And beyond

So, my felllow beautious juice feasters. . . I have joined the world of masticating fibrous chunks of whole (raw) foods. A bit like starting the juice feast, it wasn't a decision I consciously made. I "fell" into the juicy world with no real idea what I was doing, where it would take me. For sure it has surpassed any possible pre-conceived notion of what it could bring, most importantly such a supportive and inspiring group of bloggers to whom I give a generous portion of gratitude to for inspiring me along the way.

Why did I stop? An extreme vata condition, an arctic chill arriving in London, my blood choosing to stop circulating, no central heating where I live, a disintegrating body weight, serious struggles with elimination (nothing, no matter how many enemas or herbs I took - strange!) and bang, you have someone prone to extremes (I must, I must, I must commune with the universe at all times no matter what the cost.... ;) ) chomping down a packet of cashews and an avocado. Blurgh!!!

Time for a spot of homeostasis. With a history of parasites (3 years on the road ;) ), colitis and liver failure my body is still very sensitive and I think it can only take so much detox at a time. I have a feeling I could have colonics for a month before I get rid of what 20 days of juicing stirred up.

My body is also currently trying to release a cellular memory of fear. My time in India ended with me collapsed in a hut on the beach unable to move for 6 months while I drooled on the pillow, turned yellow and was plagued with nightmares and visions every night. This is something I also give thanks to the universe for every day, I released a LOT during this time (there is a slightly lengthier version of this story which maybe one day I will tell...), but it was extreme and I only just made it back to London in one piece.

Right now, I am now feeling incredibly calm and very much enjoying the experiment of incorporating food back into my diet. No cashews since the first day, just salad, a looot of spirulina and occasional avocados. Nothing was quite the same after the ayuhasca, it was as though I really didn't need to carry on with the fast and to do so was just not listening to my body. Right now I feel the need to develop a relationship of grace with what I put into my body; to live in a constant state of grace and receptivity.

Nothing is the same after the feast, the magic of which will be felt for a looong time. I will never be able to stop the roaring tidal wave that dictates my daily life in my quest to redefine our expectations of reality. Foods, healers, yoga, colonics, meditation are all part of this magnetic mix. Once our hearts start being awakened to the divine, to the nature of our true essence it becomes harder and harder to ignore the overwhelming surge of support and the glorious surprises that will greet you at every turn.

The opportunity to share my sporadic thoughts with such a beautiful, courageous and soulful beings has been quite extraordinary. I hope to be in a position to blog more, once the practicalities of my life fall into place to allow me to dedicate all of my time to this dance with the universe. Something I have no doubt will happen.

So much love for now, and I look forward to hearing from you and sharing with you in the future.
Juicey Lucy (I have actually been called that for a few years, ho ho, only now does it resonate with slightly deeper meaning ;) )xx

Day 18

Hurrrah!! Crawled back to the world of juicing, not without it's fair share of tears and despair. It becomes so clear how we daily use food to mask the route to our real emotions. Do I want to know? A hint of vunerable doubt and a gust of sure knowing cloud/illuminate my day.

Can't stop my plastic Millets Lifeventure flask thingy from smelling. The greens are turning bad before I get them to work. Time to start investing in some glass.

And so the path keeps treading.

Discussed the possibility of holding Vedic Chant workshops downstairs in my mothers house yesterday...?!!! How life changes.... xxx

Through repetition the magic will be forced to rise

Strangely, cashews appeared on my list for yesterday's juice feast. It's a wonder how the magic of day 17 keeps choosing to reveal itself groudhog day stylee as I today embrace Day 17 of this beautiful adventure once again. The secrets of the universe are there in all of natures gifts, each with it's own mystical vibration. It is our job only to open ourselves, tune into the vibration and receive the guidance and support that is there for us all.

Conversations with Suki yesterday revealed the importance of our maintaining our uniqueness within our global oneness. To respect, feel strong in and follow our truth without getting lost in the soaring beauty of others, something my piscean tendencies to merge with everything and anything in the universe can struggle with.

Disunity, confusion, pain, grief and despair are words we must be careful not to use with any sense of judgement. It is usually from our own limited perception of what it is to be born into a particular circumstance, community or situation that we bestow these epitaphs on other people and their lives.

It with the perception of the stars that we can start seeing it as it is: the perfection in everything. The surging ball of fire that glows and pulses from the entrails of the universe is calling to us all to stop questioning, to stop judging, to stop analysing. We can only listen, breath and jump heart first into the expansive ocean of movements and feeling that is ours to manifest. In our individual glory we must go forth and start making the contribution we are here to fulfil.

To that one, I offer myself.

The lost weekend

One, two miss a few and I'm still on Day 18 of the juice feast. Amazing!!

My heart is roaring, surging with the spirit of the luminous core. Upheavals and huge change is afoot. It's the time for manifestation.

Day 17

A hint of sadness. I can feel myself slowly leaving the comfort of the smiling team of office workers I share my days with. My heart is no longer with them and I seem to be moving further and further into a world that none of them understand. Is this a good thing? I seem to have no choice and while each cell of my body begins to sing with the song of life, I don't seem able to relate to the banalaties of every day life. . it seems the more the soul vibrates, the less possible it becomes to be any less than everything you are at all times. This is scary. Have I joined a cult?

Just a bit about my plunge into the depths of juice feasting.
Monday 7th Jan
Morning - "absolutely no way I have any intention of doing a juice feast, it is far too extreme and I'm done with being extreme"
Afternoon - Colonic

Tuesday 8th Jan
Filled with overwhelming sense of joy and desire to stop putting solids into my mouth. Eat 2 bars raw xocolati nonetheless and continue to fly. A feeling that I should start tomorrow with a juice and see what happens.

Wednesday 9th Jan
Start the feast having never visited David and Katrina's site or with any real knowledge of what I was doing. I just knew that it felt right, now was the time and there was no turning back.

Subsequent days
Finding the wonderful gang of juicers, Jack & Jill, Neeta, Carrie, Courtney, Terilynn, Melissa who's daily blogs filled me with awe and wonder and made me realise that this was possible. My thanks is never ending.. . .

I'm not one for the "this is what I ate today list"... but there really hasn't been much variation since I started. This is mainly down to ecnomics + what's available in the organic range in my neck of the woods. Daily intake has been pretty much along the lines of
1 quart greens (cucumber, celery + kale or spinach)
1 quart beet + carrot + apple/pear
depending on day 1 quart orange (there is a shop next to work that does freshly squeezed organic)
1 quart greens (cucumber, celery + kale or spinach)

Tonnes of ginger in everything and packets of cayenne pepper during the first week (totally off it now).
Supplements:
MSM, hemp oil (sometimes), bee pollen (3 teaspoons).

Weekends I tend to experiment with kiwi + grapes + mint and blood oranges.

That's it really. Simple!! If some more seasonal produce comes into town I'll jump on the band wagon.

Poetic lustre not as flowing as I'm now surrounded by flashing lights and computer screens.

I'm on an all nighter tonight.. connecting with the plant spirit. I may be outta my body for a while, but hope to descend again before Monday.

Much love, Lucy xxxx

Day 16

Tears were already in my eyes before I woke: as I lay a dream of a pirouetting ice skater, like the hunchback of notre-damm who almost fell in love with the lady with deep set almond eyes. But instead of dancing straight into her arms, he fell in love with the castle and caressed the old stones and mortar, harbouring memories and dreams of old.

I woke with an overwhelming sense of having missed the point. What is the point? I'm not sure any of us are sure but at times we have all have a clarity of vision that lets us reside with, in and inside the divine. But can we do this at all times? Can we maintain and carry the roaring power of it in our lives with a grace and presence that is capitivating and welcoming to all around us? Can we cultivate this divine nectar, like a lotus flower crafted from silk as we rise from the depths below. Our daily intake of organic bio-thermal fruits and veg, our deliveries of superwazmakosumduntioussupra nutritionals that come plopping through our letter box with expectant awe are just aids. Nothing but aids to help us see that the unending and expansive roar of the universe is there for us all, whether we are surrounded and full of shit (as Terilynn so beautifully put in one of her posts) or whether we be filled with the most nutritious foods in the planet.

It's just a hell of a lot easier of we follow plan B, and tends to have more immediate and saught after results in this life time. And as Suki so spunkily epolstulates THERE ISN'T ANY TIME TO LOOSE, if you are not connecting with the universe in WHATEVER way it is that works for you, you life is but an unopened bud, a cacoon of hope and promise set to disolve and fall back into the very earth it came from.

And now there are tears again, to see the wonderful comments of support I have received from the magical family of juice feasters. I feel so much joy to have joined the family. Time to get juicing for the day. Toodlepop xxx

Day 15

OK, time to join the gang. I've been quietly hiding myself for the past 15 days, struggling it has to be said, but gaining enormous support from all of those wonderful bloggers out there who unknowingly have been dragging me minute by minute through the past 15 days...

Jack and Jill, Neeta, Carrie of Radical Living Laboratory, Courtney, Melissa and Terilynn of Inspiration: Life and of course, the wonderful Suki @ Quito who inspires me to conintuaully take the next step toward a connection with the Divine.

A little about my self... I'm a 27 year old who spent 3 years travelling the globe .. one year in South America and after a year working for Radio 3 I decided to head forth once again on a 6 venture to India. 2 years later, a sourjourn with the Bedouin of the Jordanian desert, a spell in the Palestinian refugee camps of Beirut and the West Bank, cave dwelling in the mountains of Tibet ... I came home.

The past year I have been in London trying to gain some sort of health back in my life. My energy is failing me now, more will come.. but I'm now on Day 15 of a juice feast as inspired by the wonderful David and Katrina and feeling terrible, but absolutely loving it.

If you want a feel for the way I can write when I'm not undergoing serious detox reactions then please check out:

www.mytripjournal.com/LucyCrisfield

Start with "When the Sky Fell to Earth". .. it's about my time in Tibet and I kinda like it.. . .