Spring Cleanse, Anyone?

In college, my roommates and I would do a cleanse every three months, believing that detoxing would somehow lessen the damage we inflicted on ourselves the rest of the time. We tried all kinds of options: we only drank lemon juice, laced with garlic; we subsisted on veggie broth for a week; we drank bitter green smoothies for as long as we could stand them. My personal favorite: a 10-day grape fast. Unfortunately, we signed up for that right when the farm workers struck and everyone was boycotting the green table grapes we planned on eating. So we had to make due with purple grapes with giant seeds in them. Talk about slow mindful eating. I even tried to fast for three days years ago, when I joined a group that Jesse Jackson organized in Chicago. I never told anyone this, but I cheated by ducking into a convenience store and sweet-talking the clerk into giving me two oranges and an apple, which I hid in my jacket.

So clearly, I can’t fast, and I hate the types of cleanses that make me take a fistful of supplements while sipping some kind of clear consommé. But I do like the ritual of starting fresh every season. I want a program that will flush out my liver, boost my metabolism, and get me back on track so that I’m eating better and reestablishing healthy daily habits. Seems to me that spring is as good a time as any to try again. I bet I’m not the only one that wants to do a detox but is nervous about the process. If you are, too, reading this why cleanse article might help.

Anyway I decided that Yoga International should get together with some like-minded partners and create a cleanse that would be easy for everyone to do, even me; one that would allow us all to eat real food at least twice a day; and one that would include yoga and breathing exercises. I also figured people might need some sort of incentive so they wouldn’t give up when the detoxing process got a little intense or when a better offer came along. So that’s what we did. Scott Blossom put together an Ayurvedic cleanse and I gathered up some online yoga practices to create a free seven-day Spring Renewal Challenge. Now that I’m sold, I think everyone should do it with me. This whole-foods protocol provides everything we need, so we don’t even have to think about the how and why of it all. The cleanse site has recipes to make the kitchari (an Indian stew that’s amazingly filling and tasty) and the breakfast porridge, the digestive teas and the steamed veggies. Manduka even offers great yoga prizes and incentives to any of us who complete the full seven days. And the best part? IT’S FREE! and you don’t have to start on a particular day. You can start it whenever you want. So I guess I have no excuses left–I’m doing it. Sign up with me!

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Sally A.

10:14PM PDT on Mar 20, 2013

Thanks for the info. I have been basically trying to watch what I eat more. Getting into fruits and veg dishes now.

March 20
send a green star

paul m.

7:22AM PDT on Mar 18, 2013

Thanks for ..

March 18
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Bill and Katie D.

8:08PM PDT on Mar 17, 2013

even if we cannot do the fasting and cleansing, good to think is to watch what we eat more.

March 17
send a green star

Care m.

1:15AM PDT on Mar 17, 2013

Thanks

Heather H.

9:44AM PDT on Mar 15, 2013

March 15
send a green star

Michele W.

6:40AM PDT on Mar 15, 2013

Thank you

Fi T.

6:26AM PDT on Mar 15, 2013

We need a break through at the beginning of a year

Laura S.

4:52AM PDT on Mar 15, 2013

Lovely article.

Danuta W.

3:22AM PDT on Mar 15, 2013

Thanks for the article.

Paula G.

3:02AM PDT on Mar 15, 2013

Don't believe in cleansing. Stripping your body of nutrients for days at a time may seem like a good way to get rid of crap but the body does this naturally unless you have health issues. And if people do it to lose weight they put it right back on when they go back to regular food.