw food lifestyle from desperation; niggling or serious health concerns which won't go away or which become even worse with traditional western medical approaches.

For me it was different. I was experiencing no symptoms of ill health (this doesn't mean I was healthy by a long shot) and I was lucky enough to meet a charismatic mentor who had healed himself from a life threatening illness using food as his medicine. But what really got me was the claim he made that 75% -95% of all mental and emotional disturbances we experience are due to our chemistry being out of whack from poor diet! I didn't really believe him at the time though he certainly had my attention.

I had spent the previous 20 years exploring meditation and a myriad of therapies in search of consciousness, inner peace, happiness and self knowledge. While I had my fair share of happy moments along the way, I had overlooked one very important fact! Everything I experience, I experience though my senses and body. If my body is struggling to handle the toxic overload of processed foods and other toxins my experience of life will be dampened or dulled (at the mild end of the scale) or totally incapacitated (at the severe end) What I discovered after several months on living foods is that my experience of reality changed dramatically. My senses came alive, I felt happier, more alert, more energetic with a sense of well-being which had mostly eluded me on a processed food diet. I also needed 2 hours less sleep per night and intuition and synchronicity became an everyday part of life. I wouldn't have believed the dramatic changes if I hadn't experienced it for myself.

The unusual thing is I lost pretty much everything at the time I went raw - an 8 year marriage, a business, a home and yet I was enjoying life like never before. That's not to say I didn't experience emotional pain, marriage break ups are not fun, however, I was able to surf the storm and keep my head above water in a way I wouldn't have thought possible before.

What I have learned is that keeping this amazing body healthy is a key to my happiness and sense of on-going well-being. Trying feel good, I mean really good, on a processed, chemical laden diet is like trying to climb Mount Everest with a 50kg sack of rocks on your back! It may be possible for the occasional, rare person though most of us are going to fail.

The problem is nearly all of us have been bought up on a diet of less than wholesome food and we don't even know what it is like to be vibrantly healthy. We also often do work which we are not passionate about to pay the bills, give up on our dreams and settle for a life of mediocrity. I DID IT!! But you know what? Since embarking on this raw food adventure I feel so much more and I can't just numb my self out with TV, junk food, alcohol and other distractions that keep me from feeling BAD. Instead I live with the women of my dreams in an idyllic part of the planet doing work I am incredibly fulfilled with!

I can't say that living foods will work for everyone this way. Your journey is uniquely yours, however, it is very common for those who persistently eat living, organic foods (and who avoid toxic foods i.e. refined sugars, grains, dairy, oils) to experience positive changes in many areas of their lives, beyond the physical.

One thing is for sure: all the money in the world is worthless if you don't have the health and sense of well-being to enjoy it.

May you be inspired to live the very best life possible for you!

Love, peace and deliciously good health

Anand