While travelling in Thailand, I learned about this festival and decided to register straight away. I am glad I did it. Although it has been a loooong journey across Europe, the benefits are well beyond the costs of this trip. Laura Sander (one of the organizers) said to me that she always feels HIGH after the festival and now I understand why...
The festival was held in the beautiful island of Lolland, south of Copenhaguen (Denmark). All events happened at a boarding school that had facilities for lectures, food preparation and accomodation. Organization and schedule was brilliantly kept throughout the 4 days the event lasted. Rozi and Doug praised the hard work of the organizers (Petr Chec, Laura Sander and Annette Davidson) but, above all, their "humble" and down-to-earth attitude; something that is usually lost when overwhelmed by such an event.
There were lectures by Dr. Graham, Prof Rozalind every day and some others by Petr Cech (how to survive in cold climates), Eric Karlsson (dental health and nature cure) and Leif Varmark (permaculture).
Apart from the lectures, there were organized activities in the morning, afternoon and evening: yoga, fitness with Doug, circle dancing, zumba!
There were nearly 60 people coming from 15 countries. As you might agree with, one of the BEST aspects of these kind of events (or also of travelling) is meeting new people and hearing each other´s life´s stories. Many people were sick and cured themselves thanks to the 80-10-10 lifestyle. Others are just trying and experimenting. Dr. Doug said that "only sick or intelligent people decide to embrace this diet". A truth that comes as a relief if you ever doubt about why you are into this. People´s testimonies were wonderful. From the woman that admitted downing entire pots of Nutella (because of sugar addiction) to others that were thinking "rather dead than like this" (because of Chron´s disease), all symptoms disappeared inmediately when switching to a fruit and vegetable diet. There was even an attendant that had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and was getting much better after starting on 80-10-10.
Eating was obviously the starring part of the festival. Meals were served 3 times a day. The food was displayed on a long table and, prior to starting the feast, there would always be an explanatory briefing of the menu by the kitchen staff. You could serve as much as you wanted and repeat as many times as you desired; there was just a massive amount of food at each meal. Most of the produce was organic and high quality and we were even spoiled with an array of tropical fruits such as jackfruit, apple bananas and mangosteen.... Believe it or not, we had durian 3 days in a row. It was just paradise.
Breakfast consisted of different fruits, mainly melons, watermelons, oranges, golden kiwis, apricots or strawberries. At lunchtime we would have sweet fruits, green smoothies and salads with fruit-veggie sauces. For dinner it was usually acid fruits such as tomatoes with the classic zuccini noodles, lettuce, arugula and more amazing sauces.
But, as this festivals are also meant to "attract" new people, there was also some more elaborated stuff (dehydrated and with nuts) such as veggie tortillas, sushi and banana pancakes. The general feeling among most of us was that this was already too complicated.. Ok for a special occasion but not more... With such a variety of ingredients, it was quite difficult to stick to monomeals and simple combinations... and I have to admit that I found myself eating durian and drinking banana-green smoothies at the same meal... Oh well, it was like a big Christmas party in the end!
The message of the festival was crystalline clear: live healthfully to achieve health. Nutrition is so much more than just diet and food. In order to get your body-mind driven ahead towards your dreams and goals you need to pay attention to the key ingredients: SUN, FRESH AIR, EXERCISE, SLEEP & DIET. You might be too focused on the diet and keep falling off the wagon again and again... well, why don´t you pay attention to the other factors?? some of them might be weaker and you might need to work on that before re-starting with the diet! Even more importantly, the mind also needs SUN (inspiration), FRESH AIR (love), EXERCISE (meditation or similar practice) and SLEEP (rest)... And you also need to watch what you feed your mind with.... So, there is a lot to work on to keep moving forward!
As for the diet, we all know this: the best food you can provide your body with is fresh, ripe, organic fruits and vegetables. This will make you thrive and vibrate. It will make innate truths within us come to surface, it will restore our instincts and lead us to where we want to go. "Destiny is a matter of choice" as Rozi said... and our chosing becomes sharper and more acute as we improve our lifestyle.
Conducting emotions and digesting foods are the two most energy consuming tasks for the human body, and they are inversely correlated. Hence, the less energy for digestion, the more you will start to FEEL emotions. By switching to a raw vegan diet, your digestive task becomes immensely reduced and this results in more energy available for conducting emotions. In other words, by simplifying our diet, we will start feeling more. So be aware of what is happening, get ready for the best and GO TO HEALTH!!!!
