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Ending Summer on a Healthy Note
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Around this time of year, I usually spend my free time sipping on cocktails at BBQs, reveling in every minute that the warm weather is still here and complaining about how December is right around the corner. But I decided to bring this summer to a close on a healthier note: more yoga classes, private pilates sessions and a rekindled interest in nutrition. I owe my new attitude to a weekend full of spa treatments, yoga classes, gourmet raw food, raw cooking classes and much more and by this time next year, Chicagoans will be able to do the same.
Located less than two hours outside of Chicago, the popular Ronora Lodge and Retreat Center in Watervliet, Michigan will be opening the Raw Villa at Ronora, a place to enjoy and learn about pristine food in a natural setting (formerly the Watervliet Camp for Girls, to be exact).
Ronora’s owner, "Aunt Deej" as she told me to call her, has been raw for about two years and once she experienced how quickly her health improved, she knew she had to open a place for others to come and learn about the benefits of the raw lifestyle. Raw foodists believe that when we cook our food it loses vital nutrients, minerals and other things that our body so desperately needs.
She connected with the Chicago Raw Food Community meetup group, ran by Ariane Glazer and Lisa Persico and Glazer decided to organized a retreat for Chicagoans in late August. Although the Villa wasn’t available due to construction permits, about 40 members of Chicago’s raw food community got to enjoy the great outdoors, a sweat lodge, drum circle, and a weekend full of raw gourmet food, including an absolutely amazing ice cream social (raw ice cream is made from coconut meat, almond milk and agave nectar).
Each day was started with a revitalizing and energizing glass of fresh coconut water and wheatgrass juice before a kundalini and hatha yoga session with Lachelle Hayes who teaches at Ruby Room and Karyn’s.
From then on, it was different activities like kayaking, canoeing, tennis, hiking, impromptu yoga sessions (as shown above) berry picking and spa services in between mind-blowing meals. Saturday’s Mexican-inspired lunch (top), was my personal favorite: corn chowder soup and make your own burritos with “refried beans” (made of califlower and sunflower seeds), Mexican “rice”, amazing guacamole, three different types of salsa, pico de gallo and sunflower sprouts wrapped in a cabbage leaf.
The raw food lifestyle is definitely an extension of a mind body practice. It requires discipline and dedication to your body and health. Many of the campers shared their stores about coming to raw food after dealing with serious conditions like fibromyalgia, obesity or aspartame poisoning. Their dedication to health was inspiring and encouraging, especially when many admitted that the gourmet food we enjoyed was also a treat for them and that you can be raw without spending every free second in the kitchen.
The Raw Food Villa at Ronora will be hosting four-day programs on juice fasting and intro to raw food once the weather gets a little warmer. You can find more information at RawFoodVilla.com.
To find out about other raw events, visit the Chicago Raw Food Community’s Meetup page.
Also, Lisa Persico’s 4-week workshop on designing a lifestyle for beauty, body and glow with superfoods begins on Sunday, September 21 at Yoga Now.
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