WHY DID I GO TO CALIFORNIA ?
My husband is a chiropractor and was attending seminar in Huntington Beach.
Before we left, Dr. Tel-Oren emailed us about his talk that he was going to give in LIVING TEMPLE in Huntington Beach !
Can you imagine, that our hotel was just four blocks from this place ?! How lucky we were ?!
Right before Dr. T’s talk we decided to have some soup and salad and what a surprise to find GOOD TO GO, fabulous raw food cafe shop another three blocks from Living Temple ?!
I felt so grateful for all this circumstances that were going to nourish us even if we actually did not plan to explore California through raw foods.
Sorry, guys that I don’t have any pictures from the event..I was so occupied with listening, talking, making notes that somehow I forgot why did I bring my camera for.
DR. TEL-OREN
Dr.T’s speech topic was chosen few days before the actual talk, but somehow it all turned out differently. We supposed to discuss the SKIN topic, but people’s interest went in so many different ways, that we were talking about everything!
I want to give you some points I have taken from that event.
1st POINT :
One of the greatest insights that Dr. T made was the idea of raw food movement transforming into slow food movement.
Let me explain a bit about this bringing my personal experience with Raw Spirit Festival (RSF).
Most of my time at RSF I spent on raw food demos. I saw amazing tricks and dishes made by famous raw food chefs. And we all had a chance to taste them. What a pleasure, let me tell you!
But one thing that bothered me and was actually surprising to notice was people’s food attachments. No, I don’t think that just by switching to raw foods one is loosing his addictions. But what I thought is that once raw food philosophy looks appealing to us, the person starts CONTROLING his addictions.
During almost every food tasting, people were yelling and pushing each other around to grab their dish.
They were screaming that there was not enough food made, running one on the other, making chefs feel uncomfortable, I am sure.
It looked like some kind of starvation party – funny, but actually discouraging picture of conscious raw food movement.
I am glad that there was no TV camera that would show this circus in the news.
So, as you see raw food movement or however you want to call it is far from perfect.
I am sure that the idea of SLOW FOOD VEGAN movement would serve all of us better.
2nd POINT :
The other point that needs to be brought up is WHO IS YOUR MENTOR AND WHAT DO YOU BUY FROM HIM ?
I wish I could tell you openly what I mean, but I guess I might run into troubles.
When I started my raw food trip I believed in everything I have heard from so called mentors.
I was buying everything they were saying I NEED. I spend lots of money and a bit brainwashed myself. It felt great to belong to society that EATS THE SAME AS I DO.
What’s funny about my behavior is that I thought I am the one that has a control over myself.
Let me explain this using DR. BOB MARTIN strategy. If you read my post about him, you already know what I mean. He claims to be somewhat holistic doctor that does not sell harsh, mainstream products. By attending his event I learned his marketing strategy that consists of :
- claim you are different than the mainstream
- build scarcity
- sell
The products he is affiliated with are just the other side of the same coin.
A lot of raw food mentors act on the same rules and they might do some harm. Some of them teach you how to approach this lifestyle, but some of them just sell everything what is hot and profitable. After being on that kind of high, I know that there is a lot of products that you DON’T NEED. You can have fun with maca or cacao or whatever, but be careful to not play too much with this stimulants.
What you need to have is experienced, educated teacher that EDUCATES YOU. Spend money on EDUCATION, BABY!
3rd POINT :
This one I loved!
We were discussing the TRANSITION time. Do you really need one? Does the person who comes from sad diet need to go through transition time before entering a full spectrum of raw food ‘diet’?
What Dr. T stressed out is that the transition time might be the final state for many. On the way to your final state ( whatever your goal is ) you might switch from harm substances to, let’s call them, semi-harm. Isn’t it another way of filling up yourself with better than bad, but worse the excellent ? And why are we choosing half-way goals? Is it to please our attachments ?
Going raw vegan ( if this is your final goal ) is not a rollercoaster ride. What harm can greens, coconuts, powerful fruits and veggies do for you ?! All it needs to be done is to GO FOR IT! With no hold-ons.
Dr. T was mentioning Co-ops that figured out their big $$$ in selling organic meat. All of the sudden they started being appealing to masses who eat flesh even if we know that organic is not enough. We all forgot about, for example, water condition that this animals live of.
4th POINT :
If somebody is saying : everyone needs it – think twice and assume the scam!
5th POINT :
What is very glam nowadays is to take mission trips to foreign countries.
How about taking mission trips in our own USA, where kids and whole families don’t know how to take care of them selves!
PEARLS I HAVE MET
1st PEARL :
This one relates directly to 5th POINT.
Once eating awesome coconut curry soup at GOOD TO GO, I had a pleasure to meet DAVID. He was an independent insurance advisor for hospitals and public schools. We started talking a bit and organically got into spontaneous closeness. David, if you are reading this – thank you for that hour!
David was present at the opening of Juliano’s restaurant. He knows most of the places and people who are engaged in raw vegan community on the eat coast. How surprising was that he met Dr. Tel-Oren 20 years ago in Israel! Right away I gave him an address and phone numbers to the place where Dr. T had his next seminar in Venice.
David gave me business card of Mr. Wisdom who is the owner of Specialty Health Food Store. I hadn’t a chance to check the place out, but from what I’ve heard this man is supporting African-American community by growing lots of wheatgrass and preparing vegan, raw vegan foods for them. Now, I want you to look closer at this idea.
It is pretty poor community that can not afford to go to Juliano’s or Karyn’s . This people keep their 1$ bill very tightly. I am not sure how Mr. Wisdom is doing it, but lines of people wait for their wheatgrass shot instead of going to McDonalds.
2nd PEARL :
This one is more for an atmosphere I got to feel at particular raw food place.
The restaurant is called : AU LAC and is pretty famous because of seaweed soup as well as the owner, chef ITO, who took a vow of silence originally for a year, but rumors say it’s been 8 years already !
The food is to die for! The presentation is spectacular ! The Supertonic Bar is beyond imagination ! Chef ITO walks between tables and shakes hands with everyone with an amazing smile.
3rd PEARL :
Time for my most important discovery!
Her name is Angela Elliott.
I hope you got this far with me and this post, because I kept this marvelous woman for the dessert. Raw food desert !
Angela is raw foodist since 9 years. She is Medical and Master Herbalist, Nutritionist, Paramedical Aesthetician, Herbal Skin Therapist, Certified Gourmet Chef, Reiki Master and much more about what you can read HERE. Angela is also behind the famous first raw vegan sandwich !
She is the author of ALIVE IN FIVE that you have to check out!
Alive in 5: Raw Gourmet Meals in Five Minutes
Also you can order her book along with bonus Teleseminars with Angela from RAW DIVAS WEB SITE.
Well, I am not sure how this beautiful woman did not happen in my life earlier! Her beauty is stunning. Face, body, words, energy, experience ! She works with RAW DIVAS and was helping Dr. T with his event in Living Temple.
We had a chance to talk after Dr.T’s speech and I am sure now that we both fell in love with each other instantly!
This is a women who is not too present in a mainstream and the reason for that is her strong, independent personality and honesty that does not fit into the main mentoring soup.
Women! Angela is preparing her new beauty book – stay tuned! This is what we all are waiting for and believe me – her skin is just stunning !
To not let you fall asleep, I am going to shot up now 
.
The weekend was amazing and turned out to be different and richer than I planned!
I hope you’ve got some new ideas and insights about raw foods and people who are trying to make your life healthier and more energetic.
Be alive! Laugh out loud ! And choose wisely !
- is the founding editor of RawFoodTip. To stay informed about the best raw food choices and raw food gossips sign up to Rawvolta’s RSS feed. It will deliver this blog to your email daily! Don’t Miss The Tip!
