LindaJoy Rose Ph.D. has been a professional counselor and hypnotherapist for over 25 years. She received international recognition for her groundbreaking work in Japan where her original system Hypno-Potential has become a standard therapeutic practice. She has written and composed many books and relaxation CDs and conducts workshops and classes on the subject. She is also a popular raw and living foods chef and educator in the south Florida area. 

Q (Priyanka): Dr. LindaJoy - tell us a little about yourself and your books on the Raw Fusion series?

A (LJ): My career spans over 25 years as a therapist and international trainer specializing in the practice of hypnotherapy and subconscious dynamics. I've had a very spiritual outlook on life since I was a teenager and very drawn to esoteric studies. I then started working towards my doctorate to become a Jungian psychotherapist but became diverted by the potential of using hypnotherapy to get much faster results. This was a wide open field in the 1980's and offered a tremendous panorama of opportunity. Over the past 5 years my focus has been more on healthy living and foods as medicine - so I often say that working with the body is kind of my "final frontier" since I have spent most of my career centered on mind and spirit. 

The Raw Fusion Living series, which currently features "Raw Fusion:  Better Living Through Living Foods" volume 1 is about the philosophy and practice of the raw fusion lifestyle and volume 2 is a book of over 150 recipes. These are my 7^th and 8^th books, but first ones in this genre.

Q (Priyanka): What inspired you to write about raw foods? Do you primarily follow a raw food lifestyle?

A (LJ): Like many who are on the raw foods path, I had some health issues arise during a very stressful period in my life. Doing some research, I learned that by going to a high raw (80% and above) diet that I could overcome them. It was almost from one day to the next that I made the switchover and the symptoms disappeared in a matter of weeks. Naturally as a self-help author, I was motivated to share this with the world. My husband, who was reluctant to make such a dramatic paradigm shift in his diet, was taking smaller steps and getting positive results and he encouraged me to go in a different direction; no one had written any books about combining the raw lifestyle with a more traditional diet and I did find this intriguing. After reaching out to many experts in the raw food world, I found that they were very enthusiastic and supportive of this idea and offered to be contributors to the project. 

Undoubtedly, I feel at my best when I follow a primarily vegan, high raw diet. The flexibility of raw fusion allows me to participate in "normal" social occasions and offers a lot of convenience, but when I feel myself slipping into more cooked foods, I know it's time to get more living foods into my meals.

Q (Priyanka): How do you define "raw and living food" and what are their benefits?

A (LJ): Raw foods are foods that have not been denatured by processing or cooking at temperatures in excess of 118 degrees, which destroys much of the nutritional profile as well as virtually all of the enzymes. Food that is nutritionally intact is much easier for the body to digest, assimilate and eliminate, which takes a great burden off your organs. The more "living" foods we consume, the less toxicity in our blood and vital organs. Unfortunately much of the mainstream food supply is processed and preserved to a point where it causes a lot of internal inflammation, which can lead to serious disease.

Thus, persons eating a high amount of living foods are generally healthier, maintain an ideal weight, have more energy and look years younger than their age.

Q (Priyanka): Can raw and living foods be incorporated within an everyday diet (along with cooked foods) or is there any special diet routine to be followed while consuming them?

A (LJ): There's a lot of black and white thinking in this world; People tend to go from one extreme to another and as a therapist/specialist in the subconscious mind, I think that it's much healthier to find a balance between cooked and raw.  (Of course if someone has a life-threatening condition, eating as high a raw foods diet as they can tolerate is essential.)

Dr. Paul Kouchakoff, who did groundbreaking research in the 1930's on the deleterious effect of cooked food on our immune system - a condition he called "digestive leukocytosis" cautioned that finding the middle ground of 51% (or higher) raw foods vs. 49% (or lower) cooked foods, would be far less taxing on the body's metabolic processes. In my book, workshops, webisodes, programs etc. I teach people how to combine the two lifestyles in delicious, nutritious ways that maximize the taste and functionality of the food.

Q (Priyanka): Would you like to share one of your recipes with us today?

A (LJ): One of the cornerstones of the Raw Fusion Living philosophy involves incorporating lots of greens into your daily diet. Greens are nutritional powerhouses, loaded with minerals, vitamins and a surprising amount of absorbable protein, but we generally are not attracted to them and rarely taught how to prepare them appetizingly. We also are so used to the traditional pairings of "meat and potatoes" and "bread and meat (i.e. sandwiches)"  but these combinations of carbs and proteins are difficult for the body to digest effectively, especially as we mature.

My "Sweet and Spicy Cashew Wraps" have always been a surprising and major hit with newbies to the raw foods world; The use of a raw collard leaf as a wrap offers the benefits of perfect food combining with one of the most nutritious greens on the planet - and best of all, the taste is remarkable. You have to try these to believe them!

Q (Priyanka): You are a raw foods educator/chef, author, teacher, lecturer, therapist and an expert in hypnotherapy and subconscious dynamics. How do you balance your life around all these different roles?

A (LJ): It's not an easy task and in the past few months I have found that making the commitment to balance them, applying more discipline and order, really offers much more freedom in a way. When you have "mind, body, spirit" all functioning and sharing space, it really does make life flow a lot more smoothly! This is why I chose the infinity symbol for the Raw Fusion logo as it represents that natural rhythm.

I try to exercise every day, do some kind of meditation or deep breathing with visualization and eat a lot of greens and raw foods. I also have to budget time between our various businesses and projects and sometimes sitting down to blog or write is a challenge. But I have found the more I "walk my talk" my life seems to evolve with more ease and grace.

Q (Priyanka): Could you tell us something about hypnotherapy and its positive, life changing effects?

A (LJ): Essentially, our personality, belief system and behaviors result arise from the programming and experiences we had early in life. How we interpreted the incidents that shaped our childhood left indelible impressions. Because the subconscious mind is not easily known or accessible, we tend to continue thinking, feeling, acting and perceiving as if we were on automatic pilot, making it difficult to effect permanent changes.

With hypnotherapy you have access to the subconscious mind and can determine the root cause of certain attitudes and behaviors. With the proper application of suggestion and therapeutic modalities, these outmoded programs can be healed and transformed.

Q (Priyanka): Your favorite green website would be....?

A (LJ): www.organicconsumers.com and www.ewg.org. Both are excellent resources for learning about the deleterious effects of pesticides and GMO's. The Environmental Working Group puts out its "dirty dozen" list each year of the fruits and vegetables that contain the highest levels of pesticides. Organic Consumers are great advocates, fighting hard against big business self-interest, like Monsanto.

Q (Priyanka): "Living naturally" to you means...?

A (LJ): Using products and eating as close to nature intended. Before I started educating in the field of raw foods, I developed a whimsical line of "magical natural science" products for kids and adults (www.fairyline.com) that utilize essential oils in lieu of alcohol- and laboratory-based fragrances. Leaving as low of a carbon footprint as you can manage.

Q (Priyanka): What are your plans for the future? Any new books, CD's, seminars etc. in the pipeline that you would like to share with our readers?

A (LJ): I am currently working on a hypnotherapy program to help people make better lifestyle choices for natural weight loss and management and to help improve all aspects of life - mind, body and spirit. We are adding on to the Raw Fusion Living series with "healthy holiday" cookbooks next year.

We are just starting a corporate wellness program to help improve employee productivity and morale by sharing the Raw Fusion philosophy. And my husband, who is a producer and filmmaker (www.gerardfilms.com) is working on a pilot concept and script for a television program where I would present Raw Fusion recipes for body, mind and spirit on a daily or weekly basis.