That is what my Katonah Yoga teacher said in class earlier this week. We were steeped in lotus variation, also known as double-pigeon. Most people don't love this pose, but there are those people who have innately flexible hips and seem to gracefully fold into this pose as the rest of us squirm and lure ourself to go deeper.
So there we were, doing variations in the pose when a female voice from behind me proclaimed, "four weeks ago I couldn't do this pose and now I can!"
She was proud and amazed and I knew exactly where she was coming from. That is when our teacher, Melissa shout out, "yah, that's cause this shit works."
That got me thinking, what other shit works well in my life?
This week's findings, a food cleanse!
The plan was to start Monday and end Friday, by Thursday afternoon I was thinking of every little, sneaky way possible I could break this cleanse, without actually breaking it (yes, cheating!).
By Friday I broke through to the other side!
I emerged into a space of clarity, energy, and literally getting to see how I have more power than I realized to change habits in my life and almost more importantly, to build new habits, you know, the shit that works.
So why cleanse, is it worth it? This shit works, here's the lowdown....
The benefits of course! Doing a cleanse is generally recommended in the transition of a season, early Fall being a good one (so now is the time!)
You give your body's systems a chance to clean out, so that moving forward, it functions better, especially with the coming colder season, where a lot will be demanded of it.
It's like cleaning every room in your house. Bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, office, ect. After you clean it, you know where things are and if they are in the wrong place, you can put them in the right place. Organizing your body may seem like an odd analogy, but in fact it is valuable to see your body like your house. Different organs have different functions (think liver and kidneys) and if your organs get overburdened (imagine a car filter that hasn't been replaced in years) they don't function as well.
That is the main reason to cleanse!
Some other great reasons to cleanse are:
1) Eating foods that are pure in nature brings that pure energy to you, so that you can see things more purely, not getting stuck in the muck.
2) Changing your habits, even if temporarily, can give you insight on things you would not otherwise see and if your goal is to expand your consciousness, this is a perfect opportunity.
For instance, my roommate was sharing a story with me the other day and as she was talking, I thought to myself, "I should be working on my newsletter right now, not talking," then immediately a hit of anxiety came over me and I had this knee jerk response to just want to eat something, right in that moment.
From that one moment I got to see so much of what happens in split second. From a totally normal conversation to my neurosis. In this case, my obsessive thinking about tortilla chips I had been transfixed upon for the first few days of the cleanse.
I got to see what happens in my mind, how it hits my nervous system, and then what I do to try and handle my anxiety. The beauty of this is that when you take away something that is usually your go to, you have to come up with a different way of addressing your neurosis.
You get a fresh chance to create a new path in your neurology, which is one of the most powerful things I have experienced!
3) Slimming down. If you tend to carry around a little extra weight like I do, it can be easy for your body to release it if you give it a chance. My intention going into this was purely to give my organs a break, but I can tell that I let go of some weight and inflammation.
4) CLARITY: I cannot overstate the importance of this, who doesn't want to see things more clearly and live more clearly. It's like the bull-shit gets stripped away from things and you just see them as they are.
Please contact me if you would like more information to embark on your own cleanse, get some support through it, and to make it successful for yourself!
Lastly, what in your life would you say to yourself and out loud, "this shit works!" I challenge you to explore and share one of these things with someone this week as fodder for a great conversation.
Also, I would love for you to share your findings with me via email, so I can hear about what you are all doing in your life, that is rocking your world!
Keep growing, keep expanding your consciousness, love, and creativity.
I will be back soon with more on Meditation and my Winter 2016 Yoga Retreat, so stay tuned!
With great love, respect, and laughter,
Jess
Check out this recipe for the easiest head turner to any dinner or lunch this Fall. When I say easy, any one could make this with prep time of 2-3 minutes!
