Physical & Emotional Cleansing

Well, I have to tell you I have been through some ups and downs lately. This mid-life thing is a little crazy.

I have been coping with digestive problems off and on for many years. Since I have been in perimenopause they have gotten worse. There are a couple of reasons why.

One reason is that old injuries have spoken very loudly and I have had to stop working out like I used. When I used to run, ride my bike and work out really hard at the gym, I never had to worry about digestion. As soon as I became more sedentary or if I took a trip somewhere, my digestive issues began again.

I am a yoga teacher and teach yoga but do not practice it enough on my own. I still go to the gym but my workout intensity has greatly decreased.

The other reason could/may be a combination of stress, symptoms of perimenopause and a thyroid that is not working 100%.

I have been eating a diet of a lot of raw foods for the last few months. This in itself will detox a person and cleanse them. I decided upon this diet because I love the food, have always eaten very healthy food and was looking for a sure fire way to improve my digestion (I also chose and love eating like this, the food is so great). Even by doing this, my digestion remained sluggish, that is why I chose to try a fast. I have read a lot about fasting and see it as a way of my digestive system healing. I will then see how I feel and resume a diet of raw foods (along with some healthy cooked foods).

I do not eat meat but have been eating fish. I love fish and probably will continue.

The Emotional Cleanse
My emotions and hot flashes have been crazy lately!! Yesterday I felt like I was losing it and it took all I had to keep myself together in public. I still have to work! I have also been having frequent headaches.

Whether these emotional and physical symptoms are part of my detox, because I have been eating mainly raw foods and a lot of juices, I am not sure. If I am still detoxing, then it is a very long detox.

After, what felt like an emotional cleanse yesterday, I decided to try fasting. To do the ultimate physical cleansing. Today I have had water with lemon and herbal tea. Hmmm maybe add some juice (which make myself) later today or tomorrow. I don't feel hungry but I sure miss eating. It hasn't been long and they say the first 2 days are the hardest.

What helped me through yesterday (my emotional cleansing day) was to realize that it was probably just that - emotional cleansing. Just like our body, our emotions need releasing and cleansing. I was obviously holding onto a lot of stuff. I wasn't really aware of what I was so upset about yesterday or what made my emotions so extreme, but I tried to breathe through it, relax and tell myself that it will pass. I also really believe that it is a good thing that I am releasing all this. Blocked emotions can cause illness and disease (what I believe).

The Physical Cleanse
Now, what will the physical cleansing/fasting bring me. They say it brings clarity of mind, lots of energy, more intuitive awareness and of course improved digestion. Well, I will tell you one thing, it certainly was easier and faster getting ready for work this morning when I didn't have to cook or prepare my lunch to bring.

Eating is such a habit. I eat even when I am not hungry. If I was overweight and had to lose weight, an appetite supressant wouldn't work for me. I believe that most women eat even when they are not hungry. If we truly waited until we felt hungr (a good hunger, not starving), then we would not have weight problems. Often it is not real hunger that we feel but thirst or craving for sugar, sweetness, salt, chewing, etc.

I think that a big part of my digestive problems were because I ate too often and I didn't worry about the types of foods that I was combining. That irritated my digestive system. I am going to learn more about that.

Tomorrow my plan is to go without juice for sure until lunch. Then I will see how I feel, if I feel I need some juice to think clearly again and not feel faint, then I will have some.

The third day of the fast/cleanse I will add in some vegetable juices. I am and will go with how I feel. I am not sure what the next few days will hold for me.

I am in the middle of moving so that is stressful and requires a lot of energy but I am almost done!

I realize that in my last post I stated that this post would be about the results of my hormone testing that I had done. Sorry about that. I will write about that in my next post.

I would love to hear from you and if you have any experiences with fasting, cleansing...etc. Any advice?