My Story

     My own healing crisis led me to the live-food path.

I'm Kathy Matara. Aloha!  My background is in teaching Transcendental Meditation, western herbalism, Ayurveda and Real Estate. I started my herbal journey at 13, yet I still ran into a health problem that I couldn’t solve on my own.

At the time I was living in Iowa and owned my own Real Estate company. I worked long hours and I figured the burning in my stomach might mean I had an ulcer. In spite of extensive self-treatments and other health practitioner's consultations in herbalism, homeopathy and Ayurveda, the pain continued for 8 years and I got no relief.  Even though many people might consider this condition minor, it bothered me considerably.

Finally, I realized that I didn't have the knowledge to fix this. Instead, I gave it up to the Divine. After one particular meditation program, I experienced an expansion in my heart that I'd never felt, a feeling that it was going to be resolved. As I walked out outside a long-time friend came up to me and said, “I’ve had a vision about you. You need to go to the live-foods clinic that I just attended.” Something inside me resonated with what she said. I packed my car and drove from Iowa to the Village of Natural Teaching in Marshall, MI.

   Live-food pumpkin pie

I drove up to a quiet farm with a single house on it. A diminutive woman answered my knock, looked me up and down and said, “What are you doing here, you’re not sick.”

I said, “I do have a health problem; one that’s been bothering me for years.”

“That’s not why you’re here,” she said. Then added, “Do you want to know why you are here?

I said, “Okay.”

“My spirit has told me about you, you are here because you are going to be doing this for the rest of your life.”

I had no idea what she meant, but I was definitely intrigued so I said, “Okay, what do I do?”

“First,” she said, “you are going to fast.”

“Oh no,” I countered. “I have a Pitta (Ayurvedic term) constitution and I can’t fast.”

She smiled then and said, “Don’t worry honey you’re going to drink like a fish.”

I felt uneasy

“So? Are you going to stay or not?”

“Alright. I’ll stay. I’ll give it a try.” At that point I figured that I’d tried so many other things, maybe this woman, Ada Cooper Robinson, knew something I didn’t. Turns out—she knew a lot that I didn’t! Within two days of being on a live-food cleanse, my persistent burning pain was gone. For good.

Live-Food sushi

I proceeded to learn the live-foods way of fasting, eating and healing.

My entire life changed. Not only did I eliminate my health problem but I felt an expansion of consciousness and level of clarity that I’d never experienced. The silence I got from from fasting made my meditation deeper and more profound. I started to get flashes of insight and strengthened intuition. My prayers were answered more quickly. I was amazed.

I stayed at the Village of Natural Teaching for 2 weeks of cleansing. Years were taken off my body. Cellulite almost completely vanished. My skin changed; it became softer and finer. My eyes became clearer. I looked years younger. These benefits were far more than I ever expected and quite far reaching. I was certain that this would have a huge effect on my longevity.

Initially resistant to drinking wheat grass juice, I ended up feeling its great benefit on my health. Animals will eat wheat grass to either settle their stomachs, aid nutrition, or if needed, as an emetic. Many cultures have sourced their herbal knowledge by observing animals.

  Live-food blintzes

Ada Cooper Robinson, who runs the clinic at the Village of Natural Teaching, is still my dear friend. She guided me as I became interested in helping others to heal using the techniques I’d learned from her. I ended up studying with her, earning my certification as a Natural Health Care Practitioner. I went on to become certified at the Ann Wigmore Institute as well.

Since then I’ve used my herbal knowledge and knowledge of living foods to educate and help people cleanse in order to restore their health through nature’s amazing apothecary. I combined this new knowledge with all of my natural health care training and experience in order to help people target their healing.

Everyone who takes the Katika Alchemy Internal Cleanse Program undergoes a positive transformation and leaves knowing how to use food and fasting for self-healing. They also learn how to make live food in a delicious gourmet way. Lastly, as one participant recently stated, "I finally understand what Hippocrates meant when he said, 'Food is your medicine.'"

They are empowered.