Turning Over a New Leaf
Today’s post is about sharing more of what I am doing. I tend to freeze after writing a few sentences or paragraphs even and never complete the article. I feel fresh and open and whatever trauma or judgements held me back, or perhaps more accurately stated as whatever trauma or judgements revealed themselves to me in my struggle to complete an article, seem to have lost their subconscious hold.
As I learned and grew in my knowledge of the holistic path, one subject continually arose – that of detoxing. Today I am going to address physical detoxing of the body, but will remind everyone that the physical is intimately connected to the emotional, mental and spiritual bodies and they will also release and detox old patterns such as unprocessed emotions or learned belief systems that limit growth.
There are many types of detox and ultimately you will need to find and start what works for you. I will not suggest a particular detox, but share some basics as well as mention some I have done in the past as an example.
First, you have to recognize that you are releasing stored toxins. Our bodies have amazing filtering processes that can be overwhelmed in a number of ways. When the toxins coming in can not be released, they are stored in various locations which can depend on many factors. I am not going to go into the anatomy of the body here, but encourage you to explore information about your organs. It is always good to learn about our body temple.
If you are serious about detoxing, regardless of what program or process you use, you need to be aware of the toxins our society produces and are in our environment, and thus being introduced into our body temple. These toxins are in the soil, in the air and in the water. We ingest these in our foods and drinks. We breath them in outside and inside, depending on what chemicals are in use in a home or office or store, and we can even have slow long-term off-gassing of chemicals from furniture, rugs, paint – even the mercury in dental fillings. The point here is to recognize the need of any long-term detox to include a look at the choice of water/drinks and food, and even cleaning products. This way you are not adding more toxins as you begin to dislodge and clear out the old.
To assist your cleanse, please remember to hydrate. Allow your body to use the flow of fluids to send out waste and toxins. And speaking of flow, keep your bowels moving. You need at least 1 bowel movement a day, preferably 3. If you have never done a cleanse before, and/or you are dealing with a number of health challenges, a series of colonics can cleanse the colon and allow greater functioning as you place more demands on it to send out waste. Colon hydrotherapy is done by appointment with a therapist. If you are comfortable doing enemas on your own, a series of home enemas would also be beneficial.
I want to slow down for a moment and talk about overwhelm. If you are new to detoxing, cleansing and fasting, you want to notice if you are becoming overwhelmed. Keep things simple for you, your mind and your body. Pick a plan and commit. Put it on your calendar, get your supplies. Be aware that as you follow your detox, your body may experience getting worse before getting better. This is know as the Herxheimer reaction. If it persists after a couple of days, or is particularly intense, you will want to reduce the amount of whatever you are taking by half or more as the body adjusts to the amount to toxins circulating and releasing. You may want to be under the guidance of a professional for your first few detox programs to assist your peace of mind.
Some detox and fasting programs I’ve used are the Master Cleanser (a liquid fast), Renew Life cleansing products (involve premade herbal mixtures), a liver/gallbladder flush protocol, water only fast and some mono-diet fasts (such as only watermelon). These are some detoxes and fasts to explore and decide what works for you and your body. Not only is this post about me turning over a new leaf, but potentially you as well!