Raw Chia Seed Pudding: The Breakfast of Champions

Features, Food, Health Products, Recipes, Uncategorized

Two days on raw food and already feeling HIGH on life. That’s the best part about eating raw — it’s a naturally potent anti-depressant.

If you’re looking for some yummy recipe ideas in the raw, this one is simple and delish!

Breakfast of champions:

Chia seed pudding:

Soak about 3 tablespoons (or more, depending how how thick you want your pudding) in 1 1/2 cups of almond milk in the fridge over night.

In the morning, cut up banana, plumbs (they’re in season now and oh-so tasty) and any other fruit that fits your fancy.

Add a sprinkling of walnuts and raw honey and voilà! You have a breakfast full of omega 3’s and 6’s, potassium, healthy carbs, and essential vitamins.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Indulge in the Magic and Bliss of Tuscany!

Aromatherapy, Body Work, Chakra Centers, Features, Food, Online Classes/Retreats, Spirituality, The Crown Chakra, The Heart Chakra, The Root Chakra, The Sacral Chakra, The Solar Plexus Chakra, The Third Eye Chakra

Tuscany, Italy — October 4th – 11th 2013:

Get ready to lavish in luxury, learn about wine from the experts, experience traditional Tuscan cuisine prepared by Italians (raw and vegan style), steep in the magic of aromatherapy, healing massage, and energy work, connect with like minds, and experience your internal world through complete indulgence in your senses. This will be an exclusive,once-in-a-lifetime, full immersion retreat in the heart of Tuscany.

So often in the “spiritual community” we are taught to deny our selves. We make a conscious effort to fully activate and engage our upper chakras through meditation, prayer, out of body experiences, and fasting, but we neglect our lower chakras – we discount the purpose and power of our physical experiences.

We came into life in this physical dimension to experience it, learn from it, and expand. Denying the importance and role of our physical expression cuts off a major aspect of our purpose here, and rather than “setting us free” it often leads to repressed and blocked energy in the body.

It’s all about balance. We don’t want to over-indulge the physical, but often we need to create moments and experiences where we can fully allow our lower chakras a place to take center stage. When we activate and allow our lower chakras to do what they were designed to do, we can create bliss that is unparallel in any other dimension – we experience the merging of the physical and non-physical aspects of ourselves which – when fully charged – can allow the flow of energy through our bodies to cause a kundalini experience throughout our entire energetic and physical fields.

Activating bliss through our five senses is a total allowance of our physical and spiritual selves to come together in complete harmony in this 3^rd dimension – to give us permission to create and experience beauty; the bliss of such moments is often called “orgasmic” for a reason. It’s the closest we come to experiencing the fullness of our WHOLE selves in this dimension, and it is through our physical senses that these moments of creative and sensual pleasure are made possible.

Italy is a country where beauty reigns. It’s a place where culturally time is arranged to experience the poetry and magic of “la vita bella.” It’s an experience you don’t just live; you enter directly into the music of life. You allow the beauty of the physical world to seep into every cell of your body. It’s about indulgence. It’s about creation. It’s about experiencing the bounty and harvest of our energetic and spiritual work that has been transmuted into physical attributes: Wine, chocolate, living organic foods, music, aromatherapy, massage, and all things blissful. Italy is truly an immersion in the aesthetics of creation.

This retreat provides an experience, an opportunity to allow yourself to let go and fully surrender to the beauty within and
around you, filling your senses, your body, and your spirit with the majesty and magic of what it means to truly live, love, and luxuriate in bliss of being in a body of flesh and blood. It’s about losing yourself in present moment awareness and fully experiencing the gift of our physical world.

Here’s a lil’ taste of the magic we’re weaving together for you:

Five-star service and accommodation at a private Renaissance-style Tuscan Villa where wine can be sipped on the terrace over-looking the rustic vineyard hills of Chianti.
Exclusive winemaker’s dinner featuring world-renowned winemaker, Count Sebastiano Capponi of Villa Calcinaia Vineyards.

Luxurious intuitive bliss massage and energy healing to ground the magic into your physical body.
Hand-crafted, world-class wine from some of the greatest producers in Tuscany.
Private wine tour/tasting excursion to one of Tuscany’s most well-respected, bio-diverse organic wineries.
Tantalizing cacao ceremonies (Italian style!) to experience the bliss and gentle mind-altering/multi-dimensional affects of this magical and alchemical bean.
Traditional Tuscan cuisine prepared raw and vegan style by Italy’s most well-known and respected raw food chef and educator, Vito Cortese.
Sensual aromatherapy infused in every room of the house and custom blended for this exclusive retreat by certified, intuitive aroma therapist, Athena Ziegler.
Classes on how aromatherapy can assist you both spiritually and energetically.
Two fully serviced four course dinner parties at the Villa with food/wine pairing and live classical guitar (yes, you will have a professional waiter for these dinners!)
Wine 101 classes (including wine and food pairing, wine etiquette, and wine basics).
Raw food classes on classic Italian dishes taught by Vito Cortese using the freshest and most local ingredients birthed from the rustic soil of Tuscany.
Excursions in the medieval city of Florence.
Plenty of time to relax, soak in the magic, drink wine, eat amazing food, and enjoy the beauty of Tuscany.

Join us for an entire week full of world-class wine, living/organic Tuscan foods and luxurious self-pampering woven-in the intricate and alchemical magic of aromatherapy, energy healing, love, and unapologetic bliss. Our intention is to create a five-star experience of magic and pleasure that is deeply grounded in and experienced through your physical senses. It will be an otherworldly creation. Your only job is to show-up and surrender to the beauty. We’ll take care of the rest.

Pricing and registration will open Thursday, Jan. 31st. As this is the only exclusive, alchemical, luxury, five star retreat of its kind, registration is likely to go fast. Space is extremely limited. First come, first serve. If you are planning to come with a partner or spouse, or if you wish to have your own room, there is a limited number suites available with a queen size bed. All other rooms will be shared with single beds, so register soon to receive your preference.

We can’t wait to create magic and sip wine with you under the Tuscan sun!

Ci vediamo!

Tuesday’s Tasty Treats: Raw Creamy Coconut Bars

Recipes, The Root Chakra, Tuesday's Tasty Treats

Raw Creamy Coconut Bars

These tasty treats are quick and easy, require no oven (just a blender), and kids love making them!

All you need is :

▪ 2 cups of coconut flakes

▪ 1 cup of melted cacao butter

▪ 2-3 dropperfuls of stevia (nu naturals is my favourite) you can use a healthy sweetener of choice, raw honey, coconut palm sugar etc..

▪ 3 tbsp of Coconut Butter,

Pour the melted cacao butter into a blender/food processor. Add in the Coconut flakes, the stevia and the Coconut Manna. Mix until well combined.

Press into a square tupper wear box or anything rectangle of square-shaped. I used 2 tupper ware tubs approx 5 by 4 inches.

Put into the freezer for 30 mins or the fridge for an hour or more until the mixture has set. Then cut into squares and serve.

Amp up the yumminess even more by coating in raw chocolate!

1 cup of Cacao butter melted
¼ cup of Cacao powder
2-3 tbsp of Agave Syrup,

Mix together and dip the Coconut bars into the bowl to coat. Place in fridge to set.

Tuesday’s Tasty Treats are brought to you by Chakra Center’s raw food extraordinaire, Sarah Hook (see our staff-and-contributors page for details on Sarah and other contributors at Chakra Center).

Tuesday’s Treats: Raw Fruit & Nut Slab

Recipes, The Root Chakra, Tuesday's Tasty Treats

Raw Fruit & Nut Slab

A quick, easy, and delicious raw food recipe that is great to have around when cravings arise.

Keep in the fridge to have at hand. This will give you a boost of essential minerals, and it’s high in magnesium which will calm your system and leave you feeling blissed out.

Combine raw chocolate and mediation and you’ll be floating away.

Ingredients:

1 cup of melted Raw cacao butter
¼ cup of Raw cacao powder
2-3 tbsp of Agave syrup, or 2 dropperful’s of Nu Natural’s stevia.
½ cup of Chopped Almonds, Hazelnuts, pecans raisins & dates

Melt the Cacao Butter over some hot water in a bowl (you can grate it first so it melts faster). Once melted, add in the Cacao powder and whisk to a smooth lump free texture, then add in your sweetener of choice. (Experiment with how sweet you like it)

Then for your chocolate mold of choice: I use a rectangle tupper-ware box. Pour in so that the chocolate mix is about ½ inch thick.

Then add the chopped fruit and nut, sprinkling onto the chocolate spreading evenly.

Pop into the freezer for 20 minutes. Once the chocolate has become solid, you can push it from the mold and cut into bite size chocolate chunks.

Reasons to eat Raw Chocolate:

Cacao has more antioxidant flavonoids than any food tested so far, including blueberries, red wine, and black and green teas. In fact, it has up to four times the quantity of antioxidants found in green tea. Health benefits of these antioxidants include:

Promote cardiovascular health – Help dilate bloods vessels, reduce blood clotting, improve circulation, help regulate heartbeat and blood pressure, lower LDL cholesterol, and reduce the risk of stroke and heart attacks.
Protect from environmental and metabolic toxins – Help repair and resist damage caused by free radicals, and may reduce risk of certain cancers.
Neurotransmitters: By increasing the levels of specific neurotransmitters in our brains, cacao promotes positive outlook, facilitates rejuvenation and simply helps us feel good.
Serotonin – Cacao raises the level of serotonin in the brain; thus acts as an anti-depressant, helps reduce PMS symptoms, and promotes a sense of well-being.
- Endorphins – Cacao stimulates the secretion of endorphins, producing a pleasurable sensation similar to the “runner’s high” a jogger feels after running several miles.
- Phenylethylamine – Found in chocolate, phenylethylamine is also created within the brain and released when we are in love. Acts as mild mood elevator and anti-depressant, and helps increase focus and alertness.
- Anandamide – Anandamide is known as the “bliss chemical” because it is released by the brain when we are feeling great. Cacao contains both N-acylethanolamines, believed to temporarily increase the levels of anandamide in the brain, and enzyme inhibitors that slow its breakdown. Promotes relaxation, and helps us feel good longer.
- Essential Minerals: Cacao beans are rich in a number of essential minerals, including magnesium, sulfur, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium and manganese.
  - Magnesium – Cacao seems to be the #1 source of magnesium of any food. Magnesium balances brain chemistry, builds strong bones, and helps regulate heartbeat and blood pressure. Magnesium deficiency, present in 80% of Americans, is linked with PMT, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and joint problems.
  - Sulfur – Cacao is high in the beauty mineral sulfur. Sulfur builds strong nails and hair, promotes beautiful skin, detoxifies the liver, and supports healthy pancreas functioning.
  - Essential fats: There is a misperception that chocolate is fattening. In truth, the fats in cocoa butter are healthy fats. Cacao contains oleic acid, a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, also found in olive oil that may raise good cholesterol. Also, substances found in cacao are known to help reduce appetite.

Important note- Raw Chocolate is a healthy treat but like any natural stimulant it’s not a good idea to have daily, especially for super sensitive beings.

Sarah Hook (a.k.a “The Juice Lady”) is a Holistic health coach, Raw Food Chef, and Creator of Juice Rehab – The Juice Detox. She’s also our “Tuesday’s Tasty Treat” lady at Chakra Center. She is passionate about helping people feel and look their best, and is on a mission to get the world to drink Green Juice. She lives in the UK.