This week I gave a talk on Holistic Detox at Gather Seattle’s Matcha Monday. It was a complete hit with lots of participation from the fabulous ladies that attended. Now, I know some of you may think the word Detox is bad or restrictive and it may make you cringe or make you think of going through a drug detox but bear with me.  Just put those thoughts out of your mind. I’d like to introduce you to a the concept of holistic detox.

What does that mean?

Definition of the word Holistic from Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Holistic – 1 : of or relating to holism. 2 : relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts holistic medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body, holistic ecology views humans and the environment as a single system.

So, put together, Holistic Detox is taking a whole system view of detoxing our body, mind and environment. Makes sense right?

Now, I do love a good liver detox like the one I received at Swiss Mountain Clinic. I also love the power of chelation therapy in detoxing from heavy metals.  But it’s so important to start with some basic foundational pieces and that’s what I spoke about at Matcha Monday.

Body

Our body is like a rain barrel and toxins are spilling into us like water. When the rain barrel overflows, because we aren’t able to detox quickly enough, we begin to see symptoms. These symptoms might range from rashes and allergies to gut issues, autoimmune disease and cancer. Want to know what your body burden is? You can take this survey to find out.

So then how do you start to empty out your barrel?

Start to Detox Your Body by:

1. Eating organic and unprocessed foods
2. Eating only pasture raised or wild caught animal proteins
3. Drinking plenty of filtered water
4. Getting plenty of quality deep sleep
5. Use non-toxic and fragrance free bath and body products. See Environmental Working Groups Skin Deep database for options.

Environment

This is a huge and often missed opportunity when it comes to detoxing. Our environment can either support our health or negatively impact it. Chronic exposure to toxins through air, water, Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs), mold toxins and pesticides has a direct effect on the health of our body.

But I’d also like to bring in one more aspect of detoxing the environment, and that is decluttering.

When I lived in San Francisco, so many years ago, I was downsizing from 900 square feet to 800 square feet and was having some serious challenges unpacking boxes and finding where things were. My friend and neighbor Chantale, owner of Simplicity Source, was just starting her professional organization business and offered to help me declutter and organize everything. In no time at all the junk I didn’t need was gone and everything that was left had a place. I felt like I had a weight lifted from me and my anxiety level dropped considerably.

Clutter:

• Makes it harder to clean (increases respiratory issues)
• Increases stress
• Reduces sense of well-being
• Leads to unhealthier eating
• Poorer mental health
• Impacts thinking and visual processing
• Costs more

The impact of decluttering is both physical and psychological.

Start to Detox Your Environment by:

1. Decluttering – this will make you feel uplifted and more energetic
2. Leave your shoes at the door – chemicals, heavy metals, oils and animal poop is stuck to the bottom of your shoes whether or not you can see it. Keep your floors toxin free by ditching shoes at the door
3. Dust and vacuum often – dust is like a magnet, collecting heavy metals and other pollutants that come inside.
4. Open a window or two every day to bring in fresh air
5. Use a chlorine water filter for your shower and a chlorine + fluoride filter for your drinking water
6. Turn off your WiFi at night

Mind

The mind is so powerful. As Dr. Joe Dispenza likes to say, where the mind goes, the body follows. Another piece is that the mind only works in the present.

What this means is that when we dwell on something stressful that’s happened in the past, our body doesn’t know that 1) it’s not happening right now and 2) that it’s not really a dangerous threat like being chased by a hungry tiger. So what does it do? It produces all the necessary stress hormones to deal with the threat. Your digestive system is put on hold, cortisol shoots up and your adrenal system gets stressed.

Sadly, too many of us live in this constant state of stress and that doesn’t help our body to detox properly. So we start to see some of the rain barrel symptoms I mentioned above.

Start to Detox Your Mind by:

1. Meditate daily starting with just 5 to 10 minutes – you’ll become more aware of your thoughts
2. Stop negative thoughts before they run away with you – the more you do this, the quicker you’ll identify them and stop them
3. When a negative thought pops up, think of something positive right away no matter how small

Holistic detoxing is my primary focus for this year and I’m excited to share more with you via facebook, instagram, my podcast Detox for Vibrant Health and my newsletter.

If you aren’t on my newsletter mailing list, sign up today!

To learn more about ways you can balance your body, join my 5 Day Summer Detox for Beginners. This program starts on August 17th but registration closes on the 15th. Hope to see you there! 

If you’d like to work with me directly to help you with your holistic detox this year, set up a free discovery call with me by clicking this link.