Exhilarating. Empowering. Enriching. Educational. Invigorating… In short, WOW!
That’s how I’d describe my official graduation weekend from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN), this remarkable, cutting-edge school where I’ve been studying since November.
Superlatives are totally in order here!
Joshua Rosenthal, founder of this magnificent program, and the hard-working IIN staff planned and pulled off the most amazing weekend for us!
On our final-hurrah weekend, we heard from none other than THE Deepak Choprah, the
profoundly inspirational healer/best-selling author/master motivator.
His groundbreaking talk spanned the gamut — from his beginnings at a doctor in the U.S. getting an adrenalen high from working in the emergency room to realizing that he wasn’t really doing healing and wanted to do more. …And, of course, more he has now done — powerful, life-changing books, etc.
Deepak then chatted about so many different things, including one of my favorite subjects, synchronicity. (I’ve heard him speak several times — including one entire weekend at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck New York — and I’m always so enthralled when he tells remarkable tales of things coming into place. Check out his next Omega weekend in August. I’m thinking of going myself. If you go, look for me there.)
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success — which I highly recommend!One pearl of wisdom Deepak shared was this: "Embrace uncertainty, which gives rise to co-creation with God." The man is simply amazing!
Anyhow, on Saturday, we also heard from the amazing nutritionist Oz Garcia, who is known as a real pioneere and as the "nutritionist to the stars." He’s also achieved acclaim for his book, Look and Feel Fabulous Forever.
Oz also came out with some real gems. I loved his remarks about how people are always worrying about calories when they should be paying greater attention to food’s other incredible properties.
"Food has value beyond calories," he insisted. (I love that line!) Instead of counting those darn calories, Oz said, we should pick foods that make us smarter, improve our cognitive abilities, extend our lives, and increase our energy.
I’m quite beholden to Oz. He was one of the early supporters for my book, SUGAR SHOCK! and busy as he is, he nonetheless took time to be interviewed by me.
What’s more, on Saturday, he singled me out in front of all 1,100 classmates attending the packed jazz club at Time Warner Center and asked where I was and he then delivered a couple of comments about my book being really wonderful!!I was so blown away that I can’t remember his exact words! Thank you, Oz! I think you’re great, too!
As if Saturday’s wasn’t exciting enough, Sunday’s talks were brimming with motivational remarks, inspirational messages, and go-get-’em comments.
We heard a powerful talk from activist, environmentalist Julia Butterfly Hill, who is probably best known as a "tree hugger," who saved the tree Luna years ago and just last week won a victory saving an organic garden in South Central Los Angeles.
–Julia Butterfly Hill, June 6, 2006
Also, on Sunday, a bunch of classmates and fellow IIN grads also sought to inspire us, includng my new friend Andrea Beaman, chef (recently seen on Bravo’s "Top Chef" show) and author of The Whole Truth: How I Naturally Reclaimed My Health, And You Can Too!
In her distinctly delightful, charming, inimitable, humorous manner, Andrea charged us up to go out there and help change people’s lives. (Well, that’s the effect she had on me.) I just so related to her motivational comments about doors closing and how you need to just persevere and how you need to just keep pounding on those doors, because something else even better will happen.
In addition, a bunch of IIN students spoke, giving the most motivational remarks. My dilemma is that I can’t report much about what fellow students said, because yours truly was invited to deliver a four-minute chat, too!
Yeah, I was up there, speaking to my 1,100 or so classmates and trying to inspire them. It was the most incredible experience. (I have to dash off to my new holistic dentist now, but I’ll write more about it later.)
Anyhow, if you have an interest in nutrition and want to learn more, you must check out the Institute for Integrative Nutrition! All year, we’ve been studying with some of the world’s most renowned health and nutrition teachers, a number of whom I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing for my book SUGAR SHOCK!
It was such a cool experience to come to the Time Warner Center in New York every month to hear these amazing experts teach us about every diet imaginable across the board — macrobiotics, ancient traditions of ayurveda, Chinese medicine, raw foods, the Atkins and Zone diets, blood type diets, and the USDA Healthy Eating Pyramid. (Here’s a complete list of our faculty.)
But we didn’t just learn about nutrition. We learned about holistic health and wellness and the role of what IIN founder Joshua calls "primary food" — a tremendous concept that I daresay all IIN students take to heart (including me).
Oh, and for me, other than hearing the great lecturers, perhaps the best part of IIN was connecting with the most incredible community. The most remarkable students attended, and they all had such an incredible diversity of backgrounds. (They even give us a really wonderful Online Community, where we can chat with speakers and each other.)
I invite you to learn more about IIN. And if you do enroll at IIN, please tell them Connie, the "Sugar Shrew No More!" sent you!