Monday Monthly Mission # 20 (wow 20!)

May 2nd, 2011 - filed under: Furthermore » Monday Monthly Mission

On the first Monday of every month, we take on a ‘mission’ – a shift or habit or inspiration – to work on together. There’s strength (and support) in numbers! On the last Thursday of the month, we reconvene to see how far we’ve come.

#20

Ahhh, spring! The wet weather eases up, the prettiest pink flower buds begin to appear in the tree tops, and all the animals – humans included! – stretch their legs and yawn and rub their eyes as they re-emerge into the sunlit outdoors. Spring is such a lovely time of birth and new beginnings. It’s also a time of examining, of planning, and of paring down. The term “spring cleaning” gets a lot of use, and though most people tend to apply it to their surroundings, I often take this opportunity to turn my attention internally.

After a winter of heavy, hearty fare, I like to take some time in spring to “re-set” my balance. In the past I’ve made May the month of my annual cleanse, though it’s been a few years since I’ve done that and to be honest, I don’t know that I’ll ever do it again.

Still, I’m definitely feeling like freshening up, and I know just the thing to take me into tip-top form for summer. Raw foods! As my regular readers know, I flirt with raw foodism pretty frequently. I have no desire to be all-raw, all-the-time, but I absolutely adore raw foods and I feel my best when I’m eating a whole lot of them!

I’ve done a month of raw before and found it to be an enlightening endeavor. I was such a novice then, new to the raw foods scene, enthusiastic and experimental. These days I’m much more experienced. I understand my body and my needs in a way that I never have in the past. It’s really incredible. And it means that this time, I’m much more comfortable easing up on the intensity.

This first week I’ll be eating high-raw. Starting next Sunday I’ll aim to remain all raw for the rest of the month. But I’m going to follow my body’s cues and I’m also going to allow for unforeseen circumstances. Last time was about purity for the sake of juxtaposition. This time, I’m just trying to feel good!

So obviously, I know that most of you won’t be able to drop everything and jump into raw. Most of you probably don’t even want to, ha! But, what you can do is add some more raw, living, nutrient-dense and alkalinizing foods to your diet. I promise that after a month of that, you will be feeling a-mazing!

So, how about making it your mission to replace your standard breakfast with a big green smoothie, each and every morning?

Or, your goal could be to incorporate a glass of fresh green juice into your daily regimen (it’s a great afternoon pick-me-up!)

You could set the intention of eating a fresh salad every day for lunch, or making sure that every dinner is half cooked and at least half raw.

Or, you know, you could go vegan for 30 days! Switching from an omnivore’s diet to herbivorous eating is a great and easy way to kickstart a little healthy clean-out, if you know what I mean.

What do you say? Are you willing to eat a little healthier this May? What is your personal mission going to be?

Me, I just can’t wait to write all about my raw experiences this time around. And of course, to share all my amazing recipes! It’s going be a fun spring . . .