About

Aradhana Kaur
Raw Food chef

“And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”
Marianne Williamson, ‘A Return to Love’

Beautiful Heart, raw food chef, web designer, life coach, linguist… My mission in life is to shine and to inspire others to shine.  Raw food certainly brings a glow!

I feel I’m fulfilling my mission when I get feedback like this from my raw food workshops:

“Your knowledge, enthusiasm and joy appears to know no bounds and it was an absolute delight to be in your company and those who you attract.” Gail Lummis

“I want to say it’s most lovely to see someone in the flow of what they love.” Nickie Nicholls

“Your gentle nature, enthusiasm and passion are a lovely combination and personally I find you as delicious as the food xxxx” Lynne Watson

My path so far

I’ve been a seeker for over twenty years.  My path has woven through yoga, Buddhism, meditation, tai chi, NLP (Neuro Lingusitic Programming), life coaching, healing training in Reiki, the Body Mirror System, EFT and Energetic NLP, travels in India, Africa and Asia, and many more diverse influences. 

Yoga has been a running stitch weaving through these years and through different traditions and I am currently training as Kundalini Yoga teacher with the Karam Kriya school. The training takes place in Brighton and as luck (serendipity) would have it there was a raw food cafe and takeaway, Aloka, so I would enjoy raw picnics on the beach at lunchtime – until Aloka closed for relocation.

After a brief and powerful encounter with Kundalini yoga in 2004 followed by the absence of a local class, I was delighted five years later to discover a class in Bath teaching Naam yoga which carries the same strong vibration.  Since then I have reconnected with Kundalini Yoga and have studied with Nicole Aarons, Preet Kaur, and Annie Bassil.  There is a strong link between Kundalini Yoga and Raw Food.

I received my spiritual name Aradhana Kaur in March 2010 from 3HO, the global community of Kundalini Yoga.  You may also know me as Alison Bowker. 

Food and me

Food has always played a prominent part in my life, from being a fussy (though I prefer ‘particular’!) eater as a child, through a brief spell as a vegetarian after my mum served up rabbit (I lasted 2 days!), to a fully fledged veggie at age 20. Then at 40, taking the step into raw food.

When I recently observed that all my recent Facebook posts are about my raw food I decided it was time to start my own blog, so here it is.

Childhood chef!

Two of my best loved books as a child were ‘Cooking is a Game you can Eat‘ and ‘The Play & Cook Book‘. In a thankfully TV-free home (though I didn’t always appreciate it at the time…) cooking was my entertainment, together with crafts. Aside from playing tea parties with my teddies and dolls, I was making sweets – peppermint creams and coconut ice, and I remember making croissants when I was 12 or so, all that rolling and re-rolling to create the flaky layers!  I have to admit that croissants are still my favourite today and one of my non-raw temptations.

Flicking through my photo album gives clues too, many a childhood photo shows me with food in hand, a poppadum, a banana…  There’s a picture of me on my 11th birthday beaming proudly behind the cake I made myself: a rocky road cake (though it wasn’t called that at the time) topped with marshmallows and candles.

An avid fan of ‘Charlie & the Chocolate Factory’, I have a distinct memory around age 8 of wishing I could make chocolate but having no idea how I would get hold of the ingredients – and now I’m making raw chocolate in my own kitchen!

My food  journey

I have always loved cooking – and eating.  My culinary exploration has traversed a selective meaty diet, to creating innovative vegetarian dishes, so this new dimension in raw food is a natural progression.  Friends have always enjoyed my dinner invitations, with chocolate brownies and mexican dishes being the favourites.  In 2009 my journey brought me to raw food and now a new range of people, as well as family and old friends, are delighting in the raw fruits of my kitchen.

Opening to Raw Food

The hook into raw food was Karen Knowler’s teleseminar when she talked about eating raw as a spiritual doorway.  She was right, the raw food lifestyle is the perfect complement to my inner work.  I just love it!  Bringing sunshine onto my plate and into my body, cleaning up my energy (and kitchen!), brightening my eyes and skin, returning my figure to age 20, more energy and vitality, greater joy for life, more clarity and creativity, and more space to welcome miracles and synchronicities in my life.  I listen to mantras as I prepare my food so it becomes imbued with the higher vibration.

Raw food potluck

So having discovered raw food I then wanted to know more, taste more, meet raw foodies…. In February 2010 as part of the newly-born Positive Living Bath we hosted our first Raw Food Potluck in Bath.  We’ve been holding a monthly potluck ever since, with over 40 people attending some months. We were delighted to welcome David Wolfe as our guest at a special October Potluck for my birthday.

Raw food exploration

For the most part I’m self-taught in my raw food preparation.  I’ll use a recipe the first time to see what it’s ‘meant’ to taste and look like, and then I’ll experiment and make it mine.   Sure, I still have favourite recipes from books but I’ve also developed my own crackers, cookies, chocolates and loads more….. I’ve done specific raw food training with Kate Magic, Amy Levin and Cath Parker.

And sharing my inspiration

I am delighted to share my knowledge, experience and inspiration on my raw food journey with you now.  I am honoured to be raw food chef for Nicole Aarons at her Soma Yoga Retreats at Wild Pear Centre in Devon.

I offer a series of workshops on:

• An Introduction to Raw Food
• The Magic of Raw Chocolate
• Raw Food for Winter
• Get to know your Dehydrator
• …with more workshops evolving…
• I also teach 1-to-1 raw food prep classes 

My raw food products are available to buy direct from me – Raw Chocolate in a range of delicious flavours, Mediterranean Flax Crackers, Granola and more.

Please contact me to let me know how I can inspire you on your raw journey!

To your vibrant health!

Aradhana