if you have fabric you want to dye, the first step is always to wash it.

i learned this simple, powerful truth from Dr. Vasant Lad, as guidance for using a cleanse to set the stage for positive life changes.

if there are new ways of being you’d like to try out, habits you know you could use more of in your life, healthy patterns you want to adopt, it’s worth clearing some space first.

gardeners know that planting even the best quality seeds isn’t just a matter of putting them in the ground. preparing the soil is always the first step if you want to really set them up to thrive.

i like to think of new habits as seeds. tiny enough that you may almost overlook them. yet brimming with wild potential.

over the years, i’ve come to understand that the real power in cleansing is in helping us wipe the slate clean on our habits themselves. a cleanse is a pattern interrupt. a masterclass in bringing more mindfulness into the simplest of daily actions. an opportunity to reflect on habitual behaviors, take the reins and edit out what’s not working. and to create fertile ground for new, more supportive habits to take root.

cleansing has the potential to bring about so many tangible shifts in our health. yet even beyond this, it allows us to clear space to try out and enjoy new ways of being that are better suited to who we have become, who we in fact are becoming. 

when i came to a breaking point with my own health ~ constant debilitating migraines, stress-levels that i could no longer bear, and a gnawing feeling of discomfort and dis-ease in my body ~ and found myself reaching for a home cleanse out of desperation over 3 years ago, i really had no idea what would transform in my life as a result of that process.

what i discovered was that the habits i always “knew i should be doing” but seemed to fiercely resist/ struggle to do consistently (meditation, staying well-hydrated, embracing a regular movement practice, getting good-quality sleep, nourishing myself with simple, fresh, whole foods… you know, those things) started falling into place with more ease. the cleanse had seemed to expel a fundamental blockage i’d been carrying around for years. a blockage to showing myself love, care, kindness and appreciation.

with that out of my system, simplifying my daily rhythms and taking care of myself felt like a natural extension of the active cleanse itself. i had stumbled up on a new way of being, one that felt SO much better than how i’d been living, that had eluded me for YEARS.

what i had known intellectually about self-care made its way further into my being, into a more potent place. i discovered what it felt like to embody that knowledge. these new ways of being became a natural expression of genuinely caring for myself. i let go of the struggle. favoring simple rhythms in my mealtimes, my body and my days became a reflection of who i was. 

it’s hard to express how extraordinary it felt to undergo this kind of change. happily, these shifts resulted in a surplus of ease, energy and resilience. i felt more capable of navigating life’s challenges in new ways. 

i didn’t go into that cleanse anticipating such a fundamental shift. but that’s what happened. and i learned from this how powerful a tool cleansing can be, for so much more than making different choices in our food.

as a species, we are designed to learn from our experiences. to develop wisdom, in fact, as we age. this means being willing to make note of what works for us and what no longer does. it means being willing to revisit and revise even our most old-standing habits and beliefs. to see these things in the context of the changing seasons of our life. 

i am a huge believer in taking time to reflect and integrate, in order to learn the lessons that life gives us. and evolving our practices accordingly.

Ayurveda teaches us, in fact, that one of the fundamental causes of disease is “failure to learn from our past.” 

i don’t see a cleanse as a time to deprive ourselves of things we enjoy, adopt a stressful, extreme approach to changing our lives temporarily, only in order to return straightaway to the habits that degrade our health as soon as it’s done. my view of a cleanse is basically the opposite. it’s a way to listen more intentionally to our inner wisdom and allow ourselves to be guided to what works better for our systems long-term.

it’s a way to bring more mindfulness into our lives as we emerge from the experience. to try out ways of embracing simplicity, rest and reflection so that we can learn better how to weave these healing gifts into the fabric of our very lives.

so that over time, our bodies need not resort to such drastic measures to get our attention, to get us to rest in the first place. 

a cleanse is an incredibly powerful tool for transformation, particularly of our daily habits. and it goes far beyond what we’re eating or not eating.

it’s a way to “wash the fabric” before we dye it. to create a clear space, upon which beautiful new patterns may be imprinted. 

 

 

 

if you want to clear some room for new, positive changes in your health and your daily life, join us in a super supportive community setting for this year’s Guided Spring Reset. we start March 18th. i’d love to have you there.