Do you want to dance into your 90’s? I’m planning beyond 100 thanks to the copious amount of info at this years Longevity Now 2012 Conference. David Wolfe’s annual health conference brings together the leading experts and most cutting edge research to one sunny location every year. Remember my conference recap from 2011? I had such an amazing time last Spring I made sure to fit it into my monthly route from Rancho La Puerta this year.
2012’s major headliners included world renowned Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. Daniel Amen, Michael Beckwith, super model Carol Alt, master yogini Taylor Wells, and of course David Wolfe. As always, I was eager to learn all the latest nutrition and wellness information to share with you. I adore being a student, notebook in hand, perched in the front row. Below is my run down of the weekends highlights.
Late Friday Evening
I was a day late to the conference due to transit from Baja, but arrived just in time to see the lovely Carol Alt hit the stage for rawfood recipe demo’s from her latest book Easy, Sexy, Raw. We chat on twitter and I adore her raw skin care line, so I was excited to meet her face to face.
I specifically appreciated her story about “cooking” real food for her professional athlete boyfriend. Through rawfoods he was able to recover extremely quickly from a career ending injury and continue playing full force. And while she eats a high raw diet to manage weight, beauty and health, I wondered what her fitness regime looked like? She gleefully replied that she practices yoga and yogilates (yoga/pilates fusion) 3 x per week. Happy to hear!
Saturday Full Day Whirlwind
Dr. Joel Fuhrman hit the mainstage with an abundance of research and awesome powerpoint presentation. Have you read his best selling book, Eat to Live. Over the last 20 years his book has grown to biblical popularity. The Andi scoring system of nutrient density utilized in all Whole Food’s markets in the country was developed by Fuhrman.
His loud and clear message to us… Eat more nutrient dense foods, consume less calories. He pointed out, yet again, the importance of eating less to live longer. A fact that’s proven in all scientific literature. He explained the catabolic state of digestion that’s so beneficial for repair and detoxification between meals. Do you know what true hunger feels like? It’s a throat and mouth, NOT stomach, sensation. With my media pass in hand I got to hug a long time idol of mine.
Thanks to Jeff, aka Rawtographer,for these gorgeous pics!
Sunday High Vibes
Dr. Daniel Amen gave the most riveting presentation of the entire weekend on Sunday afternoon. He is a physician, psychiatrist, teacher, and five time New York Times bestselling author. He is regarded as one of the worlds foremost experts on applying brain imaging science to clinical psychiatric practice.
Amen is a board certified child and adult psychiatrist and the medical director of Amen Clinics, Inc. in Newport Beach and San Francisco, California, Bellevue, Washington, and Reston, Virginia. Amen Clinics have the worlds largest database of functional brain scans relating, totaling 70,000 scans on patients from 90 countries. His bio is insane to say the least!
I picked up a copy of his book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Body, and literally couldn’t put it down for the next two days. The correlation between obesity causing brain shrinkage and decreased function hit home with many audience members.
One hilarious guy stood up and asked, “so what do I tell my “friend” who’s been smoking weed for the last 30 years ?” Dr. Amen’s response, “tell your friend to start now with proper brain nutrition, fitness and mental exercises to reverse the damage.” Awesome!
Beyond the inspiring keynote speakers I practiced yoga every morning with the super mom (5 kids) and prana power yoga maven, Taylor Wells. I have a back stage video interview I can’t wait to share in a few weeks. She is a queen of mantras!
Between hanging out with my closest friends, wearing sky high platforms (yikes!) and catching sun breaks, I hit the superfood elixir bar madness for a one of a kind jing blend from my buddy Sage.
And what would be a trip to raw mecca without a stop at Au Lac?! This notorious raw and vegan heaven dazzled our taste buds and peepers. Check my instagram feed for some of the crazy stuff we munched.
Onto the vendors!
HealthForce Nutritionals set up shop sampling my favorite Vitamineral Green. Bethanne Wanamaker and I were elated to have them sponsor our Summer Superfood Detox Intensive Retreat last weekend here in San Francisco. They generously filled our guests goodie bags with the highest quality superfoods on the market.
Brad’s Raw Kale Chips sold out completely! The vampire breath garlic chips are so addicting. Anyone else addicted to kale chips? Luckily, Brad sponsored our retreat as well, so we happily munched all weekend with guests.
Raw Water was back in town too! They provide the only mineral rich, unprocessed raw water on the market. Fresh from their untouched spring. They are shipping me a few cases to giveaway to you! Contest up by Monday of next week.
I was sad to leave the radiant community in Los Angeles, but happily welcomed back to my community in San Francisco with stronger bonds and new friends. If only I could be in two places at once! I’ll be back next year.
Thanks to everyone for an incredible experience yet again.
When was the last time you went to a conference, retreat or workshop to empower your epic life choices?
