There is no perfect time to cleanse
Grab your free week 1 – pre detox guide – print & post on fridge!
Greetings people on the verge of cleansing,
I had a quick chat with a lovely and dedicated yoga student (we’ll call her Jane) at our local coffee shop in Driggs. I was waiting to meet my new manager and had a few minutes. Jane started telling me how she is a dedicated follower of my blog and newsletters and that … someday… she is going to cleanse with me.
I asked what is holding her back?
Jane’s response: Timing.
Ah, yes, the timing resistance/obstacle. Having the space and time to do a cleanse is lovely. Some would argue having space and time to do a cleanse is required. Most traditional holistic practitioners insist on it.
But not I. Having the time and space to do a cleanse is a luxury you might not be able to afford, evaluated by your savings account or your adrenal glands . The belief that you need a special time and space is what is actually holding you back from your Potential. Here is how it goes:
You have 2 basic selves: Your Status Quo and Your Potential You.
Your status quo self has a momentum that is directing the show. Your Status Quo (and my status quo) has the momentum…. Your Potential You is but a distant vision. Look back on your last few springs. Did you cleanse? Did your family cleanse? In retrospect, do you wish you had taken the leap and just started a new season tradition? If you did start, is there a shifted momentum in the cells of your body pushing you deeper into Your Potential You this spring?
Your status quo self makes time for your status quo self. Your higher awareness needs to make time to step into your potential. Now. Not next year. Now. From the perspective of Your Potential is there ever going to be a more perfect time to wake up your bodily intelligence in sync with Nature’s rhythms?
Why You Want to Cleanse in Spring
Remember – Your potential is more collective than individual. You are not just you. You have a history of the species, which comes from primate lineage. Our species has been farming for 10,000 years; processing and denaturing foods for 60 years; eating primarily green plants, fruits, seeds, nuts, insects for 200,000 years. A huge chunk of our diet historically involved green plants.
We want to activate the intrinsic intelligence in your cells that remembers eating green plants. That’s the smart part that wants to cleanse. (If it’s asleep, your mind might create ideas like you need a special time and place to cleanse 🙂
Activate your Smart Parts in the A.M. The part of you that wakes up and wakes coffee and donuts isn’t the smart part. The part that wakes up and knows you should drink water and move your butt until you sweat is the smart part. That’s the part that of you we want to wake up in Spring… and the part that Spring naturally wakes up. (Notice- the birds don’t sleep in during Spring).
Feed your Smart Parts
In the morning your body energetically has the greatest amount of the heavier energetics, earth and water, that is will have for the whole day. The earth and water elements serve as the building blocks or foundation of your day.
Earth + water = heavy.
Eat eat heavy = feel heavy = less energy
Eat light = feel light = more energy
Light foods are foods with stored sunlight. Think chlorophyll.
Light foods = green foods.
Drink a Smart Drink: Activate Your Potential You
(enough for 2 people)
2 cups leafy greens (kale, carrot tops, parsley, etc.)
1 large grapefruit
2 tsp. raw honey
2 tbsp. flax seeds
3 cups water
(optional: 1/2 inch fresh ginger and turmeric root)
Blenderize to heck and back.
Drink on empty stomach. Wait an hour before eating anything else.
What is happening:
You are energizing your body with easily absorbable nutrients without the density of solid or cooked food. You are taking in the full range of taste energetics which move energy into cells and move waste/toxins out of cells.
What do you notice? Comment on the blog.
Do you feel more energy?
Is your mouth more awake to wider variety of tastes (bitter, sweet, sour, pungent, astringent)?
Does your body and mind feel more smart or less smart?
While I appreciate the wisdom of the ancients… and the wisdom of traditional wisdom traditions detox methods that do require time and space to execute properly…. I know that you can uplevel your grocery list, your kitchen and your body in the same amount of time it takes do engage with your status quo.
In the name of Your Potential You!
love, cate
Julie
Posted at 00:28h, 05 AprilMy ayurvedic nutrition studies have taught me to follow the usual glass of warm water with with a warm, ancient grain to ground the body, alkalize PH balance, and give the day a sweet (loving) foundation. Drinking a green + citrus fruit drink on an empty stomach seems like it would do the opposite – stress your digestive tract and lead to hyper acidity which isn’t good for Pitta and probably wouldn’t satisfy Kapha. Vata might be OK. What are your thoughts?
Cate Stillman
Posted at 18:40h, 06 AprilHi Julie,
Thanks for commenting. Your grain beverage sounds lovely. However:
If agni is healthy and the person is hungry, taking in high vibrational, high enzymes nutrients doesn’t create stress or hyperacidity. The body merely absorbs the goods and vibrates at the level of intelligence of the inputs.
My thoughts are exactly the opposite on your dosha analysis. Vatas tend towards vishama agni (variable) and need the most stabilization, warmth and unctuousness. Your grain drink with a touch of ghee and ginger would help those with weak agni begin their day. Once agni is recovered and the person can absorb high vibrational nutrients the green drink at room temperature is fine.
Julie
Posted at 15:18h, 12 AprilThank you for this thought provoking response, Cate. I have felt what you day to be true in my body, but have been struggling to relate it to the very traditional form of ayurveda I have studied. This helps.
Jeanne Louderbough
Posted at 16:46h, 13 AprilHi Cate!
Greetings from the desert in Tucson! I’m longing for a spring cleanse, especially since I’ve just come off the pill after taking it for almost 10 years! There are two things, though, that are preventing me from signing up right now and I thought you could offer some suggestions.
I’m graduating in May and have family coming in from out of town to celebrate and I want to be able to celebrate with them. If I’m cleansing, I’m worried I’ll be the person who’s not willing to eat/drink what the group is having and I’ll feel isolated, picky, and perhaps an inconvenience to the group. Do you know that feeling? What’s more, I want to enjoy a drink with everyone during this celebratory time.
The other thing holding me up is that I am participating in a sprint triathlon on May 22nd. I’m wondering if I can keep up a rigorous training schedule (swim, bike or run for up to an hour a day five to six days a week) and still cleanse. The triathlon is important to me, and I love these sports!
Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks, and lots of love!
Jeanne
Cate Stillman
Posted at 18:34h, 13 AprilJeanne!
Great to hear from you. So amazing you’re graduating.
2 thoughts:
1. the May cleanse becomes the online cleanse. You could listen in, get the group vibe and do a deeper cleanse following the triathalon.
2. You could just do the cleanse – just a lighter version, and enjoy the champagne. Usually people coming out fo the cleanse and strong and clean and ready to compete.
xox
c