Don’t Stop Being Amazed
The word cleanse gets under my skin, especially as it applies to the diet. I get that nutritionally, most of us aren’t all we could be, and that bringing more awareness to what we put into our mouths would make us happier and healthier. But the idea that somehow our insides are dirty and that we need to clean them out is to pretty much diss the body and the amazing things it’s capable of, despite our best efforts to eff it up.
Despite my distaste for the idea of cleansing (I hate even typing the word — it just gets on my nerves), I signed up for Yoga Journal’s 7-Day Detox program, available online. I like the idea of changing my diet to be local and seasonal (luckily, I live in California, so that means I get a lot of choices there), but also to transition into the harvest season of fall in an intentional way with yoga, meditation and other related techniques.
Ayurveda is on my list of Things to Study as I keep getting older. I’m fascinated how medicine is so intricately entwined with spirituality in pretty much every other culture except ours, and how they treat people often without the high-tech equipment we have in the U.S. This detox program is based in Ayurveda, and so far, I’m finding it pretty great. When fall comes around, I want to go out a little less anyway, so this is a great way to reconnect with myself and what I want to get done over the next few months.
Another thing that’s arisen on its own has to do with detoxing, but not within my body. I eat pretty well, for the most part, and exercise almost every day. But toxic friends and acquaintances seem to have moved another layer outward in my life. No reframing necessary. Without drama or self-inflicted suffering, they just … moved away.
Pretty cool, the way this stuff works on more than one level. And me? I don’t ever want to stop being amazed by what goes on.
