As we transition into warmer days, we are often drawn to want to partake in spring cleaning rituals. Everywhere I look I see friends and neighbors tidying up their yards, decluttering their spaces, and deep cleaning their homes. And while I find all these chores quite important, I think a little "spring cleaning" of the body's systems is equally as important during these times.
What I am talking about is partaking in a few cleansing and detoxifying activities for your body. This season is a really good time to boost your body's natural detoxification process. This usually includes daily rituals centered around clean nutrition, proper hydration, reducing your toxic load, and an increase in healthy habits. The benefits of conscious detox programs can include increased energy, clearer skin, improved digestion, and better sleep to name a few.
I'm a firm believer that detoxing the physical body also has a direct effect on our spiritual or energetic health. In this blog article, I once wrote how toxic overload damages our energy field, disconnects us from our Higher Self, and disrupts the overall flow of vital life force energy. So, when we detox, we're not just supporting the physical body, we're also cleansing out old, stagnant, and unhelpful energies from the spiritual body.
Personally, I’ve never been a fan of hardcore detox programs. They usually feel too intense for my body and leave my energy feeling wildly out of balance. I’ve always intuitively felt that gentle, softer approaches were best for me.
Chances are, if you’re like me, then you’re probably craving a little spring detox right now. So, today I’m sharing eight of my favorite, gentle, yet effective body detox techniques. It is my hope that one or two of these will inspire you and give your body the necessary reset that it needs to feel more balanced and harmonious.
Herbal Teas
Many herbs are known to help support the body's natural detoxification processes. Some of my favorite plants to brew during the spring months are dandelion, nettle, ginseng, echinacea, and green tea. Other kitchen staples, such as lemon, ginger, and cayenne, can also be added to teas and waters to help flush out the digestive systems.
Most detoxifying herbs can assist in balancing your bodies pH and maintaining healthy liver functions. Adding 1-2 cups of tea throughout your day can strengthen your immune system, stimulate digestion, and boost your metabolism.
Here's a few of my favorite tea recipes that are perfect for this time of year:
Armpit Detox
An armpit detox is a mask that is applied to the underarms to help naturally draw out toxins from the body. These recipes utilize homemade ingredients such as apple cider vinegar, baking soda, essential oils, bentonite clay or charcoal.
The underarms contain a plethora of sweat glands. And sweat is one of our bodies most powerful ways to eliminate bacteria, toxins, and chemicals from the body. An armpit detox helps to flush out and clean the sweat glands and pores in these areas. It can also be beneficial for those who are having a difficult time transitioning from traditional deodorants to more natural formulas.
Dry Brushing
Dry skin brushing is an ancient beauty practice that uses a natural, stiff-bristled brush on the body to exfoliate the skin. This technique, when done properly, helps your body naturally eliminate toxins by opening your pores and promoting lymph drainage.
Dry brushing is a great practice to utilize during the spring, especially because it helps to remove dead skin cells, dirt, oil, and residues that have accumulated over the winter. It can also help your skin get "summer ready" by providing exfoliating benefits and reducing the appearance of cellulite.
Detox Bath
There are several ingredients that I like to add to my baths that can stimulate detoxification, remove heavy metals, and balance the bodies pH levels. Warm baths obviously have many physical body benefits, but they can also help with spiritual detoxification and energetic cleansing of the auric field.
I like to add one or two of these detoxifying ingredients to every single one of my baths. Here's a few of my favorites:
Epsom salt
Bentonite clay
Baking soda
Apple cider vinegar
Detoxifying herbs or essential oils
And speaking of favorites, here's a few of my go-to recipes: Detox Bath Recipe and Lavender Eucalyptus Bath Salts.
Foot Soak
Like the underarms, the feet contain many pores and sweat glands. A long, warm foot soak can help to open the pores in the feet and help with naturally detoxifying the body. Added ingredients such as Himalayan Sea salt, mustard oil, or freshly squeezed lemon juice can further amplify the body's release of chemicals and toxins through the feet.
Coffee Enemas
I debated adding this one to my list, because I know this one is going to be controversial for some of you. If it's not for you, simply move along to the next technique. But, if you're curious... a coffee enema is exactly as it sounds. And I can testify that the results are simply amazing!
According to the Gerson Institute, "The purpose of coffee enemas is to stimulate the liver to increase its detoxification of the blood and decrease the toxic load on the liver. This includes removing a variety of toxins and free radicals from the bloodstream. They assist the liver so as not to overburden an already sluggish and toxic liver..."
I learned how to work with coffee enemas from Ange at HOL:FIT. If you want to learn more, you can head on over to her blog. For more in-depth instruction, I found this article helpful as well.
30-Day Renew & Cleanse
There are a million ways to cleanse your body and innumerable detox supplements on the market. I've tried several cleanse programs and the intense ones usually leave me feeling raw, depleted, and exhausted. Other times, I've felt like certain supplements did absolutely nothing for me.
However, there is one cleanse program out there that I've found to be very gentle, supportive, and effective to my body. The dōTERRA Cleanse and Restore Program is my favorite supplement cleanse and I complete it once every spring and again in the fall. It takes 30-days to complete and is composed of three phases:
Activate: The first 10 days are designed to filter the vital organs that detoxify the body. In this pre-cleanse phase, you will gently prepare your body for its cleanse phase.
Reset: During days 11-20 of this cleanse program, you will utilize supplements designed to cleanse the intestinal tract of toxins and bodily threats.
Renew: The last 10 days are designed to rebuild your digestive tract. This post-cleanse phase restores your healthy and friendly bacterial growth in the gut, which is vital after any cleanse program.
Important links to learn more:
Cleanse and Restore Kit - 25% off when you become a new member!
Intermittent and/or Liquid Fasting
Personally, I find any kind of fast that is 100% pure juice or liquid too extreme for my body. In my younger years, I muscled through days of fasting without any solid food or good meals. And, although I think they served a purpose, they were very hard on my body and left me feeling drained of all energy. Plus, the detox side effects from these kinds of extreme diets are intense and uncomfortble.
I'm writing about this because I have mixed feelings about juice and water fasts. I think that they can be beneficial for some people. The spiritual clarity and insights that come after a week without processed sugar, for example, are incredible! But fasting can be difficult for most people and isn't always ideal for the busy lifestyles we lead.
So, what I'm suggesting is that if you choose to do a few days or more of a nutritional cleanse, give yourself grace. The last couple of juice cleanses that I did always incorporated at least one full, balanced, and nutritious meal a day followed by periods of juicing and/or intermittent fasting. The one solid meal a day was crucial in balancing my energy levels and helping me to feel nurtured and supported throughout my entire cleanse.
I could go on about what worked for me and the kinds of intermittent fasts that felt amazing. But, if there's one thing I've learned it's that health is not a one-size-fits-all. What works for me, most likely won't work for you. And the kind of detoxes that you love, may not be best for my body or lifestyle.
It has taken me over a decade to experiment with various spring-cleaning techniques and narrow down the list that works well for me. The point of this blog post was not to tell you what you should or shouldn't do, but to simply inspire you to seek out your own, unique, and personal ways of detoxing your body.
Do you cleanse your body every spring? If so, I'd love to know what works for you in the comments. Thank you for being here and supporting my work!
With Love,
Kelsey
