The ancient Eastern wisdom of Ayurveda recommends simplifying both physical and emotional elements in your life. For the physical, you can avoid canned and frozen foods for a week, opting for very simple foods, like soup, rice and beans, or just vegetables, focusing on one type of simple food for the whole week. For instance, make one giant pot of soup and eat it all week. If you can, omit cheese, milk, and coffee. Drink only water and tea.
On the emotional/mental side, this is a wonderful time to take extra special care of yourself. Get a massage, make sure your house is clean to refresh yourself visually, use a sauna/steam room every other day, go outside in nature as often as possible and enjoy the quiet, listen to gentle music, release any negative emotions, turn off the TV, and find a yoga class or other gentle exercise to get your energy moving. Ayurveda recommends cleansing for one week, though many other cleanses you can find go anywhere from 7 days to 28 days. It’s all a matter of finding what works for you and your schedule, but still refreshes your system for the new season.
It is part of our American culture to rush ahead always, constantly pushing ourselves on from one thing to the next. Our bodies are naturally in tune with the changing of the seasons and even the changing from day to night. This is an important time to recharge- to let yourself get ready for the new season and take a little breath.
The most nurturing way you can kick off your cleanse is to make some homemade soup completely from scratch. It is not difficult to make soup stock, it just takes some time to stick close to the kitchen mainly to stir and initially to chop. Please enjoy this step by step recipe from last year, towards the middle of the post. It even has pictures. The top is a little embarrassing, as it’s titled “Get Silly and Make Some Soup (from Scratch)!” But enjoying yourself and having some fun is important, too!
Also, the post is labeled as “Day 13” of a 21-day Cleanse from Kathy Freston’s book Quantum Wellness Cleanse. If you are interested in participating in a 21-day cleanse, start here and follow day-by-day. You’ll find the cleanse posts in July and August 2012. There are recipes each day to support the cleanse, as well.
However you decide to do it, this is the time to honor your body, your emotions, and the seasonal change from summer to fall.
*This article was originally published in the Geauga Family Farms CSA Newsletter in my weekly column, Creative Cooking for an Organic Life.
This post is linked to Party Wave Wednesday at HolisticSquid.com!
