Hi There! 

For years now I have been enjoying the results of my Seasonal Ayurvedic Cleanse. Twice a year I reset and strengthen my digestion, restore my energy and connect more deeply with my body.

I thought it was time to share with you the benefits and reasons why I do this.

For me, a cleanse is not a drastic deprivation of substances and starving my body. Rather it is a time to re-calibrate and get in touch with what my body is asking for. It is a time to reflect, tune in, slow down and nurture my body. This gives me more energy, enthusiasm and I feel more grounded.

Like taking the car to the garage for a tune up I like to give my digestive system a rest by simplifying my food. This strengthens my digestive fire so it has more energy to access deeper tissues to bring them nourishment and digest any waste that has accumulated through normal living.  

Ayurvedic cleansing is tailored to suit the individual. It is not a one size fits all approach!

From an Ayurvedic perspective, we all have different body types.

All of us are a unique combination of the 5 elements, Space, air, fire, water and earth.

To create a cleanse that is supportive to lasting health one needs to choose a cleanse to suit who they are and their current conditions.

A week long juice cleanse for an Air type of person will increase this air element too much and create a feeling of being ungrounded, dry, anxious and too light. This type of approach would suit a more grounded person, one who has more earth element who would benefit from this lightening approach.

A raw food diet can over time create bloating and pain and weaken one’s digestive power as raw food, despite having more nutrients, is harder to digest and many people are already struggling with digestive problems.

 

When is the best time to cleanse?

Nature provides us with seasonal junctions when nature itself is shifting or in flux.  These junctions are the perfect time for a cleanse.

Ayurveda teaches that our bodies reflect what is happening in nature. We are a microcosm of the greater macrocosm of the world around us.

The junctions between the seasons are ideal for reassessing your habits and cleansing. Especially at the end of the more extreme seasons of Summer and Winter.

The heat of Summer can dry and over stimulate. Mucous membranes can become dry and then over-reactive. The body naturally accumulated ore heat in Summer. As we shift into Autumn this is the time to re calibrate, expel any excess heat, soothe and nourish the body ready for Winter. 

Spring is a natural time to cleanse as we organically start to shed our winter accumulations as the weather warms up. Just like the sap starting to flow in the trees again our bodily processes naturally start to flow more freely in Spring. Tapping into this natural process allows for easier removal of wastes from the body.  

Spring has the energy of throwing open windows and airing, clearing and cleaning as we tune into the new life bursting around us in nature. We talk about Spring cleaning our houses the spaces we live in. Why not Spring clean our ultimate living space, our body!

 

Why Cleanse?

Our bodies have so much to process every day from what we take in from our environment; food, the air we breathe and all of our experiences need to be digested.

Over time, we all naturally accumulate more waste than our body can remove. This is especially true if our digestion and elimination is not functioning well. In Ayurveda we call this waste Ama.

Ama is a metabolic waste material, a sticky, heavy type of sludge that accumulates in our body over time. It gunks up our channels and tissues and blocks the natural functioning of the body.

Ama arises in our digestive system where, ideally, it moves to the large intestine to be removed each day from the body. However some Ama is reabsorbed into our blood stream, into our circulation to settle in different areas of our bodies and create problems.

How do you know if you have Ama?

• You feel heavy and our body feels fatigued
• Yu have inflammation, aches and pains
• You are dull and foggy in our mind 
• Lack of taste and smell
• Your tongue is coated and there can be a yucky taste in the mouth
• You suffer from regular headaches
• Your stool sinks to the bottom of the bowl and is smelly
• you feel tired, especially after eating

Does your body feel responsive and aware?

Having ama (toxins) dampens not only our digestion.

When ama is gunking up our channels, organs and tissues then we feel dull and disconnected from our innate body intelligence.

In this state we tend make poor choices whether that be with food, reaching for sugary pick me ups or other substances and this creates more Ama.

When we cleanse our body becomes clearer so we are more connected to our inner wisdom.

We can listen more clearly to what our body is actually asking for.

Then our choices everyday become easier and more aligned with what our body actually needs to be healthy and happy!

Yay!

 

How to Cleanse

It is important to be guided by an experienced practitioner. Planning also helps! 

A cleanse might be a 1-2 week period of eating food different to your normal way of eating. It takes some proper forethought and preparation.

It is important to remove what is tempting from your space.

Choose some recipes so that you know what to buy and have on hand.

Eat a plant based diet that is cooked and easy to digest. More soups and salads.

Reduce processed foods and buy fresh foods to provide more energy!

Give your body a break from coffee, alcohol, processed sugars.

Without this planning your cleanse will be more difficult and stressful. You don’t want to be stressed!

When you cleanse it is so important to meet yourself where you currently are. A cleanse ought to be compassionate and caring; a gradual shift toward listening to how your body wants to live, what it wants to eat and how you want to feel each day! It gets you in touch with your body mind wisdom.

Your digestion needs warmth and good clean and easy to digest food. This supports the power of digestion and mobilisation of toxins/ama out of the body.

There is a special Ayurvedic recipe that is extremely powerful for cleansing for all people. It allows agni to strengthen to digest and rid the body of deeper toxins, yet it nourishes the body at the same time. Not many foods can do that!

Mung Bean Soup! It doesn’t sound sexy but it is wonderfully effective and delicious! This soup will actually convert Ama, that body sludge, into fuel for the body to use as energy!

Mono diet of mung soup for 1 to 3 days; eat as much as need and drink plenty of warm water or herbal teas too. Ease in and out of this mono diet by gradually choosing foods that are more easy to digest such as soups and reducing bread meat and dairy.

Seasonal Ayurvedic Cleansing can be via not only what we eat, but also what we put on our body, our skin, and reducing habits that are harmful…lack of sleep, over working, toxic relationships.

Just 1-2 weeks, twice a year, practicing a cleanse is so beneficial for re-setting your digestion, creating a deeper connection with your body’s needs and replenishing energy reserves.

It is so worth doing!

If you would like additional support and guidance in undertaking a cleanse I am, once again offering my guided online cleanse this Spring!

This Seasonal Detox and Reset Program will run over 16 days starting on the 9th October  with a preparation and live cooking class call. Four live calls are included with a guidebook, recipes and more!

Click here for more details!

Leave a comment or question below!

Feel lighter, brighter and more connected to your body this Spring!

Feel lighter, brighter and more connected to your body with a cleanse

xx jacq