You Want Me To Do WHAT with WHEATGRASS?
I just spent two weeks at the Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute in Puerto Rico, and it is a truly special place! Ann Wigmore was a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, and her life’s mission can be summed up with this quote, which I have posted on a sign in my office:
“The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.” -AW
She was an advocate of a raw living food lifestyle with an emphasis on wheatgrass juice, sprouting and fermentation. Ann started this institute in 1990, but sadly died a few years later in a tragic fire in Boston.
We started our two-week journey with a flight to Aquadilla, arriving at 3am. Apparently this odd hour is the normal routine for this airport. We arrived at the institute just before dawn on a Sunday morning. They showed me my bed and I fell asleep to the wonderful sound of the waves crashing on the shore. We awoke to the sun rise and saw a beautiful island with all my favorites, sun, warm weather, palm trees, beach and sand! What a gift from the Lord!
To begin our raw living food adventure, we started with a “buffet” breakfast. The choices were “Energy Soup” plus celery, scallions, turmeric, ginger, lime, cilantro, parsley, and seed yogurt made from blended and fermented sunflower seeds. Energy Soup was the staple for all the meals offered at Ann Wigmore. It is the basic foundation to the program and consists of blended microgreens, sprouts, baby leafy greens, seaweed (such as kelp, dulse, nori) and “Rejuvelac”.
As we became acquainted with the institute, everyone was so friendly and welcoming to us. We found that this is a regular “vacation” spot for many people. They return to this place year after year just to hit that reset button for their health. Some of our new friends had been here in the past, but they came from all over including Canada, France, Cape Cod, New Orleans, Boston, NY, California, Florida, Seattle and even Palestine!
We officially started the program on Monday with a schedule of things to do for the day. Each morning we awoke to a beautiful sunrise and then 6:30 yoga. Kaelash started with a song on his guitar. Our favorite was “Morning Has Broken”. To quote the hymn’s lyrics, “Praise with elation, praise ev'ry morning, God's recreation of the new day”. Truly this place was an excellent reminder of God’s beautiful creation every morning.
Kaelash was well-trained in “Feldenkreis” which seemed similar to yoga and was very helpful for our posture. It was beneficial for pain, injury and movement limitation. We all walked around afterwards with our backs a little straighter and our heads held a little higher.
Just after yoga, we were served delicious wheatgrass juice and much to my amazement – many of the students were putting wheat grass in their nose and eyes and on their skin, and I will discuss later where else. 😬 Wheatgrass is amazing for detoxification, cleansing, purification, digestion, and energy, and suitable for almost every orifice. (But not the ears.)
After our wheatgrass cocktail, I always enjoyed a walk on the beach. Grounding was easy to do in Puerto Rico. If you never heard of grounding, it is a therapeutic technique that involves doing activities that “ground” or electrically reconnect you to the earth where the earth’s electrons are literally absorbed through your feet. It's as if you are taking handfuls of antioxidants, and absorbing them through your feet. I am always looking for good reasons to take a walk on the beach!
Before our usual breakfast buffet, many people chose to administer an enema. In one of our many classes Carolyn, the new director of the Institute, explained the benefits and procedure of the enema, and how imperative it was for us as we were detoxing. It did seem strange at first but it was a simple procedure with so many benefits. And you know what they say… “When in Rome!” Also, as a special bonus, guess what other orifice you can use wheat grass for? ☺️ Wheat grass “implants” were highly recommended and encouraged!
For the first few days, we were offered the same “buffet” for every meal, although the yogurts were different. Some were made of hazelnut, almond, coconut, sunflower, and pumpkin seed. Papaya was also available, which is excellent for digestion in small amounts. However, many overindulged on it as you can imagine, since it was the tastiest thing on the menu. I personally skipped the papaya 😇 after the first day to avoid blood sugar issues, but it certainly was the best papaya I ever tasted.
At 11 am the bell rang for snacks which consisted of green juice, mostly from celery and cucumber. I loved it and still drinking it daily. At 4 pm, we enjoyed seed or nut milk. The institute really kept us eating every two hours, so no one felt hungry!
The Institute also recommended a drink called Rejuvelac, a cultured probiotic-rich drink made from a recipe that Ann Wigmore invented herself. Our instructor showed us how to make it simply by fermenting cabbage in water without salt and placing it in a mason jar using a screened lid to allow for “breathing”. It seems so easy; I loved it and hope to make it real soon!
Jumping to a complete raw living food environment, we all had trouble the first few days with detoxing. Some felt weak, and nauseous, others had headaches and trouble sleeping, but after a few days, our symptoms improved, and we felt great. Our bodies started to quickly absorb all this goodness.
We all had so much to learn. We attended classes twice a day with topics such as:
Skin Brushing: How to effectively do skin brushing to benefit lymphatic system.
Rebounding: Hourly gentle bouncing/stepping on a small trampoline promoting circulation and assisting the lymphatic system.
Yoga and Breathing: The importance of stretching, posture, and proper breathing.
Cultured Foods: Rejuvelac and sauerkraut made from fermenting cabbage in water
Food for Healing: Principles of food combining and benefits of specific raw foods
Planting and Sprouting: Hands on demonstrations in the green house and the student kitchen. We made sprouts from sunflower seeds, alfalfa, amaranth, and broccoli (among others). Our salads consisted mainly of various sprouts eaten with “energy soup” as our salad dressing.
Kitchen Demonstrations: Methods of raw food preparation, blended soups and snacks.
Dehydrating: How to prepare dehydrated snacks such as crackers, burgers, veggie chips and granola
Skin Care: Facials using papaya, avocado, cucumber and ground seeds as exfoliant.
After the first week, we were able to eat some other “goodies”, such as falafel, and “burgers”, all made from living foods, some dehydrated and blended. Our absolute favorite day was pizza day! No one missed PIZZA DAY! Pizza crust was made from sprouted and dehydrated quinoa, flax and buckwheat plus celery, basil, green onions, leeks and rosemary which was made into a dough and dehydrated. Tasting the homemade bagels was another highlight of our kitchen experience!
Speaking of treats – I love fresh coconut! Whenever we walked the beaches, we were on the hunt for a ripe coconut to enjoy. Once we found our special treasure, we would ask the garden workers to use their machete to make a hole for our straw to enjoy the delicious coconut water, and then to cut open to eat the coconut meat. This coconut was a lifesaver! A real treat with great taste, good nutrients, and good fats. As for me, I didn’t do well with the coconut search on the beach, so thankfully for a nominal fee, they supplied us our coconuts.
On the weekends, we enjoyed a few road trips including the Bio Illumination Bay and San Sebastian waterfalls. The institute always provided to-go foods for us to take, so that we weren’t tempted with fast food. When we opened our to-go goodie box, we saw 2 tomato slices and half an avocado – we were elated! Have you ever been elated over 2 slices of tomato and half an avocado before???
If you ever have the opportunity to spend 2 weeks at Ann Wigmore, I highly suggest and encourage it. Everyone who attends, loves it and goes back, sometimes year after year. This special place gives you the opportunity to relax, get healthy, learn about good foods, enjoy real nutrients, and appreciate God’s creation. I can’t wait to go again!
