Happy Healthy Tuesday.
Blessings and greetings on this cold January day. It's been awhile since I last checked in maybe since before the new year . Happy New Year by the way, I hope your all doing well and enjoyed your NY celebrations. Also I hope your achieving your personal goals & resolutions you may have set for yourself for 2019. As for myself I have been on a holistic raw juice detox for the last few weeks that actually began a little before the New Year with all the prep work to ensure it be a successful journey (lol food shopping and last meal indulging).
The reason I decided to do a raw holistic detox was I felt the need to detox my body from a few not so good food choices that were becoming habits of bad eating but more importantly my mind and spirit from some not so favorable thoughts & negative thinking patterns as well.
As many of you may know the last few months of 2018 were difficult for me as I loss my older brother to heart failure at the age of 47yrs old and my grandpa who lived to the amazing age of 92 just weeks apart as well as lossing my cat Max who had been my buddy for over 10yrs. Needless to say I was going through it emotionally & mentally and for anyone who has experienced loss of this magnitude everyday is a challenge to be strong & stay present. I began to sink deep into these feelings of sadness & loss yet trying to push through my days as normal as possible recognizing that things were far from normal. I was in mourning, struggling to stay connected to the outside world wanting to crawl inside of myself and just hide in my sorrow. Although these losses were of natural causes, old age and non violent in nature the impact was still devastating and needed to be honored.
The Practice of fasting/detoxing is something I've tried in the past and had found success on so many levels. By nature I tend to intermediately fast on a daily basis by not eating or feeling hungry until well after noon or even 1 or 2pm sometimes. In the past I've used fasting as away to regulate my weight and to gain spiritual connection to higher power. I believe my longest fast/detox in the past may have been 3 days at most.
I chose this raw holistic detox as a way to align myself with my purpose, get some prospective of where I am in my life and find healing in the mist of my sorrow.
During this detox I have been juicing raw fruits & veggies almost daily with no solid or cooked foods ( oh did I mention it was raw vegan by the way no solid food).
I begin the day with a warm glass of water followed by a mix of herbal tea I have created to promote memory, energy and well being (peppermint, ginkgo biloba, rhodiola and gotu kola). My first juice of the day is a mixture of raw citrus fruit followed by my second juice of the day and which consist of mostly greens with a scoop of super food mix that I also created myself (wheatgrass, spirulina, chlorella, matcha & moringa) and then ending the day with another homemade mixture of healing detoxing herb tea to remove waste from the body (senna, sting nettle, burdock and spearmint). This is the regime for the first few days of my detox by the 3rd day I incorporate a glass of activated charcoal mixture to kind of help gather the toxins in my body and help push them out. This detox is a challenge truly a testament to one's dedication to selfcare. By day 5 or so I've added in a smoothie at the end of the day, no nut milk though only coconut water fruit and raw protein powder. And by day 6 & 7 the biggest salad you can imagine is enjoyed (well not that big because by now my stomach has shrunk but you get the picture). The detox is actually a 7 day detox that I have extended to go though out the month of January taking it 7 days at a time. (I'm on my 3rd round). In between the rounds I have had a few warm vegan meals lol it's been cold and I've had a few moments of weakness but hey we're all human & doing our best.
In addition to being raw and vegan only I have given up smoking and social media during this time, limiting my communication and increasing my yoga, meditation, reading and spiritual practices. This journey is about healing and going within. It's been challenging at times not to connect in some of the ways I'm use to connecting and just crazy how many notifications one receives in a day from social media trying to get your attention.
So far it's been an amazing journey and the healing needed to create a deeper connection to my present world. So far I have experienced deeper sleep & more dream recall. Lol a little weird some of the stuff I'm dreaming about like Common the rapper & mom talking in grandma's old house for instance. I'm waking up in the morning with less morning grogginess though & feeling a quite a bit lighter mentally also physically. Not intended but not a problem either I have loss 5.6lbs during my first round of detox (I'm sure it's water weight also I should note that weight loss was not my goal and with most fast or detox when you go back to eating weight can return if not careful to manage food intake well). As I said I've decided to go for the month of January with the detox still with the same goal of alignment, purpose and healing.
Often we find ourselves challenged with life and all it involves, taking a moment to slow down and get clarity and redefine what's important in our lives is a must for the forward momentum on this journey. We can not be consumed by the lessons of our journey but encouraged by them.
Namaste,
M.
*Special Thank you to Rashidat Owe for sharing her 7 day Holistic Detox
http;://www.lulu.com/spotlight/7DayHD