A Spiritually Enlightening Online Magazine. January's Theme: "Self"
Volume 7 Issue 2 ISSN# 1708-3265

Index Meet Our Staff Free Subscription Donations Come Shopping Advertise in TSM Archived Issues

Illuminations Aleesha Stephenson About the Cover Lisa Baldwin My Journey From Denying Self to Nurturing Self Pam Dibbern Portraits Alegria Imperial Our Inner Self Phil Kotofskie Whoever Said "No Man is an Island"? David Reber Life Altering Planetary Experience David Suzuki PhD Nothing Less Dj Brown Self Transforming Self Rev. Cheryl Jewett Life in the Raw Nicola Watt Lifetalks Dawn Baumann Brunke Walk Your Talk Aleesha Stephenson Wiccan Voices Crystal Blanton, HPs Being Mindful Janet Alston Jackson Pet-sense Jean Hofve DVM Meditate a Moment Featuring: Aleesha Stephenson Cards & Curios Tarot Deck Reviews: with Dan Pelletier Archived Reviews All of T.S.M.'s Reviews

Definition: Someone's characteristics such as personality and ability, which are not physical and make that person different from others.

I am a young teenager, a taxi driver, cleaner, educator, dog walker, school helper and the wife of a British soldier.

Who am I? I am the incredibly lucky mother of four beautiful children, who wakes every morning to embrace the beauty of life. Am I really a teenager? People always tell me I look healthy and energetic for my age. But who am I? I look in the mirror, no longer the 18 year old girl I once was and still feel. I look at the woman in the mirror, the woman who was born and raised in south Yorkshire, England. The woman who was brought up on roast dinners and if I was a good girl and ate all my food, I was allowed to dive into a mass of sponge and custard for pudding.

I am no longer that girl.

I still see the girl though that joined the Army just to escape her over-controlling father. From an early age I felt different from everyone else in my family I just didn't seem to fit in. Every belief I had was the opposite of theirs. I was compassionate about everything in life. I wanted to save the world. I wanted to make a difference. I could not understand why the grownups around me did not seem interested in the sadness around them.

I can still hear my father's voice telling me charity starts at home and stays at home. But no matter what you believe, how sad other peoples circumstance makes you feel, if you are constantly being told by the people around you, who you respect and love dearly, that your choices and actions are wrong, you question your self, your choices and your beliefs. In spite of all this… I knew from an early age that I would be where I am now.

It took a few tragic events for me to live the life I do now. I am far from the girl from Yorkshire; I am far from the woman who served her country for 10 yrs. Or am I?

No I am still all of them. The only difference now is I don't suppress my thought and beliefs. I stand up for myself and let myself be heard and counted. I fight for others and their causes. I intentionally stand out in the crowd with my long blonde dreaded hair, pierced nose and lip.

My children never judge people by what they see on the outside - always looking for the beauty with-in.

I lead my children into battle daily to challenge authority, and I teach my children to respect others—always remembering we are all equal. We, as a unit are compassionate about life.

So self, who am I? For today only I will give myself a label, I am a 35 yr old Raw Vegan, I so dislike labelling myself. I am a qualified Personal Fitness Instructor, a Reiki Practitioner, Indian Head Massage Therapist, a Natural Juice Therapist, a Raw Motivational Speaker and I run Re-treats and Raw Food Classes for Families. I am a woman who educates herself purely to help others. I am slimmer, stronger and fitter now than I was 15 yrs ago. I have had 3 home births with no pain relief. I am never sick and joyfully survive on 5 hrs sleep a night. Two of my children are still at home through the day as my eldest has just turned 8 and my youngest 3. I don't get halfway through the day and begin fighting off the urge to sleep like most young mothers around me do, complaining how tired they are. Why?

I am 100% sure it is due to my diet. My diet is simple, nothing fancy. In the beginning I questioned whether I was really raw because when I read what other raw people were eating my diet seemed lazy and simple. I don't dehydrate or worry about which super food is the "in thing" this week. I juice all my greens and eat predominantly fruit and nuts. I like the simplicity of it all.

My favourite food at the moment is chopped up bananas, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, drizzled with honey and all mixed up in a bowl. Yum. It is winter here now so I guess this has become my winter comfort food.

I like to juice and water fast for the day a couple of times a week. I follow, in this moment in time, a 100% raw vegan diet. I don't know if next week I will be where I am now. You never know where your situation will find you… I would never return to cooked dead food - I know that for sure. I just listen to what my body needs and at the moment it is happy with what I am feeding it. During the years when I was transitioning to "all raw", I struggled with what to call myself. I wasn't officially "raw" since I still ate some cooked food. I wasn't eating more than a couple of cooked meals a month; however it simply seemed untruthful to call myself a Raw Foodist. I wasn't a vegan either because at least one of those meals that I'd eat would include a boiled egg. I decided to call myself an "Aspiring Raw Foodist" and it felt cool for a while. But then the term became misconstrued depending on the connotation it carried for different people. Some people were wise and loving, whereas others were militant and judgmental. Why in the world would I attach myself to a label which doesn't necessarily represent me? So I decided that I wouldn't. Now when people ask I say "No labels, thank you very much! I eat what nature intended me to eat!"

Self… I am a naturally raw girl. How incredibly liberating!

Nicola Watt is a Raw Food Coach and a Natural Juice Therapist. Born in England in the United Kingdom in 1974 she is also a Certified Personal Training Instructor, Reiki Practitioner, Indian Head Massage Therapist and Tarot Card Reader.

As well as writing for Timeless Spirit as a columnist she writes raw e-books on weight-loss for health and allergy prevention and she facilitates Raw Spiritual workshops and re-treats.

She is currently studying to become a Master Juicer which is officially recognized by the CMA (complementary Medical Association). She is a Tarot Card Reader and is about to qualify as a Reiki Master.

Mummy to her four young children and supporting wife of a British Soldier. Nicola enjoys the great outdoors, hiking, cycling running and walking her three active dogs along with caring for her children's small pets.

A practicing Christian with some Buddhism beliefs she likes the simple things in life and has a dream to live in a warm climate off the grid.

If you would like to learn more about Nicola and her raw family you can visit her blog.

Copyright (c) 2009 by Timeless Spirit Magazine. All articles are the copyright of the particular writers and cannot be reprinted without their expressed permission. All rights reserved. International copyright laws prohibit reproduction of or distribution of this page by any means whatsoever, electronic or otherwise, without first obtaining the written permission of the copyright holder. We retain legal counsel to protect our copyrights.

Any advice given is for informational purposes only.