First Things First
Check in with your body, notice how you feel.
It matters if you are not comfortable! What else is dis-ease but a sign?
Where are you holding tension?
Are you breathing?
Are you hydrated with electrolytes?
Are you being nice to yourself?
The most important thing on ‘the Cleanse’ is to connect with and listen to your body.
Don’t go for perfection; it is not necessary. We have to stay calm and relaxed to be alkaline and move the body into fat burning, that is what makes removing the fat soluble toxins possible. Only use the portions of all these healing foods that work for YOUR body. We need this Cleanse to meet your body where it is right now!
The best thing you can walk away from the Cleanse with is a deeper connection to your own body. Everyone is their own healer and to heal yourself you have to have a rock solid, deep connection to your body based on appreciation, compassion and respect. Your body is working tirelessly all day, every day, to make all this happen for you. The Cleanse is your way of recognizing that and taking the time and effort to support yourself.
Appreciate and love your body, it will make ALL the difference on your path of healing.
The theme of the cleanse is:
Don’t push through it,
instead be still,
listen to your body,
and breathe!
-Susan Bass RYT-500
Ayurvedic Practitioner, Founder @Institute of Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy
www.theartofdigestion.com
In the Fall or Spring this protocol should be done for a minimum of 4 days, and can be followed by a supervised Ghee cleanse.
In the Summer or Winter follow this protocol for 3-7 days as a simple refresh to remove heat, clear your mind, and jump-start your digestive fire.
For maximum potency time with the waning moon.
Grocery List (as much organic as possible)
Suggested:
o Roasted dandelion root tea
o Marshmallow root, licorice root, slippery elm (for tea) or ‘Throat Coat Tea’
o Fenugreek seeds (for tea) or Fenugreek tea
o Turmeric powder
o Ghee, organic (flax seed oil or coconut oil if vegan, but ghee recommended)
o Ginger root, fresh (LOTS)
o Greens/Vegetables: dandelion greens, celery, watercress, beets, green beans, zucchini, parsley, cilantro (if you can’t find this stuff FRESH, then use whatever organic/local you can find)
o Apples, 4-8 (other fresh seasonal fruit in summer)
o Limes, 15 (none if histamine sensitive)
o Bio K+ probiotic (rice or non-dairy version if possible). In summer can sub raw apple cider vinegar, kombucha, kraut juice, non-dairy home-made yogurt)
o Trace mineral salt (Himalayan, Celtic, Redmond or Rock)
o Natural bristle skin brush with long handle (soft bristles) or raw silk glove
o Copper tongue scraper
o Sesame, almond, coconut, apricot kernel or sunflower oil for self massage (coconut or sunflower if dealing with excess heat, almond if feel depleted without excess heat, apricot kernel for extremely sensitive skin, sesame to warm body
Optional:
· Avocados
· Sprouted seed crackers (flackers, go raw, livin spoonful and it’s alive are all good brands)
· Hemp hearts or soaked/sprouted: pumpkin, sunflower, flax or chia seeds
· Chickpeas, hummus
· Rice milk, hemp milk
· Grains: Rice and steel cut oats are the best choices.
Soak for a few hours before cooking for digestibility, cook in soaking water. Could also use millet, amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa or teff, just slightly more heating.
· Beans: Mung, garbanzo, split pea, adzuki or lentils (esp red).
Make sure all beans are soaked overnight and cooked with fresh water and kombu for digestibility. Pour out the water for all beans before cooking with the exception of lentils.
· Goji berries
Buy dried but always soak in warm water before eating, avoid if high PITTA, on anti-inflammatory diet, or avoiding night shades)
· Sweet potatoes, yams, squash, other local/seasonal vegetables
· Triphala powder if needed for constipation (pills only if you can’t stand the taste)
· If on grain free version then use fresh made vegetable soups with small pieces of meat boiled in.
Tasty condiment ideas:
· Seaweed Gomasio (seaweed aka iodine, toasted sesame seeds aka calcium, sea salt)
· Pickled shiso leaf powder (rich in minerals and vitamins especially iron has anti-inflammatory properties and is also said to stimulate the immune system)
1) Diet
Use Diet to alkalize your body and prepare detox channels (and to allow it to burn fat i.e. drain fat-soluble toxins).
Water- Drink approximately ½ your body weight in ounces per day (ex. 144lb * ½ = 72oz). Taking a sip of warm water every 10-15 minutes is a powerful lymphatic flushing technique. Only take SMALL sips of water during or right after meals. Too much water during a meal or after a meal dilutes the digestive enzymes and compromises digestion. Add 1 teaspoon of fresh lime juice (and/or a sprinkle of mineral salt/electrolyte) to every 8 oz of water. You may sip herbal teas in addition to water (see specific recommendations below).
For the most part eat a low fat diet. This may include rice, beans, lentils, sweet potatoes, steel cut oats, soup (should be non-dairy and low fat), salad, soaked seeds, seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables, *except* add 1 teaspoon of ghee to every meal. (can substitute flax seed oil or coconut oil). Essentially for this brief cleanse session, we are staying away from toxic fat sources and ensuring some “healthy fat” as part of a balanced meal.
Eat 1-2 Servings of pureed Bieler Broth/Green Soup per day, serving size is 8oz. Must be eaten with fat and protein, such as a little ghee or coconut oil mixed in & hemp hearts or soaked seeds on top for protein.
Eat 1-2 Servings of blood cleansers per day for the first four days. Typical approach is to eat ¼-1 peeled/grated raw beet with fresh lime on top at beginning of meal. For a moderate approach steam the beet or drink 2-4oz unsweetened tart cherry juice on an empty stomach. For a mild approach eat a raw pomegranate, pomegranate juice or sip hibiscus/rose tea on an empty stomach.
Eat 1-3 apples per day for the first four days. Raw is fine, but can be steamed/baked for a milder approach. Best eaten after a meal. In Summer, can substitute berries or other local fruit.
Drink 1 cup Fenugreek or turmeric-ginger tea per day.
Drink 1 cup Dandelion tea mixed with either slippery elm (throat coat), marshmallow or licorice tea per day.
Drink Ceylon cinnamon tea before meals if struggling with blood sugar imbalance. Add whey protein or lean chicken only if needed to stabilize blood sugar levels (try sweet potato with ghee, hemp seeds and goji berries first)
Please avoid all gluten, dairy, caffeine, sweeteners, alcohol, corn, soy, eggs, fish, nuts, shellfish and peanuts. Please also avoid nicotine, cannabis and unnecessary medications. Reduce salty, sour and pungent tastes.
2) Schedule
· First thing in the AM scrape tongue
· Then drink 6-12oz warm lime water to start the kidney flush (can replace lemon/lime with a sprinkle of mineral salt if citrus bothers you or sensitive teeth)
· Practice 20 minutes morning yoga, alternate nostril breathing of bellow breath meditation (must be adjusted to your body, if you have high blood pressure or glaucoma please discuss with me first)
· Before shower dry brush skin with raw silk glove or soft skin brush to move the lymph (always brush towards the heart).
· 5 Minute daily oil massage after your shower (always massage toward the heart)
· 3 meals a day with no snacks – (try to make your meals bigger, without over-eating, or with more protein and fiber if you continue to feel the need for an in between meal snack. If you NEED snack then have an apple. *****
· Before your breakfast in the morning, slowly chew up small handful of well washed organic watercress leaves to alkalize your body (use parsley or cilantro if any thyroid issues)
· Eat the bulk of your food between 10am and 2pm (largest meal of the day with the most difficult to digest foods)
· Be in bed by 10 pm (at the absolute latest 10:30pm) so you are asleep when the liver does its daily detox from 10pm to 2am
3) Practice Three Part Breath
with a natural pause as you move through your day, notice how you feel.
The average person takes 26,000 breaths a day, so it is important that it is done right. Correct breathing can teach your body how to process and release stress in such a way that we can become more alkaline. (Indeed this is a well known medical fact and closely linked to vital signs; with the breath we certainly have the power to change the pH of our blood.)
Three Part Breath
· Sit comfortably with your spine erect
· Inhale – first into your abdomen, then expand your ribs, then your upper chest
· Natural Pause (in between inhale and exhale), don’t hold the breath
· Exhale – upper chest, then ribs, then abdomen, soften the entire body
· Gently blend the three parts together so it’s a smooth continuous breath
· Keep your body relaxed