Nutrition at the Day Village

I have a great desire to raise my son on living foods -- meaning mostly organic, raw (unprocessed and uncooked), plant-based, whole foods!  Why?  Because I have personally found this high alkaline diet to be the most energizing and healthful food I have ever consumed!  I feel AMAZING eating this way and extremely HEALTHY!  And so naturally, I would like to pass this on to my child!  :)


At the moment at 9 months, my son, Thaddeus, is predominantly fed breast milk as his main (99%+) source of nutrition.  I supplement him for fun on other liquid nourishment here and there, giving him an occasional fresh green juice, coconut water, or home-made nut/seed milk.  So far with me eating a living foods diet and my son consuming mostly breast milk, he is a thriving plump-a-licious baby!

Thaddeus at 9 months playing in the salad bowl 

while Mama prepares some raw food!

Since children are social by nature and are going to want to do things that "all the other kids are doing," I consider it important to surround him with like-minded families who are raising their children in a similar way.  And so, creating a community around living foods for the children and mothers to enjoy together is a large component to the Continuum Day Village!  In our current village "home" at The Soma Center, we are fortunate to have them offer a wide variety of raw and vegan foods.  This certainly helps us all to eat nutritiously and deliciously!


My long-term goal for the Day Village is to be located on my future property where my home and village would coincide... location still to be determined.  I desire to plant a garden of veggies, greens, and herbs, along with some fruit trees.  Together we would learn about growing our own food, and would create a sustainable, fun, and affordable way of feeding ourselves!  I would like to incorporate "Edible Forest Gardening" that I have been so fortunate to learn about just briefly from Walter 'Shantree' Kacera on the Raw Mom Summit!  Check out his awesome interview for FREE for 24 hours starting at 9pm EST on December 9th!  Also available for the next 24 hours are interviews from Victoria Boutenko, Dr. Doug Graham, and our very own village mama, Andrea Nison!!!!!!!!!!  

Check out the Raw Mom Summit here:  

http://tinyurl.com/y85c3zj

Thinking Outside the Box

When envisioning the perfect location of my first Day Village, I initially thought that I would move from South Florida back to North Carolina where some of my family lives.  But when I released my vision from the "perfect box" in which it resided in my mind, and began to be open to new possibilities, the Universe answered in an unexpected way!  Although I should have expected it... After all, I was the one putting my belief and thoughts out there!

When I connected with Sara Green from The Soma Center and my long-time Mama friend, Andrea Nison, and we began to brainstorm ways to get the Day Village started, we all realized that "Let's Do It Now!" was what our hearts were shouting!  And so the "where" became literally right here in South Florida where we were all currently living!

Thanks to Sara's connection with The Soma Center, we had an "easy in" with the owners.  Our start-up location is a beautiful historical home that's been converted into a cafe and yoga studio in downtown Lake Worth.  The cafe serves organic raw vegan food, bringing in our desire for us as "the village people" to be partaking in nutritious & delicious cuisine together!  The yoga studio is a newly renovated stand-alone building that provides a beautiful and peaceful space for our yoga practice.  We alternate which moms attend, while the other moms care for all the babies, usually going on a walk together, so that everybody is receiving the benefit of exercise!  It's a wonderful trade-off and gift that we give to one another.

When the yoga studio is not in use for yoga classes every afternoon, we gather there for a safe place for our children to play while we Moms create our eco-friendly crafts that eventually will be up for sale.  We will soon be helping to support our families financially through our work together in our Day Village.  It's a wonderful feeling knowing that we do not have to choose between going to work and being with our children, because now we can do both in our Day Village!!!  And it truly has been feeling like a village with lots of support and love for one another!  I am grateful to see my vision unfolding!

Andrea Nison helping Baby Noa             Sara Green supporting Baby Ellie's

with her breath using the yoga                hips so she can do a headstand

ball that expands and contracts.                         during Kids Yoga class.

The Ball is Rolling and the Vision is Unfolding!

My Day Village Vision debuted on"The Raw Food World" TV Show on YouTube, thanks to Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes-Monarch!  ...And then the ball really started rolling!!!  I am grateful for all the emails from women around the world (for which I am still catching up!) and the new friends I have on Facebook who all saw my video interview!

More momentum was gained when Shannon 'Shakaya Breeze' Leone of RawMom.com contacted me after seeing my interview with the Monarchs and asked to interview me for the next Raw Mom Summit!  Starting December 9th, for 9 days, there will be awesome interviews to listen to online!!!  And I am honored to be among some amazing leaders in the raw food movement!  In the meantime, I have been sharing about myself on the Raw Mom Blog and answering some questions for some of their readers!

Then... the ball was rolling faster... when Sara Green, Yoga Teacher at The Soma Center in Lake Worth, Florida saw my post on the Raw Mom Blog! She was so excited about the vision... and then we ended up in the same Kids Yoga class with our babies at The Soma Center!!!  It was a divine connection indeed!  And so a million thanks to my fellow visionary who has come alongside me to help get the Day Village started right at The Soma Center.  Our dear friend, Andrea Nison, is our other partner who is helping to make it all happen!  I appreciate both Sara and Andrea soooooo much!

Mama Andrea Nison with daughter, Noa, in the Ergo baby carrier on left.

Mama Sara Green with daughter, Ellie, in the Moby wrap sling on right.

Andrea, Sara, and I had a brainstorming session 

about the Day Village at the Palm Beach Zoo!

Initial Vision Revealed

After my apprenticeship at Khalsa Childcare in September 2009, I continued to run ideas through my mind as I envisioned my perfect "Day Village."  I started to share my vision with others, and began to gain the support of my friends and family who confirmed that I had truly come upon a brilliant idea!  Now I needed to find a way to manifest it!!!  As a big believer in "The Law of Attraction," I knew that if I put my idea out there, that I would attract unto myself the people and resources to make it happen!

Thanks to one of my best Mama friends, Andrea Nison, who is big into the raw food movement, along with her husband, Paul Nison, I met another couple who is also spreading the word of raw food and natural ways of living.  My new connection with Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes-Monarch was the beginning of another wonderful friendship!  We hung out one day, playing with preparing raw food and making videos, and I was honored to have them interview me for their YouTube TV Show, "The Raw Food World."  It was my interview with Matt and Angela that really got the ball rolling of my vision unfolding!

Inspiration from Khalsa Childcare

I gained further inspiration for my vision of starting a Day Village this past September while apprenticing at Khalsa Childcare in Leverett, Massachusetts with my baby with me the whole time!  I spent two inspiring weeks under the leadership of Amar Fuller at her family childcare center that is especially unique in two ways.  It is a place in which conscious communication is practiced and lived out consistently – very honorable!  And all the children consume ORGANIC RAW VEGAN cuisine!  There is definitely something special about watching toddlers and young kids LOVING to eat VEGETABLES!!!  Amar has successfully created a social environment where eating raw food is the norm, and so the children being social by nature all eventually "learn to like" the food and even love it!

Being present in Amar's beautiful community confirmed for me the importance of having my son grow up with other children who are being raised raw.  I also personally felt the love and support of being surrounded by other women all day.  It was the closest I had ever felt to living in a village, and it felt GREAT!!!  The one component missing for all the children though, was their own mothers.  For women who choose to go back to work, I couldn't imagine a more loving and nurturing environment for their children to grow up in than Khalsa Childcare.  Nonetheless, I knew that I didn't ever want to have to make the choice to leave my own child with someone else during the day... not if I could help it!  And so I passionately decided that I would find a way to accomplish both – be with my child and be amongst my peers doing income-earning activities that would offer financial support... and thus the idea of starting a Day Village was officially formed!

My son, Thaddeus, (7 months at the time),

blissfully enjoying himself in nature at Khalsa Childcare!

For more info on Amar Fuller and what she's doing at Khalsa Childcare, I have scanned a copy of her article featured in the Hippocrates Health Institute magazine from a few years ago.  It's two pages, so I scanned it as two separate PDFs.  You can download each page individually by clicking below:

Amar Article Page 1

Amar Article Page 2

The Inspiration & Vision Behind the Day Village

One of the most important aspects of mothering for me so far has been to live out the Continuum Concept, as described in Jean Liedloff's book.  I finished reading her book just a few weeks before I heard her interview on the Raw Mom Summit!  I instantly knew that I wanted to put into practice the "Continuum Concept," especially giving my baby the adequate time to be "in arms" before he became more independent through crawling and eventually walking.  I have found it challenging in American culture, since the concept is based on a mother-baby-village relationship.  Most Americans are not living in villages, but rather in isolated single-family units.  Without having someone near by all the time whom I could pass my baby to when I need a break, makes carrying my baby around a bit tiring at times.  But I have realized that I can only do the best that I can do!  Beyond the "in arms" aspect of the "Continuum Concept," is the need for the mother to be in her continuum of being amongst her peers, contributing to her community.  I know that for me, being home alone with my baby is isolating and sometimes even depressing.  It is much easier for me emotionally to get through my day when I am with other moms and children!

Having a great desire to live out the "Continuum Concept" and be with my baby while also being with other women working to contribute financially to our families has been the inspiration to my latest vision of starting a "Day Village."  And so I am bringing together like-minded Mamas with their babies and children to go through our day together.  Eventually I want to plant a garden together that would provide food for us to eat a living foods diet, as well as to sell to the community as a co-op.  Furthermore, I would like us each to develop a "craft" that we can enjoy the process of creating, that we can sell.  My ideas are to make earth-friendly products that serve a purpose to help Moms, children, and families live a natural and healthy life.  Additionally, I want the women in the village to share with each other as well as offer workshops to the community, teaching methods and tips that we have learned to help each other in the journey of natural and conscious mothering. The point is to be TOGETHER during the day, so we can support each other as mothers, help each other with our babies, and be productive in ways that add income to our families!  And at the end of the day, we go home to our husbands, partners, and families feeling happier and healthier because we are living in the continuum!!!