When You Want to Make a Change, This May Be the Key

Hang out around people who are two steps ahead of you.

Two weeks from today, I’ll be heading out in my van again - this time to join a large gathering of raw vegan enthusiasts from around the world, at a beautiful lakefront resort in northern Michigan. We gather to learn, share, inspire, uplift, love and support each other on our uncommonly natural healing path.

When I was first embarking on my raw vegan journey more than 20 years ago, attending these types of events was absolutely the key to my early success. It’s hard to put into words how powerfully effective it is to spend concentrated time in the presence of people who have what you want, want what you want, and are brave and willing to go the extra mile for it. People heading in a shared direction. People who understand why you want to take the risks required to up-level your experience of life. And people who are two steps ahead of where you are now.

I traveled around the country to have experiences with others on the path - we were all hungry for each other’s exceptional company and companionship. The leaders and teachers gave generously and passionately, and I looked up to them in awe. They walked the walk! It was so inspiring to me. They cut through the confusion and gave me the information I needed to build my own confidence, and the support I needed to stay the course for true health, in a society trying its darnedest to pull me back to its low-vibration ‘normal.’

After about 5 years of commitment, I found I had earned the status of becoming one of the leaders! Simply by steadily staying the course for my own well-being, thus inevitably accumulating the abundant rewards, I soon found myself being looked up to by others who wanted me to show them the way. At first I tentatively tried to convince them that I was still healing myself, and therefore was not yet qualified to lead others. But those who wanted my counsel were persistent, and so I accepted that each of us is forever learning and healing - there are so many layers to the journey - and that in all of my human imperfection I did have something true to offer, something I had diligently studied and applied, something that was needed by others eager to learn, heal, and grow.

I will be offering several events at an upcoming 5-day retreat in Michigan, August 10-14:

• Emotional Eating Support Group

• Forest Meditation

• Homeschooling Workshop Collaboration

• Spiritual Talk

• Q&A Panel Discussion

Many of my long-time raw food colleagues will be bringing their offerings as well. Some of us have been presenting alongside each other at festivals and events like this one for 15 years, since the inception of the infamous Woodstock Fruit Festival in 2011. The event happening in 2 weeks is the Vegan Wellness Retreat, and it is like an off-shoot of the original festival, hosted for the second year in a row by Sarah and Chase, an energetic young couple I met at the Woodstock festival. The Vegan Wellness Retreat already has its third annual retreat on the calendar for June of 2026.

IT‘S NOT TOO LATE TO JOIN THIS YEAR’S RETREAT!

And if you use my special code at registration, you will save yourself $100.

There are options to camp onsite, stay off-site, volunteer, purchase a day-pass, or attend the virtual livestream. Onsite rooms for 2025 are sold-out, but if you register early for 2026 you just might get one!

My discount code for you is ‘Ellen$100’ and you can use it when you register here:

https://www.veganwellnessretreats.com/

The power of meeting each other, or seeing each other again year after year, is rivaled only by the experience of sharing the amazing bounty of delicious ripe fruit and prepared raw vegan delicacies, and playing together in a beautiful and spacious natural setting.

Join over 250 health-minded individuals for a transformative, transcendent experience!
30+ Health Influencers will be in attendance, including doctors, authors, presenters, and world class athletes. Enjoy amazing salt, oil, and refined sugar-free creative vegan meals. Experience what this lifestyle is like in real practice. Learn from a huge variety of healthy-living lectures and workshops, relax and rejuvenate with yoga, sound healings, meditation, and bodywork. There will be recipe demos, fun exercise workouts, many recreational activities, and tons of loving support!

Perhaps best of all, you will become part of a growing community of true health-seekers, people who believe in the wisdom of our incredibly-designed bodies, and are ready to work together to own our natural health and wellness potential.

Check out the website, and if you can’t make it this year, put it on your calendar now for June 14-18 of 2026, at the same great northern Michigan location!

I am still moving into my new house in southern Michigan, but it will be fun to get back to some van-camping, and I can’t wait to be in the wild beauty of northern Michigan!

I hope you can join me, and my raw fruity friends and colleagues :)