A 17 year old from New York shares with me his sources of inspiration and guidance, and benefits of following a raw food diet already for over 5 months:

Suraj (15:19:07): so anyway, you were saying about Raw…
Ankit (15:19:43): yeah — i’d say it was mainly dhru’s welikeitraw.com site in addition to the raw community website, giveittomeraw.com (kind of like a facebook for raw foodies/people that want to be raw)
Ankit (15:20:19): also, rawmodel.com is a blog run by this model, anthony anderson, who blogs rather frequently about raw foods, fitness and sustainable living
Ankit (15:20:31): i kind of went through almost the entire archives
Ankit (15:20:37): and founds TONS of great pointers
Suraj (15:21:51): what’s been YOUR motivation for being 100% raw?  What benefit have you seen already?  Perhaps there’s a blog post you’ve written about this already?
Ankit (15:22:14): i’ve thrown in bits and pieces throughout my blogs
Ankit (15:22:40): you could probably ctrl+F “raw” in my blog posts from march onwards if you want to check that out
Ankit (15:22:50): but really — it’s just a feeling of purity
Ankit (15:22:58): you feel good, all the time
Ankit (15:23:03): your mind is clear
Ankit (15:23:08): you don’t find yourself thinking about food
Ankit (15:23:12): you detach yourself from it
Ankit (15:24:00): on top of that, on a more superficial note, it clears acne (mostly from the loss of dairy, but even more so from eating unprocessed, uncooked in oil foods)
Ankit (15:25:03): and it sheds any undesired fat. i wasn’t actually heavyset prior to going raw, but i had a negligible bit of fat on my stomach. after going raw, however, that just burned right off and the sixpack abs i never thought would come reveal themselves
Ankit (15:25:40): in addition to that, however, you just open yourself up to a world of good, delicious, healthy foods
Ankit (15:25:51): it’s wild what you can do with naturally occurring foods
Suraj (15:26:23): this sounds great - I’m really inspired to explore the raw route - thank so much for your guidance Ankit
Ankit (15:27:02): not a problem. i’m always down to help a friend out

According to his blog, Ankit Shah is a “kid that cares for little more than open minds, strong opinions, passion, genuinity, a good laugh and conscious living for the people and the world around me. Into raw living, mother nature, awareness, fitness, honesty and international music.”

Check out Ankit Shah’s blog at ankittt.blogspot.com

This morning I received a beautiful message from a friend about the relation betwen the celebration of India’s independence and our own inner journey to freedom…

Jai Jinendra
Jai Satgurudev Vandan

Today India, the Mother country, celebrates independence, the end of an era of foreign rule which arguably began more than a eight hundred years ago for North India.

As the country modernises and westernises, there is a great challenge to the innate spirituality, the soul, if you will, in her culture.

But then the king within is also dominated by foreign matter - both gross external objects and subtle karmic matter.

At the heart of the Satyagraha of Gandhiji lies the idea that we are letting ourselves be suppressed and we can rise against this, resist it, not co-operate with it, for without our help, the oppressor can do oppress us, as we are providing the means.

Just as this insight freed 470mm from foreign domination, by a handful of rulers, so this great majestic soul can throw of the shakles of its own bondage by becoming awake and arising.

With the blessings, guidance, example and living presence of a True Guru all this is easy.

Happy Independence Day
Happy journey to Independence!

This week I am limiting my computer use to 6 hours.  Regardless of whether it is for emails, surfing, blogging, skype chat, social networking, writing articles, or listening to music, I will only use the computer for a maximum of 6 hours this week.

Yes, it is an experiment.  It tests to see what happens to the quality of my work, the depth of my relationships, and my level of vitality.

I expect that by limiting my use of the computer, my method of working would be more reliant on spending enough time working things out in my own mind, and then exploring creative ways to record information and communicate it with those I am collaborating on projects with.  It would also have an impact on my health (more time healthy eating and getting fresh air rather than being stuck in front of a computer), and most certainly enrich my personal and business relationships.

So hey, lets see what happens in a week and how it really impacts my work, my relationships, and my vitality…

For it to be truly effective and to make the most of limited time on the computer, it requires me to batch tasks such as checking and responding to emails, programming in Living Jain quotes, or raising invoices.

If you happen to get an autoresponder message from me when you email me this week, please be patient for my response - after all, the time I have on my computer is limited so that it can make me unlimited!

Much love,
Sol

Back in October 2006, I sent a wish out into the universe for some comfortable size 14 squash shoes.

Today they have arrived.

When ordering these shoes through www.walktall.co.uk, I also picked up a pair of Columbia Slate Slides - wow, when I’m travelling out in the hotter parts of the world, these will be a TREAT to wear.

So, who’s up for a game of squash? Any takers? Badminton works for me too!

Scratchy throat. Hmmm, nothing quite like honey, lemon and hot water to soothe the throat.

Don’t forget to add grated ginger to the mix!

At the beginning of this year, I jetted out to India for a week because my dad’s uncle had suddenly passed away. It was worthwhile spending time with the family out there and being there for my little cousins.

I later found out that two blind people had been given the gift of sight, because my dad’s uncle had his eyes donated.

Although inspired to sign up as an organ donor, I forgot to do it, until a leaflet jumped up at me whilst I was sorting out some paperwork today.

Immediately I visited www.uktransplant.org.uk, and within minutes I was registered to have any of my organs donated when I pass on. Easy peasy! When I’m dead, I won’t be needing my body, so someone else might as well make use of the useful bits.

Did you know that thanks to the miracle of cornea transplantation, more than 2,000 people in the UK have their sight restored every year?

Yet there is still a serious shortage of donated corneas. Will you consider cornea donation when you sign up - and give the gift of sight?

From a comment at Alex Kjerulf’s blog post about Global Belly Laugh Day, I picked up a link to the following video showing a baby laughing from the depths of it’s soul.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/HttF5HVYtlQ" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

When was the last time you laughed this purely?

When I went round to Arvind Devalia’s place on Tuesday, he gave me a Rock Salt Crystal Lamp as an early Christmas present.  It now sits near my laptop.

» Continue reading “Rock Salt Crystal Lamp”