Day 1
Good morning!
I am very much looking forward to guiding you through the next week. I hope you are feeling strong and steady on this first morning of your cleanse!
I will stay in touch with you through these letters all week and am happy to support you with answers to any questions that come up. Please reach out at any point to say hello and let us know how you are doing: support@ayurvedicyogadetox.com.
Feel free to rearrange the order of the morning practices to suit your schedule better. Just make sure that the mouth health routine is first, your kidney cleanse happens as early as possible in the morning (before you leave the house), and that you work through everything by the late morning.
If you practice yoga in the morning, you can do the oil pulling and mouth cleaning, have hot tea and the black pepper/honey tonic, meditate, and then take a class or move on your own. You can do your bandha practice either before or after class (or during) and have the flaxseed oil, B complex, kidney cleanse and smoothie when you get home. If you prefer to substitute coconut oil, that is okay as long as your cholesterol is not high. The B complex vitamin will cause your urine to turn bright yellow, so don't be alarmed by that.
Remember that you can put honey in your tea, but let it cool a little first. Cooking with honey or putting it into extremely hot tea causes its molecular structure to change in a way that creates ama, or toxic plaque, in the body.
It is important to eat breakfast only when you are hungry. If, after all this liquid, you are not hungry and it feels like you are forcing the smoothie down, have it later when you feel hungry. Eating before the digestive fire is built is another way that ama is created. If you are satisfied after just half of the quantity you've made, save the other half for your mid-afternoon snack. If you prefer a bowl of fresh fruit for breakfast, that’s another great option. If you feel especially hungry, oatmeal with a touch of maple syrup is ok, but it’s best not to add nut butter or fruit, as fruit should be eaten on its own and grains and protein should not mix.
If you are accustomed to drinking even one cup of coffee or caffeinated tea each day, you will likely feel withdrawal symptoms today and tomorrow, which may include headaches, fatigue and general crankiness. These symptoms indicate that the body has become physically addicted to caffeine, which stresses the liver and adrenal system. The good news is (despite how you may feel today) these symptoms will completely disappear by day 3. Here are a few things to help you through today and tomorrow:
1. Eat fruit - sometimes natural sugar helps.
2. Seal the left nostril and breathe through the right for 2 minutes. Increasing the flow of air and energy moving through the right channel of the body/brain will mimic the effects of caffeine.
3. Go for a walk and/or take a yoga class to send blood to the brain.
4. Try hydrotherapy on the head in the shower (hot water on the head for 1 minute, then cold water on the head for 1 minute -- 3 times on each side to open and close the capillaries and improve circulation in the brain - make sure to end with hot water so that you are not cold when you are done). If your home is cold, skip this practice until the weather is more mild.
5. Have a cup of green or oolong tea - this is a last resort, but still better than an OTC pain killer, and it should clear the headache if it is too much for you to manage while working.
Once you are hungry (at least 3 hours after your mid-morning piece of fruit), enjoy a healthy lunch. If you are making a salad, use lemon and olive oil with herbs, pink salt and pepper as a salad dressing. Add a cooked food to your raw salad such as steamed broccoli, roasted sweet potatoes or roasted beets to keep Vata in check.
To balance excessive Pitta, steer clear of eggplant, tomatoes, raw onions, raw beets, green olives and radishes. For Vata, avoid raw broccoli, raw cauliflower, beans, raw onions and brussels sprouts, and for Kapha, avoid lots of avocado, nuts, seeds, olives, and oil. Everyone should limit or completely avoid dried fruit since it contains so much sugar.
If you're going to a salad bar, avoid anything that would have come from a can like corn, hearts of palm or olives, as they usually contain additives. If you’re able to pick up produce and cook for yourself, organic is best.
Brown rice sushi with fresh vegetables (like asparagus, avocado and cucumber) is another good option if you are out and looking for something quick - just make sure that there is no crab stick or any soy sauce in the roll or sauce.
Avoid macaroni and couscous as these products contain refined flour and gluten. Also avoid preservatives like citric acid.
You are likely making big shifts in these first two days, so be kind to yourself as you navigate these changes. As much as you are able, try to avoid combining starches with proteins (beans and rice, etc.) and instead have vegetables with starches (peas, basil, quinoa) or vegetables with protein (beans and collard greens). If you notice that you still are not digesting beans well, avoid them for the rest of the week. This is your time to take stock of yourself and to experiment with lifestyle and eating adjustments that will better suit you personally.
Try to eat fruit on its own as a snack or in a smoothie with other blended vegetables. Don't have fruit for dessert. This will ensure that your food breaks down at a rate that keeps digestion easy and smooth.
Stay present with your food, chewing slowly and completely before you swallow. It is easy to forget that digestion begins with chewing, especially when we are distracted. The enzymes in your saliva begin to break down the food, so it is much more difficult to digest if you are partially skipping the chewing process. Refrain from working, emailing, reading or watching television while you eat. Original Ayurvedic texts go so far as to insist on eating in complete silence!
It could be a good day to make the almond cashew milk in your recipes. Try this in the tea you have with a bit of honey.
When you have a moment this afternoon or this evening, carve out the time to clean up your living space. This will invite clean energy and make the detox practices easier to do. This is something that may seem unnecessary, but to me, it is one of the most important first steps in any cleanse week. The state of our living space is reflected in the state of our minds. Some of us are more sensitive to this than others, but if we are living among clutter, dirt and disorganization, we do feel it in the mind, and this will affect our relationship with everything else.
Our bodies are our homes, and this week we are cleaning house. It can be hard to get started, and at first, things are messier than before you began! You have to pull everything out, look at it, assess what’s dirty, clean it up, re-organize – it is work – but it’s always worth it. Once you get going, you’re on a roll that feels good. Today and tomorrow require some big picture contemplation and a little organization to begin to reign things back under your control.
Be proud of yourself for getting started. It takes a lot of courage to let go of your habits and crutches, but there is an incredible amount of freedom in discipline. When we align our actions with our intentions, we are living the best lives we can imagine. No matter where you feel you are at this point, you are now headed in the right direction, and we’ll ride the course together from here.
Let me know if you have any questions. I am here to help you.
Have a beautiful day!
Warmly,
Lauren