Toxins are the Enemy!

Think of it this way:  in order to function properly, we are not unlike our cars; we need to clean out the dirt and grime in our systems.

 

Over time and because of life style mistakes, we accumulate impurities and toxins into our system.  When these accumulate at the cellular level, they impede the flow of natural intelligence throughout.  These impediments eventually cause the cells to forget how to function.  Removing toxins is often the first step toward physical, mental and emotional health.

 

Western medicine has traditionally been focused on putting things into the body, not on purification.  Ayurveda, on the other hand, has always fostered taking things, aka toxins, out of the body.  Purification is necessary if we are to have good health.  In recent times many Western experts have become interested in purification of the physiology. Recently the cleanse has generated a great deal of interest.  This is good!  A cleanse, done correctly, can go a long way toward the restoration of vitality.

 

When vitality is weak and our metabolic fire is burning low, it is easy to accumulate toxins in our mind-body.  According to Ayurveda, toxins are the things that disease is made of because they block the free flow of our innate intelligence at different levels of our being.  There are three types of toxins:  physical, mental, and emotional.  Physical toxins obstruct our biological processes and are formed when the food we eat is not digested properly.  Emotional toxins are residues carried from one experience to another, obstructing the full enjoyment of the here and now.  Mental toxins block access to our inner knowledge, our intuition.

 

Toxins cement depression, causing some of its main symptoms:  low energy and fatigue, cloudy or slowed thinking, poor memory, appetite disturbances, increased sensitivity to pain, headaches, backaches, sore muscles, constipation, and low immunity to disease.  The first thing that people feel when they begin to succumb to depression is often a sense of malaise. It is not uncommon to hear people say, “I just don’t feel quite right.”  We can understand this in terms of what an accumulation of toxins is doing to the physiology.  Perhaps this is why the appearance of a seemingly unexplainable illness is often the harbinger of depression.

 

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I thoroughly explain the concept of toxins and we give many ideas for how to clear the mind-body.

And last week on this blog we offered two recipes for cleansing smoothies.  Creating health through smoothies does seem a bit silly, doesn’t it?  But remember everything we come in contact with and certainly everything we consume has an affect on us.  If a drink can help to remove toxins from the physiology then yes, that drink, even if it is called a smoothie, can be helpful for overall health!

 

We want to remind you that an accumulation of toxins is often at the source of problems.  If you wish to lose weight and are dieting but not losing the chances are that the problem is toxic blockages.  If you haven’t been able to feel like your old self after a stressful time, the chances are that the problem is mental and/or emotional toxic accumulation.

 

Transcendental Meditation is extraordinarily helpful in the process of purification.   Exercise, sleep, yoga and nutrition are also helpful for physiological renewal.  I would be remiss if I did not mention these interventions.  Meditation is the cornerstone of our anti-depressant strategies.

 

However, today I want to share an intervention that tastes good and can boost purification. This is a recipe for lemonade!  Yes, lemonade can help to clean your liver, therefore removing toxins from your system.  In the summer time lemonade is especially helpful because it is cooling and on hot days we need cooling substances to help us stay in physiological balance.

 

Following is the recipe.  Enjoy and when you drink it know that you are doing your physiology a favor.  The body appreciates acts of kindness and removing toxins is an act of kindness.

 

                 Green Lemonade

 

Five leaves of kale—chopped, no stems

1 apple or ripe pear—chopped

1 tsp grated ginger

Juice of 1 lemon

Sweeten with raw honey, raw agave, raw coconut nectar, or stevia

 

If you have a juicer, then no need to cop kale or apple, or grate ginger.

 

If using a blender, blend chopped kale and chopped apple along with 10 oz. of water.

Strain.  Add grated giner and the lemon jice.  Sweeten to taste.

 

This lemonade will cut down on an accumulation of heat in the body.  It will clean the liver and the ginger is pungent and will activate and optimize your digestive fire.  When digestive fire is optimized you will find losing weight easier and you will feel more energetic.

 

May I suggest that you raise your glass of lemonade on high and propose a toast to VITALITY, wonderful vitality that is experienced through a toxic free physiology!

 

As always, Sandra and I wish you perfect health and happiness.