I’m doing a detox. I started it this morning.
Quick Note: I know some folks are going to get their knickers in a twist because I’m doing a detox and others will because I’m not doing it the way they think I should. Oh well – I’m going to do what I want to do so no point in arguing about it. 🙂
At any rate – the whole “detox” lasts about 3 weeks – 21 days. It’s something I have cobbled together from various sources (shared below). The first three days is a shake up – literally – 4 juice drinks/shakes a day, plus tea, water and supplements.
This is an intense period – can’t work during these three days – so I am treating these three days as a kind of “retreat”. This includes: twice daily meditation, short walks outside (5 – 10 mins twice a day), massage, detox baths and gentle yoga twice a day. In between all that is resting, reading and just taking care.
After those three days – I will move into a 10 day period of eating a very modified “mediterranean diet” – leaving out hot/trigger foods for food sensitivities and intolerances (the usual suspects like wheat, processed sugars, etc.). During this time, I have to work so the days aren’t spa like but I will keep the twice daily meditation and either a short walk or short gentle yoga practice. I will definitely focus on getting to bed early and getting a good night’s rest.
By day 14, I’ll be ready to move into re-introducing certain foods, one at a time, so that I can assess how my body reacts. This is also a time to begin extending my yoga practice. Meditation and good night’s sleep is still a priority. This last week is a time for testing and creating a maintenance plan.
Even though I am using the d-word, it doesn’t feel like the stereotypical detox to me. I am going for an approach that offers support to my body in ways that I don’t usually try.
I have been coming to the understanding that stress and anxiety have actual physical symptoms for me. The cortisol that my body generates is so habitual and unrelenting that somewhere along the way it became my ‘normal’. The problem is that the cortisol leads to a nasty condition, systemic inflammation – so many of my pains and issues, I believe, are a symptom of the inflammation. It’s so persistent though – it’s really hard to reverse the condition without making some major changes. I know moderation is the key but I’m so far from moderate when it comes to food – I’m just finding my way along and hoping to get to where I want to be one day.
I always have a library of information at my fingertips – one book I’ve been reading is, The Hormone Diet by Natasha Turner. What sold me was the endorsement by Christiane Northrup – love her. So, anyway, I saw this lady on an episode of Dr. Oz and some of what she said made sense to me so I looked her up and liked what I saw. I am intrigued by hormones and how they can change us. But more than that, I am fascinated by the idea of balance and how we need to be balanced down to the cellular level.
I think, since that convention at Disney World in October, I sort of lost my balance. And, not only did I fall into old habits of dealing with my stress and anxiety, but I fell back onto old stories. Stories that don’t really describe me any longer…they don’t hold water.
Sometimes we get so enmeshed in our stuff that we can’t see the way out of the morass. This detox is my way of waking up to the present – to reconnect with the now and to reset my attention and focus.
I’ll keep you posted on how it goes…