Take time every week to detox your body. One day a week, at a minimum, should be set aside for a complete detox day. This time of self-isolation is the perfect time to detox and begin a habit that you can keep with you for the rest of your life.
Detoxing your body on a regular basis is important because you are making a conscious effort to release toxins from your body that enter every moment of every day through the environment, pesticides on foods, chemicals in products, and any unhealthy vices you may have such as drinking coffee (hello, Starbucks addicts), eating sugar (bring on the Oreos), drinking alcohol (I’m convinced Corona Light will protect me) or smoking (bye-bye, Marlboro Man). It is important to focus on eliminating harmful things from your body and adding healthy and healing things.
During the detox process, it is important to try and only eat natural and organic items. These foods are to be the closest to whole foods (think of foods that existed before factories MADE food and added a bunch of preservative chemicals to the food). If your loaf of bread has an expiration date three weeks past the time you buy it then it needs to go in the trash bin. Buy the bread from the grocery store bakery that is baked daily. That bread isn’t loaded with preservatives so it will mold in a couple of days. If you can’t eat it fast enough, put it in the fridge or freezer.
Let’s start with fruits and vegetables. I was a lucky girl growing up because I grew up in the country and my Dad ALWAYS had two nice sized vegetable gardens in the summer. Because of this, I was introduced to vegetables and have a great love for almost every vegetable there is. Tomatoes were my favorite growing up. NOTHING beats a homegrown tomato. It always baffled me when someone told me they hated tomatoes and then I made the connection. The ones you buy in the grocery store are hothouse tomatoes and have ZERO flavor. No wonder someone would try a tomato and hate it. Over the years, I have been able to find some pretty tasty tomato growers. Ugly ripe and Red and Tasty are good brands that taste close to “the real thing”.
For the detox, you will need to eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Be adventurous and optimistic when picking out vegetables. Make the days that you detox vegetarian (no meat). If you can’t do a full vegetarian process, eat fruits and vegetables for breakfast and lunch. For dinner, you can eat a small amount of lean chicken, if desired. Cook it in the oven with a minimum amount of spices, except for garlic which can be added liberally. Squeeze a lemon over the chicken after it is cooked. To help you with your sugar elimination eat some fruit when you want something sweet. It will fulfill your sweet tooth cravings. Eat apples, pears, grapes, watermelon, cantaloupe, or grapes. Stay away from canned fruits and vegetables. Only use fresh.
Drink lots of lemon water all day long. Drink at least 8 glasses of lemon water to flush out your system. Lemons have a lot of Vitamin C which is known to boost your immune system. This is a good habit to get into on a daily basis. This is an important habit to adopt during these Covid-19 outbreak times. Use fresh lemons, if possible. For the detox, also drink fresh squeezed orange juice three times a day. Use fresh oranges and make your own juice. Bottom line: don’t forget to drink water – water – water!
OK, here is the hard part for most of us….Eliminating sugar, caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and preservatives. God, give me strength!!!! If you are able to eliminate these harmful products at least ONCE a week, you will feel energized and your body will feel in tune and refreshed when completed. If you do it often enough and are mindful of how you are feeling, you may give up the harmful vices altogether.
It is important to exercise daily, but definitely during your detox day. If you don’t already exercise, walking is the best activity to start with. During the detox, you need to walk at least three times during the day. Make sure each walking interval is 30 minutes long. This will help your blood flow and help to further push the toxins out of your body. Take multiple deep breaths during your walks and often throughout the day to push out any stale air that is trapped in the lower part of your lungs. Envision with each inhale that you are bringing clean air in and with each exhale you are releasing stale, toxic air from your lungs.
Use an exfoliating body scrub when you take a shower. Here is one on Amazon that I like: pureSCRUBS Premium Organic Body Scrub Set. It is an Unscented Body Scrub made with Dead Sea Salt and Infused Organic Essential Oils & Nutrients. The size is 16oz. The Amazon offer also includes a FREE Wooden Spoon, Loofah & Organic Exfoliating Bar Soap. You can buy here: https://amzn.to/3a9HUUm. You also need to take the time before bed to wash your face with an exfoliating cleanser. I like Biore Rose Quartz with Charcoal Gentle Pore Refining Scrub because it is oil-free, cruelty-free and dermatologist tested. You can buy here: https://amzn.to/3aaUdj4 Both of these procedures are going to help pull toxins out of your skin. Resist adding any moisturizers during the time you are detoxing because you will be adding chemicals back to your skin.
Most viruses enter your body through your nasal passages so it is important to keep them as clean as possible. I use a netipot nasal irrigation system daily to clean my nasal passages. I have had a love/hate relationship with my netipot but recently have gotten good at it, so it’s not hated so much. A netipot is a pot that you place warm water in and a saline solution to then you put your head to the side and place the spout of the netipot into your nose to wash out your nasal passages and any viruses or toxins that are hanging on to your nose hairs (cilia). I like Neilmed Netipot. He is one a well-known maker of the Netipot so I feel a sense of comfort when using his products. You can buy here: https://amzn.to/2Xw2njA
Meditate for at least 10 minutes upon waking. Take a moment before you begin and give thanks for the wonder of your body and ask for any areas that need to be healed to be repaired. If you don’t know how to meditate, no worries! YouTube has tons of videos you can access. I personally love The Honest Guys. They are professional Guided Meditatitors and all of their meditations are very professional and pleasant. Make sure you also add some light stretches and even yoga, if you want to go that far. Again, you can find many beginner yoga videos on YouTube to watch. You will be amazed at how good it feels to stretch. Do your stretching after you wake up and after you exercise.
This detox regimen can be repeated as often as you like during the Covid-19 period. For long term and optimum results, try to repeat the detox at least once a week with a couple of times a week even better. I hope you can feel the changes and that you decide to do it for the rest of your life.
Partial excerpt from my book “Spiritual Guidance for the Physical World” available for purchase on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3aaTSwZ
