Fifty detoxifying baby steps
By Nancy Next
Published in News Press on March 11, 2014. Posted with permission.

Spring is imminent, and with spring comes spring cleaning. It’s not just for the house, but it’s for the body.

Like any bout of cleaning and considering the amount of toxins in our world, it is better to detoxify the body each day. Choose from this menu of baby steps:

1 . The body detoxes best between 11 p.m. and 11 a.m., so optimize this prime time by skipping food during these 12 hours.

2. Number two. How often do you go? The rule of thumb is a movement for every meal you eat. If you’re stopped up, a colonic may be in order. Triphala, an Ayurvedic herb, is great to get a flow on.

3. Upon rising, drink hot water with lemon, cayenne, or garlic (or all three). You know your social situation.

4.  Wheatgrass juice is the ultimate elixir. If you can do two shots per day on an empty stomach, go for it.

5.  Expose yourself to the sun to build your immune system, but be smart. You know your skin and how not to burn it.

6. You aren’t smoking, are you?

7.  Skip the mysterious bottled water, and add filters to all of your taps including your shower head. Fill three reusable, stainless steel water bottles in the morning and sip throughout the day.

8.  Take hot baths with Epsom salts or baking soda to extract toxins from the body.

9.  Are you eating living food? Fifty percent of the daily intake could be sprouts, but work your way there by adding living foods to sandwiches and salads.

10.  Shoot raw garlic into all your meals.

11.  Invest in a Neti pot, a tiny sinus irrigation tool, to clean out your nasal passages.

12.  Limit dairy products to avoid building mucous.

13.  Minimize or eliminate meats which bioaccumulate toxins.

14.  Experiment with sea vegetables and fresh water algae in your salads.

15.  Instead of the microwave, reheat food on the stove top or in a toaster oven.

16.  Minimize alcohol.

17.  Become a volunteer. Add your light to the sum of light, and the world will be bright.

18.  Use earbuds for your cell phone. Don’t place that phone next to your head.

19.  Organic. Organic. Organic. Whenever possible. Why would you want to consume excess pesticides?

20.  Brush the skin before your shower.

21.  Wear white or bright colors often. Lighten up.

22.  Stretch and decompress. Four sun salutations facing north, south, east and west are a great way to start the day.

23.  Take a yoga class, and experiment with different styles.

24.  An alkaline body is a healthy body. Follow the 80/20 rule. Eighty percent of your food should be alkaline and 20% acid forming.

25.  Sweat. Hit the steam room or the infrared sauna a few times per week.

26.  Go raw whenever you can. Cooking kills the life in food.

27.  Contrary to your ego, you need rest. Sleep eight hours if it works for you. Meditate. Lie on the grass, and stare at the sky. You don’t have to be busy all of the time.

28.  Once a week, try a complete liquid diet. Juices, soups and tea will do.

29.  Unplug. Turn off the televisions, computers and cell phones for a day.

30.  Stay positive and believe. Always have faith that events will work out for the greatest good. If you think they don’t, trust that you will learn.

31.  If your job makes you crazy, make plans to transition. There is a difference between a J.O.B. and Your Work.

32.  If your friends are a constant source of criticism, they aren’t friends. Your own company is better than negative company.

33.  Get a support system. Life coaches are waiting for your call. Yoga studios abound. Running clubs have open arms as do churches and Alcoholics Anonymous.

34.  If your family is toxic and you’ve tried everything, shift to a new orbit. Send love and light, and then cut ties. Yes, you can.

35.  Be kind. We are all connected. If we criticize, berate and scold, we chop at ourselves, too.

36.  Recycle. Know that you are doing everything you can to not dump on the planet.

37. Wear organic underwear.

38.  Exhale with lion’s breath. Let it go. All of it.

39.  Turn off negative media that highlight and even profit from the corrupt side of humanity.

40.  Talk about what you stand for rather than what you’re against.

41.  Play or listen to the singing bowls, and cleanse your chakra vibrations.

42.  Go fragrance-free and green with everything in your household.  Detergents, house cleaning supplies, dry cleaning…

43.  Use organic cosmetics, and choose aluminum-free deodorant.

44.  Check your health perspectives. Are you on the defense against disease, or are you a friend of vitality and wellness?

45.  Throw out your scale.

46.  If you are experiencing conflict in your life, you are not always a victim. Examine and accept your role. Retreat. Regroup. Rethink. Embrace your ability to heal strife.

47.  Make amends. Reclaim your power; be grateful for the past and step forward.

48.  Go bra-less whenever possible. Bras interfere with your lymphatic system and breathing. If a bra leaves red marks, it’s too tight.

49.  Jump on a trampoline. Get that lymph fluid and your inner child moving.

50.  Love yourself. You are, after all, the only one of you we have.