At about this time this week, I thought I would be finishing
a blog post about the 7 day juice detox that I commenced last week. I was full
of excitement and enthusiasm on how great I would feel, took myself off to the
market, stocked up on all the fruit and veggies I would need for the week and
started juicing half way through last Tuesday. Wednesday I made a combination
of 6 different juices through the day and was drinking loads of water and
herbal tea to help flush out my system. I must admit Wednesday was difficult for
me, it was day one, my system had definitely already kicked into purge and I
knew that I would probably have to weather a couple of uncomfortable days until
I reached, the energy surge and the vitality that I read could be achieved on
such as detox. And Thursday morning was already better. I began juicing in the
morning and I already felt that I was feeling brighter and began the day with
more energy. I knew that Thursday may have been a challenge for me to be on the
detox, it is a busy day work wise, I teach 3 different yoga classes, as well as
massage clients. But I was prepared and pre juiced, so that my juices would be
ready as I needed them. As the day progressed I knew my energy was declining
and I was having trouble with my concentration. However I thought I would press
on through because Friday is my day off and I knew I could rest if I needed to.
In my last yoga class of the day I knew something was wrong and as soon as I walked
in the door at home, I went straight to the bathroom to access how I felt. It
was like a switch had been flicked on in me when I got home, I was buckled over in
pain, in my back and abdomen, I was feverish, shaking, I had tightness through
my chest and I was having difficulty going to the toilet. The next four hours
were complete hell, a pain that rivalled child birth, the uncertainty of what
was happening to my body and knowing the likelihood that this diet/detox had
done this to my body. I suspect that I developed a kidney stone that passed
sometime over those four hours of pain. Thankfully I narrowly avoided a trip to
the hospital and I spent the next two days resting in bed, feeling the polar
opposite to the results I was hoping to achieve from the detox.
So.........things
that I have learnt from this experience? I already knew that I am the sort of
personality that is one extreme or the other and that one of my lessons in life
is, balance. Over the winter I had let some not so good stuff back into my diet,
caffeine, as well as some poor diet choices. Probably in hindsight all I needed
to do was cut the coffee, add a juice and a smoothie back to my diet to boost
some of my vitamins and minerals and start cooking some my lentil dishes (which
I love). Sounds easy doesn’t it? However my personality of extremes didn’t even
consider that!
The other thing I learnt was that high oxalate foods can
cause kidney stones, so foods such as kale, blueberries, beetroot and
spinach. Which I had tonnes of during
the juice cleanse. So if you are the small percentage of the population (as I
am), that is prone to being sensitive to high oxalate food this may be a risk
to embark on the juice cleanse. Again another little sign, for me, that balance
and moderation is better than the extreme of the juice detox.
If you are interested in the “energy” of a kidney stone,
which goes hand in hand with the symbolism of a detox i.e.: the purge of toxins
both physically and emotionally, it represents letting go, being able to let go
of anger and fear in particular and finding an outlet for that. Not being “blocked”
emotionally. I did have a very introspective time while recovering and there
were a couple of areas in my life that I needed to soften to, I had made up
stories that weren’t true about the situations and now I feel I can work with
them with more ease and flow.
So........... the upside? My body has healed really quickly.
The awesomeness of all the fruit and veggies that I consumed sped up my
recovery and has flushed out any infection, I haven’t needed to take any anti biotic
and my body has healed itself, what a feat!! I feel like I can trust my body to
do what it needs to do, however excruciating at the time, I feel I can trust it
to recover. By Sunday morning my energy
levels had returned, I was able to teach a yoga on Sunday, which I loved and
had an amazing feeling of euphoria after. I really feel, I have detoxed both
physically and emotionally, something that I wasn’t expecting. Yes I did go back to eating food on Friday,
something we are MEANT to do and I’m definitely back on track to clean, healthy,
balanced eating. And post detox, my
family have followed me adding some healthy options to their diet. My boys are
helping to make their own juices in the juicer. My husband is requesting a
juice before and after work. And everybody is adding L.S.A. and chia seeds to
their food and smoothies J
I didn’t come out of the 7 day juice detox like I thought I
would and that’s ok. I think it was
extremely positive experience where I learnt lots about my body and myself
.............that’s what life should be all about isn’t it? Trying new things,
failing perhaps and learning new things about yourself, to carry with on with
your next adventure.
Love and light to you,
Namaste, Nerine
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