Healing By Cleansing The Body
How do we stay away from "catching" a virus or other form of infection?
The art of cleansing is something we have lost over the generations, but the benefits of cleansing the body regularly is one of the most powerful healing tools we have access to.
We have an eco system within us and around us. A biodiversity of organisms that work with our bodies to keep us healthy. We need to remember that. The once old "germ theory" no longer holds true since we discovered the microbiome and its crucial role in our health. We can now focus on something called "Terrain Theory". That is, the biological terrain where you focus on the internal environment and its health so that the early forms of "bad" bacteria, viruses, and fungi are not given the advantage to grow and proliferate. Therefore, keeping infection away and allowing the body to thrive. How do we keep a healthy terrain? By cleansing our internal environment regularly of toxins we encounter daily.
We also have a natural rhythm (circadian rhythm) which we need to realign with for optimal health. This rhythm applies to all aspects of our body and it is continual daily, monthly, seasonally, and over our lifetime. In the change of seasons we should be detoxing, like our ancestors did, and like ancient Ayurvedic texts suggest we do. We need to stop calling it the "flu season" and call it what it really is: the detox season. Again, you should cleanse the body with the change of each season, but at the very least in the transition from Winter to Spring. As I write this, we are moving into the change from Spring to Summer in the northern hemisphere, meaning we need to incorporate a lot more cleansing foods like citrus, berries, and melons! Nature knows what we need, that's why these are all in season!
The body is an incredibly intelligent machine and this rhythm goes down into our cells, they follow their own rhythm and once we can connect with that we can see how truly sacred we are. Cleansing is a tool used to keep everything flowing smoothly. It releases all the pathogens and the "dead" or stagnant matter, as well as the stagnant energy within us. Opening us up for not only physical health but also spiritual health.
Your body detoxes daily, with every breath, bathroom break, sweat, and even tear. During deep sleep your body is effectively detoxing. Clearing the pathways for an easy drainage is so crucial. You don't want pathogens to just circulate back in your body. This is why drinking water, getting in daily movement, and eating foods that support the cleansing system is so important for our health.
Always ease your way into a full on cleanse by first making sure your body's drainage system is working. Starting with the colon, make sure you are having at least 2 bowel movements a day, peeing regularly where the color of your pee is a light yellow to make sure you are hydrated, and sweating normally. That is a good indicator that your "drains" are clearing properly. If not, then take in more water, fiber, and citrus foods, as well as more movement to get that functioning and clearing better. Supporting the lymphatic system by rebounding or dry brushing or getting a lymphatic massage (to clear fascia), is an important part of cleansing. Adding extra help from things like enemas and castor oil packs will make the clearing out process a lot quicker and easier to deal with. Especially if you are doing a targeted cleanse such as parasite cleanse, liver cleanse, or heavy metal detox.
Once your pathways are clear you can ease your way into a targeted cleanse or even a fast. Make sure you also take binders so the toxins have a better chance of leaving your body and don't re-circulate around and create flu like symptoms. If that happens the body will create more mucus to remove the toxins in other parts of the body like the nose. Incorporate things that mimic the mucus, such as gelatinous substances, like psyllium husk, aloe vera, chia and freshly ground flax seeds, or even bone broth. But also using more powerful binders like fulvic acid, bentonite clay, activated charcoal, chlorella, or shilajit. There are also many herbs like burdock root, dandelion, milk thistle, and cascara sagrada that are excellent for cleansing. I would always recommend either speaking with a professional or doing thorough research when working with herbs.
This is the more obvious, but when you go into a cleanse or detox another reason to ease into it is by removing the inflammatory foods. Prepare your body by adding in more fruits and vegetables. I would recommend removing and not restocking on the following: processed foods, sugar, coffee, alcohol, breads, dairy, and meat items. Try aligning your cleanse with your next grocery shop so you have a clean slate to purchase the foods that will support your cleanse and not become tempted by the processed food still in the pantry. Remember to always stick to buying food that is closest to its natural state.
Cleansing can be done in a short period of 3-5 days or in a longer period of 2-6 weeks. The latter being the better option of the two since it does take the body a few weeks to release all the toxins from the body. For example: toxins in coffee take about 3 weeks to be removed from the body, sugar 2 weeks, dairy 3 weeks, and meat can take up to 3 months! However, if you can only do a short cleanse, it's better to do one that's a few days long than to not do one at all.
This pyramid I use with clients whenever we decide a cleanse would be best for reaching their specific health goal. Mental preparation is also just as important as physical preparation for a cleanse. You have to remember you are doing this because you want to, because it will assist your healing, and is not a chore, restriction, punishment, or diet. Instead it is a conscious choice made at every meal to clean the body of toxins that have been building up inside you and do not serve you.
You begin at the bottom and remove the major inflammatory foods, then work your way up to removing any food sensitivities, then moving to only raw fruit and vegetable meals and eventually either staying at a couple of days of juicing or doing a full fast. This all depends on how much you wish to cleanse, how ready you are, and how much time you wish to devote. The schedule on the sides are recommendations but can be adjusted to each person's specific needs. I work with clients through deciding what is best for them and their schedule.
Something I cannot stress enough while cleansing is to make sure you are properly releasing the toxins from the body. So, when you do begin your cleanse, make sure you are scheduling time in to sweat and sleep! Clearing out all the drainage pathways I mentioned above is the best way to avoid the few symptoms that come with a cleanse or detox such as fatigue, mucus buildup, muscle pains, and headaches. All are signs that toxins are re-circulating in your body and need a point of exit.
If you would like to know more about detoxing, feel free to ask me questions in the comment section below or email me at hello@naturallytati.com. If you would like to book a session with me to work together to guide you through a cleanse I am offering a 50% off discount now until end of June 2020 on my 1 on 1 coaching programs! Just mention this blog post when making an appointment here !
Disclaimer: I am not an affiliate with any of the companies suggested, I am only sharing what I use or recommend for my clients.