My Daily Rind Journey of a Mom: Reflections on Health, Unschooling, and Love.

Hi darlings,

I have just loved my food today. I am literally slurping down the last of my shake with a straw. I encourage slurping!

Read on to get to the recipe for this magnificent shake. Not technically raw the way I did it, because I bought hemp mylk. Usually, however, I make my own mylk. This shake can be made with any mylk of your choice. By the way, I spell mylk with a “y” because I like the distinction from animal milk. Spell it however you want.

Here’s what I ate today for the record:

• 2 bananas and 1/3 cup dried blueberries drowned in sesame mylk (freshly made)
• small serving fruit cobbler from yesterday
• 2 bananas, 1 apple, and handful of almonds for lunch
• Big green salad with spirulina, tomato, mushroom, cuke, avocado, artichoke hearts, hemp seed, raisins, green onion and oil and lemon juice dressing
• Decadent Creamy Hemp Mylk Shake (recipe below)

Decadent Creamy Hemp Mylk Shake

In your Vitamix blender with a tamper blend:

About 4 cups of frozen bananas (I think this was about 4 whole bananas)
1 cup of frozen blackberries
About 1/2 cup of tahini
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup dates (or any sweetener you desire)
1 Tablespoon maca powder
1 Tablespoon chia seed
2 tsp spirulina
Now fill the canister with hemp mylk until it comes to about an inch from the top of the ingredients. Add more water now and as needed to allow for easier blending.

Pour a pint and sluurrrp it down with a straw!

Yum Yum,
Shawna

I haven’t shared about this topic yet, but it is ever-present with me.

I never had a weight problem until I was about 30 or so. Certainly, after having my son, I gained a lot of weight. Frankly, I was depressed without even knowing it, and I ate and ate and ate for pleasure. I breast fed my son until he was 2 1/2, so I had a great excuse to pack in those extra calories!

I’m only 5″3′ (and 3/4 LOL) and at the beginning of this year I found myself at 191 pounds. That’s really big. Really. I also found out that I had some significant health issues, which I won’t get into for the sake of time and space. Basically, my body had been in a state of dis-ease for a really long time. The naturopathic doctor validated me and said that my emotional and physical states were not my fault. (I fell in love THAT moment) He explained that I had some serious deficiencies, which were making my body malnourished and HUNGRY.

I was not eating raw foods at all during this period. I felt possessed by carbs and sugars, so green smoothies were just NOT in my repertoire. After 6 weeks of healing work with him, my body was ready to accept a raw food diet. I had already begun to lose some weight, and it has really sped up since eating raw in a conscious way. What I mean is that I pay attention to what I’m eating so that I am getting a wide variety of nutrients, if not daily, then most of the week. For instance, I’m not wanting green smoothies right now, so I put a heaping teaspoon of spirulina right on top of my green salad for dinner this evening. Otherwise, I eat whatever I want, whenever I want.

Remember in an earlier post when I talked about listening to my body? Well, that’s the HUGEST part for me. I truly listen to when I’m full and to what my body is telling me that it needs. It’s working for me so far.

Today I got weighed where I work out (same scale I’ve been using all along). I was pleased to see that I am 169.5. My goal is 130-ish, as long as I’m healthy. I’m exercising regularly too, which helps a lot.

Weight stabilization (whether you need to gain or lose) is a regular side effect, if you will, of eating a raw diet. Some people get concerned and notice rapid weight loss when they don’t really want that. Most of us are malnourished and our bodies will do whatever it takes to create balance and health. Sometimes big weight loss has to occur in order for the body to thoroughly detoxify before weight can be put back on and stabilized. I’m simplifying this BIG TIME, please note.

I’m trying to not have weight loss be my sole (soul) focus for staying raw because there are too many loopholes with that. I know myself. All I have to do is think I look good enough, and I will justify a pizza!

What I’ve mentioned before is my truth: I want to be the brightest light I can be in this world. I don’t want to be dimmed by processed, cooked, animal foods. I have a lot of me to share, and I want the energy to do that. AND I also really want to lose the weight, so that I can heal those sad parts of me that are stored in the story of being overweight. I’m ready to write a new book, not just a new chapter.

Love love love,
Shawna

I was stopped at one of the busiest intersections in my town, and I noticed 3 people standing in a circle together on the corner. Two were middle aged and the other was probably very early 30′s. They really stood out because they were completely still. Their stillness in the midst of the downtown bustle caught my eye and my curiosity, because usually when people are interacting, there is a lot of fidgety movements. A lot of energy is spent.

I realized that they were praying. The young man’s lips were moving and he was holding a Bible, I’m pretty sure. All of their heads were slightly bowed, eyes closed. People moved about them, not batting an eye. Maybe not even noticing. I “entered” their prayer. I visualized myself  standing in fellowship with them and receiving the loving energy of the divine. I felt a flush of energy come over me and I felt tearful, as I so often do when I am touched by spirit. I said my own prayer for the patient of mine and his wife who committed suicide over the weekend. I prayed for my father who is crippled with MS and found out he has cancer last week. I prayed for me to have strength to be present in my life with compassion and love.

Stillness. Prayer brings stillness. These people found a complete stillness on a very busy corner.

What if we were to find that prayerful stillness and BE that within our movement. Prayer in Action.

I was very moved and touched by the experience and grateful that these people had the courage to be true to their faith and follow their hearts.

I am not a religious person. I choose not to identify with any one dogma, because I believe we are all spirits having a human experience. We are here to learn, to connect with each other, to remember who we are, and to pray. Prayer focuses our energy, our attention, and manifests an unfolding for our highest good.

I pray often, wholeheartedly, and it always works.

Blessings,

Shawna

I blended about a cup of sesame seeds with about 3 cups of water. Strained the mylk then put it back in the blender to mix with a pinch of salt, capful of vanilla, and a squirt of agave. So yummy and creamy and earthy!

Poured this over a bowl of bananas and dried blueberries.

Ate side by side with my grateful son.

Best mylk in the world is made from nuts and seeds.

Do you know that we are the only species that drinks the milk from another animal? It’s time to wean ourselves. Do the research for yourself. A leading cause of osteoporosis, among other insidious conditions, is dairy! I’ll post references to this another time.

In gratitude for the abundance in my life,
Shawna