Last month a friend of mine contacted me about juicing: she was sold on the fact that it was ‘good for her’ but really didn’t know where to start. What juicer to buy, what to juice - she wasn’t even really crystal clear on why it is so good for you. Like so many people I know, Jenny is a busy working Mum with good intentions re: eating healthily but in a constant battle with time. But juicing had caught her attention as something simple to add into her routine that could give her family's health a real boost.
After a bit of a chat she asked me if I’d consider coming over to her house one evening with a juicer to show her the ropes. To which of course I said yes. Then she suggested inviting a group of friends, in a similar position to herself, to come along as well... and all of a sudden my first 'juicing workshop' was born.
What a success the evening was, about 12 of Jenny’s friends duly arrived in Edinburgh around 7.30pm and sampled juice number one, a sweet combination of beetroot, apples, carrot, celery, cucumber, ginger and lemon, which went down a treat! Once everyone had arrived I gave a short talk on juicing: explaining the difference between juices and smoothies, the enormous health benefits associated with juicing and why getting more raw fruit and veg into the body is so important. There were lots of questions and interest which was great – quite a big concern was time, “doesn’t it take hours in the morning?”, but when we went through to the kitchen I was able to show them that it doesn't need to take any time at all.
We plugged the juicer in and within a few seconds we had made a delicious apple and ginger shot to sample another flavour. Then we made a green juice with spinach, apples, carrot, cucumber, celery and lemon, which again everyone said tasted surprisingly great, despite the unlikely list of ingredients. I think that having the juicing demonstration and letting people have a go themselves, is the best way to prove that you can make a fresh juice in a matter of seconds. The Philips juicer I use got the thumbs up for speed, ease of use, size and the fact that it’s easy and quick to clean... and also a double thumbs up for being dishwasher safe!
Having some juicers for people to buy on the night worked really well, almost too well as I ran out of them. Everyone had sampled the juices, understood what it would do for their health, had seen exactly how it worked and also had some recipes... so taking a juicer home there and then meant that they could get started straight away. It was such a great evening, having a group of friends together, talking about something as important as health and realising that there are simple things you can do to make a dramatic difference to your wellbeing.
"Thank you for a fabulous evening - I found your passion and enthusiasm infectious. I've made a few juices already with my new juicer, so I'm moving in the right direction. Thanks again!" Olivia
"Thank you for last night! It was great! I've had some lovely messages from everyone saying how inspiring they found the evening. I'm so looking forward to using my juicer tomorrow... and the kids are very interested in it too!" Jenny
"First of all, thank you so very much for the really enjoyable and informative evening. I got a lot out of your enthusiastic presentation and the knowledge and wisdom you shared. I definitely want to do a retreat with you this year. Thanks again for your brilliant inspiration. I know it will be impacting the lives of everyone you meet - including me." Teresa
Why not host your own ‘Juicing Workshop’?
If you can think of anyone who would enjoy hosting a similar 'juicing workshop' or if it’s something you’d enjoy sharing with your friends, family or even your colleagues, I would be very happy to have a chat about it with you. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than helping people who want to make a difference to their own health or the health of their loved ones. One day I’d love to see a "juice revolution" in Scotland... so if you’d like to try it for yourself, I’d love to hear from you (info@thebodytoolkit.com).
The Body Toolkit award-winning retreat programmes share simple, yet powerful things we can all do to nourish the body, reduce stress and help ourselves to thrive. For dates, availability and prices for upcoming retreats: www.thebodytoolkit.com/book-a-retreat
