I used to do a cleanse every spring when I was in my 20s. My favorite acupuncturist created it, and called it the Spleen Vacation.
You would choose a list of 20 foods, and only 20 foods, to eat for a week, to give your spleen and liver a break. No animal products, and only whole foods. Like 1-2 grains, 3-6 veggies, 2 fruits, one healthy fat, nuts and seeds. It was hard, and I would eat a lot of rice, steamed greens and avocados, but I always felt better afterwards, more clear, clean, and calm in my brain.
But I would return to my normal (not-so-good) eating habits soon after the conclusion of Spleen Vacation. And I never used the step-by-step reintroduction plan I teach in my Inflammation Free program.
Well, I’ve come a long way, baby!
Why Cleansing?
The purpose of a cleanse is, of course, to clean out your insides, but I’ve come to view it as so much more.
A cleanse is also an opportunity to settle down your underlying issues, so you can gain clarity on what may be contributing to them. Often, our symptoms are made worse by foods we’re eating every single day, but we can’t see that because we keep doing it. The same goes for some of our self-care habits.
Are you wrestling with signs and symptoms like insomnia? Panic attacks? Sudden bouts of diarrhea or gas? How about bloating? Are you feeling generally depressed, irritable, or unmotivated? What about rashes or acne? Do you experience PMS?
Though all these symptoms or conditions may seem unrelated, in my practice, resolving them always begins with removing the top inflammatory foods, and adding anti-inflammatory lifestyle habits. I call this process “clearing the muddy waters” because the inflammatory foods really cloud the picture if you’re trying to understand what your body is doing.
Cleansing Can Help Resolve Symptoms
I love helping my clients focus on permanently eliminating the foods and habits that are mucking things up inside to help them resolve symptoms, and to allow us to see what else is going on in there.
It’s so often something small. A recent client came to me with body aches and pains, as well as challenging moods. They also weren’t sleeping well. They were worried that something was seriously wrong with them, and didn’t know what to do.
In their intake session, we discovered that they were drinking around four cups of coffee every day, and regularly relied on sugary treats in the afternoon when they were feeling tired and mentally worn out.
Though it’s never an easy conversation (some of you might say things like “You can have my coffee…over my dead body”, right?), I suggested at least reducing the coffee slowly. We were also working through an inflammatory food elimination diet.
They already knew gluten didn’t work for them, and suspected dairy didn’t either. But they found that eliminating sugar made a huge difference with the pain they have been dealing with for quite some time. Combined with the reduced coffee, they began sleeping better, as well. So often, experiencing this success inspires more action, and gives us some breathing room to figure out what to do next.
Small changes add up to big results.
And of course, the devil is in the details…they weren’t sure how to go forward long term without sugar, as their body was still craving it strongly. And this is a challenge we all have to face with our health issues.
How do we continue to make the right choices, when the temptations to make the wrong ones are so ever-present, delicious, and easy?
I’ve found that the answer lies inside of our own personal “why”. Why do we want to feel better? What would we do if we were free of that symptom?
To define our “why” provides our motivation. After that, success is a practice of taking action, however small, to keep moving in that direction. Some days, that may entail staring down the cookies and moving on to something else. Other days, it might be skipping the extra coffee. Some days, you’ll fall off the wagon, but you need to remind yourself about your WHY, and take action.
So get out there and get taking action, even small steps, and get cleansing.
If you’re ready to begin improving your symptoms from the inside out, so you can feel better and do more of the things you love, I invite you to learn more about my Inflammation Free program.
