Reader Question: "Why Do I Feel So Odd?"

"Dear Karen, Thank you so much for your weekly e-mail support. I am 5 feet 3 inches and I weigh 210 lbs. I have received your information for about a year and I had never gone raw. Now I have finally done it, four days raw, and I have lost three pounds and feel great when I wake up. My problem, I am feeling that kind of anxiety that some feel before their periods begin. I feel good and yet "scared", do you have any idea why I am feeling that?

"It's seems the diet is bringing up lots of feelings, probably the feelings I have been stuffing away with dead food. Perhaps you don't have the answer for me, each person is different, but it is really strange to have only raw foods, I feel sort of "high" like one might feel after using marijuana but I also feel that sort of paranoia that comes with it as well. Any ideas would be great." ~ Stefka Bolton

Karen replies:

Dear Stefka, thanks so much for reaching out to ask. This is such a great question which is why I asked your permission to publish it. It is a joy for me to address this, and here, finally is my answer - you asked about a month ago so I'm curious as to what has happened on your new raw journey since then?

No matter, here is my take on what you describe based on my own personal experiences and those I have come across over the past decade or so.

First of all congratulations on your speedy weight loss! It is not unusual to lose weight quite quickly when a radical shift is made like this, and it will continue as long as you keep listening to your body however tricky that may be in the initial stages - and what a feeling that alone is, especially when we have been carrying weight for some time.

With regard to the "good yet scared" feeling, well, I remember this all too well! I remember it as being strangely compelling yet also scary too, as you say. There's no language, just feelings and the feelings are so alien that we don't know if they're "good" or "bad", and this is why the anxiety sets in. It's that "no man's land" kind of domain - do we move forward into the unknown and uncharted or retreat to the comfort zone of what we know?

My interpretation of this in hindsight is simply that as we start to improve the quality of our nutrition (not to mention the aliveness of it), we naturally improve the quality of our blood. With that comes clearer everything - thoughts, feelings, insights, connection - and so much more because our blood is the river of life that runs through us, and when it's clogged and stagnant, so are we. So as we take cleaner more alive and easily digestible foods into our body, suddenly the river starts to flow easier, faster and smoother and for the first time in our lives we get to really feel how it can be to be inside ourselves in a cleaner, purer state.

When we experience it for the first time it can really be something beyond words and comprehension, and yet somehow, in spite of the fear it somehow feels right and good, but yet still we look for the life raft or someone else to let us know "it's okay" because this is new territory and it's scary for that reason alone. But... this is really the first step on the path to truly intuitive eating and living as we start to get a FEEL for how life can be and we have the invitation to move from thinking our way through life, to feeling our way through, using our body as a guide rather than just our mind (which, to be honest is not often right about much anyway!). It's a powerful shift of power and no mistake, but one I believe all of us should be pursuing if we want to feel wholly and radiantly alive in every aspect of ourselves.

By becoming more in touch with your body and the effect this vehicle can have on your overall experience of life it's like suddenly a part of us gets switched on... a part that has been laying dormant (and often being the bane of our life if we have a weight or serious health issue), and yet the body holds so much potential it is simply AMAZING. But it's only through the doing that we get to experience this, as you have found. Thinking about it, wondering about it, reading about it, hearing about it... none of those things can bring even the slightest glimpse of how it truly feels to "be raw", and of course we are talking in every sense of the word here!

So yes, you will be feeling a lot more on every level, and this is a combination of the positive side effects of having cleaner blood combined with what you are leaving out of your diet by default of bringing raw in. If you imagine that suddenly this river is flowing freely again and gathering momentum with every raw meal you eat, it recognises that here is an opportunity to drag up and out those negative emotions and feelings that have been dwelling and causing problems in the stagnancy that preceded it, and it wants them OUT! Unhealthy feelings do not belong in a healthy body, so it's literally a process of elimination.

I realise that all of this can be a lot to take on at the best of times, but especially in the early days when this all seems just plain odd, but this really is what is occurring. Often people get scared and think the turbulence will never end, but it really is a case of "keep clearing and sooner or later the work will be done". It's when we don't do the clearing that life starts to get increasingly painful as the pile just keeps getting bigger and we get less and less able to deal with it. Raw gives us the power, incentive, courage and energy to clear the dross but the good news is you can stem the flow if it ever gets too much (one slice of bread is usually enough to do it for most people!).

By the way, for the record, the high feeling is because you are alkalising yourself naturally, and it is not uncommon for people to unintentionally burst into song or dance while walking along the street at this stage! Just enjoy it, there is plenty more where that came from, and the fun is only just beginning!

Of course, getting support is vital at this point, which is what you have reached out for to me, and I hope this abridged answer goes some way towards helping. I recommend that you make as many raw food friends as you can right now (www.giveittomeraw.com is the perfect place to start), assuming you intend to pursue this journey, even if it is in fits and starts as it was for me for many years. It's so important right now for you to know that you are not alone and not "weird" and that everyone else, no matter what their background or situation, are going through exactly the same thing too. Raw food as I see it has but one agenda - to energise and clean so that we can sparkle as nature intended us to. It's our job simply to get out of the way and allow this magic to happen, even when the rest of the world might think we're crazy.

Much love and ongoing support, Karen

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© 2008 Karen Knowler

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Comments

[Peter Aubrey]

I enjoyed reading about the cleansing aspects as I am not completely raw at moment but looking to do in the near future.

Sometimes fear of doing something different can hold us back.

[Alina]

Great article, Karen, as always :) The issue of emotions that come up on a raw food diet (aka emotional detox) is very important and very few really know how to deal with them. Thank you for shining the light on it in such a brilliant way.

[Deborah Carraro]

Great post! I wish I had read it the first time I tried to go raw. Fantastic resource that addresses the importance of awareness. Thanks!

[Healthyeric]

I really like the points touched upon in this article. The "awareness" of emotions when transitioning into a raw foods lifestyle can be a little overwhelming at times. After years or even a lifetime of ignoring or supressing negative emotions through comfort foods, we are "forced" in a way to address these emotions, without pushing them aside with the consumption of addictive foods. I think it is definately part of the healing process, physically, mentally and spiritually.

[Dandelion]

Stefka, you are not alone!!!!! Just recently I listened to an interesting interview with Philip McCluskey on http://www.welikeitraw.com/
No doubt you will be greatly encouraged by his fascinating story, where he also specifically mentions this thing about feelings coming to the surface.