Rachel Talley

Birth, Death and Sexuality

I was recently reading through some of my saved birth sites and found an AMAZING one that I hadn't spent time reading through. Her name is Robbie Davis-Floyd and her website is VERY educational and teaches so much about so many of the physical and philosophical aspects of pregnancy and birth. Well, I was reading her article titled "Culture and Birth: The Technocratic Imperative" and there is a VERY inspiring quote in it. I want to share it with you all.

"Through the act of controlling birth, we disassociate ourselves with its raw power. Disassociation makes it easier to identify with our "civilized" nature, deny our "savage" roots and connection with indigenous cultures. Birth simultaneously encompasses the three events that civilized societies fear--birth, death, and sexuality." --Holly Richards, "Cultural Messages of Childbirth: The Perpetration of Fear," ICEA Journal 7(3):28, May 1993

This quote brought up so many thoughts for me in regards to the current choices we make in all of life, not just birth. Because civilized societies greatest fears are birth, death and sexuality, how has this impacted so many choices we make on a daily basis? Just like all of us who truly want to control birth, are we all going about controlling our lives because of these 3 fears? In my life, I would have to say a HUGE YES to that one.

It has been interesting with me lately because I find that as I move through so much of my emotional, physical and spiritual issues and look honestly at my choices, the MAJORITY of my past choices have been ones based in a place of fear. I think that one of the reasons I find pregnancy and birth to be such a life changing experience is because we are somewhat forced to look at our crap and really decide what we can and will face. There are so many of us who are so scared, even given the opportunity, to face up to what might be inside of us and the really ironic thing about that is that we have TOTALLY created a society where it is SO easy for us to do. Life has become so non-traditional and so FAR AWAY from where we would be living more truth, that is has become almost HUMOROUSLY ridiculous how easy it is for us to really live 60, 70, 80 or even 100 years and NEVER really know ourselves and who we really are.

Lately, I have LONGED to live in a more tribal community where we fully understand ourselves, God, our Creator and Mother Earth. We have become so COMPLETELY disconnectedto each other and most things around us that I am realizing how we all kind of walk around like mummies, never really "getting it" because we so afraid of pain. In childbirth, let us not forget the fear of the pain. So many of us do whatever we can to strive to prevent ourselves from feeling the pain of bringing a new life into this world. Do we do this in our emotional and physical lives as well? Do we push others away and don't fully let their love in for fear that we will feel pain and sorrow? That maybe we will be rejected or unloved and because we all care SO much about what everyone thinks of us, we let this devastate us to the point where we all have chosen it is no longer worth it to fully let LOVE in for ourselves, for others and in receiving from others. I know I have and am currently still doing that in my life.

But....I had a dear friend recently had a baby. She ended up with a VERY needed C-section and soon thereafter we were discussing her feelings about her birth. She related to me that when they pulled her baby out, she looked at her and realized it was her child but was having the hardest time feeling fully bonded to her daughter, like she had to her other children after they were born. Her conclusion was that it had something to do with not being able to feel the labor pains that are normally felt during the birth process. She felt that feeling that pain and going through the whole process of childbirth somehow helped her feel more bonded and loving toward her baby. I found this very intriguing. I am sure there are some kind of studies done at this point on this very subject and I recognize that this may not be the case for everyone who had a child though c-section but for her it was VERY real and she felt the difference between the births.

My question then is....is it worth the pain that might come from loving to let love in? Recently when I was processing at our group, I was releasing some STRONG emotions in regards to my Dad's death. He died when I was thirteen and as you can imagine, it was DEVASTATING to me. I was working on connection with Chris and trying to understand why I wouldn't let him FULLY love me the way he wanted to. I longed for feeling loved by him and because I believe we create our current situation in life, I believed that it was me holding back from feeling his love. I proceeded to cry and found that I couldn't let his love in as much as I wanted because I was so afraid of him dying. I was disconnecting and actually using anger to not have to feel his love for me. As I was sitting there crying, David looked at me and said, "But...Rachel what if he did die and you knew you never let his love in or never loved him fully? Would you be happy then?" It was like this brick being thrown right at me. It hit me in the chest but I then understood what it meant to face our fears of pain, birth, death and sexuality because when we FACE them and let ourselves feel past grievances and sorrows, only then can we be more present in our current life and be LOVED and LOVE as compassionately as we possibly can. I would just like to add that because of my current beliefs, NONE of this can be done without the help of our Creator and Father. "Charity never faileth" and the reason is because it is a gift and it come through the LOVE of our Savior through us, to all about us!! I have felt it as I pray for it and move past my fears that are holding me back.

Sorry if today's post kind of seems like a ramble. I just wanted and felt I should get some thoughts out there. I think it is so great when I read something like this and I feel so impressed with thought and ideas. I hope it doesn't feel to boring to my few readers here. I hope it might shed some life into your current life and the choices you might be making. I pray that all of us can make choices that help us move past our fears, that we can open our hearts and minds to new and truthful ideas that will help to make the world a better place. I know I say that A LOT but I pray everyday that my actions will help to make the world a better place. Just like Gandhi I pray that I can "Be the change I want to see in the world."

Now for the eating stuff. The other night at group I had an AMAZING processing session. I released more in that night than I think I had released in my life. I am back to doing the all fruit and greens, no fat or salt diet and feeling great again. On Monday, which is the night we have group, I had done a lot of juice (fresh from Allred's stand) and mixed it with my Vitamineral green powder I love so much!! I think this prepared me for the processing to come that night. I had eaten only peaches and watermelon, along with the juice, that day. I was feeling really good but knew I have some negative emotional stuff I wanted to get rid of and I felt I was emotionally and physically ready. It was HUGE guys, let me tell ya!! It was AWESOME! I wish you all could have seen it.

Well, I knew I was doing some MAJOR cleansing because of the emotional release and the dietary changes. In fact, the coolest part of about it was when I was done I had brought up so much I actually started vomiting. I know that doesn't really sound cool but to me I was so glad because I could tell I have moved MASSIVE amounts of unwanted and unneeded energy. I just LOVE it when that happens. It just frees me up to feel more love for myself and others. I feel the Light shine through me and I feel so much more peaceful in my world. Isn't that great? Everyone can jump up and down and feel as excited as I do.

Yesterday because of the AWESOME cleansing, I fasted with water until late last evening I ate a bowl of peaches. I still would like to try a short water fast soon. I feel my body is longing for it and when the right time arrives, I will do it. I am excited for that.

So...today I haven't had much to eat.
2 cups of fresh apple juice
8 peaches

I think Chris and I are going to go to Tucano's to eat tonight. WE have a coupon and he LOVES it. I go and eat the fruit and salad bar. It is YUM-O!!!!

I think I need to take some kind of writing class because I feel I didn't fully communicate well enough on feelings in regards to our fears. One last thought I had though was that there is an EXCELLENT book called, "The Ways and Power of Love" by C. K. Allen that explain what I mean quite well. I read the book years ago but I think it might be time to pull it out and read it again. I highly recommend to those interested.

That's all for today. Oh, I hope everyone loved the burn pictures. Aren't they AWESOME?

Abundant peace to all,
Rachel

by Rachel Talley

Finally, the Burn Pictures and More!!

I know it has been a week since I have posted again. So sorry to those of you who would like it if I posted more often. I had a request this week to finally post the burn pictures of my friend. I have been trying to figure out how to do this exactly. His brother, who took care of him AMAZINGLY, was VERY diligent at my request for the pictures so we could follow the healing process. So....I have about 60 picture of his feet, arms and legs. I have just been trying to figure out how to post them and get across how AWESOME his healing really was. I hope this turns out well and everyone can see the blessings of using Mother Earth helped heal my dear friend. He used Her gifts in more than just what herbs and oils he placed on the burns, he also took charge of his healing by consciously deciding what he would eat and not eat during the healing process along with any emotional issues he needed to heal to help speed up the process. He covered all his basis. This is taking charge of our own whole being health.

Aaron burned himself by accidentally falling into a raging fire. He ended up with 3rd degree burns on his feet and 2nd all over his arms and legs. We discussed with him the options of going to the emergency room but he stated he felt inspired to go the more "natural" route with his healing. There was a nurse who was present when he burned himself and she felt that he really needed to go to the hospital but he felt the need to put in faith in himself, Mother Earth and God. He took full responsibility for his own healing. I really was taken back by his strength even though he was in so much pain.

Right away, until I could get all my herbs and things together, we placed mud on each burnt sight. That stayed in placed for about an hour. Once I found everything I needed, we were ready to bandage him. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Dr. Christopher's Burn Paste. It consists of BF&C powder, wheat germ oil and honey. We did change the concoction off and on for his particular situation. We also used some essential oils as more healing took place. I have to say that I believe Dr. Christopher was TOTALLY inspired with his herbal combinations. I have seen some astonishing things from his herbal combos.

Another blessing involved in the healing process was that I have FRESH comfrey leaves growing in my back yard. How cool is that!! So we were able to make up the paste and then top it off with a bruised comfrey leaf on top. I did learn ALOT about burns years ago when I took Sandy Ellis's class on herbs. She has some mind blowing pictures in her latest book, "Dr. Mom's Healthy Living" book. I think, in her book, the healing that took place with the little boy actually took longer to heal than Aaron's and I thought the boy in the book had healed really fast.

Along with the paste he placed on the burns, he decided to change his diet to aid in his healing quicker. The first day he ate no food. Then he ate an all raw diet for over a week along with LOTS of fresh juices. After that he slowly added in more cooked foods while drinking fresh juices and taking some basic wide spectrum supplements. Don't quote me on this but I think about 3 weeks into his healing, he decided to jump on the Master Cleanse. He stayed on it for 31 days!! He found the MOST healing taking place during this time. He also lost 55 lbs. Weight he has been wanting to loose for some time. He looks and feels great now and feels grateful for everything he learned from the experience. He has recently made a switch to a vegetarian diet.

One last thought before I post the pictures, Aaron would not have healed at the rate he did without his MAGNIFICENT brother Jory taking care of him. He waited on him hand and foot for a month. He made all his meals and cared for his burns. Aaron couldn't walk for about 2 weeks but was able to walk again soon thereafter. I think I have decided to just show the worst burns and the healing that took place on those. Otherwise, it would take me the rest of my life to post all the pictures. Ok, now for the pictures.
This picture is the day after the incidence. Not so pretty, eh?
Here is the 4th day after. He decided to cut off the excess skin. He said it didn't hurt. It actually was more uncomfortable to leave it on.
Here is 10 days after. You can see the white parts that are actually new cell growth. If he had gone to the emergency room, each time this white film developed on the burn site, they would have scraped it off. We saw the new cell growth as soon as 1 day after the incidence. It was SO COOL!!
This is only 2 weeks after the initial burn. Can you believe it? I sure couldn't when I saw it. I was in AWE!!!
Here is 18 days after. Can you even tell he was burned there? Now it only looks like a mild flesh wound.
20 days after initial burn. I tried to download the 35 day after picture but it wouldn't let me. OH well!! Now it is FULLY healed and all is well. He does have some mild discoloration in spots for a time but that should be gone soon also. His feeling is 100% in all the spots that were burned. Here is a few more pictures from another of the worst burns.
More burns day 1 on the other foot.
The 4th day after. Notice it is already trying to scab on the ends. How MAGNIFICENT are our little bodies?!!
10 days after. Notice the residue from the burn paste.
14 days after. 2 week!! Can you believe it?
20 days after!!

You know, Chris thought it was a bit crazy to try and experiment on Aaron's feet. I think Chris has a pretty song testimony of alternative medicine but this was even a bit hard for him to believe. His testimony has now grown by leaps and bounds and he brags about how cool it is that Aaron was healed so quickly and effectively. The neatest part of the story though, is if you ask Aaron about his healing, he will thank God for he knows NONE of it would have taken place with his inspiration and LOVE involved.

Here is what I had today to eat.
Saturday, August 11th:
1 bunch of grapes
3 peaches
1/2 a falafal salad from Omar's
1/2 a Raw Pasta from Omar's

I would like to add here that Allred's Orchard on University Ave. is now open selling SO YUMMY for my TUMMY peaches and fresh, raw apple juice. I went and bought 4 cases of peaches today. I am sure they will be gone in the next couple of days. YEAH for peach season!!

My son Dean, who in 2 months will have eaten an all raw diet for 1 year, decided he REALLY wanted to go to Omar's. We went this afternoon and had A LOT of fun!! He loved it. He had been having some cravings lately and really needed some YUMMY raw foods. I could have made it for him but it probably wouldn't have been as good as Omar's. I don't think it is a coincidence that both of us have been craving a lot more lately. I think we both have EXCITING issues wanting to be looked at. He is doing GREAT and looking at them and really understanding himself and life.

I think the heaviness was, once again, a bit much for me. It was DELICIOUS but I am finding, yes once again, (how many times do you think I have to replay something before I listen to myself) that I am really just enjoying eating my own food at home with my family. That making my light meals with little to no fat and properly food combined, is when I feel the BEST!!! It has taken me 5 years of eating raw foods to finally figure out that eating out isn't really all I thought it was cracked up to be. I am TONS of emotional energy wrapped around eating out especially since so much energy has and had been wrapped up in the bonding that took place between my hubby and I every time we went out to eat. I know I still have stuff in there I am going to have to look at. But....I am quite grateful for what I have already looked at and moved through.

Oh, another BIG step for me this week was feeding my kids more of what they really wanted. MY kids will go over to the neighbor's house for food and eat TOTAL and COMPLETE crap. Things like cereal, pizza, candy and so forth. I was feeling so sad that they were doing that I decided to, once again, revamp the ways I am feeding my kids. I am felt blessed lately to be able to work through my emotional issues with what my kids chose to eat. As I have done that, I am finding I am more detached, in a VERY loving way, and my strongest desire is to give them their free agency and learn from their own experiences.

This week I made a HUGE pot of beans. I must admit that I make EXCELLENT beans. It happens to be one of the only cooked foods I make so well. I was trying to figure out what I could do so that my kids would eat at home. I talked to them about what they wanted and we came up with some more things I could incorporate at home that would give the desire to eat here. Chris was in TOTAL shock when he saw me cooking white flour tortillas for my kids. I couldn't believe it myself. Normally, I am SUCH a freak about what they eat and I really had NO emotion on it when I made it for them. They were SO happy and felt SO LOVED!! This in turn helped me feel happy that I felt blessed with some emotional healing. Along with the white flour tortillas, I have made LOTS of more cooked foods I normally wouldn't make for my kids. They eat here for every meal now and think life is so much FUN!! I know, I am sure most of you have chose to learn this in an easier manner. I pray I won't have to take the slow path on learning. That I can decide to switch my thinking, with the Lord's help, and quickly and smoothly move to the place of peace that I am longing for.

I think I need to stop for now. I have a few more things I want to share but my neck is hurting and kids are hungry for potatoes, of all things!! I will, once again, (sorry I just have to keep saying that because I think it's funny!! Hopefully you do too!!) try to post more often this week. Life is FULL of "once agains". We just keep chuggin' along doing our best!!

Abundant peace to you all,
Rachel

by Rachel Talley

Gratitude in ALL of LIFE!!

I was SO inspired by a video I saw the other day. I apologize if someone who reads this is the person who sent it to me!! I can't remember where it came from. But...it is about a 20 year old girl with only 4 fingers and is a famous, AMAZING pianist. Her name is Hee Ah Lee. I was, like others in the video, was brought to tears by her BEAUTIFUL piano playing and her ability to be so focused and LOVE what she is doing. You know, how many times in our lives do we feel like failures or even feel we just can't do things? We are a society of people who feel OVERWHELMED by the smallest task. Part of the reason I believe it is that way is because we are SO busy all the time and anything else we add into our everyday lives makes things seem SO crazy.

Watching the video of Hee Ah Lee really helped me to put my own life into perspective. I recognize my ability to let myself get too busy and not really enjoy and be grateful for all my gifts and talents. Along with the gifts and talents of all my earthly brothers and sisters. How grateful I was just to have 10 fingers and 10 toes after watching the video. We forget, to every second of every day, find gratitude for all our many blessings. We do need to be counting them. Some times when I feel down and I am having a hard time finding things to be grateful for, in my given situation, I will start with just being grateful for my toilet or warm water for a shower or my rocking chair or my bed or whatever. We really ALL our SO blessed!!!

I am sure Hee Ah Lee is also grateful for what she has been given. I believe this is why she IS so talented. She doesn't see herself as any different than the rest of us but strives to be thankful for each and everyday and what it offers her. From my perception, this could and would help all humanity be just a bit happier and more at peace with each of our lives. I have seen a few videos recently of some VERY talented, unique people who have taken their ability to grow and learn to a new level. Some were inspired spiritually and some knew that success came at a price but one that was worth the fight and effort. When I say success, I am not speaking of the word in any worldly sense but one in just each person being able to find JOY in whatever life has to offer them and just finding that place of gratitude deep within their hearts of just BEING ALIVE and being able to share with earthly experience with all our brothers and sister. I know I say this ALL the time and you will probably hear me say it a lot more but WHAT A GIFT we all have been given. We sure are LOVED by a dear Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother.

We each get the opportunity to learn and grow from our own experiences and we can choose to let them make us or break us. When I see others fight for growth and understanding, it becomes MUCH easier for me to gain the desire to more fully tackle my own problems (that might seemed SO big before I saw others) because mine seem, all of a sudden, so much easier to work through. I am not sure who said it but I do LOVE the quote that states something like this: "I became saddened because I did not have shoes and then I meet a man with no feet." By understanding this statement, in my mind it is not saying we do not face our own demons and fears inside of us by only seeing others. I feel it is saying that to more fully create balance within each of our lives, we might want to try seeing the world through different eyes. The way I see it is most of us, especially the ones reading my blog, have got it pretty DAMN good. We don't even know how good we got it!! When we recognize this and find LOVE and GRATITUDE in our hearts for it, whatever else we might need to work on becomes just a little easier merely for the fact that we are looking at it a bit more honestly and with a new perspective.

One of my VERY best friends has been going through some "stuff" within her marriage. She LOVES her husband SO much and is working at really LOVING him and ACCEPTING him for whatever choices he makes. Her hopes in doing this is that their relationship can become closer and this can bring about more understanding but also that she can be ACCEPTED and LOVED in the choices she is making. I do believe in KARMA and that what we send out into the universe whether through thought or deed, does return to us. Some times even stronger and/or more powerfully. (By the way, I must add that karma is SO COOL to me. I LOVE that as I learn how to turn and keep my thoughts positive and full of LOVE for myself and everything around me, I find I get this in return. Again, another AWESOME gift from our Creator.)

Anyway, my purpose for telling you about my friend is because I find that as I help her, I see things in my relationship that I had seem to miss before. I find that I am MUCH more appreciative for my husband and what he does for me. Any problems of issues I might have been looking at don't just go away but I am able to forgive MUCH more quickly. This is all because I took myself out of my own "issues" and decided to try and be love and supportive for a good friend and found my situation wasn't what I previously thought it was. I had let myself create another false belief about my husband or about our relationship. When I decided that what I chose to see about him really wasn't truth, I asked forgiveness of my husband and my Savior and all was well. It is and can really be that simple.

Another great story is my son got car sick the other day. It actually happened to be his birthday. We were riding up to a friends house and he wasn't sitting in the front seat like he normally does. SO...after a while he started feeling REALLY sick. He acted like he was going to make it without vomiting so I kept driving. Wouldn't you know it to be Murphy's Law that right as we pull up to the curb of my friends house, my son can no longer hold it in and vomits all over the car. I was SO ANNOYED!!! And of course, I showed my SEVERE annoyance to my son. I was even rude to him, to a certain extent, and kept asking him why he couldn't hold it in. DUH!!! What a STUPID question to ask someone.
Well, he was feeling TONS better so he came and helped me clean up the mess. After we were done, I felt really bad that I had been so childish in the way I had treated him. I went and asked him to forgive me. His response is one I feel we should all have when one asks our forgiveness. He said, "Mom, of course I forgive you. It's ok. Just forgive and forget, right?" I was SO grateful that he was so willing and effortlessly forgiving me but what a LEARNING experience for me. What my 11 year old son taught me that day was nothing new. It was nothing I hadn't heard before but it all of a sudden become clear to me, yet again, that when we chose to stay in a place of constant gratitude and forgiveness, life becomes a life where we can love more easily, move through our own "issues" with peace and gratitude, and really see the world in truth and light. We see the world as it really is. A place full of LOVE, GRATITUDE and FORGIVENESS!! I believe all of our lives find JOY when we choose to live in that space.

So....my sister and I decided to do a fruit diet for the next little while. I started on Monday. She decided to come up and see me this week/weekend so we decided to do it together. We decided to go to up to SLC last night for a concert she wanted to go to so we HAD to go to Omar's to eat. I got the Falafal Bowl, which is my favorite, along with the Sushi!! My sister got the Lebanese Wrap and the Raw Pasta. I liked the pasta A LOT this time. I had forgotten how much I liked it. Oh, we are jumping back on our fruit diet now which means we are eating only fruit and greens. I would like to do it for a couple more weeks but we will see if that happens or not.

Here is what I have been eating for the past couple of days.

Wednesday, August 1st:
1 1/2 quarts of green smoothie
6 mangoes
3 bananas
And my new favorite dish is my salad which is romaine lettuce with tomatoes, mangoes, cucumbers, and dulse soaked in orange juice. YUMMY!!

I ate almost the exact same thing the days before and then yesterday I had:
watermelon
4 mango's
Omar's DELICIOUS food!! YEAH FOR OMAR!!!

I think I am now done with this post. I am excited to start reading a book called "Mutant Message" by Marie Morgan. It is supposed to be another very INSPIRING book. I will tell you all more about it as I go.

Abundant peace to all,
Rachel

by Rachel Talley

Loving Father Sky and Mother Earth

I have these really GREAT face products I use by a company called "Suki". I have LOVED them so far and find that my skin has benefited from their use. I try not to use too many products on my skin but for my face, I find I need to be more gentle. I am sure most woman feel this way. There website is great too because it has a lot of educational info on. I am not big on promoting products but I felt like this is a good company that is trying to do good things.

I received a newsletter from them this morning and they had an informative article about skin cancer. I thought I would share it here. For those who don't know me well, I LOVE the sun. Most days, I try to make the time to sunbathe. I believe the sun can help to keep us healthy. There is now scientific evidences that one of our main sources of Vitamin D comes from the sun. My personal belief is that skin cancer has become so abundant in our society because of the way we are treating our AMAZING bodies. We feed them all kinds of garbage, we aren't using them to their greatest extend by exercising, we hold in and carry all kinds of negative emotions that are making us all sick, etc. Since the sun is a healer, it strives to keep us healthy by pulling out any unwanted and unbeneficial toxins within our bodies. What an AWESOME gift! I believe our bodies are a gift from God and when we learn to apply the Universal Laws he has put into place, we find life becomes easier and we feel happier, more at peace and stronger in all aspects of health.

Throughout history, the sun would be a representation of part of Father Sky. When I look up to the sky, I only see BEAUTY and wisdom beyond our understanding. From the Native American stand point, Father Sky encompasses freedom, flight, and understanding beyond our own capabilities. He gives us our daily breathe through the air we breathe. If this is really what the Sky is, then it is only here to help us learn more about ourselves and the world around us. It is here to bring us joy!! What a gift!

Here is the article. I have copied it so you can read it but HERE is the link.

Skin Cancer Message May Mislead [July 18, 2007] The young woman in the American Cancer Society ad holds up a photo of a smiling woman. "My sister accidentally killed herself. She died of skin cancer," reads the headline. The public-service announcement, financed by the sunscreen maker Neutrogena, is running in 15 women's magazines this summer. It warns readers that "left unchecked, skin cancer can be fatal," and urges them to "use sunscreen, cover up and watch for skin changes." The woman in the picture is a model. And the ad's implicit message -- that those who die of skin cancer have themselves to blame -- has provoked a sharp response from some public-health doctors, who say the evidence simply does not support it. As the ad says, skin cancer is the most common form of cancer. But most skin cancer is not life-threatening: It represents less than 2 percent of all cancer deaths, an estimated 10,850 people this year. Almost all of those deaths are from melanoma, which makes up only 6 percent of all skin-cancer cases. And the link between melanoma and sun exposure is not straightforward. Dr. Marianne Berwick, an epidemiologist at the University of New Mexico who studies skin cancer, led a study published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 2005 finding that people who had a lot of sun exposure up to the time they got a diagnosis of melanoma actually had better survival rates than those who had little sun exposure. The researchers are conducting a large-scale follow-up aimed at clarifying the relationship between sun exposure and melanoma. Until that is made clear, many doctors say, it is premature to suggest that people are endangering their lives by failing to use sunscreen. "It's just not that simple," said Dr. Barry Kramer, associate director for disease prevention at the National Institutes of Health. "We do have some pretty good evidence that sunscreen will reduce your risk of the less lethal forms of skin cancer," Kramer added. "There's very little evidence that sunscreens protect you against melanoma, yet you often hear that as the dominant message." Dr. J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society, acknowledges that the advertisement is aggressive. "We have taken some license in taking that message and using it the way we've used it because that's the way to get the message to our target audience," he said. The ad's creators settled on the approach with the help of focus groups, who told them: "To get the message through to me, you have to shock me and get my attention," he added. "Our focus groups showed us that these young women as a group were oblivious to the risk and felt that skin cancer isn't a serious problem," Lichtenfeld said. "The issue is to try to prevent that sun exposure earlier in life so we reduce the risk for people later in life." In an effort to spread awareness about sun safety, the cancer society has joined with Neutrogena, a division of Johnson & Johnson whose sunscreens carry the society's logo. As part of the agreement, Neutrogena is paying for the public-service campaign, though its name is not mentioned in the advertisement. The partnership benefited both parties, said Iris Grossman, director of communications for Johnson & Johnson. "We have the common goal of raising awareness," she said. But this financial relationship raises red flags for some experts. "When people see an American Cancer Society public-service announcement, they expect it to reflect the best evidence," said Dr. Lisa Schwartz, co-director of the Outcomes Group at the Veterans Affairs hospital in White River Junction, Vt. "We don't want people who have a financial interest to be telling you the benefit of doing something." Neutrogena did not influence the cancer society's message on skin cancer, Lichtenfeld said. By Christie Aschwanden, New York Times News Service, July 17, 2007

Are we not surprised to find out that Neutrogena is paying for the public service campaign? I just thought this was a very non biased article but states the facts. I would LOVE to hear others comments on this. What do you think about the sun? Is it killing us or helping us or neither or both?

I have had a GREAT morning this morning. I went and did my walking and Yoga around the temple. It was GORGEOUS!! I LOVED every minute of it and just felt blessed to be able to look up at the mountains and see the SPLENDOR of everything around me.

I LOVED doing my Yoga on the lawn with the warm sun beating down it's love upon me. In the book, "The Hummingbird's Daughter", Hulia is teaching Teresita how to fully ground and connect herself to Mother Earth. She explains it so beautifully, I wanted to share it here. I am searching in my book for it so I could just type it up but I can't find it so....I will just share with you what it said.

Huila talks about planting your feet firmly in the grass, almost as if you are pushing your feet deeper and deeper into the soil. You bend your legs slightly and curl your toes around the grass and dirt. Then you press your heels into the earth while picturing roots, coming out of your heels, burying themselves down deep into the earth. You just visualize these roots growing longer, larger and deeper until you feel fully grounded and present with our Earthly Mother. Feel yourself becoming one with Her. Open your heart to feeling her love for you. Connect with her so strongly that you can hear the messages she is sending you of love and learning.
I have tried this a couple of times and it is AMAZING! I found myself on the ground soon thereafter just smelling Mother Earth and being so grateful for everything she has given all of us. I listened to my own breathe and connect myself to every part of my body, thanking Her for this physical body she has given to me. I recommend that everyone try this. We will find a new love for ourselves and for everything our Mother has given us.

So....the diet thing is still a bit off. I am living in a world of extremes. I am either eating REALLY horrible, compared to how I normally eat, or I am eating GREAT!! I am striving to gain some balance right now in my life and I am sure my diet is showing me how out of balance I really am. Of course, when I am eating not as well as I would like, I am emotionally eating because I know they are not foods my body NEEDS!! I can usually tell if it is something I need and I feel like I have gotten pretty good at listening to my body.

All I did yesterday was eat. I have 2 salads, 2 quarts of green smoothie, some peas, and a few other things I can't remember. I know you think it looks great but I have found when I eat all day long that I don't feel good. Especially when I am eating LOTS of salads with LOTS of oil and salt and such. It just is too much for my digestive system.

I have decided I am going to start a watermelon fast either today or in the next couple of days. I am wondering if there is anyone who wants to do it with me. If there are others who want to join the party, then just email and we can make a plan of when to start and how long we want to do it. I LOVE watermelon fasts. I did 2 last summer and I felt GREAT while doing them and after. After a fast, it makes it TONS easier to stay eating the way you want to because even a plain salad tastes great!!

That's my plan for now. I hope to hear from people soon. If not, then I will do it all alone and still have FUN!!

Abundant peace to all,
Rachel

by Rachel Talley

I Am Back

Hello again. I am so sorry that I have been away for so long again. Life has yet to slow down for me right now, which I am ok with. But...it has haltered my ability to post as much as I would like. Let's see...I went to Vegas with my good friend, Shauna, and we partied with our kids. We did TONS of swimming and had TONS of FUN!! I was really excited to see my sister Kim since she was the reason we went down in the first place. I LOVE her SO MUCH!! I feel blessed to have a sister like her. My lifestyle, as everyone who read my blog knows, is a bit alternative. (That might be an understatement!) Throughout the changes we have made, I must admit I have felt some judgment from friends and loved ones. Kim truly has the gift of trying to love others, no matter what choices they make. I hope when I grow up I can have this same gift. She inspires me!!

We came home late on Wednesday and as soon as we got home, Chris and I planned for another sweat lodge ceremony on Saturday. You know, you wouldn't think it was that big of a deal to plan for one but you'd be surprised. It even surprises me sometimes! It is exciting for me to plan and get things together for it. I just LOVE how I feel every time I leave a lodge after a AMAZING sweat ceremony. Every single one is so eye opening and inspiring.

I must admit that I have the COOLEST friends and I know the NEATEST people. When I first went raw, I met a WONDERFUL woman named Ruth. She, like my sister, has the gift of love and openness toward others. We were there for each other when the going got tough when we were first trying to eat an all raw diet. I don't know where I would have been without her.

Well, on Saturday my intention for the ceremony was to learn how to deeply connect, with a Christ like love, to all living things about me. In the book I am reading, "The Hummingbird's Daughter", the medicine woman is teaching her pupil how to talk to the plants and animals and really understand what they are saying to her. I LOVED this idea!! Right now, I am striving to learn how to really connect on a deep level with my husband and children. As I connect with myself on a deeper level I recognize that I can then connect with all about me on that same level. I am anxious for this to happen.

During our ceremony, while I was going through some strong emotions and processing, I realized how prideful I really am. I saw how much of myself was still unconscious to it. I understood that my pride was preventing me from truly connecting with all about me. I was and am SO grateful to see it and hope and pray that with the Saviors love and support, I can let go and move from this prideful place that I see now is holding me back from truly being a disciple of Christ. It truly was a painful yet awakening and LOVING experience. My desire is to humble myself enough to see all the LOVE in the world along with truly feeling it.

After the ceremony, I came in my house and was getting ready to jump in the shower and low and behold, my good friend Ruth had sent me a gift. I opened it and knew God was working through others to help me on the path I have choose. What I received was a book with some cards called "Medicine Cards."

They are cards that teach you how to understand the language of animals and what some of their healing properties might be. I couldn't believe it. She was SO inspired with this gift and it came on the PERFECT day. It was just what I needed to understand how to connect!! I felt so LOVED and BLESSED!! Thank you so much, Ruth. I love you!!

I have been doing pretty good with eating the way I want, not great though. I will stick to it when I can but with the traveling and stuff it can be tough. I am ok with it and am trying to just go with the flow and do what I can. I went through my sauerkraut faze and had fun with it but I think I am over it now. I was eating it everyday for awhile there. All I have had today is:
Green smoothie
strawberries
mango

I will make some green soup tonight or a salad. I really enjoy how simple my life has become in regards to my personal diet. Since my kids are now eating more cooked foods, I find myself in the kitchen more which has been kinda hard for me. I am NOT a cook and have always had a hard time making good food. Chris is the cook in the family and he is SO good that my food just doesn't compare. He just is so busy he doesn't really have time so even though mine isn't great, I end up doing most of the cooking. I am learning to try to love it and be grateful for the opportunity to serve my kids in this manner. They usually LOVE what I make and I am so thankful for that!

I promise to write more often this week. It is hard for me to make them shorter. I still have to post my friends burns. I am trying to figure out just how to do that because I have SO many pictures of his burns. It might just have to be a really LONG post.

Until next time.
Abundant peace to you all,
Rachel

by Rachel Talley

Bodacious Breasstfeeding

It seems every time I post it takes me FOREVER. I don't know what it is but my plan is to make it MUCH quicker tonight. I think it might be that the pictures take so long to download. I wanted to share some our 4th of July pictures. We had tons o'fun doing ABSOLUTELY nothing that day. I really like days like that. Life sometimes feels really crazy busy and it is so much fun to take a break every now and again and just HANG out!! Don't ya think?

Here I am on our roof for the FUNNEST part of the day. Tons of our family and friends come over to watch The Stadium of Fire fireworks show. Since my parents have owned this house, it has been an yearly event. The kids LOVE it and the fireworks are MAGNIFICENT!! I know, you are all SO jealous!! All 2 of you! hehehehe!
Here are all the other people on the roof. It was really hard to take pictures because we couldn't actually see what we were taking a picture of because it was SO dark. I am surprised we got any to turn out. We all really had a BLAST and I was grateful for the friend and family time.

Let's see what else. I have been reading the BEST book lately. I am going to tell you more about it next time I write but it is called "The Hummingbird's Daughter." I HIGHLY recommend it to EVERYONE!! It is one of the best books, so far, that I have ever read. I hope others would read it so I had someone to discuss it with. It would a great book to hold a book discussion about.

My eating over the last few days has been EXCELLENT!! I have felt so ALIVE and ENERGETIC!! I purchased some apricots that are DELICIOUS! I know, I know there are trees everywhere with apricots on them in our area and if any of you are wanting to get rid of yours, I will come and take them off your hands anytime. I do plan on getting them from my sisters and neighbors homes but they are not fully ripe yet and so I am waiting. I wanted some really bad so I couldn't wait anymore. We have eaten a whole case of them in less in 24 hours. That is how it is at our house. Crazy eh?

But...I know I just recently had the whole discussion about fermented foods and I have decided I am someone who is completely weird. I went to Yulia's house the other day and she had made some of the BEST sauerkraut. I forgot how SCRUMPTIOUS hers is. She only ferments for 3 days so it has a bit a tang but not much. Then she marinates and ferments some beets. They are sweet and so tasty too!! I had been craving them ever since I tasted them.

So what do I do? I come home and make my own. I started my sauerkraut and marinated my own beets. My dinner for the past 3 nights has been my seaweed rolls which consist of the sauerkraut, beets, smoked dulse, and sunflower greens all rolled in a Nori sheet. I have been in HEAVEN!! It is AMAZING! Let me tell you. All day long I eat fruit and green drinks and shakes and then that is what I eat for dinner. I am planning on making more sauerkraut. I really think most of the problem with the Kim Chee I ate was it was probably overly fermented and it had TONS of spices. It was WAY too hot for me. Sauerkraut is bland and mild. I am LOVING it right now. For those of you who might be interested in my recipe, let me know and I will post it on my website.

Here is what I ate today, July 10th.

Lots of watermelon

Lots of apricots

1 quart of banana/berry shake

1 banana

6 Seaweed wrap. YUMMMM-O!!!!

I think that's it for today. I will still post the burn pictures soon. I have really enjoyed being free and open to whatever my body is calling me to in all aspects of life, not just food. I used to stress out about food SO much years ago. I feel so grateful that I am in a place where it can be quick and easy and FUN and still so good for me and my emotional stress level can stay down where it should be!!

Abundant peace to you all,

Rachel

by Rachel Talley

Understanding the Prayer Pipe

I am excited to be posting again. I know you all have read about our prayer pipe in previous posts. Well, I have taken pictures of it just to show you. Along with finding some really cool links that discuss the pipe and the symbolism behind it. You can find one HERE! I had heard this story told by James, our Medicine Man, and a few other friends who are also involved in the Native stuff. But...I LOVED reading it on this site and thought it was VERY educational!

Also, this morning I spent about 3 hours studying the Huichol Indians. David, another Medicine Man friend, spent quite a bit of time with one of there Shaman. He believes that the sacred priesthood covenants have been carried on through this tribe. He discusses this in his book that is on my sidebar called "The Righteous Branch." David considers the Shaman his teacher and has learned quite a bit from him. They are an AMAZING tribe of people! One of the only tribes who have held onto and passed down their traditions so well that today they are still following most of those traditions. It has been fascinating for me to read about them and how they live and so on. David is letting me borrow a couple of books so I can learn more. It would be SO exciting for me to go and stay with them awhile to really experience how they live. HERE is a site that is VERY informative about who they are!

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL? Both Chris and I feel so blessed to have it in our lives. The sage sitting next to it is for purification. I LOVE the smell of sage. It is common place in most of the ceremonies I have attended. It is a VERY healing herb and is used for smudging to prepare yourself both physically and spiritually for what is about to take place. We burn it regularly as we am smoking our pipe!I just recently learned from James that the reason they put the leather pieces around certain spots on the pipe is because the pipe is so sacred that the leather is to protect it from touching anything else. This is done to show how very honored and revered the pipe is. I place the bowl underneath the end so I won't be wasteful and can catch any leftovers from the tobacco and herbs that I put in it. I just recently put together a woman's combination of tobacco, red raspberry, rose buds, and lavendar. I have been enjoying this blend.

So...this is the basic set up I have got on my porch right now. I regularly read my sacred scriptures while praying with the pipe. If you notice, the stand of the pipe has a eagle holding up the pipe. For Chris and I this is VERY symbolic. Chris' spiritual Native name is Spirit Eagle and mine is Eagle Dove. This is one of the MANY reasons we felt so honored with this pipe. It helps us remember who we are and what we stand for. The eagle is HIGHLY revered for it's ability to see all, carry wisdom beyond our understanding and help those who stand in need.

This is one of the MOST beautiful parts of the pipe, I think. Here is another eagle. The bead work is intricate and brightly colored. Today I was honored to hold a pipe ceremony with some great friends of mine. It was the first one to be held outside my personal family. I felt inspired with thoughts and ideas that helped me really understand what each of my friends was going through. I learned more about myself and the woman I was working with. I felt LOVED and MOVED to such an extend that my heart of so full of gratitude for all things living. We were surrounded by the GORGEOUS Mount Timpanogos. Thank you, my dear friends, for sharing this experience with me.

Lastly, I would like reiterate that I don't actually smoke our pipe. The four elements of fire, water, earth and air are all utilize for their symbolic purposes. We bring the smoke into our mouths and mixed it with the water. The herbs in the pipe represent the earth and when you light them you are creating fire. The air comes in as you release your prayers through the smoke to the universe. The pipe carries the help of all things through all the symbolism it holds. I have felt blessed to use this very powerful healing modality.

So...like I said, I have been emotionally eating for about the last 3 weeks now. It is interesting because I can't really emotionally eat. Since I am still having my jaw pain off and on, I am still limited in my chewing. I can chew a bit better on the other side of my mouth because it has healed a bit more but without back teeth I feel like a rabbit chewing lettuce. I think I look like one too!!

It is interesting to me still when my jaw pain comes and goes. When I am stressed and angry in a hard hearted manner, then, of course, the pain is much more prominent. I have found that when I relax, soften my heart and really let myself feel my feelings whether they be anger, resentment, fear or sadness, I can move through them and understand them SO MUCH quicker!! When I choose to stay in that negative place, it seems I hold on forever from letting myself learn what I should be learning and letting go. I am all about "the quicker the better." We can still be gentle with ourselves and move through things by just accepting and ackowledging our feelings and them releasing them. It's that simple. It can feel really hard sometimes when we are going through. I am learning how to trust myself, others and Christ so I don't have to suffer. I can reconize that my LOVING Savior already did that for me.

I am now doing MUCH better again. I had been eating alot of raw fats and salt and could tell by the end of the 3 weeks, I did not like the way I was looking and feeling.

Oh, I want to post a email that was sent to the yahoo group I have put together. There have been some great questions and insights and so here is what I have written lately. Instead of trying to say it all again, I thought I would just copy and paste it here. I think maybe some of my readers might be interested.

Here was the original post.

Hi Terry,

I am new to the list (I met Rachel recently). You must've connected psychically with me, this was my question (although my post is in draft form now) I am semi vegetarian and doing am uphill climb with a junk-loving family. I am adding more raw produce to my diet too. But I guess I have to remember to take it slowly and not get discouraged. In adding a lot more raw these past few days, my cravings for junk have risen a lot and I have eaten more food than normal (like as in feasting to the point of discomfort). Obviously I have issues. I hope that as I continue to try that the nutrients from the raw food will decrease the cravings. Is this true? Rachel told me that emotional issues tend to come out as the eating is changed -- did I understand that right? Maureen

Here is my reply. Someone was discussing the uses of Ayvrveda nutrition and healing and so my response is concering that topic also.
Maureen,

You did understand it right. Without an opportunity to emotionally process when issues arise because of the increase of healthful foods, it can seem to much and you will stop. All foods carry a vibration, just like we ARE vibration. When we eat foods that come straight from Mother Earth, they will be a VERY high vibration especially when we are eating them raw and in the state that She offers them to us. When we raise/heal the vibration physically, then the body/soul will feel the desire to raise/heal in aspects.

The system only heals as a whole which means physically, emotionally and spiritually. If one aspect is changed then the rest will follow suit. It is just the way it works. If we "lighten the load" when it comes to what we eat, our inner knowing will then have a desire to "lighten the load" in all regards. Make sense? I am not surprised you are overeating. This is quite a common occurrence when we first start changing our diet. Most of us are VERY MUCH emotional eaters. We are eating for SO MANY other reasons than just getting nutrients in. This is one of the many reasons to seek emotional healing. Taking things as slow as we need to does really help us to not feel discouraged. It can seem daunting in the beginning but this is why I put this group together. With the hope that we can all discuss our discouragements along with our successes. You are doing great, Maureen. Look at the changes you are making and be grateful for them you and will find you won't get so easily discouraged.

As for the Ayurveda, just like so many other things it can be another stepping stone of something we might need through our transitioning process. I truly believe in being gentle with ourselves and this means if you are feeling too overwhelmed to strive to figure out why you are feeling this way and help yourself understand that LIFE is a process. We are always learning new things and being open to the needed changes in our lives, is the very first step to creating them.

Ayurveda came be helpful in the beginning but from my knowledge of it, it has alot of "rules" of what you should eat and shouldn't eat. For me, especially in the beginning of my raw diet, I needed something more flexible so my rule of thumb was "If it's raw or you think it's raw, you eat it." I am not saying Terry that it can't or isn't being beneficial right now for you but just watch yourself and if you find you are feeling too overwhelmed by it all then be open to shifting to what you need to help lower any tension you might be having. It sounds like it is REALLY helping you right now and that is AWESOME!!

It is true that we each search what works for us and run with it. And for me, I have learned it is ALWAYS changing. I never know how life is going to be from one day to the next. I am learning to accept and appreciate life in this way. I feel MUCH more peace when I learn to lower or give up ANY expectations I might have of life and just be grateful that I am ALIVE! That the sun is shining and that each day is a new day for a NEW me to emerge.

I LOVE this little group I have put together. Some of the neatest, most responsible people I know are part of this group. I have/am learning so much from them. Thank you everyone for helping me understand myself and the world a bit better.

Here is what I ate today. I hope everyone notices the accuracy of my measurements. LOL!!

2 big bowl fulls of watermelon

1 quart of green smoothie

4 mangos

2 lbs. of cherries

2 more mango

1 quart green soup with corn, tomatoes, red bell pepper, sunflower greens, and dulse

When I wasn't eating as ideally, I was just eating too much fat with my dinner. So I would eat my salad dressings that I would make. That was really it but even that after awhile was just too much. I can tell that I am a better emotional place and this does make it easier to stay on track with my diet. Is it the chicken or the egg?

This has been a really long post. I am still planning on posting the pics of my friends burns and I have some FUN 4th of July pictures to post. I need to get some clean up with my photo shop before I can do that though.

Have a PEACEFUL Sunday.

Abundant health and love,

Rachel

by Rachel Talley

Is it really July 4th Already?

Hello again! I cannot believe that tomorrow is the 4th of July. Can you? HAPPY 4th of JULY, my LOVED ones!! The spring and summer are flying by. I swear, the older I get the less time I have. It's like there is this time warp that takes place each year when you have less and less of it. I am sure most of you feel the same. We think that if we just could get that extra hour in the day than that would make all the difference. I have come to the conclusion for myself that I would use the hour and still think I didn't have enough time. HAHA!! I will strive to be happy for the time I do have and use it wisely. I think this is my best bet for right now.

So...I am FINALLY posting my pictures from our sweat lodge ceremony on June 16th. I think I already mentioned how AWESOME it was but I will go ahead and say it again. It was AWESOME!! It was a VERY powerful lodge and each of us had our own unique experience that moved us more into a space of really facing our own issues. We each had to get really clear on who we are and what we are wanting in life. I absolutely LOVE participating in ceremonies and bonding and feeling the LOVE of everyone there. By the end, you have made a group of new best friends that you might not have even considered friends in any other setting. Isn't that COOL?

Here is our lodge when it is all ready for a sweat. We place canvas and blankets over the top to keep the steam and heat in. This was already a VERY hot day and even just entering the lodge without any stones in it felt uncomfortable. Notice the HUGE fire where we are heating the stones. I LOVE this picture. Every time I enter a lodge, I am in AWE of the power it holds in helping us move a step closer to our Savior and Creator.
Here is a side view of it. Again, GORGEOUS!!
Chris and I in front of the lodge. I had decided that it was time to pull the hair up. I was HOT! Chris was the stone carrier for this lodge which means he didn't actually participate in the sweat by coming in. He actually brought the stones in and then watched the door while we all sweated. This is a GREAT act of love especially when you might be hoping to participate by sweating.
Our Medicine Man, James Mooney, entering the lodge to pray and consecrate it before the actual sweat. He is an AMAZING man and I feel honored and blessed to know him. He has taught us so much in regards to personal healing in all forms in the Native American way.

Here is our other Medicine Man, David. He is ready to get into the lodge and sweat away!! David is another AMAZING and INSPIRED spirit who is here to help others on their emotional path to healing and health. He heads our group that we meet at every week. I have watched him help so many people become more conscious, present and aware of who they are and what God expects of them. Our whole family has been so blessed by having him as such a good friend.

My beloved friend, Shauna, taking a rest before the ceremony. Look how GORGEOUS she is. She is someone who has found the LOVE inside of herself that aids her to truly be the person she knows she is. She is a VERY gifted Medicine Woman who is helping others through her experiences. I LOVE her!!

Millie LOVES coming and helping others! She helps those participating by loving them so much they have no choice but to see themselves as she sees them. She truly cares about everyone and everything around her so much that her LIGHT and LOVE spill over onto them. I am overjoyed that she is my daughter and feels comfortable enough with herself to understand who she is and what her place in the world is at this time.

These are some other people who came and participated. For some of them, this was their very first sweat lodge ceremony. They left feeling renewed and refreshed!
More friends who wanted to share in the process. It is sometimes helpful to come with a spouse even if you personally will not be participating in the ceremony. Aaron and Lyndsey brought their little girl, Nevaeh. Lyndsey watched and shared in the process outside of the lodge while Aaron was on the inside. Aaron sat next to me inside the lodge and he was a GREAT strength to me when the going got tough. Thanks Aaron!!

Lastly, but definitely not least, is my sweet Chris. I took about 10 pictures of him with the pose and he would not pay attention enough to sit perfectly still for me so...this is what you get. He is still a HOTTIE!! I am so happy that we are on this path together and that he LOVES me enough to hang in there with me through all my stuff. I LOVE YOU!!

by Rachel Talley

I Haven't Forgotten Blogging!

Okay, I really haven't forgotten about blogging. Ever since we returned from our trip, it seems life hasn't slowed down. I think summer hits and we get into play mode and we all lose ourselves in it. Which is kinda what we have been doing. It has been alot of fun. In fact, tomorrow we are going boating with some friends. I was thinking about it and I couldn't remember the last time I went boating. I am excited. From what I can remember, I am not too shabby at the water skiing thing but we'll see!

by Rachel Talley

Our Smart Bodies

As I am sitting here typing, I am having pretty strong bowel cramps. Yeah for me!! I am happy to know that my bowels are working and trying to keep me healthy and strong. Do you want to know what I ate that is giving me cramps? Raw Kim Chee!! To be honest, I am not surprised. I had forgotten the reaction that I have had in the past when eating it but I soon remembered as soon as the discomfort started.

I somewhat swore off all fermented foods when I started this diet change about a year ago. I found that they tended to give me gas and discomfort that didn't sit well with me. I understand now that anytime we are having bloating, gas or cramping, our bodies are telling us that what we ate is not digesting well and to really tune in to what we might be needing to change.

Fermented foods actually create gas during the fermentation process because of the excess carbon dioxide production. I used to eat quite a bit of fermented foods. Heck, I used to teach classes on how to ferment your own foods. There was a time when I have 12 batches of Kombucha tea brewing at the same time, along with my sauerkraut and keifer. I am not saying that I am against fermented foods. I have just found that, for me, I can no longer tolerate to ingest them. I learned that in order to keep foods from going bad during the fermenting process, you have to add TONS of salt. Salt actually slows down the production of enzymes since enzymes are what break our foods down. I have recently learned salt is a antibiotic, which anti meaning against and biotic meaning life. The final conclusion, salt would be anti life. I do not agree that salt is anti life when eaten in it's own natural state which would be eating it in the form of seaweeds. I do believe that seaweeds are some of the MOST beneficial foods for us.

Here is a quote on the health benefits of seaweed. It is from a book by Russ Horne. Please forgive me but the source from which I received this information did not state which book of his it was written in. You can find his books on the 2 websites I have listed below.
from Russ Horne's book:

Voisin emphasised that administering mineral salts to experimental animals led to wrong conclusions being formed because the only way the body can properly assimilate minerals is in organic form, having been first taken up from the soil and changed to a colloid form by the plant used as food.

That the content of various minerals in a plant can vary enormously depending on the soil, the water content of the soil, the weather and so on means that the best way to obtain your minerals is from a variety of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables. A part from vitamins and other nutrients in raw fruit and vegetables--preferably organically grown--the abundance of organic minerals they contain explains why patients with cancer respond so well when restricted to these foods.

And finally, on the subject of seawater minerals is a recent item from the Queensland Fruit and Vegetable News:
"There may be hope for Australian deserts if recent Israeli research is any indication.
Today thirsty plants are not only drinking but thriving on seawater at an experimental farm near the town of Ashkelon on the Mediterranean Sea.

Dr Dov Pasternak from the Boyko Institute at Ben Gurion University, is overseeing the project which is studying 150 species of plants irrigated by sea water.

The research into seawater for irrigation is directly related to the successful efforts of Dr Samuel Mendlinger, also from the Boyko Institute, to produce a special strain of sweet, high quality autumn melon grown on brackish water using drip and sprinkler irrigation.

Among other fruits and vegetables being successfully irrigated by saline water from underground aquifers are asparagus, broccoli, sorghum, olives, peas, and pomegranates.

Agricultural production in 14 southern Israel settlements is now based on underground saline water, and instead of costly desalination Israelis are taking advantage of Nature's abundance, learning to harness sea and sub-soil water to grow crops."

I have purchased a few lessons from The Life Science Health System that was created by T.C. Fry years ago. Here and Here are a couple of links to some free books and articles that you can download from the internet that are written by T.C. Fry and other like minded people. Now, mind you, I do NOT agree with all the info that the Natural Hygienists preach but do feel they teach some truths that if applied can help to move each of us to better health. I have found that the more I follow the principles of proper food combining, monoeating, and staying as close to nature in my eating habits as I possibly can, I feel the best and DO NOT have the bowel cramping. Big surprise! It is only when I stray from these new ideas that I find my body is letting me know that something may not be working for me.

I am going to post the info about salt from the lessons I have read. I do still eat salt but...I take LONG breaks from eating it. I did believe at one point that I was going to cut out salt and NEVER eat it again. I found that in the world we live in, it was VERY hard for me to apply. What I do now, is when I am home, I refrain from eating salt, 95% of the time. When I am out or traveling, I am not so much a stickler about it. Life is meant to be FUN and with where I am with food, at times, is still part of the bonding with others. I believe in loving others in the ways they want to be loved and "breaking bread" with them is what they might need to feel that love.

There is LOTS of controversial information out there on SO MANY different subjects. Here is some of the info I have read over the past year that through experimentation, I have found to be true for me.

"The most common defense for salt is, that the body has certain sodium and chlorine mineral needs that the sodium chloride (table salt) crystals are thought to fulfill. Sodium is used by the body to maintain a water balance, to integrate nervous functioning and to aid in the formation of digestive juices. Chlorine helps sustain normal heart activity, plays an important role in the body's acid-alkaline balance and aids digestion and elimination.

Salt (sodium chloride) cannot be used by the body to meet any of these mineral requirements. Salt is an inorganic mineral that cannot be metabolized by the body. Salt enters the body as sodium chloride, it circulates in the body as sodium chloride, and it leaves the body as sodium chloride. At no point is it broken down into sodium and chlorine and used by the body. Sodium chloride is a very strong and stable molecule, It cannot be broken down in the digestive tract or by the liver. The body cannot use the bonded sodium chloride molecule in any way. The body can use organic sodium and organic chlorine as found in living food (vegetables, fruits, etc.), but it can never use the inorganic sodium chloride compound.

So, if the body cannot break salt down, if it cannot use it in any way, if it only must be eliminated from the body in the same form as which it entered the body, then how can salt be termed "necessary" for life?
Moreover, salt eating has only been around for the last few thousand years of man's millions of years of existence. Primitive man did not eat salt. The American Indians never used salt until the white man introduced it. Many cultures today have never seen a salt shaker. Thousands of Hygienists and health-minded people in this country eat not one speck of salt.
Can you still believe that salt is essential for life?"

Pretty interesting, eh? My bowels are now doing their work to eliminate as quickly as possible it's contents to prevent complete absorption of what it saw as a poison. My body is also not used to the cayenne pepper and other spices that were in the Kim Chee. As I have experimented on my body, I have found that slowing my consumption of too many spices has been beneficial to my overall health.

I LOVE how each of us can learn to REALLY listen to our own inner knowing. There was a time when I felt I truly needed LOTS of spices, fermented foods, supplements and so on. And I truly believe there is a time and a season for all things to relearn how to truly be happy and find peace with ourselves, God, and the universe. It states in the King James version of the Bible in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace."

I do LOVE these verses! I feel this is important for me to remember as I form my ideas about myself and life as a whole. I believe these verses help me stay balanced, open to change and new discovery and growth. When I decide to close down and not apply new concepts that might aid in my learning, I am closing a door to some form of understanding at that moment that I may need to know.

WOW! I am always surprised what I come up with when I am posting. I find that I sit down with some ideas of what I am going to write but I have yet to stick with it. So much for expectations! I am trying to lessen my anyway. What a GREAT learning experience for me!! I would like to mention one more prayer of gratitude for Chamomile tea! I am already feeling the calming effects of this WONDERFUL herb. Thank you Mother Earth!

We should be out of town until Monday night. We flew an overnighter last night. I slept about an hour on the plane that left at 11:30 pm. I was VERY grateful for the overnighters at the births I had been too. I think this helped me deal with the lack of sleep much better. When we finally arrived at our designation, we found a hotel room and took a VERY long and VERY needed nap. So...I didn't actually eat anything until 4 o' clock today.

Here is what I ate today.

Thursday, June 21st:
2 small cantaloupes
1 cup fresh blueberries
3 bananas with strawberries
3 cups raw seaweed salad with dulse and Kim Chee

I have to admit that I LOVED every bite of my salad but feel blessed to learn, yet again, what works for me right now and what doesn't. And to find that my listening to my body is the BEST way to LOVE it and show appreciation for all it does for me!!

Hopefully, tomorrow I will have pictures to go along with my post. I have actually been taking them since we left. Now I just need to buy the little cord that makes it so I can post them. Oh, and I will tell you a REALLY funny story of how "out of this world" I really am. Check back for that one. You really won't want to miss it.

Abundant peace to you all,
Rachel

by Rachel Talley

Another Baby Boy Born!

I am SO sorry that I have been such a slacker and it has been so long since I have posted. Whenever we plan a sweat lodge ceremony, it seems life gets really crazy for several days before and after. We had a very interesting and VERY emotional and spiritually cleansing ceremony on Saturday. I did actually take some pictures and will show those and talk about the experience in the next couple of days.

I knew she was going to have a BIG baby. I could tell as I palpated her during her prenatals. Also, her belly was measuring quite large for as many weeks as she was. At the time of pushing, she was having to use much more energy than she had to in the past with her previous births. She was doing so well! When the babies head was fully out, we noticed that pushed that the baby's head never restituted and his face had the look of a turtle. These 2 signs show that the baby was stuck and had shoulder dystocia. The anterior shoulder was stuck up against the pubic bone and was having a hard time moving past it. So, I proceeded to reach in and grab under the armpit the posterior arm and pulled it out. It worked BEAUTIFULLY and soon thereafter she had a GORGEOUS baby boy. He weighted 10 lbs. 14 ozs and was 19 1/2 inches long. I LOVED helping my sister deliver her baby. It was a very rewarding experience for me. Thanks Amy!!

by Rachel Talley

Swimmin' and Sweatin'

Hey everyone, I thought I would send out a reminder about Becky and I's class tomorrow night at The Food Garden in Orem. The address is 698 East 300 South in Provo. Here is the info from the flyer that was sent. I hope we get a big turnout. It always makes it more exciting the more people we have.

Raw Living Q&A June 15 - 7pm $5 fee at the door

Rachel Talley and Becky Johnson will be talking to us not only about Raw Foods, but the emotional and spiritual side of Raw Living. This promises to be an enlightening and fun evening! This class will be have a Q&A forum so come prepared with any questions about raw foods, transitioning, prenatal health, emotional health, love, spirituality, transcendence, enlightenment, and energy work. Rachel and Becky are pioneers in the Utah Raw Foods and Natural Birth Movement, and have been teaching classes here in Utah for many years.

Rachel Talley www.livingmom.net is a teacher, lifestyle coach, nutritional herbologist, energy healer and midwife. She has eaten a 100% raw food diet for almost 5 years and has inspired many people to achieve their goals in all aspects of life. She feels uplifted to watch others take full responsibility of their own creative power and find inner peace.

Becky Johnson has been involved in health, herbs, energy healing and raw foods since 1996. She has taken many classes and is also self taught. She owned one of the first raw food catering business in UT. Many years have been devoted as a life coach. She loves to see people take hold of new ideas and change their lives for the better.

So...let's see. On Tuesday night, Chris and I went out to celebrate his birthday. One of his FAVORITE restaurants is P.F Chang's at The University Mall in Orem. If there are any of you who are trying to eat healthier but not all raw, this is an EXCELLENT place that offers very healthy vegetarian and vegan dishes. There food seems to be more authentic Asian cuisine. From what I remember, everything I tried was DELICIOUS! I never tried any of the meat dishes because I was a vegetarian before I had ever eaten there. Chris really likes The Veggie Lettuce Wraps . I think he was sad because he LOVED their Great Wall of Chocolate. But a gift he gave me for my birthday was to be vegan for a year along with cutting out all sugar. He was sad but didn't really show it. The waitress was so sweet because we told her it was his birthday and she felt bad he couldn't eat a dessert so instead she brought him out a bowl of fresh fruit. He even shared it with me. It was YUMMY!! It had all kinds of berries. Oh and the other really good thing about the restaurant is that they offer brown rice so you don't have to eat white. They also do not use MSG in any of the food. It is a great place to go when you are transitioning to a healthier diet.

My AMAZING sister in law, Yulia, let my kids sleep over at her house while we went out. Our kids LOVE each other. She is pregnant right now and is due at the end of July. With her last delivery, she had an unassisted birth which means it was only her and her husband delivering their baby. Her birth went BEAUTIFULLY and she LOVED the experience so much she is planning on doing it again. I am really excited for her. She is one of the most courageous, strong, empowered woman I know. I will just add that she makes the BEST lentil soup. Here is the link to Yulia's Lentil Soup.

Yulia is Russian and you can tell she carries the strong Russian blood in her. When she was in Russia, she used to sweat in the Russian Bania's. After sweating, they would break the ice on a frozen lake and swim in it to boost the immune system into maintaining the action of cleansing and rebuilding that took place in the heat of the Bania.

The REALLY cool thing was the Birth Bania's. This was a place where woman would come to deliver their babies. It was consider a very sacred space where evil spirits could not abide. This meant that the birth should be more productive and effective when a woman was placed in this environment. Woman in Russia during pregnancy are still swimming in freezing cold water to keep themselves healthy and strong for the upcoming event of labor. There is an AWESOME website called Birth into Being where they have a video that shows pregnant woman swimming in the frozen lakes.

Jumping in cold water to aid in the immune system becoming stronger is very foreign to most Americans but has been around for years in Russia. Victoria and Igor Boutenko recently sent out a newsletter where she discusses the health benefits of swimming or wading in cold water. You can read all about it HERE! I LOVE this article and I absolutely believe it. When we finish with our sweat lodge ceremony, each person is dumped with cold water to spiritually and physically keep the body strong and safe after the process of cleaning our internal house through sweating. More often than not, sweat lodges are built next to a stream or running water source where you can dunk your whole body or even wade in the water. There is a sweat lodge that was just recently built up in Nebo with a stream running right next to it. I have yet to sweat in that lodge but I am excited for when I can.

Here is the anxiouly awaited pictures of my sweat lodge. Here is what it looked like when we first noticed it was growing leaves. We weren't sure if our plan to make a living lodge was actually going to work. I have yet to meet anyone who has even seen a lodge like mine. I have met quite a few people recently who had seen dozens of lodges and they have made comments that mine is the MOST GORGEOUS lodge they have ever seen. I am not trying to brag here, well okay maybe I am a little but...I am really happy about it.

Notice the leaves starting to sprout. I wanted to cry I was so happy they were starting to come out. All our work and effort was coming to fruition. What a good feeling. Isn't my lodge MAGNIFICENT? Any one of you are welcome to come to my backyard and see it. Or even better yet, come and sweat with us in it. If there is anyone who might be interested in participating in a lodge, just email me and let me know and I will put you on a list where you will contacted when we put a lodge together. Here are the new pictures I just took today. It has only been about 2 weeks since that those last pictures were taken. Notice how much they have grown since then. The ones of Chris and I were taken earlier but I thought they were really cute so I thought I would share.

Wow, this post is taking me MUCH longer than I thought it would. I decided that I had, not knowing it, took a longer break from the fat thing than planned. But...today I am jumping back on the wagon. I had a good time but I can tell my body is ready to go to back to no/fat & salt for awhile. So, here is what I ate yesterday.

Wednesday, June 13th:

1 whole cantaloupe

2 quarts of green drink

2 cups marinated mushrooms

lots of watermelon

This was a FUN post to write. Until next time.

Abundant peace to you all,

Rachel

by Rachel Talley

Happy Birthday to Chris!!

Geez whiz, does it seem forever since I have posted? I would say so!! This weekend has been a busy one but full of excitement and FUN!! First, on Friday I went to a Suturing Class that the Midwives College of Utah was offering. I LOVE when they hold their bi-yearly conference. They have AMAZING teachers come and they are all so interesting and chalk FULL of really neat things to learn about. The teacher for our suturing class was a woman who I had taken classes from before. Her name is Sonia Ochea and I LOVE her. She keeps your attention by making it hands on and SO interesting!! I am grateful for the suturing class because I feel I can use the skills for other than suturing a woman after delivering a child.

Friday evening I was blessed with the opportunity to go to the Living Cuisine Cafe and spent the rest of the night helping Omar in his kitchen. I absolutely LOVE Omar! He permeates LOVE and LIGHT! He is doing with his life what makes him feel he is connecting and being part of everything and everyone around him. Because of my jaw pain, he made me some of his Broccoli soup with avocados and tomatoes. Oh my goodness, I could not believe how good it was and to be honest, I feel I make pretty darn good food! For those of you who haven't tried his food yet, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you do!! I have been to several raw food restaurants around the nation and I do believe his is BY FAR the most HEAVENLY and DELICIOUS! He truly does put all his love into his food. You can feel it when you eat it. It was GREAT FUN to chat and laugh with him and just get to know him a bit better. We are hoping to teach a class together soon. Won't that be FUN?

Then on Saturday, I took a NRP class which stands for Neonatal Resuscitation. The class was taught by a OUTSTANDING teacher named Karen Strange. This class was SO MUCH MORE than just a class about resuscitating a baby. She brought into it so many other thought provoking and emotionally stimulating ideas. She taught us up to date and current studies that had been done in regards to birth. They showed the emotional and spiritual side of aiding and helping a newborn infant enter this world along with what we could do physically if the infant was struggling with it's first breaths of life. The ideas and concepts that she taught were not new to me but were delivered in such a way that I felt I understood myself and my laboring mom and babies MUCH better. Her class really was just a BLAST!! It was worth EVERY dime I spent. I can't wait til I can take it again.

While I was gone on Friday, Chris called me and told me he really needed to find some answers. He, just like me, has been struggling with internal issues that he felt he were strong enough to take time out of everyday life to look at. I LOVE my husband!! Can I just tell you I married the most GIVING and LOVING man on the face of the planet? I was and am in awe at the responsibility he takes in his life to look at himself honestly and openly just so he can connect with me and the Divine Source within him. WOW!!! So...he decided to go up to the mountain with our Medicine Man, James Mooney! He had an AMAZINGLY spiritual experience and came back renewed with life and love. This has helped me immensely to be able to really dig deep and look at myself and stop blaming him for my problems. With his heart so soft toward me, I could no longer resist his loving embrace and persistent nurturing. I am HONORED to be his wife and soul mate. By the way, TODAY is my dear hubbies birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I LOOOOVVVVVEEEEE YOU!! Thank you for sticking it through it all and bearing my pain right along with me.

Finally, last night our other Medicine Man, David Hamblin, came to our house and spoke about his book "The Righteous Branch." Again, another uplifting and VERY meaningful night. Everyone who came LOVED it!! We all shared our NUTRITIOUS and SCRUMPTIOUS food with each other as David spoke of his spiritual insights and how he came about writing his book. Like I have said in the past, his book teaches some VERY profound truths! I would hope others who are seeking light and knowledge in their lives, take the opportunity to read it and see for yourself. I LOVE David!! I feel so blessed to know ASTOUNDING people! I really do know the COOLEST people in the world. That includes all my dear friends and LOVED ones reading this. God has led me down a path where I have the good fortune to meet others who have a desire to connect and be present with others. We all are LOVED!

This weekend has brought hope, understanding, compassion, mercy, humility, and charity. I cannot believe how much a person can learn in such a short amount of time. I feel I am learning everyday but this weekend was one of these spiritual highs where you feel you are learning quicker than at any other time. It is SO TOTALLY cool! The coolest thing that happened was last night I at a TON of romaine lettuce and was able to chew it. I actually started crying because I was able to dip in it my Creamy Cheese Sauce and it tasted so WONDERFUL! I was in such a place of gratitude and LOVE that I knew it was a gift from God to let me know I was LOVED and he recognized my efforts. You guys, I can't even describe the feelings of love I felt. I wish you all could feel it too. I am sure you have at some point in your own lives but my heart still fills full of WARMTH and SOFTNESS toward myself and all those about me.

So... as you can see the food thing has changed a bit over the last couple of days because of the craziness of life. I have eaten some fat and LOVED it. I will tell you if you really want to appreciate your food, go without salt and fat for awhile. When you incorporate it again or just eat it periodically like I do, your heart bursts with gratitude for all the SENSUOUS flavors and smells that taste so GOOD! I am just as grateful for my green soup but my gratitude comes more from the way it makes me feel! Example would be like I am right now living on about 2-3 hours of sleep because my sister went into labor last night and I have yet to sleep. I FEEL GREAT!! I feel no different than if I had slept a full 8-9 hours. I am LOVING LIFE!! I am going to enjoy it and bask in it while I feel it. I know it won't stay forever and I will have more to work on but I find life is MUCH easier when my heart stays full of gratitude and peace!

I won't be able to write everything I have been eating but here is what I ate today.

Monday, June 11th:

2+ quarts green smoothie

2 bananas

1 mango

1+ quart green soup

1 Tbsp. Fiesta Ranch I dipped romaine lettuce in it. YUM-O!!

I hope everyone had a heart felt weekend like I did. I am excited to go to group tonight. I will post what I learn and if I process or not. OOOHHH, I am so giddy. I will hopefully soon, but you never know with me, be posting pics of my sweat lodge and the leaves that are growing and taking shape. It is AWESOME!!! You all will be so jealous!

Abundant peace to all,
Rachel

by Rachel Talley

Cramping and Teaching

I just found out last night that Becky is going to be out of town when I am supposed to teach my class on June 15th. I am sad, of course but am now trying to decide what to do. I think I will still keep the class Q & A but I am wondering if it might be interesting to everyone to have my son come and talk about his experiences with being raw. I think he has been all raw now for 8 months or so. I asked him last night if he wanted to teach with me and he was VERY excited about that. Maybe he could just come and tell his story and how he has felt and so on. I thought this might be fun for people who want to bring some older children who are wanting to make some changes but might feel outside pressure not to. I don't know! So...what does everyone think? Email me or post a comment and let me know. I hope as many people will still attend even without Becky! It won't be the same but I hope just as educational and exciting.

Yesterday I actually had some bowel cramping. I haven't had any in over 2 1/2 years since my last surgery. It wasn't too severe. I am wondering if it was something I ate or it is a cleansing reaction. I had forgotten what cramping felt like. It did take me back a little to that fear place I was at when I used to get my reoccuring obstructions. In the past, when an obstruction hit, my bowels completely stopped working. Last night, my heart was SO full of gratitude that they were still working and things were moving through.

I have been digging deep emotionally lately. I do believe that this is where the cramping came from. Remember that even though we may have a physcial "reason" as to why we are feeling the cramping, like I could say that I ate something or did this or that, I physically created that situation from an emotional place for myself to be able to look at whatever I needed to and release it. This is what I did last night and found that I was relieved through the process. I find it interesting that my jaw was aching right along with it. I hadn't really chewed anything yesterday that would have made my jaw that sore but from my study of the bowel, it is truly connect to all other parts of my body. Whatever I was emotionally releasing through my bowel, must have been connected to the pain in my jaw. I think our bodies are SO cool!! What a gift!

So here is what I ate yesterday. I think maybe eating seedless and not completely ripe watermelon did give me more gas. I am a FIRM believer in eating seeded melons. When they are seedless they have been hybridized to the extent that they are basicially a neutered plant. They are sexless and can no longer reproduce. Now tell me how can that be healthy for you! NO way!

Wednesday, June 6th:
Lots of watermelon
2 large organic mangos that my husband bought me for a treat
2 bananas
Then some mild cramping began with some diaherrea, then it passed for awhile and I am sure I shouldn't have eaten my green soup but did anyway.
1 quart green soup

Then I just drank water the rest of the night. There is an EXCELLENT I heard from a friend. It is: THE SOLUTION TO POLLUTION IS DILUTION! So basicially any time we feel we over did it with our eating or are cleansing harshly or what not is to drink lots of water so the body can gently process things in a more efficent manner. Pretty cool eh?

As for today, I haven't had anything to eat yet just drank lots more water. I have had some more really cool spiritual insights I will talk about on my next post! Until then!

Abundant peace to all,
Rachel

by Rachel Talley

You are a Creator

"You find when you get right down to the nitty-gritty of life, no one is going to take care of you but yourself. You are placed on the planet with everything you need already inside of you. Everything is already there. You can't be upset unless you allow it. You can't be controlled unless you allow it. You can't go crazy and lose your mind unless you allow it. You can't be possessed by a disincarnate entity unless you allow it. This puts you in a very unique position. You are a creator. You can create harmony or discord, happiness or despair, joy or depression, productiveness or lack." ~ John - Rogers in "Psychic Protection"

This quote is from the book I am reading right now. As I have already discussed in the past, we are creators of our own reality. I have been grateful in my own life that as I listen to my inner knowing and my personal Creator, I then see who and what I really am. This goes right along with the previous post. I am loving putting these ideas into practice and seeing the fruits thereof.

Well, this morning I was feeling that anxious feeling, partly because I went to bed at 1 am and didn't get up until 9 and that usually stresses me out, and my kids were all in my room wanting to spend time with Chris and I. My oldest son was working through some issues and I found myself being TOTALLY annoyed that I was wasting time with my kids when I should be BUSY doing something else. Isn't that a completely selfish thought? You know, it doesn't seem that selfish at the time because you really think you are helping others by getting our motherly duties done during the day. Right? I am SURE I am the ONLY woman in the world who feels this way.

One last though, I am LOVING durians right now. For those of you who may not know what a durian is, HERE is a website with all the info. I purchase them at The Asian Market on 3rd East and 3rd South in Provo. If you decide to purchase one from there, tell them I sent you. Durians are truly delicate ambrosia in my mouth. Dean, my son who eats all raw with me, has also been on a kick where he can't get enough of them. So...between the two of us, we are in heaven with the durians. I think it is so funny that just like Noni Juice, NeWays MLM company has created a Durian Fusion that is supposed to be the end all, be all to health. Just go buy the dang fruit and eat it fresh and get ALL the needed nutrients it has to offer. The product they sell has been pasteurized, changed and manipulated in such a way that I have a hard time believing it can even compare to eating the whole fruit. Man, God sure LOVES us, doesn't he? Every time I eat a durian I feel his LOVE!! Here is what I have eaten.

WHOA! Big eating day for me, wouldn't you say?

by Rachel Talley