Detox Secrets - Part II
Detoxification or Cleansing is vital to optimise your body’s energy levels and to prevent and even reverse chronic dis-ease(s). It is a widely used, effective and traditional method to keep your digestive elimination regular, your circulation under control, and also helps to keep stress to a minimum. Cleansing maintains good health and promotes your body’s natural healing from illnesses.
Now if you didn't see the first article in this series, then you might be wondering if you need to Detox or not? Hopefully, you apprciate that unfortunately we live in a toxic world so it is very likley that everyone needs to cleanse regularly anyway whether you realise it or not. So do you...
- Do you feel bloated, constipated and congested?
- Have you gained unwanted weight even though you are not eating more food and are exercising regularly?
- Do you feel tired and low in energy? (signs of an acidic diet & lifestyle)
- Has your digestion worsened? (a sign your body isn't using its nutrients well)
- Is your hair and skin looking less healthier than normal?
- Do you frequently get mouth sores, yeast infections, urinary tract infections, unusual allergies?
- Do you have any chronic dis-ease(s)?
- Do you feel foggy and out of sorts?
- Do you regularly eat processed or fast foods?
- Do you drink alcohol regularly?
- Do you smoke regularly or use other drugs (incl prescription or chemist medicines)?
- Do you feel like you need to clear the cobwebs from your brain?
- Do you drink less than 3 liters of water per day?
- Is the pH of your urine & saliva acidic when you first wake up in the morning?
If you have ticked yes to three or more of the above then a cleansing detox will likely benefit your body to regain balance, increase your vitality and allow healing to begin wherever needed.
As noted in Part I, there are many methods of detoxification influenced by many cultures around the world and some more are described here for you today. Some methods are physical approaches that speed toxin removal from tissues so your body can excrete them from the various elimination methods, eg kidneys, bowels, skin, airways. Other methods are plant or food based, which treat the body to loads of alkaline & immune-boosting components that chelate with & inactivate toxins & acids to facilitate their removal.
For Part II, I will introduce more here and add even more options in future articles so stay tuned for that.
Exercises for Detoxing
One of the most important detoxification methods is regular exercise. Exercise accelerates the removal of toxins through our largest organ of elimination, the skin, when we sweat. Activity also stimulates lymph flow, which depends solely on muscular movement (or massage) as the lymph system has no pump mechanism like the blood. You can think of the lymph system as the body’s sewer supply, so lymph function is critical to our body’s ability to cleanse itself. Exercise also enhances metabolism and circulation.
Almost any kind of exercise, a brisk walk, riding a bicycle to working in your veggie garden, increases the circulatory system’s transportation of oxygen and nutrients to our cells, while carrying away toxins and wastes from tissues to be eliminated. Further, exercise counteracts the greater risk for some diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, that correlate with a sedentary and overly acidic lifestyles.
Lymphacising is the most significant exercise to get the lymph system flowing and is better at doing so than any other form of exercise known. Two sessions per day of 2-3 minutes of simply bouncing gently on your rebounder is sufficient to ‘take out the trash’ from your lymph system. In fact, lympacising is so important, I will write an article shortly on this topic alone.
Yoga is a wonderful form of exercise because it sends blood & energy flowing to particular places in a practical way. For example, shoulder stands get your blood flowing the opposite way from its usual course. Yoga poses, or asanas, help soothe the muscles and soften blocks of stress that have accumulated over time. Yoga also incorporates conscious breathing and meditation; just 20 minutes each day can do wonders not just for your body, but also for your spirit. Calmness, joy & happiness (positive emotions) all create alkaline hormones while stress, anger and other negative emotions release acidic hormones.
Again, nearly all exercise is beneficial but choose something you get joy from doing.
If your happy about what your doing, there are extra benefits over and above the physiological ones.
Breathing
My first exposure to the benefits of deep breathing was at an Anthony Robbins seminar held in Melbourne. Since then I have explored other avenues and I now use a breathing method based on pranayama.
India’s Ayurvedic system of health utilises pranayama or breathing techniques, to settle, balance, and detoxify the body. In the Ayurvedic methods & tradition, prana refers to the vital life force, and pranayama is the process by which this vital force is increased.
Certain breathing techniques enhance your body’s ability to eliminate toxins because detoxification is directly related to the delivery of oxygen to cells and removal of carbon dioxide. Cancer is widely considered an anaerobic condition so flooding the body with oxygen by effective deep diaphragmatic breathing is highly beneficial in many ways.
Try ‘Full belly breathing’ (breathing from and into the diaphragm region of the body to ease stress and anxiety and oxygenate the body). Start by lying down on your back with arms relaxed to the side and palms up, feet naturally splayed open, and eyes closed. (If you experience discomfort in this pose in the lower back, simply bend the knees, leaning them against one another, or if the legs are extended, place a towel underneath the head and/or your knees.) Sitting in a relaxing pose is also fine if laying down is not an option for you.
Now exhale slowly and fully without force while allowing the navel region to fall in. Breathe in and out through the nose for 16 breaths which can take up to 3-4 minutes. Meditate or mentally focus on the breath starting from the lower abdomen region and then slowly expand your chest.
Allow yourself to naturally pause at the top of the breath (eg for 3-5 seconds or whatever is comfortable for you) before the allowing the breath out slowly starting with gently collapsing your chest before your abdomen region does so. Again, pause at the bottom of the breath before repeating. I count the 16 breaths using the tips and joints of the 4 fingers (4 on each = 16).Very relaxing and I sometimes do not feel the need to breath again after finishing for quite some time.
Detoxing with Massage
Dating back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, Massage is an excellent method to improve lymph movement and blood flow. Massage can aid in getting cellular wastes and accumulated toxins/acids out of the tissues, into the bloodstream, and to the kidneys & bowels where they can be eliminated.
Some massage therapists can even match specific massage techniques to their client’s constitutions. One example is a salt massage. This method stimulates the large lymph glands and exfoliates the skin, as the skin is the largest organ of elimination. Use a blend of Himalayan salt, oil, and an assortment of herbs (alkaline) during the massage, then rub off afterwards with hot towels. You could even add in some Cleansing ClayTM (alkaline Bentonite) but this require a shower afterwards. Swedish massage which is a more vigorous rubbing technique that really stimulates the lymph and circulatory systems, might be better while a lymphatic drainage technique might suit another individual.
Try out some different massage methods to find the one that resonates with you and gives you the best result.
Aromatic essential oils such as lemon and grapefruit (rich in alkalising salts) enhance the detoxification process, as does regularity of treatments. Massage can be enjoyed on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis to ensure the treatments address the body’s deepest layers where undesirable toxins, wastes and acids accumulate over time.
Now while not really massage, relaxation & subtle energy release methods such as Reiki are having a resurgence and rightly so. I have a level 2 certification for Reiki and the ‘laying on of the hands’ can be highly beneficial and very relaxing. An experienced practitioner is recommended.
I trust you have found Part 2 of this series of articles highlighting the benefits of various methods for naturally cleansing, detoxifying and removing acidic waste from your body useful. There’s more to come so stay tuned.
As with any information provided, this is for educational purposes only & it is not intended to take the place of advice from your HealthCare professional. Check with yours to see if these techniques are suitable for you.
As I mentioned in the first instalment, two quotes resonate powerfully with me when it comes to our health. Firstly, Hippocrates said ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.’ And Thomas Edison is quoted as saying, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause of disease.”
And I’ll say it again because the more I do, the more it will manifest. I have a vision of a world without dis-ease. It’s a big dream I know. Maybe you can help me to achieve this as it starts one person at a time. I trust you found this information shared today useful and experience the benefits of owning your own health. Reward you body regularly with a liquid, cleansing feast and let the simple and natural detoxifying techniques shared in this series of articles help you to improve your own life. Help yourself and those you love to foster prevention, allow your body the resources it needs to heal naturally and inspire a future that is stress-less, at-ease, and live happier longer lives! And remember to…
Be Healthy…You Deserve it
Kevin Carle
Health Coach
Body, Mind, Spirit Environmentalist
www.yourhealthcoaching.weebly.com