Define Detox Please.

Detox is a buzz word at the moment heard more frequently than ever when referencing a food, tea, juice, supplement or oil. According to the Oxford Dictionary the meaning is "to abstain or rid the body of toxic or unhealthy substances." I like to use the term cleansing it sounds more loving. For me cleansing is about becoming aware of how you are eating, how you have been treating yourself and how you are feeling as a result. Once you become conscious about where you are buying your food, knowing where it comes from, how it was grown, raised and killed you begin the awakening journey. The second part is to do something about it and make change happen.

When I was going through my own cleansing and detoxifying rituals, a spiritual leader I follow spoke a sentence that is now part of my being. If your mind is toxic so is your body. Of COURSE, my mind was toxic! I was working in an environment where the workload was unmanageable, there were no feelings of LOVE or appreciation associated with what I was doing on a daily basis and sucking it all up and pretending it wasn't happening was considered a badge of honor.

I was at a point where I was so sick of being sick and unhealthy when another force took over. It was time for me to surrender and I began to look at all areas of my life and went within. The first part of my awakening was realizing I was putting toxic food and drink into my body and how and with whom I was choosing to spend my time with when my head wasn't spinning behind a desk. The magnetic force was pulling me and I started to do what felt natural for my body, mind and soul. I began asking myself before drinking a glass of wine made with grapes laden of pesticides or eating a piece of cheese that would mess my intestinal track up for the next 2 days, does this have a positive or negative impact on my body? This made it easier to start saying No. The more disciplined you become the easier it is to fill your body with foods that are alive and that bring you energy and vitality.

Our bodies need to be cleansed both inside and out because of the chemicals and toxins we come in contact with on a daily basis through the food we eat, air we breathe, plastics surrounding us, medications we take and personal care products we put on our skin unknowingly. We are eating processed foods with GMO's, the meat we eat is grown with hormones and the cattle eat pesticides and herbicides. We are toxic. Our livers aren't functioning correctly, so many people I know have constipation issues or are not digesting at all. It's time to rip the band-aid off and heal each wound one at a time.

It starts with ONE day and ONE thing. For me I removed all GMO's from my diet once and for all. The glyphosphate in GMO's were making my digestive system unhealthy and destroying my good gut bacteria. One day I made the decision no more. This made it easy to say no to happy hours and changed the places and where I would dine out which saved me money in the end. Happy to no longer be spending $9 on a glass of wine doused with pesticides and expensive food grown with GMO's (hello chicken wings) that were making me sick. Now, if I have $9 to spare it's on Organic Maca for my smoothies or money towards my next bottle of Frankencinse oil. My entire perspective has changed and the effect is the most happiest, comfortable place I have been in my life. I invest in keeping my body alive now vs killing it with poison. It's more liberating that one can imagine and my hope is for you to experience this too.

The best way to heal and cleanse your internal organs is by drinking raw organic juice. I started out doing a 7 day juice cleanse to clear my body of all toxins. After the cleanse I was determined to get off the anxiety medication and sleeping pills. I continued to supplement my diet with one juice a day for benefits of drinking live active nutrients, enzymes and minerals. Within four weeks of being on my first juice cleanse I was finally off the medication and proud of myself for doing it on my own. I did experience light-headed ness frequently for about 3 months and juicing helped combat the side effects. It took that long for the medication to finally be out of my system.

My other favorite form of cleansing is through Colonics. A friend of mine told me about it and I was intriqued and interested. She told me how she absolutely loved it and found it therapeutic. I'm open so I began to do more research and watch videos through YouTube. After my first time I was hooked. The clarity, alertness, mindfulness and clean feeling you experience is beyond amazing. My body has found this process beneficial and necessary for optimal health so I make sure to do this at least once a week and would do it daily if I had more time. My inspiration for this was watching the Charlotte Gerson You Tube clip on colonics. The kit can be found on Amazon as well as the organic coffee you should only use.

To decrease the amount of toxins on your skin it's important to buy products that are organic and natural elements from the Earth. Dry brushing is a great way to get surface level toxins off your skin and also sweat it out. Any activity you can do that promotes a lot of sweating you are clearing out the trapped toxins. My favorite way to do this is by sitting in my infarred sauna. By far the best investment I made to improve my health and healing in my experience after the surgeries. The bonus is your skin will be glowing and you may experience weight loss if you are consistent in sitting in your sauna daily or at least 4 times a week. This is also a great time to meditate and listen to Insight Timer.

Being more conscious about every decision I make on a daily basis changed the way I live. I remember one day I went into my "mega bank" greeted with an insincere but cheerful hi how can we help you, I had asked them to remove a fee they shouldn't have charged me in the first place and they said they couldn't do it which blew my mind. That moment was another awakening for me. I decided that I am no longer going to do business or interact with people that do not bring authenticity to the table, joy or loving kindness in my life. Since making the decision to evaluate and cleanse all areas of my life a new found happiness is ever present.

Love and Peace,

-Amber

Pic Above: Tree Pose on the North Shore, MN (pic courtesy of my beloved)

Pic Below: Feeling liberated on a recent bike ride with my son (he captured this photo:)