Step One on The Raw Vegan Hero's Journey

1. I Manifest the Life That I Want by Proclaiming it in the NOW

Inspired by the mythical Hero’s Journey first compiled in The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell (photos are of famous, recognizable characters on their own journeys)

Becoming a raw vegan requires letting go of the past. Unless you were raised by raw parents, then you’ve got some internal changing to do. You’ve got to release habits, and emotional attachments to food. Neither is easy to accomplish.

When I began this journey in 2004, I had no idea how hard it would be. Even though the first raw vegan book I read was 12 Steps to Raw Food by Victoria Boutenko, I didn’t get it. The first step, according to Boutenko is, “I admit that I have lost control of my addiction to cooked food and my eating is becoming unmanageable.” The word “addiction” distracted me, and turned me off from the book. Boutenko had gone overboard with that word to me. Six years later, I have a new respect for 12 Steps to Raw Food. Willpower is not enough to stay raw. The minute depression, exhaustion, or sadness hit you; you are ready to dive into your freezer for ice cream, or your pantry for cookies.

Princess Tiana in The Princess and The Frog

So what to do? I’ve come up with steps I see as necessary to becoming successfully raw. They may overlap, and that is okay. Life is not exactly linear, and neither is healing.

To me, the first step is “manifest the life that you want by proclaiming it in the now.” In other words:
· see yourself at your ideal weight
· open your refrigerator door and see it overflowing with produce, nuts, seeds, and sprouts
· see your ideal appliances on your kitchen counters
· feel the money needed in your palms
· see yourself at raw food potlucks
· see yourself feeling fabulous, fantastic, and full of energy

Don’t just see them. FEEL them. Feel how you would feel if you had all those things. You’d be ecstatic, right? Then be ecstatic! Who cares if your family is watching you? You are celebrating your healing! Go for it. Jump for joy. Say thank you. Feel the appreciation and gratitude flowing through your body!

Jack and Rose in Titanic

Thoughts are powerful, because they are THINGS. Your life, right now, is the outer manifestation of your inner beliefs. If looking around at your life, job, mate, and money scares the hell out of you, then you’ve got to change your thoughts.

Here are some suggestions:

· Create a Vision Board
Don’t just see and feel your ideal life. Create a visual representation of it. That’s what a vision board is. You cut up pictures and words from magazines that represent the life that you want. Tape them all to a huge poster board. Tape your vision board where you can see it every day! Make this fun!

Luke Skywalker and Yoda in Star Wars

· Write Down Your Proclamations/Intentions/Goals

Keep this simple, concrete, and in the present tense. Simple keeps you focused and grounded.

Examples:

- I am a raw vegan now

- I weigh 125 pounds now

Look at those intentions twice a day. Burn them into your psyche. Those are just two easy intentions. Create intentions that resonate with you. Don’t get tripped up in the “how” those are going to happen. (“But I don’t have the money, the time, the support, the blah, blah, blah.” I know. I get it. However, if you keep declaring that you don’t have the time/money/support, then you will continue not to have the time/money/support. Get it?) Your Raw Food Journey has steps and actions you must take to make those intentions manifest.

Shrek

· Exercise: I Deserve
Looking in a mirror, you say to yourself two to three times:
"I deserve to have (or be) _________________ and I accept it now." Say it two to three times.

How do you feel? Always pay attention to your feelings, to what is going on in your body.

If you have any negative feelings in your body, then go back to affirming, "I remove the patterns in my consciousness that prevent me from my highest good. I deserve to have (or be) __________________ and I accept it now."

Repeat the exercise until you get the acceptance feelings, even if you have to do it several days in a row.
-from You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay

Give yourself a few days for all these things. This is the beginning of the rest of your healthy life, so have fun with this. Don’t give up. To paraphrase Louise Hay, tomato seeds don’t try to hurry up their growth into tomato plants. Your seeds of a new consciousness, a new thought process, have been planted. Those new thoughts will manifest into a new life.

Love,
Althea

Recommended Books:
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
Hero with an African Face by Clyde W. Ford
The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Volger
You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L. Hay
The Power of Intention by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
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Step One on The Raw Vegan Hero's Journey