My Vegan Journey and Then Some

My personal journey led me on a natural progression
to follow a raw vegan diet, which for me was simply a process of
becoming aware that my body was telling me what my soul already
knew and desired. A time for change and evolution was to take place for
me. I realized that my body had reacted cellularly, even before it could
register mentally.

Eating products from animals would affect my stomach, making
me feel ill and certain products would also make me cough with extreme
and irritated congestion. As a sensitive and empath, anything relating to animals would affect me greatly.

The more I opened myself up to embracing who I was, acknowledging the
path I was on and where it was to lead me, the more it manifested in my life
clearly, as to the steps I needed to personally take in terms of everything, including my conscious food choices. This helped to align myself with the choices that were most supportive to living the life that I believed in and came into this life to express. It also simultaneously helped to raise my vibration and provide better clarity and vibrant energy. It increased my sense of connectivity, depth of compassion, unconditional love, joyful exuberance for life, as well as supported creative inspiration, and channeling my authenticity, as a direct reflection of my chosen spiritual nature.

This was “MY” path and time, for change and understanding on a
whole new level, which would start to take shape in my dietary choices. For me,
my diet, health choices, lifestyle, beliefs, service and creative expression were starting to
all interweave and become cohesive. I believe in being consistent with my spirituality and honoring what I feel in my heart and what I soulfully believe. And I can’t tell you how much my experience of life has changed with this choice. Life gets to be as bright,
colorful, beautiful, succulent, and as vast as the variety found in Mother Earth’s natural beauty. And the array of veggie delights are no exception!

It was just simply time for me to experience life in a different way and
to live and choose consciously. And so for me, while the trigger was a message from my physical, the core driving force for my decision was heart-felt and spiritual. I see life to be about consistency and walking the walk and so I do my best not only to be the change I want to see, but to live by what I believe and feel in my heart is right for me.
That is what works for me and it’s important, to me, that I be consistent with the
energy I am putting out there and what it is I am sharing with others. So what
you see, is what you get. There are no “behind closed doors” behaviors and thoughts in my world.

I feel that part of my journey is to live my life openly so that
others can feel safe to do the same. It’s not about right or wrong, but about
being true to yourself, whatever that means. I feel it is important to listen
to what our bodies tell us and to go with what feels natural. Part of knowing
and understanding what is natural is to understand what is authentic to you and
what is not, and to find that right balance.

It is increasingly important to become more conscious and to be more proactive in decisions and choices, to listen more to ourselves and to keep informed, but with a wise filter that takes in only what feels right and is not just accepting of whatever the
majority is doing. So many of us don’t know why we do certain things, and never even think to stop to ask the question why, as we are much of the time on auto-pilot. We just
do it because it’s what we’ve always done, or it’s “just the way it
is,” or it’s what we’ve been shown or taught, or it’s what everyone else
around us is doing.

And sometimes we think change is too challenging and believe a sense of loss or isolation will happen, or that it’s just too hard or timely to figure out how to do it differently. These beliefs, while valid because you believe them, are the very and only thing that holds you back from the change. As what lies on the other side of the wall you can’t see over, holds more joy, freedom and fulfillment than what you think you have now. The only hurdle is the decision to step over or stop straddling the wall, if in fact that is what you want. And there are many to help support you, moreso than ever before. And the process is so much easier now than it used to be, because so many are paving the way, which energetically creates an open path for everyone else to easily follow.

I follow what I am feeling as true to my heart and authentic self, as much as possible, in the moment, and if in question as to where those thoughts or behaviors came from,
then I ponder their source and explore their authenticity to my life. Is this really a me thought or feeling? Does this feel right to me? Does this match the authentic me I have come to know? Is it consistent with everything I believe in and my passionate service? Is this the desired result I want to see in the world around me? How will my authentic decisions affect not only me, but the collective? Does it matter to me that my decisions create an effect on the struggles, pains, traumas and tortures of all other beings that walk this Earth with me?

In learning to follow my natural flow, I also realize that just like nature and the Earth, we all go through cycles. Some of us more than others. And it is important to listen to what your body and intuition is telling you. Doing things just because you are good at discipline doesn’t always produce the most benefit to your life. Doing things because it is your heart’s passion and consistent with your core beliefs and authentic self, will reap abundant fulfillment without feeling a sense of loss. And along with this, there are times our bodies and paths energetically need certain things more than others. Not because some doctor, the FDA, commercial, or article you read said so, but because your body, heart and soul needs so.

This leads me to vary the percentage of raw vegan and cooked vegan foods I may
intake at any given time. I have been vegan since 2005 and raw since
2008. I find that I mainly fluctuate between 85-90% raw (lately more like 50-50 with changes and needs in my life), depending on how I feel and circumstances I desire to put myself in. That is, I balance raw with vegan cooked foods, but if I do cooked I always try to choose very healthy, light, organic options including things like steamed veggies and rice, tofu, beans, etc. I allow myself a few vices too, when I have a craving, and
usually if i honor that, then I’m not in need of having it all the time. I have found
this balance to be very healthy, to feel good, and keeps me grounded and at optimal functioning, as well as maintains a level of tolerance in my body that enables me to travel and be in different social situations when needed.

It also supports honoring my body’s natural rhythms and needs, which allows me to flow more and to not be so structured. It feels good to keep a balance and to simply listen to what the body needs at any given moment and not what the mind thinks it needs. There
are times outside of balancing that I can be very extreme, briefly varying
my percentages even more, depending on what my body is relaying to me, if
I’m traveling and at social events or outings. I will then supplement the
balance of my diet choices with very healthy, vegan cooked foods. Yet, I always
make healthy, conscious, preferably organic choices.

I personally believe, and have experienced, that vegan foods really support more conscious, clear, healthy, harmonious and loving vibrations for individuals and the collective planet. Any small shifts towards some vegan foods, in your own way and timing, can be extremely transformative and effective in your life and for the Earth. And supplementing at least some raw vegan veggies/foods or green juices can increase all of that to an even more optimal level and when needed, can produce miraculous results in reversing illnesses, shifting behaviors and emotional challenges, as well as create clearer channels of creative inspiration and vibrancy.

No matter how I swing, I ALWAYS maintain a 100% strict vegan diet across the board, which means I never consume any animal products, and I make every conscious effort not to purchase any commodity that comes from, or has been tested on, animals.

For the sake of being open, I also have personally opted to leave all alcohol out of my life (not touching any for the last 6 years )and have never once in my life touched a cigarette or any form of drug or mind-altering substance. These are all personal choices and my chosen path because they authentically mirror “my” beliefs and what is authentic to me and my heart and what makes me feel I’m operating at my optimal. Everyone has their own path and it is not for any of us to judge what that path is. For myself, I have just never had any resonance towards certain things since I was a little girl and part of that stems from my desire to utilize my own capacity and abilities to go to desired states of experience. Interestingly, I have been told that some of the art I create is similar to what some have seen in their altered states. Hence, I have no reason personally to go there. My inner world, imagination, dreams, and “travel” are crazy enough as it is!

For me also, a high raw diet is what feels most balanced and healthy and I can instantly feel the difference when I stray off of that, unless cooked vegan foods support more of the energy I’m needing. I also prefer simple, light raw foods and unless I’m out, I don’t
do too much of the complex or high nut raw meals. My body operates much more
smoothly with low nut density and less complexity, but do enjoy gourmet foods
when I’m out or feasting with friends!

I follow what my body tells me, consciously, and I find that the less I try to create rules, the more my body falls into its natural rhythm and doesn’t have to do the extremes as often.
And, if it does, I allow it and by doing so it quickly gets back into finding a new, healthy balance, which is ever-changing as I am, because I honored it.

Being vegan, or for that matter a vegan raw foodist, is not as hard or
challenging as one would first think. There is always a way to simplify things
and there are so many restaurants and services available these days that truly
help make life more convenient if you don’t have enough time yourself to
prepare or shop for meals and ingredients. I find restaurants to be very
accommodating if you simply ask! Asking is the key and most chefs are much more
than willing to do what they can to help your dietary needs and a lot of times
find it an adventurous or exciting task to step outside of their normal routine
box of menu items to explore their creativity. Chef and delivery services are
another option, as well as local meetups and potlucks.

I used to live in Reno, where I did not have all the plethora of options as I do here in Southern California, but I STILL managed to get what I needed, whether thru personal chef services, ordering out-of-state weekly meal boxes from such places as “Seed” in Northern California or Rawvolution in LA, getting quick and easy recipe books to do myself and asking local chefs to help out. If I can do it, anyone can. Maybe if you have a friend or friends interested as well in switching diets, you can each take turns making meals. Make them in servings that can be enough for each of you to share and it will cut down on the amount of time to prepare yourself.

There is so much variety to explore out there in terms of food, life and experience. Part
of the key is in being open to change and trying new things, to explore new
horizons and possibilities and above all to live life with conscious choice.

Sometimes we neglect to ask ourselves the questions  like, “Why do I do this?” and don’t follow through with the answers. Perhaps because we don’t want to really know the answers for fear of what that might mean to our lives as we’ve known them, or that we might find ourselves alone, which never really is accurate, as the moment you make a decision and act upon it, suddenly you draw in resonating others that mirror the new choice.

If we stop to be curious for a moment, we may hear a different voice speaking through that could energetically change the way we see and experience life, may affect our
health, draw in interesting synchronicities and like-mindedness from others on
similar paths and wave-lengths and expand our awareness in
totality.

Everyone has their own journey along the path of life and everyone is operating on their own time, which is EXACTLY as it should be. Yet, everything is happening in
synchronicity and cohesiveness and unravels perfectly. The beauty of life
is choice. With choice, there are eternal possibilities and such is ALL THAT IS
– it is eternal and ever-changing. What would be the purpose of life if we were
all the same? So while I celebrate the beauty of the creatures of our Earth, I
also celebrate the beauty of every human who shares it with them.

Nutrition can be a spiritual experience and enhances your spiritual nature.

Conscious choices are empowering choices.