The 2007 Raw Spirit Festival in Sedona was quite an event. Some of the presenters that I watched should be heard on primetime TV. Two that really struck me were Jasmuheen (www.jasmuheen.com) and David Wolfe (www.davidwolfe.com).
Now, I’ll say right here that I missed far more of the event than I took in. A friend of mine arranged for me to meet a woman who happened to be a vendor at the show. I drove up at the last minute, knowing virtually nothing about the event or the presenters. On deciding to spend the night without a reservation, I had to drive almost 40 miles away, to a town 10 miles west of Flagstaff, to find a motel room.
The Festival was, in a word, festive. Beyond that, it was energetic, and most of all, sincere. That’s a high complement, for while there was the expected amount of vendor vending and raw food rah rah-ing, some seriously positive and empowering information was being communicated throughout the day and weekend.
One speaker that impressed me, but I did not get a chance to interview was Dr. Brian Clement of the Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach, FL, where wheatgrass figures prominently in its treatment regimen. Dr. Clement is author of several books, including Living Foods for Optimum Health and Spirituality in Healing and Life.
Another individual who impressed me, even though I barely met her, was Happy Oasis, the event’s founder and chief visionary. It clearly changed dramatically from the previous year. And why not? More people are “sick” from a wide range of diseases.
There are attempts to classify obesity as a “disease” so that it can be qualify for traditional treatment. Yet we don’t think of ourselves ourselves as a malnourished society. We don’t see disease as the inevitable result of mineral deficiency, which is what malnourishment is. If people are skinny and gaunt in appearance, they can be malnourished, and warrant our sympathy. But if they are fat beyond all reason, they may have a mental disorder, but not a nutritional one. The problem with this thinking is that we continue operating under the illusion that there’s nothing wrong with our food, except for the simple fact that, for all intents and purposes, there’s very little “food” in it.
Live food as a concept, and as a lifestyle, has a lot going in its favor. The first and foremost is that it supports and enhances life. We’ll be hard pressed to appreciate what that means until we try it ourselves. And anyone who is attempting to counteract the advances of a chronic disease owes it to them self to give live foods a try.
The radio interviews were exercises in persistence, but they went off without a hitch. I conducted a short interview with festival chef, Bruce Horowitz (www.thesunkitchen.com and www.rawpermaculture.org), which sadly, didn’t make the radio show. However, you can listen to it now by following this link.
asmuheen was gracious and available, even with a throng of people waiting to see her. She managed to give each of them time, while allowing us time to do a relaxed interview. The Raw Spirit Fest event coordinators had reserved a suite as a media room, which was perfect.
There is some controversy about breatharianism, and about Jasmuheen, as there would be for any practice that works outside the confines of conventional beliefs, but none of that mattered to me, for I knew that the things she said over two hours the previous night represented High Truth. She wasn’t advocating her lifestyle. She advocated knowing and accepting one’s self as a divine being having a physical experience. That is a major milestone for most. She said that breatharians and raw proponents can become very rigid in defense of, or righteousness of their lifestyle, to the extent that it becomes their own dogma. In the long run, the lifestyle is of secondary importance to the awareness, for it’s what we do with our awareness that determines the health of our being.
David Wolfe was equally gracious and willing, but harder to get together with logistically. He and Jasmuheen were on the same panel discussion Sunday afternoon, but I would do one at a time. By the time “Jas” and I were done (she said I could call her that), David was nowhere to be found. And when he did resurface, it was to give a presentation on chocolate.
We did eventually get together, both after a long day, and yet, there was plenty of energy to have a meaningful conversation.
I gave David a gift of ocean-derived magnesium chloride, which his friend kindly rubbed on his feet while he relaxed on the couch before we started. He reported feeling relief within minutes. I gave Jasmuheen a copy of my book, I Am My Body, NOT!, which will return to Australia with her, as a gift for her granddaughter.
After a very long day, in which I trudged back and forth with camera or computer gear, in moderate altitude (Sedona is 4,000 above sea level), I prepared for the 2-hour drive home. (Well, less for me.) Having had only two “heads” of coconut water for nourishment, my energy reading was low. However, as I started my car, I pulled out a Raw Revolution Organic Live Food Bar — Spirulina/Cashew flavor. First impression, it tasted good. Second is that, within about five minutes after eating it, the fatigued feeling went away. I had energy, and was alert for the bulk of the journey, only getting sleepy again within minutes of home. It’s something I would definitely eat again, and even look for.
Perhaps that’s what live food offers us all?
You can listen to the entire show at Talk for Food now, at my permanent archive site, by following this link.
