Hello Blog, I've missed you! I've been wanting to put new posts and recipes on here, but the Capricorn in me wouldn't let me do so until I'd finished writing about my final week at the Hippocrates Health Institute, so all the posts are in consecutive order. There really isn't too much new to add to the last week - most of the lectures and presentations were repeats, so I skipped most of them and just went to my complimentary treatments and tried to take in and enjoy every inch of the institute and its grounds. The one new (to me) lecture was one I wish I'd known about earlier in my stay - Intramuscular Manual Therapy - I think I would have benefited so much more by having the treatment done each week rather than just one treatment the day before I had to leave, but now I know.
On October 23, we had our final check-in for our weight and blood pressure and got our final blood draw done. So let's compare the blood pressure and weight over the 3-week span:
October 8:
Blood Pressure: 128/80
Weight: 173
October 16:
Blood Pressure: 124/84
Weight: 168
October 23:
Blood Pressure: 110/70
Weight: 163
The last week absolutely flew by so incredibly fast. Most of my time was spent feverishly making certain I had taken pictures of all my friends and making sure I had email addresses and friended any Facebook friends, etc. I was feeling sad to be leaving that place and those people. I hope to stay in touch and hear how everyone is doing.
Part of the graduation ceremony was to get up on the podium and speak about our experience. Here's what I said. I meant every word:
I left home feeling broken, tired, sad, mad, overweight, weak and stressed out. I came thinking I had had enough of people, enough of corporate life at a big pharma company and I just wanted to heal by myself. But the many friends I made during the past three weeks have touched my heart and enriched my life as much as, or perhaps even more than, the program itself. I'm leaving here much happier and more whole than when I got here.
There are so many things I have never, ever done before that I've done here:
I'm proud of myself for doing all of this and more while I've been here. I even got to see a baby turtle go out to sea in real life!
I wanted to mention the power of our words... I used to joke around about having a brain tumor. I did this for years. If I forgot something or made a mistake, I would blame it on "my brain tumor." And then at 40 years old, I did indeed have a brain tumor. As if I didn't learn my lesson, these past few years, I've been saying that "my job is killing me" and now I've found that it is indeed starting to kill me. And I also now know how to stop it.
For most of us, the highlights were coconut day, avocado day or especially nut ice cream day, but for me, every single day here was a highlight.
I thank Dr. Brian and Dr. Anna Maria from the bottom of my heart for creating this healing place. And thanks to Viktoras as well as every single staff member here who have been so kind and caring.
It was sad saying goodbye to everyone that evening.
So heading back Saturday morning, I was facing flying through Super Storm Sandy. As if my fear of flying wasn't bad enough, right??? ... As I was boarding the plane, I was having serious misgivings - one of the flight attendants saw the look of terror on my face and asked if I was OK. I told him I was terrified and he told me that he'd been flying for over 8 years and yes, this flight was going to be bumpy due to the hurricane, but he told me to just look at him whenever I got scared and he would smile back and let me know everything was going to be alright. Such a sweet guy. I wish I'd gotten his name, but with all the terror going on in my head, I didn't. And as it turned out, the pilot flew well above the storm so the turbulence was not so severe.
Getting back to the Hippocrates experience, I would recommend the Life Transformation Program to anyone whether battling a serious, life-threatening disease or anyone needing/wanting to lose weight or to just learn about the power of live, raw, vegan raw foods. What I will recommend though, is if you can afford it, definitely spend the extra money to have a room of your own unless you really don't mind sharing a room with others. I had my own room and didn't have to share a bathroom, but I visited my friend's room which was shared with two others and I gotta say, it was a little too close for comfort for me. Now I will fully admit that as an only child, I'm not used to sharing space but this was crazy! I mean I don't think there was more than 4 feet between her bed and the other bed. I mean, no privacy AT ALL and if you're saddled with a roommate who has no concept that midnight is time to sleep and not go through their wardrobe rustling plastic Walmart bags without regard for their roommate who's trying to sleep because they have to get up early for appointments, etc, well... don't get me started on common courtesy and consideration. Besides that, while you're there, you are instructed to do enemas twice a day and it's awkward enough sharing a bathroom with roommates, but to try to schedule alone time in the bathroom for that just adds to the stress. I think the living conditions in the shared rooms are not conducive to healing at all, unless of course, you thrive on that. The rooms were clean and very nice, but they need to improve a bit on the privacy for everyone's best interest - maybe even a partition between beds. Something. With that said, everyone's different; there was one lady who came there hoping to have a roommate and was disappointed that there was nothing available for her, so she got her own villa (over 2,000 square feet) all to herself. Go figure!
I'm happy to report that I've pretty much maintained a mostly raw lifestyle since I've been back. I'm still feeling really good. I'm thrilled to report that most of the ailments on my original list have been reversed:
To recap:
Hot flashes: almost non-existent
Weight gain: lost 10 lbs and still losing
Irritability: diminished
Intolerance: diminished
Frustration: diminished
Brittle/split nails: no more split nails, but they became brittle again upon returning
Painful walking: almost non-existent
Cuts taking a long time to heal: better
Difficulty concentrating: better
Fatigue: much more energy
Anxiety: diminished
Bloating: diminished
Feeling stuck/hopeless: I have experienced a much better life - I don't feel as hopeless anymore
I most definitely returned happier, clearer, lighter and more radiant than when I left, so my mission was accomplished.
Our group: Me, Maria, Parris, Gill, Heidi, Bob, Nan, Stacy, Marcus, Marisa, Lisa. Sitting down: Ann, Heidi, Ziphora. My friend Paula is missing from the photo (she had to travel back home before the storm). Such special people.
On October 23, we had our final check-in for our weight and blood pressure and got our final blood draw done. So let's compare the blood pressure and weight over the 3-week span:
October 8:
Blood Pressure: 128/80
Weight: 173
October 16:
Blood Pressure: 124/84
Weight: 168
October 23:
Blood Pressure: 110/70
Weight: 163
The last week absolutely flew by so incredibly fast. Most of my time was spent feverishly making certain I had taken pictures of all my friends and making sure I had email addresses and friended any Facebook friends, etc. I was feeling sad to be leaving that place and those people. I hope to stay in touch and hear how everyone is doing.
Part of the graduation ceremony was to get up on the podium and speak about our experience. Here's what I said. I meant every word:
I left home feeling broken, tired, sad, mad, overweight, weak and stressed out. I came thinking I had had enough of people, enough of corporate life at a big pharma company and I just wanted to heal by myself. But the many friends I made during the past three weeks have touched my heart and enriched my life as much as, or perhaps even more than, the program itself. I'm leaving here much happier and more whole than when I got here.
There are so many things I have never, ever done before that I've done here:
- Never flew so far by myself.
- Never took 3 weeks off from work at one time.
- Never did a day of juice fasting.
- Never did 3 weeks completely raw.
- Never went 3 weeks without TV
- Never had a baby raccoon peer in through the window of a hut as class was taking place.
- Never was able to discuss colonics while at a dinner table.
I'm proud of myself for doing all of this and more while I've been here. I even got to see a baby turtle go out to sea in real life!
I wanted to mention the power of our words... I used to joke around about having a brain tumor. I did this for years. If I forgot something or made a mistake, I would blame it on "my brain tumor." And then at 40 years old, I did indeed have a brain tumor. As if I didn't learn my lesson, these past few years, I've been saying that "my job is killing me" and now I've found that it is indeed starting to kill me. And I also now know how to stop it.
For most of us, the highlights were coconut day, avocado day or especially nut ice cream day, but for me, every single day here was a highlight.
I thank Dr. Brian and Dr. Anna Maria from the bottom of my heart for creating this healing place. And thanks to Viktoras as well as every single staff member here who have been so kind and caring.
It was sad saying goodbye to everyone that evening.
So heading back Saturday morning, I was facing flying through Super Storm Sandy. As if my fear of flying wasn't bad enough, right??? ... As I was boarding the plane, I was having serious misgivings - one of the flight attendants saw the look of terror on my face and asked if I was OK. I told him I was terrified and he told me that he'd been flying for over 8 years and yes, this flight was going to be bumpy due to the hurricane, but he told me to just look at him whenever I got scared and he would smile back and let me know everything was going to be alright. Such a sweet guy. I wish I'd gotten his name, but with all the terror going on in my head, I didn't. And as it turned out, the pilot flew well above the storm so the turbulence was not so severe.
Getting back to the Hippocrates experience, I would recommend the Life Transformation Program to anyone whether battling a serious, life-threatening disease or anyone needing/wanting to lose weight or to just learn about the power of live, raw, vegan raw foods. What I will recommend though, is if you can afford it, definitely spend the extra money to have a room of your own unless you really don't mind sharing a room with others. I had my own room and didn't have to share a bathroom, but I visited my friend's room which was shared with two others and I gotta say, it was a little too close for comfort for me. Now I will fully admit that as an only child, I'm not used to sharing space but this was crazy! I mean I don't think there was more than 4 feet between her bed and the other bed. I mean, no privacy AT ALL and if you're saddled with a roommate who has no concept that midnight is time to sleep and not go through their wardrobe rustling plastic Walmart bags without regard for their roommate who's trying to sleep because they have to get up early for appointments, etc, well... don't get me started on common courtesy and consideration. Besides that, while you're there, you are instructed to do enemas twice a day and it's awkward enough sharing a bathroom with roommates, but to try to schedule alone time in the bathroom for that just adds to the stress. I think the living conditions in the shared rooms are not conducive to healing at all, unless of course, you thrive on that. The rooms were clean and very nice, but they need to improve a bit on the privacy for everyone's best interest - maybe even a partition between beds. Something. With that said, everyone's different; there was one lady who came there hoping to have a roommate and was disappointed that there was nothing available for her, so she got her own villa (over 2,000 square feet) all to herself. Go figure!
I'm happy to report that I've pretty much maintained a mostly raw lifestyle since I've been back. I'm still feeling really good. I'm thrilled to report that most of the ailments on my original list have been reversed:
To recap:
Hot flashes: almost non-existent
Weight gain: lost 10 lbs and still losing
Irritability: diminished
Intolerance: diminished
Frustration: diminished
Brittle/split nails: no more split nails, but they became brittle again upon returning
Painful walking: almost non-existent
Cuts taking a long time to heal: better
Difficulty concentrating: better
Fatigue: much more energy
Anxiety: diminished
Bloating: diminished
Feeling stuck/hopeless: I have experienced a much better life - I don't feel as hopeless anymore
I most definitely returned happier, clearer, lighter and more radiant than when I left, so my mission was accomplished.
Our group: Me, Maria, Parris, Gill, Heidi, Bob, Nan, Stacy, Marcus, Marisa, Lisa. Sitting down: Ann, Heidi, Ziphora. My friend Paula is missing from the photo (she had to travel back home before the storm). Such special people.
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