The Living Lotus Newsletter

I’m so happy to be getting this newsletter to you, and I hope you enjoy it. I know that some of you have been looking forward to the yoga retreats, and the very first one is going to be this September the 24^th, a Saturday! There will be yoga stretching, a meditation at the pond if weather permits, breathing exercises, learning reflexology, raw food snacks, and more.

If you are interested in signing up, please call Central Texas College Continuing Education at (254)-526-1991.

Thank you to those of you who came to the Raw Foods Workshop on July the 16^th. It was a blast! It took me some time to find the time to write this, boy a lot has been happening… so much in life is changing.

I am coming up on my last 4 weeks of the year teaching yoga until next Summer! If you’d like to sign up, do it quick, the first class starts on Monday August 8^th.

BUT, I’ve got GOOD NEWS!!! A friend of mine is possibly going to try teaching the weekday evening Yoga at CTC!!! She is an excellent yoga teacher who I’ve become great friends with, who teaches at Heritage Park Fitness and Gold’s Gym. Keep a lookout and I will give you an update on if she will be teaching.

The reason I am not teaching those nights anymore is because I’ve decided to put more focus on my family, and developing other skills that I have. I’ve been teaching yoga a long time twice per week in the evenings for a long time now, since 2007. It’s been almost 5 years, and I’ve been feeling a calling to switch my focus a little. When Summer comes along, I will be back to teaching. Not sure what the schedule will look like, but I will keep you posted.

This weekend there is a Drumming at Sally Dutczak’s home in Kempner, and if you’d like, we can also do a Raw Food Potluck. I plan to bring some flax crackers and a couple other friends were going to bring something too, so please let me know if you’d like to bring food. The potluck starts around 5.

I was thinking about doing a Native American Rain Dance there. Not sure how it works but I’m sure with some drums and prayers, God will be able to bring some rain down a little easier! :D

I know I said to my workshop students that I’d talk about how to eat a healthy whole foods cooked diet, and since my time is limited, I have listed some main points below. This is the diet you can transition to if you are consuming processed foods and really want to get healthier.

Main Points on How to Adhere to a Healthy Whole~ Foods Cooked Diet

*Eliminate highly processed starches and sugars, such as white bread and white sugar.

*Eliminate all dyes, preservatives, and chemicals from your diet.

*Eat only lean meats that are organic and not processed, such as turkey, chicken and fish, as well as organic, preferably farm fresh eggs, or if you are wanting to go vegetarian, eat beans, quinoa, nuts and seeds for protein.

*Eat only dairy products that contain no hormones or antibiotics, preferably raw.

*Consume sweeteners that are pure and organic, such as honey, agave nectar, raw sugar, raw stevia, and maple syrup.

*Include plenty of organic dark green leafy vegetables in your diet, preferably most of them raw.

*Add a variety of organic fruits like apples, plums, pineapple, grapes, and plenty of berries to your diet.

*Add mineral and nutrient rich vegetables and fruits like radishes, cucumbers, bell peppers and carrots to your diet, as well as some sweet potatoes and possibly, occasionally, baked white potato.

*Eat whole grains like brown rice, quinoa and millet as well as whole grain breads that contain to preservatives, such as Ezekiel Bread and Manna Bread.

*Consume sea weeds and other nutrient rich super foods.

*Drink plenty of water and enjoy herbal teas.

*Eat fermented foods like kimchi, natto, miso, kombucha tea, and dairy free yogurts made from things like coconut.

Classes Coming Up with Continuing Education~ Call 526-1991

Reflexology Class~ Sept 10^th, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Yoga Retreat~ Sept 24^th, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Raw Foods Class~ October 8^th, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Reflexology Class~ November 5^th, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

I will keep you posted on these upcoming classes! They are really fun. Please let me know if you are interested in knowing any more info on the classes, I’d be glad to give it to you. J

Try to make it to the Riverside Raw Food Potluck this weekend, 5 p.m if you can! It is followed by a drumming at 7 p.m. I will send directions if you need them, please let me know.

Have a wonderful rest of your week, and stay hydrated! The picture attached is a raw pizza that I made…I actually made the crust out of wheat berries. I am planning to make one out of spelt berries.

Lots of Love, Joy and Light,

Tawni

Tawni Lay

The Living Lotus

bealivinglotus@gmail.com

(254)220-0178 mobile

"Like the Lotus blossom, each human soul has the
potential to rise out of harsh conditions and bloom into a magnificent creation."

May You Be Blessed

May You Be Blessed

Om. May you be blessed.

May the love of life give you peace and rest.

May the light of the sun shine down upon you,

To light your path and see you through.

Om. May you be in joy.

May this joy fill the hearts of every girl and boy.

May your being swell with the birth of a new creation,

To light the path of all the world's nations.

Om. May you be happy.

May your natural state be allowed to just be.

May you know that all is well in your world forevermore,

To open up all possibilities that lie behind every door.

Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi.<3

Raw Spirit Love, in Prescott Arizona

Hello Happy Spirits,

Whew! I finally made some time to write. It's been a hectic year so far...but my intentions from the New Year have been almost totally fulfilled. My friend Rachel emailed me a few months ago, and asked me if I was going to Raw Spirit Festival this year. I honestly didn't even think I'd be able to go due to lack of funds...but I prayed and asked God to help me go one morning...and guess what? The very next day I told my husband that I wanted to take my daughter with me to Raw Spirit, and he bought the plane tickets right then and there, and within the next few days he got us a hotel room. It turned out that since we hadn't been using our timeshare, we had a lot of points added up so that we got he plane tickets and hotel for free! WOW. Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find! I then asked my Mom to help out with everything else for my birthday and she did. WE ARE BLESSED!!! THANK YOU LORD!!!

Serana Kaya and I got on the plane, and she was SO excited. She hadn't remembered being on a plane when she was just a baby, so this was like her first time. We chewed gum so our ears didn't pop (Wish I had remembered to get some natural gum. The only choices at the airport were aspartame filled. Yuck. Ew. Never again!!) and giggled as the plane took off and our bellies felt funny inside. When we stopped in Dallas, we stayed on the same plane, and since we were the only ones on the plane waiting, the stewardice took Kaya into the cockpit to meet the pilot and check out how the plane works. It was really cool.

When we arrived in Pheonix, we got a rental car and drove towards Prescott, and stopped for dinner at Souper Salad. The roof was so funny on that place! I put a pic above to the right. They had a great selection of raw fruits and veggies. They even had a vegan ice cream for people who are lactose intolerant! It then took us two hours to drive to Prescott. We stayed in the Hampton Inn...so nice and accommodating!

The next morning, we headed to Raw Spirit Fest. It was at Watson Lake Park...in the high desert of Prescott. When we got there, we found green coconuts and bought one. The coco water was so amazingly refreshing...perfect for that desert heat. We ended up buying about 5 during our stay over the weekend, just to keep us well hydrated. Here's a pic of Kaya with a little boy named Joseph that she met. He is 100% raw and so smart and adorable. He and Kaya plan on being pen pals now...which will be great for them to practice their writing skills. This is them below, having a green coco together.

Kaya also loved the chai they had there. The first and second day it was really delish and orange. Coconut water and spices are what it had. The next day it was a different color~whitish and tasted more creamy. They had added something new in it to make it that way~the coco meat I think. Yummmm all of it was yummmmmm.

All of the recipes I had gave me so many great ideas. This pie was a strawberry/blueberry pie that I had for breakfast. I was splurging a little b/c normally I would have green juice, green smoothie and raw cereal for breakfast.

I ate a LOT of good food while there...ninja wraps, which are nori rolls with lettuce, dulse, avo, sprouts, and some kind of cashew mayo, I had sprouted rice, curried coconut, "fried banana", and all kinds of other yumminess.

One of my favorite things about the weekend was on Saturday night there was a "forgiveness circle", which was a group of people in a circle, with one person in the center who needed to forgive themselves for something. We did EFT tapping to help them release it, as well as pulled energy from the stars and Earth to exhale into the person. After that, we all came in for a big group hug, which lasted for a very long time! We made different sounds like OM in the hug. It was so beautifully healing.

On the last day, we all did a prayer to our sun. Fantuzzi led the prayer, with song and sign language. It was so sweet.

I could ramble on forever about the festival, but I will leave it up to YOU to ask me any questions you have about it...I would be glad to answer! It was in short, very fun.

Love to You All,

Tawni

New Years Goals/ Intentions

This year, more love, peace, joy and abundance shall flow to me than ever before.
Undying Love and reverence for myself shall unfold forevermore.

Being in the present moment shall always be my goal
so that every experience that I have is a gift waiting to unfold.

Serving and loving my family and being a Godly parent is what I plan to do,
allowing the Universe to guide me and always see me through.

May this year I fully connect to my passions and deeply live my life purpose,
never forgetting the reason I am here, which is:

to LIVE, LAUGH, and LOVE, Unconditionally!

My Raw Thanksgiving, and Kundalini Awakening (I think) Plus Garden Pics

Greetings, and Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Yesterday was such a wonderful day. You could just feel the buzz of everyone preparing for a feast, and happy family gatherings in the air. There was a stillness and a peacefulness that permeated through the ethers that just felt wonderful. The faint smells of spices lingered, while cars piled into driveways, families and friends uniting for giving thanks.

I made two dishes yesterday, one a veggie rainbow salad with colors abounding, and the other, a cinnamon, banana, apple, walnut and raisin salad. Making the dishes was so relaxing, and I just felt the love streaming from my heart as I prepared them. I knew that this Thanksgiving was going to be very special.

Earlier in the day, I wrote a special Thanksgiving prayer to read before the dinner. I felt so spiritual and light as I wrote the prayer, every word effortlessly being drawn from my right brain. After I wrote the prayer, I stood up to stretch, feeling very delighted to have written my very first prayer ever!

Something strange happened to me after the writing...as I was stretching in the doorway to my room, I felt very abnormally lightheaded, and leaned over into a standing forward bend, to catch my balance. As I was bending over, I started shaking uncontrollably!!! I don't know what was happening...I was not making myself shake, it happened all on it's own. It was like a seizure, I think. I have never had a seizure, and I am a very healthy person. The only thing I can think of is that since I had written the prayer, it opened my chakras and alligned them, and gave me a kundalini awakening.

Any thoughts on this?? I would really like some feedback from someone who has had something similar happen. I have been practicing yoga daily with short meditations, always aware of every thought I think, every bite I take, every breath I breathe and word I speak. I think I was in allignment for it...what do you think?

Later on, when it came time for the prayer, after a little nervousness, I said the affirmation, "I am calm." The prayer came out with confidence, and then we all sang "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow." It was so magical and lovely!!!

The meal was so delicious. I had all raw, with the exception of a few small peices of feta cheese that were in a spinach salad, two bites of mashed potatoes, and one bite of my mom's sweet potatoes. They were sooo yummy, but all I can handle of cooked is a few bites, and I just feel so much better when I don't eat a lot of cooked food. Especially if it has regular salt, refined sugar, and processed starches.

The only thing that was a little bothersome of the evening was the cooked smells, and smokiness of the house...I have become so sensitive that sitting in the house for only five minutes, my throat became very parched. I had to drink a lot of water through the evening to help my voice not become scratchy.

Besides that, everything was perfect. I am so grateful!!!

I hope your Thanksgiving was full of JOY too!

I had promised pics of my garden, and luckily I am finally posting them. These were taken about a month ago, which was when the garden was really flourishing!

Love n Light,
Tawni

Recently Detoxed and Energy is Great.

Hello! It's been so long!

I did a 7 day detox 2 weeks ago. It was one led by Frederic Patenaude. On the first day, you fast until dinner, then at dinner, eat simply with no fats.

During the detox, for 7 days you ate no overt fats, such as avocado, nuts, seeds, or oils. I felt so great! I had a lot of energy. I toned up, and my skin cleared a lot.

It helped me clean up my diet a lot. I had gotten down to about 85% raw before the detox. Now I am back up to around 95%. I was eating ezekiel bread and peanut butter every day before. It was just more affordable. But, now I have decided it's ok to eat bread once in a while, but not everyday. So far in the last two weeks I've had one peice of ezekiel bread, and 2 peices of manna bread.

My blood type is A, and it says in Dr. D'Adamo's book for type A's that ezekiel and manna breads are highly beneficial, as well as peanut butter. I just don't think I had as much energy while all that bread was going in my system though. BUT, I did manage to save money. I was also having bowls of cereal periodically as well....with soy milk. I didn't look horrible, or get fat or anything...my energy was just not as high, and I didn't feel like manifestation was as easy for me.

I start a new job soon, helping a lady with her home. I really want to make more money so that I can afford more raw. I would love to start a local co op as well. I don't know if you can make money doing it, but I need to do the research. I know I would at least save money on produce if I did it. It needs to be done!!! My goal is to also save money to open up a raw cafe, and maybe a yoga studio inside.

I need to also put up pics of my garden, but I'm waiting for my tomatoes to ripen up. I have like 30 green tomatoes in there.

I wrote an article on a natural diet for children, for a friend of mine who is launching a new children's book. I will put it up soon.

Love to you,
Tawni

Perfect Protein Fruit Salad

Salutations ....

I just had an amazing fruit salad...here's the recipe:

1 banana
3 strawberries
1 teaspoon bee pollen
1/2 tsp chia seeds
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon coconut shreds

They say bee polleen is a "perfect food." I found a good organic brand locally, at GNC in the Killeen mall. I know HEB has it too. Angela Stokes-Monarch eats bee pollen quite often, and although it controversial on whether or not it is "vegan",
I'm sure it's okay to be a "beegan". I love honey. Thanks bees.

Feeling Blessed,Tawni