What is seasonal detox?

A seasonal detox is a reset for your body and mind. When you take the time to reset your diet for healthier nourishment and recommit to a better self-care regime, life gets better.

Ayurveda, the health tradition from India and the sister science of Yoga, recommends doing a gentle detox each fall and spring.

A detox is an opportunity to release stress, toxins, and ways of living that don't serve you and to embrace a kinder, better way of living. A detox sets you up for better self-care, a healthier seasonal diet, joyful movement, and good quality rest.

You may strive to eat a healthy diet, get exercise, and practice self-care, but nobody is perfect. During the pandemic or over the summer, you may have let some of your wellbeing habits slip. Because this is the case, a seasonal detox is a wonderful opportunity to reset your course toward higher health and get into a place of better integrity with your body and mind.

A seasonal detox is an opportunity to reset your body and your mind for health and well-being for greater health and immunity for the upcoming season.

A seasonal detox can help you:

• Reset your diet
• Bolster your immunity
• Prioritize self-care.
• Ground your nervous system.
• Improve your digestion.
• Improve your sleep.
• Rejuvenate your body, mind, and spirit.
• Set you on a course for healthier aging

Rid your body and mind of toxins .

‍Ama is a term from the Ayurvedic tradition that refers to undigested gunk that accumulates in the body and mind. These include physical and environmental toxins that might accumulate in our body from processed foods, poor quality foods, pesticides, environmental pollutants, and chemicals as well as mental and emotional toxins that might accumulate in our body and mind from over-busy schedules, stress, challenging relationships, and even too much media. It's pretty hard to live a toxin-free, stress-free life, and that's why Ayurveda recommends detoxing twice a year.

Ama or toxins show up in a variety of ways.

• Toxins can show up in the body as creaky or inflamed joints, sluggishness, congestion, fuzzy thinking, poor memory, heaviness, weight gain or weight loss, lethargy, bloating, poor digestion, or unhealthy cravings.
• Toxins can show up in the mind as depression, worry, distraction, anxiety, or a feeling of dissatisfaction.
• Ama can show up in our behavior as emotional eating, drinking too much alcohol, drinking too much caffeine, numbing out with technology, over-spending, and getting insufficient sleep.

Taking time twice a year to reset and renew ourselves clears the ama from our systems and keeps us from living on automatic pilot, being over-busy, and perpetuating patterns and habits that aren’t in our best interest.

Hit the pause button and reset your course.

A seasonal detox is a time to..

• Slow down.
• Clear your calendar.
• Focus on yourself.
• Get more rest.
• Eat more simply.
• Be reflective

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If you've never detoxed before, let me assure you that it's not as hard as you may think!

I recommend a simple, gentle detox is based on healthy, whole food, plant based foods. There is no need to buy any fancy supplements or ingredients. The focus is on incorporating into your diet healthy, fresh, seasonal foods that are naturally detoxifying and resetting your daily habits to support your wellbeing.

What's involved?

When you detox, you simplify your calendar so that you put yourself first for a few weeks. During this time, you hone in on your diet, self-care, sleep and movement. You commit to eating simple, healthy, whole foods. You add in more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables and reduce or eliminate foods that can cause problems for your body such as processed foods, refined carbs, sugars, red meat, alcohol and caffeine. You commit to strengthening your Circadian rhythm by getting regular exercise, spending time outdoors, prioritizing sleep, avoiding late night device use, and generally becoming more mindful of your daily habits.

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A detox not rocket science.

‍A detox at its core is a return to healthy living. That sounds simple enough. And, conceptually it is simple. You can do a detox on your own and be successful. But, humans are social creatures and we are often able to make positive changes faster when we're in a group than on our own which is why detoxing with a guide and a community could make one's detox more successful.

If you are interested in joining my Fall Detox, I'd be happy to be your guide and invite you into a community of folks seeking higher health. Find the details here.

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