Do you ever feel all gummed up inside- heavy, weighted down, fatigued, and emotionally knotted? I know I do, but in the past I wasn’t even aware of it. It wasn’t until I did a green juice cleanse that I awoke to how much I needed to do it. Tricia Barrett, the living foods expert who owns Green Resurrection, a supplier of homemade raw foods and green juice, shares her passionate beliefs about why we should cleanse.

Cleansing:

1. Radically reduces the effects of aging by rejuvenating your cells.

2. Creates abundant energy.

3. Promotes weight loss and increased metabolism.

4. Strengthens the immune system.

5. Helps the body maximize its potential to heal from chronic illness.

6. Supports liver function and other vital organs.

7. Restores antioxidants.

8. Maximizes absorption of essential nutrients and aids digestion.

9. Supports healthy brain chemistry, which may help with mood disorders.

10. Balances your hormones.

11. Beautifies the skin.

12. Generates confidence, enthusiasm and joyfulness, enabling you to achieve the life you desire.

Doesn’t that sound like Owning Your Health? So what do I mean by cleansing? Our bodies are barraged every day with chemicals, toxins, and other substances from our food, the products we use in our house, the water we drink, the air we breathe- our entire earthly environment, really. Our bodies are meant to be self-cleaning organisms, and our cellular metabolism is brilliantly designed to rid our bodies of unwanted toxins. I’m sure it worked well when we lived in caves and ate the berries we collected from the wilderness. Even a relatively short time ago, before the industrial revolution and commercial farms, our bodies could probably keep up. But these days, forget it! We can’t avoid being toxically overdosed, even if we eat healthy diets, choose household products consciously, filter our water, and live in the country. Which means that our cells get clogged with toxins, instead of processing and metabolizing waste material so we can eliminate it through our kidneys, our liver, our colon, and our skin. What happens when all this waste jams up our cells? We get sick and depressed, we age and wither, we gain weight, get pimples, and lose our precious vitality. In essence, we lose our mojo.

Let's Cleanse Together, Pinkies!

To demonstrate our commitment to Owning Pink together, I would like to propose that we all join together for a ceremonial and physically healing group cleanse. Who do you think? Are you up for it? It requires a commitment, but I promise you won’t regret it. What would cleansing require?
 

You will need:

7 days to pre-cleanse and 5 days for the cleanse

A juicer

Organic produce (they can be ordered online if you don’t have access to organic produce locally)

Sun chlorella and systemic enzymes

A little bit of will-power

A mind willing to suspend judgment and allow cleansing to happen as deeply as possible

(Don't worry. When the time comes, I'll tell you which brands I recommend and where to get your supplies.)

You in?

What do you think? Will you do it? I found my cleanse experience to be a very eye-opening journey- a truly empowering experience. (For more about my cleanse experience, click here). I want to share that experience with you at home. Honestly, it changed my life. Now, I know we’re all inundated with crazy diet advice, but this isn’t some nutty weight loss scheme. This is bigger than that. This is a physical, emotional, spiritual cleanse we’re talking about. As a physician, I have seen remarkable transformations in everyone I’ve witnessed during the cleansing process. We all have different constitutions, so of course, you never know how your own body/mind/spirit will respond to cleansing. But unless you suffer froman eating disorder, it can’t hurt, and it just might heal you. (If you do suffer from disordered eating, I don’t recommend cleansing with the group. You may still benefit from some careful detoxification, but I hope you’ll do that under the counsel of a doctor, therapist, and nutritionist. I do want to protect any Pinkies out there who need more support than I can offer online).

Please, tell me what you think. Have any of you cleansed before? If so, how was it for you? Did you have any good/bad responses to it? How did it change you? Do any of you drink green juice or eat a raw foods diet? Fill me in! I’m reading, studying, and grilling doctors every day, but I still have much to learn.

Post your comments and tell me whether this is something you want to do. I’m thinking we’ll do it in 3 months or so, so you can all start preparing mentally for what we’re going to do. If you’re in, set your intention now.

Your Mojo Monday exercise:

1. Grab your journal and jot down a paragraph about why you want to cleanse.
2. Write 3 affirmations beginning with words like “May I, I am, I will, Let me…” regarding what needs cleansing in your life.
3. Commit to our group cleanse, and stay tuned for further instructions to guide you on how to do this in your neck of the woods. Don’t worry. We’ll tell you exactly what you need to know here at Owning Pink.

When do you all think we should do this? Pre-holidays? Post-holidays? I'm thinking either week of October 19 or January 4. (Impossible to cleanse DURING the holidays! Too many functions, too much food, too hard). What date do you vote for?

Cleansing love and green veggies,

Lissa

PS. Want more information about green juice cleansing and my personal experience? Read these posts:
Give Swine Flu A Piece of Whoop Ass WIth Green Juice
Raw Food: Owning Your Health
New Growth
Cleanse Day 1
The Detox Lounge
Living For Today (Day 4 of the Cleanse)
Whole Foods?
I Am Grateful
What's Next After Cleansing?
Adventures in Juicing