The call of Sedona is undeniable once you feel it, and you’ll feel it. We’d consider calling this town the only accident the universe ever made in Arizona, considering the outlying divine perfection this oasis contains. Commanding quartz filled red rocks ripple in all directions, humming with energy unlike any you’ve ever felt, while still bursting in lush green foliage you’d never imagine being in this part of the country.
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The heavens parted the sky when Summer and her husband Mike brought organic juice to Sedona. A much needed addition to the town, this rainbow bright market full of fresh and easy became our go-to place for finely picked whole food sustenance during our stay. An ideal place to grab and go or sit and refresh outside on a picnic table placed within a welcoming planted garden. The menu includes cold-pressed juice, mylks n’ cold brew, smoothies and small bites, including a must order acai bowl. Pretty sure we can guarantee you’ll be stopping here multiple times during your visit so make sure and tell them HOC sent you!
What inspired you to open a juice bar?
Many things and many people. Its been in my heart for years. I have vision boards and manifesting journals loaded with juicey stuff! I was catering an event for Marianne Williamson about a year ago when she was campaigning. After the event something inside of me shifted, It was like that event was what I needed to get into high gear, just being near her inspired me! I had been stagnating a bit, not living my truth and working solely online. I felt so alive working with people again, I felt the calling to merge healthy eating and lifestyle with mind-body awareness, I told my husband that day that I didn't know what was going to happen but it was big. From that point on I had clarity and refined my plan of action.
Why Sedona?
I grew up in Sedona, I found my soulmate in Sedona, I birthed my son in Sedona. It is sacred to me. It happens to be the home to a lot of beautiful people who understand and appreciate the power of healthy food and organic juice.
How did you get into health food?
My mom and dad we're very into health food. Growing up, I was surrounded by it... Carrot juice, wheatgrass, saunas, enemas, they were total hippies and totally into it all! My mom was doing coffee enemas way before they we're trendy wink emoticon They lived off the grid on a farm where they grew their own food and built their house with no electric tools...
For a while I veered off from what I grew up surrounded by. I went to collage, I tried on a couple masks, healthy food and inward connection led me to shedding the masks and letting my true self shine through. It led me to healing both mentally and physically.
I always new I wanted to work with people and food in some capacity, but it wasn't until working for Matthew Kenney that I was able to find the confidence to really do it. Teaching at his academy forced me to meet my shyness and insecurities. I'll be forever thankful for that exerience.
What event in your life has brought about the greatest life-change? Having my son Henry. Everything changes when you help create life. He brought me to a new level of patience, responsiblity, of self-awareness and inspiration. The moment I conceived I new it, I felt fully connected to myself and god for the first time in years. Children are our best teachers.
Who inspires you?
So many people! I'm very inspired by other woman entrepreneurs, I'm inspired by people doing their best to be their best! I'm inspired by people with clarity.
What is your mission?
To help as many people as possible feel the positive effect of plant-based eating, positive thinking and full body love.
What is your dream meal?
The best gluten free crust (not the cardboard kind) pizza with truffle oil, mushrooms and arugula or a croissant from Tartine. But really, I truly love watermelon, a whole watermelon to my self, that is a hydrating super meal that nature has perfected.
What is your favorite thing on your menu?
I love our Avocado Toast, it has a spicy chipotle dressing on it that just makes everything perfect. Our "Sex in the Desert" Smoothie is epic, it make what our Golden Milk which is loaded with turmeric, my ultimate favorite superfood right now!
If you knew the world was going to end tomorrow, what would you want to do today?
Do everything my son wants to do, connect with each person with total presence, breath deeply, sleep under the stars.
What is your ultimate vision for Local?
Local is a springboard for a transformational lifestyle brand. We are in the midst of opening another location on the East Coast . We will also be launching a line of products that will be incredibly nourishing and accessible for people who are making the transition to plant-based eating. There is so much on the table right now, trying to take it slow and grow naturally but also use the inspiration that is abundant right now!
If you could give one gift to your child, what would it be? To know that there is beauty in every moment, feeling, thought, emotion. To not judge anything as bad or good, to simply feel, process and thrive. I would love this for my son, for myself, for all humans.
Tel: 928-282-8932
If you asked ten locals what the best restaurant in Sedona is, it’s more than likely ten of them would tell you Elote. Chef Jeff Smedstad has maintained a clear vision to serve the finest food inspired by his 15 years of travel through Mexico, where he cultivated the taste he would later bring to Sedona.
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Obviously the town watering hole, Chocolatree is the only place in Sedona to get a full vegan meal, filled with an energy you feel the minute you walk in the door. A vision developed by father, daughter, husband team (David, Jen and Kelly) over a period of 6 years, the restaurant oozes community with its impromptu tea services, day and night music events and weekly workshop offerings. The sacred garden patio will have you grateful for each moment, as time slips away into eternity where you receive a chance to admire the epitome of full bloom, complete with a hammock lined path in this oasis within an oasis. There’s even a room dedicated to chocolate, which you’ll immediately experience if you come during production time when the smell of the intoxicating cacao fills the entire restaurant. This world-renowned restaurant is a place not to be missed, so be sure to make a stop.
How would you describe ChocolaTree Organic Oasis?
A sanctuary created to nurture authenticity.
How do you create a thriving team?
Their mothers/fathers created them. We just all come together to be our authentic selves, in service to our vision. (ultimate vision below)
Who do you admire?
Ghandi, Mother Theresa, babies, Swami Sivananda, Martin Luther King, Swami Vishnudevananda, animals, my dogs.
Why?
Because of their authenticity and they spoke up about their vision and did what they could to carry it out.
If you could be invisible for one day, what would you do?
What kind of invisible are we talking? If just invisible not everything I touch as well - I would go to the largest inhumane factory farming opperations and free the animals. Let them all fly and run free. If everything I touch is also invisible or I have an invisible cloak - and if I could get in and out of any gold/silver vault (stolen in the first place) then that's where I would go. Then use those moneys to bust the factory farming operations and let the animals free.
What is one thing people can do to elevate their health?
Remember, we are only a dream of a dream. Do what you feel in your soul and the rest will take care of itself.
If you could give one piece of advice to pass on to the next generation, what would it be?
Just to say, you are loved. and keep a positive perspective.
What is your ultimate vision?
I see a world of natural beauty where every child is born into their very own domain of clean air, pure waters and a garden growing in a splendid paradise. - this extends to all the animals of the world too.
Enter a deep red velvety everything, with a front and center case full of luscious delights and warmer than warm service, we welcome you to Lulu’s. The only lounge in Sedona, where all is served with the sweetest of intentions, it becomes clear after you taste the best raw paleo brownie of your life served alongside a high vibe tonic to match that you’ve indeed hit the jackpot. The hand-crafted chocolates are the first to greet you, stunningly beautiful to look at and unbelievably decadent, each raw bite better than the last. Behind the lounge sits an actual chocolate factory, viewable from the couch you can rest on as you enjoy the process and the finished products simultaneously. "You’re in for a treat" doesn’t even begin to explain it.
It all began with my love of chocolate and my desire to find the best. This led me to find specialty chocolate shops where I could buy bars from all over the world, always looking for something extra special. While teaching yoga in Portland, Oregon, I discovered I was sensitive to sugar and needed to give it up. For me, the tragedy of this was that it meant going without chocolate!
I travelled to Hawaii, to do a cleanse, and it was on this journey that I discov- ered my first cacao tree. Experiencing cacao in its’ raw, pure form filled me with bliss and ecstasy! I was truly blown away and my life changed. I began making my own raw chocolate creations and shared them with everyone around. When I found coconut sugar, I knew it was my mission to create a chocolate line that didn’t compromise taste for health. Chocolate that has it all.
Turns out people LOVE my creations and a business was born out of my passion for sharing what I consider the best chocolate in the world. This raw chocolate wants to be shared and I am so happy to co-create with its magical energy. I feel blessed to sell Lulu’s Chocolate to hundreds of retail markets and now to have our very own Chocolate Lounge in beautiful Sedona, Arizona.
Dreaming of a world covered in Lulu’s Chocolate...
What inspired the lounge concept?
The Chocolate Lounge came to be because A) I needed a creative outlet and B) It is so fun to interact with people as they are experiencing Lulu's Chocolate! Our wholesale business demands the kitchen to be a bit of an assembly line in the way that we make the same flavors over and over again. The Lounge allows me to experiment with new ideas and flavors as they come to mind. It gives me a venue to share them with the public without having to commit to marketing them. Marketing a flavor is very expensive and time consuming as there are packaging minimums and new item submission forms to take into account.
What is your favorite creation?
I love it deep, dark & pure. Midnight Velvet, our 88% cacao bar, is my daily breakfast each morning. Our most popular bar however is Smoked Sea Salt Almond. I love them all or they wouldn't exist!
Where do you get your inspiration for your new unique flavors?
I get cravings and then realize I have to create what I crave. I recently decided we needed to add some fruit to our product line and we are launching our Raspberry Rapture this week! I also love caramel but choose not to eat sugar. I am perfecting a Salted Caramel recipe that we will launch this Autumn!
What is your ultimate vision?
I have fallen in love with the Chocolate Lounge! I aim to open more of these around the country. Meanwhile, our wholesale business continues to expand so that people all across the country, maybe the globe, will have access to buy Lulu's Chocolate at their favorite stores. Our website also does really well and is always growing. I love seeing new fans as well as our devoted return customers purchasing online.
If you had one hour to spend in Sedona, what would you do?
I would share some tea and a Midnight Velvet bar with my husband, get on our motorcycle and go to an epic hiking spot so we can get lost together in the deep magic of Mother Nature!
What are your spirtiual practices?
I think this is something most people deal with and I am certainly not immune. I have spent most of my life reprogramming myself! Awareness of bad habits and self limiting patterns leads to being able to bust them down as they are happening. Anything one can do to practice presence will help end the power that unconscious patterns hold over us. I am a big fan of yoga, meditation, mantra, dancing & all creative activities. Choose the higher thought until you don't even have to choose! It WILL happen naturally with practice.
Lulus's chocolate oozes sensuality...tell us more?
Sensuality. One of my best friends always says, "Lulu, you put the sexy back in healthy chocolate!" I am a big fan of not compromising. My mission is to offer a product that truly bridges the gap between healthy and gourmet. I want to help people realize that they can have it all. They can enjoy things that make them feel alive & amazing, while also enjoying the sensual experience of deliciousness! I'm afraid that alternative foods, such as raw chocolate, have somewhat gotten a bad rap in the mainstream due to there being some products out there that aren't great. I want to change that! I have gotten the most beautiful fan mail from people who say they quit eating chocolate completely due to how ingredients like milk, soy and sugar made them feel. Then they tried healthy chocolate that didn't taste like chocolate to them, so they just gave it up till they found Lulu's. They are so grateful and so am I!
Who inspires you?
I just got to meet India Aire and share chocolate with her in our Lounge after going to her live show of Songversations: I Am Light. It was very deeply inspiring to be so moved by experiencing her story on stage. Then to find out that she is also a fan of mine was the cherry on top! I LOVE Danielle LaPorte and her Desire Map work. She led me to Marie Forleo, and I am now enrolled in her online B School. Saida Desilets is the most sensually inspiring person I know and I am now taking her Jade Egg Mastery workshop.
What is one question you are asking yourself these days?
What choices can I make today to nourish & grow my "Core Desired Feelings?" This is part of the Desire Map work. My CDFs are: Inspired, Passionate, Creative, Abundant, Grateful, Playful, Sensual & Present!
The soul of Sedona breathes deeply into those who take the time to simply be in her essence − Illup Gravengaard knows this to be true. An alchemist who serves the wildness of the red rocks, he embodies a dedication to transformation, brought through in his earthen empire known as Kejiwa he created with Emma Clare Juniper. Here he shares once in a lifetime elixirs, scents, ormus’ and tinctures that act as guides, waiting to remind and reconnect you with your innate vitality. In one sip of the Mystic A-Rose kombucha or a deep inhalation of the Sedona oil, it becomes clear you are sacredly imbibing with the earth in her purest forms.
As a trusted steward for those desiring further inner alchemical activation, Illup offers himself more wholly through his unique healing modalities made of ancient wisdom, sound and subtle touch. In his words, "And so let us open to the gift of grace ever here at hand". Yes, lets.
What is alchemy?
Alchemy is consciously assisted self-evolution and living innovation. Alchemy is the transformation of the dense lead of our being into the untarnishable brilliant gold of our being.
What do you think is your purpose in life?
I could say my purpose is being of service sharing alchemy, but the core of it all… the heart of it all is that my purpose is to permeate love into every aspect of my life and so be a living love potion that inspires more love… compassion, caring, sharing, forgiveness, harmony, and connection in this world.
What is your ultimate vision for Kejiwa?
'Kejiwa' means "of the Soul" and what we do is ever transform, reform, and in-form our ways of serving and nourishing the soul… assisting highest creativity and expression of thriving life however that continues to change, grow, and blossom for us all.
What are spagyrics?
Spagyric literally means "to separate, and recombine." This is a long practiced way of medicine-making that has the understanding that we are physical beings AND we are energetic beings; that we must heal all aspects of our being to really be whole and healthy. Spagyrics are a combination of tinctured herb, distilled essential oil of the herb, and calcined plant salt of the herb. This creates a refined highly bio-available medicine that effectively touches on the physical, the soul, and spirit.
What inspires you?
Nature, flowers, the wind in the trees, ecstatic poetry, the invisible undefinable magic constantly permeating us all, all of the beauty we can perceive around & in us, the star-light twinkle of excitement in a person's eyes after sharing alchemy with them…
How can someone elevate their energy?
Close your eyes for a moment and breath the biggest three breaths you have taken yet today. Even better; go outside, put your bare feet on the earth, now take these breaths with your hand laid over your heart.
What is your most valued possession?
Creativity.
If you could have anything, what would you have for your birthday meal?
Fresh Egyptian lotus blossoms with Ecuadorian cacao (chocolate) drizzled on top.
What is something you wished everyone knew about you?
That deep down, I am exactly like you and I love you so much, more than imaginable.
What motivates you to stay in a state of mindfulness?
Mindfulness feels like I need to be tactful about how my actions affect others and how I engage with the world which is a starting point. Heartfulness feels like a state I can more thrive in, sensitizing to an empathic relating to everyone around me via compassion, caring, and sharing in what ways are most alive for me and most lights up the world for us all. Witnessing this is all the motivation I need.
What is the biggest personal change you have ever made?
Stepping on to the path of alchemy. To demystify this, it was an aligning to the understanding that everything I do, create, and enact in this life, has an immediate reflection within myself for my own personal revolutionary evolutionary innovation of being. So as I leave a mark on this world, a mark is left in my inner being. And when I create a new reality of experience in my inner being, a new reality of experience is created in my world. This is a stepping-stone to the realization that there really is no separation, no inner and outer, no you and me. And on that musical note, we can all just take a deep breath of relief, for we really are all in this sweet symphony together.
Have you ever had an epiphany?
Ever moment is ripe for an epiphany. We just have to realize these phenomenal fruits of existence are ever available to us. Getting a degree in college was a great achievement that I would never take for granted, yet it wasn't till I shed most of my material possessions & unconsciously adopted understandings of life and lived in the wilds of the desert for several weeks that I realized there is a different type of learning that happens spontaneously, naturally, intrinsically in our being. I had been entrained in the ways of books and memorization for years, but my experience immersing with the plants of this land showed me that all the knowledge we ever need is constantly available to us if we actually not engage but calm the mind, and reach out with our hearts.
Illup Gravengaard has over 6 years sharing his Kejiwa elixirs across the country. His background is in natural medicine, wild herbalism, raw live-vegan nutrition, music, energy healing, yoga, meditation, graphic design, poetry, & award-winning photography.
For more information about Illup Gravengaard, follow him on Facebook and visit Kejiwa Creations.