Radiant on Raw Blog: Raw and Living Foods, Holistic Health, Latest News and Reviews: I left my heart in Arizona…

2008 Raw Spirit Festival, where do I begin to describe this magical weekend in the heart of Sedona, Arizona!

These were the most unbelievable three days of my 2008 so far. It was everything I expected and ten times more. I am still overflowing with feelings, memories, and ideas and I know they will keep me going for months to come.

I was fortunate to share the experience with two friends from my raw food coach training, Jo Thomas of Discover Raw and Dawn Gaynor, the Green Yogi. We spent a lot of time laughing, talking about our lives, struggles and successes of our businesses, bouncing ideas off each other, eating amazing food, listening to fantastic speakers, meditating, and enjoying the scenery and the magic of the Festival. I will forever be grateful for their presence in my life and will cherish these memories for many years.

The Raw Spirit Festival is the biggest event for the raw foodists of the world. There where 3,000 people there, from all corner of the world – Australia, South Africa, different parts of Europe, US, and South America. The energy of that place was amazing – from the red rock mountains surrounding the resort, full moon, and people sharing their love for the raw lifestyle and having the best time of their lives.

The lineup of speakers was impressive: Viktoras Kulvinskas, David Wolfe, Dr. Gabriel Counsens, Victoria Boutenko, Dr. Doug Graham, Mike Adams, Dr. Jameth Sheridan, Nomi Shannon, Phillip McCluskey and Anthony Anderson, Michael Morningstar, Sproutsman Steve, and many more. Subjects varied from raw food demos to energy healing and everything in between so everyone’s interests and tastes were satisfied.

Of course superfoods are the latest buzz in the raw food community and there were quite a few booths dedicated to them. Raw Chocolate was another big hit, my favorite were the Chocolate Bliss Smoothie created by Lisa Persico and the most amazing creation I’ve ever seen called “The Wizard Paste” from Bright Earth Foods (a unique blend of Raw Chocolate and 21 different superfoods), they kept me buzzing and going all day long.

I was unbelievably busy attending lectures, visiting trading booths, meeting people, listening to brilliant music, and enjoying time with my friends. I barely slept but the energy of the most delicious raw food ever kept me going from 4:30 am till 11 pm.

As I am writing this, I realize that to cover everything I want to share with you (and there's a lot) will take pages, so I decided to create a series of posts in the upcoming days, each post dedicated to a product, person(s), or company that I found most profound. I spent much time talking to these people and discussing their services and products and I’ve come to appreciate their integrity, passion, mission, and desire to serve our community (note: I do not buy into every latest gimmick and I am not easily impressed). So, it’s my greatest desire to share what I’ve discovered with you so you could also benefit and take your raw lifestyle to a new level.

In the meantime, here are some photos from the Raw Spirit Festival:

(From the top, left to right: Valya Boutenko; Anthony Anderson; "Super Blue Green Algae Queen" Katharine Clark (Vickoras Kulvinskas's business partner); David Wolfe; a red rock mountain watching over us; West Sedona, view from above; Jo, Dawn, and I; meditating on an energy vortex at sunrise; Goddess altar - creative way to use raw food; Sproutsman Steve; full moon; Raw Model Anthony and I after tasting some amazing superfoods :) )

And if you couldn’t be there this year, here’s good news – 2009 Raw Spirit Festival is just around the corner! It will be happening from June 5th through June 8th, 2009 in Live Oak Campground, which is about 20 miles from Santa Barbara, CA. As soon as the tickets go on sale, I will make an announcement on this blog so please sign up to get updates if you don’t want to miss it.

Many Blessings to each and every one of you, my dear readers!