23
Beauty Cleansing
After taking what I am now realizing was a much needed break from writing, my inspiration for sharing through this medium was recently re-awakened while spending time traveling in Peru. It was a truly a soul transformational journey.
So, here I am, ready to give you my latest downloads 
Over the last few months, I have been experimenting with going between periods of cleansing and periods of nourishing. I spent a great while experimenting with cleansing and fasting methods earlier in my life that wound up being more detrimental to my health than beneficial. After that intense fasting period, I moved onto massively nourishing my body with densely nutritious whole foods which brought be a lot of healing. I meditated on the balance between cleansing and nourishing, realizing there really is a place for both.
This on and off cycle of cleansing and nourishing reminds me of the feast and famine pattern that native cultures experienced when going for periods of time with little food and at other times having an abundance of food. Many native cultures induced this cleansing period upon themselves at times, often around the time of consuming a sacred plant medicine. We learned a lot about this while in Peru, where they call this cleansing period a “dieta”. We followed a dieta because we were a part of an Ayahuasca ceremony while visiting Peru. Our Shaman explained in advance to our ceremony that he encourages participants to eliminate red meats, salt, spicy foods, most sugars, alcohol, and sex from their diets for at the very least, a few days leading up to the Ayahuasca ceremony and the few days after the ceremony. Their belief is that this particular diet lightens the body and cleanses it of stagnant toxins in order to create a more harmonious and susceptible environment for the plant medicine. However, the belief is not that the foods that are being eliminated are bad in nature or bad for the body – The belief is more that it is healthy to take breaks from the substances so the body can process more efficiently.
This is what I have been been experimenting with at home, as well – Taking time to really nourish myself with hearty meals and then following that by taking a period of time to eat lightly and perhaps eliminate some of the heavier foods from my diet for that time, such as meat, starchy vegetables, carbohydrates, alcohol, etc.
The cleansing protocol that I have been using is a basis of light meals, three times per day (or as hunger arises, making that potentially less or more meals) which consist of high vegetable content (cooked and raw), some lean protein (wild-caught fish or pastured organic eggs) and whichever fruit is in season
locally. I also consider this a loose cleanse – Meaning that I do not hold myself to any strict boundaries that wind up stressing me out more than helping me. If I forget to do a piece of the protocol, if I don’t have time, or simply don’t want to – I don’t carry guilt about it and just keep moving forward with what feels best for my body in that moment. Having said that, here are the main components of the cleansing protocol that I have been following my periods of nourishment with:
• 3-4 quarts of water daily
• Do light-intensity exercise, medium-intensity exercise, heavy-intensity exercise, and a day off from exercise cycled through the course of every four days.
• Daily infra-red sauna use (if you don’t have a sauna, contact a local gym such as the YMCA as they usually have some kind of sauna. If not, I know people who get into their car, roll up the windows and turn on the heat until they sweat! Be creative 
• Daily full body wet (or dry) skin brushing.
• Tongue scraping twice per day and brushing with a detoxifying toothpaste as seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CqR8UmAvZQ
• A citrus and berry fruit drink in the morning blended with aromatic and detoxifying herbs from the garden.
• 2-3 tbsp. of Psyilium Husk mixed with water and drank immediately before bed (Roughage for the digestive system to help clear it out and regulate bowel movements.)
• A blended coffee drink in the morning to further assist cleansing of the intestines, removing stagnant matter.
• 1/2 droppers full of Reishi & Chaga tinctures once or twice daily.
• 1 teaspoon of clay mixed with water and drank
• Powdered seaweed facial masks to mineralize the skin, remove dead cells, and rejuvenate tissues.
• Apply Emu oil & Living Libations Rose Glow Facial Creme to my face to nourish and tonify the skin.
Now, I know this all can sound like quite a lot – However, many of these practices are part of my every day lifestyle so it just means adding practices in here and there, where they feel appropriate. I share these tips with you in the case that any part of this information resonates as something that seems like it could be helpful to you on your health journey, as these practices have helped me in significant ways. Allowing myself to cleanse in moderation has made room for a lighter mind, in being able to process more consciously what I experience, making more room for creativity and openness.
I feel that it is vitally important to be regularly nourishing the body with clean, whole food nutrition and lots of self-care/love. Cleansing and fasting has it’s place, though I believe it should be done in moderation. Too much fasting can make for malnutrition. Too much nourishment can make for weight gain and lethargy. For me, my body feels most in balance when I delicately balance the feasting and famine in my lifestyle. The cleansing can feel like just as much of a party as the feasting!
25
Moontime
Talk about a long time, eh? I have been off the grid, technologically! It has felt good to be disassociated from machine use for a bit. Instead of focusing much on the outward physical World, I have been looking more inward. It has been the occurrences on the physical level that have sent me deeper within, though. Where to even begin with what is new? Much has happened since I wrote last; Many changes… Out with some old, in with some new.
I’m going to take it to a personal level with this one – This New Moon has brought up some intense stuff for me this month, and I see as Powerful enough to share. Guys, but don’t shy away! You can benefit from the info too …
For awhile now, I have been tuning into the Moons Energy more and more. As Women, we are the connectors of Moon to Earth. The Moon is the primary symbol for Female Energy. It takes the Moon about twenty-nine days to cycle around the earth; Aligning with the fact most Women go through their menstrual cycles every twenty-eight or nine days. Traditionally, Women always ovulated at the Full Moon, and bled at the New Moon. Many native cultures and tribes, such as the Native Americans, celebrated the time of Menstruation for the Women in their tribe. Women hold a special power during this time. A certain creativity, Empowerment, Gaia-esque Embodiment. Also, the fact that we are able to bleed every month and not die; That is power if I’ve ever seen it! In these cultures, Women would hold what they called, “moon lodges”, where all the Women would gather at the New Moon to honor this sacred time. Back then, Women were more in-sync with the Moon and there was much less toxic estrogen pollution going on, so Women would experience their “Moon cycles” as I like to call it, all at the same time, with the New Moon. Ever notice how Women who live together, or are around one another often, cycle at the same time?T he problem currently, is that society has deemed menstruation as a “problem” for Women, when it really should be Embraced for its Holiness. Between that, and the immense pollution of toxic xenoestrogens (chemical pollutants) in the world through plastic, processed soy, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, etc. leaving us overly estrogenized, with imbalanced hormones and detached from the connection to Grandmother Moon.
Okay, now that I have done my download on our relationship with the Moon, I will share my experience. Since I began consciously paying attention to my Moon cycles for better part of the last year, I have noticed that I have been on track with the Moons phases, i.e. cycling at the new moon, ovulating at the full. However, this fall I was thrown off. Ready to align with the moon in September, I did not. Assuming it to be a glitch in the hormonal Matrix, I let it slip my mind. It was when the beginning of November rolled around that I really began to question what was up. Not only were my hormones imbalanced (I’m not pregnant, for the record), but I was having digestive issues too! No fun! I was eating very healthy, on tons of herbal medicine, exercising/training daily… How was I imbalanced, I wondered? My Instinct was communicating to me that something was missing from my health Quest, but I had yet to find what that was. Well, raw dairy was making an appearance more and more in my life, through articles popping up about its benefits, people around me talking about it… Lets just say, the idea of consuming it had entered my Consciousness. It just so happened that I wound up at a friends house who is an advocate for raw dairy, and they introduced me to raw milk and raw butter. I don’t hold a dogmatic vision of perfect health, and I am open to new areas in the realm of nutrition, as long as they make sense and resonate with my body. By the way, Ancient Cultures have been consuming fermented dairy products forever, such as kefir, butter, and yogurt.
Anyway, after experiencing real milk and butter, not the homogenized, pasteurized toxicity that is sold in stores, I knew it was something special. Not only does it taste amazing, but it made me feel great. (Raw butter is the best ever, just to throw that out there So, I sought out some local Vermont farmers to produce raw milk and raw butter. I began consuming both on a daily basis. I had been eating both products regularly for about two weeks, when the new moon of November came around on the 16/17th.. Guess what else came around? My long lost moon cycle! What do you know… Two weeks of raw dairy, giving me all of the hormones and fats my body was lacking, treating my thyroid, giving me Vitamins D, E, K, and so much more – and BAM! I’m aligned with the Moon again. Empowering, or what?! Yes – It was a stretch of my comfortable boundaries to incorporate dairy into my lifestyle again, but it was obvious that a change needed to take place. Not to mention – My struggles with digestion were completely healed with the incorporation of raw dairy. Basically, the conclusion I came to was that I was severely deficient in natural hormones and fats necessary to have a regular cycle and function properly. If I think about it, being a post-raw-vegan (I hesitate to even use terms that puts us in classifications by health), all I can even think to where I was sourcing fat from was coconut oil, which after detoxification, eventually strips our bodies of hormones! Where was I even getting naturally occurring hormones?! It is so obvious now.
As intimate as that story may have been, I want plant that consciousness of connecting with the Moon in women’s thought pattern because it is so important. We need to embrace our sacred powers and harness them. I will be organizing a monthly Moon lodge in Vermont for women to gather in honor, starting in the next month or two. To find out more information about the history of Moon lodges and to sources of Feminine Empowerment, visit http://www.susunweed.com/ She is an amazing healer ~ Using herbal medicine, Nature, and Mother Earth as her guides. Her website is jam-packed with valuable information on numerous subjects.
Meditate on the Moon for now… Until next time!
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