Get your spring cleanse groove on right away with these simple tips designed to help lighten your body and energize your spirit.
1. Start eating more raw foods. Raw foods are more cleansing than cooked foods. Wherever you are now, try increasing the amount of vibrant, enzyme-rich, beautifying and detoxifying raw plant foods.
2. Get outside. Nature is naturally cleansing. The clean air in the mountains, the oxygen in the forest, the negative ions at the ocean – these all have measurable therapeutic benefits on the body and spirit.
If you are local to Monterey, we will get together during the Spring Cleanse workshop for two outdoor excursions to support a healthy detox. Click here for details.
3. Walk around barefoot. The electromagnetic field (EMF), or energy, of the earth helps to build our energy and immunity, while the EMFs of electronics and radio waves are shown to deplete us. When you lose your shoes in nature, you get a huge boost to all healing systems of the body, which helps support your natural cleansing. This is a big reason people gravitate to these areas to de-stress.
Try it! Go out on the lawn, to the park or to the beach and kick your shoes off. Hang out for at least 30 minutes to refuel.
4. Add lemon to your morning water. Warm lemon water in the morning is a classic Ayurvedic detoxifier. The lemon gently cleanses the liver, alkalizes the body, provides necessary vitamin C, and warm water helps cleanse the lymphatic system.
Just be sure to rinse or brush your teeth, as the lemon can be slightly acidic to tooth enamel.
5. Try a green smoothie. If you were to ask me what the one simple thing you could do to dramatically increase your energy, release winter weight, uplift your mood, build bones, balance hormones, oxygenate your cells, support healthy digestion, supply super-powered nutrition, and gently nourish and cleanse the liver, I would tell you to have a green smoothie every day. The best way to make these is in a Vita-Mix as most other blenders will make a chunky, unappetizing mess. The options are endless with these. Click here for a personal favorite of mine.
Click here for more info on green smoothies.
6 Breathe deeply for 2 minutes every morning. You can never do this too much, but 2 minutes in the morning is a great start. As soon as you wake up, sit up in bed, close your eyes and focus on a relaxing image, word or thought. Consciously lengthen and deepen your breath for at least 2 minutes. This simple exercise will cleanse your mind, support your body’s relaxation response (necessary for detoxification), and give you a peaceful and clear-headed start to your day.
7. Add more (naturally) green foods. Green foods like broccoli, kale, spinach, dandelion greens, arugula, artichokes and asparagus are all particularly great to include in the spring. They support and detoxify the liver, which can get bogged down with winter’s heavier foods. Enjoy them in a salad, lightly cooked or in your green smoothie (see above).
8. Get active! Moving your body helps move waste out of all tissues. The cardiovascular system, respiratory system, digestive system, lymphatic system and skin (through sweat) are all cleansed when we get our body active. Exercise will also help stimulate healthy feel good hormones and mobilize toxins stored in fat tissue. Find something you love to do!
9. Do a cleanse. Cleansing with the seasons is a fantastic way to consciously do something really great for your body and spirit. Your body works so hard to keep you going, but just like your car it needs a tune-up to function at its prime. I suggest doing a cleanse with the guidance of a qualified holistic health professional.
Click here to learn about the 2010 Spring into Summer Total Body Reboot 2-week Cleanse Workshop.
10. Try a daily twist. Sit on the edge of your chair with feet flat on the ground. Holding onto your chair seat with your left hand, reach with your right hand across to your outer left thigh. Lengthen your spine with an inhale, on an exhale twist from your belly to your left. Hold for 2-10 breaths, then switch sides. Twisting is the most common detox pose in yoga. It puts a squeeze on many of the body’s major digestive and detoxification organs, as well stimulates the cerebral spinal fluid (feeds the brain).
