DO IT

Kia ora! This is (starting out as) a blog about my beliefs, experience and knowledge about grassroots (literally) health and wellbeing.

I am a "raw vegan", studying naturopathy and nutrition, which is a big part of my lifestyle at the moment. To a lot of people this categorizes me as "extreme" but I believe I am in a position to offer a great deal of accessible and relevant info on how to better your life, no matter where you are at in your personal growth. I have not been this way forever, there have been many changes from where I was to my current straight-edge, non-toxic, natural-focussed way of life.

I used to survive almost solely on meat, dried meat and deep-fried meat with sides of beer, marijuana and methamphetamines. I smoked around 30 cigarettes daily. I used to think that the rehydrated peas in my noodles and the tomatoes in my ketchup meant a pretty healthy way of eating. Only three and half years ago it was a very special day for me when I would consume pre-chopped, non-organic, frozen "vegetables" that were then microwaved, removing the last smidgen of what can be recognized as nutrition. Underlying all that of course was an ongoing attempt to attain pleasure and to escape pain. Sadly, the instructions on how to do that are fed to us by the very people that want our money. I don't want your money. During my second year of med-school I fell into a deep depression and seriously attempted suicide twice. I got pretty dosed up and numbed out on antidepressants and floated around for almost a year before I found something that truly changed me - yoga.

Now I'm talking about the whole system of living, not just the postures - the body, but also the mind AND the soul. Yoga seemed to contain all the fundamentals of what psychotherapy was about but in a much more personal, straightforward and applicable way. It gave me the first hint of the spiritual that I had ever really resonated with and considered real. I took to it like a "real man" to a steak. My natural curiosity and increasing awareness eventually lead me to begin studying natural therapies.

Through personal and public education, determination and willpower, spiritual love and light and so on, I have consistently made little changes in my lifestyle over a period of just under two years currently. I sort of drifted away from drinking alcohol about three years ago after a long period of being very proud that I could consume a 40oz. of tequila in a night. I became vegetarian at the beginning of 2008, quit smoking cigarettes two months later then became fully raw-vegan/quit smoking marijuana about three months after that. I eat only raw vegetables, greens, fruit, nuts and seeds. Enzymes intact. Living food. I also include raw chocolate :-D

Nutritional medicine is my passion. I wish to share this with you in the context of holistic wellbeing - mind, body and soul. As Hippocrates put it, "Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food". Although I strongly believe that allopathic (conventional) medicine has it's place in the world, I believe that holistic nutritional medicine is far superior in most areas of prevention and cure of disease - especially the "modern" diseases e.g. cancer, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and so on.

I'm all about GOOD HEALTH - FOOD, COMMUNICATION and RELATIONSHIPS.

Herbs are food. Spirulina and Wheatgrass are food. Strawberries and Almonds are food.
Beautiful music, art, movies and books are communication.
Hugs and heartfelt sex and exercise in the sunshine are relationships.

Statins and anticoagulants are not food. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are not food. Hospital food is not food.
Cognitive behavioural therapy and antidepressants are not communication. Glossy magazines, gossip and controversy is not communication. Holding tightly to one point-of-view and remaining close minded is not communication.
Isolation, television, cellphones and fast food are not relationships. Prejudice, bigotry and ignorance are not relationships. Pain, suffering and oppression are not relationships.

If you get this, we'll probably get along just fine and you just might enjoy some of the things I have to offer :-D

What are your thoughts, arguments, queries or statements you'd like to add?