We made it! Congratulations everyone. We have completed the official 21 days of the February Cleanse! It's now up to you how you'd like to finish this last week of February. 

Personally, I'm beginning to reintroduce some of the foods that I have missed. I had my first cup of coffee (actually two!) yesterday while brunching with an old friend. It was delicious and made me a bit crazy but worth every sip. I was hoping that going off coffee for 3 weeks would resolve my sketchy sleep pattern. But I'm still not sleeping. So I will continue to enjoy my occasional dark roast and complain about hot flashes and fitful nights to my menopausal friends.

One way to approach this week is to consider it as "savasana", the time we take in relaxation after yoga class to integrate the effects of our practice. Continue being mindful and aware and notice how you feel in your body, heart, and mind as you reintroduce each food group. 

This cleanse has also slowed us down. We've had to be more discerning about our meals. And we've had to be organized and thoughtful. Watch that you don't gulp your way back into old patterns. I don't know how many times I've heard of people getting speeding tickets while driving home after a meditation retreat!

Take this week to think about your intention for the cleanse. What was helpful in supporting your intention? What wasn't? 

I am really looking forward to our final meeting on Friday morning. I expect we will have a short practice which will give ourselves time to chat and eat breakfast afterwards.

Please let me know if you have any food allergies or restrictions apart from the items that we were restricted from having during the cleanse. And also, please bring a plate, fork, spoon, and knife. 

Enjoy this sunny day.

 

I just received this recipe for Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Breakfast Bars from a friend on FaceBook. No flour, butter, eggs, or dairy! And it's made with bananas, the one fruit allowed on our cleanse. I haven't decided on our breakfast menu yet for the 28th...but this is lookin' fine!

Happy Family Day Cleansers! 

Another week down or day 17 if you started the cleanse on Feb 1st. Joanne sent us this lovely guided yoga practice to help keep us moving forward. Thanks Joanne!

For dinner Sat night I roasted a free range organic chicken tucked in with potatoes for Ken and sweet potatoes for me. I like to rub the chicken with olive oil, salt, and crushed garlic and then sprinkle with lemon juice and fresh rosemary. What's so nice about a roast chicken is the left-overs, which I had today on a Super Green Wrap. I found these wraps at Market Fresh in the corner of the produce section. Love them!

Having the day off today, I dug out my old and very well used Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery. Her recipes are so simple but there is definitely a knack to cooking the spices just right so as not to burn them. I made her Red Split Lentils with Cumin Seed and over-cooked the cumin a little. But it still tastes yummy and so satisfying. Here's Madhur and the recipe. If you don't have a good Indian cookbook, this is classic and I highly recommend it amongst your cookbooks!

How is your cleanse going? Any interesting observations? Not having my weekend coffee was challenging. I nearly caved. But I made a cup of white tea (which is green tea) with frothy soy milk and it almost took the craving away.

Has anyone told you that you look great? One of the benefits of this cleanse is that it gives your complexion a healthy glow. For an amusing read, check out Julie Beun-Chown's The Detox Diaries from Canadian Living.

That's all for now.
Hope you are all keeping well!

As requested by some of you, here are the shoulder and hip openers we did last Friday. 

Happy mid-week cleansing!
Are you remembering to drink lots of water?

Stay tuned for a simple but yummy black bean soup recipe...

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." ~ Viktor E. Frankl

Congratulations everyone! We are through our first week of the cleanse. How are you doing?

 

Hello Feb Cleansers! 

I said I would post the "Liver Flush" from Dr Joshi's Holistic Detox. Here it is:

300ml of grapefruit juice and lemon juice
200ml of water
glove of garlic crushed
piece of fresh ginger grated
2 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil 
* mix in a blender and enjoy!
(Tips: Tastes better when the ingredients are cold and served in a martini glass. Drink 3 cups of herbal tea afterwards and expect to need a nap.)
 
And I promised to post some of the stretches and poses, breathing practices, and sequences that we did last week. From my notes, here's what we did last Monday; although I can't be sure that we actually followed my notes:

1. Gertie Ball under back of pelvis: tailbone circles, dropping and lifting.
2. Bridge: lifting up off Gertie Ball and opening chest.
3. Table pose: tailbone circles, dropping and lifting.
4. Pointer dog pose.
5. Child pose.
6. Downward dog. 
7. Square lunge.
6. Sequence: Warrior I to Warrior III to Warrior I to Warrior II
7. Standing half moon.
8. Simple seated twist.
9. Meditation: developing awareness.

 

This morning's poem:

CUTTING LOOSE
-William Stafford

Sometimes from sorrow, for no reason,
you sing. For no reason, you accept
the way of being lost, cutting loose from
all else and electing a world
where you go where you want to.

Arbitrary, sound comes, a reminder
that a steady centre is holding
all else. If you listen, that sound
will tell where it is, and you
can slide your way past trouble.

Certain twisted monsters
always bar the path - but that's when
you get going best, glad to be
lost, learning how real it is
here on earth, again and again.