Yesterday morning, 3 intrepid volunteers, commenced a 10-day Detox program with me and I thought it might be of interest to relay something of their experience. It's not quite the 'Spa of Embarrassing Illnesses' that's running on cable TV, where everyone had a major health or emotional problem, but the individuals concerned nevertheless still have good reasons for wanting to do it. January is a better month to start, with pools warming up a bit but any time is good really.
MASTER CLEANSE
I have posted on this topic before but just as a reminder, I use 'The Master Cleanse' (Lemonade Diet) as the basis for the detox but not in all instances. Sometimes a slower detox, eating warm nourishing food is more appropriate. I have a Thai lady like this now. Her 'type' does not thrive on cold or raw foods and she has some food sensitivity towards certain herbs & vegetables. She is also only partly digesting her food, I suspect due to stress. She doesn't have to stop eating completely. A special diet will reset her digestion.
WHAT TYPE ARE YOU?
The first step, in customizing a program, is to identify the Constitutional Nature of each individual. I use Ayurvedic principles (an ancient holistic healing system meaning the 'Science of Life') to do this. In Ayurveda there are 7 different types of person, derived from 3 'doshas'... (physical and mental traits)... These are called 'Vata' (Air type), 'Pitta' (Fire Type) & 'Kapha' (Earth type). See here for a fuller explanation... http://www.spirit-of-india.com/HealingA ... rveda.html .
Why is this important to know? Well. For slim, nervy Vata (air) types, the Master Cleanse may be too aggressive and a gentler or reduced program is more suitable. Also, when participants break their fast, I use a mono-diet (which they learn how to prepare), adjusted slightly to suit their dosha (type). You don't want to be giving hot spices to a fiery 'Pitta'. Some yoga postures and breathing techniques, too, can aggravate one constitutional type even though they may benefit another. This is where understanding types is important.
THE PARTICIPANTS
So, who are the 3 intrepid souls?
1. Lady A, aged 45, is a 'Kapha' type. (heavier physique, gains weight easily) who wishes to lose weight and rediscover her 'get up and go'.
2. Lady B, a 31 yr old Thai, is a 'Vata' (slim build) with aggravated 'Pitta' (too much 'fire) wishes to clear up long standing acne, food sensitivities and irritability. The first step is to get her off the Somtam!
3. Male C, 46 yr old, is a medium build 'Vata-Pitta' type, who wishes to cleanse his body, balance his mind and just investigate what detoxing can do.
Last night, to kick off, they drank a herbal laxative tea and ate only light foods two days before we start, to gain maximum benefit. To their credit they complied. It's terrific having 3 people. Just enough to encourage each other and not so many that I'm forced to use a generic program that might not suit everyone.
FEELING FLUSHED!
They arrived before 9 yesterday morning. We had a consultation about any health risks and they then weighed themselves. It was straight into the bowel cleanse using a salt water flush. It's best to do this daily before 7 am when the bodies elimination channels are open but it's not critical. There was a lot of laughter (and encouragement) as they tried to drink the 2 ltrs of liquid. Typically this takes 45 mins to an hour. The Thai lady struggled with the taste but drank everything. While the other two had no problems at all. Great to see. One ended up with 6 trips to the loo, one 4 and the other only 2.
Next comes the hourly lemonade drink. Lemon juice, Maple Syrup & Cayenne Powder with fresh water in between to ensure proper hydration. Again no problems with this. I adjusted the measures to meet individual requirements. For instance. The slim 'Vata' needs to increase her calorie intake, so as not to lose muscle, while the Kapha (large lady) wants to reduce it, to accelerate the weight loss.
The cost of Maple Syrup is a problem for the Thai lady who is on a tight budget. It, alone, can add 3-4000 THB to the cost of a course. So I have substituted it with a local equivalent.
Not Just Juice
Yesterday afternoon was a 1 1/2 hour Yoga and breathing session. Since they have no experience of Yoga, it's more a familiarisation and training session.
By the end of the course they will have mastered all the most important postures and breathing techniques. Then it's herbal steam sauna time, followed by a massage, laxative tea and tucked up early in bed.
Day 2
This morning we are up at 6.30am. While the salt water flush is best before 7, I opted to go with the breathing exercises and benefit from the early morning fresh air. There are 3 powerful breathing exercises which in English terms are known as the 'Skull Scrubbing Breath', the 'Bellows Breath' and the 'Alternate Nostril breath'. Each of these has specific effects on the body and mind, besides leaving you invigorated. Notably they help relieve depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia and anxiety. They also have beneficial effects on hypertension (a topic mentioned earlier). If you do a search for 'Art of Living', I incorporate some of their techniques into my program.
The session then included 20 mins of yoga with a salt water flush to follow. I also showed them how to do a proper dry skin brushing before their morning shower and how fantastic diluted Hydrogen Peroxide is for teeth cleaning (and whitening). Trips to the loo are now starting in earnest. Don't plan on going out for the next few hours!
A more complete Yoga session is planned for later this afternoon.
If anyone is interested in following this topic or even coming along to hear about it from the participants themselves, please let me know on the board or privately.
& running for the bus can seem like running a marathon in divers boots 