Toes in the Grass

I've been attending a free online engagement, the Embodied Shakti Summit  as both a presenter and a participant.  How alive I feel!    I had forgotten how enriching it can be to interact and share with a group of positive-energy based souls.    It has provided the motivation to revive Yoga Girl goes Vegan writings.   One of the most recent activities was a live on-line poetry reading session. Many of you are familiar with this blog and the Yoga Girl goes Vegan posts presented on social media platforms, what was unknown until now, is the poetry written.

Some of it is personal, some of it is expression of emotion, some of it needs to just "come out" as the words build and build wanting release into the atmosphere.    Writing poetry is something we all can do.  It doesn't have to rhyme, it doesnt' have to follow a pattern, it doesn't have to be structured, it just has to "be".   Let your inner thoughts flow out into the universe.   Share or not sharing is your choice - the activity is what is key.

Didn't think you have a voice?  You do. We all do.   We just don't always recognize nor realize it.  I've several sources of poetic inspiration.  One such soul is my aunt, author Mamie Harvin Black.   She wrote a series of poems each at different stages of her life spanning from a very young girl to her current wisdom filled maturity.   She published her experiences in her first book "Living Poetry, Poetry in Living"  several years after realizing its never too late to  release into the universe.

https://www.amazon.com/Living-Poetry-Poetry-Expressions-Everyday-Experiences/dp/1491788577

Despite this incredible matriarchal inspiration, I still held my poetry close to my heart, sharing only bits and pieces with those within my very private intimate circle of friends. 

The Embodied Shakti Summit inspired me to share one such poem live with others.   I'll share it with you here.  May it inspire you to return the gesture with some poetry of your own.  May your pen flow with your words of emotion, connection, and inspiration as you release your inner poet.

"Toes in the Grass"

COPYRIGHT©2018 Yoga Girl Goes Vegan

Toes in the grass

Face in the sun

Taking the time to come undone

Undone as in unwind. Unwind as in unravel.

Finding a free space to visit, to travel.

To travel with literal physicality far or near.

To travel with mind figuratively visiting those most dear.

Dear as in close to the heart. Heart as it creates a smile.

Allowing time to realize that not done in a while.

A while of brief decadence to experience the present.

A while of indulgence to grasp with great intent.

Toes in the grass

Face in the sun

Taking the time to come undone

Undone as in limitless. Limitless as in free.

Letting go of boundaries to sit, to just “be”.

To be with positive vigor, who you really are.

To be with positive splendor, to propel you far.

Far as in embracing the quiet silently. Silently as in appreciating the solitude.

Using the gift to grow boundlessly with prosperous gratitude.

A gratitude moment of solace in which to reflect and to savor.

A gratitude moment of revel in all that you love and favor.

Toes in the grass

Face in the sun

Taking the time to come undone

Undone as in silliness. Silliness as in complete folly.

Comforting, rejuvenated with laughter, wit and jolly.

To experience jolly without care nor embarrassment.

To experience jolly without fear nor discernment.

Discernment gone as judgment dissipates.

Relaxing with a clarity of knowing its never too late.

An opportunity to reconnect with your tribe.

An opportunity to reestablish your true vibe.

Toes in the grass

Face in the sun

Taking the time to come undone

Undone as in relinquish. Relinquish as in release.

Exhaling with disappearance into your personal inner peace.

To meditate with full function, minus consternation.

To meditate with full focus and with re-dedication.

Re-dedication of renewal of your purpose, of what is germane...and uniquely true.

Accepting yourself as you emerge a spanking brand new...and uniquely you.

A new you, complete, refreshed and founded.

A new you, complete, beautiful and grounded.

Leaping up, toes strong in the grass

Eyes open, face awash in the sun

Soul valuing the time undone

Refreshed and ready for what is next to come.

Namaste.

Embodied Shakti Summit

Yoga Girl goes Vegan is happy to participate as one of the presenters in this year's Embodied Shakti Summit sponsored by the Womb Centered Healing Temple.

Presenters will discuss health, wellness, nutrition, transformation, yoga, motivation, reiki, and relationships.

The summit will run April 5th - 19th, 2019.

Sign up for the free online summit at www.embodiedshaktisummit.com

Transitioning to a plant based lifestyle will help energize your mind, body, and soul.  

Tracy of Yoga Girl goes Vegan will present how what we input affects our output and overall health.



All summit participants will receive a free copy of Yoga Girl goes Vegan's latest eBook "Getting Started - Beginner's Guide to Plant Based Lifestyle Transition" 

#embodiedshaktisummittreasurehunt - Clue 15

She motivates, inspires, and shares

Because she feels, loves, and cares
For Clue 16:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/181851085349188/

Time Away...and Back

It’s been a while since my last post.  My  most recent time away demanded  more  engagement in my physical work than the virtual.  I do not apologize for the absence as the time away was well spent and desperately needed.  I used my time away wisely.  I enhanced my education, mentored,  released, healed, and welcomed.    It has provided rich fodder for upcoming posts.  I look forward to sharing it with you.   It is good to take time off the grid to  disassemble,  disengage, and disappear to address disarray, distraction, disassociation, disregard, and  disparagement.

In our world of  convenience,  we have come to expect constant communication, contact, and conveyance.  It almost seems unconscionable to remove yourself for an hour, a day, week, or  few months as we are led to believe we need to be constantly fed or stimulated.  Think for a moment.   How much time do you really need or have to actively participate in the daily fast paced world?  Is it more important to be bombarded daily with shallow vanities or to have meaningful interactions of substance?   When you find yourself seeking pleasure or gratification from constant electronic connection, time to take a break.   Time to stand still amidst chaos to regroup and reconnect with the simple beauty of naturalness that surrounds us each day.  Time to go within the simple beauty of silence.

Mauna
In Yoga, the practice of silence is called Mauna. My Daily Yoga Practice describes mauna best:

" Mauna is not just limited to the restriction of speech, but it is also about reducing and restricting the senses, inputs and stimulations of the mind.  It is calming down the thought current and free the mind from restlessness.  It is not merely practicing silence of speech, but also silence of the mind.  It helps to purify the mind to a deeper level."

The practice of Mauna is just what I needed to go inside, to cocoon myself as I set upon the path of metamorphosis.

met-a-mor-pho-sis  

a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one,

 in two or more distinct stages by natural means.

Stage 1 - Cocooning
Funny, your body will talk to you and tell you what you need to do...if you take the time

to listen.  I had developed a terrible pain in my left knee - a result of  repetitive, overuse and abuse of the sciatic nerve. My practice and daily regimen was affected.  I visited a local studio for help where I met an incredible being and yogi, whom I had never met before, Empress Thandi.  She immediately "felt" me in the midst of my chaos and told me  I was in conflict.  That the pain I had begun to feel was physical manifestation of my internal chaos.  The Empress was correct, she had "read" me in just a few seconds.  She could see what I had not been able to...conflict in my within my professional world, fear to embrace the next stages of my life,  failure to release what needed to go, resistance to move, failure to grow.  Her objectivity was just what I needed to initiate cocooning, to heal, to reflect, to resolve...to unplug and tap in.   I needed to go away, I needed to go within.

I started by releasing of a paragraph of a personal writing I had been holding close for a few years.  It glimpse of  my most intimate and personal work.  I shared it with a distant, respected friend.  The freedom and exhilaration of revealing a vulnerability felt good.  While it opened me up to feel empowered, I questioned why I needed the acceptance in the first place.  It was evident that I needed to unplug.  So I did.   I just went "away" mentally and physically.  I made it "real".  I stopped everything -  writing, practicing, doing, "participating",  and producing.   I went silent.  For eight months,  I enveloped myself within the cocoon of  Mauna.    I made my unplugging tangible.

I challenge each of you to unplug from the electronic world for a moment, Disassociate to take a cleansing breath.  Tap in to your true self.  Actually look,  see and feel what is real and true.  You will realize you now have the time to accomplish that what you seek.  I used my time away to do just this very thing.  Go within.  Listen to the "voice" of wisdom.   In the short span of these past eight months while I was “away”, I have been able to achieve two of the aspirations which blessed my list.  Along the way, I was able to meet new people,  with new focus, new agenda, new path facilitating growth and strengthening my “return”.   I now do so with eager veracity, void of negative influences, infused with gratitude, and ready to share with a clearer focus of where I am to “go” next.

Stage 2 - Cleansing

­­­

Time away cleanses the mental, physical and spiritual self.   It is the foundation of retreats and vacations.  The purpose is to remove yourself from the very things which took you off track in the first place.   Start your cleanse. Address your conflicts, one at a time.  Initiate your healing. Jump start your success - purge.   Remove negative influences - physical, mental, people, situations and "things".  With your new clean slate, during your time away,  revisit your one, two, five or even 10 year goals.  If you never had one, use this time to create them.  What are your  aspirations?  Where do you see yourself within those time bands?   What do you need to get there?   Is each goal positive to help you be the best you can be?  Does each objective help you help others with servitude and humility?  Do they promote your growth and the growth of those around you?  If you have already pre-established a few dreams for yourself….where are you in the timeline of accomplishment?  Have you started?  Have you procrastinated?  Or… have you achieved?  Time away from detractors and distraction enables focus on what is real, what is truth.  This cleansing opened me up to acceptance of what I am to BE. I emerged from my cocoon ready to heal my body to embrace my new self. 

Stage 3 - BE it.  (Embracing)

I realized that I can just "be" and I don't have to make any specific choices.  I can DO anything I choose.  I can do it all or I can do none or just a few.  It doesn't matter as long as I continue to "BE".  Being is true self acceptance.   It is true existence in the present with clarity. The respite I experienced during Mauna fostered personal "growth".  I have accepted new life, let go that which did not suit me, and decided to physically "wear" it by letting the truth show through the gray and silver stands intertwined in my hair - no more covering up the truth of my years.  I am happy to BE.  I have returned to my practice, resumed my writing.  I  am Yoga Girl goes Vegan, I am a matriarch, a lover, friend,  yogi, hippy, bohemian, vegan, and powerful earthling.  I affirm my healing as the pain slowly subsides and ebbs away from my physical self.  I embrace that I walk my talk, I don't have to conform, I don't have to conflict, I don't have to do or be anything I don't want to be.  I am successful and incredible just as I am.

Yes, with a smile, as I’ve said so many times before, affirm your success.  Say it, believe it, do it….BE it.  Put your plan in place.  Make your dreams come true.  Who will you BE when you return from your time away?  With positive intention and supportive patience, I bid you happiness as you leave.  Enjoy your trip as you revisit your “self”.   Rejoice!  Upon your return, abundantly  and selflessly share  the gifts you received during your time away as I freely,  now share with you.

Stage 4 - Emerging

As this year ends and the new one reveals itself, I eagerly emerge and return as a new creature ready for the next chapter of my writings, with gratitude, healing, growth and the beauty of the new creature I have become.  I am ready to spread my new wings of love over all I encounter with a brilliant kaleidoscopic bursting with bright light and color.
With exuberance, I wish you a colorful cocooning and an emergent, freedom-filled Happy New Year!

Yoga:  Om Namah Shivah

Om Namah Shivah is a mantra which means to honor and be true to Shiva or “self”.   When distracted, we lose focus of our purpose and who we are.  Taking time away to discover ourselves  awakens the Divine bestowed within us.  It initiates the stages of our metamorphosis,  reestablishes the purity of our truth, fosters our personal path to growth, and allows us to use the light of our individual gifts to selflessly give to others.  

  

Namaste.

Be the Lighthouse

I recently reconnected with friend whom I've known for 35 years.  Although our contact has been intermittent and we've often experienced time lapses extending years of non communication, it feels as if it were just a moment ago the instant we speak again.  This is due to his intense gift of light and how he uses it.  For this reason, I, like many others, find myself drawn to him and enjoy engaging within the light he so generously shares.  Even as a young man, my friend, author Mark Aycox, possessed the gift of patience, listening, and guidance often speaking from a vantage point infused with wisdom.  To me, he represents more than just light - he is a lighthouse, one who stands quietly still in the midst of chaos, using the light from within to guide the wayward to safe harbor.  I am grateful my path has continued to be blessed with his sagacity.

One More Rep

Mark recently published his first novel, One More Rep.  He describes it as "Schwarzenegger meets Siddhartha".  It is the coming of age story of a fitness trainer faced with selecting the correct path as he directs others during the fitness craze some years ago.  Mark does not profess any allegiance to veganism however, I highlight and support his work here because he "gets it" championing the same cries as many of my vegan colleagues.  Mark's inner yogi brilliantly uses this book, under the guise of fiction (cleverly interwoven between character interactions), to introduce readers to various real-life thought provoking subjects which impact our physiological health and psychological wellness:

• importance of regular physical movement
• respect for our bodies (they really are our temples)
• impact of poor nutrition
• importance and frequency of bowel movements (yes, twice a day!)
• detrimental affects of milk, dairy, and excessive intake of protein
• harm of processed foods, sugary drinks and dietary supplements
  
• rejection of genetically modified (GMO) foods and conglomerate corporate manipulation of fruits and vegetables (which is solely for profit-not our health)
• the unnatural "synergistic relationship" between meat, chemical, dairy industries and political, lobbyist-laden, so-called food regulatory agencies (again, for profit only)
• reducing technological dependency; unplugging - replacing with intelligent reading material and preservation/appreciation of the arts and literature (expand mental stimulation)
• reducing our carbon footprint; living simplistically; get off the grid
• importance of finding resolution and solace with the unrequited including self awareness/image/esteem
• respect for nature, all creatures and beings 
• learning lessons from the small things in life
• the value of patience, quiet listening and growth
• the importance of giving and receiving grace and guidance

Be more than the Light...

Be more than the light...

I am entertained, emotionally moved, awestruck, and proud of the work of my friend.  He has managed to use the wisdom hidden in his light for the betterment of others.  Each of us will recognize someone or a part of ourselves in one of his characters.   For some in the book, it's too late.  Yet, for each of us reading, there is still a chance... a chance for redemption, a chance to change - to realize that as we are guided, we too must guide - to recognize, use and share our gifts, our path, and our light to discover that we too, have been blessed with the ability to shine from within with rejoice, resilience, humility and servitude to guide through to smooth seas.  Use your chance to rise, use it to be more than the light...use it be the Lighthouse.

Be the Light (Mantra Mala)- Aykanna ©2012

Be the Light, be the Lighthouse

Stomp your feet and clap your hands

Lift your hearts to chant

We've got to come together

Serve your neighbor

Serve your friend,

Serve each other till the end,

Live for one another.

I am thine in mine myself, Wahe Guru

Humee Hum Tumee Tum Wahe Guru!

Yoga:  Ahimsa
Revered in Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism, Ahisma means love of all living things. It also means respect for all beings.  A true yogi practices ahisma and exhibits love regardless of a station, title, category, or status. Guiding lights have no judgment for they shine for all who seek. 
Namaste.

Time Away

It’s been a while since my last post.  My  most recent time away demanded  more  engagement in my physical life than the virtual.  I do not apologize for the absence as the time away was well spent and desperately needed.  I used my time away wisely.  I enhanced my education, mentored,  released and welcomed.    It has provided rich fodder for upcoming posts.  I look forward to sharing it with you.   It is good to take time off the grid to  disassemble,  disengage, and disappear to address disarray, disassociation, disregard, and  disparagement.

In our world of  convenience,  we have come to expect constant communication, contact, and conveyance.  It almost seems unconscionable to remove yourself for an hour, a day, week, or  few months as we are led to believe we need to be constantly fed or stimulated.  Think for a moment.   How much time do you really need or have to actively participate in the daily fast paced world?  Is it more important to be bombarded daily with shallow vanities or to have meaningful interactions of substance?   When you find yourself seeking pleasure or gratification from constant electronic connection, time to take a break.   Time to stand still, in the midst of chaos, to regroup and reconnect with the simple beauty of naturalness that surrounds us each day.  Time to cleanse.

Cleansing

­­­Time away cleanses the mental, physical and spiritual self.   It is the foundation of retreats and vacations.  The purpose is to remove yourself from the very things which took you off track in the first place.   Start your cleanse.  During your time away,  revisit your goals.  If you never established any, use this time to create them.  What are your  aspirations?  Where do you see yourself within future time bands?   What do you need to get there?   Is each goal positive to help you be the best you can be?  Does each objective help you help others with servitude and humility?  Do they promote your growth and the growth of those around you?  If you have already pre-established a few dreams for yourself….where are you along your path of accomplishment?  Have you started?  Have you procrastinated?  Or… have you achieved?  Time away from distraction enables focus on what is real, what is true.  

Unplug and tap in

Unplug from the electronic world for a moment.  Disassociate to take a cleansing breath.  Tap in to your true self.  Actually look, see, and feel what is real and true.  You will realize you now have the time to accomplish that what you seek.  I used my time away to do just this very thing.  In the short span of these past three months while I was “away”, I have been able to achieve two of the aspirations which blessed my list.  Along the way, I was able to meet new people,  with new focus, new agenda, new path facilitating growth and strengthening my “return”.   I now do so with eager veracity, void of negative influences, infused with gratitude, and ready to share with a clearer focus of where I am to “go” next.

BE it

Yes.  With a smile, as I’ve said so many times before, affirm your success.  Say it, believe it, do it….BE it.  Take the time to find and put your plan in place.  Make your dreams come true.  Who will you BE when you return from your time away?  With positive intention and supportive patience, I bid you happiness as you leave.  Enjoy your trip as you revisit your “self”.   Rejoice!  Upon your return, abundantly  and selflessly share  the gifts you received during your time away as I freely,  now share with you.

Namaste

Yoga:  Om Namah Shivaya

Om Namah Shivaya is a cleansing, redeeming mantra which means to honor and be true to Shiva or inner “self”.  When distracted, we lose focus of our purpose and who we are.  Taking time away to discover  ourselves  awakens the divine bestowed within us.  It reestablishes our truth, our personal path to growth, and allows us to use individual gifts we have to selflessly give. 

  

Love Belongs to Everyone

This past month has been month filled with Love. Love of practice, Love of beings, Love of life, Love of Love.  I was honored to BE in the presence of two love ceremonies, feel new love through new friendships, and cherish the embrace of the love of old all in the midst of yogis who love yoga.  It was appropriate to me that all of this occurred during this month of "Rawgust", celebrating love of raw veganism.   I have had an incredible month full of Love.  As I reflected, I thought, "wow, this feels so good, everyone deserves to feel the way I do".  Then it hit me,  everyone CAN feel this way because Love belongs to everyone.

The revelation of this brought tears to my eyes.  Leading up to the first ceremony, I had been listening to the song "Love Belongs to Everyone" by David Newman (Durga Das).  I loved the song.  It starts with the Gayatri mantra, one of the oldest and most powerful mantras for cleansing and purification.  It loosely translates "May all beings on earth reach enlightenment."   It is a mantra of unity and love of fellow man. It is comprised of three (3) parts:  praise, meditation, and prayer.

At the time, I had no idea why I was to drawn to this song.  It was on my playlist.  I knew of David briefly years before but I was not ready to receive his message.  During the first love ceremony, a four-day Bohemian Hippy Yogafest Love Ceremony, we attended a kirtan with him.  The music he and his wife brought to us was a testament and demonstration of their love.  As we sang along, it flowed through each of us.  This love now belonged to each of us.

Love Belongs to Everyone/Gayatri  David Newman©2012

Om Bhur Bhuva Svaha Tat Savitur Varenyam Bhargo Devasya

 Dhimahi Dhiyo Yo Nah Prachodayat.

Love belongs to everyone, love belongs to everyone, love belongs to everyone…

we belong to Love.

Frame by frame, here and now, yours and mine is just a stepping stone, love will 

never let you go, it will satisfy your soul!

The Number Three

It was not lost to me that this experience felt very spiritual for this month was a month of three's:

*  3 Celebrations:  Love of friends, love of family, love of raw life 

*  The Gayatri is comprised of three parts:  praise, meditation, and prayer.  

*  It marked the beginning of the 3rd year since I decided to pledge fully to a vegan life

In Yoga, according to the Bhagavad Gita, there are 3 paths to yoga:  Karma, Bhakti, Jnana (selflessness, devotion, knowledge).  I spoke with my soul twin who also revealed that she too is attracted to the number 3.  It is significant in many religions:

Christianity - Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Ghost)
Hindi - Trinity (Purusha, Shakti, Own/self);  3 is also the base of the sacred number 108 for mantra and prayer
Buddhism - 3 precious jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha)
Islam - 3 stages in Life/faith
Judiasm - 3 symbolizes a harmony synthesizes two opposites

Grounding and Witnessing

Honored to witness the grounding of this love

I feel grounded and embraced within these threes.  I feel free to love all and to BE demonstrative to show that we all are responsible to care for the portion of love entrusted in our care. In the span of just 3 weeks, I witnessed acts of love of those who realize their belonging:

• the love of the childhood friend that feels like just this mmorning when it was actually 27yrs
• the two love partners together for 19yrs who expressed their love by dancing openly for the first time
• the anesthesiologist that loves to spread joy with her song and dance
• the skydiver who welled up when he spoke of his love for his yogini queen
• the holistic oncologist who illuminated her new mate in new light never before seen
• the corporate engineer who is still just the girl from around the way with the big smile and humble heart full of love
• the man who expressed love and honor of his friendship to the Supreme Goddess Mama
• the man who held fast and patiently waited for his love of 29 years
• the owner of Pump House Bed and Breakfastwho with a labor of love created a beautiful respite in the woods in the middle the mountains
• the gentlemen from India who selflessly came to help transitioning vegans from the love of their hearts
• the soul twin yogi sisterwho speaks as I speak, thinks as I think, feels as I feel, loves as I love and is as unconditional as unconditional can be
• those who every day post, write, inspire, teach help support and love those whom they do not know.
• the two yogi partners who with love, hosted our Kirtan with,Peace of Mind"
• the Durga Das and his wife who reminds us that we all have love to share.
• the Minstrel who found his Goddess the 4th time around
• the photographer whose love of love captured most precious of moments and spaces
• the niece who traveled 1100 miles by car round trip in 3 days to say goodbye to love that transitioned
• the raw vegan now raising a calf and a goat in need of love

You Are Love

What love have you witnessed?  How have you cared for the love you've been entrusted with? As you acknowledge the love you receive? How do you share it?  As you show your love, feel the love you deserve and remember  the compassion of the threes:

Love belongs to me, I am Love

Love belongs to you, You are Love

Love belongs to everyone, We are Love.

Embrace it, let it fill you, let it surround you, then give it graciously and freely.

Namaste.

Yoga:  Trikonasana - Triagle Pose

Trikonasana is said to make the sacrum feel comfortable.  The sacrum is a large triangular bone at the base of spine and houses the kundalini -the center of our power and desire to love.  Triangle pose teaches 3 lessons:  stability, grounding and expansion. 

Raw Inspiration

RAWGUST (Raw + August) is here.  It's one of my favorite times of the year.  This year marks the third Rawgust anniversary for me.  As I reflect, I am grateful for growth.  While I still have much to learn, I've begun the transitional journey from student to teacher in such a short period of time.

Paying it Forward

In my initial post, Ready for Rawgust, I spoke about creativity and personal commitment.  This year, my focus is to teach, guide and inspire as many as I can.  I've been fortunate to study under those who have inspired me, whom I now consider friends.  What each of these individuals has done is to pay it forward - giving in order to give, reaching in order to reach, sharing in order to share, teaching in order to teach.

Rawgust for me this year is all about spreading inspiration  - to be a source in the same manner as those who have inspired me, to give as freely as I have received.  This year, instead of just participating, I am set to inspire with raw determination, to lead by example, to help.   I've decided to co-coach a juice cleanse and to offer free, compassionate support to anyone who wishes to replace at least one meal per day with fruit and vegetable alternatives, and to provide physical health awareness and suggestions.  With good fortunate, I do so with the assistance of a few wonderful souls who, daily, seek to positively awaken "the being within" by evoking the simplistic enormity of their hearts with humility, grace, peace and love. These kind earthlings inspire as they offer their tremendous light to all they encounter.  I am grateful for their selflessness.

Not A Gimick
Rawgust is not a gimicky play on words.  It's an opportunity to introduce the concept of incorporating and increasing whole, live foods back into daily meals.  As stated previously, it takes twenty-one days to effect change.  The true spotlight of Rawgust  provides the platform for the time needed to jump start the behavior modification process.  Rawgust is not designed to force "conversion".  It's purpose is to educate. It's more of  "try it, you will like it".  Those who try will be able to compare the differences in their lives, measure the increase in energy, the improvement in health, the overall feeling of well-being, and in some instances, the loss of weight.

Rawgust is a tool to inform and to expand knowledge bases.   If a few individual life-time converts develop along the way,  awesome!

However...if just a few people, made a few changes, for a few days, then celebration of the first step should be championed with the same zealousness for it sometimes takes more courage to take first step than to dive straight in, especially if one has had a previous negative experience with other "first steps".   First steps take conscious thought, much different from the impulsive, impromptu nature of diving in.

Try It Out

Try it out.  Join Rawgust.  Seek assistance, put together a collaborative, realistic plan - it can be as simple as replacement of an order of chips with a piece of fruit 3 days per week or a two-day juice fast jump start.  Rawgust is not just for August,  it can be anytime. Regardless of when, Rawgust is for you, Rawgust is for me, Rawgust is for everyone.

Namaste.

Raw Resources for Raw Inspiration:

Documentaries
Fat Sick and Nearly Dead   http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/
Forks Over Knives  http://www.forksoverknives.com/

Getting Started
Cooked to Raw Conversion Chart
http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/raw-food-diet-conversion-chart.html
Getting Started Simple Meal Suggestions
http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/raw-food-diet-recipe-index.html
5 Ways to Get Started 
http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/5-ways-to-get-started-with-raw-food

Physical Health/Fitness 
SuperFit Vegan   http://www.youtube.com/user/jeffsekerak

Resources and Recipes
Plant Powered Living  http://www.plantpoweredliving.com/
Raw on $10 a Day or less  http://www.rawon10.com/
Sexy Raw Food and Fitness  http://sexyrawfoodandfitness.com/
Young on Raw Food  http://youngonrawfood.com/

Support and Assistance
Yoga Girl goes Vegan   https://www.facebook.com/groups/340272802668884/
Rawgust   https://www.facebook.com/groups/211503295564544/
Raw and Delicious Lifestyles
https://www.facebook.com/groups/rawanddelicious/
Kalavati Health-Be Alive  https://www.facebook.com/KalavatiAlive