Archive for the ‘raw food’ Category
back to the blog. back in THAILAND
Posted on: July 2, 2010
- In: raw food | raw vegan | Thailand | Uncategorized
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As I write this I am sat at the Spa Samui, second night in a row actually. Great raw food on the menu, and I am taking advantage of having the opportunity to ‘eat out’. Something that I can rarely do in Tokyo.
Am in my paradise, and am sampling as many juices as I can (even though only day 2). Have been out all day and have had juices throughout at various places. And of course there have been coconuts.
I am in my paradise for a month, but as of Saturday will be studying yoga, so am using my ‘free time’ to head out before the studies begin.
I have raw pizza on the way and am drinking a Wheatgrass Pina Colada, and I have to say it is going down rather smoothly. I may to treat myself to another one.
Seems strange not to be on a schedule. I am not used to it, but am learning not to be checking the time constantly. I love this pace of life. Yes, next week will have commitments, and times I need to be in class, but will less people, less external things over-stimulating your senses, everything is so much easier.
So, I am wanting to get back on track with this blog. Informing readers of my daily eating habits, new recipes, food knowledge and more about my new role as a Holistic Health Counselor.
For now, I need to get back to my pizza. I know a lady can multitask, but I do not believe in doing anything while eating. Simply sit and enjoy your food.
- In: health | japan | juice feast | raw food | raw vegan | yoga
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So, let me be blatantly honest here, today has been a tough day. I’m not feeling hungry. In fact trying to get all this juice inside me is proving to be a struggle. I awoke with a headache, despite having a blissful sleep. Throughout the day I started to feel weak and the usual ‘zest for life’ that I usually have was amiss. Tight, tight shoulders. Painful neck. I wanted my hot water and to hibernate. I wasn’t expecting to feel so…what’s the word I’m looking for?….mmmmm….CRAP!!!! Then at 6.00pm while teaching, low and behold, TURN AWAY BOYS – I got my period. I think the combination of the start of the feast and this so-called ‘ladies holiday’, had stunned my body somewhat.
Questions have started to come my way as to why am I doing this? Why so long? What can and can not be consumed? I ask that you read in the coming days to get the answers in full. I intend to cover as much as possible in the days to come.
What I will add here is trying to fit all in in the morning is a challenge. I’m out most of the day, so everything needs to be prepared in the morning. This morning I didn’t get my pranayama or asana practice in at all, as one, I felt so grotty and two, I simply don’t have the routine down in the morning. But hey, it’s just my second day. What I have learned is the need to plan my juices and buy the ingredients the day before. Doing this has given me the idea to also note how much this is costing (starting tomorrow).
So today’s menu:
- MsM and water (this will be a regular)
- 2 quarts kale, apple and ginger with hemp oil
- 1 quart celery and cucumber
- Copious amounts of water
- one tea
I drank all the celery and cucumber which was most refreshing and will be making regular appearances, but I just couldn’t get through all the juice. It’s not a case of my body rebelling, I simply am not hungry. Hopefully things will shift in the next couple of days.
The most shocking thing is though, I had no coconut!!!! Although, I did give a lesson on how to open a young coconut with a not so good knife. I have a friend who ‘slaughters’ these wonderful nuts and he really needed to learn how to control his frustration….
Oh, and to end with I had a regular bowel movement. I said I would be honest and share. You can expect this info daily. I can highlight it in a certain color if you wish not to read about it, so you know to skip to the next heading. Or write a heading ‘Poop talk’, as a warning? Which one?
I’m going to end on that note.
See you on Saturday
xxx
- In: health | japan | raw food | raw vegan
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Dear, dear blog- I have neglected you for so long. How will you ever forgive me? Maybe if I promise to write for the next two months solidly, describing in full honesty what happens as I venture on the longest cleanse I have ever done?? And there will be pictures as well to make you look pretty.
Forgiven….yes…thank you!!
So, yes here I am. Why did I take so long to return? Many, many reasons all of which will be revealed. For now let’s come to the present, I am here and committed to sharing and as I write I have a killer detox headache. Tiger balm has been applied and am hoping lavender and sesame oil on my feet will soon have me in a deep slumber.
I initially thought of doing this feast for 45 days, but then I’m not one for odd numbers (?). Inspired by the ever so gorgeous Philip McCluskey , I thought I would go for the full 60. Thanks Philip. Will be off the feast in time for my birthday, so fingers crossed I can get hubby to buy me a sexy dress and I will look fabulous for a night out on the town. Oh, so vain!!
Here we are at Day 1. An odd number (aarrgghh)!! Not much to report unless you wish me to drone on about killer headache?!? No? Didn’t think so.
- MSM and lemon in water.
- 2 quarts kale, apple and ginger
- 1 quart carrot and ginger
- Coconut and spirulina
- Wheatgrass powder in water
- Tablespoon coconut oil (melted in front of heater)
The tough part of this was not adding the coconut meat in with the water and spirulina combo. Will use it for raw desserts for hubby I suppose.
Loving the kale, hard to find here, so it really is a treat.
I’m meant to be drink up to 4 quarts of juice a day, but I know I will find this a struggle.
So that is it for the first day. I need to sign off and get to bed. Daily reports to come. Juice recipes, enema talk (oh the joy), yoga chat and information of an upcoming raw vegan potluck in Tokyo.
See you tomorrow.
x
xxx
Updates
Posted on: February 12, 2009
Have found a space to host regular raw food classes.
Later this year will be hosting yoga and raw food days.
The raw food restaurant in Tokyo is closing (for a second time in a few months). Am on a quest to get more raw food, in more restaurants.
Am gonna make RAW BIG in Japan. Let’s put them greens to good use, and spice up the daikon dishes…
Please leave comments about what you would like to see in this blog and on my upcoming website…yes, yes…I know more recipes are in the pipeline.
Love and gratitude
EM
x
Angels
Posted on: December 22, 2008
Everyday I choose an angel card. Have been doing so for over a year now. When I travel I take them with me. They speak to me. I learn from them. I like to flick through the pack sometimes and just look at the messages and focus on the pictures. I have a particular way of choosing my daily angel – the way I wish to keep secret, but there is one card that seems to come to me more often than the others and this really has helped me decide on my next venture. A venture essential to yoga, without it there is no yoga. More will be told in my New Year post.
Daily Munchings (wheatgrass and spirulina had run out this morning)
Before practice – 6.00am – MSM in water
Breakfast (10-ish) – Coconut (straight after my practice), 1 banana, Pineapple, ginger and coriander juice (amazing)
Lunch – (2.30-ih) – Apple, celery, carrot and parsley juice – perfect
Dinner (6.00- ish) green salad and avocado
Am finishing eating before 7, making sure my body has time to digest prior to sleep.
My practice
I felt strong, connected. really flowed with the breath today. Hadn’t felt this strong for a long time. Yes, I have asanas to keep working deeper in, but the natural heat here really helps the body organically melt into a pose, while the muscles stay alive.
I try and spend more than five breaths in poses where my body needs to open. Sometimes if I’m loving a pose I will spend longer in it. The mysore practice is a self practice. Work with where your body is at. I have never understood why people zoom their way through. Surely they are missing the beauty of the practice. As a teacher, I also listen to my body so I know how to explain deeper details of sensations arising to my students.
Every time I come to my mat I fall in love with yoga a little bit more.
Other things
The food at Yoga Thailand is vegetarian and 98% vegan. Low sugar, low fat. Healthy, organic produce. The first year I came here I was toying with becoming vegan (having been vegetarian for 20 years). The next time I was here I was more or less raw, so the staff would allow me to use the kitchen and use the fruit and veggies to make whatever I wanted. Now with the new place, (and because I am frequently here I think), the chef is playing with some raw recipes, which I have been asked to sample – of course I am happy to oblige. I have already sampled a soup, which was lovely just recommended adding a little bit of tumeric to add a bit of ZING.
So if anyone fancies a yoga retreat, but are worried about food, please know that Yoga Thailand will accommodate your needs.
I need to sleep now. Up early to meditate and listen to my angel before practice.
xxx
I’m back
Posted on: November 11, 2007
- In: ashtanga | raw food | raw vegan | Thailand
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Will write more tomorrow. Arrived safely at Yoga Thailand, around 9pm (Thai time). Nice to be back at the place I call my second home. Familiar faces, fresh air, great food.
Today started with 2 bananas, lunch was a mango juice, mid afternoon a coconut and then this evening I had a pear and two bananas. Drinking lots of water.
Early evening saw be being twisted and flattened as I had a Thai massage.
It’s only 8pm – can see me in bed very soon – all the fresh air has made me sleepy.
Night nite
x
Newspaper Article
Posted on: November 5, 2007
- In: health | raw food | raw vegan | Veggie paradise
- 2 Comments
Here is an article that came out on Saturday in the International Herald Tribune – my friend Marie wrote it, and the Em Bettinger as quoted is me. Click here.
Lying in bed writing
Posted on: November 2, 2007
- In: ashtanga | cats | health | raw food | raw vegan | Veggie paradise | water fast | yoga
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AArrgghhh!!! Sore throat, swollen glands, lying in bed. Hate feeling like this – useless and pathetic. I’ve been stressing alot about my upcoming course and worrying that my yoga diploma has taken a back seat for a while. My munchings have been sporadic and somewhat small. I have to take more care of myself, especially now I’m a yoga teacher. It’s important to stay healthy and full of energy as this is what your students feed off.
Refuse t ever feel like this again – take it as a lesson learned.
Am sipping on a smoothie as I write – Oj, mango, banana, raspberries, flaxseed oil and maca, courtesy of hubby.
Purchased a big bag of clementines yesterday and that is what I will eat over the weekend as I will be out and about. Am attending several workshops with the ashtanga teacher Chuck Miller: backbends, shoulder openers, inversions, and a teacher training workshop. Have never attended one of Chuck’s workshops before.
Tomorrow’s classes will be followed by an evening kirtan with Gina Sala at
Sun and Moon in Meguro (my home). Just hope my voice is back to sing and chant – then again maybe it’s a blessing if it stays away so no one else has to suffer as I use my vocal chords!!
With the yukkiness in my body today I do feel my body is crying out for a fast, so with light meals over the weekend, Monday will be a water fast from noon till noon on Tuesday. I’m not teaching on Monday, just going to an ashtanga class, Tuesday sees me teaching in the evening, by which time I will have eaten so I will be fine.
I intend to fast once a week. Should be easy to do when in Thailand, then maybe not if surrounded by durian, coconuts and all other beautiful fruits of the world.
Yes, Thailand is just a week away. I leave next Saturday. The TTC starts on Monday. Sunday will start with a Mysore practice in the morning, followed by a coconut. A few hours spent on the beach and then off into the next town Nathon to get my fruit. Have never been so excited about fruit shopping before and I still have a week to go. Is this how people feel when they plan to shop at Prada or Gucci? What a buzz…would much rather spend my pennies on a mango than an overpriced dress!
So back to now, before I drift off into Thailand heaven.
Yesterday I returned to the new raw restaurant in Tokyo, Veggie Paradise. For those who are interested in going, you need to go out the south exit at Yoyogi-uehara station. Walk up the hill for about 30 seconds and Veggie Paradise is down a street on the left. Very easy to find – I get lost in Tokyo easily and I found it!
I met with my friend KC (love you KC), who chatted to myself and a friend Mutsumi (who has just attended a raw food course in the states). KC is writing an article on raw food and nutrition for an expat magazine here. We chatted for a good 2 hours while eating yummy food (raw pumpkin soup, salad with shitake dressing, mushrooms with a cashew cheesy sauce, seaweed salad). We discussed a number of topics, not sure if I should discuss them here as I want to see the magazine article first and then maybe elaborate. What I did notice was my passion for this subject. I don’t think I had recognized it before. Was like someone had walked in a dropped a pineapple on my head and said ‘look – you can make this work here’.
So I came away buzzing, full of ideas. Thinking of yoga and raw food retreats to run here in Japan (would give us a chance to run away from the concrete and out towards the ocean). Then today I wake up feeling like crap!
Will be back on track this weekend, with the yoga and things. Living life to the full, but being more aware of my energy levels – I just get so excited though and keep going and going them wham! I’m lying in bed.
Need to get my webpages up. Many ideas, would still like your input though as to what you would like to see. Hopefully they will be ready to view late January.
So, I will leave you with some photos of yesterday.
Veggie Paradise
Information
So clean fresh, spacious, relaxing
And to finish with, our new babies. Three stray cats that have found home on my balcony. Simply adorable.
Stay warm and healthy
xxx
The end of another month
Posted on: October 31, 2007
I’m learning so much about myself of late. Have been reading the Baghavad Gita and The Sutras – been emotionally involved in these books. Tears run as I deepen into the words on the pages. I look at how far I have come on my journey so far. A couple of years ago I wouldn’t have been so affected by these texts.
I smile.
Always smiling.
I’m happy.
Am feeling strong. I feel that I’m on a path and little can get in my way. Yet, if faced with an obstacle, a challenge I believe I would be able to deal with it.
Have so many plans for 2008. Really want to build on my yoga and raw diet and educate as many people as possible here. The raw network is building and I think I can help build it a little more.
Will post more tomorrow after I’ve been back to Veggie paradise, just wanted to share some photos from today.
Have a great Halloween wherever you are.
xxx
Temple near to where I live
Persimmon trees are everywhere
as are clementines
Todays lunch – lettuce, rocket, mizuna, banana smoothie
Paradise Hits Japan
Posted on: October 26, 2007
- In: Earth day Market | happiness | health | japan | raw food | raw vegan | Veggie paradise
- 4 Comments
How happy am I? Go on guess. I don’t think there is a word to describe how I am feeling at the moment.
I don’t know where to start, so much to tell.
I suppose the big news is that there is now a raw food restaurant in Tokyo. It is called Veggie Paradise and it’s in Yoyogi-uehara on the Odakyu Line. I’m going again next week and will get more information to put up here. Colin, if you are reading we should try and meet up?
I went along with my friend Marie who interviewed me for a newspaper (thank you Marie, you are wonderful). I know..me interviewed for a paper. My god!
What struck me first about the place was walking in and not detecting an ‘overcooked’. Everything was clean and fresh. You can see into the kitchen and it’s all orderly, no steam, no clanging of pots and pans.
I was in my element. How lovely it felt not having to ask about what was in the food, checking there were no hidden meat products. Was it vegan….the usual. Don’t expect me to visit any other restaurant in the metropolis again – Veggie Paradise is where I will be at.
Will get more pictures when I go next week.
Last weekend saw the Earth Day Market in Yoyogi Park. It offers the chance for farmers to come together and sell their organic produce. Not only food was sold, but cruelty cosmestics, hemp and organic cotton clothing, oh and organic pet food. The turn-out was good, and from checking the website I think there could be another market early in November.
Prices were reasoanable, and there was a fair variety of veggie produce.
Yoyogi Park
Veggies, veggies everywhere
Kettle with a message
An Ideal World
We purchased a number of items, which have been used in salads and smoothies throughout the week. Really wish there was something like this weekly.
Now one thing that did annoy me was this deceitful advertising…..only beer was to be found. Don’t tease a mango whore…
Speaking of mangos, this leads me to Thailand. Yes, my return is just two weeks away.
I’ve rabbited on long enough today (Marie I used rabbited for you). I promise to you all to write more frequently, I will try daily just so you know what is happening in my raw yogic life. Still have lots to share, but will be easier to break it uo over the next few days.
Have a fabulous day
xxx
Raw Girl in Japan 
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