Cleansing - Go Deeper

Ah, spring is here. The birds are chirping, the buds are blooming, the days are longer and a few YA’s at Semperviva and I are about to embark on a two week cleanse.

We’ve gathered our kits, started a Facebook support page and high fived the start of our next 14 days. We are ready to get the winter out of our bodies and refresh our cells for the summer. Yeehaw!

Detox and cleanses are quite possibly two of the sexiest words in the health scene. They are also often promoted in a way that all we need to do is buy a kit off the shelf take a pill or two everyday and Tada! We’re cleansed.

I feel like we are missing a few integral pieces if we’re seeking honest cleansing.

Cleansing goes back. Way back. The purpose of it back in the day seemed to have a deeper approach and it often carried a more spiritual context. Think of our ancient yogis, some of which lived in caves and ate little. Their purpose was to purify the body in order to receive spiritual messages and teachings. Many found the reception quality for these messages would be tainted had they not cleansed.

Now most of us aren’t currently in caves waiting for profound messages from above but perhaps our humble cleansing process could add a little sprinkle of sacredness and a touch of added effort on the physical, spiritual and mental levels.

Here are some ways you can do just that:

Physical

If you are following a cleansing kit, I highly recommend removing processed foods from your diet. I am amazed when kits don’t even suggest this. It is a time for us to lighten the toxic load on our body so the systems can fire up again. Have a party in the produce section and stick with foods that were pulled from the ground, picked from a tree or taken from a plant. Then drink lots of water to help the liver and kidneys flush the extra debris out of you. See ya later, toxins!

Mental

Couldn’t we all cleanse a layer or two of negative thinking? Especially those ones that tell us we are not and will never be; good/smart/kind/pretty/thin/enter your personal favorite here enough? Oh yeah, those ones. Meet them with compassion. Perhaps during your cleanse note them down under the title ‘Toxic Thoughts’, then write a refreshing one under the title ‘Refreshed Thought’.

Spiritual

Go outside. Touch the grass. Hug a tree. Journal. Have an evening of silence. Reflect. Breathe. Practice Yoga. Go to a cave or do ten cartwheels on the beach during a full moon. Whatever spiritual means to you now is the time to really give it some time and love.

Taking your cleanse that extra step further can make a profound difference in how you feel and how effective your cleansing process could be. Avoid falling into the “all I have to do is take a pill” trap and show your body you love it by eating, thinking and breathing loving things into it.