Anything worth pursuing is hard and it seems the more worthwhile it is, the harder the pursuit.
I'm on day 3 of a 21 day cleanse. The idea of a cleanse or detox has always appealed to me but I have to admit that it has always appealed to my vanity as a quick way to drop those holiday pounds that made my skinny jeans feel like they were cutting off circulation. This year is different. Perhaps it is maturity. I hope so. This year the goal of my cleanse is to clear out the junk in my head by clearing out the junk in my body.
We are created as whole beings, mind-body-spirit. Cleansing recognizes that. It isn't just my body that is affected when I don't eat nutritiously. It is my entire being. The junk I'm really cleansing is the laziness, guilt and despair that build up when I know I'm not taking care of myself. Cleansing is mentally and physically hard work. It means letting go of the usual habits of soothing my irritation, boredom or stress with an overload of caffeine and sugar. It also means thinking long-term instead of short-term. In short, cleansing is re-wiring my body and mind to work in harmony for my true well-being.
Day 1 of the cleanse felt like climbing Mt. Everest. Minutes ticked by as if they were hours. My head hurt, I felt like I was in a fog and the voice in my head clamored to just give up and try next year. I went to bed early just to avoid succumbing. Day 2 was slightly better. I began to really taste what I was eating instead of just filling myself up. Now, on Day 3, I'm really starting to notice my head clearing. As part of that, emotions can be a bit more raw but I'm letting them surface instead of rushing to the coffee bar or the pantry.
I've only started on this cleansing journey but I can already tell that this is going to be as much about my mind as my body. And that makes me all the more determined to keep going.
For information on the cleanse I'm doing check out http://www.wholeliving.com/challenge-plan.
-vb
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