Karen Knowler * The Raw Food Coach

Would You Help?

Hi everyone : )

I'm currently working on my new web site and am looking for some fresh testimonials to sprinkle through my site.

If you feel that I have helped you on your raw food journey and are happy to see your name in print, I'd love it if would submit a testimonial about how my work and/or raw food has positively impacted your life.

Whether you talk about my recipes, coaching, teaching, training, or products all is good! (And if you can combine two or more then even better!)

Please submit them below or email to katie@therawfoodcoach.com - we'll need your name, location and any other info (such as vocation) as you'd like to see it in print.

Thank you in advance! I really appreciate it.

Angels in Atlanta

So, having missed my connection due to my LA - Atlanta flight being held up, I stayed the night in a hotel.

I had been sent an angel to get me there, a guy who was standing in front of me in the queue at the aiport who had also been late for the London flight, and he bought me some water, got on the bus with me as we were both booked in the same hotel. As I was so tired this really was a Godsend as it simply made life easier!

As soon as I was in my room I ordered room service, caught up on a few emails and then, finally to bed. I was sooo tired, and even the planes taking off every 15 minutes couldn't keep me awake for too long!

Sunshine and I have been online friends for a while now, and thanks to the power of Twitter, she contacted me before I fell asleep and asked if I would like to meet while I was in Atlanta.

Long story short she came over the next day, picked me up from my hotel and took me to a cafe/restaurant called "R. Thomas' Deluxe Grill" on Peachtree Road : ) We had a great time there and below is a little video showing what we had to eat and drink and also an introduction to Sunshine who is doing amazing work in the raw food community in relation to autism. You can find Sunshine at www.rawtism.com.

Not Home Yet!

Leaving Maui was tough, really tough, but the thought of getting back to home-sweet-home and specifically my little man was sufficient leverage to get my butt into the taxi and onto a plane.

All was going perfectly as I got on the first flight at Maui and reached LA safely and on time. After an hour’s wait it was time to board a new plane at LA and head off to Atlanta for the second stage of my three-part journey back to London. The boarding was fine and I found myself sitting between two very lovely people and all was well.

A couple of hours into our flight came the announcement: “If there are any passengers on board who are medically trained please come to the front of the plane where we would appreciate your assistance.” Uh-oh. I’ve been on a flight where this has happened before and knew what might come next.

And so it was an hour or so later we were landing early in Albuquerque New Mexico as the 90 year old woman who had been taken ill on board needed urgent medical attention on land.

This was fine, except then, as we were about to take off, the captain announced that due to refuelling we were now overweight and he needed to sign some legal papers and wait for the plane to be inspected in order for us to take of again. Ugh! Still, I had a good chunk of time between when we were due to land originally and my connection time that I thought things would be fine.

They weren’t!

Day 5 in Paradise

Day 5, my last day. Not happy to say it either as it’s going to be SO hard to drive away from this resort. It really has been incredible. If and when I get married there’s a good chance we’ll be coming here! And Luke would absolutely love it...

Anyway, I promised I would tell you about the most awesome book I’ve been reading. I’m about ¾ of the way through and it’s just fabulous. It’s called “The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity” by Edwene Gaines and it was recommended to us by Lisa Sasevich, who I mentioned yesterday. She said it changed her life and was emphatic that we all should read it.

Well I’m glad she did stress its importance. It’s amazing. Naturally I suggest you check it out on Amazon and get yourself a copy if you are anything less than happy with your financial situation, but beyond that, honestly it is a very spiritually uplifting book with many just as important messages to share. I can't think of one person who wouldn't benefit from reading this book.

Since I started reading the book miracles started happening. We didn’t get charged for kayaking for one. The guy said “Sorry I’ve run out of paperwork so I’m not going to charge you” – that blew my mind as it was so random! Then I found a really good and lower-cost place to get my food and that saved me a ton of money on restaurant and room service charges ever since. I could go on...

So today I continued reading and also getting more sun in... but then I had enough... worried about getting burned! But I do have a nice colour on my face, that’s something! And my legs appear to be a darker shade of pale than when I arrived : )

Right now I am sitting in the foyer area overlooking everything. I know to go back out in the sun would be foolish now so it's some last minute emails, blogging and shopping before the cab arrives later to take four of us to the airport.

Wow, what an amazing time. Perhaps it has all been a dream...

Days 3 & 4 in Paradise

Day 3, Wednesday, was fab. It was my time to present to the group and I went first. Those 45 minutes proved to be some of the best of my business coaching experience so far as a few key things were discussed that have really made a lot of difference to me and every minute of those 45 was invaluable.

I wish I could say more but it’s hopefully obvious why I can’t! There’s a lot that needs to be done to get things in place and this will take time, but it’s all good. I have plenty of time! I am here for the long haul for sure : )

After our meeting completed, that was our two days over. I retired to my room to just be. In some ways I am very sociable and love to be around people but in just as many ways I am very quiet and like to be alone. Perhaps it’s “only-child-syndrome”, but it is what it is! I like to feel and process things and see how they fit with me. This is the guidance system I use for everything. I’m not so bothered if something sounds like a good idea, but if it feels like one, I’m on it!

Later that evening I went for an hour’s walk with Lisa Sasevich. Lisa is one of the Diamonds and really is one of my favourite people on the planet. She is so genuine, warm and loving and it was our first chance to spend quality time together 1:1 since we met in November in LA. It was a great hour in many different ways and I got to see the whole stretch of walkway in both directions of the hotel... it was so nice to walk in shorts and t-Shirt at 8pm!

When I got back to my room I ate dinner from room service. It was once again dreamy and perfect timing. A few hours later I was asleep and looking forward to the next day when I would get to do whatever I wanted, but mostly laying reading in the sun : )

Day 4, Thursday. I recorded a couple of videos for you but only one would upload as the second was much longer, so I’ll be writing about the book I’m raving about tomorrow. The video I have managed to upload shows you the area where I sunbathed a lot of yesterday and gives a different perspective on the resort. I actually say “Day 3” at the start of it, but it’s definitely Day 4. It just felt like day 3! Or perhaps, I just hoped it was!)

So Day 4 was spent reading in the sun, I went Kayaking with Stacey and Regina (you met Stacey on Day 2) and I spent the rest of the day catching up with people online and had a very early night even though I desperately wanted to do some goal setting! That will be for tomorrow now...

 

Day 2 in Paradise

Tuesday 12 May 2009

Day two was actually Day one in many respects as it was the first day of the reason why I came - the business retreat. I'll let the videos below tell the story, but suffice to say it was a VERY long day for me as by the time I got to dinner I had been awake 18 hours (since midnight!) and had only had 3 hours sleep. I decided to share with you the random second video so you could actually see me on a clip for a change and also appreciate just how tired I had got! But honestly this day was amazing and next I'll be sharing about what happened on Day 3... 

 

 

Day 1 in Paradise

I reached my hotel at around 9:45pm last night and was welcomed by a woman who said, “Weren’t you here last year?”

 

“No, this is my first time,” I said (wishing I had in fact been here last year!)

 

“Oh you look so familiar, I’m sure I’ve seen you before.”

 

Perhaps it was in another life : ) I have no clue but she was lovely and welcomed me officially by putting a garland of orchids around my neck. They were beautiful and smelt gorgeous but I couldn’t help feeling sorry for those beautiful orchids that had been picked and strung up only to wither and die over the next few days.

 

This thought got me started on reflecting on how this raw food path sensitises us to the nth degree. My whole trip, all 26 or so hours of it had been spent reflecting on the really awful food being served on board each flight, how few bathroom trips the average person made and how few people actually moved their bodies the entire time. I felt like a jack-in-the-box by comparison, I was also starting to get stir crazy “Just give me some fresh food and some room to stretch, purlease!!”

 

But the flight was of course more than worth it. Even though I had to catch three flights to get here (we had to get off at LA and then back on for the final leg) and use two cabs, I made it, and as soon as I got into my hotel room, once I’d perused the luxury of it (see video!), I got undressed, sent a few text messages to England and zzzzz I was asleep.
I expected to sleep til 10am as my travelling sleep had been so sporadic and poor quality but woke at 5-something!

 

I lay there for a while wondering if I would go back to sleep but my body decided no, it was time to get up, and besides I could hear some very loud chirruping outside my window.

 

I opened the balcony doors for the first time to discover I had an awesome view and it really was (is) like something out of a dream. Check out the 3 minute video I made to see exactly what I’m talking about.

 

Naturally all of this has caused me to reflect, yet again, on why I would choose to live in England, where days like this (and views like this) just don’t exist. I’m going to be sharing my thoughts on these and other questions over the course of this week, but decided to keep this journal to give you a glimpse into my world over the coming days and also the way we as raw foodies tend to see life very differently – and how!

 

I am so looking forward to seeing what these few short days will uncover, but what I can tell you already is that some waves of huge growth have already started to ripple through my being and all I can do, as always, is be fine with that and see where they take me.

I'm on My Way to Maui!

Sunday 10 May 2009

As I write this I’m on a plane to Atlanta – part one of my two-stage journey to Maui. I’ll be there for a week and of course, I’m looking forward to it!

Periodically over the past 4 months I’ve popped up from time to time to update, and this is one of those times. In another four months time I should be back in a position where I can blog two or three times a week again and I’m really looking forward to that.

Right now there’s so many changes going on that it really is hard to know where to start; but a good place to start is by sharing that I’m so glad you’re here and reading this because all of these changes are about the work I am doing for you : )

At the tail end of last year I signed up for a very high-end coaching program. Some of you know this, others may not. While the price tag is high and the group is extraordinary (there are 11 of us, and I am the only European) it has been the act of stepping up that has been the most tangible stretch of all, and it’s this I want to start with today because I feel that many of my readers are ready for a big juicy stretch but you might not know what this “should” look like or how to move into it – especially when the world around you is not quite up for the same growth as you.

But before I go there, let me explain why I’m so passionate about this stretching business, because for sure, sometimes it hurts. Sometimes you pull a heart, head or spiritual muscle and when it doesn’t snap back into its old place it can be very disorienting to say the least. The past five months have been constant in this regard for me. I have changed so much it’s almost inhuman!

So why do it?