Gluten-Free Digestion Repair Starts in the Mind and the Heart
I have written a lot about the dietary aspects of repairing your digestion from the devastation gluten intolerance and other food in tolerances cause. It is my personal experience that focusing only on diet did not heal your digestive tract fully. The healing of my leaky gut did not pick up the pace until I chose to focus just as much on achieving emotional wellness as I did not what I was eating.
Many medical professionals believe that the main reason people with Celiac Disease or gluten intolerance continue to have symptoms post-diagnosis is that they are eating some gluten. That may be true, but I don’t think it is the whole truth.
The missing piece here for me has been the acknowledgment that there is a lot of stress triggering events happening in the world right now and most people don’t have the emotional or spiritual resources to cope with the stress. Some of us are more sensitive than others to external stressors (myself included). The stress I am referring to in this post is the internal experience or the internal reaction we have to external events. What I want to make clear is that we have A LOT of control over how we react to and experience our world.
I find when I don’t acknowledge emotional stress it starts to impact not only my emotional health but I start having digestive problems, hormonal imbalances, and blood sugar problems. I am convinced my emotional state and my digestive health are undeniably intimately related and that becoming more mindful of this reality has resulted in a profound shift in my level of health and vitality on all levels. My supplements work better, my hypoglycemia disappears, and my metabolism seems to get a boost when I regular employ basic stress relief practices.
A good part of the activity happening in our digestive, immune, lymphatic system, and nervous systems happens not only due to what we eat, but how we live in our bodies as a whole. By how we live in our bodies I mean what we take in on all levels: the thoughts we think, the environment we live in, the air we breathe, the people we spend time with, the way we interpret and hold on to past events, the media we are exposed to, etc.
I filter my experiences through my gut, or the core of my body, to a large extent. Keeping the flow of energy in my core organs is very important and a huge part of keeping healthy and letting daily stressors flow through me instead of getting stuck and causing illness.
Many studies have shown the incredibly transformative power of mind body approaches to healing. There are many skeptics out there, but I find that if one is willing to throw skepticism aside and “act as if”, to treat the healing journey as a sacred process, healing miracles become possible.
Here are the Top 3 cost-free things I do to keep stress from making me sick:
1. Forgiveness and Compassion
I often find myself feeling upset to varying degrees about various things happening in the world or in my personal life. When I am holding onto anger, resentment, fear, or hurt feelings my core gets tight and my back begins to ache. When this happens I find it helpful to adopt an attitude of forgiveness and compassion for myself for having these ‘negative’ emotions and for the other parties in the situation. To do this I simply take out my journal and write about the situation without censoring the words. I always end up at a place of forgiveness, compassion, and greater insight. Writing helps me connect to the wisest parts of myself and release whatever needs to be released.
Another way I practice forgiveness and compassion is a new prayer I learned from a friend that is making its way around the internet. I visualize whomever (sometimes it is me who needs to forgive myself) I want to forgive or whom I feel I owe an apology and send this prayer their way:
Ho’oponopono Prayer:
“I Love You, I’m Sorry, Please Forgive Me, Thank You”
You can learn more about this prayer that originates from a Hawaiian healer here
Gratitude
I make it a regular practice before bed to review with my husband things we are grateful for that day. It helps me keep my mindset positive instead of going to bed ruminating over daily frustrations. I have also kept a gratitude journal in which I wrote down 10 things every night before bed I was grateful for that day, it is really fun to pick up this old journal and review it whenever I am in a funky mood.
Nature As Healer
It is just not natural how much time I can spend each day sedentary and indoors if I don’t continually remind myself regular movement and especially exercising in nature is medication for me.
I find walking in nature to leave me feeling much calmer and peaceful than working out in a gym. I still like to go bust a sweat at a cardio dance class and reap great benefits from that, but nothing helps me let go of worries like a walk in nature.
This nature connection feels even more important when momma nature is ailing so much. Each news report of a natural disaster makes me want to connect to mother earth even more in an effort remind yourself that despite all the trauma she has gone through she is still thriving in so many ways and so beautiful.
Just like all of us, for all our inner and outer scars, we are so beautiful and thriving in many ways.
Breaking the Food Addiction Cycle when Going Green
I have had some great life-lessons this week post-juice feast that are bringing me back in line with my intention to listen to and honor the messages my body is constantly giving me. I am working hard at not reverting to the diet-binge cycle post-juice feast, and my efforts are offering me a lot of insight. My two biggest insights were 1) How one must respect the intensity of the amount of temptation there is in the world when one is trying to release a food addiction and adopt a high-raw/green lifestyle, and 2)The juice feast and recent liver/gallbladder cleanse has really changed my physiology, and my body is teaching me a new way to feed it.
Temptation
Before I went into Whole Foods today, I took time to sit and center myself. I knew that there would most likely be samples everywhere. I passed up the samples that were offered immediately upon entering the store (victory!) and was in the tea aisle when I noticed I was salivating! Just simply being in the presence of food had me salivating. I was not super hungry, I had had breakfast one hour ago. My study of the digestive system has taught me that salivation is one of the first steps in the digestion process, their release sends the message to the entire body “Get ready for food!”.
Here I thought I was in control by saying no to eating the samples, but my mind had already told my body “We are gonna get some food now, yahoo!”. If I had not centered myself, before entering the store, it would have been so easy to pick up a chocolate bar (you know those little chocolates they have at the checkout stand?) and eaten it on the way home. I am learning to RESPECT the power of my cellular cravings that are still hanging around and to re-program myself I need to: 1) drink my green juice and 2) center myself when I know the temptation is going to be great.
Increasing Food Sensitivity
Matt Monarch’s (of the Raw Food World) newsletter sent out today included an article entitled Two Levels of Sensitivity in which he talks about what happens when someone who has cleansed deeply and eaten a very pure diet for a significant amount of time eats something that is not part of what he calls their “consistent diet.” This article was a follow-up to another insightful article: Adapting to Toxic and Processed Foods. Reading these articles drove home the truth that there is nothing ‘wrong’ with people’s immune systems who are sensitive to foods such as gluten or dairy, the problem is in the toxicity of our food supply. I greatly recommend the articles, they are very insightful and true to post-juice feast experience, as I will describe…
On Monday I found myself at a Fresh Choice Salad Buffet ravenously hungry with the intention to eat only salad. However, one thing led to another and I made some very poor choices. Before this juice feast I was enjoying a new ability to eat an increasing variety of foods that previously I was unable to eat due to multiple food sensitivities that had seemingly resolved due to all the leaky gut and emotional healing work I have been doing for a number of years.
The food choices I made on Monday resulted in significant suffering on Tuesday. I found myself feeling very anxious, apathetic, fatigued, very bloated, and with a nasty pimple on my chin. The anxiety reminded me of the feeling I got after drinking fully leaded coffee, which alerted me to the reality the symptoms were most likely due to something I ingested. Also, I found the thought of drinking green juice repulsive! Prior to the juice feast, the food choices I made on Monday would have maybe led me to feel a bit ‘off,’ but nothing like the severity of the reactions I experienced Tuesday.
I got myself through the funky feelings yesterday by affirming to myself this was a GOOD sign that I had become cleaner inside than I have ever been since maybe infancy when I was only ingesting my momma’s milk (thank you momma!). I have been eating a high-green, 90% organic diet for several years and ow that I have done a juice feast, 2 liver/gallbladder cleanses, and tons of colon cleansing—I’ve achieved a new state of physiological homeostasis that needs to be respected and nurtured.
I committed to myself before going to bed Tuesday night that I would make (and drink!) 1 quart of green juice first thing after I drank my morning quart of water. My experience has shown me that drinking my morning quart of green juice (without any fruit besides lemon) keeps me clear-headed and on track with my food choices all day. I ended up making 2 quarts of green juice this morning (Wednesday) and enjoyed them as a nutritient rich breakfast and lunch.
I will end my reflection today with a recipe for an a tasty green juice. The consistency of this juice was smooth, it went down very easy, and it made my cells dance:
Makes approximately 1 quart
1 lemon, 3 little baby bok choy, 1 head celery, 2 zucchini, 3 romaine leaves.
Here’s to learning from our mistakes and becoming wiser every day!
Daniela
Juice Feast Day 7
I decided to ‘break’ my feast yesterday at the end of day 7 of my juice feast. I am extremely proud of myself for making it this long! I broke my feast at dinner time. I set the table beautifully and lit some lovely candles to make a little ritual out of my first real meal in one week. I enjoyed a small salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and jicama dressed with a few avocado slices, hemp oil, and lemon juice. It was about half the size of the usual salad I frequently eat as a entree for dinner pre-feast, but I still could not finish it. As a former member of the clean plate club, I was surprised to see myself putting down my fork and sacrificing the rest of the salad to the garbage drain. I attribute this new super power to the habit changing nature of juice feasting. I focused on savoring and chewing thoroughly each and every little tasty morsal. My heart was also very happy to be sharing a meal with my sweet, so supportive husband.
I chose to break the feast because I needed a mental and physical break from juicing. I was experiencing juice fatigue in terms of feeling overwhelmed with constantly making juice and feeling I had to be tied to my juicer all the time. Further, I was feeling very ungrounded and having blood sugar control problems causing a lot of hunger. I plan to hire a juice feasting consultant or go to a place like the tree of life rejuvenation center to have even more support in healing specific physical ailments such as blood sugar imbalance and lyme disease…although I know that I have made huge headway into healing both on my own at home.
My BIGGEST lesson that I learned from my mini juice feast was that my most significant hurdle to healing from disease was letting go of my addiction to suffering. I had gotten so used to suffering that I realized I was holding on to the sub-conscious belief that I do not want to heal, that on some level it is not safe. I am so used to suffering it has become my modus operandi and somewhat comfortable, like a old stinky and moldy blanket a child carries around as a pacifier. This addiction was the true core of my food addiction and even my difficulty in releasing lyme’s disease from my body.
All the new detox practices I was doing this past week went against my status quo of suffering, and brought resistance kicking and screaming to the surface. I know the longer I practice acts of self-love, the harder it will be to maintain these beliefs and the homestatis of my being will shift towards more and more joy. Because, darn it, I am worth it! We all are. And I saw and felt the shift happen last week.
So many of us with chronic illness have been told we are not really ill, but have some sort of psychological problem and are just trying to get attention. I can’t tell you how much that irked me, because I have had more than one doc tell me that. Those docs were on to something though. My body was trying to get my attention, but it took me many years of study to learn to de-code its messages. The juice feast helped me become much more fluent in the language of my body and honor its incredible ability to heal itself when I removed the poisons (toxic beliefs, toxic thoughts, toxic behaviors, toxic food) and let it do its thing.
My studies and personal experience have taught me I must find a way to access the wisdom of my body, and in doing so I will heal myself on all levels. This is why I loved the globaljuicefeasting.com program, because it was a truly holistic, or integral, experience and thus allowed me to access the wisdom of my body, mind, and spirit.
Here are the integral life practices from my juice feast I will continue post-feast:
- A minimum of one quart of green all veggie juice a day
- Maintain a high green/high raw diet
- Daily body brushing before my morning shower
- Drinking 1qt water with 1/2 lemon & 1teaspoon MSM powder upon rising
- Minimum 30 minutes a day of walking outside, preferable hiking in nature
- Regular colon cleansing via enemas as needed and once a week colon hydrotherapy
- Far Infrared Sauna 1-2X/week
- Frequent Blogging to share with others my experience!
- Reading daily from one of the books or documents from globaljuicefeasting.com
- Doing detox/nutritional coaching with anyone in my life who asks for it:)
Short list of benefits from my 1 week of juice feasting and 2nd liver/gallbladder stones:
- My clothes fit much better, jeans that were tight Monday and are very comfortable now.
- I lost one inch from my waist, approx. 6lbs, and 1% body fat.
- I released 100′s of vitality-robbing liver stones
- I gained great insight into the root cause of my illness and a the path out of suffering
- Greatly increased my energy levels and mental clarity
- Greatly increased feeling of vitality
- Hair appears shinier and thicker
- Skin appears more ‘glowy’, firm, and smooth throughout entire body
- Am writing more on my blog and ready again to work with clients
- Feel much more connected to nature, a long-time goal of mine
- Released huge amounts of toxic sludge from my digestive system working towards goal of healing up leaky gut even further
Wow! Quite the list! This is just my 7 day juice feast list, I can’t imagine the transformation possible if I did it for 30, 60, or even 92 days!!!
I am signing off, my heart full of gratitude for all the beings in the universe that made it possible for me to feast on life and juice last week.
Daniela
Juice Feast Day 6
Wow! Each day of this feast I continue to be more and more in awe of the amazing healing powers of my body. I just did my 2nd liver/gallbladder flush protocol following a modified version of Andreas Mortiz’s protocol as described in his book The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush. Learning how to cleanse my liver and colon have reduced my lyme’s disease symptoms by 85-90%. The results combined with juice feasting and 2 colon hydrotherapy sessions this week were astounding…I released 100′s of little stones last night and this morning, and tons of intestinal sludge.
I want to share a few things I did this time I did differently my 2nd liver gallbladder flush:
- I juice feasted the whole week prior to the flush. The 1st flush I ate high raw and juiced the day of the flush only.
- Immediately after I completed the liver/gallbladder flush protocol, I immediately had 1T of raw honey and drank fresh young coconut water. This give me a quick blood sugar and electrolyte boost. After my first flush, I got really dizzy and almost fainted due to a combination of low blood sugar and dehydration, this prevented that.
- About 90 minutes later I made a super-hydrating juice of celery, apple, and lemon. I learned on the juicefeasting.com web site that mixing cucumber with celery is incredibly hydrating. I added the apple to balance the saltiness of the celery.
Tomorrow is my last scheduled day of juice feasting, but I’ve decided to keep on keeping on. Thus far, I have released huge amounts of toxicity from my digestive system and my liver. I have lost about 5 pounds of toxic fat this week, 1% body fat according to my home scale, and my energy and mental clarity are twice what they were when I was eating solids. I also feel joy throughout my entire being, whereas before I felt full of anxiety and frustration. So my juicy life will continue indefinitely for right now.
Off to go make some green juice and enjoy the beautiful weather,
Daniela
Juice Feast Day 5
This will be a short post because I have begun my liver/gallbladder flush protocol and need to lay down and focus on releasing…
On the juice feasting side of things, today was my best day yet in terms of feeling physically balanced, clear headed, and vibrant. I have gone on quite a few 10 day silent meditation retreats, and the feeling I get a few days into the retreat is the same type of heightened sensory awareness I feel today… especially in regards to nature. When I went out for my daily nature walk, it was as if everything was in technicolor. The green of the plants was a brilliant green, the song of a hummingbird was intoxicatingly melodic, the smell of jasmine the sweetest perfume I have ever smelled…well, you get the picture. I expect this heightened sensory awareness to come and go throughout the feast. I sure appreciate it when it is there as it is enjoyable and helps keep up the motivation.
I am getting much more into the swing of things with figuring out which fruit/veggie combinations taste good together. Since I am drinking 1 whole quart at a time, if it tastes nasty, it is a real bummer. I tried a new veggie I have never juice before that came in my weekly CSA delivery from Capay Valley Farms: baby bok choy. I juiced it 3-4 little baby bok choy with 1/4lb baby spinach, 2 green apples,a generous handful of cilantro, and 10 carrots. I then topped off the quart with some thai young coconut juice. The texture and taste was off the hook! It was smooth, and the sweetness was perflectly balanced with the right amount of pungency and body from the greens. I made a 2nd quart with 2X as much of all the greens, one less apple, the same amount of carrots and coconut water–it was just as delicious.
I have not had anything but water and some ginger tea since 1pm, as this is the protcol for the flush. All this writing about juice has gotten me feeling even more hungry, so I will write more detailed reflections tomorrow.
Here’s to me rolling some stones!
Juice Feast Day 4
I had several intense detox signs today: fatigue, a backache, and a headache. I am grateful that the nausea I was experiencing the first 3 days was not present today, and my hunger levels were way down as well.
I did loose my marbles and eat a small handful of almonds and rice crackers late last night. I am giving myself a big pat on the back for not letting myself backslide too far and simply get right back on track today with liquids only. As someone with hard-core food addiction issues in the past, this is a huge step forward for me. I used to put myself on rigid diets…and when I would take one bite of something on the forbidden list, I would go on a several day binge out of guilt. My ability to accept my humanity and lovingly bring myself back to my intention to have a successful juice feast and heal my body is something I have worked years to develop. This is the most intense detox I have ever attempted, and I am more than pleased with my success thus far.
My most delicious juice I had today was: baby spinach, beet, and granny smith apple. I also enjoyed a celery, cucumber, carrot, and romaine juice. This will be my first day of having 5 qts of juice, mostly because I woke up a lot earlier than usual and I had all my juices for today prepared the day before. The first three days of this week I was taking in between 3 and 4 quarts of juice a day, I just could not make or get down any more than that. I think had I been wiser about juice making and 1): used the vita-mix+ nut mylk bag for ease and speed to make more of my juices, and 2): gone easier on the amount of leafy greens in my juices (the intense detox they cause was the origin of the nausea), I would have been able to get in more juice and been more physically at ease and satisfied the first three days.
On an up note, I had been feeling a lot of anger, frustration, and irritability the week before this juice feast/liver cleanse. I am finally feeling this inner tension let up, which is a sign of my body being cleaner. Yahoo! My mental clarity is continuing to increase…and my productivity was great today as well, despite my fatigue and headache. I even fit in a little at home yoga class today on yogaglo.com, which is the web site of a yoga studio in Santa Monica that records live their yoga and meditation classes. You can subscribe to their site and access their huge variety of classes from home for a $15 a month! I am on their free 15 day trial and am loving it, especially their restorative and therapeutic classes.
Sweet
Juice Feast Day 3: Over the Hurdle
As I write this post I am taking a deep breath of relief. Day 3 of detoxes are usually the hardest for me, and I am ending the day on a good note. I feel calm, balanced, and peaceful. I am already feeling more in tune with my body and what it needs nutrition-wise. For example, I felt very hungry and unbalanced late last night and most of today. Further, I was feeling ongoing nausea and dizziness. I found myself contemplating eating various solid foods. Instead, I reached out for support from some dear friends and my hubby. Then, I did two other things that helped me re-balance my body and re-commit to juice feasting: 1) I took a deep, delicious afternoon nap, and 2) I ate 1 tablespoon of unrefined, organic, cold-pressed coconut oil.
My taste buds absolutely danced when they tasted the coconut oil! The preferred oil of choice on a juice feast is hemp oil, but it is perfectly OK to have up to 1T of high-quality coconut oil as well. I do not know how I would have gotten through the day without it. The coconut oil completely eliminated the overwhelming sense of anxiety, imbalance, dizziness, nausea, and hunger I was previously feeling. I now again feel the sense of excitement I felt on Day 1.
I am also noticing that as I am reviewing my to-do list at the end of the day, I am checking off 90% more tasks than usual. This is despite the fact I am spending a lot of time washing produce, chopping produce, juicing, cleaning my juicer, doing either an enema or colon hydrotherapy ever day, listening to a support call for the liver/gallbladder cleanse etc., etc. This is because EATING is my favorite procrastination tool! I am glad to have a break from it, if just for a week.
I had a very delicious juice today using all organic veggies I got at the always fabulous mountain view farmer’s market on Sunday: fuji apple; celery; heirloom baby fennel; and heirloom white, purple , and orange carrots. I am so blessed that that market is open every Sunday all entire year round just a few blocks from my house. I had lots of fun there this past Sunday stocking up for my feast. Everyone who I asked for a bulk discount if I bought, say, 10 heads of celery–gave me a significant discount. I got 10 heads of super beautiful organic lettuce (romaine, red leaf, and green leaf) for $10!
I had so much fun and learned a lot of very helpful info while exploring juicefeasting.com in further depth today. They have a ton of downloads, such as a 5 day juice feast grocery list and a nutrition data sheet on commonly used fruits and veggies so you can make sure you are getting in all your protein, etc., while feasting. They also list what fruits and veggie juices are helpful for just about every health conditions (even cellulite removal:)).
Wishing everyone green dreams tonight,
Daniela
Juice Feast Day 2
I am wrapping up another beautiful day of juice feasting. I did feel overwhelmed today with all the juicing…it is not really the juicing that is overwhelming but the clean-up. I got through it by pretending I was working at a juice bar. At a juice bar you usually get 8, or at most 16, ounces of juice at a time. I am drinking 32oz of juice, 4-5 times a day. In reality, juice feasting while prepping your own juices is similar to working at a juice bar.
I have been reading a lot of fellow juice feaster’s blogs for inspiration. I most frequently stop by Angela Stoke’s RawReform E-Journal in which she documents her original 92 day juice feast in 2006 and subsequent juicing journey’s. I first heard about juice feasting from her web site, she is a super inspirational lady who has lost and kept off a huge amount of weight and healed her body on many levels since adopting a raw lifestyle.
I went to Zumba dance class and only stayed about 35 minutes due to dizziness, which is common, and I could feel a low blood sugar feeling coming on. Angela mentions in one of her blog posts that she visited a retreat center during one of her juice feasts in which she feasts on all greens and no sweet fruit, and has her juice made for her. Visiting this type of retreat center is a big dream of mine. However, I feel that doing my first mini-feast at home is a very important step for me in building my confidence than I can heal myself while living in the ‘real world.’
I would like to experiment with doing all greens and no fruit sometime, but only at a retreat center where juices are made for me. I need the small amount of glucose in the apples (pretty much the only sweet fruits I am including besides lemons and a bit of pineapple here and there) to give me the energy I need to make all my juice each day.
I had an interesting insight today. The first nutritionist/naturopath I saw when I was 18 (10 years ago) suggested I juice to heal my body. I balked at the idea, I did not even consider it. I was at that time a very committed vegan and on a allergy elimination diet, but for some reason the idea of juicing seemed ridiculous. I was only a few months off the SAD and it seemed a ridiculous and totally overwhelming. I had already ‘given up’ so much in the food realm in the past few months…the thought of juicing my food instead of chewing solids made me want to have a temper tantrum. It is interesting how things have come full circle, and how long it took me to become willing to do this.
My big detox treat for today was a trip to use an far infrared (FIR) sauna . Using this sauna has helped me immensely with one of my major lyme’s disease symptoms: joint pain. My joint pain in my knees and hips was so bad when I was taking antibiotics that walking short distances became difficult. I had planned to use the FIR to help with weight loss and overall detoxification because it was recommend by Dr. Mark Hyman in his book: The UltraSimple Diet. When I came out of the sauna the first time last fall, all the pain in my body was gone. I noticed after a month of regular use of the FIR sauna, I had stopped gaining weight and my pain levels were down from a 8 on a 1-10 scale to a 2. This made a huge difference in the quality of my life.
I still use the FIR sauna regularly (about 1X/week). But for daily at home use I decided to buy a FIR Bio-Mat, because it is easier to fit in my small home than a full-on FIR sauna. The major difference between the two is that in the sauna you get a major full-body sweat while you have to stay on the Bio-Mat on the highest setting for a long time to sweat that much. I love them both!
I am off to take deeply detoxifying Epsom salt bath.
Wishing anyone who reads this peace and sweet dreams,
Daniela
I am winding down what has been a beautiful day of feasting! I have been feasting not only on juice , but on a myriad of wonderful self-care activities that I have chosen to make a priority during my mini juice feast this week.
I woke up feeling full of joy and looking forward to a day full of the freedom that comes from simplicity. As someone who has struggled with food addiction, it is such a huge freedom to not have to make many choices about what to put in my mouth. I am drinking fresh, homemade green veggie juice with a bit of fresh, homemade fruit juice mixed in. And that is it. I already feel more mental ‘space’ and clarity, and look forward to this sense of mental clarity increasing.
Another new freedom is a sense of trust and faith. I have a new sense of trust and faith that what I am consuming is healing my body on a deep and profound level. I am already seeing the cleanse reactions starting, probably because I started really ramping up my green juice intake for several days. I am releasing very interesting things (yes, into the toilet!). I treated myself to a colon hydrotherapy session this afternoon, which probably sent even more messages to my body to cleanse and detoxify.
My energy levels were very good today. I did not feel the need for a nap in the late afternoon like I usually do. Instead, I used that time to get out in nature and take a hike. I rarely find the time to hike during the week, so this was a real treat. I was feeling a bit unbalanced from all the sugar I took in from having a large amount of pineapple in my afternoon juice, and moving my body and connecting to nature evened out my energy.
I am winding down my day with a epsom salt bath and a castor oil pack to help the detox along and to relax after a full day.
I think that filling my day with all these delicious and soothing self-care activities is definitely keeping my from feeling deprived. Instead, I an ending my day feeling connected to all the abundance in the universe.
If you are curious about what a day in the like of a juice feaster looks like in greater detail, check out this detailed daily schedule: A Day in the Life of a Juice Feaster
