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    Raw Dairy-free Banoffee Cheesecake

    Raw Dairy-free Banoffee Cheesecake


    The Banoffee Pie was possibly my favourite dessert growing up in NZ.

    I’m a self confessed caramel addict so anything like Sticky Toffee Pudding or Salted Caramel Slice or Banoffee and my name is all over it!

    I literally thought that if I picked a restaurant based on its availability of Banoffee Pie, then it had to be the most popular dessert and therefore an iconic one. So can you imagine my surprise when I made it in Ecuador (for Americans and Europeans btw) and they thought I couldn’t spell or say Coffee properly ?

    Let’s settle this once and for all… Banoffee is a combo of two words: Banana and Toffee. Kinda like Brangelina or Bennifer or even Tomkat, where they make a stupidly good genetically gifted union, but are just as delicious, individually.

    Here’s my raw, unprocessed, dairy-free, gluten-free, cheezecake version of the ‘classic’ Banoffee Pie…

    BANOFFEE CHEEZECAKE

    Tanya's cafe raw food recipe Banoffee pie

    For the crust:
    1 cup dry walnuts
    1 cup pitted dates
    2 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil, melted
    1 teaspoon vanilla powder
    1/3 teaspoon Himalayan salt

    For the banana cream:
    2 cups soaked cashews (from 1.5 dry)
    3 medium bananas, peeled
    1 cup extra virgin coconut oil, melted
    1/8 cup maple syrup
    Juice of 1 lemon

    For the toffee top:
    2 cups pitted dates, soaked
    1/3 cup extra virgin coconut oil, melted
    2 tablespoons almond butter
    2 tablespoons maple syrup
    1/3 teaspoon Himalayan salt

    Optional:
    Chocolate drizzle, melt store bought or use this recipe>>

    -Transfer all the crust ingredients except coconut oil into a food processor and process till broken down enough to resemble rice. Add the coconut oil and process again till you have a sticky ball. Transfer onto a 9 inch cake tin (make sure the base can be removed or line the dish with cling film to pull it out later). Distribute the mixture evenly using your hands and press it firmly down using your fist.

    -After soaking the cashews overnight, transfer all cream ingredients into a blender and blend on high. (TIP: if you don’t have time, soak cashews in hot water for 2 hours). Scrape down the sides of blender jug and blend again until creamy. Pour the mixture over crust and transfer to the fridge for 2 hours or freezer for 1 hour.

    -Make sure the dates are nice and soft before blending. (If they are already gooey and sticky, you might not need to soak overnight. If they are quite dry or you don’t have ‘overnight’, try soaking in hot water for 2 hours.) Transfer all the toffee ingredients into blender or food processor and blitz on high till creamy. Scoop this mixture onto the semi-set banana layer and spread as evenly as you prefer. Transfer to the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour, preferably 3.

    -If you’re drizzling with chocolate, slice the cake into 12-16 portions first, separate the slices by a few millimetres and drizzle away. Store in the fridge at all times.

     

    Let me know how yours turns out in the comments below…

    Long haul with a baby

    Long haul with a baby

    Lake Maher_ Tanya's Cafe_ Kale chips Trying cashew kale chips for the first time  

    Funny flight story (‘funny’ because it’s behind us ;-))…

    It took 4 flights, 4 taxis and 43 hours to arrive at my parents’ Sungate 11:11 in Vilcabamba, Ecuador.

    The connecting flight to Madrid was a total dream with a 10 months old. I inquired both at Heathrow and at Madrid airport desks about a good seat for Lake and I for our remaining 12 hour flight to Guayaquil and was assured with great certainty that the flight is looking empty, that there will be no one next to us and that after take-off we will even be able to change to a four-seater row!

    Lake Maher long haul with baby

    Soooo we board the flight with confidence, find our seat and spread all the toys, snacks and bags across our isle seat and the empty window seat next to us. Then 5 minutes before take-off, people start piling in! PILING IN!

    And so many of them, some with 5 bags each, some with caged cats, some with caged dogs. It was like watching a movie, because that’s how surreal it all looked.

    At this stage, I’m still pretty optimistic about the extra space on this flight, I almost don’t notice the man telling a cat woman behind us that she’s seated in the wrong seat and needs to move herself, her cat and all four of her bags next to me and Lake.

    I start to panic trying to work out how to keep the baby happy while I gather aaaall of our belongings to fit in a tiny space underneath my feet (anyone with kids knows just how much you need for a 1 hour walk, let alone a 43 hour journey!).

    Lake senses my panic and starts to get squeamish, meanwhile the cat woman keeps saying something to me in Spanish. If you were to mute this whole scene, it probably looked a little like an over exaggerated version of charades, where she is gesturing for us to transfer to a window seat so that she and all of her stuff wouldn’t have to.

    Then as everyone is loudly fussing and climbing over each other to get to their seat and competing to fit what ever they could into tiny overhead lockers, the cat woman starts climbing too and in the midst of throwing her bags onto the seat next to us (I’m still collecting our toys), she manages to bang Lake on the head with her cat’s cage.

    Then the crying begins! By this stage it’s not only Lake crying either…

    I grab my upset baby and me, shoot over to see a flight attendant, she helps us find a better seat, helps us make the dreadful transfer and just as I start to settle, she tells us there’s an even better seat. I’m a mixed bag of skeptical, pleased, annoyed and hopeful, but I go alone with it. She is right, the seat is much better and there is now a whole empty one next to us!

    We are good to go at last.


    Long haul with kids

    We are buckled in, Lake on my lap strapped to my seatbelt, I catch a breather (and a few smiling faces that have just witnessed our musical chairs episode), everyone is in their seats, cabin crew have completed the prep for take off and are now nowhere to be seen as they disappear behind the curtains to take their seats. Relaxed in my seat, I’m about to begin my ‘take off meditation’ but before I close my eyes, I gaze over the tv screen:

    “Enjoy your flight to Quito”…  Quito?? OMG!

    I turn to an Ecuadorean man across the isle: “Quito?”, “Si, Quito” he smiles. “Noooooo!”

    I practically tear the seatbelt off of me and Lake, swing her over my shoulder and jump out from our seat like a ninja turtle!

    The “surreal movie” continues, except I’m no longer the one watching it, everyone is watching ME! In this movie, I’m the crazy woman with a baby over my shoulder, running towards the front of the plane yelling “excuse me, excuse me, I need to be on a flight to Guayaquil, my dad is there to meet his granddaughter for the first time!!!”

    A flight attendant pops out from behind the curtain, explains that two flights were combined at the last minute and that the first stop is Quito but I get to transfer there onto Guayaquil and still arrive on schedule. I walk the walk of shame all the way back to our seat with everyone cheering and smiling my way, but I tell myself it’s because I have such a cute baby and nothing to do with the entertainment that her crazy mother just provided for a plane jam-packed full of spectators.

    Moral of the Story?… Do not make fun of crazy people, one day they might be you. (And don’t call cat lovers ‘cat woman’, that’s not very nice.)


    When nothing goes to plan...

    When nothing goes to plan...

    I’m supposed to be writing to you from Corfu today, somewhere on a crystal water beach, sun kissed and salt stained, squinting at the screen through my brand new sunglasses.

    Instead, I’m writing to you from my desk at home, in London, because not everything is supposed to go to plan. Your plan.

    I was so looking forward to this trip. Both Elliot and I really needed a mini holiday in the sun and the timing seemed perfect as my co-founders of Tanya’s just finished their incredible three year eco-centre and rejuvenation project, which we were eager to see for ourselves.

    On Thursday (the day before flight) I got a strange feeling about it and waved it off. Then I felt physical cramps and knowing that body pains are linked to emotions and often premonitions, I started listing out possible reasons. When I got to ‘don’t go to Greece’, the pain went away. How weird, I thought, I have already had to miss out on Greece once before when my passport with a new visa was meant to arrive in three months but didn’t for the longest eight months of my life, over which time the boat trip around the Greek islands that I paid for in full has been and gone.

    This can’t be happening again, not to me.

    On Friday I went on to pack my bags, ran a few final errands, set up an auto responder for my inbox, ordered a taxi to the train station and went to grab my passport. And then went to another potential place it could be. And then another. Another. Soon I was out of rooms, bags and shelves to look.

    Something didn’t seem right.

    Over all the years I’ve been traveling, I have never even misplaced my passport, let alone felt clueless as to where it could be. There were still a few hours till the plane, so I didn’t panic and took the opportunity to clean good before going on a holiday. So I looked and moved stuff and cleaned stuff and folded and filed and de-cluttered and nothing.

    I meditated. Nothing.
    Texted everyone who’s been over recently. Nothing.
    Re-traced my entire journey with passport in hand after last trip overseas. Nothing.
    Then, OMG, I have a dousing rod that can answer any question in the world!

    I asked it the usual questions first to just make sure everything was working well energetically:
    ‘can I ask questions about my passport?’,
    ‘is my name Tanya?’,
    ‘is my name Mary?’ (just to make sure not all answers point to yes by default),
    ‘etc’,
    ‘etc’,
    ‘is the passport in the lounge?’
    ‘is the passport in the lounge?’
    Strange, because the rod didn’t move to either a yes or a no. I then walked through every room and asked if the passport was there, still no movement. I asked other unrelated question and got perfect cooperation, just not when it came to something I was now obviously being protected from.

    I called my mum in Ecuador to check with her dousing rod, and it immediately said we are not supposed to go anywhere.

    Clearly upset by this time, but not willing to give up, mainly for Elliot, who I know needed this trip even more than me, I continued to look together with him when he ran through the door to pick up our bags.

    It wasn’t until we were completely and utterly exhausted and missed the only two flights that would get us into Corfu in time for our friends’ project launch and after we cancelled our return flights, that the dousing rod started ‘working’ again and told me the passport was in the kitchen. Without even trying to think where exactly, I immediately walked towards the cupboard that I somehow suddenly knew it’d be in.

     

    IMG_2944

    Gutted we weren’t in Corfu, obviously. But I didn’t feel like it was the end of the world and everything was going against me.

    Instead I felt quite the opposite.

    I’d always known that I’m being protected and I’d always trusted that the universe has my back. That doesn’t mean that I’ll give up on something just because my intuition is in a chatty mood, but in this case I know I’ve tried every avenue and I have to believe that my guardian angels are by my side. I also know that I don’t need to know or wonder now about what could’ve happened if I went anyway. I may never find out the reason.

    I just need to trust.
    And I do.

    I’m so grateful that a protection this strong and powerful is out there. So grateful that it’s looking after me, Elliot and anyone who’s willing to trust it too.

    Hope your Wednesday is the best Wednesday ever!

    With love and trust,

    Tanya

     

    P.S. DO YOU HAVE A SIMILAR STORY? I’D LOVE TO KNOW IF YOU EVER DISCOVERED THE REASON WHY YOU WERE BEING HELD BACK. TELL ME IN THE COMMENT BELOW…

    P.P.S. Update: That very weekend I did end up discovering the real reason!!! You won't believe it- here it is>>

    My Longevity Now Conference 2015 highlights

    My Longevity Now Conference 2015 highlights

    They call it the ‘Super Bowl of Health’.

    And although I have never been to an American Football League championship game or even been to the US at the same time that it was airing on TV, my new friends at the Longevity Now Conference assured me that everything which is wild, exciting, jaw-dropping and hair-raising about the Super Bowl is experienced right where we were, at the health event of the year.

    I was not disappointed.

    It’s the one event that I’ve been dreaming about for too long already and this year was the year to make it happen. I first spent some time in Santa Monica, CA to check out the raw food scene there (blog post coming next) and then headed to Anaheim, CA for this 3 day intensive. I slept on grounding pillows, ate medicinal mushroom ice-creams, had a thermal imaging face scan, got tested for mercury vapour, high-fived the world’s top doctors, nutritionists and health leaders and soaked up some of the most ground-breaking information available on the planet today.

    Here are just some of my highlights, as seen on @betterraw Instagram page…

    JUST LOVE THIS MAN FOR HIS EXISTENCE AND WHAT COMES OUT OF HIS MOUTH. SO MANY EPIC QUOTES FROM @DAVIDAVOCADOWOLFE AT @LONGEVITYNOW CONFERENCE, BUT HERE’S A CERTAIN AFFIRMATION THAT STOOD OUT TO ME WHEN ON THE TOPIC OF HOW ‘ATTITUDE DETERMINES APTITUDE’: I AM SMART ENOUGH. I DO KNOW WHAT TO DO. I AM CAPABLE. I’LL WORK AT IT TILL I UNDERSTAND. #LNC2015 #LONGEVITYNOW
    LOOKS LIKE A NORMAL HOTEL CONFERENCE ROOM? LOOK AGAIN… 2,000 OF US ARE FULLY GROUNDED WITH GROUNDING MATS THAT SUPPORT YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM, CALM LEFT BRAIN DOWN AND ENERGISE LIKE NOTHING ELSE.
    “80% OF WORLD’S ANTIBIOTICS ARE USED ON ANIMALS, SO THEY DON’T GET SICK, BUT THE SUPERBUGS ARE NOW IN OUR FOOD AND WATER” – VANI HARI, @THEFOODBABE

    AS AN ARTIST (THOUGH AREN’T WE ALL, TILL WE ARE TOLD OTHERWISE), I WAS ALWAYS INTERESTED IN THE COLOUR CODE. WHEN I GOT INTO NUTRITION, PHRASES LIKE ‘EAT THE RAINBOW’ OR ‘GOD’S COLOUR PHARMACY’ MADE SENSE TO ME AND I’VE ALWAYS ASSOCIATED CERTAIN FOODS WITH WHAT WE GET OUT OF IT (RED TOMATO FOR HEART HEALTH, YELLOW FOR HAPPINESS, PURPLE FOR ANTIOXIDANTS, ETC ETC). TODAY I’VE EXPANDED MY KNOWLEDGE BANK TO ANOTHER LEVEL AND LEARNT NOW IMPORTANT BLACK IS!!! YES BLACK! BLACK IS REALLY ALL THE COLOURS PUT TOGETHER AND IS REALLY THE JING! WHAT’S BLACK? BLACK BEANS, BLACK RICE, BLACK SESAME SEEDS, CHAGA MUSHROOM, OLIVES, BLACKBERRY AND CHOCOLATE. AWESOME HAH? @LONGEVITYNOW @DAVIDAVOCADOWOLFE
    “WHEN YOU THINK YOU’RE DONE AND CAN’T GO ANY FURTHER, YOU’VE ONLY ACCOMPLISHED 40% OF WHAT YOU’RE TRULY CAPABLE OF” . YOU CAN’T REALLY SEE THE MAN IN THIS PHOTO, LET ALONE TELL HOW INSANELY AWESOME HE IS, BUT THIS IS THE MOMENT @RICHROLL WAS TELLING US ABOUT HOW MUCH WE ARE REALLY CAPABLE OF. RICH COMPLETED THE #EPIC5, WHICH IS 5 IRON MANS IN 5 DAYS!!!!!!!! OFFICIALLY THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL AND CRAZY STORY EVER! . #LNC2015 #LONGEVITYNOW #RICHROLL

    WOW DO I HAVE A LOT TO PROCESS AFTER RON TEEGUARDEN’S TALK TONIGHT. RON IS A MASTER HERBALIST AND THEE MAN BEHIND @DRAGONHERBS. GOT AN EVENING PLANNED FOR READING MY NOTES AND ALL THESE INFO BOOKLETS, BUT THOUGHT YOU’D LIKE TO KNOW ASAP THAT SOME OF THE MOST POWERFUL HERBS ARE AVAILABLE TO YOU RIGHT IN YOUR OWN SUPERMARKET! THERE’S SOMETHING SO POTENT, HEALING, ANTIOXIDANT RICH, BEST ANTI INFLAMMATORY AND IS ALSO THE REASON WHY INDIA HAS THE LOWEST RATE OF ALZHEIMER’S. ANY GUESSES WHAT IT IS? TURMERIC!
    SO AWESOME TO GET TO KNOW THE WOMAN BEHIND #GLO – A DELICIOUS (AND THE ONLY) RAW RESTAURANT IN ICELAND, WHICH I VISITED 3 YEARS AGO. SHE NOW HAS 5! @RAWSOLLA DEMONSTRATED A SALAD RECIPE WHICH SHE MADE OUT OF EVERYTHING PURPLE SHE COULD FIND AT @WHOLEFOODS. WHY PURPLE? IT’S THE COLOUR PIGMENT THAT IS A CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM PROTECTOR, GUT NERVOUS SYSTEM PROTECTOR, BRAIN AND EYE NOURISHING! WHAT’S PURPLE? PURPLE KALE, PURPLE CARROT, PURPLE ASPARAGUS, CAULIFLOWER, CABBAGE, BRUSSELS SPROUTS, ONION, BEETROOT, GRAPES, BLUEBERRY, BLACKBERRY AND EDIBLE FLOWERS.
    LOVED HEARING NADINE ARTEMIS OF LIVING LIBATIONS SPEAK ON NATURAL DENTAL CARE. I USED TO HAVE TEETH THAT WERE FALLING APART WITH CAVITY AFTER CAVITY, BUT SINCE CHANGING MY DIET, THE CAVITIES DIDN’T ONLY STOP, THEY STARTED HEALING. I ONLY UNDERSTOOD THE REASON TODAY!! 1. CAVITIES HAPPEN FROM THE INSIDE. 2. WE HAVE A DENTINAL LYMPH SYSTEM. 3. OUR TEETH ARE FED FROM THE ROOTS. 4. WHEN THIS SYSTEM IS FUNCTIONAL, IT ACTS LIKE AN INVISIBLE TOOTHBRUSH. AMAZING RIGHT?

    “THE LONGEST JOURNEY YOU’LL EVER MAKE IS THE JOURNEY FROM THE HEAD TO THE HEART” – @LISSARANKIN . I’VE BEEN WANTING TO HEAR DR LISSA RANKIN SPEAK SINCE SEEING ALL THE AMAZING I CAN DO IT ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM MY PUBLISHER @HAYHOUSEINC. TODAY I SAW HER AT @LONGEVITYNOW. SHE WAS SPECTACULAR! . LISSA TALKED US THROUGH THE #FEARCURE AND HOW PEOPLE GROW THROUGH EITHER INSPIRATION OR DESPERATION. SHE EXPLAINED THAT FEAR IS NOT SOMETHING WE WANT TO GET RID OF, BECAUSE IT’S OUR BIOLOGICAL RESPONSE TO PROTECT THE PHYSICAL BODY. IT’S ABOUT DISCOVERING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE AND FALSE FEAR. AND A FALSE FEAR IS AN IMAGINARY FEAR OF SOMETHING GOING WRONG IN THE FUTURE.

    THIS MAN TOTALLY DESERVES 2 POSTS, SO THIS IS 1 OF 2! DR JOHN WARNER IS A GREEN CHEMIST, WHO JUST TOLD US SOMETHING PRETTY SHOCKING… EVERY YEAR USA ALONE GRADUATES 15,000 UNDERGRADUATES, 3,000 MASTERS AND 3,000 PHD STUDENTS IN CHEMISTRY, BUT NOT ONE UNIVERSITY REQUIRES ANY DEMONSTRATION OF KNOWLEDGE REGARDING TOXICITY OF CHEMISTRY. INSANE! HE ALSO SUGGESTED THAT THE ONLY WAY A CURRICULUM CAN CHANGE IS IF WE START RINGING UP UNIVERSITIES “AS POTENTIAL STUDENTS” AND PUTTING IN A REQUEST THAT IF YOU WERE TO DO THEIR COURSE, YOU’D WANT LECTURES ON TOXICITY OF CHEMISTRY. HOW ABOUT THAT?

    GOT GREY HAIR AND/OR DO YOU COLOUR YOURS? YOU’LL WANT TO HEAR THIS… . THE HAIR DYE INDUSTRY IS BIGGER THAN THE DIET INDUSTRY! IT’S HIGHLY TOXIC, IS A LISTED CARCINOGEN AND IT’S THE BIGGEST ISSUE OF THE WORLD TODAY. HAIR DYE GOES INTO ALL WATER AND IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO GET OUT OF DRINKING WATER, UNLESS YOU OXYGENATE OR OZONATE IT. . DR JOHN WARNER’S WORK TOTALLY DESERVES 2 POSTS AND THIS IS 2 OF 2. HE IS A GREEN CHEMIST AND THE INVENTOR OF THE MOST INCREDIBLE PRODUCT CALLED HAIRPRINT. IT’S CURRENTLY ONLY SPECIFIC FOR HAIR THAT’S GREY, IS MADE FROM ALL EDIBLE INGREDIENTS, BUT WORKS BETTER THAN HAIRDYE- IT DOESN’T ‘PAINT’ OVER HAIR OR ‘COLOUR A LAYER’, BUT WHAT IT DOES DO IS RETURN IT TO ITS ORIGINAL PIGMENT. THE BEST PART IS BECAUSE IT RETURNS HAIR TO YOUR ORIGINAL COLOUR, THERE’S NO FADING AND HAIR SHADES LOOK SO NATURAL WITHOUT THAT BLOCK-BROWN-WIG-LIKE COLOUR RIGHT AFTER YOU DYE IT.
    THIS IS #DAVEASPREY FROM @BULLETPROOFCOFFEE WHO TAUGHT US THAT ANTIOXIDANTS IN COFFEE STICK TO THE CASEINS IN MILK AND CREAM, MAKING THEM LESS BIO-AVAILABLE. ALSO PUTTING RAW HONEY INTO HOT WATER DOESN’T MAKE IT RAW ANYMORE.

    DR DANIEL AMEN TOLD US INSANE STORIES INVOLVING THE BRAIN AND STRATEGIES ON HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THE ONLY BRAIN YOU ARE STUCK WITH: 1. FEED YOUR BRAIN (IT’S 80% WATER, DRINK MORE, HEALTHY FATS, SMART CALORIES). 2. TRAIN YOUR BRAIN (LISTEN TO #MOZART). 3. PHYSICAL EXERCISE (WALK, WEIGHTS, CO-ORDINATION). 4. SLEEP (PURPOSE OF SLEEP IS TO WASH AND CLEAN YOUR BRAIN). 5. MANAGE STRESS (MEDITATION, HYPNOSIS). 6. BOOST BLOOD FLOW (GINKGO). 7. DECREASE INFLAMMATION (GREEN TEA, TURMERIC). 8. OPTIMISE PARAMETERS (VITAMIN D, THYROID, TESTOSTERONE).
    “IT’S THE WORST OF TIMES, BUT IT’S ALSO THE BEST OF TIMES” – #DAVIDWOLFE @DAVIDAVOCADOWOLFE FOCUSED HIS PRESENTATION AROUND THE COLOUR CODE AND HOW VITAL IT IS TO #EATTHERAINBOW. JUST TAKE A LOOK AT THIS SLIDE.

    Remembering Polly...

    Remembering Polly...

    …Not that she will ever be forgotten, but today is Polly Noble’s birthday and I just returned from Ecuador where I spent a beautiful week with her entire family.

    Two years ago she invited me to her birthday party, but I was with my parents, sister and her husband (who was also born on 11/11) in Vilcabamba, Ecuador. Last year, when she was celebrating on 11/11, I was again in Ecuador at this time running my annual Raw Food & Soul Adventures retreat. This time, Polly exclaimed “That’s it! NEXT year, I’m coming with you!”

    She’s a powerful little one…

    Indeed this year she came with us. She may not have been there in her body, but she was absolutely there, she even brought with her every single person she loved more than anything in the world- her mum, dad, brother, sister, their other halves and her 7 months old nephew, who Polly got to meet and enjoy just before she passed.

    One night at the retreat, I couldn’t get to sleep, so I stayed up preparing for the next day’s activities and making energy balls for everyone, when Polly showed up. I’ve never had this experience before, so it was as odd for me as it may sound to you right now.

    We had the most real conversation and for a brief hour, I felt like I had my friend back. She told me about how proud she was of her dad eating raw food, drinking green juice and trying yoga. She told me how impressed she was with her beloved mummy, who hasn’t been further than Germany for her fear of flying, but is now in South America, doing all the things Polly loved to do. She told me to look through at specific photos I took of her sister and her boyfriend and point out to them the condor and the butterfly next to them, as that’s how she showed up to photobomb them. She couldn’t find the words to express how proud it made her to see her perfect brother, now being the perfect father. And if she had another opportunity to choose a brother, that couldn’t be her own, she’d want it to be her precious nephew Freddie. And if she had another opportunity to choose a mother, that couldn’t be her own, she’d want it to be her sister-in-law Michelle. She promised that if she came back, it had to be to her own family and asked me to tell them not to worry, because she would return as the healthiest version of herself.

    DSC_0361

    AT THE TOP OF VILCABAMBA AND POLLY THE BUTTERFLY AS PER ABOVE.

    Can you imagine me then having to tell this to her family the following day? I probably lost 3kgs of weigh bawling my eyes out with Polly that night, then 3kgs more telling my own parents in the morning. Yet she chose me as a messenger, so I got the strength from above. From Polly herself, no doubt.

    On the last night of the retreat, when everyone showed up wearing white for our closing cacao ceremony (more like a cleansing ceremony, because white represents purity, release and starting over), Polly shows up again. This time she came to my mum and asked for her help in cleansing her soul so she can leave this plane and get ready for a new life. She was always impatient, but the thought of returning to her family sooner than later turned her into a joyful hopeful kid again and even though my mum has never met Polly in person, she saw her as an excited little girl, doing swirls and cartwheels, giggling while saying that she’s ready to ascend as soon as possible.

    The time and place were an auspicious combo of synchronicities, as the most unique draw about my parents’ land is that it happens to have an ascension portal and this very day in Ecuador happens to be the day of all souls (or remembrance day).

    It was of course entirely optional for others to attend this special good-bye ceremony for Polly, but as the team that everyone has become over the retreat, no one even blinked an eye at the decision and even got to connect and release their own family and friends who have recently passed.

    The experience was equally as beautiful and uplifting as it was overwhelming, overpowering and… hot! My Lord we got hot. Now this was a time of day when Vilcabamba becomes chilly, having a rainforest type climate, so we are usually cosied up inside over a hot cup of tea, but not during what we got up to! The presence of our loved ones was indisputable.

    We then went on to celebrate by eating high-vibration raw chocolate, drinking hot almond cacao lattes and playing African drums on our large outdoor balcony, from which all you can see is the moon in the sky and the fireflies in the distant trees.

    Just moments after 8pm when we were winding down anyway, we got a confirmation of how much light work we really did produce…

    The gate bell began  ringing persistently and looking at the time, we enjoyed a joke about this being the cops. It was mainly a joke because partying to techno music goes on nearly every night in Vilcabamba until the roosters start to crow, but here we were away on our own private land and getting asked to stop being naturally happy without being under influence (or even music for that matter) at a time when many families haven’t even started eating their dinner. We still don’t know whether any of the far away neighbours complained but the dark forces work in various ways to disrupt such intense and pure light.

    And with that, I recall a wonderful quote our birthday girl once posted on her social media:

    “DON’T LET SOMEONE DIM YOUR LIGHT, SIMPLY BECAUSE IT’S SHINING IN THEIR EYES.”

    Shine on friends.

    Love you,

    Tanya

    P.S. Here is the tribute I wrote to Polly in a recent Get Fresh! Magazine. Just click the image to enlarge it. x

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