A Recap of an Epic 2009: Part 2

• I went to Santa Barbara for the Raw Spirit Festival to help VivaPura. I swam in the ocean, went to a raw food restaurant with my brother, and hiked to a tippy top peak in Ventura. Turned on some cops to Jarrah Bee Pollen. Victory!

• I light-speed downloaded ridonkulous amounts of information at the Interdependence Day Celebration workshop, a 4 day workshop at the Tree of Life where David Wolfe and Gabriel Cousens, M.D., basically lecture and answer Q&A for 8 hours a day. Whoa.

• One of my closest friends, Puki Freeberg had the inspiration to create a mini student documentary on going raw for 30 days in college for her documentary class. I assistant produced. You can view the video here. She also compiled extra interview footage into youtube videos that can be viewed at her youtube page here.

• I completed a 13 day Juice Feast in March, and a 7 day green juice fast in May. I had done Juice Feasting and water fasting, but this was my first exclusive green juice fast. I loved both of them!

Other little tidbits from the year:

• I experienced many amazing kirtans with Bhagavan Das during his months at the Tree.
• I participated in several powerful and transformative inipi sweat lodges.
• I saw Robert Tennyson Stevens present a couple times - loved it. Biggest habit gained: I now say 'desire' rather than 'want,' and 'require' rather than 'need'. For subtleties on those words, read his book :)
  
• I read some amazing books, including Grace and Grit, by Ken Wilber, The Biology of Belief, by Bruce Lipton, There is a Cure for Diabetes, by Gabriel Cousens, M.D., A Woman's Worth, by Marianne Williamson, and quite a few more. Grace and Grit was very profound for me.
  
• I recorded a video on spirulina salads with Tim van Orden which you can view here.
  
• I recorded a fun little interview with Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes-Monarch, which you can view here.
• I joined the P90X fitness epicness. I have yet to complete a full 90 days back to back with it, but incorporating more of it was a great help to my fitness.
• I perfected my now well loved recipe for raw donuts.

Of course, these lists of what I did say nothing about the massive blessings of my life, which abounded in 2009 and will continue, such as the new friendships I gained, the deepened friendships of those already in my life, the increased feeling of communion and connectedness in my spiritual life, my family, my health, and that I am living a life I adore in which I can contribute, learn, share, and express to the fullest extent.

The shared moments of joy with people: the smiles, the laughs, and the co-creations are just as great a blessing as the things on this list. Whether someone I have met once, someone I have not met and just connected with from a distance, or the people in my life I spend ample amounts of time with, I am always filled with gratitude by the amazing people in my life. Thank you to all who made my 2009 incredible. There are many of you and I am continually marveled, humbled and appreciative!

New Blog URL

Hello Everyone! My blog URL (as you may have noticed) has shifted to www.CourtneyPool.com from RadicalRadiance.com. If you have my blog linked on yours, or on your website, first of all, thank you! I really appreciate your support. Also, please change the URL in those links.

Thank you to Dhrumil for tech help :)

A Recap of an Epic 2009: Part 1

2009 was quite a profound year for me, indeed. Here are some of the highlights of my 2009:

• Had a fantastic Christmas vacation where my family lives in Utah. I made raw food for my omnivorous friends and family, and they loved it!

• I visited NYC for the first time. I hung out with lots of incredible people, including some you may know of; Dhrumil Purohit, Philip McCluskey, Vanessa Barg, and Anthony Anderson. I attended the HOT Chocolate Holiday Party, a We Like It Raw potluck hosted by Dhrumil, and saw NYC decorated for Christmas! Tried food from raw restaurants such as Pure Food and Wine and Quintessence.

• Had a great Thanksgiving at Tree of Life. All raw food, over 100 people, and sunny!

• I finally visited the famous Eden Hot Springs (after 3 years of residence and it only being 2 hours away!), soaked in the springs, witnessed Frank Giglio and Goji Girl's being wedded by David Wolfe, and ate some of Frank's food - delish!

• I hosted an epic Tree of Life Halloween Bash with my soul sistah Koali. Consisted of ridiculous raw food, hours and hours of dancing, and great costumes. I love being a party hostess!

• I visited Los Angeles to represent the Tree of Life at the Alchemy Festival. I met amazing people, ate at the raw restaurant CRU, and visited the famous Erewhon Market.

• I delivered my first public presentation on a nutrition related subject at the grand opening of the 105degrees Academy in Oklahoma City. I spoke on reversing health challenges with raw food, emphasizing reversing diabetes, and I adored speaking in front of a crowd! Go figure! I met the incredible Matthew Kenney and Dara Prentice, and also met some other friends for the first time in person, such as Tim van Orden, Ani Phyo, and Penni Shelton. Also hung out with Philip McCluskey, Karen Knowler and Anthony Anderson. Ate incredible food - go Matthew and crew! So grateful for that experience!

Photos by Penni S, Philip M, Koali P, Sean S, Dhrumil P, and moi!

Among the Rockies

Greetings, Earthlings :)

I am currently on a holiday vacation to visit my family in Park City, Utah. I feel very blessed that it is the town I get to 'come home' to, because it's really picturesque and charming both in its city qualities and its natural beauty.


I ate pretty simply while I was home, the most complicated thing was this below, which is Alissa Cohen's 'Mock Salmon Pate' in kale leaves with chopped avocado. Delicious. My family tried it and liked it too!


My brothers opening some very much not raw vegan chocolate for xmas. They do, however, also love raw vegan chocolate that I have either made or bought for them.

I just had to share this. My whole family, myself included, are HUGE Monty Python fans. If you know Monty Python and the Holy Grail well enough, you'll understand these two gift labels:


No members of my family are vegan or raw or anything near, although as I said, they do enjoy raw vegan food, and one of my brothers even asked me to get him superfoods for xmas! So, I did! I got him goji berries and 'Hit the Trail Jack' trail mix from VivaPura. He loves the trail mix and although hasn't had goji berries before, is a high performing athlete and so goji's are a great food for him. My family is in total acceptance and support of my diet and lifestyle, although they do still playfully make fun of me, as demonstrated in the subsequent gift tag from my brother:


My other brother MADE me this gift, and I am still so overjoyed and softened with gratitude by it. He looked up the symbology of the 'Tree of Life', which is what the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center is named after, and handmade this glass layered piece:


Brother and I taking pictures. Note reindeer in picture behind us ;)


Happy Holidays,
Courtney

Spirulina Orangeness

I don't quite know WHAT my brother and I were attempting to do in this picture, but I realized after how funny it is that I am so much more orange than he is. Check out our hands compared to eachother. Why the orangeness? Beta-carotene in spirulina.

Your Questions Answered

I did Raw for a while - LOVED it - but lost a ridiculous amount of weight and finally ended up going back to cooked to stop everybody from thinking I was anorexic. Did you ever have problems with too much weight loss when you did it? How do you get enough calories without overdoing the fat? -Mozley

Hi Mozley, your situation is a common one. There are many possibilities for you, which could have to do with anything from not having enough calories, to hyperthyroidism, to poor absorption of nutrients, or a number of other things. The best way to narrow down what's going on for you is to get testing done so you have solid evidence. I personally don't have the issue of losing too much weight, but if I were you, I would first and foremost be consuming a lot of green leafy vegetables - even up to a pound or more every day, in the form of smoothies, salads and juices. If I was getting my leafy's via juice, I'd consume 2 lbs per day. After that, I'd begin to add in more protein, but primarily protein from algaes rather than from substances that also inherently contain fat, such as nuts and seeds. I would choose spirulina and/or chlorella and start with a small amount and work up to a couple tablespoons a day. Beyond that, the fats I would choose first would be ones with the most amount of nutrition in them, such as hemp seeds and chia seeds. You may desire to read the books 'The Sunfood Diet Success System' by David Wolfe and 'Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine' by Gabriel Cousens, M.D., for more tips on maintaining and gaining weight on raw foods.

Courtney, I have strep throat and do not want to resort to antibiotics if I don't have to, but I'm in so much pain. Any ideas of what you would do or recommend? I'm having difficulty swallowing. -C.

Hi C., when I feel a bit off balance in any way, including throat and respiratory issues, I first go to medicinal mushrooms: reishi, chaga, cordyceps, astralagus, coriolus, etc. If I were taking them in powder form, I might go for even a few tablespoons each day. Next, I'd go for oxygen therapy. This is something that has been recently introduced to me by Gabriel Cousens, M.D., and it has nixed less than optimal physical feelings very quickly. There are 2 products for this: the actual Oxygen Treatment Therapy, and then if you can, also OxySilver. Third, I would be downing massive amounts of Vitamin C, either in the form of camu camu powder, or Pure Radiance C by the Synergy Company. Fourth, I would go for tried and true substances like garlic, lemon, cayenne, and ginger to wipe out infection, bacteria, and other culprits. I would be drinking tons of water and eating as minimal as possible or fasting until I felt better, along with these other things. Rest well and recieve lots of hugs :) There really is tons you can do for the immune system, but this is a good start. Feel better soon!

Spirulina Babies

One of my closest friends' son. Spirulina all over. Imagine my delight.

New York City Part 2

Saturday in New York City!

I met up with Philip, Dhrumil and Tisa at Quintessence for lunch. I had a FoFu Benedict, which was freaking epic. After, we stopped by One Lucky Duck and I indulged in their 'moon pie,' a chocolate dessert which several people in Patagonia tied me to a chair and made me promise I would get. As anticipated, it was perhaps the most impressive raw dessert accomplishment I have experienced thus far.


Saturday evening, I embarked to the Jivamukti yoga center again for an event with the '13 Grandmothers'. The 13 Grandmothers are a counsel of indigenious women from around the world, who are allying with the purpose of healing the Earth and creating peace. For about 2 hours, they introduced themselves and their work. Most every one of them had had a premonition, a dream, or had been told by their mother or grandmother that when they were older, they would be part of a counsel such as this.

They are all very powerful, compassionate, wise and serene women and it was a very profound experience to share space with them all together. I felt a very strong connection to what one may call the 'divine feminine' energy through them, but a unique one because it was in the form of an alliance of indigenous elderly women from entirely different backgrounds, traditions and rituals with the same purpose... sort of like an ancient, mature form of the divine feminine. Lovely :)

I returned and met up with Anya, who had been spring water harvesting in New Jersey for the day. We drank delish spring water, and then headed off to the Gnosis Raw Chocolate party/Vanessa's Birthday Party, to launch their new line of chocolates. Some Pics:



Sunday, a crew of us met at Quintessence for brunch (Tisa, Kaya, Mia, Anthony, Philip, Dhrumil, Anya), where I had, yet again, the Fofu Benedict. It was awesome. We all hung out together for the day, ate Pure Food and Wine ice cream (whoa), and enjoyed the rainy Sunday.

Early Monday I headed to the airport to return to the land of cacti and sun. Here I am!


Photographs of Moon Pie by Heather P and Philip M
Photograph of 13 Grandmothers by Marisol Villanueva, courtesy of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers
Photographs of Chocolate Party by Vanessa B and Alex C
Photograph of group at Quintessence by Dhrumil

New York City - Part 1

Greetings to you my dears! I am back among the cacti after a great time in the big apple. Sadly, my camera has met its demise due to green juice spillage, so I have somewhat limited pictures for you.

Wednesday, a week ago, I flew out of Tucson to Salt Lake City. Salt Lake is a perfect layover city for me, because my family lives nearby in Park City, so I spent time with them. Then, I took a red eye to NYC, and despite being sure I would be able to sleep, didn't sleep at all.


Thursday, my first day in NYC, I hung with my friend Anya, whose apartment I stayed at. Anya and I met in Patagonia in September of 2008; we both had chosen to be participants of the Spirit Dance. Anya is also a masters student for the Vegan and Live Food Nutrition program that the Tree of Life offers.
We first went to Union Square Holiday Market. I grew up going to craft fairs and things of the like, and this was the creme de la creme of them. The artisans' work varied from jewelry, to scarves to clothing, to body products, to children's toys. We then went to the Jivamukti yoga studio, where we ate and browsed the shop. That night, I also went to Pure Food and Wine for the first time, along with Anya, Dhrumil, and Dhrumil's friend Nirav. My favorite thing was their mint sundae - oh mah goodness.

Friday, Anya and went to Quintessence and had their bagel - totally awesome, highly recommend. We then toured some more spots, including Organic Avenue and several other health food stores, natural clothing stores and eco gift stores. That evening was a raw meetup hosted by Dhrumil. I got to meet several online friends in person for the first time, including the charming and beautiful Gena of www.ChoosingRaw.com, and Jeff the 'Rawtographer'. Those I didn't previously know were also a joy to spend time with.



All in all, my first 2 days were fantastic! At first I felt like I was in a movie, since my only references of NYC in my life have been through them. The air didn't bother me as badly as L.A. air, so that I was thankful for. I really enjoyed the contrast of NYC to Patagonia.. I had to laugh that the population of Patagonia probably exists in just one chunk of a block of NYC. Hehe..

Part 2 to come..

Last 2 photos by Alex C

Tree of Life Garden Pictures 3