This week, what went well?
Have to confess, this was a difficult one because it just
was so cold and snowy…and it started to get to me even more than last week.
I did manage to get to the gym and/or yoga everyday. I did manage to keep up my wellness journal
and food diary and kept up the contemplative prayer practice. All of this went well.
What didn’t go well?
It’s eating that went out the door. I mean, I did eat my green smoothie every
day, so at least I know I was getting some healthy stuff, but I overdid it on
sugar twice because I was just feeling low and wanted a lift. It would have been better if I could’ve gone
for a walk, but it is so cold and then there’s the fact that it was super busy
as well. This week will be better. You know, the important thing is to recognize
that this is a journey and whenever we stumble, we just get back up and keep
going. We cannot let it throw us off the
powerful journey to true health. And I
call this journey powerful, because in January and February I felt the power of
health in the fact that I did not get sick when EVERYONE around me was sick and
I kept trucking right along. I did get
low emotionally once or twice (or three or four times) but nothing that wasn’t
manageable with a session of yoga and meditation…or a good time rehearsing with
my students!
This week I begin a 40 day Lenten journey for spiritual
understanding and health consciousness taken to the next level. I am going to do a whole foods detox for the
first 10 days of Lent, including no dairy and no sugar (we know how much I
struggle with that one) and no gluten.
Basically, trying to get the body to a place where we can tell how it
responds to allergens and such. So, I
know most of my allergies, but I feel like we can always be more in tune with
ourselves physically and spiritually.
This will be the first ten days of my Lenten journey, beginning with a
24 fast on Wednesday to mark the beginning.
Recently there has been great discussion about detoxing and
fasting in books and in the popular media.
I read the “Fast Diet” last year which advocates a 2 day 5 day play
where you fast two days per week, eating just 500 calories on those two days
and then eat normally on the other five days.
There is a great deal of evidence, scientifically speaking, that fasting
is good for you and they cite many of the studies in the book. Take a look, if you are interested:
I tried it for awhile but didn’t see any results. At the time I was trying to lose 10 pounds. Actually, I am off of that game of losing
weight. I am just going to be healthy
healthy all the way by taking care of myself at every level.
During this detox that I am about embark on, I will practice
contemplative prayer twice per day (20 minutes each) and practice yoga four
times per week, cutting back on strenuous exercise and doing quite a bit of
walking and elliptical training just to keep my body active. Then, after that initial 10 days, I will add
in more energizing foods and be able to return to my normal routine.
So, I will begin and end the day in contemplative prayer
throughout lent, plus make sure I am only eating foods that detoxify. Most of the animal products will be gone
except those few that I buy local from farmers.
Salts and such are cut to a bare minimum. Again, the goal is to bring you to a zero
level where allergens are not in the body.
In fact, I just cleaned most of my house with vinegar and water, changed
the air filter and aired out the house (despite how cold it is).
Whatever you can do to detox during Lent, do it. Take a 40 day journey. If you need some help, I think that the
Daniel Plan is quite good for both spiritual and physical detoxifying. This was the plan used by Saddleback church
when their members collectively lost 250,000 pounds and more.
Here is that website:
My day will look like the following:
First, contemplative prayer
Second, water and lemon with cayenne
Third, Yoga or other exercise
Fourth, green smoothie
Sixth, working and staying focused
Seventh, a healthy lunch of greens and protein
Eight, More work and staying focused
Ninth, Dinner of health fibers and proteins
Tenth, Rehearsal
Eleventh, Prep for the next day
Twelfth, contemplative prayer and sleep
It will be a good 40 days, I am certain. The first ten are the most restrictive, so
this will take some work, but I know that I can do it.
P.S. I am actually
not following the Daniel Plan, but combining the knowledge I have learned from
several detox plans.
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