Simply Raw

“Live today in the moment, and plan for tomorrow with joy.” Such were some of Brian Clement’s inspirational words spoken in Geneva last month during a conference about longevity.

Dr. Clement encourages people to take responsibility for their lives and their health. By making the right choices, be it food or otherwise, men and women can make great strides in their lives and reach levels of happiness and satisfaction never experienced before. Acknowledging that humanity today is sick, he said: “We are what we are because of what we believe”, pinpointing the incredible power of the thought, of the brain. This is particularly true with respect to aging. “We age because we lack imagination”, he added. In other words, it’s all in your mind. Which leads to the amazing conclusion that you have the power to change! With this in mind, Dr. Clement promotes the idea of active aging, which means to live long, happy and healthy lives, which human beings are programed to do for many many years.

“Attitude is everything”. So look forward. Don’t look back. Ever. Focus on today and tomorrow.

In Brian Clement’s book, the pillars of longevity are:
(1) Eliminate all forms of excess;
(2) Adopt a light and nourishing diet (ie organic vegan raw);
(3) Cultivate positive thinking (it’s all about attitude!);
(4) Exercize regularly both body and brain (use it or lose it).
I’m sure this will resonate with most of you. It sure resonates with me. So practice this and we shall meet again in the next century, perhaps!!

Brian Clement is not only a fascinating and extremely knowledgeable man, he has the rare ability of truly inspiring a large audience, and he walks his talk. I hear that he is over 60 years old, and whether or not this is true, I can tell you he looks barely 40, thanks to practicing his speech.

He also gave us his rundown of the Ten Essential Activities in Life:
(1) Imagination: set and achieve realistic and achievable goals, and celebrate success;
(2) Aspirations: cherish your insights which come from your heart;
(3) Truth within: listen to your inner voice of truth and confidence;
(4) Nature: entertain a healthy relationship with nature and its divine beauty;
(5) Interaction: don’t lose your ability to interact with nature, animal, human beings – with love;
(6) Visual arts: art is the basis of civilization;
(7) Dramatic art: watch inspiring movies such as “Forrest Gump” or “Life is Beautiful” (La vita è bella);
(8) Meditation: contemplation and/or prayer will teach you to focus;
(9) Body: practice Tai-Chi or Chi-Quong to learn to breathe and be in touch with yourself;
(10) Fulfillment: enjoy the passion and do what you love.

Think about this. I’ve nothing to add, it all speaks for itself. Just thank you to Carole Dougoud for inviting Brian Clement to Switzerland, and of course many thanks to Brian for his brilliant lecture.

Many of you contacted me to find out when I would be organizing raw food classes and I want to thank you for your enthusiasm. As promised, I can finally announce that I will be running two classes this spring, and more classes will be organized in the fall, to be announced over the summer, with various levels for those wishing to learn further.

These first classes will be run in French, from my home in Morges (in between Lausanne and Geneva). If you wish to attend raw food classes in English, contact me and I will be more than happy to oblige! The upcoming classes will be an introduction to raw food , “Simply Raw Level 1“. Two dates have been scheduled: Saturday 31 May and Saturday 21 June 2008. These classes will take place from 10 am until 4 pm, in my vast and cheerful kitchen, but for obvious reasons places will be limited. The price of the class is CHF 165 (around 100 euros). This class will cover:

* why eat raw? 
* the many health benefits of raw food
* necessary kitchen equipment
* how to set up your kitchen
* what foods to buy and where
* how to prepare tasty and varied meals
* taste the dishes prepared fresh in front of you
* open discussion and Q&A
* a brochure with tips and all recipes to take home
* meet like-minded people and share experiences
* inspiration, ideas and much more…

Come with an appetite, as you will be tasting food during the entire day: fresh juices and smoothies, nut milk, muesli, pâtés, soups, salads and fantastic desserts! Whether you are a beginner or not, this is the perfect way to find inspiration and the motivation to adopt a healthier lifestyle for you and your close ones.

Come and explore raw food, which has the potential to truly transform your life on every level. Your health and energy will be naturally boosted. The best way to find out is to try it!

To sign up, please contact me soon:  amy@simplyraw.ch and I will answer all your questions. I really look forward to meeting you soon!

I am taking the liberty of sending out this alert because the subject is largely worth it. The French-speaking media are beginning to take an interest in raw food, so we should not miss an opportunity to get the word out to the larger public. There is so much disinformation on the subject of nutrition, and so few people are aware of the direct link between food and health that is is high time for the subject to be treated by the mass media. In fact this subject will become more and more part of the top issues in the media as it is becoming urgent to take action and give people the means to better feed themselves, optimize their health and cure or prevent the many diseases of modern society.

I have just learned that the local paper “Lausanne Cité” is publishing an article on this subject today. And I was just contacted by a journalist from the French TV channel TEVA, who is currently preparing a report on raw food for the show MyTeva. This weekly show covers all aspects of well being.  The journalist is looking for individuals, or families, who are on raw food, preferably in the Paris region. If you are interested, please contact Domitille Duval as soon as possible on 06 17 43 31 86. They will be shooting in the coming days, so don’t waste a minute if you think you can provide a positive testimonial!

This being said, the recent experience in the UK has shown that raw foodism is often treated from the wrong angle in mainstream media. Journalists mostly seek information from doctors and dieteticians who were not trained on the subject and are not aware of the lastest research findings on raw food (such as those described in detail by Dr. Brian Clement from the Hippocrates Institute). Moreover, most professionals today work hand in hand with the pharmaceutical and food industries, the very source of disinformation, as these industries encourage an abusive consumption of dairy products, animal proteins and highly processed foods, not to mention medication and other artificial substances on which a large part of the population are dependent. It would be disastrous for these groups if the large public were to learn how to take charge of their own health, eat clean and feel great, this by simply eating locally produced, raw organic fruit and vegetables. Let’s hope that the French media will take the time to explore the subject in all its complexity and treat it in a fair and appropriate manner…

Today I have chosen to introduce you to a lady who has brought her business focus, here in Switzerland, to an area that is bound to become increasingly critical: the link between food and children’s learning abilities and performance at school. This concept has not yet become a key topic yet children’s learning difficulties are spreading, not to mention problems of health, weight and social integration. Our lifestyle may in fact be responsible for some of these issues. In any event, some experts have decided to look at this closely, so let’s listen to what Swiss resident and British national Karin Roten has to say on the subject:

“I am the mother of two young girls aged 6 and 3 and a half. Since the age of 20, I have experienced different diets, from Kousmine to vegetarian, through blood type diets, carbs diet, no additives diet, and now I am on to raw and living foods. I have acquired useful knowledge in each of these concepts and my objective is to share this with other parents. In our home we have quickly noticed a change in the children’s behavior following what they eat. Even my husband has noticed a difference in his mental clarity and ability to concentrate!

For the past 18 years, I have been a holistic speech and language therapist.  And for 10 years now I have been focusing on the link between food and learning abilities/behaviors. This link has now been clearly demonstrated by various research studies, most of which are only available in English.

I have come to create the term holistic speech therapy, which aims to look at children as whole individuals and help them on the physcial level through food, on the mental and emotional levels through EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), even on the spiritual level by using the essences of flowers and minerals. My goal is to allow children to learn.

To implement all this, I created a website a year ago: www.apprendrecestgenial.ch (”learning is cool” — Note from the editor: this site has become www.thefreechild.com in 2009) which aims to offer advice and tools to parents and children to enable the entire family to grow together. Indeed, when a child is showing some kind of difficulty, it is an opportunity for everyone in the household to learn and grow!

New class as of February 2008: Read well, think well and eat well! Or how to efficiently help your children perform at school through healthy food that best responds to their needs. To find out more, click here.”