(Excerpt from Jan Hotline)

Hello, this is Rhio with the Raw Energy Hotline. If you are in the New York City area and would like to listen to an abbreviated version of the hotline toll-free, call (212) 343-1152, 24-hours a day.

The birth of the New Year traditionally brings with it the opportunity for new beginnings, renewed hopes, rekindled dreams and the possibility of long awaited fulfillments. It's a time for remembrance, soul searching and renewal. In truth, the dawn of each new day can also bring new beginnings, but we mostly take the daily for granted. Somehow at the top of the year we become re-inspired, at least for the short range, with deeply held ambitions.

If you have long ago given up making New Year's Resolutions, I encourage you to give it another try. It'll be fun to see how far we can take some of our most cherished dreams in the coming months. While we may not always succeed 100% with everything we put down on our list, I've found that I do fulfill at least some parts of my resolutions each year. And so this year I did it again. I have three – to become even more involved with the preservation of Civil Liberties, to become even more involved with putting a halt to the destruction of Nature by GE technologies and the third one – a very personal one – that I would like to share with you and perhaps encourage you to come along with me on my experimental journey.

I think what brought me to this resolution is living so close to Ground Zero (11 blocks North). There are so many chemicals in the air down here (the Dept. of Health is not being truthful with the people). I have ten air filters going all the time. The new ones I got after the tragedy allow me to actually see the pollution. Every two weeks they have to be washed and they are black. Makes one think a little bit about mortality and how circumstances outside of our control impact us, undermine our health and age our bodies. But we can take back the power and that is what my resolution is all about.

I would like to take ten years off my appearance. So this time next year I will look ten years younger.

I already feel very young (due to my raw food diet), but there is some work that I can still do on this amazing body that Nature gave me. And of course whatever process is capable of de aging you is also improving and strengthening your health at the same time. Do you think that this is a realistic goal? If you do, let's do it together. And this time next year we'll have a big birthday party celebrating ourselves as we are, minus 10. And I mean we'll have a real party here in my loft in NYC, if I can get at least 50 people to come along with me. (I can fit 200 people in, if you get real ambitious, and if for some reason the celebration goes beyond 200 – well then we'll expand into a friend's loft below ours.) And if you're in another part of the country or world – we'll welcome you in spirit – because you'll have been part of our project.

I invite those that would like to join in to Email me and let me know. Let's communicate throughout the year our thoughts and ideas about rejuvenation. I will create a special elist called The Rejuvenation Project – it will go out once a month and have information on different aspects of rejuvenation. To be put into this special elist – send an email with the words "Subscribe 1 Year Rejuvenation Project."

The first thing to do, if we don't have a recent picture of ourselves, is to take one so that we have a point of reference. Also find another picture of yourself that you really like at a younger chronological age. That is the image that you will focus on. If you don't have a picture that you like, then you will create one in your mind.

OK, now how does one go about active rejuvenation? Some time must be set aside each day for the project. Let's say two hours. Two hours times 365 days = 730 hours for rejuvenation. 730 hours equals one solid month of working on the project throughout the year by taking time specifically set aside for it.

But more time is also required. Start with sleep; most of us don't get enough. The raw food diet does reduce the requirement for sleep in some people — but while on the rejuvenation path – it would be beneficial to our objective to get more sleep. So let's say we try to extend our sleep by at least two hours per night. And on the weekends try for even more.

I once read about an Indian mystic who rejuvenated his aged body several times and he did it basically by withdrawing from the world and just sleeping (like in a cocoon). He meditated during his waking hours. His diet during this time was very light and he also had some special herbals. He had someone preparing his meals. Well, we won't go that far! But it's said that he emerged each time a young man, and he lived a couple of hundred years.

There's no doubt that the body does much beneficial work on itself during the hours of sleep. Good, sound sleep every single night is primary to our goal.

Now wait a minute – 2 hours here and 2 hours there, that's already 4 hours a day — Well, I never said it was going to be easy. But you know all good things have to have a little work behind them.

As a basic requirement, I'm assuming we are all on a 100% raw food diet.

A variety of things could be done in our special 2 hours per day. Explore the following possibilities:

hatha yoga
deep breathing exercises
other types of exercise
meditation
sauna, alternating with cold water rinse or shower
body massage (different types)
lymphatic massage
shiatsu
colonic
fast walking (jogging is not suggested because it is hard on the joints and also on the muscles of the face)
weight training
mini trampoline
accupressure
reflexology
aligning chakras with sound
swimming (if you live by a clean ocean, river or lake)
any kind of sport that you enjoy
gardening
thinking about and exploring the activities that bring you joy
sunbathing (in moderation)
micro-current facials
facial acupuncture
facial magnets
face masks
energy work
relax in bed while listening to inspiring tapes, etc.
(other suggestions welcome).

So, I wait to hear from you and we'll take it step by step. If I get enough response, I will set up a section on my website where we can share information and ideas with each other. It would be in the form of a letter post in my Real Letters section, perhaps with letter threads.

Now lest some feel this project is excessively narcissistic, let me acknowledge right now that narcissism is definitely a part of it. I admit it. . . but also a part of it is this: through the Freedom of Information Act we have all just been apprised that there is a predominance of chemicals floating around in downtown NYC air (where I live). All kinds of things, like PCBs, asbestos, petrochemicals, benzene, aluminum, lead, dioxins, silicon, sulfates, chromium, sulfuric acid, cement dust, sheetrock dust, charred remains dust, and the list goes on. There is now an official name for the dry cough that many of the brave workers are suffering from – it is called WTC Cough Syndrome. What will be the future impact on human bodies from exposure to all of this. What is the synergistic effect? Surely more than an immune system can handle, so my resolution also has to do with long term survival without any unwelcome surprises in the future.

But if I think of the whole thing in those negative terms, it doesn't serve me well. So when I flip the coin and make it light hearted and say – ok I'm going to look like my own younger sister next year – see – that makes me happy. It's a matter of where I want to place my focus – on the negative or on the positive.