KK with his plate of fantastic falafel yum!

After a brief hiatus from rawsome gourmet food preparation due to an intensified love affair with simple green smoothies and superfood drinks, the fat bags of quinoa on my table inspired me to create one of my most favorite Mediterranean-inspired meals, falafels with generous servings of couscous and  tabbouleh.

falafels dehydrating

Falafels are traditionally made with ground chickpeas, formed into small fat patties, flash fried and served with a creamy lemon garlic tahini sauce on the side. Making my own light and raw-ified version, I looked at many traditional and raw recipes. Chickpeas can be very heavy and not easily digested when eaten raw plus, most raw falafels call for a lot of nuts, which can be on the heavy side.

SOFTWARE:

• 1 1/2 cups sunflower seeds, measured dry, soak for at least 4 hours
• 1/2 cup white sesame seeds, measured dry, soak for at least 4 hours
• 4 medium or 6 small carrots, sliced in 2″ pieces
• one bunch of parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, more if needed
• 3/4 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 3 cloves garlic
• juice of one lemon
• 1 cup pitted black olives
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup flax or chia meal for binding

HOW TO:

• In an 8-cup (or larger) food processor, add the seeds, garlic cloves and carrots. Pulse until roughly chopped.
• Add olives, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, salt, parsley, olive oil and lemon juice. Process until blended. Scrape down the sides.
• Sprinkle flax or chia meal and process for 20 seconds.
• Put mixture in a bowl and mix by hand with a spatula.
• Form into falafels (I used a 2-ounce ice scream scoop instead as I was in a hurry) and dehydrate in 145F for the first two hours and 105F for 8-10 hours. It can be served moist too.

Serve with sprouted quinoa, tabbouleh or simple salad or in wraps with garlic sauce (I used coconut yogurt as base instead of tahini). Makes about 39 2-ounce falafels and feed 6-8 hoomans.

Choosing the raw living foods lifestyle made me appreciate food preparation and fermented food, these I took for granted for many years as I mostly prepared food unconsciously, without gratitude. Fermentation allowed me to sentiently understand and respect the lives and processes (aka hard work) of plants, bees, animals and microbes in order to feed me. There’s so much dedication and energy that goes to each ounce of kefir and kombucha, a forkful of sauerkraut, a drop of honey.

Experiencing all this contributed to my, let me say, “above average” state of health and well-being. Fermentation coupled with raw food and energy consciousness, I am completely healed of my GERD, obesity and high blood cholesterol levels, my blood sugar level found stability. Unsurprisingly, I became resistant to flu, cough, cold seasons.

To share my love of fermentation, I improved and systematized the way I give kefir grains to their loving recipients. Before,  I would put live activated grains with fermenting kefir water in small jars and post the dates when I can deliver in my kefir share calendar. Since then, I quadrupled my production–my household’s consumption excluded–due to the significant increase of requests and the way I was giving them away is not working as well as I initially thought it would. I always run out of jars and there’s the chronic spillage concern which made transport bothersome for both giver and recipient.

dehydrated and inactive kefir grains which plump up to 400% more in volume upon activation

To make this entire love-share process sustainable and easier, I started dehydrating kefir grains and kombucha mothers–otherwise known as SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast), I started giving these away since December 2011–and packing them in zip lock bags. Also, I prepared kefir and kombucha activation instructions, recipes, FAQs and other reference material for its recipients, all to be sent via e-mail because I commit to love our planet by minimizing usage of paper and plastic. On top of this, I provide online support to all recipients.  On a regular basis, I give kefir + fermentation talks and demos in Asha Peri’s The Lighter Side of Raw living foods workshops at Dahon Kusina.

dehydrated and inactive kombucha mothers which plump up to 800% in volume upon activation

If you’re interested in getting either sugar kefir grains or kombucha mother or both, please get in touch with me (click contact on the right side of the home page) for details and I will get back to you as soon as I can. The grains/mothers will be shipped via Xend. True to the code of kefir and kombucha ferment-ators, I share and do not intend sell or make a profit out of these miraculous microbes, only a minimal energy exchange for the sugar, tea leaves, packaging, energy consumed in dehydration and shipping.

Want to know more about kefir and kombucha while you’re making up your mind to commit to fermentation? Below are some links to read up:

• Dom’s kefir FAQs
• Kombucha health benefits by Food Renegade
• Cultures for Health’s kombucha FAQs

P.S.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank the Ineng and her family behind Kefir2Share who generously gave me my first kefir grains and Marie of Kitchen Revolution for giving me my first kombucha mothers. Such generosity can only be paid forward.

Trail to the God Within

1. Truly learning the gift of silence and communion with the God with-IN

It started with the best birthday gift I ever gave myself, a solo journey to the prayer mountain, a first in my 31st with February 6. It was apparent that this wisdom revealed lay the power to share love and best of intentions for others. As this consciousness expanded, my heart grew bigger that my chest cannot hold it in its old place; it took its rightful place in the Universe.

The calm vastness that is “home” to the gentle yet largest fish in the world – Butanding (whale sharks – Rhindodon typus)

2. Albay-Sorsogon

Going to the Bicol region felt like coming “home”. Its irresistible motherly arms embraced us with so much openness with the majesty that is Mt. Mayon, black beaches, ruins, people, butanding and fireflies up in the trees and under the Donsol River under the full moon.

There is something incredibly precious and humbling in swimming with the Butanding. Despite my burned back, stiff arms and calves from swimming as fast as I possibly could for two hours, the encounter left me with so much peace in the confirmation of the littleness of my then day-to-day worries and agitations.

3. Embracing the love and light of the living sun food lifestyle

Last March, I decided to undergo a 30-day high raw diet. Little did I know that I will choose embrace it with every cell in my body and with every little bit of my being. Living foods paved my path–with a sprinkling of fairies, suns and stars–to the door to the Source of it all, staking claim to the abundance that is my birth right.

4.   Inner Dance and Bahay Kalipay

As I entered the door to the Universe, the path is long and endless. To keep walking, I have to get back to who I chose to be and it required peeling every acquired and preconditioned layer. Last May, I found  the Dance so seekers such as I,  can go back to the “who I am”. After the first session, I made the decision to fly to Palawan to deepen my processing in life review and self-identification through free movement,  raw food and holistic detoxification. If the love I received weren’t enough, I met so many hearts in the same journey who helped and witnessed my becoming.

And, from then on, I left my slippers behind.

5. Embodying sacred simplicity of raw

Months in the raw, basking in and sharing its love and while raw-trofitting my kitchen, I became magnetized to the beautiful simplicity of raw food as I broadened my raw kitchen skills in Dahon Kusina by sharing space with The Lighter Side of Raw workshop attendees (I am so happy and proud to be part of this lovely team!). The more my raw food preparations become progressively complex, the more I appreciated its inherent simplicity–and the latter is what I continue to choose to share.

The wisdom that is me went on a 30-day juice fast that made me feel and look significantly more than a million bucks. Truly, the simplest things make you the richest. And, I am never the same again.

Biggest Fan Moment – Amomboyao aka Romulo Caballero

6.  Hinilawod in Manila

I asked, and I received! ready to book tickets to Dumaguete and run to Siliman just to witness the world’s longest epic on stage, a whisper said I should wait and wait I did. The cast made CCP their home for two days and I there I met Amomboyao who beautifully chanted excerpts from Hinilawod…his singing made my soul cry.

Malinta Tunnel

 7. Corregidor

I love curious places and a tadpole-shaped island which became the turn of the 20th century’s premiere military defense in Asia is no exception. Back in May, I thought, “If only walls could talk.” Now, I can’t wait to go back with a bike and talk to walls.

 8.  Fuma

Courtesy of a very dear friend, this bundle of very sweet gray smoky joy joined our family of four last February. He likes eating everything his hooman nanay does, which includes green smoothies.

Inner Dance Initiatory Teachers Training Manila
photo by Dexter Tan

9. SIMUNYE (We Are One)

The souls who chose to become a family in two days, bound by love and healing, the hearts I chose to become my heart of hearts. ONE soul, ONE heart, ONE love, ONE family called into BEing ♥

Together, we move mountains.

BOL’s Oplan Lana
photo by Lyza Peña

10. Small Group: OPLAN Lana

After some time in Bread of Life, I find myself in this group of lovely women who desire nothing but embody the best of God within. I have not seen them in months but I know I am always in their prayers, and them, in mine.

photo by Jovan De Ocampo

11.  The coolest Plurk friends

They shared the littlest and the biggest news of my every day. They know my heart at its most mundane, toughest, softest and everything in between. I am thankful for each them–a handful of stars did not make it in the photo –down to the soles of their feet.

12. The first genuine transitory initiative to simple raw food lifestyle community in the country

It is a wonderful blessing to belong to the RFSGP community and work with so many different people drawn to raw food–for various reasons, primarily for better health. This current space housing this community built early last year quickly grew to 500+ members and transformed to a community with a life of its own, a soul and breath that is the amalgamation of 500 souls.

The group will transfer to a new home, a hosted forum to better provide support to each member’s needs and the FB group will be opened to the public as soon as I post our Vision Mission. Teehee!

 Tribal wedding march

13. Bukidnon and the Talaandig Tribe

What fitting way to get to know Bukidnon the first time around through the Talaandig community and walking barefoot on the muddy foothills of Mt. Kitanglad! Such a privilege to gain friends and family promoting unity through peace and culture and communion with nature. Maraming maraming salamat!

Camiguin’s oldest tree, or is it?

14.  Enigmata and Camiguin

I found Enigmata back in 2007 and recommended it to a bunch of friends despite the fact I only stepped foot on its grounds just last year. Mama Rosa and her family of artists did an exceptional job of creating this living and breathing space which  is a destination on its own.

Camiguin took my breath away. Indeed, it’s one of the most beautiful places in the country. It owns a piece of my heart.

15. Coron and Culion

2011 is a year of exponential firsts and stepping foot on Coron and Culion no exemption. Finally understanding the general fan-dom of Coron’s visitors, I too willingly joined the club. This trip by far is the most difficult: A missed flight, canceled flight, calling so many for last minute updates, to name a few. Time and money consuming it may have been, it opened a door with which when opened, buckets-full of random kindness from strangers is received.

The privilege of witnessing all this is definitely worth all the trouble.

16. Simple loving service through raw food and healing

Sendong came and revealed the real state of poverty our country has. Despite the destroyed homes, displaced families, hundreds killed and hundreds more missing during the season to be jolly, a small window opened. An opportunity to awaken to the vast richness and abundance through raw food and Inner Dance.

The Maia Consciousness Community was called to action and it gave birth to a movement with a mission to awaken everyone who is ready all over the country and the world.

Thank you, 2011 for the amazing, fortuitous encounters, opportunities, headaches, gut aches, smiles, laughs, acceleration, opening, the unraveling. Thank you for preparing me for 2012 ♥

It was all the same until Sendong came and its eye cruised through Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, revealing an indescribable trail of sorrow and devastation caused by a combination of climate change and generations-worth of disrespect of nature and life (mining operations and il/legal logging).  Waking up in my sleep hearing wails grieving souls losing their loved ones and everything they worked so hard for and sight of corpses buried in mud, a firm whisper to HELP muted all others. I shared the same compulsion and desire to help in any way I can by giving my energy in both short and long term relief/aid efforts.

After sending off 50+ boxes/bags of bottled water and goods from and with the hearts of my colleagues, asking Raw Food Support Group Phils. to share our abundance and other people, I hear the whisper again…nudging, firm, all-knowing. As a soul deeply and multifariously grounded in simplicity, sustainability and essence,  I have to help in the best way Wisdom knows how.

Sacred Healing Caravan (Christ Consciousness, Raw Food and Inner Dance) in Northern Mindanao

In less than 72 hours, I converged and aligned with hearts burgeoning with the same truth and fire.  Inspired by the wisdom of spirits of the ancients, light workers gathered with ONE divine intention: Empower our displaced kababayans to be independently and holistically sustainable.

When the last donated Peso is gone, the last bottle of water is consumed, the food in cans and plastic are eaten, the homes and bridges are rebuilt, lives will never be the same. In order to live, our kababayans need to heal, feed themselves with the supreme abundance they are graciously surrounded with which the whole world can see and material wealth can never provide, and reconnect with nature with respect and love as it is in Creator’s grand design.

Raw Food Pinoy‘s free flyer on raw food basics  (Bisaya) – content written and simplified in Manila by Kusina ni Lakapati, Bahay Kalipay and Dahon Kusina; designed in Italy by Kat Conde; now available in four languages–Bisaya, Tagalog, English, Italian–soon in Bicolano

In three days after casting intentions and calling out for help. I witness the Christ withIN  each one. As I sat on my chair,  Christ everywhere converged, tangible in miracles, coupled with the inspiration from the Green Relief Initiative model. In less than three days, we received solar panels for electricity; innumerable water filtration devices; 6 blenders and cash donations started pouring in from everywhere in the world to fill jeepney after jeepney with fruits (for green smoothies); farms opening their space for raw food and healing demos and water; raw food flyers designed and printed in 2,000 copies. As we speak more love is pouring in. So much more that I stopped counting.

Overwhelmed, I, with my husband, felicitously choose to spend our Christmas  in grateful and sacred silence to continue witnessing, speaking, living in the light of Christ–the true consciousness that is Christ. I close my eyes in silence, listening to messages from sages young and old in the Wisdom that is as old as life itself, messages revealing glimpses of abounding hope and what is to come, doing and being what is called and asked.

I and my family wish you the most meaningful Christmas and blessed Yule.

In gratitude and light,

Lakapati, Alvin, Castor, Pollux and Fuma

October and November spelled the busiest months of my 2011. By end of September, I took a deep breath before jumping onto the sunrise of October 1st. Balancing the different hats I wear and their individual needs posed a sprinkling of challenges, dropping a couple of balls and quickly picking them all back up.

During my lovely retreat to Mama Palawan (Coron and Culion) to bask under the brightest sunshine, I stopped and just BE! and marveled at the phenomenon of the sky and sea melting to one glorious shade of blue. The miracle that is Palawan requires nothing less than reverent silence.

Adjusting back from my sweet reprieve, visiting my favorite bookstores are in order. I realized that for quite some time, I haven’t read the way I used to read…voraciously, curiously, taking delight with each flip of a page–no thanks to the internet. The sweet reprieve–and intermittent internet connection–reminded me how absolutely delicious reading can be and why it will always be my first love.

As a light worker with a passion for furthering the advocacy in raw food with a renewed love affair with reading, it is a gift to see THREE–not just one but three!–books on raw food on a bookstore shelf. I take that one small step to awakening in the sunshine and love of raw food!

About 3-4 months ago, I only saw one book on raw food in NBS, written by Diana von Cranach:

I’ve been diligently praying for local raw food books hitting the market like a storm and I am answered by The Farm at San Benito recent release of RAW!:

photo by Celine Fernando

Unfortunately, RAW! is not available in local bookstores as of this writing. I trust it will be plus others, and soon! the country thirsts for more raw food books and most of them don’t know it yet.

2011 is my year of internal expeditions, careful observation, staggering and perplexing discoveries, and whelming manifestations. Growing inside, then out is much more–to say the least–is much more interesting than ever. Rediscovering the light in and wisdom that is me leave me stupefied beyond belief. This is the year I completely opened myself up to truly see the person I am now being and becoming.

Why change my name?

As young child in preschool, writing my full name formed knots on my forehead. At the tender age of 4, it was almost painful to write my long name. Not only because it put me in a lot of trouble fitting that plus the date, I have always struggled with what it meant to be Fristine. I always asked and said, “Ano’ng ibig sabihin ng Fristine? Ni wala nga ako sa abakada…” Wondering was a constant melancholic affair.

According to my mother, I was named Fristine Gizelle because when she was pregnant with me, during her last trimester, she loved going to musical/ballet plays. And one such play is rendition of The Swan Lake re-titled as Pristine Giselle at the Metropolitan Theater in the heart of Manila. In the true blue Filipino fashion, my parents swapped the P in Pristine for an F to match my father’s initials and the S in Giselle were traded for a Z to…hmm…perhaps to make it more interesting. I can’t exactly remember why.

The accuracy of the mentioned story is not of importance. My parents had their reasons for naming me as such. I love them for naming me as Fristine because it gave me the great opportunity to rediscover my true name, in full consciousness. How many people do you know who found their real names? At an average, not very many. From where I come from, this is an almost day-to-day affair. ♥

Why Lakapati?

I found Lakapati in 2009 as she mysteriously emerged from a book I was reading. The name haunted all levels of my consciousness every single day. No week passed without any attempt to find out more, and as I find out more, the more I am initiated into the self I always were and longed to be.

Fristine, lovely and unique as she is, does not fit the woman who is now Lakapati. Only Lakapati can encapsulate her very essence. She is woman who is the embodiment abundance and passion to awaken a country through sun/living/raw food and discovery of love within.

I am ONE, I have come into BEing and I am BEcoming, I am Lakapati. ♥

Sugar Kefir Grains (SKG)

I have been sharing kefir grains on and off since early 2010. Last August, I recommitted to share on an ongoing basis. Sometimes, life happens and there are many days where 24 hours are not enough to do all we need and want to do, and I temporarily put my mission to share these grains at the back burner.

Realizing how kefir can profoundly improve the health of anyone–myself included–I have to find time to continue sharing but moving forward, in a more organized fashion.  :) On a monthly basis, I will post dates when I can give SKG (Sugar Kefir Grains)

I will be available to share kefir grains on these dates:

December 10 and 11 (Saturday and Sunday), Templa Wellness – 5 PM onwards

**timeframes may change, please visit this page for updates

Please contact me if you are available on these dates (kindly introduce yourselves too). I will gladly give a short primer on growing SKG (Sugar Kefir Grains) along with the grains and provide support for any culture/growing concerns, including alternative/other uses for kefir.

Energy Exchange: 500g of pesticide/herbicide-free/organic muscovado and a promise to share with anyone who needs it ♥

Due to the continuous demand, I need help in their culture which I now do on a larger scale.   I hope you understand. For those who are located outside of the Metro, please do contact me via e-mail so we can discuss how I can ship grains to you.

Love.

juice feast breaking — gone absolutely wrong!

The what I thought will last for only three to 7 days stretched to a 30-day journey that extraordinarily opened up innumerable windows and doors in different shapes and sizes.  With each open window and door, I find a piece of myself. Some I hardly recognize, some I thought I lost a long time ago and some simply knocked my socks off.

Everything was spurred from a tiny maggot of curiosity, the thought of “IF”, born out of the question which begged to be asked, “Can I do this?” After being on mostly raw food since April and being fired up with the insatiable desire to learn more about sun/raw food and everything it encompasses, I made the decision to take things one step further…engage in a fast. Definitely not for three days because I will just breeze through it, just as how I surf my dreams when I’m asleep at night.  Definitely not 7 days because it will be relatively easy, just like the inconvenience of going to the bath for a self-administered body scrub. I needed and wanted a journey, not a short stroll in some unfamiliar park.

Never in my entire life have I fasted, not even anything that’s remotely close. In my then-minikin consciousness, fasting was like a remote island in Atlantis after crossing the Sahara desert. That’s how far it was in my line of perspective. Indulgence was my religion, my breath, my mantra, my favorite song for as far back as I can remember. My mothers coddled my every craving and all my heart’s desire to a fault; and this was my preliminary programming. My entire person is conjoined with food and separation from it is unthinkable! In retrospect, the idea of “moderation” never did marry with my old life’s concept of wellness and food.

But Jesus fasted for 40 days, and so did Buddha. These are two of the most enlightened beings who walked the earth. Diving into their individual accounts, one thing struck me the most: They endured one of their life’s most trying events and after which gained impeccable clarity. Who am I to question the precept of the Divine? I probably will never come close, but to earn wings and fly? SOLD.

spoof shot talk with Lorna

 The Breaking

Breaking my fast need not be eventful that I have to have a video made of myself or make a fuss as I take a bite of my soaked prunes. The whole affair was almost private as no one in my travel party–including my husband–knew exactly  when I’m going to pop something in my mouth and start chewing.

Soon enough, the time arrived. We were in the middle of a terminal somewhere in Mindanao surrounded by a couple of pastel bakeries and an Ilonggo grill.  I tore open my bag of prunes and surreptitiously snatched a piece while KK and Lorna are busy with their meals. I popped a prune in my mouth and started chewing. A wee bit slow at first which escalated to an almost gnashing-of-teeth frenzy. Chewing felt foreign, unnatural. My jaw muscles after having been out of commission for 30 days did tire fast, too fast for comfort. So this is how it feels to learn how to “eat” again.  Remembering how to eat suddenly became an unwanted chore. A chore I waited 30 days to do.

A slew of emotions flooded my sensibilities. I felt a deep sense of joy (of accomplishment), relief (my jaw is still functional!), anxiety (will my energy be the same? Will I gain all that weight back? How will I transition back to solid food? Will my jaw hurt for days when I chew? I might stop glowing!), excitement (I get to EAT! I’m going to make Matthew Kenney’s raw baked macaroni and cheese!) and finally, gratitude. Gratitude to everyone who helped me through the challenging days and celebrated each day with me. A chock full of it belongs to my husband, who made the extra effort to buy me all the juices I want, even in his sleep.

As I write, I am a different person than the woman who toyed with the idea of “eating” nothing but  juice for an entire month.  I returned to sacred simplicity every day, for 30 blessed God-filled days. Every cell in my being vibrates with love and praise of miracles.

Namaste.

my 3-day “lunch box”

Feast Mains: Buko juice, buko juice and more buko juice!
Accoutrements: N/A

The last 6 days is almost a blur, a flurry of events bizarre enough that conventional ways of keeping track of the days passed seem to not work as effectively as I hoped. At the tethers of a very successful quarter end at work, four days–seemed like a decade!–of out-of-this-world Inner Dance initiatory teacher’s training and preparation for a week-long sojourn to Northern Mindanao seized all my time to write and instantly share the last leg of my journey.

The solicited busyness seized every single minute which were decidedly allocated to quarter bonus computations, delegations, delivery of my extra juicer to 7-day juice feasters, preparations of raw snacks to bring for the long trip, packing, connecting with my lovely cat sitter–this human slave made sure her feline masters do not become prissy in her absence–and a million other not-so-important details. Even when fasting, the lower self can easily break through the flimsy prison of sacred simplicity in a dense space, better known as the Metro Manila in these parts. I willed my higher self out with coconut juice and more of it, no need for anything else.

With my personal blender in tow, I braved the most fertile island of Maharlika (Philippines); thinking I will break my fast with smoothies after I’m done with my pack of prunes. Upon touchdown in Cagayan de Oro, I hunted for coconuts to bring to Sungko. Following a staunch hunch that coconuts might not be as easy to find up in the mountains, I loaded 10 at the back of the van to form a bed for Kat’s feet. And, thank goodness that I did because there’s no coconut tree in sight by the foothills of Mt. Kitanglad.  Borrowing a relatively small itak, I set my pile of coconuts right next to my borrowed mattress. I brazenly disturbed–rather embarrassingly–at least a couple of datus to crack open a few coconuts whenever KK is indisposed to do so.

What a gift it is to be with the Talaandigs on the last days of my juice feast, even if I am surrounded by tubs of rice, mounds of steamed vegetables, pots of stewed chicken in ginger and roasted pigs in the middle of a frenzy that is Adlaw Tu Talaandig. They asked me with the slightest curiosity why I’m not eating, Kat gladly articulated my response, “Mag-ritwal yan pagkatapos.” And they nodded, no questions, no buts, no concerns. Simply and in every respect, they UNDERSTAND. For once I did not have to explain myself and that in itself, is a tremendous gift.

I cried a little…no, I cried a lot under my blankets. Such compassionate love is overwhelming.

triscele
life in its phases

DAY 22 (Friday, October 7)

Feast Mains: Orange juice; pineapple juice; barley; coconut juice
Accoutrements: Coconut oil

The weekend starts again earlier. I love my Monday through Friday work days as it opens up the heart of my Saturdays in incomprehensible ways. As I prepare for the vicarious energy work of this weekend, I take the time to cruise the aisles of bulk-buying propaganda  to buy my feline children some food and litter before we leave for Bukidnon. While I thought this place is not going to give me any real treats, it drew me to the yellowest and sweet-smelling pineapples. Freshly-squeezed pineapple is on sale!

I buy a liter and immediately made a sunny bromelain moustache! It’s so good–I haven’t had pineapple since I started the fast–sun-shiny vibrant and sweet. I simply had to disappear from the world and we one with my juice. My tongue just exploded and made my chakras spin a wee bit faster. I am so thankful for this amazing love that finds me every single day.

DAY 23 (Saturday, October 8 )

Feast Mains: Pineapple juice; coconut juice
Accoutrements: N/A

It is the third session of the Inner Dance Initiatory Teacher’s Program and I am exceedingly excited day after day. My energy is not as high comparing it to my energy last weekend. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. Meeting with my Soul Group is enough to give me a boost even at the lowest of the low and ride the highest wave of celebrations. They will forever remain lovers of my soul, friends in the Light. How I feel about them can never be completely described by mere words. I cannot describe the grandness of aggrandizement whenever I sit within their presence, as the share the glorious Truth of everything and the instant cohesiveness with which we are all likened to stray stars coming together to form the unlikeliest but exquisite constellation. We light up our corner of the Universe and soon enough, we will light up other stars to brighten their own corners and pull suns and stars to do the same.  Saying “I love them all so very much” is the tiniest of understatements.

As if this gift is not enough, I unexpectedly find Tza in all her elegance seated in a corner. She is one of the most beautiful women in their 50s I have met in my life. The last time she saw me was back in July–when I was a completely different person. With a generous hug, I send her love, in gratitude for the wonderful grace and compassion she’s given me during the biggest shifts of my life. She offers comfort without even trying, you got to love her.