A Table in the Sun

There are days when you learn something profound about yourself and the universe and then days when it seems as if life has passed you by. Today was a day of great insight and shifting for me – I spent most of it fasting….

Whenever I need to get to the bottom of some issue or another I usually do a few things to get the energy moving around it. One of the easiest for me is to fast, I exercise daily and that helps too as well as getting out into nature.

Today I was mulling a few things over in my mind about the earth and how she is responding (or we are responding to her energy shifts). I have been thinking about this spring season - all of the life around us and how these plants just know what to do as soon as the weather changes.

No one has to tell the plants to grow or the birds to fly home or for the creatures to build nests. They just know – as the earth warms with the heat of the sun all of life revives, finding a place for itself.

We are no different – spring should be awakening in us those same urges to nest, to go home, to put down roots and grow. What is also can bring into our conscious awareness is that we are not forgotten about when it comes to natures’ plan.

The birds go out and find their food – seeds, plants and nibbles there to nourish them. Plants have minerals, water and the richness of the soil to count on for their fuel – taking what they need and giving so much back.

Why should we be any different? Perhaps we have forgotten so much of ourselves in our rush to be civilized….our food – the things we require to detox, clear out and rebuild bodies after a long winter are equally available.

We only have to pull up a chair at nature’s table.

April

Parasite Cleanse Is Over - Back to Food!!

I just enjoyed my first bowl of porridge in 30 days – it was like manna from heaven. Today and last night was juice day as we readjust our guts back to some solid foods and start to get back to eating again…

Thankfully we all love and enjoy any kind of soup and stew – so this part is always easy. Besides, I have done this enough times that I something think my body has no problems coming back quickly from a detox.

This being said….my last cleanse was by no means ordinary. Actually not one thing about it was the same as any of the other detoxes or cleanses I have completed to date. And I have nothing to really compare how I am feeling right now, to. 

So – I am already picking this one apart and we are busy chatting about what exactly was different about this cleanse and more importantly – what has changed for us by doing it.

My first thought is that I will never be the same again. I remember feeling like this when I had completed my 40 days Master Cleanse as well. And of course, I was right - I had changed. But this one is different yet again.

Today what I can say about doing a 30 day water fast is that it has been a zeroing out – we feel as if we have been brought back to a starting point in some way. As if our bodies are beginning again from an entirely new level. 

That’s one thing, the other more significant aspect of this is how depleted I find myself to be. Which surprises me, yet somehow doesn’t. It surprises me because I have spent many years only eating organic, exercising, focused on healing and eating well.

Yet, with any amount of parasites present in my gut – I wasn’t the one being fed the main (best) part of each meal. They ate very well over these past few years and I hope to start seeing/feeling the results of not having them around.

Time will tell. Right now I am completely focused on building up my body and eating for the next few days – everything in sight! LOL

April

My homemade Oat Crunch cereal I hope to be eating soon!

These Dreams - You Can Eat!

I once heard someone say - 'You can't eat dreams' - so basically why bother to follow the seemingly impossible...yet, that's what life is all about. Finding our passions, then putting them to good use. In the pursuit of living.

For me, I have long been a dreamer and have always had lots of dreams. Some I have had with me for nearly all my life - tucked away, but growing, taking shape as I myself have come through the many changes of my life.

This year is all about change, come to think about it - so was last year. But, never mind - perhaps that's what we are all doing here anyway. Each year, and many days in between, there are opportunities to grow, overcome and create the lives we wish to be living.

To me, this has always been about following a dream - maybe that dream is an ideal and I have often wondered if the bar was set way too high or I was asking far too much. Yet, the strange thing about these dreams is that they persist.

Lately I have come to two separate conclusions about this life I am living, some of my dreams I have been carrying around and all that I am hoping to be. The first one is that any dream is difficult and requires of us time, energy, endurance and mostly patience.

Secondly, the more impossible the dream - the more time, energy and effort it requires. And that is quite simply the only difference between the two thoughts...something might only seem to be impossible because this is what has been instilled in our minds.

Yet, when we work at it, take things step by step and more importantly, follow through instead of putting things off...then one day we might just wake up - inside of our dreams. Of course, mine are all about food...

April

Beauty

By the Way, During A Fast, You Don't Eat....

A lot of dreams last night and all about energy....not much of a surprise in that one as yesterday was a deeply energetic day where I did a lot of work on my energy field (Closing Energy Leaks is a blessing!) and felt fairly good about it all.

Today is day 6 of my cleanse and in case you are wondering I would like to clear up one tiny issue - when you are fasting, that means you do not take in ANY solid foods. At all. Period. Not one morsel crosses your lips - or the game is over.

Fasting with water (herbal tea, water, lemon juice, maple syrup, black pepper) is a liquid only fast and very specific. The reason I mentioned this is because this week I opened up the newspaper as I was spreading it on the floor for the puppy to play with (LOL) and saw a curious article...

An 'expert' was being interviewed on fasting and they even had a menu posted along the side with the meals you were able to eat during your fast. How cool is that??? You get to believe you are fasting while eating a ham sandwich for breakfast.

What a load of crap. And do people actually stop and think to themselves - 'hey, but I thought fasting was going without food, taking in only water for a period of time'. I certainly hope someone else questioned the logic and misinformation being given out here.

What's more, this expert (who was not a clinical nutritionist), has most likely never ever done a 'fast' (at least without that light breakfast, lunch and dinner) and is now commenting on what the rest of us should be doing. It's no wonder people are confused and left wondering about all of this.

By the way, the light menu this person was referring to is termed calorie restriction, which is something different altogether...

So, if you are planning to do a fast (and I hope you do) a couple of things to remember, you will be emptying out and cleaning up your body tissues with clean water. The herbs come in to balance, restore and revitalize your body systems as they work gently in concert with internal function. The other ingredients are aids and supports for body organs. 

Get my book The Pagan Diet: Food, Fast & Feast if you want to start cleansing, fasting and detoxing while either losing weight, healing inflammation, restoring and balancing function and generally cleaning up the debris built up in your cells.

And there is no food involved during the cleanse phase, because, well, eating is not fasting!

April

If you live in Ireland, order the book from me, I would love to hear from you!

Standing in Your Own Power

We are truly nearing the end of this feast season and it feels as if the year itself is winding down - it certainly does seem to be going out with a bit of a bang so far. Storms and extreme weather coinciding with special dates on the calendar ..... hmmm. Interesting.

Perhaps at the end of the day it is no accident that such a huge storm system (an energy changer for sure) rolls into the world when ever things are being shaken up and altered. The earth does ultimately work alongside us and is obvious to those who care to pay attention.

To think that this living organism we reside on is but a passive observer to all the happenings for good or ill - would be such a waste of a connection. Of course she is involved, perhaps even far more than we realize.

Today in the aftermath of natures' forces, at the very least we are humbled while many are pulling together to get lives back to normal. Or, is that even be the option here? Normal life. What does that mean exactly?

Perhaps if this means living in such a manner that when a storm comes rolling in and slams into us - we cannot cope with heat, light, food and basic needs because of the circumstances we have placed ourselves into.

By this I mean - a number of years ago my intuition told me to get out of living in a town or city. Move to the country, work at raising my own food, have a well, a separate heat source and in general live sustainably. Off the food grid as much as possible. 

We have taken years building ourselves up to this as far as skill learning, obtaining tools, livestock, education and developing our own methods and ideas. For the most part, a lifestyle such as this is driven by a desire to be healthy. Of course, there are other advantages.

These storms will come - are they more ferocious and extreme at this time? Perhaps. However, no matter what you believe, life might become increasingly difficult for many who are left high and dry without the means to heat their houses or to get clean water because of this weather. 

Basics such as these are a must - and perhaps we must do far more for ourselves in this regard. When you find yourself in a position of not needing to out source infrastructure because you have developed your own - you are standing in your own power. 

It's a great place to be!

April

Another Fast Day.. Or Is It?

There appears to be no such thing as just another day, another food day, another fast day, another Master Cleanse and so forth. Each and every day is completely different from the last and I find that I am in a new place with each rotation of the earth. 

Fasting has been like walking a steady path inwards, it can be compared to The Wizard of Oz, following the yellow brick road - you don't know exactly what you will meet, there will be both good and bad - however at the end of it all - the only person to be found is yourself.

Today I am fasting again, these last few days before I start my Master Cleanse for August, I have already mentioned how excited I am about this cleanse as it will be the first time (ever) that I am doing a detox while being 100% committed to only following my dreams. 

And nothing else, no one else, just me, my goals and the open road.

This does feel like a nice place to be, albeit a little scary too, however I am certain that this will be the best MC ever. All week I have been mulling over a theme for this cleanse (I always have one in mind) and a picture keeps coming to mind of a dream I had many years ago.

Well, it was more of a vision then a dream, the kind that you sometimes have upon waking early in the morning - one particular morning I woke up in my house to the majestic vision of a hot air balloon with me in it, just about to take off. It was still tethered to the ground by a long rope, which was about to be cut as I opened my eyes.

This is the memory that has stayed with me all week and the one that I will take into my Master Cleanse as representing all of my hopes, goals, dreams, wishes and desires - taking flight into bright sunshine and blue skies.

Lovely

Have a nice day,

April

The Pagan Diet Food Pyramid - my favicon

Finally! Day 10

Well here we are now with less than 24 hours to go and on the 10th day of our July Master Cleanse. The detox can get hard during the last few hours mostly because I start to get impatient about transitions - I always want it to be smooth and to get back to eating gently, yet sometimes, I find that I rush myself.

So, tomorrow is transition day with just juices and smoothies, then late in the day or evening we often have some soft cooked root vegetables - of course this all tastes like manna from heaven! I can't wait to eat some food and to try all these jams that I have been making.

This time around I have been craving fruit and berries - perhaps because I am cooking them and the house has been full of all the fruit for jams. But I also am craving rice - when I am doing a MC, my sense of smell is so strong, and the fragrance of cooking basmati rice is enticing! 

Other than looking forward to eating and getting back to a normal day on/day off food and fast schedule, I am feeling pretty good. I meant to weigh myself today and forgot again - I guess it can't be that important because it has been the furthest thing from my mind with this July master cleanse. I have probably lost a little weight and gone down half a stone or so, but usually I don't lose too much and my weight is no longer a problem (thank God!).

And for some reason it is always at this point of a cleanse that I think back to my 40 day MC - perhaps I use it to draw strength and focus when it gets a little tough or maybe there are other connections that rise up to the surface. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I will! LOL

Last night I had an interesting dream, if that is what it was - it was more like a visitation - a person whom I had not seen in my dreams for quite some years, but who used to come to me all the time, dropped in to say hello. The interesting part was that in my dreams of him many years ago he was always a boy, last night he extended his hand in greeting to me, as a young man and earnestly looked at me to see if I recognized him as he said his name - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Then he proceeded to inform me of where he was playing and the name of the Orchestra. 

Another breakthrough into some deeper part of myself as these cleanses prove once again they are more than capable of bringing body, mind and soul back together.  This has been one of the most worthwhile times of my entire life - I wouldn't change a thing.

Have a lovely day, see you on the other side!

April 

Onwards!

It Must Be The Water....

There are only two basic fundamental elements to changing your life as far as I am concerned - food/water and exercise/movement. Of course, the greater of these is the only one vital nutrient we as humans cannot live without - water. 

Water is the universal solvent which means that more substances dissolve into it than any other, making this fact alone the key reason why fasting works to remove weight and heal inflammation in the body. When you use water to clean your body and push embedded toxins up to the surface, the presence of water takes up the debris and safely removes it from the tissues. 

Water is also many other things for us as humans (66% of body tissues and up to 73% brain tissue) with so many properties and functions that entire university courses are taught on it.  As far as I am concerned this is the missing element in our food pyramids which of course prompted me to design my own!

The safest, easiest, most effective tool for weight loss, healing, shifting energy, cleansing and detoxing that you have within your reach, is water. But not just any water - do not drink the stuff that comes out of the tap, that is not water, this is a chemical compound and will not enable you to clean tissues effectively.

Find a source of clean pure water (I know this is not difficult to do especially in Ireland) and start using this well or spring for all your drinking, cooking, brushing teeth and so forth. If you can, drill a well or clean out a local spring. The next time you move house, look for a place with a functional well.

Over the years I have done each of these things to make every effort to always have clean water. I have even dreamed of water sprites taking to me as if the water is alive and of course when you take water from a well - it is living, just like the land it rises up from.

Fasting is done daily in every country all over the world, for various reasons, however, when you want to lose weight, heal, shift energy and otherwise move yourself into a better place, you must be mindful of the most important nutrient you will ever put into your body. 

Water is the stuff of life.

April

Sun in the leaves

3rd Day of Mini Cleanse

Today is my last day of this little cleanse that I am doing, and I am feeling great overall loads of energy and it seems that my dreams are back loud and clear because I was dreaming all night. All seemingly about projects and things that I should be doing or following through with some plans that I have made.

Perhaps this cleanse has been all about clearing things off of my 'to do' list, because that is what I seem to be doing quite a bit. And even the weather has not been as bad as was predicted so that has been a bonus as well because I have been able to get out into the garden and pull some weeds.

Today I am also busy cooking (go figure, while fasting LOL) and have made honey oat bread, fairy cakes for the kids and prepared a lamb tagine which will go into the slow cooker to cook overnight so that it is ready for breakfast in the morning.

I love my breakfast and always look forward to eating after a fast - the planning phase is probably far more fun than anything as I find that I dream up new ways of doing things and tasty recipes when winding down from my fast.

If you haven't yet tried to do a fast, I cannot say it enough - food, fast and feast has changed my life and the way I look at food (and even the way I look apparently as I was told last night that I looked about 25!). Order The Pagan Diet and get started on your journey to better health in a slim body!

Have a lovely day,

April

The Pagan Diet - Food, Fast & Feast! 

by April Danann, MSc, BSc (Hons), Dip MI, Dip NT