Juice Feast-Day 55

Relax, Ellen!
You can't juice feast your way to God!

Today I have been thinking some more about the excerpt I posted yesterday from Matt Monarch's Blog. The one thing he wrote that really resonated with me was this:
" ...there is no need to stress out and rush the detox process. Slowly make improvements, as your body [mind and spirit] asks for them. This will happen naturally, as you become cleaner and cleaner."[my words]

Juice Feasting is a remarkable way to detoxify and rejuvenate the mind, body, and spirit.

I tried a 10-day Master Cleanse once...umm..never again. I was in a hurry to detox this sick and tired body (the mind/spirit concept never occurred to me) so I jumped in without being fully prepared for the consequences. I experienced such incredibly horrific physical detox symptoms that by day 6, I was more than ready to throw in the towel (I remember being barely able to blog about it).

My Juice Feasting hasn't been like that at all. The detox and rejuvenation I have experienced has been (mostly) slow and steady. I've had more than enough energy to accomplish the everyday tasks and I've never felt "sick." Emotional healing and spiritual insights have come, but not always at break-neck speed. In fact, at times things have been so uneventful that I've become impatient and schemed up ways I might send myself deeper into detox.

Today, for the first time, I've reached a place of acceptance. A plane of patience. A state of surrender. I know that even if I'm unaware of it, detox on all levels is happening. Toxins are leaving my body (along with unwanted pounds), emotional wounds are healing, and spiritual channels are opening. Today I woke up knowing that I'm now ready to fully commit myself to the responsibility of maintaining this new level of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing when this feast is over. This is suddenly not a race to the finish anymore. It has become a new way of BEING. The old Ellen is falling away forever. I AM becoming a new BEING.

Hot/Cold Showers? Are You Kidding Me?

According to juice feasting protocol, taking hot/cold showers (a.k.a. hydrotherapy) is a wonderful way to assist your body in the detox/rejuvenation process. Here's how is works:

Hot/cold showers exploit the body's reaction to hot and cold stimuli. The sensation of alternating hot and cold water on your skin, along with the pressure of the water, causes nerves to carry the impulses felt on the surface of the skin deeper into your body. Once there, they stimulate your immune system, influence the production of stress hormones, and invigorate circulation and digestion by way of increasing your blood flow. Alternating between hot and cold temperatures on your skin also works to draw it in and tighten it up. In short, hot/cold showers are a great way to tone up the body, stimulate digestion, increase circulation, and boost your immune system.

So I tried this little number tonight after taking a sauna. The idea is to stand under each temperature for as long as you can stand it before alternating to the other. You repeat this back-and-forth several times. On the hot side of things...no problem. I can stand under a steamy hot shower all day long. Five minutes? Five hours? No problem! When it comes to the cold stuff though...umm...not so much. We're having a typical Duluth day here. It's foggy and 54 degrees (yeah, Fahrenheit) A cold shower? Nope. Nada. No thank you...Not for me! I lasted all of ...well, I'm a gal that loves to sit in a 230 degree (yeah! Fahrenheit) sauna when it's 90 degrees out. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow...if it warms up.

Cherishing Cherries

Yummmmy!.....Darker is better. Between the two types (sweet and sour) the sweet ones are best for juicing (e.g. Bing, black, Windsor, Napoleon, etc.) These guys are a rich source of flavonoids, and are loaded with antioxidants, antivirals, and anti-inflammatories. Try these combos:
Cherry/pineapple
Cherry/watermelon (or any melon)
Cherry/pear
Don't forget to remove the pits!

Juicy Diary-Day 55

(today's juices & supplements)

32 oz water

4 oz orange juice + MSM +B12

32 oz water

64 oz green juice (kale, parsley, rainbow chard, red lettuce, spinach, dandelion greens, cilantro, radish, red bell pepper, cucumber, celery, carrots, jalapeno, garlic, red onion, cayenne pepper, spirulina) Whew! HOT & SPICY!

64 oz pineapple/cherry

Total Juice = 130 oz (1.02 gallons)

Total water = 64 oz (0.5 gallons)

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Sleep & dreams: 8 hrs. No dreamy recall. I'm sleeping hard, but still waking up tired. My energy level comes online almost immediately after I get out of bed, though. I feel like I could sleep 12 hours a night. Detox, detox!

Exercise: none

Sauna: 20 minutes

Energy & mood: Good energy. In an upbeat mood all day today.

Comments: Just out of curiosity, I have decided to make a list of every illness and injury that I've ever had (that I can remember) dating back to my childhood. I'll be posting this on tomorrow's blog. I think it will be a fun and interesting way to keep track of how my body physically detoxes for the remainder of this juice feast and as I transition into solid raw foods.