Tuesday, February 3, 2015

21 Day Detox - Take FOUR

                                             

I recently completed my fourth annual 21 Day Detox. Now, let me preface this by saying that I LOVE to eat. This is not a juice cleanse and there are no supplements to purchase. It's 21 days of clean, fresh, organic whole foods. So I EAT - in fact last year I actually gained TWO pounds while cleansing my body! I found a loophole called endless guacamole. But I digress.

So, here is what the cleanse entails: for 21 days,

Vegan
Gluten Free
No sugar 
No caffeine
No alcohol

This go-round I have been able to cultivate a heightened awareness of how complexly interwoven the mind, body and spirit actually are.  Food has been my final frontier - my last 'screw you' to accepting the reality of my age, my life, my path. Seems pretty dramatic, I know, but my life has been one serious act of rebellion after another. This detox has cleansed my body, my mind and allowed me to release a great deal of stored emotions. 

Along with my heightened awareness of HOW food affects my body and my psyche, I've also become extremely mindful of what and when I will eat. I used to eat on the fly, grabbing whatever sounded good at the time and justifying it because, well, I am after all, a yoga teacher! I would eat 95% of my meals in restaurants or cafes or at Whole Foods hot deli bar! This fourth cleanse has developed a wonderful new habit of COOKING!!! I'm actually loving the process of selecting fresh, organic whole foods and preparing them. It makes meal time so much more nourishing and enjoyable. I can truly appreciate what I am putting in my body and what the ramifications are.

Week One: PHYSICAL. 
This is where I experienced the physical sensations of no longer having certain addictive substances in my body. The reaction is IMMEDIATE. Headaches for the first several days. Physical exhaustion - crashing without all of that caffeine to sustain me. And the DETOX is real. Once sugar, wheat and dairy are removed, which are all inflammatories, the cells return to their natural state and a flood of toxins are released from virtually every pore and orifice in your body. Let's leave it at that. 

The positive results are also immediate. By day two, my skin feels amazing! Smooth and hydrated. Mainly because I am drinking tons and tons of water rather than diet coke and coffee which dry out my skin. My achy joints feel immediate relief. And my circadian rhythm has start to reset itself. Easily falling asleep at night before midnight and waking up refreshed and well-rested. And I feel lean and clean!

Week Two: MENTAL.
Once the physical symptoms have dissipated, I start to uncover the mental addictions to sugar, caffeine, gluten, processed foods. Our relationship to food is probably one of the most complex relationships in our lives. We NEED food to survive, but so often we use food as a drug or a mental crutch rather than what it is intended for: to provide fuel for our bodies, to act as a medicine to heal and strengthen and nourish.  

This week brings a more subtle awareness of my urges and demonstrates that I am not my cravings or my thoughts or even my bodily sensations. It took me to a deeper level than the mental appetites and compulsions. It allowed me to find a more stable, steady space where I could observe the onset of seemingly urgent cravings and justifications and calmly watch them disperse again. Of course, this mental practice translates to so much more than food.....

Week Three: EMOTIONAL
Early in the morning on Day 19, Jeff and I were watching videos of Julian when he was three, four and five years old. I sobbed my eyes out from 7:30 a.m. through noon of that day. Literally. After driving Julian to school, I looked at more old photos of him. Then I went to YBD and saw Stacey and Sarah and was sobbing and telling them to appreciate every single moment with their young children. Then Loreta comes into the studio and I'm sobbing throughout class. As in, crying so hard I couldn't unscrunch my face!!! Spent another half hour after class with the three of them. Loreta somehow made it about HER and her three kids (ROTFL) and even told me that a psychotherapist told her that  a boy must figuratively kill his mother in order to become a man. (not helpful, Lotus!! lol) Stacey and Loreta had to leave for their other classes and Sarah and I spent another hour changing each other's emotional diapers. 

Seeing those old videos really triggered an emotional response of how fleeting life is and how our biggest challenge as human beings is the act of letting go and accepting life exactly as it unfolds. While my mind was focused on how much my little baby boy has grown into such a handsome young teenager, who really knows what other emotional baggage was being relinquished? And more importantly, who cares? I felt such a sense of lightness and liberation.

So it's been a full week since my cleanse completed. I'm slowly adding one thing at a time back in to see what makes my body thrive rather than what satisfies a temporary craving. Food no longer controls me, and I can still enjoy bringing nourishment to my body. It's the daily, arduous process of letting go of each and every thing that does not serve living a life to your highest and best self. Let it go!!!