Blessings and welcome to the calmest space online! And if this is your first time visiting Yoga Inspires-thank you. Feel free to browse around and treat yourself to some quality time-out blogs which inspire and encourgae you to relax, release stress and take good care of yourself. If there are any particular yoga and wellness topics you would like to find out more about, email and let me know and I’ll be delighted to write a blog for you.
7 Day Health and Vitality Cleanse
I have just finished the most amazing cleanse I have ever done. I am part of an online health and wellness group and last week we were invited to take part in a 7 Day Alkalising Health and Vitality Cleanse organised by Kate from Organic Alkaline Life
It was an amazing experience and I learnt a lot about how the every day foods we eat effect the ability of our liver, kidneys, our blood and even heart from working effectively.
Eating well is my weakest area in terms of looking after myself. I have a habit of eating my main meal late at night and mindlessly snacking/grazing throughout the day and skipping meals; so for me, one of the reasons why I wanted to do the Cleanse was to re-educate my cells and get back in touch with a more nurturing and healthier way of eating.
Over the the last two weeks, we were given clear directions on how to pre-cleanse and prepare ourselves for the Cleanse. During the cleanse we were actively encouraged to drink lots of water, eat regularly and given even loads of tips and recipes to cleanse, nurture and nourish ourselves using everyday fruits and vegetables to make delicious heart warming soups and smoothies.
Do you eat at least 2 good sized salads a day? Do you eat at least a 70% alkaline diet to maintain your internal pH balance?
The aim of the cleanse was to start the process of cleaning up our body by introducing more alkalising foods into our daily diet. Wheat, diary, sugar, caffeine and gluten were banned for the week. Kate offered us lots of novel and easy ways to make smoothies and soups to cleanse our blood and keep blood-sugar levels stabilised- sweet potatoe soup and rice and quinoa crackers were my favourites.
As members, we watched exclusive health videos and took part in interactive webinars looking at topics ranging from how to cleanse your liver and colon, the role of environmental toxins on your body, and for me the most frightening training video was the effect of our everyday diet on our blood. It was scary seeing what we do to ourselves through eating highly processed foods, acidic foods and copious amounts of sugar and diary.
I am not a vegan and eat wheat and diary; yet watching the videos and seeing how great and alive I felt at the end of a week of no wheat and diary inspires me to eat less of these foods. Plus, research findings indicate eating less animal fats, diary and wheat has a beneficial effect on our environment, health and energy levels and more importantly on the quality of our blood cells.
A key component of the Health and Vitality Cleanse was using Five Alive Green Vitality – super food natural, organic supplements. I have being using the Five Alive Green Vitality for a while and happy with the cleansing and healing effects I feel when using it.
Group Support
During the week, I was surprised at how much “stuff” – past emotional abuse and unhappy health conditions came up. I really thought I had dealt with past pain and illness, yet as the week drew on I found myself reliving and remembering more than I cared to remember and share here.
I had a dull nagging headache for 3-4 days and even though I don’t usually use sugar, I had strong cravings and desire for sugar. For a couple of days I felt nauseated and had massive mood swings, which made my sugar cravings worse. On the plus side, my yogic teachings and ability to focus on the breath took the edge of the cravings. I did lots of yogic twists and restorative yoga poses and wrote life affirming affirmations to strengthen my desire to eat foods which “nurture, sustain and build me up from the inside out.”
As part of the programe, Kate set up a Skype Support Group. I found it very reassuring and inspiring to tune in, get immediate advise about how to deal with the negative effects of the cleanse and read other members messages as they shared their daily highs, lows and insights of the week.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Last week felt like I gave myself a rest, a chance to breathe, to listen and clean up my act. Kate is an amazing women. She freely shared her knowledge, is non-judgemental and full of life wisdoms about health and healing. You name it, when it comes to natural health and holistic living Kate leads by example. Also, coming out of my divorce, it was nice for me to see the way Kate and her partner Vince work together to promote healthier ways of living; which made me also think a bit more about the type of relationship I would like to be in and way I would like to live my life
Kate will be offering another 7 Day Health and Vitality Cleanse after Christmas. Best time to help us get our year off to a healthier more natural way of eating.
I’d love you to join me on the next 7 Day Health and Vitality Cleanse, there are numerous benefits from doing a guided group cleanse and lets make 2013 a healthier more wholesome start to your year. I’ll keep you informed of the day and best way to join. Bring On The Greens!
And, finally, have you ever been on a Cleanse or detox? If you have what was your experience? If you haven’t, would you go on one, what sort of things would stop you doing it? Share your thoughts in the comment box below and as usual if you enjoyed this post, I’d love you to share it with your friends and loved ones.
Stay well and may you be blessed with abundant health and vitality.
[…] Well, despite the snow and cold nights Spring is official here in the UK! With the brighter mornings and “slighter warmer” temperatures my body is beginning to feel lighter and calling out for a cleanse and detox. The last health cleanse I did was in October 2012, which you was excellent and left me feeling energised and ready to face the winter . You can read more about how I got on during this 7-Day Health and Vitality cleanse here. […]