Cleansing for Optimal Health
With each change in season, the expression and manifestation of Nature transforms. Just weeks away now from the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re beginning to witness that transformation.
We’re seeing it in the form of lengthening days and shortening nights, annual flowers, herbs, and vegetables starting their growing season as the soil warms, and animals emerging from seclusion (including us) and returning out into the open.
Nature is changing gears again. From the frozen stillness and deep inward focus of Winter, to the awakening and reinvigoration of Spring, we now approach the quickening, illumination, and outward expansion of Summer. And we’re being called to keep up! So if you’ve been craving change and feeling the pull to take your life in a new, more refined direction, this has a lot to do with it.
Humans often view themselves and Nature/Universe as separate entities, but that’s not true. We, as humans, are a part of Nature and the Universe around us, just as a drop of water is part of the ocean. So the sooner we can dispel this illusion, the sooner we’ll access the flow of living in harmony and balance with the bigger picture of our environment!
And a perfect way to challenge the illusion and come into greater, more meaningful connection with the rhythms of Nature and the Universe is through a cleanse. Like taking your car in for a tune up to ensure that everything is in working order, doing a cleanse or detox with the change of seasons helps to 1) optimize the body’s functions and 2) offset illness or disease in the body. I often think of it as an opportunity for me to “reset and refocus.”
Could you use that kind of opportunity right now?
I was first introduced to the idea of seasonal cleansing in 2007.
I was experiencing major upheavals in my life at the time. I had just left grad school, abandoning my dissertation, and I was striving to regain my health and sense of Self. I was ready to find out what it would be like to live life for me and to prioritize my own joy and fulfillment. But after nearly 30 years of putting others ahead of me and sacrificing my health and happiness, it was a steep learning curve that often left me feeling lost, confused, and frustrated.
And this was when Amy, my boss and mentor at the restaurant where I was working, suggested a cleanse. It must have been the blank stare, because she then lent me a book on staying healthy with the seasons. And it blew my mind. I had never thought about my health in this way - that what I ate and in what season I ate it mattered. And I suddenly saw how so many of my habits and patterns when it came to my diet and lifestyle were largely ignorant of the seasons. Consuming for distraction, gratification, and escape as opposed to consuming for mindfulness, fulfillment, and living presently in the moment.
And as I applied what I was reading, my life took a major turn…for good! And living from this new perspective that affirmed my interconnection with the seasons and cycles of Nature, I experienced significant improvements in my health over the following months. Reduced inflammation, reduced brain fog, less pain and overwhelm, better digestion, more energy, more emotional stability, and better sleep. Like…what??? It was a quality of life that I didn’t think was possible for me!
And ever since then, I practice seasonal cleansing 2-3x a year to help me stay vibrant, centered, and healthy year-round. And especially now, given the major upheavals we’re experiencing as a collective and the timely emphasis on holistic health, I knew it was time to pay what I’ve learned forward. To serve you in seeing a bigger picture and discovering a quality, and freedom, of living that you don’t know is possible!
How do you know a Cleanse is needed?
Just like when you know it’s time to bring the car in for a check-up or for a handyperson to come check out an appliance, you notice that something’s off. It’s not working like it should and you wonder if there’s something that can be done to restore optimal function. Now apply that yourself. When you’re feeling off and you’re not sure why, a cleanse may be helpful to help you get back on track and flowing more smoothly.
Potential signs that it’s time for a Cleanse:
Feeling sluggish and consistently fatigued
Finding it hard to get out of bed every morning
Digestive & eliminative issues (constipation, diarrhea, bloating, etc.)
Skin issues (acne, eczema, rash, etc.)
Headaches and difficulty concentrating
Lower back pain/tenderness
Inflamed joints and body aches
Compromised immune system & increased incidence of infection
Emotional eruptions and overwhelm
Like the “check engine” light going off, any or all of these signs can be your body’s way of getting your attention. If you’re in tune with your body, it may not take much for you to notice the signs and take action. But if you’re not aware or you have a pattern of ignoring your body, the signs may manifest more dramatically to motivate you to listen.
What does Cleansing do?
There are many ways to cleanse, many of which target specific parts of the body. But regardless of the type of cleanse, a cleanse helps you offload and eliminate toxins that have built up in your body, particularly in the eliminative organs (lungs, skin, liver, kidneys, colon, and lymph). This is why the term “cleanse" is often used interchangeably with “detox.” Eliminating waste and toxins from the body is vital to maintaining homeostasis and optimal function within each of the body’s systems as well as between them. And when the body’s systems are functioning smoothly and in harmony, life force will flow more freely throughout the body, allowing you to have more energy, vitality, and resistance to disease and illness.
So cleanses can play a very important role in maintaining overall health and wellbeing, preventing disease, and living life with more joy!
Now all that being said, the experience of the cleanse may not exactly be enjoyable nor comfortable.
Whenever we’re detoxifiying, the goal is to release toxins/impurities and bring them to the surface so they can be eliminated. Thus, the term “detox flu,” which is what this process can sometimes feel like, especially if the toxins have built up over an extended period of time and have locked themselves away deep down in our tissues. The cleansing process can also be emotional. Toxins can include suppressed emotions such as anger, sadness, grief, and loneliness. So when we cleanse, it’s not surprising for these emotions to come up so they can finally be released.
To be clear, none of these are reasons you should avoid cleansing!
That would be like saying you can’t take yoga because you’re not flexible or that you can’t meditate because your mind is too busy. If anything, these are signs that the cleanse is working and helping your body to let go of what’s inhibiting optimal health. Allow me to share a personal example.
At one point during a cleanse in 2009, I experienced full body hives/welts for months. Backstory, I had been on aggressive pharmaceuticals from ages 12 to 28, many of which I had to monitor monthly to ensure they weren’t damaging my liver. So I was pushing out a lot! It was uncomfortable and I was ashamed of how they looked. I just wanted them to go away! But my mentor encouraged me to avoid taking antihistamines and things that would block my body from expressing these toxins out of my body. She taught me that the skin is often the last layer of the body pushing the toxins and impurities out of the body. So the more I blocked it, the longer the hives and the discomfort would last. And she highlighted the silver lining that since these toxins were showing up in my skin, that my cleansing practices were obviously effective - so keep going!
Cleansing isn’t always comfortable and it can bring us to the edges of our comfort zone. But therein are so many gifts of allowing us the opportunity to break through to better health and proving our own strength to ourselves. And as you cleanse more regularly, you may find that the process becomes simpler and smoother over time. Just like a room that’s cleaned every week, it’s a lot less work than a room that’s cleaned once every month (or every year…).
Where do you begin?
Particularly if you’re new to cleanses, I encourage you to keep it simple. Super simple. (Scroll down for some suggestions.) Many feel compelled to opt for more aggressive and complicated cleansing approaches to rush through the detoxification process so they can get "back to normal" faster. But from my experience, it’s often the smallest changes I’ve made that have made the biggest difference. And rushing any cleansing process often produces the opposite effect of what was intended. Healing requires time and trying to make it fit into our schedules, ironically, can either slow the process or cause the process to blow up in our faces.
The more you can approach your cleansing process with curiosity and wonder, the more you will learn about what makes you thrive and what doesn’t, what lifts you up and what drags you down - key information in empowering you to live your life alive and in the flow of health and joy! A cleanse can be as simple as increasing what lifts you up while simultaneously decreasing what drags you down.
And the more you know these things about yourself, the stronger your intuition can be to guide in choosing the best cleansing practice for you in the moment. But for me, even after doing many kinds of cleanses for 14 years, my guidance remains the same for myself and for you: Keep it simple.
Different ways to Cleanse
These are several different ways I approach cleansing. While I’ll often employ more of these techniques during changes in season, like right now, or when I’m preparing myself for a big event where I want to be especially present and in the flow, I am, in fact, always doing at least 1 or 2 of these things. #cleanliving
Note that these suggestions aren’t isolated to only diet. Cleansing is holistic and impacts all parts of life, so cleansing can be applied to *anything* we consume.
Drink more water (and drink it slowly)
Focus on eating what’s in season
Moderate or eliminate inflammatory foods
Dairy, Meat, Grains, Sugar, Nightshades, Processed Foods, Alcohol, etc.
Increase anti-inflammatory food
Richly colored vegetables & fruits, Dark leafy greens, Ginger/Turmeric, Foods high in essential fatty acids, Mushrooms, Seaweed
Herbal supplements/teas/tinctures
Intermittent Fasting
Raw juicing
Stretching every morning
Drinking psyllium husks in the evening
Increasing movement and cardiovascular exercise
Receiving a massage
Epsom salt baths
Moderating time on your phone/computer
Scheduled time for creativity/self-expression
Reorganizing and streamlining your living space
Cleaning out your closet/pantry/attic
Starting a new hobby or dusting off an old one
Increased meditation and prayer
Dedicated alone time and time in Nature
More quality sleep/rest
FYI, I purposefully don’t go into specifics about supplements or herbs I’ve used, as I’m not an herbalist, dietician, or nutritionist, and the supplements I’ve used have been tailored to my personal constitution. So if you do have questions about supplements or embarking on an herbal program, I encourage you to seek out the guidance of a trained professional and to consult with your healthcare provider!
So in this in-between time as we continue to enjoy Spring but can already feel Summer fast approaching, I hope you’ll find these ideas, perspectives, and suggestions helpful in creating the change and wellbeing you desire in your life.
While cleanses and detox programs have become trendy in recent times, bear in mind that these practices aren’t new. And the more aware you are about the many ways in which you can serve your body to cleanse and release toxins, the more you can serve your body to exist in optimal health year-round.
Because optimal health is achieved when you, in mind, body, and Spirit, are living in harmony and alignment with Nature and the Universe. And cleanses can be a powerful means of tuning up in order to tune in more intimately with yourself, with others, and with God and the Hierarchy of Light. Serving you to reset so you can connect more clearly and with less interference. Setting your life in a whole new motion and brand new energy that serves your life's purpose to truly shine in the World!
