RAW FOOD & PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION

​Personal Transformation - What is it?

​Each year, several times a year we offer a Raw Food Detox & Personal Transformation Retreat in Hawaii. 

So what does it mean to personally transform and how do we do it? Let's explore. 

​How would it feel to put down a weight you were carrying?

How would it feel to have a quiet and relaxed mind?

How would it feel to be free?
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Personal transformation is a process of blooming and it can happen in many ways. The most powerful sensations of transformation happen when many parts of the person are addressed in an intensive and supportive setting. Specifically, transformation is the process of change. And that can happen on many levels. 
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Physical Level
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This is the process of DETOXIFICATION. This word is used widely to describe many different things: a drink, a cleanse, a topical product, abstinence from an addiction or habit. In reality detoxification is a ubiquitous process continually happening in the body, specifically, the liver. In a 3 step process the liver uses to remove toxins from our blood, all day long; a series of biochemical reactions using amino acids, vitamins and phytochemicals. Our bodies derive these substances from the food we eat. 
Increasing the rate of detoxification is possible using food, nutritional supplements and herbs. For food, raw food diet, is a detox booster, containing live enzymes, nutrients, minerals and the amino acids required in all biochemical reactions.




 
​Getting rid of the toxins stored in our bodies helps it  run better.

What does that look like? It could mean a complete resolution of an illness.  For example, hormone conditions respond very well to a liver detox such as: acne, PMS, irregular cycles, eczema, psoriasis, digestive issues (reflux, bloating, constipation). It also means increased energy, better bowel movements, less seasonal illness, improved sex drive and nicer skin. 

​Raw food also helps to lose weight. Nothing feels better than reducing inflammation and getting rid of excess weight. Without the hard to digest aspects of processed or allergenic foods, every part of the meal aids health. Whether it is the actual nutrient content or soluble and insoluble fiber, or live enzymes, the body is given a tool to succeed. 

Reducing toxin load, eliminating inflammation and lowering weight can be a total transformation on its own. But there are 4 other parts of a person that can have a dramatic effect when addressed. 

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​Mental Level

 
What processes do we have happening in our minds that feel good, and which feel bad?

What does the bad feel like?
Anxiety? Stress? Fear?

Suffering is not actually an action but rather our own thoughts about a particular thing, person, situation. Even if we are in pain, but we perceive it to be helpful or for our benefit, we are not in suffering. Suffering comes from wanting a situation to be different from what it is or believing it should be.

Mental changes happen through discussion and intentional examination. 

Is what we think true?
This is an excellent first step.

What meaning are we making about someone else's action or in-action, person, place or thing?

Through investigation we can illuminate some of our deeply held belief systems and then make a choice about whether they are helpful or not. Mental transformation can, on its own, feel like we have lost weight, when in reality we have just lightened our mental burden. 

The Work by Byron Katie is a helpful tool we use on our retreats as well as journalling,  Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), the work of Dr. Lissa Rankin and other tools.

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​Emotional Level

One of the hardest things in life is to feel discomfort in its varied intensities. Learning how to process emotions is a necessary tool to minimize the actions we take to avoid possibly feeling it. 

Once we are free of the need to avoid emotional discomfort (fear, guilt, anger, shame, rage) we are transformed in how we live our daily life and how we make decisions. 
We are able to live a more open hearted life, experience courage and a sense of self worth. 
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Emotional change can happen in many ways: talk therapy, plant-spirit medicine ceremonies, breathwork, hands on treatments such as massage and colon hydrotherapy , group support and many more. 

Why not examine what exists deep down in the matrix of your being? Maybe once it is identified, you can be free?
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​Spiritual Level

Today's culture in North America is one that is largely devoid of a unified spiritual practice. Most people do not devote a portion of their day, month or year to a spiritual practice, whatever that may be: praying in community, meditation, ceremony, yoga, mantra reciting, retreat, singing or being in nature. 

But for centuries humans have acknowledged a spiritual realm, a part of our make up that is unseen. Something that leaves the earth when our earth suit dies. Spirituality can be based on a one or many-god theory, idols or people worship. 

One benefit of a spiritual practice is faith. Faith is something we call on when our mental faculties can't solve a problem or guarantee a favourable outcome. With faith is another principle called trust. Trust is the antidote to fear and anxiety. 

Spiritual change can also be an acknowledgement that there is a unifying force in all living beings.

Addressing the spiritual realm is an important part of a personal transformation if not to broaden our view's of the world, to plant the seed of faith and trust in this unknown and ever changing process called life.   

​Energetic Level

Energy is hard to define in all its capacities. Each scientific department has its own definition of energy. In physics, energy is a term denoting a quantitative substance that allows objects to do "work". In biology it is a measure of ATP currency contained in each cell, or the amount of force required to cause a chemical reaction. 

Energy is a force. We experience forces physically, when they happen directly to our solid being, but also from the pitch of someone voice, the commanding tone in spoken words, in persistent dialogue, in weather systems, from a compelling idea, from hearing someone speak or in the presence of a loved one to name a few. 

Becoming sensitive to the energies in your life can help create a feeling of ease as we respond to them with conscious choices. One way to become sensitive to energy is to become embodied. Meaning aware of how it feels to be in your body. The practice of this is called mindfulness. It is the act of putting our sense awareness into the physical body and how it feels as it interacts with its environment: the movement of air over skin, the weight and seams of your clothes, your contact with the earth, sounds heard close by and far away. It's a never ending list. 

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​The sum of its parts

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Personal transformation can happen in any or many areas of the human experience. By bringing awareness to each area, and effecting positive change we are able to move through difficult or disease states at an appreciable pace. Personal transformation is the movement towards freedom.

Being supported through change is important, both by a trained professional and community. Using these principles of change, doctor guidance, group support and nature's abundance, we offer retreats to help you achieve a more radiant state of health and wellness. 

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

 - Anais Nin

​What is the first step?

​Let us know how we can support you on your journey to more radiant health. ​

Call Us

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