Cleansing Experiences

A big part of what inspired me to begin this blog was doing a cleanse called The Master Cleanse. I had heard about this for years and just never got around to doing it. Detoxifying is something I am often doing in one form or another, since it is really beneficial to overall health. Our bodies are required to deal with more toxins from processed, chemical-additive foods, drugs, environmental pollutants, and mental factors than ever before in history. While the body is absolutely a miracle in terms of all the functions it performs simultaneously to keep us ticking along, it is often pushed past the limit of what it can handle and requires help from us to get rebalanced. Detoxifying is a primary way to do that. Once the gunk is cleared out, the body can get back to the business of maintaining health.

People often focus on all of the external beauty regiments and bypass this very essential core of health. It's somewhat like having your yard landscaped, your house painted, and other external beatifications but never taking the garbage out of your house. You can imagine that after a while you are not going to want to live there.

Before I go into more details about my most recent cleansing experience, I will say that I have spent many years working with my system and creating a dialogue with my body so that I get very clear information on what is working for me and what isn't. If you are considering doing a cleanse for the first time in your life, and you are new to what I will call alternative, self-care, then it would be good to start out slowly and with some support from someone like a nutritionist. Detoxifying too quickly can bring on a healing crisis, which is not likely to be fatal, but can be uncomfortable. Best not to add unnecessary stress to the body.

The Master Cleanse is aimed at clearing mucus and old fecal matter out of the intestinal tract, balancing pH and detoxifying chemicals, etc. The recommendation is to do a minimum of 10 days. During the cleanse you drink only the lemonade made from fresh squeezed lemons, pure grade B maple syrup and cayenne pepper. I can give the exact recipe, but it would be better to find the complete directions for the drink, preparation, and support during the cleanse. I imagine this can be found online, or the booklet may be available at health food stores. I also noticed that there is now a product at the health food store called Master Cleanse, although I don't know the manufacturer. This product is a combination of all of the elements in the proper ratios for the drink. This would make it pretty handy and convenient.

I think the general rule of thumb for doing cleanses is to aim to do them in the spring and fall, because as the weather turns cold it is not the best time for the body to be cleansing. You can end up getting too cold if you cleanse in winter. My timing happened to be perfect, catching the tail-end of the 100 degree temperatures.

I will say that my energy was fantastic on the cleanse and that I never really felt hungry. The most impressive part for me was that in the first day it completely got rid of some brain fog I had been experiencing. I felt like I was plugged into a power grid and given complete clarity for moving through things that I had been painfully slogging through before. After completing the cleansing and returning to eating, the clear headedness has remained.

Because I wanted to have the best experience possible, I also walked everyday, did yoga, applied Castor oil packs over the liver and intestinal area to help dissolve mucous and pull out toxins, and did an ionic foot bath. For elimination support, I drank herbal teas for that purpose and one morning drank the suggested quart of warm salt water. I also did my routine of skin brushing everyday.

The more intention and support you bring to any process like this, the better the results will be.
Whatever you can do in any season to help your body clear toxins and relieve stress is a wonderful thing.

Here's to a clean start . . .