Anthony Cotter’s health-conscious mother and party-friendly father raised him and his older brother in Queens, New York. She taught her boys yoga, meditation and raised Anthony vegetarian from birth. His mother and father divorced when Anthony was five, and he and brother lived with an abusive stepfather for the next few years. After his mother’s passing on Christmas Eve, Anthony and his brother moved in with their drug-addicted father. His brother would wind-up in Rikers Island, later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Anthony left home and lived on the streets for years, bouncing around from couch, to park bench, to rooftops and living in a wooden shed during winter months. At seventeen, he moved into his first apartment in South Ozone Park, and found himself in the world alone, battling addictions and poverty. Anthony was around twenty when he was given a book called “A Diet for A New America,” by John Robins. He decided to remove all animal products from his life and started to become mindful of what he consumed. He acquired a high school equivalency diploma and went on to study nutrition in Brooklyn College. He left college and went to the Culinary Arts Institute to learn more about raw food techniques and vegan cooking. With his partner, he moved from Brooklyn to San Francisco and opened InBloom Foods; a raw food catering company. He taught meditation and yoga throughout the juvenile hall systems with the nonprofit group Mind Body Awareness Project. Eventually, Anthony and his partner moved back east to work in finance, opened a yoga studio, had their first child. Today he lives in the Green Mountains of Vermont with his two children. He is most fulfilled when speaking about health and wellness, sharing stories, products, books, music, documentaries and connecting great people together. Throughout his life he always sought guidance from elders, gurus, and mentors who taught him how to create a better life, and to always follow a worthy ideal. Anthony’s health and wellness success simply comes from focusing on his Movement, Meals, Mind & Money philosophy.  Out of this philosophy, Whole Life Goals was created wholelifegoals.com Certified professionals can join the community at Whole Life Goals for free for 12 months using promo code 'WLG4U'  Certified professionals who are members of the Whole Life Goals community already can secure the reduced price of $2.99 per month for the lifetime of their membership using promo code 'WLGfriends'. You can use the service yourself and look for the help of a certified professional for free at wholelifegoals.com You can find out more about The Bloody Vegans Podcast at The BVP Link treeWARNING: This episode of The Bloody Vegans Podcast contains references to alternative health practices including alkaline diets, sun gazing and long term restriction of food and water. These references are not to be taken as medical advice. Under no circumstances should anyone undertake any of the practices mentioned without the supervision of a qualified medical professional. Please seek the advice of trained medical professionals before undertaking any significant change in your lifestyle.   Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.