To Cleanse or Not to Cleanse… that is the question
Great time of year to cleanse…
Course, if you’re like me, there’s never really a great time to deprive yourself of all that bad shit that we like so much, is there?
But kind of the same way you rake the leaves in the yard, winterize a motorcycle engine, or quit drinking for a spell to give your liver a break before the holidays, cleansing can just be about giving the body a break…
When it doesn’t have to digest – or not so intensely – it opens up at least the possibility of devoting those calories to higher considerations.
I don’t take cleansing lightly. I love food, alcohol, drugs, sex…human experience – you name it and I like to overindulge in it.
But I’ve almost always found that if I can push through the hangriness of evening two then there is something more profound waiting for me on the other end.
(Get it? “Other end”.)
In all seriousness though, being able to disconnect from some aspect of our slavish relationship to hunger comes with a profound power.
Too busy to eat lunch today? No worries – you’re now on an intermittent fast, ha!
Don’t make a habit of rationalizing skipping crucial meals…at the same time explore other rationalizations you’ve made with your relationship to food over the last few to several months.
As much as I like the growth of awareness and sense of accomplishment that can come with it, I don’t particularly enjoy fasting so I try not to do it too often.
1-3 day Bone Broth (recipe HERE) cleanse once a year going into fall/winter…2-3 day Fruit Feast once in a while and the only one I’ll do in the summer…and a 7 day Liver and Gall bladder cleanse once every ten years or so…
I prefer mono-diet cleanses because then I still get some sensation of eating, and I still take in valuable nutrition. I’m currently halfway through broth cleanse as I type. As if on cue…my stomach growls.
There’s something simple and cool about a mono-diet cleanse – at the very least, there is no wondering “what am I going to eat for dinner?”. There aren’t many dishes either…
In that regard, it might even save you an argument with a significant other.
With bone broth specifically you also get a profound amount of nutrition packed into an easily digestible liquid. If you make it like Granny would’ve back in the day – totally clean ingredients (including water), every last bit of green scrounged from the garden, several chicken feet for the collagen – and, don’t skimp on the turmeric, ginger, and cilantro then you got real medicine simmering in a pot.
If you want to jack it up a notch or you’re a broke yogi there’s always the Master Cleanse (also called the “starvation cleanse”)…but I can’t speak to that particular deprivation. May as well give up sex…or air for that matter, if you ask me.
Whichever you choose, yogis, may God go with you (and those nearest you incurring your hunger related wrath)!
Set Yourself up For Success By:
- Taking it easy – mentally and physically, when you’re cleansing, just be cleansing. Rest as much as possible.
- Mono-diet cleanse. Have plenty of whatever you’re eating on hand…and none of what you’re not!
- If you live with someone else try and get them to do it too…or, give them a heads up you’re going to be a bit of a bastard for a few days.
- Time it wisely – into a weekend of work functions, during wedding season, or the day before Thanksgiving are all stupid and potentially egotistical times to cleanse.
The other day I saw a fortune-teller…she told me to, “spend more time channeling as a writer”. I said, “get out of my head, witch!” Visit me at www.justinkaliszewski.com or come take my class at Outlaw Yoga Littleton – “Colorado’s BEST Yoga Studio”.