Meditation for Becoming Aware of Body & Breath

Day 10 of the Raw Vitality July Group Cleanse. This is a sample of one of the meditations included in the 30-day Raw Vitality program. 

Meditation is a powerful tool to restore health and balance to your body, mind and spirit. Meditation helps to relax and calm you, balance your internal processes and helps to break through challenges and obstacles that stand in the way of achieving your health goals and intentions. Meditating daily is one of the keys to managing your stress in a healthy and effective way.

Isn't it amazing how little we pay attention to our bodies and our breath. When I first do the body meditation with my clients, they often comment at the end, that they lost track of time and they began floating as they relaxed every part of their body and mind. Remember that we have this resource available to us at any time! You can always come back to any of these practices in your mind and even repeating just a part of it will calm your mind.

Today, we're going to bring awareness to sights and sounds. Sit up straight and begin as always with your breath meditation or open awareness in the present moment. Now bring attention to your gaze. Notice, the world around you is vibrant with color! We often fail to notice that our world is in High Definition. The textures and colors around us are alive and powerful.

Look at the world now with new eyes, as if you've opened them for the first time. Stay here for a minute.

Now bring your awareness back to breath. Let your mind settle and then slowly start to become aware of the sounds you are hearing. Perhaps you will immediately notice the sound of a clock, bird, or car outside that you didn't notice only a moment earlier. Listen to the richness of these sounds and stay here for a minute.

Notice as much as you possibly can and practice "no preference". Just simply observe the beauty around you without thoughts, interpretations, or labeling. Practicing this in the park can be extremely pleasurable as well. Feel free to take a break from work today and do this practice again.


Now set your timer for 5 minutes or more and practice alternating from breath to sight back to breath and then to sound meditation. 

Daily meditation for Raw Vitality presented by Life Warrior Training Systems www.lifewarriorcoaching.com

Join our next group cleanse coming in September 2014!

Raw Vitality is a holistic health system that provides you with all the tools, education and support you need to prevent and reverse chronic health conditions naturally. Raw Vitality teaches natural eating principals, healthy stress management practices, balanced, consistent, exercise, green living strategies and the use of medicinal herbs.  We teach and offer everything you need to restore and maintain your health in a natural and balanced way through ongoing group cleanses, holistic health workshops, teaching programs for industry professionals, cooking classes, individual cleanses, natural and organic products, education and support to help you heal and reach the highest levels of health and vitality!

Get a free taste of Raw Vitality with 10 Fresh, Fast & Healthy Raw Vitality Recipes at www.rawvitalitytotalhealth.com

4 Steps to Reversing A Root Cause of Health Problems

In natural medicine we look for the root cause of health problems. Addressing the root cause helps us to reverse and prevent health conditions naturally.  All health problems are rooted in toxicity, deficiency and oxidative stress. We address all these root causes of health problems in the Raw Vitality holistic health system and cleanse. Deficiency of key nutrients is one of the most common causes of health problems. 

While we have grown accustomed to judging what we eat by the number of calories we intake, that view causes us to overlook one of the biggest contributors to health problems in our country, deficiency. Here is the U.S we are deficient in key and essential nutrients our body needs in order to ward of sickness and disease, to remain balanced, to have high energy levels and attain and maintain superior health. The body's health is only able to maintain health when there are sufficient quantities and quality of all the nutrients it needs to rebuild itself and continue to be healthy.  If any one of these nutrients is not supplied sufficiently, there is an immediate slowdown in physical function. When deficiencies continue for an extended period of time, it creates substantial negative consequences in the body and causes a gradual weakening of the body's resistance and overall health. A lowered overall resistance in our body also makes us highly susceptible to sickness and disease. When you body is suffering from nutrient deficiencies it functions less effectively and eliminates wastes and toxins more poorly and contributes to higher levels of toxicity, another common root cause of health problems. Health problems of all kinds come into existence as the body is overloaded with wastes and toxins and is suffering from deficiencies. Did you know a common health problem like depression is often rooted in a deficiency of B vitamins? B vitamins are made within the intestinal tract of the body, which is often impaired by the types of foods we eat and high levels of toxicity. This is one example of a deficiency contributing to a health problem. Almost all Americans, even those that believe themselves to be the most healthy, are suffering from nutritional deficiencies. So what can be done to prevent and reverse this problem? 

Steps to Reversing Deficiency:

1. Eat Organic Foods. Organic foods come from healthier, more nutrient dense soil which in turn yields higher nutrient content plants. Organic foods are also free of additives, colorings, taste enhances and toxic chemicals that interfere with the body's ability to utilize nutrients and increases the amount of toxicity present in the body.

2. Eat Live Foods. Foods that are alive are still in their natural state, having all their nutrients still 100% in tact. Nutrients begin to be degraded when a foods are heated or processed, sometimes multiple times, from their original natural state. Eat foods in their living natural state and deficiency is impossible. A minimum of 50% living foods in your diet, to a most healthy ratio of 80% living foods in your diet will keep you at the highest levels of health.

3. Eat Whole Foods. Once a food has been degraded from its natural state, through processing or refining, its nutrient content has also been degraded and it becomes increasingly possible to become deficient when eating these foods. Keeping foods in their natural state, whole, keeps all of their valuable nutrients in tact.

4. Cleanse. Cleansing the body is a powerful tool in eliminating built up toxins and wastes while restoring deficiencies with a high concentration of nutrients. Cleansing does not mean taking a supplement or pill to "cleanse", a true cleanse is one built on living, raw foods and juices which infuse the body with powerful living nutrients, cleansing out waste and restoring deficiency. When you cleanse the right way you not only restore deficiencies but also cleanse the body of wastes and toxins, addressing both roots of health symptoms. Check out the Raw Vitality way of cleansing which addresses all the root causes of health problems through the use of live, nutrient dense foods, healthy stress management practices, consistent exercise, green living princicpals and medicinal herbs. 

When you address deficiency, toxicity and oxidative stress in the body you see health symptoms, you may have even lived with for years, suddenly vanish. You also attain and maintain strong and consistent levels of energy, clarity and health you never knew possible.

Raw Vitality is a holistic health system that provides you with all the tools, education and support you need to prevent and reverse chronic health conditions naturally. Raw Vitality teaches natural eating principals, healthy stress management practices, balanced, consistent, exercise, green living strategies and the use of medicinal herbs.  We teach and offer everything you need to restore and maintain your health in a natural and balanced way through ongoing group cleanses, holistic health workshops, teaching programs for industry professionals, cooking classes, individual cleanses, natural and organic products, education and support to help you heal and reach the highest levels of health and vitality!

Get a free taste of Raw Vitality with 10 Fresh, Fast & Healthy Raw Vitality Recipes at www.rawvitalitytotalhealth.com

Using Meditation to Heal, Balance & Revitalize

Meditation is a powerful tool to help you heal, sustain balance and revitalize you on all levels. In Raw Vitality we talk alot about the importance of healthy stress management in the prevention and reversal of chronic health conditions. We live in a stressful world, we cannot get away from it, but how we deal with that stress is extremely important. Often we don't realize the impact stress is having on us at a cellular level. We know stress ages us much more quickly, breaking down our cells and causing cellular changes that can lead to chronic health conditions. We know stress reduces the health of our immune system making us more susceptible to health problems. We also know stress interferes with our ability to function well mentally, it reduces our clarity and focus and makes us less effective in our work, relationships, parenting and personal life. 

Science continues to show time and time again that meditation is a powerful tool to help us manage stress effectively, reduce the stress impact on our body and mind, and now it has also shown that mediation actually increases our disease fighting genes, meaning it is an effective tool to prevent and reverse chronic health conditions. 

Researchers at Harvard Medical School discovered is that, in long-term practitioners of relaxation methods such as yoga and meditation, far more ''disease-fighting genes'' were active, compared to those who practiced no form of relaxation.

In particular, they found genes that protect from disorders such as pain, infertility, high blood pressure and even rheumatoid arthritis were switched on. The changes, say the researchers, were induced by what they call ''the relaxation effect'', a phenomenon that could be just as powerful as any medical drug but without the side effects. ''We found a range of disease-fighting genes were active in the relaxation practitioners that were not active in the control group,'' Dr Herbert Benson, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, who led the research, says. The good news for the control group with the less-healthy genes is that the research didn't stop there.

The experiment, which showed just how responsive genes are to behaviour, mood and environment, revealed that genes can switch on, just as easily as they switch off. ''Harvard researchers asked the control group to start practising relaxation methods every day,'' says Jake Toby, hypnotherapist at London's BodyMind Medicine Centre, who teaches clients how to induce the relaxation effect. ''After two months, their bodies began to change: the genes that help fight inflammation, kill diseased cells and protect the body from cancer all began to switch on.''

More encouraging still, the benefits of the relaxation effect were found to increase with regular practice: the more people practiced relaxation methods such as meditation or deep breathing, the greater their chances of remaining free of arthritis and joint pain with stronger immunity, healthier hormone levels and lower blood pressure.

Health Benefits of Meditation include:

INCREASED IMMUNITY

EMOTIONAL BALANCE

INCREASED FERTILITY

RELIEF OF IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME

LOWERED BLOOD PRESSURE

ANTI-INFLAMATORY

CALMNESS

If you would like to learn how to use meditation as a tool to reduce stress, heal your body and as a natural preventative health tool you can use the Raw Vitality 30-day meditation program that is included in the Raw Vitality 30-day Holistic Cleanse & Total Health Transformation program. This meditation program is designed to help individuals learn how to use meditation in a way to increase their health and well being. It is perfect for those who have no experience with meditation but is also a great tool for those who wish to become more consistent in their meditation practice. 

For more information visit www.rawvitalitytotalhealth.com or email therawvitalitycleanse@gmail.com for more information. 

Raw Vitality provides you with the tools, education, support & motivation you need to get and stay healthy naturally!  We teach and offer everything you need to restore and maintain your health in a natural and balanced way through holistic health programs and cleanses, natural and organic products, education and support to help you heal and reach the highest levels of health and vitality!

Get a free taste of Raw Vitality with 10 Fresh, Fast & Healthy Raw Vitality Recipes at www.rawvitalitytotalhealth.com

Green Living Tips for Prevention

Whether our intention is to live in a pure world or not, the fact is we live in a toxic world. The habits we have become accustomed to:  quick, convenience foods; conventional farming methods; transportation methods; and commercial personal care and household products all contribute to a toxic environment, externally and internally. It is estimated that there are 21,000 toxic chemicals in the water we drink and 4,000 toxic chemicals in the air we breathe. There are 77,000 chemicals currently produced in North America, over 3,000 chemicals that are added to our food supply, over 10,000 chemical solvents, emulsifiers and preservatives used in food processing and 1,000 new chemicals are introduced each year into our lives. The effects of this toxicity are profound.

A report by the Columbia University School of Public Health estimates that 95% of cancer is caused by diet and environmental toxicity. Most Americans have between 400 - 800 chemicals stored in their bodies, typically in fat cells. This is because the body uses fat to neutralize toxins. A report compiled by the CDC in 2009 stated that there are at least 212 toxins lodged in human tissues and circulating throughout our systems, many of which are carcinogens. Some of the short and long-term effects of these toxins include:

Neurological disorders (Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, depression, attention deficit disorder, schizophrenia, etc.) Cancer Nutritional deficiencies Hormonal imbalances

Enzyme dysfunction Altered metabolism Reproductive disorders Fatigue Headaches Obesity

Muscle and vision problems Immune system depression Allergies/Asthma Endocrine disorders Chronic viral infections Less ability to tolerate/handle stress

The decisions we make every day contribute to the environment and planet in which we live. When we make healthy, green living choices our environment evolves into the same, however when we opt for convenience and the status quo, we continue to contribute to a toxic environment which leads to a toxic body and sets the stage for chronic health conditions and diseases. 

So how do we assist in creating an environment, planet and body that is pure and toxin free? Here are some easy Green Living tips you can put into practice today to reduce your exposure to toxins:


1. Eat Organic - Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Foods are produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. Organic foods are completely free of all chemicals, including herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, larvacides and food additives, all of which are toxic to living beings and our planet. Pesticides, herbicides and food additives have all been linked to numerous health problems, including cancer, nervous system disorders, birth defects, alterations in DNA, liver, kidney, lung and reproductive problems, weakened immune systems, allergies, hyperactivity in children and neurotoxicity resulting in poor concentration and reduced mental functioning and clarity. In 1987, The National Academy of Sciences concluded that in your lifetime, conventional foods will cause more than a million additional cases of cancer. These poisons are especially harmful to small children and their developing bodies. Organic foods also contribute to the health of the soil and water and increase the nutrient content of foods while decreasing toxic pollution of our land and water supply. 


2. Choose Green Household Products - The products you use in and around your home have a direct impact on your health. The average american uses about 25 gallons of "TOXIC" or "HAZARDOUS" chemical products per year in their home. A major portion of these can be found in household cleaning products. The most acutely dangerous cleaning products are corrosive drain cleaners, oven cleaners, and acidic toilet bowl cleaners. Labels that come with detailed warnings stating, "Danger" or "Poison" are good indications that these products are not safe. Once used in your home, these products are flushed down the drain and end up in our environment. In a May 2002 study of contaminants in stream water samples across the country, the U.S. Geological Survey found persistent detergent metabolites in 69% of streams tested. Sixty-six percent contained disinfectants. Garden and lawn products also pose a potential risk. A study found children in homes where household and garden pesticides are used, have a sevenfold greater chance of developing childhood leukemia. Look for products that are biodegradable and toxin free. Seventh Generation is a good brand. http://www.seventhgeneration.com/products

3. Buy Organic Personal Care Products - The average American woman uses about 12 personal care products per day, the average man 6. Each product containing about a dozen or so chemicals which equates to about 150 toxic chemicals being used on your body DAILY. Some of these chemicals are carcinogens others are neurotoxins while others still are reproductive toxins, but only about 20% of all body care products have been tested for their health effects. That leaves 80% of personal care product chemicals whose effects are completely unknown. Choose products that are completely natural, this means having ingredients that you know and are familiar with. Buy from companies whose commitment is to the preservation of health in every way. Most importantly READ LABELS! Companies who are committed to natural products make it well known on their labels such as "cruelty free, paraben free, eco friendly" and other environmentally and health safe labels. 


4. Eat Whole - Foods that are processed or refined, meaning they come in abox, can, package or other container are filled with additives, preservatives and other food chemicals. It is estimated that American spend about 90% of their food budget on processed and refined foods, which means 90% of what you eat is contaminated with toxic chemicals. The effect of processed versus natural foods effect on the immune system was tested and documented. It was found, the intake of processed foods so disturbed the pattern of white blood cells of the immune system, that the disturbed pattern of the cells looked identical as the white blood cell patterns seen in infections. Further found, when processed meats were ingested, such as hot dogs and salami, the white blood cell pattern looked the same as is seen in sever food poisoning. Yuck! Stick with foods that are whole and have only 1 ingredient, that food! For instance the ingredients in a head of lettuce: lettuce, in an orange: orange. when you do have to buy a canned, boxed or packaged food make sure it is organic and read the labels. If there are words you cannot pronounce or do not know, put it back on the shelf. With a little bit of practice and awareness it is easy to switch to a 100% whole food diet. Fresh made organic tomato sauce is so much better then that jarred stuff anyway. 

5. Cleanse - No matter how conscious you are about your own personal lifestyle the fact is we live in a toxic environment. As the body is overwhelmed with toxic substances, food chemicals and additives, stress, negative thinking, poor nutritional choices such as unhealthy fats, sugar and processed foods it begins to slow and is unable to effectively eliminate the amount of toxicity that is being brought into the body. The un-eliminated toxins begin to accumulate, mostly within the fatty tissues in the body and organs and there they remain. These retained toxins slow down body processes and systems depleting energy, clouding the mind and causing health symptoms to begin to emerge. The impact over time on the mind, body, body organs, systems and processes is substantial and detrimental. Cleansing is one of the best approaches to preventative health care and an important component in a healthy, natural lifestyle. 


The benefits of cleansing include:

• Increased energy
• Better sleep
• Improved digestion
• Reduced allergies
• Weight Loss
• Disease prevention
• Health Symptom Reversal

Raw Vitality is beginning a 30-day group cleanse on Monday July 14th! This 30-day journey that will not only transform your body, but will transform your health and life forever!

Raw Vitality is a 30-day holistic health cleanse that targets all the key areas of health to create the highest levels of energy, radiant beauty and vibrant health! In 30-days you will purify your body, restore deficiencies, create healthy, natural eating practices, a consistent exercise routine, healthy stress management and balanced lifestyle practices.

Raw Vitality Includes:

• Whole, Organic Foods (30 days of receipes 3 meals/day)
• Fresh, Nutrient Rich Juices (30 days of receipes)
• Holistic Lifestyle Refinement
• Optimization of Digestion
• Healthy Stress Management
• Wellness Coaching
• Consistent, Balanced Exercise
• Cleansing Medicinal Herbs

Find out more about our July group cleanse here: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/raw-vitality-cleanse-july-2014-tickets-11087554173