Spring has finally sprung, buds are coming out, the winter has finally given way, people are smiling, kids are out on their bikes, and it's time to cleanse!
Every year at this time people clean out their homes and garages along with preparing their back yards-if you have one. I always find it quizzical that we tend so diligently to the exterior of our homes but we so often neglect the interior of the home that houses our soul.
I am talking about the body, in case you're a bit lost.
Many years ago when I worked in the health food industry seasonal internal cleanses were covered quite a bit during training sessions with different company reps. I always thought that it was silly to do cleanses, didn't God create the perfect body that went through a daily cycle of absorption and elimination? Why would you need more? I wrote it off as some health nut extremism, besides, I was a Chef and there was no way I was giving up food in exchange for yucky bentonite clay drinks, strong herbal teas and specific liquids that did not have any appeal; at least as far as I could tell. So, you are probably asking, what changed my mind?
Good question, but it's not one that's an easy one step answer.
You see, the more I worked in the health food industry, the more workshops, training sessions, reading, courses I took in natural medicine, private client's I encountered with serious food and health needs(as a personal Chef), customer's asking about so many new health situations and diets, people I was meeting and becoming friends with, it got me curious. Then my body started giving me signals that it needed help, (which I shamefully ignored at first) and then my health started to worsen thanks to my chosen ignorance. It was at that point that I discovered a whole world of natural alternatives to wellness and a big part of them were about seasonal cleanses, specific cleanses to target health problems that modern medicine did not have the answers to, light cleanses, intense cleanses, and food cleanses vs fasting, most importantly liquid or juice fasting.
I started to take notice and I set out to get well, initially I did a short 3 day juice fast. I loved it, felt great and experienced the joy of a pain-free, symptom free period. A first for me, I was happy and felt it was an overall positive experience.
After a while I went back to my old ways, I ate vegetarian/macrobiotic and very healthy, along with regular exercise. However, I had had several bouts of sinus infections which needed to be treated using antibiotics. This started a cycle of severe yeast infections that would not heal and began to seriously impact my life in a way I could not ignore or escape from. I was given so many treatments that when I went back to the doctor after 6 months of no success, I began to ask questions about systemic candida. He proceeded to inform me that there was no such thing and gave me prescriptions for 6 weeks of pharmaceutical meds along with creams, that had already not worked in short term spurts. I told him I felt like we were putting a small band-aid on a gaping wound, he told me that was all he could do for me and good luck. I was upset, angry, and frustrated. I didn't relish putting more drugs in my body that weren't working, losing more money, and continuing to watch as my health declined. At that point I was having severe weekly yeast infections, brain fog, body aches, headaches and migraines, upset stomach, running to the bathroom, severe sugar cravings, bloating, painful periods, rashes, hives, digestive problems, and moodiness coupled with a lack of energy and restless sleep. It was becoming too much, I had to give up swimming, hot yoga, and intimacy because they all triggered flare up of yeast infections. I couldn't take it anymore. I kept praying for a miracle.
This is when God sent a very kind woman and a lovely man who were to help, guide, and reestablish my health through intense cleansing that involved severe diet changes and colonic irrigation along with proper supplements to support my body's natural healing process.And thus the blessed miracle of healing began and my journey of twice yearly cleanses as well. I have tried many different kinds, right now I am only doing a 2-day liquid fast which will run into a whole foods, clean-eating diet with loads of exercise and self-love! Why only 2 days? Well, I am still having serious thyroid issues and some other tests need to be done in the next month; because of this I have chosen to reboot by doing a light cleanse and optimizing my metabolism through proper diet and exercise. At a later date I will get into the master cleanse and other cleanses I have done but for now I am writing about the present.
I start my mornings off with Spring water-not tap, and I do a sweeter juice in the a.m.
Then I shower, dry brush before or us my Baiden mitten in the evening depending on my mood.
I like to yoga and walk during cleanses, I will on occasion do a light cardio/resistance training routine but I really prefer to be kind and careful during these cleanses. Listen to what the body is telling you, it's important.
This was my morning juice and water:
This was my morning herbal tea which has rose and chamomile, calms the jitters you can get from lack of food and stress that manifests when on a cleanse, I believe that stress has such a tremendous impact on health and wellness so it makes sense that as we detox, stress comes out. Hence the herbal tea's and yoga. Breathe Kiki, breathe.
I also have this protein almond milk that I drink which is warmed up, it's one I call the warm your bones, which is great for making you feel better on a cleanse. Bonus is that it uses finely ground hemp protein that I whisk in, so it supports the body. Muscle wasting can be an issue on liquid cleanses, we'll talk more about that on another post and I will put the recipe up for that milk another day as well. I forgot to take a pic of the milk too, so we move on. I use Spring water and make sure to imbibe 4-6 containers like the one in the pic below, every day I am cleansing. Flush out all the nasties, water is your best friend!
Then I have about 2-3 more juices that are more savory, bitter, even a bit sour. This is to help my body with bile, digestion, inflammation and less sugar. Although, it is to be noted that vegetables have naturally occurring sugars as well but they are better than just juicing sweet fruits which some people mistakenly do on a juice fast. The clear green juice is one of my favorites. It has few ingredients, is tart, light, fresh, and great for skin. Which does break out as your body rids itself of unwanted baddies. I included the recipe, it comes from The Great Big Book of Juicing.
CLEAR GREEN JUICE RECIPE:
Ingredients:
1 Cucumber, peeled,
1-2 Green apples
1-2 Stalks celery
1 Lime peeled
Run all through juicer, enjoy served over ice!
Then there's this fav, which I got during the holidays, it tastes soooo good. Tis' my sweet spicy treat!
This tea is my evening tea because it has medicinal grade figwort and ginger which both help with digestion and detox. I take it at night because cyclically, the body goes through the absorption and dumping of toxins process at night, transferring nutrients absorbed during the day into nutrients which cells eagerly use to maintain body function. This is why we don't eat at night regularly, the night fast allows the human body the time it needs to focus on processing rather that digesting. This is pretty much the same when we juice or liquid fast, except on a bigger scale. I like to use this tea because it's soothing, slightly spicy, and eases detox symptoms. Coupled with daily colonics, I have way fewer detox symptoms.
I am also adding bone broth to this liquid fast because I am trying to heal gut issues and this is the perfect time to get the most benefits of the healing effects of bone broth. If you want to know more about bone broth, I have a whole post on it with a recipe. Follow this link to get to it:
http://thekinkycoconut.blogspot.ca/2015/02/paleo-bone-broth.html
Before I sign off today, I want to make mention of one crucial aspect of cleanses. Self-Love.
Yup, this whole process is not about self-loathing, beating yourself up about how long or how short your cleanse was, how awful your body looks, how much you want to look like another. It's none of these things, it's really about getting closer to yourself and this wonderful temple that God has graced you with. It's about wanting the best for yourself without shaming, hurting, or comparing. These moments are for you, it's an opportunity to grow, learn, attain greater health, and start fresh.
Smile and know how loved you truly are. God bless you.
There's more to say but we'll leave it for another day. Leave your comments below, I love to hear about your experiences and don't forget to subscribe!
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