Change of Gratitude + Transportation: Run 13 Miles to Rent a Car to Hike a Mountain Top in the Rainforest

I live and work at the Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute in Puerto Rico.  It's been a month, and I'll be here for two or three more.  I find very similar patterns of the environment here and myself as I did when I worked at the Creative Health Institute, or CHI, in Michigan last summer: The energy can fluctuate rapidly!  While working at a living foods health institute, it is very easy to go from soaring energy to bitter exhaustion in a short amount of time at unsuspecting intervals.  For me, The soaring energy comes from the rich health and nutrition of living foods.  This helps support the long work hours.  The increase in energy often leads to feeling great, trying to do too much, and then over doing it.  I work a lot, I exercise a lot, I read a lot, I think a lot, I want to be awake a lot... Then I forget to sleep a lot and the exhaustion sets in.  Then I rest, recover, repeat.

While all of this takes place, the guests go through their own experience:  Many are here for the 2 week program where they learn the living foods lifestyle and eat a 100% raw living foods diet.  Many are also new to the lifestyle.  This means at some point their body will begin to detox significantly.  When you eat well- for us that means raw living foods that are densely nutritious and easily digestible- you allow your body to detox more rapidly and productively.

Your body always tries to detoxify itself, naturally.  Although you may consume 100% pure organic food with no pesticides, hormones, or toxins, you will still intake toxic substances from unavoidable sources such as the air you breathe, some tap water, etc.  And some may be choosing to use avoidable substances like unnatural hygiene products, make-up, etc.  Even if you have been eating a high living foods diet for sometime, you will continue to detox, perhaps significantly from time to time.  A few detox symptoms include fatigue, lightheadedness, and irritability.

As a staff member, the challenge is trying to prevent myself from the often inevitable:  When your own symptoms of exhaustion align with the guests detoxing experience.  An occasional scenario for me is not sleeping much, working an exhausting 8-9 hour shift, where, regardless of your hard work, a few guests or more will be unhappy because they've been fasting on the same energy soup for a few days.  

I do understand how the guests feel, but it may not make it any easier.  I did a similar 2 week detox with energy soup fasting at CHI last summer.  I couldn't palette or look at energy soup by the third day.  Over a long duration though, the alkalizing high greens diet will alter the pH of your body while altering your taste buds.  I typically crave energy soup now.  It's a nutritional craving instead of a junk food craving.  While it is very difficult for any of the guests to believe that, it is also difficult for me to process the perceived lack of gratitude.  (Note:  By the end of the 2 weeks, guests typically feel better, joyous, and are very grateful!)

Exhaustion + Perceived Lack of Gratitude = Frustration.  When this frustration starts to set in, it's difficult to process the minute favors and requests that are often asked of you.  Since I basically live next to the kitchen, in the same building, these requests also come in frequently when I'm "off the clock" as well.  With this frustration, I essentially forget how grateful I am to be here in good health in Puerto Rico.  And that is unfortunate.  At this point, it is important to get off the grounds of the institute and take a day trip if my work schedule aligns.  However, it is also difficult to get around Puerto Rico without a car.  Riding a bicycle is kind of scary because the roads are narrow and poor, the drivers are crazy and there are several accidents.

BEGIN AWESOME ADVENTURE + RENEWAL OF GRATITUDE:

I get off work Saturday night and go out with some of the guests to a bomba in the nearby town of Isabella.  One of the guests is Kimberly Snyder, author of The Beauty Detox Solution.  I had the pleasure to hang with Kim and get to know her a bit.  It's hardly been a year since I started making major lifestyle changes in terms of the food from which I make my body and the exercise from which I play with my body.  Since I'm still trying new things, it's reaffirming to see Kim, a nutritionist in high demand from Hollywood's top A-List talent- it seems I'm making pretty good decisions. 

I am grateful for the many interesting and inspiring guests like Kim that come to AWNHI.

At the bomba, Kim and I play pool at the bar.

I am grateful that the pool table only costs one quarter!  I've never seen billiards this cheap in the states.

The bomba is awesome!

I am grateful for the incredible drummers!  Truly amazing!

On the way home, Kim and I think of getting out and going to El Yunque rainforest which is about a 2.5-3 hour drive.  We need to rent a car.

It costs about $25-35 to rent a car for the day.  However, it's a $40 one-way taxi to get to the car rental.  $80 in cab fare to rent a $25 car.  It's a waste of money on principle.  The next day I suggest a plan:

I WILL RUN 13 MILES TO THE AIRPORT AND RENT THE CAR!  BOOM!

I go to bed later then planned, about 11pm.  I wake at 3am.  I put on my shoes, my headlamp.  I fill my water bottle.  I put my license, credit card, and $5 in my bottle hand strap.  I get on the road about 3:30 am and start running.

I run roads for a few miles.  I run down the beach for several miles.  I stop at a river entering the ocean.  I choose to have water instead of sand in my shoes.  I run the beach some more, shoes soaked.  I cross a second river.  I run on the boardwalk where I pass the occasional late night lovers, sobering up from the early night.  I run through a field.  I stop.  I pet a beautiful horse, tide to a tree, alone.  I say goodbye, step in some of its shit, and continue running.  No worries.  The shit will fall off in a few miles.  I run a few miles up steep hills.  Enter a storm.  It pours for 20-30 minutes.  I'm soaked.  I find minor shelter under a billboard.  It's almost 5:30am; the time of my reservation.  I call the car rental.  In Spanish, I tell them I'm 15 minutes late: The first time I really communicate my needs fully in Spanish.  It's a start.  I run past planes at the airport.  I reach my destination.  I get the car.  Freedom of feet.  Freedom of car.

6am - Alive + Awake after 13 mile run and shower.

I drive back.  I pickup Kim.  We take a shot of wheatgrass.  Off to El Yunque.  About an hour on the road I have a banana, papaya, chia seed, almond milk smoothie.  Kim has energy soup.  There's a brown-out of sorts and several traffic lights aren't working.  Free form traffic guidance.  We stop at a few fast food places on the way.  We certainly DON'T buy their food.  But we donate our own waste into their public restrooms.  We get to El Yunque in about 3 hours with traffic and after I pass the entrance road once.  The road maps and signage are poor at times.  We pick up a trail map, we drink fresh coconuts, eat oranges, and start to explore.

It's lush.  It's green.  It's vibrant.  The fresh air.  The soothing sound of waterfalls.  The cheerful sound of coqui frogs.  The chirps of birds, hidden in the private tree canopy.

I am grateful.

We hike to the top of El Yunque.  About 4 hours round trip, taking time for photos.  At the top, fog and clouds.  We wait to see if it will clear.  Not this time.  We hike back down to exit the park by 6pm.

On the way back, we stop in Old San Juan.  We explore the beautiful town.  We grab a coconut and I get a dark chocolate walnut snack.  We chat.  We head back, return the car, taxi back and return at midnight.  Long day!

HIGH-FIVE ADVENTURE!  HIGH-FIVE PUERTO RICO!  HIGH-FIVE GRATITUDE!

I forget all earlier said frustration.  I am grateful for my feet and where they have taken me.  I am grateful to rest and sleep in the next day.

© Marty Stano

The Creative Health Institute (CHI): What is it?

Creative Health Institute, 112 W. Union City Rd, Union City, MI 49094

What is this Creative Health Institute (CHI) place that I've been interning at for a month now?

Well first, our mission statement:

Our commitment is to inspire every participant in our program to live a transformed life of superb health and well-being and to enroll others in sharing our vision.

CHI teaches health and wellness through the raw living foods philosophy as originated by the late Dr. Ann Wigmore.  The core ingredients to the lifestyle are super nutritious young organic greens, fruits, sprouted nuts and seeds, fermented foods, and dehydrated foods.  The importance of living foods lies in the enzymes that assist in digestion so that the body can properly absorb the nutritious foods it takes in.  When food is cooked above 110 degrees, those enzymes start to break down and we lose a majority of the food's nutritional value.  The three most important foods of the Wigmore program are rejuvelac (a fermented sprouted seed drink), energy soup, and wheat grass juice.

Along with nutrition, the Wigmore program believes in proper digestion, assimilation, elimination.  At CHI, we eat a lot of pre-digestive foods such as blended foods and we take the time to chew our food well to aid digestion and assimilation.  We practice proper food combining and we eat foods like sprouts that are rich in enzymes to support digestion.  We do lymphatic exercises, skin brushing, and enemas for elimination of toxins that are absorbed by the body via food, air, skin (soaps, detergents, etc.)

[Yes, you heard me right: I do enemas now.  Yikes!  I was nervous at first, but they're easy and you feel great after them.  Enemas we're historically the natural way to aid digestive problems and support a healthy colon... then I don't know what happened... people became uncomfortable talking about poop and thought it's better to take digestive drugs.  More on this some other time.]

CHI offers several programs:

-10 Day Detox/Rebuild Program

-10 Day Detox/Rebuild Program - Weight Loss

-5 Day Detox/Rebuild Program

-5 Day Detox/Rebuild Program - Weight Loss

-Juice Fast

-Raw Chef 1, 2, 3

At CHI, we believe the body is wonderful and self-healing.  By eating nutritious raw living foods, you support and build your immune system to fight disease.  Participants young and old come to CHI to heal health conditions such as diabetes, cancer, obesity, and more... While some attend to continue to maintain their health with the self-healing tools we teach.  Many of the guest teachers here are passionate volunteers who attended CHI in the past and healed themselves of major health issues like cancer.  A lot of miracles happen in the world of living foods!

As an intern, I've taken the 10 Day Detox program.  Afterwards, I've been working in the kitchen and juicing wheatgrass.  I'll be working in the grow room soon enough too.  It's a lot of work, so it's sometimes tough to keep up with posts.  I'm still really new to the raw living foods lifestyle so I'll be posting information as I learn it.  Feel free to comment if I say something inaccurate.

Here are some photos of the lovely environment surrounded by farm country:

Russian Banya (Sauna) on left.  You can jump in the river after, only 10 ft away.

Future garden.

The grow room.  Lots of wheatgrass!

The intern house.

Change in Lifestyle: 100% Raw @ Creative Health Institute

I'm undertaking a significant lifestyle change.  I'm living in farm country at the Creative Health Institute in Michigan where I have transitioned to a 100% raw living foods diet.  Previously, I enjoyed meat, dairy, and other foods that I've given up indefinitely- and not feeling that bad about it.

I arrived May 3rd and shortly thereafter began their 10 Day Detox program.  It was a crazy experience which I'll be sharing in future posts. After successfully completely the detox, I started my internship 2 days ago.  I'll be here at CHI until August where I'll be learning much about nutrition, preparing gourmet raw living foods, and alternative ways of self healing, all while eating a nutritious and delicious raw diet.

A little perspective:  I believed I kept a healthy diet prior to arriving at CHI but I'm already rethinking that after being here 2 weeks and taking a few nutrition classes.  I'll probably be a different person when I leave here.  I'll certainly be embracing a majority of the diet at least.

From the moment I walked in the door and the director smiled and hugged me, I knew Creative Health Institute was a special place.  This was reinforced later in the week when an intern graduated: There was a small certificate ceremony in which kind words were said about the individual and both the intern and staff cried tears of joy.  I cannot say that anyone cried when I left my film internships in LA.  I was lucky if they remembered my name. 

For the rest of the summer, this blog will mainly focus on my experience here, providing insights and ideas on health and nutrition, food recipes, and more.

Keep up with my blog and you'll learn how to enjoy and embrace a raw living foods diet too!

I made an awesome raw pizza!  Delicious!

Change in Health: I'm No Charlie Sheen, But I Can Still Detox

A few weeks ago, I applied for an internship at the Creative Health Institute.  They are a raw living foods program in Michigan that offers several workshops and classes such as Detox/Rebuild programs and Raw Chef certifications.

Just today, I received a phone call that I was accepted and will start on May 3rd and intern throughout August.

My mom, who has taken a few classes, informed me of the internship opportunity.  I applied for several reasons:  I've been wanting to try a raw diet for a while now and figured this would be one of the best ways to implement it.  This interest comes from a general desire to control my health and feel good.  After feeling a bit scattered and un-centered this past dreadful winter, I figure some time to meditate and be with myself will be good for my well-being.  I plan to finally write a feature screenplay I've been putting off.  I'd like to learn and practice a bit of music as well. I've also been thinking of training for a marathon and hope this new raw diet will boost my energy in that pursuit.

So in just 3 weeks, I'll be moving to the west side of Michigan.  Shortly after arriving, I'll start the detox program and give up much of the foods I currently eat in hope of better health.  Although I do enjoy eating animals, I feel that I could do without them, at least for a while.  No big deal. Instead of doing shots of liquor at the bar, I'll be doing shots of wheatgrass on the farm.  Cheers!

I'll keep you updated on this health experiment.