I had the honor of attending the engagement ceremony of two dear friends at sunrise in Malibu at Matador Beach about two weeks ago. I felt beyond words to participate in such a sacred, natural communion event. Sand art labyrinth was created by friend Andreas Hoenigschmid.

I just had the most wonderful encounter an hour ago. I walked to Coffee Bar in Potrero Hill to have lunch.

It was crowded, so I sat next to two fifty- to sixty-ish old gentlemen at the counter who were dressed in khaki pant and jacket business garb. They were engrossed in a business conversation about a deal they were trying to raise money for and setting up a golf meeting for an interested party.

After a few minutes, one of the gentleman says, “you know what I’ve been thinking about lately is the power of thought to send positive vibrations out in the universe.”

WTF??!!

After a couple of minutes of his explanation to his colleague, I had to jump in and said, “I really appreciate the conversation you’re having and I’d like to recommend a book, Power vs Force“.

We then proceeded to talk about how fear is the opposite of love. They wanted to know more about me and I said I’m looking to combine my business skills and social mission values.

They were grateful for my book recommendation and we said our goodbyes.

Wow. I think I’m in the right spot.

The convergence of three events catalyzed my entry into the world of RAW food.

1. Costco
2. Living in Las Vegas
3. Coaching

About a month ago on a fateful Wednesday afternoon, I walked into Costco to buy Kleenex and soap. As I was pushing my cart through the aisles, there it was – the Vita-Mix 5200 demonstration and display. I knew a high quality, high speed blender was crucial for making raw food meals.

The gentleman running the booth was mixing, grinding, and blending up a storm.

I chatted with him about Vita-Mix vs BlendTec (another blender option) but knew that my mind was made up. I was going to be a Vita-Mix gal.

I set one in my cart and the rest is history!

The other event that precipitated my entry into the world of RAW is a lifestyle change from living in Las Vegas. In Vegas, I eat most meals at home. In LA, I ate most meals (except breakfast) out or from prepared food.

The raw world is a little intimidating, especially in California. The food served in raw food restaurants seems complicated, difficult to prepare, and chock-full of nuts.  I have a nut allergy (all nuts) so going raw for me seemed nearly impossible.

Which leads me to my third catalyst – coaching. I received some guidance from a raw food extraordinaire, helping me realize a RAW diet was possible. I also got hooked up with a bunch of recipes.

My main questions upon starting were the following:

• What do I eat and when?
• How do I maintain a balanced diet?
• How do I not run out of energy with an active lifestyle?

These are big questions! In the early part of my first week, I had an afternoon of overwhelm – makes sense since I was in the process of transforming my relationship with food and re-learning – what to eat, what types of groceries to buy, and how to prepare them.

The overwhelming feeling passed and later that day, I made a shopping list and drove to the grocery store.

I have been buying a TON of greens.

Generally, here’s what I’ve been eating:

• Green smoothies — my favorite is a banana, a coconut with the water and coconut meat, and several handfuls of spinach  (for more information on green smoothies and an overall introduction to RAW, Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko is a great resource)
• Salads with raw dressing
• Pumpkin and sunflower seeds
• Coconut date rolls
• Dehydrated crackers/bread with tahini and a little agave; or avocado and tomatoes and sprouts
• Raw cereal
• Some raw chocolate

So how has it been for me? After two weeks on a 100% RAW diet, I feel AMAZING. I have loads of energy and haven’t been excessively hungry. I have no need or desire to take a nap during the day. My thinking has been clear and my creativity is flowing. My mind and body are firing on all cylinders.

My relationship with food is changing. I give food more time. A grab and go consumer lifestyle does not apply.

After this experiment, my plan is to eat raw as much as I can with an overall goal of 70% of my diet. I want to learn how to make more RAW food dishes and also improve my preparation skills (like more precise chopping).

America also has to re-learn what to eat, how to shop for food, and how to prepare it. McDonalds or other fast food is no kitchen!

Jamie Oliver’s recent TED talk prize speech talks about this exactly. He shares powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, West Virginia, and makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food.

Within the same seven days, Michelle Obama launched the Let’s Move campaign to combat obesity in the US.

Transformation can happen America! You have to choose to want it first.

I decided to go on a road bike ride this afternoon through the Red Rock Canyon loop. It was a gorgeous, cold winter day, sunny on one side of the canyon and cloudy on the other. The 15 mile ride is stunning, hilly and my favorite in the United States. Two feet of snow from the recent storms remained in some places.

This ride ALWAYS centers me –something about the land out there, the canyon, its age, and the tectonic shifts that produced such a variety of colored rock. Towards the end of the loop, as I was thinking about a new business I want to start, a bluebird flew right across my line of site. Even with all the gorgeous, snow-covered rock and brush, this site was the most beautiful of my ride.

I had seen my animal totem.

Here’s a description:

Bluebird is about your happiness within and without. He signifies a contentment and fulfillment that is happening or is about to happen. Bluebird shows how to find those joyful gems in everyday life with an appreciation anew. He teaches a balance of work and play and reminds us to reinstate the fun back into life. Listen to the song of Bluebird in order to sing your own of joy with an awakened confidence and internal peace. It is time to look for chances to touch joy in your lie. Dance and sing with every step, Bluebird will show you the way.

Here’s also a related poem called “Bluebird” by Charles Bukowski.

Bluebird

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but i’m too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I’m not going
to let anybody see
you.

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey in him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he’s
in there.

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody’s asleep.
I say, I know that you’re there,
so don’t be
sad.

then I put him back,
but he’s singing a little
in there, I haven’t quite let him
die
and we sleep together like that
with our
secret pact
and it’s nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don’t
weep, do
you?

It was early December 2005 and I was on a plane to India. A few months earlier I had come back from running and going through a yoga teacher’s training in Tulum, Mexico. I had started teaching yoga in Santa Monica and loved it. I sensed that I would be leaving my position as General Manager of Power Yoga soon, mentally noting end of March 2006 as a target.

The trip to India was inspired by my cousin’s wedding; we arrived about two weeks before the event to do some sight-seeing, a pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi (Jai Mata Di!), visit family and go shopping. India is always an adventure; and this trip continued the trend.

Growing up in the US, I saw most of my extended family on trips to India every five years or so. So, it was always a rare treat to meet family members even if we didn’t have much in common.

The time for my cousin’s wedding arrived. Indian weddings are a blast, replete with multiple ceremonies, singing, dancing, food, and rituals. As I was watching one of the ceremonies a day or two before the wedding, a woman came up from me from behind asked if she could hug me. I said, “sure,” a little confused and also why not.

Later, at the wedding, she came up to me again and asked her family to take a picture of her with me, a saint. I said without hesitation or thought, “of course.”

About this time, I ate a pakora, an Indian appetizer; it was so spiced up, I couldn’t taste what was inside; and, a few minutes later I realized it had peanuts in it.

Since I was a toddler, I’ve had a very severe allergy to peanuts, so this was not good news. I did not know how bad the reaction would be and it resulted in anaphylactic shock. I go into detail about this experience here.

I came back to the US from this trip to India in a high vibratory, enlightened state. At the time, while unable to make sense of what I was feeling in my mind, I knew to notice what was happening and stay present with what I was feeling. I felt light pouring out of my eyes. People would stop me on the street and ask me if we knew each other; friends said I looked like I had had an amazing vacation, even though I was in the midst of recovering from a major anaphylactic reaction.

During the next couple months, I read a lot, searching for works that resonated with true inspiration and connection to the self, for works that felt pure. I read poetry. Here are some of my favorites from that time: Restless Souls: The Making of American Spirituality by Leigh Schmidt, The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America by David Whyte, works by Henry David Thoreau, and Yoga and the Quest for the True Self by Stephen Cope.

I started writing.

I conceived of Allergy Haven, starting my first company because I realized an opportunity where we could alleviate the fear of carrying around the life-saving medicine by placing it in a fashionable holder. [I sold my share to my business partner in December 2007.]

I left Power Yoga April 1, 2006 and also by then had become an independent strategy consultant for start-ups.

Professionally, I knew I wanted to combine business and spirituality – but what did that mean? How? Also, the current marketplace seemed pretty competitive with new age, self-help types: Tony Robbins, Deepak Chopra, etc.

This search continued over the next three years as I learned more about myself, went on a deep healing journey and continued to grow in my career.

Over the last four years, I have been focused on bringing consciousness into the gestalt that is business. As a result, I have been experimenting with different tools to explain the benefits of transformational work. Of course, there is no better tool than direct embodied experience, but sometimes a more mind-oriented approach is more appropriate.

Hence: PowerPoint — to ground my transformational rhetoric by using an ordinary business communication tool.

I created this presentation two years ago to help people understand that how one relates (to friends, family, colleagues, nature, etc.) directly affects one’s ability to transform the world around. By taking responsibility for positive relationship completely, one becomes a progressive growth experience for others enabling unlimited potential for economic, political, and artistic transformation.

Relating in the 21st Century