My Thoughts on Cleansing...

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I felt like it was time to clean house and I wasn't just talking about my closets.

I have never done a body cleanse before - mostly because I didn't feel like I could actually commit to doing one. I tend to take on so much in a day that I often feel like if I was to limit my diet to juicing etc, I would be constantly thinking about how I "deserve" to eat some comfort food. I think a lot of us approach food in the same way sometimes.

Well - although I didn't stick to the juice-everything-until-dinner idea, I have come to really like a few of the things I did during this cleanse and plan on including a few of the practices into my daily routine. Here's what I loved:

- Juicing first thing in the morning. My fave was this blend of Romaine/Beets/Carrots/Celery/Ginger

- Dry skin brushing before shower

- Reading: Just bought these 2 and can't wait to dig in. I used to find it very hard to not "check in" online throughout the day, but I feel like I've broken this silly addiction :)

- Eat a monster salad before dinner & a variety of veggies every day. I used to go days without eating a single veggie and now that I'm eating more - my body is really craving them throughout the day.

- Continue to do something that makes me sweat everyday - variety is key!

Overall I had ENERGY :: GLOWING SKIN :: FULLNESS BETWEEN MEALS

If you're ever interested in doing a cleanse I would highly recommend reading Natalia Rose's book Detox for Women. She is highly respected in the Raw food & cleansing world and has a few books out which are all amazing, but I really liked this one because of it's focus on all the issues & pressures that fall on women. There are so many gimmicky approaches out there and I totally agree with her approach around juicing and raw veggies, to put the body in an alkaline state, giving it the chance to purge all the garbage out.

I'll leave you with a little excerpt from her book that really hit home for me:

"We are responsible for what happens next. Women hold enormous power in determining how the global garden will grow. If we adopt the truths of self-care in our own lives, and teach our receptive family & friends in gently respectful ways, we can effectively secure the balance of power and healing back in our bodies and throughout the planet as a whole. It takes almost 7 generations to make a cultural change....you have to know that no agency, government or grocery store is truly looking out for your best interest & health. We must first set ourselves right and then integrate our knowledge into our sphere of influence."

Life Exfoliation

I'm so excited that May is finally here! The weather has been just beautiful, we wake up to the birds chirping and our backyard is finally various shades of green. I've often revealed my lack of love for living in a cold climate for 1/2 the year, but at the same time, I really enjoy the changes that each season brings.

Spring is the perfect time to "clean house" and get rid of all the stuff that accumulates over a long winter. In keeping with this theme, Mr Swell & I are going to do a complete cleanse over the next 5 days. Let's call this....

LIFE EXFOLIATION:

~ Body Detox: I heard about Natalia Rose's Detox through this blog, and I really love the approach it takes. The plan for this detox is that for as long as you wish, you only consume fresh vegetable juices until dinner, and dinner is a fresh raw salad with steamed or roasted veggies. The idea is that all toxic waste in our bodies is acidic, and by consuming an alkaline based diet (all veggies), the waste in the body is drawn out. Here's my grocery haul from today to get us started:

Our diet already excludes meat & dairy, but the caffeine & sugar is going to be a struggle for me! To help facilitate the toxic ridding, we'll take a long walk in the afternoon (no strenuous activity) and have an epsom salt bath each night after skin brushing...which is great for stimulating circulation & toxins out of your lymphatic system.
If you'd like to learn more about this plan, visit her site here. I will be doing posts over the next 5 days to let you know how it's going!

~ Reading: I have a stack of books that have been sitting on my nightstand forever, just begging for my attention. During this cleansing time - we are going to cut out technology based/mind numbing activities and focus on reading books...including one together!

~ Closet Cleanout: This is also the perfect time to tend to our closets & cupboards that have items which will be much more loved by someone else. Our goal is to fill around 5 large garbage bags with donated items. The Diabetes foundation through their project Clothesline, will actually come and pick them up from o ur driveway and then they disperse the items across various places in need!

We're really excited to start this tomorrow, but man did that bowl of cereal before bed tonight taste pretty fantastic!