This past weekend I was fortunate enough to join about a dozen other bloggers as well as that many health professionals and wellness enthusiasts for a luncheon at Natural Grocers in Oklahoma City. We had the best time visiting with each other and discussing all things food and health and positive mindset. Kind of right up my alley, you know? The day was more than I had bargained for, in the best ways.

Besides enjoying the company of lovelies like Rose Marie, Dee, Jen, and Katie, long time blogging friends, I got to see Mari again! And I met tech-whiz Stephanie (who is working on her first e-book, yay!) and several other brand-new-to-me faces like Mae and Ashley. It’s so fun to connect in 3-D with people whose lives you follow digitally. And once again I experienced humilspiration, that feeling of buoyancy to be surrounded by such accomplished people who actually make you feel motivated instead of defeated. It’s awesome.

In addition to local bloggers, who kind of brought their own party atmosphere, the luncheon welcomed personal chefs, students from the school of metaphysics (possibly my new BFFs), acupuncturists, chiropractors, dietitians, wellness counselors, business developers, a popular local TV reporter, sustainability experts, career specialists for the food industry (Platt college), and more. It was quite an array of disciplines in that small room on Saturday! Plus one wanna-be hobby farmer. : )

I enjoyed the audience introduction time probably as much as the rest of the presentation. Several times my eyes sprouted tears just listening to people describe why they care so deeply about wellness and what they are doing about it. Life stories, man. That’s where it’s at.

After a warm welcome with goodie bags and a really delicious yogurt cup, we sat down to hear Patty Moore describe the company’s unique history. Patty is their traveling regional health coach and clearly has a passion not just for wellness but for the philosophy and tradition of Natural Grocers. She spoke with affection about the company’s family roots, the founders, and their children who run things now. If anyone in the audience heard nothing else that day, they certainly heard that Natural Grocers cares strongly about process and method, about the overall well being of their employees as well as their customers and profits. Education is hugely important in their culture, as is the general concept of ancestral eating. Their aim really is to change people’s lives for the better.

I sat there thinking about all the ways my mom might benefit from shopping and lingering here, as she deals with the learning curves of diabetes. And I thought about my college-aged daughter who might benefit from working here, with so many programs and incentives available to the employees.

Then suddenly I was very hungry, and thank goodness they fed us this beautiful little brunch…

It was turkey bacon (thanks to Katie and Mr. Wonderful, who were fasting that day, I enjoyed three slices instead of one), vegetable latkes cooked in coconut oil, and a small frittata topped with tomato and kalmata olive tapenade. So good and simple!

We ate and ate and drank green tea and chatted about all the ways wellness is impacted by various life factors (not just the pills we take but the food we eat and the thoughts we think), and conversely all the ways your quality of life is determined by wellness. If you’ve been reading here at the Lazy W very long then you know why my eyes sprouted tears so often. This stuff is important! And I was deeply moved by the myriad ways people in our own beautiful state are working to help each other. I had the opportunity to mention the Junior Master Gardener Program, which is networking with the Oklahoma City Public School system to improve diet and education for our children. (I get to be part of that too! You’ll be hearing so much about this in 2015.) Natural Grocers is already partnering with several community gardens around the country, to encourage growing your own produce and sourcing products locally. I MEAN REALLY. This is so great.

Then at some point during the talks, a wild rabbit literally scampered past the big picture window to our left. The poetry was not lost on our group.

We also talked a lot about soul food, the emotional quality of the things we prepare and share an ingest. It was one hundred percent thrilling, not the average deprivation vernacular we are so used to enduring. Food, after all, is life. It’s literally energy. And it’s the quality of life we’re after, so it’s the quality of food and energy we need to seek. Natural Grocers has a focus on what they call a “wellness model” rather than a disease model. Does this sound familiar to you, along the lines of seeking joy and practicing gratitude, rather than fighting darkness constantly? My gosh. You see why I was rapt.

The long, gentle conversation yielded a reading list of about nine great-sounding books, too:

• Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide
• Cows Save the Planet by Judith Schwartz and Gretel Ehrlich
• The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease by Daniel Lieberman
• Wheat Belly by William Davis
• plus several books by Adelle Davis, which were the inspiration for the company’s foundation

Clearly the few hours I spent with these folks on Saturday were fruitful. I learned plenty, my passion for full-spectrum wellness was recognized in others, and I walked away feeling really excited and ready for the new gardening, running, and writing season. The world is so full of good people and good knowledge. How blessed we are to live the way we do!

I’ll write more soon, in little pieces, about what I gleaned that day. For now, thanks for joining me here again!! Have yourself a beautiful, healthy, loving day.

Everything is energy and all energy interacts.
XOXOXOXO