END OF COOKING
Darko Juric
So you finally decided to make one of the most important steps in your life. You stopped eating cooked food or are considering it. Now the real life adventure begins. Not only will you have to “swim upstream” often, you will hear people saying that you made the wrong decision. But since the decision came from your center that guides you and is impeccably clean and determined, you will remain persistent on your journey called “Your life”. Because no one can live this life for you than you alone. One of the most important things you will be aware of by eating raw food, is that it brings with it a positive state of inner strength and purity. Only you can decide what you enter into your body and soon it will be telling you what it really needs. You do not have to worry about being 100% raw. The more raw, unprocessed and organic foods you consume, the better you will feel. While you will sometimes face challenges and eat something that is not raw, do not feel guilty. If you have been on a raw diet for some time, your body will cope with the consequences of unstable cooked food easier. Just return to your path and indulge in your most favorite crunchy delicacy.
Surround yourself with like-minded people, who organize gatherings with raw delicacies, share your favorite recipes with them and those who are considering taking this path. Do not hesitate to ask for support from others because this is not an easy path without its ups and downs. Our senses are constantly bombarded with subliminal memories of food that remind us of our childhood. But it’s just an illusion, a porous façade that is sending us messages from a consumer society which interests are just to consume this as much as possible. Turn off your TVs, radios, put down newspapers and magazines that messes us up with eating disorders instead of leading us to a life that pleases us and completes us. Observe people in supermarkets and notice what they look at when they walk alongside shelves filled with products that have no life or resemble food that is being advertised. They do not buy what is inside the package, but only the idea and image on the label. It’s scary! Remember this when you get temptated! Make a conscious decision and instead decide to have a raw treat that meets your true needs. Once you stop craving or wanting cooked food, you will be thrilled how raw food can be tasty, nutritious and even in small amounts make you feelsatisfied and full. Things like a micro salad, grapes, cherry tomatoes, baby zucchini or fruit will become your snack. Do not be afraid to experiment with food. Eating raw means being creative and celebrating spontaneity in life. Enjoy the food and explore inexhaustible variations of organically grown fruits and vegetables, seeds and nuts. Try to buy local and seasonal foods, thus supporting local growers and marketers. Create personal dishes or transform existing standard recipes into raw, which will feed your inner drive for creativity.
No rules! No gurus! This way, we train ourselves to rely on ourselves and to take responsibility for our own actions. Let’s observe how a particular food affects us, our body, our thoughts, and our feelings. In this way, we do not allow negativities and prejudices to suppress our intentions and urges, from enthusiasm to joy. In this way we help not only ourselves, but also the environment in which we live in. So by consuming uncooked, local, organically bred foods, we drastically reduce our energy consumption. Packaging wastes are being eliminated, which ends up in the garbage and suffocates our natural environment. Support yourself in this adventure of raw eating with a daily practice such as dancing, jogging, Tai Chia, Yoga or just try to spend as much time as possible surrounded by nature, away from the city and the polluted environment. It is important to feed yourself with fresh air, to expose yourself to wind that feeds your skin, to the sun that penetrates your pores, to the healing of touch, since, after all, these are the most important nutrients for life. Always have confidence in your intuition which can only be attainable if we are fed with all of the elements mentioned so far and if we are not clogged with toxins at all levels of our functioning from physical to spiritual.