GREETINGS :) …and a belated VERY happy new year to you :) I hope it has been a great start for you. I’m delighted to say that on January the 1st, the RawReform site was 4 years old – WOW – thanks for all your support over the last years :)

-‘Raw Emotions’ – My NEW E-book - PRE-ORDER NOW :)
-Andressohns Appeal
-NEW: Mr Monarch has his own blog :)
-GREEK Raw Food
-Raw Success Now Available as an E-BOOK :) – ***WIN a FREE copy***
-Living Mandala RAW Permaculture Course
-POI Winner
-Upcoming Talk Schedule
-The Laundry Soap that Grows On TREES :)
-Three FREE Books I Think You’ll Enjoy :)

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‘Raw Emotions’ - My NEW E-book - PRE-ORDER NOW :)

I am EXTREMELY excited to say that my latest e-book – ‘Raw Emotions’ – is now available for pre-order HERE and will be officially released by March 1st :) It covers the emotional transformations and challenges that occur when we go raw, along with spiritual/psychological/mental /social and other shifts too. This book has been a loooooooooong time coming for me – a great deal of love has gone into its production...it’s in the final editing process at the moment – so, I look forward to sharing it soon ;)

Combining proven ‘self-help’ techniques with a raw lifestyle, ‘Raw Emotions’ contains 60 specific tools and action tips for embracing YOUR transformation. It is a truly unique book in the raw food movement, based on extensive research and personal experience.
Many people are familiar with my PHYSICAL transformation, as I lost around 160lbs with a raw food lifestyle. However, those who are a little more familiar with my story often comment that what they find more remarkable are the emotional and spiritual shifts I have experienced. In ‘Raw Emotions’, I share the major tips and tools that helped me experience a dramatic shift from a lonely, moody, angry and defensive overeater to a life of genuine joy, vibrancy, love and balance.

You can Pre-Order 'Raw Emotions' HERE. 

ENJOY :)

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Andressohns Appeal                        

Perhaps you are familiar with the story of the Andressohns, the raw vegan family in Florida, who lost their baby a few years back? After the death, the parents were arrested and imprisoned on suspicion of ‘malnourish-ing’ their children – the rest of whom were taken into custody. Thanks to all of you who sent in updates and news on the family. So, we have GOOD NEWS :) The parents are now out of prison, out of court and reunited with their gorgeous children. I was so pleased to read this. They were separated from their little ones for over 30 months I believe and put on trial for feeding their children what many of us consider the healthiest food choices on the planet. I consider it an absolute blessing to know they are re-united again now and able to reconnect to their chosen lifestyle again.
HERE is a very informative link about the family’s journey, from Jim Carey’s Chidiet.com site. It seems Jim, along with Dr Flora Van Orden, have been doing a great deal to support this loving family during this whole process. Dr Flora was assistant to Dr Ann Wigmore for a long time and it seems rallied straight to the support of the Andressohns with this case, putting up her credit card for the bail bond. The family have been slowly getting back to life together and paying off the bail bond since they were reunited, helped by the generous donations of people worldwide. There is, however, still around $2000 left to pay off. We sent a cheque recently in support, along with a ‘goodie box’ of raw yummies from our warehouse (shhhhhhhhh, don’t tell them though – it’s a surprise ;) If you feel similarly inclined to send something their way, please do :) Let’s help them get back on their feet asap. This is a loving, beautiful raw vegan family who have been through very challenging times in the last years. They are doing their best to raise vibrant children and enjoy amazing health and well-being together – we can help support that choice. If you are drawn to send them some support, you can do so in the way of money energy or other loveliness, care of Dr Flora in Florida. Cheques, cashiers cheques or money orders made payable to Flora Van Orden can be sent to: Flora Van Orden, PO Box 900963, Homestead, FL 33090.

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Mr Monarch Has His Own BLOG :)

Yep, ‘tis true, 8-year 100% raw foodist and bearer of surely the biggest mane in the human raw world, Mr Monarch has now exploded into the ‘blogosphere’ and is sharing his musings and daily food journals at http://mattmonarch.blogspot.com.
I was away for 4 days on silent retreat last week (for an honest summary of that experience, take a look at my blog post HERE: http://rawreform.blogspot.com /2008/01/beyond-silence.html)
In my absence, he took over MY blogging for me and his posts where SUCH a hit, that he decided to start posting for himself :)
I think it’s marvellous and am very excited to see what he shares there... If you’d like to visit, or sign up to get his posts emailed to you whenever he writes, just follow the link below – (N.B. the email subscription is a 2-STAGE process. First enter your email address into the little box at the top right of the blogpage. Then be sure to click the link in the email that is sent to you, to verify and start receiving the Monarch Musings… ;)

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GREEK Raw Food

Do you like Greek food? Ever had RAW Greek food? If you’re not familiar with the work of UK gourmet raw food chef Gina Panayi, you’re in for a treat... I first encountered Gina’s work a few years back at the fabulous Food of Life festival in Brighton. This was a festie based around raw/living foods, eco-living, conscious lifestyles, musical magic and more...Gina had a stall there, selling her Raw Greek creations...now, that place was PACKED that day, with all the finest raw foods the UK has to offer...chocolates, crackers, juices, cakes, salads, smoothies – you name it...and the unanimous favourite of EVERYONE I spoke to was the Raw Greek creations...perhaps it’s the novelty factor, perhaps it’s the love that Gina and her crew clearly infuse their food with...perhaps it’s the amazing taste combinations...or all of the above...whatever it is, Gina’s food is definitely LOVED and she now has a Raw Greek recipe book out, so you can learn how to recreate her masterpieces with your own Vitamix ;) We now have her book for sale in the RawReform Store – as far as we know, we’re actually the only people selling it Stateside at the moment...so, you might wanna get in quick before your other raw foodie friends get a copy and sparkle their tastebuds to pleasure paradise at your next potluck ;) Gina’s book is stuffed with raw vegan versions of Moussaka, Stuffed Vine Leaves, Frappe, Cinnamon Biscuits, Meatballs and more...it costs $22.95 and you can see more about it HERE.

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Raw Success E-BOOK now available - ***WIN a FREE copy***

Oooo, la la…that marvellous Mr Monarch is on a green-ing mission, as any of you who are regular readers of the RawReform Blog will know (when he took over my blog last week while I was on retreat and shared some beautiful musings – see here, for example: http://rawreform.blogspot.com /2008/01/changing-world.html).
As part of the green-ing mission, he has now made his latest book – ‘Raw Success’ available as an e-book, reducing the amount of paper needed to make printed copies… He has been getting such rewarding feedback about this piece  - here are some snippets:

“It is honestly one of the best raw food books I have ever read; one of the most important raw food books I have ever read. I see it as a natural sequel to Ehret's Mucusless Diet Healing System and I think it should be mandatory reading for all raw foodists (no joke).”
Jay Salinger.

“I enjoyed reading your latest book Raw Success. I do so appreciate ¬when we keep polishing this raw journey and add to how to make it the best! You definitely touch on some important topics. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
Love & Light,
Brigitte' Mars”

If YOU want to dip your toes in and see what it’s all about, you can now find the e-book version for sale HERE:

PLUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSS...

The RawReform Giveaway Prize this month shall be a princely, complimentary e-book copy of the afore-mentioned ‘Raw Success’. Hurrah :) To be in with a chance of sliding your own eyes through its revolutionary paragraphs of inspiration, simply email in your answer to the following question:

Examples of pioneers who have passed to the other side include:
Dr. Norman Walker, Arnold Ehret, Bernard Jensen, Paul Bragg, Dr. Ann Wigmore, Herbert Shelton, St Louis Estes and Hilton Hotema...
Send your answers in to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and the winner shall be selected at random and with much joy in February ;)

Enjoy :)

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Living Mandala RAW Permaculture Course

Looking for smthg inspiring to explore this year? Well, here is an opportunity not to be overlooked…there’s a course coming up soon in Hawai’i that I would attend in a heartbeat if I was able to go there…it’s a RAW Permaculture Course. YUMM. This is one thing that\'s been on my personal goal list for years…If the term ‘Permaculture’ is unfamiliar to you, it is a union of the words ‘permanent’ and ‘agriculture’ and is based around creating SUSTAINABLE living systems – for our gardens, homes, communities and more…It is all about working WITH nature and mimicking natural ecosystems. The intention is to move away from reliance on industrial systems of production and distribution.
Permaculture was developed in Australia, back in the 70s, by David Holmgren and Bill Mollison, who’s still running courses now :) I have long wanted to do the full-length Permaculture Design Course and am SO excited to see people holding RAW versions of the course – this is (unfortunately) rare it seems – the only people I’ve known to hold RAW Permaculture courses so far are the lovely Steve Charter in the UK/Spain and now this team behind the upcoming courses on Hawai’i – the beautifully named ‘Living Mandala’. There are actually going to be two courses running back-to-back – firstly a 2-week Permaculture Design Course from February the 3rd-19th, then later a hands-in-the-dirt Practicum from Feb 24th-29th. Participants get to learn in a tropical paradise, share with other like-minded yumsters, receive certification for both courses AND eat luscious raw food the whole time (made by someone else – nice – PLUS – other food options available if you’re not up for full-on raw… ;)…sounds blissful…hope it all rocks on in 2009 too, so I can play as well…in the meantime, if this is tickling YOUR interest nodules, do check out their website here for more info: http://www.livingmandala.com

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POI Winner

In December’s Newsletter, we offered a set of our Cobra Poi to one lucky winner. To be in with a chance of winning, all you had to do was email in your A to the following Q:

We had some LOVELY answers from y’all – seems like a great year was had by many – hurray :) The winner, picked at random, was Kristy Eggleston with this entry:

My top three RAW highlights of 2007 are: 

1.  Curing my allergies to fresh fruits!  Can you imagine!!!  My body had become so toxic over the years on a SAD diet that I developed an allergy to fresh fruit. I had to live without fresh fruits for 10 years!!!! Get this...I could eat them if they were cooked -- Phewy, no good!

2.  Curing my allergies to nuts!  Yep, you betcha..couldn't eat those either. One beautiful hazelnut would have me seeing black dots in my vision, closed up throat, and down for the count.  Couldn\'t even attempt a nibble!  Get this...I could eat SAD peanut butter, of course!  Phewy, no good!

3. Hearing David Wolfe present a lecture at my school, The Institute of Integrative Nutrition (New York City), in November.  Having my picture taken with him and hanging out with him at his raw chocolate charity event all evening. NEED I SAY MORE????!!!!!  It was the BEST DAY EVER!

Happy New You (and Mr. Monarch)!  Happy New Me!  Happy New Year!!
With gratitude,
Kristy

Thanks for sharing Kristy – and thanks to all the rest of you too who sent in your Raw Reflections – we’ve put up a selection of entries on the RawReform Prize Giveaway page HERE, so you can check that out too, for more inspiration ;)
This month – win a free copy of ‘Raw Success’ on e-book – see above :)

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Upcoming Talk Schedule

Myself and Mr Monarch are currently still in Australia, for the next couple of weeks, before we head down to New Zealand.
Here is our talk schedule for the next few weeks:

This a product I’m REALLY excited about in terms of the potential global implications for sustainability and reducing pollution. We’ve been using ‘Maggie’s Soap Nuts’ - the only laundry soap that grows on trees :) Yes, quite remarkably, these ‘soap nuts’ are simply the dried fruit of a tree – the Chinese Soapberry tree. These lychee-like fruits contain ‘saponin’, a natural cleaner used for thousands of years to clean clothes, like the plants used by Native Americans for washing. You just put a few of the soap nuts into a little cotton sack which they come supplied with and drop it in your laundry. The saponin ‘soaps up’ during the wash and your clothes come out clean, vibrant, and soft. I have truly never used anything for washing clothes that leaves them feeling so ‘silky’ and…loved. :) I think they’re amazing. They’re also obviously totally biodegradable, as well as re-usable and hypoallergenic. How exciting is THAT??? Your clothes, your skin, your family, and your planet will thank you for using them :) I love them so much that we’ve started to sell them in the RawReform Store and have them in various pack sizes, from a sweet little trial size pack of a handful of ‘nuts’ to 200 load tubs. You can see more about them in the store HERE.

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Three FREE Books I Think You’ll Enjoy :)

Some recent pokes around on the internet revealed some fun free resources I think you’ll enjoy. Here are three FREE, (legal) books to delve into:

‘Peace Pilgrim’ compiled by Friends of Peace Pilgrim.
The ‘autobiography’ of the remarkable American woman who walked all over the N. American continent last century, spereading her message of peace. Available for free as an e-book OR hard copy, in many different languages from http://www.peacepilgrim.com.


Free Permaculture Design Course Notes
15 pamphlets in one document, 155 pages, available free for downloading. The pamphlets are based on a transcription of the lectures given by the ‘Grandaddy’ of Permaculture, Bill Mollison in 1981 during a Permaculture Design Course presented in New Hampshire. This PDF file is hosted at http://www.barkingfrogspermacul ture.org/PDC_ALL.pdf. The reproduction of these pamphlets is free and encouraged – dig in :)
 

The Essene Gospel of Peace
Did you know you could read the whole of the Essene Gospel of Peace online for free? I didn’t, until recently…then I found this Essene site and had some fun poking about and seeing what Jesus apparently shared about living foods – here’s a great excerpt from Book 1:

“I do say to you: Kill neither men, nor beasts, nor yet the food which goes into your mouth. For if you eat living food, the same will quicken you, but if you kill your food, the dead food will kill you also. For life comes only from life, and from death comes always death. For everything which kills your foods, kills your bodies also. And everything which kills your bodies kills your souls also. And your bodies become what your foods are, even as your spirits, likewise, become what your thoughts are. Therefore, eat not anything which fire, or frost, or water has destroyed. For burned, frozen and rotted foods will burn, freeze and rot your body also. Be not like the foolish husbandman who sowed in his ground cooked, and frozen, and rotten seeds. And the autumn came, and his fields bore nothing. And great was his distress. But be like that husbandman who sowed in his field living seed, and whose field bore living ears of wheat, paying a hundredfold for the seeds which he planted. For I tell you truly, live only by the fire of life, and prepare not your foods with the fire of death, which kills your foods, your bodies and your souls also."

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-HAH :) You can read the whole thing over at this site: http://www.essene.com/GospelOfP eace/peace1.html
Enjoy :)
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All blessings for now :)
Angela. xxx

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