Spring Clean and Renew
I had not been feeling myself for quite a while. I noticed that I had become sluggish, slow to get moving in the morning, lacking motivation and general Va Va Voom. This feeling of heaviness was starting to wear me down and I felt myself slipping into depression. You know it’s a problem when it starts to affect your relationships right? I had tried to cleanse, change my patterns and bring routine numerous times before but caved each time; tripping on the same old line! Chocolate, cheese and sweet treats – self-soothing comfort foods.
So spring has now arrived; my birthday time – the perfect time for a re-birth. A time for me to Spring Clean and Renew! My mum used to spring clean the house; why not spring clean my body? It is home after all. Well, 10 days later and I feel amazing. Back to LIFE, back to ME! The stars were clearly aligned. This time I have committed and stayed the course.
I have clarity, energy and a rekindled love of clean healthy whole foods. I feel inspired. What’s more I want to take care of my body; my temple. I am so grateful to my teacher, Takis, for his guidance, support and wonderful recipes. Watch out for Homemade Nutella in next week’s blog!
Eastern Wisdom – Traditional Chinese Medicine
It was not an intense and super strict detox more one of neutralising the body and giving it the support it needed. We learned to be guided by the body; connecting to our higher selves and listening and following intuition. The wisdom comes from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) following the seasons in terms of food and eating for our constitution.
As I have a damp constitution exacerbated by living in a cold and damp environment, I needed to keep to warm foods and broths. No juicing for me!
We began by preparing the body with a mono-diet for 3 days; then 3 days of liquid only; 1 day fasting; breaking the fast with another 3 days mono-diet. Mono-diet is about eating the same food for 1-2 days and is a beneficial practice to do every week. The same food can be anything from fruit, juices, kichari, soups whatever is in season and supporting the body really. Simple foods. For me it meant broths as juices are too cold for my constitution. Generally, in North West UK a juice diet is not ideal; they are better suited to warmer climates.
I feel amazing! Light, creative, focussed. I am emerging. Bring it!
We supported our cleanse with daily meditation and light movement – yoga and qi gong. If we needed to take rest, we took rest. A device detox went hand in hand and I soon began to notice a shift; I was no longer looking at insta every half hour or wanting to watch an episode of the latest box set on Netflix. Learning to listen to the body and be guided by its supreme intelligence. Body knows best.
Spring & Autumn Equinox | Time for Detox
The Spring and Autumn equinoxes are transitional seasons and a great time to detox as we move into a different season. If anyone would like to join me this Autumn with a cleanse before Winter, let me know in the comments below.
