Spring Yoga Detox

Kristin McGee

It’s that time of the year when we start to pull out our summer clothes and bikinis and we might be feeling a little less then excited to bare some skin. Yoga is the perfect way to not only shape up for the warmer months, it also helps to detoxify our internal organs, boost our metabolism, and clear up our skin after a long winter.

Twists are wonderful ways to get the blood flowing and clean out stale air in our lungs and stale thoughts in our mind. You can think of twisting like wringing out a dirty dish rag. At the end of our cleaning we always wring the sponge out. As you spring clean your body, you’re ringing out the kidneys and liver and cleaning out any junk in the trunk so to speak. Your body will not only feel lighter but you’ll have more spring in your step and more energy.

In Chinese Medicine, the liver is associated with the spring time so it helps to detoxify the liver and clear our vision in order to make room for fresh, new ideas. In the winter we are more reflective and we plant the seeds that can then bloom in the spring. In order to flower, we need lots of fresh water and oxygen. Yoga breathing is the most efficient way to bring more oxygen in to our lungs and to increase our circulation and metabolisms. Forward bends and inversions with our legs overhead helps to reverse the flow of blood, stimulate the lymph system and refresh our minds and spirits.

Certain postures like Eagle pose are known to stimulate the circulation in the legs and can help combat cellulite and vericose veins. Warrior 3 is a great way to strengthen our legs and core and wonderful for all over body toning. It is also a pose of confidence and action and in the spring we can really step forward with our new ideas and eating/exercise plans with pride and determination.

Bridge pose and supported shoulderstand are great ways to stimulate the thyroid gland which can help stimulate our metabolic rates and help us find our voice to speak up and shout out with joy our celebration for our bodies as they are.

I’ve created a sequence for you to do for your Spring Detox/Summer Shape Up plan and I’ve included some modifications as well so a very beginner or an advanced yogi can do this routine.

1. Standing Forward Bend
Standing with feet hip distance apart, hinge forward at your hips while keeping a slight bend in your knees. Lay your chest on your upper thighs as you let your head fall toward the floor. Engage your quadriceps muscles, and slowly try to straighten your legs, making sure your knees don’t lock and your hips stay over the center of your feet. Hold for 5–8 slow, deep breaths.

2. Eagle Pose
Bend your knees slightly and cross your right leg over your left leg high at the thigh, then try to double cross it behind the left calf or ankle. Wrap your left arm under your right and back over top, and press your palms together. Squeeze thighs tight and pull your belly to your spine while you sink lower, bending slightly at the knee and forward at the waist. Hold for 5 breaths, then repeat with arms and legs reversed.
Make it easier: If double-crossing your legs is too challenging, cross just once at the thigh and rest your top foot’s toes on the floor for balance. If your shoulders are too tight to double-cross your arms, wrap under only and press the backs of your hands together.

3. Warrior III
Stand with your feet together and point your right toe behind you, tipping your weight forward onto your left leg. Continue to lift your right leg and drop your head and torso until you are in a straight horizontal line from head to toe, hands at your sides. Make sure your right thigh, hip, and toes (pointed or flexed) stay facing down to the floor; imagine balancing a tea cup on your lower back. Keep your left kneecap lifted, not locked, and keep your balance centered in the middle of your foot. Hold for 5 breaths, slowly come back to a standing position, and switch legs.
Make it easier: Reaching your arms out to the side like airplane wings can help you keep your balance, or you can hang onto the back of a chair or reach out and touch a wall if balancing on 1 leg is too difficult. The important thing is to keep your back flat and your body in a straight line.

4. Bridge Pose
Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the mat, hip-distance apart. Press down into your feet, and lift your hips and butt off the floor. Push your shoulders down away from your ears and interlace hands under your hips, pressing fists down into the mat. Tighten your hamstring and butt muscles and your core, and hold for 5–8 breaths. Lower slowly to the floor, and repeat 2 more times.

5. Supported Shoulder Stand
Lie on a mat with a folded blanket or folded second mat under your shoulders, so that your neck and head are 1–2 inches lower than your shoulders. Pushing your hands palms-down against the mat at your sides, bend your knees. Lift your feet, butt, and lower back off the mat and reach your legs over your head, aiming your toes toward the floor behind you. Pushing your back farther off the ground, bend your elbows and place your palms against your lower back for support as you lift your legs straight into the air and reach your feet toward the ceiling. Be sure your weight is distributed evenly across your shoulder blades and back of your head. Hold for 30 seconds at first, then gradually work up to 5 minutes.
Make it easier: Snuggle your back and butt up to a wall, then twist around so your legs are straight up the wall while you lie back on the floor. (Your butt should still be tight up against where the surfaces meet.) Press your thighs into the wall as you keep your feet parallel, slightly flexed, and hold for 5 minutes.

I hope you find this helps add a lightness to your mind, body and spirit. Now go outside and take a deep breath of fresh spring air in and celebrate your own beautiful uniqueness and body. The beauty of yoga is it is not only skin deep it, it penetrates on every level of your being. Always remind yourself that everything you could possibly ever, want, have or need is right here inside of you.

New York City–based yoga and Pilates instructor and Health expert network pro Kristin McGee, star of many fitness DVDs including MTV Power Yoga and the new Weight Loss Pilates. Go to www.kristinmcgee.com for more information on her DVDs and classes and private instruction.

Adventure Cleanse!

Hi spark,

As many of you know I’m working on Crazy Sexy You: A Gutsy Game Plan for Health, Happiness and a Great Ass! (working title). Well, it’s going SLOW. I’ve been clockin’ the miles with my speaking gigs and haven’t been able to consistently clack out the writing. I finished the first draft of my pH chapter but that’s it! One more gig tomorrow and Friday (at Urban Zen in NYC) and then I’m home for 4 weeks! YAHOOO, lock and load, sweat pant/laptop city.

Wanna help? Part of my book is a 28 day cleanse – The Adventure Cleanse to be exact. Once you learn all the juicy reasons for adopting an alkaline plant-based diet with a high concentration of raw foods, you’ll have the opportunity to put your knowledge into practice Crazy Sexy style. I like to think of the cleanse as a jumper cables. For 28 days you’ll clean out with class and sass. You’ll move your God pod with joy and a new found anchor reminding you of the real reason to take care of yourself – your Divinity! That’s right, you’re a gorgeous angel so why would you put crap in your yap? Once the cleanse is complete, you can choose what level you want to stay at OR move towards.

I’ve been a healing guinea pig for the past 6 years and I know what works and what doesn’t (for me). If I dive into a detox that’s too advanced I usually fall off the wagon, rob a CVS (yummy prescription drugs) and run to a bar to wash them down. Not good. Plus, I’m an addict. Addicted to FUN and rebel fire. Each of us is at a different level for a different reason. Therefore, it would be impossible for me to build a one-size-fits-all program.

Adventure Level one – 50/50 – raw to cooked ratio
Adventure Level two – 70/30 – raw to cooked ratio
Adventure Level three – raw till dinner, then 80/20
Adventure Level four – 100% raw with a mini juice fast

* Every Wednesday (or whatever day works for you) – you get the chance to try a spiritual fast. The same as we do here at CSL. 3-4 quarts of green drink but with intention and purpose!

* When I say raw I don’t just mean raw snacks that are mostly nuts and mostly acidic – I mean mostly veggies and sprouts! Some nuts, pates, etc are fine – but not the entire raw ratio. The cooked portion is filled with yummies like slightly steamed veggies, gentle sautes, sweet potatoes, winter squashes, soups, gluten-free grains and pastas, tempeh, veggie burgers cooked beans etc. Soy products in moderation if at all. If you have an estrogen sensitive issue then I would stay away from soy. The problem I see with many of the vegan diets out there is that they rely on vegan fast food – fake soy nuggets etc. I’ll be honest, I like that stuff from time to time. On nights I work late I’ll chow a spelt pizza with soy cheese or make soy meatballs. But I keep that stuff in my “occasional”, I’m too lazy tonight column.

Now to the NO section…

* No gluten, wheat, animal products, processed sugar, refined carbs, alcohol, coffee, cigs. If you have cancer then only low glycemic fruits – if you do NOT have cancer then all fruit are fine but in moderation. Too much sugar in ANY form suppresses your immune system.

It’s a cleanse after all, it won’t be couch potato comfortable. But when it’s over you’ll be able to add things back in moderation (like sprouted grains bread/tortillas). I’m vegan, I would LOVE for the world to be vegan but I’m also realistic. If after the 28 days you decide to go back to meat then at least you will know the best quantities and quality. You will hopefully stick with it as an occasional item and choose raw dairy over cooked, pasteurize, homogenized puss. But WOW are there so many alternatives these days! I promise to include a phat list for ya in the book.

If while on the cleanse you learn that you feel so much better without gluten, then breads might not be your thing. There are gluten-free options but so far I haven’t found any that taste very good and aren’t full of chemicals. Anyone find one they’d like to share?

As I said earlier, if you choose to stick with the program then you can stay at your level, move down, move up etc. It’s flexible.

Plus, I’m super excited about the modifications section. I think this might be the first “diet” book written for a larger demographic that includes modifications for cancer patients or folks with immune issues. My peeps!

So, YOU are an Adventurer! Are you ready to take the challenge? I would LOVE to try my cleanse with my beautiful readers, get feedback, give support and see if this thing really works! We’ll be doing most of the nitty gritty on the forum but I’ll certainly blog about it on Wednesdays.

Any one interested and if so what month is best for you to start May or June? Please specify in your comments.

Speaking of Wednesdays, it’s that time again. Goddess Fast! For me, it’s 3-4 quarts of green drink and an end of day green smoothie with avocado and cacao. Yes! Is it end of the day yet?

Peace and Adventures,
Kris

All About FASTING! (Part II)

And now more on fasting from Natalia Rose!

3. The difference between a cleanse and a potential cleanse?

All fasts and anything that is billed as a “cleanse” or “detox” product is only a POTENTIAL CLEANSE. The cleansing part only occurs when the dredged up waste matter LEAVES the body. Fasting is not synonymous with cleansing unless waste leaves the body. Do you see the critical difference?

In my extensive experience with detoxification, even people with the strongest bowels cannot eliminate the quantities of waste a fast dredges up without the help of colonics, enemas, saunas, sunbaths and body brushing. The newer waste may leave but the denser older waste that may be loosened and stirred up cannot exit easily without the help of good colonics.

For a listing of colon therapists in your area, I’ve developed a directory on my website.

4. So what is the best way to fast? If you have decided to fast, the best approach is a predominantly vegetable juice fast. You can mix any veggie juice combinations you enjoy but I recommend making at least half of the juices green-based such as the Green Lemonade or a simple carrot-romaine combo. The other juices could be citrus or fresh pressed fruits (in small quantities best diluted with water or green juices like romaine lettuce or spinach). You may also enjoy herbal tea with stevia or fresh vegetable broth (very useful when fasting in colder months or for a fasting “dinner”). I also love pure carrot juice with pumpkin pie spice which I like to drink from a mug! Somehow this gives me the satisfaction of soup without the fiber. Just be sure all your juices are well strained as we are trying to avoid all fiber so that digestion is never stimulated during the fast.

When you fast on vegetable juices you feed your cells enzymes, chlorophyll (sunlight), life force, vitamins and trace minerals ensuring that you are feeding the cells all they need and more so they can powerfully go about the business of awakening and releasing as much accumulated waste as possible (again with the help of gravity method colonics). The ideal fasting approach is to eat clean, Quick Exit foods as a daily experience and then juice fast a few times a year to go a bit deeper. This is the way to make real headway on the accumulated waste in the system and prevent your body’s “assembly line” from ever running amok again!

5. Will I lose weight on a fast and will it stay off? Will my metabolism slow down if I stop eating breakfast? Does fasting slow the metabolism like people say?

Yes, you will lose weight on a fast – usually around 1 lb. a day. The weight that you lose during a fast can easily be kept off by eating Quick Exit foods when you return to eating and juicing until lunch (as I noted above, this is a general prerequisite for long term health and weight management to begin with). Of course, if you return to eating less ideally, you probably will not keep the weight off. Weight is accumulation of waste matter in the body. When we remove the accumulation through cleansing, we remove the weight. In order to keep it off, we simply must prevent against re-accumulation of waste. We do this by ensuring the food we eat leaves our body as completely as possible. This is the point and effect of Quick Exit foods and eating no more than two meals a day (once one has transitioned at their level).

6. How much juice is recommended and how long should I fast?

You can enjoy as much liquid as you need. As with eating though, it’s never a good idea to over-consume. A good gauge would be 8-16 8-ounce juices (including broths/teas) each day. Some pure water should always be taken when juice fasting.

If it’s your first fast and you have already practiced “juicing ’til dinner” several times or have made that a daily or weekly habit, you could try a 2-4 day juice fast. If you would like to do a longer fast (only recommended if you have access to well administered gravity method colon hydro-therapy), you could go as long as 8-10 days. But only continue a fast if you are releasing copious quantities of waste matter (either on your own or with colonics). If you are not releasing and you keep on awakening matter you will not progress and you could get sick (as I mentioned above; remember un-passed matter gets reabsorbed into the tissues and blood stream re-poisoning the body with the awakened waste matter). The body was not designed to pass 1984′s Taco Bell meal back when you ate it and you cannot expect your body to pass it today in its post-putrefactive form. (This is why good gravity method colon hydrotherapy is so essential when fasting – your body needs help passing this old waste)!

There’s a reason that so many of our great teachers throughout history fasted. Now, I leave it in your hands to explore this ancient method of healing your body and connecting with your divinity at the level that is right for you.

All about FASTING! (Part I)

Water fasting, the Master Cleanse, juice fasting, liver cleanses, blended food fasts…the list of different types of fasting go on and on. There’s never been more interest in fasts and “cleanses.” Unfortunately, there have also never been more misnomers about fasting circulating.

From a purely physiological standpoint, the whole point of fasting is to rest the system from digestion so that all the body’s energy can be used to improve the functioning of the body (there are of course other non-physical, spiritual reasons to fast but I won’t be addressing those in this blog).

Eating, assimilation, digestion and elimination take a lot of energy away from necessary functions within the body (such as keeping the body clear of the residue from meals past, turning over new cells more quickly, metabolizing substances efficiently, etc.). When the consumption of substances (food, drink, pharmaceuticals, cigarettes, etc) are taken in the quantities they are taken in our culture (meaning 3 times a day or more), it’s impossible for the body to keep a system operating smoothly. If it helps, imagine an assembly line that has run amok. That’s your body on 3 meals a day (plus snacks — eek)! Inevitably there is tremendous back up of these substances because they are not easily digested or eliminated, which creates our physical (and many emotional and mental) imbalances. When we fast, we give our body the opportunity to catch up on the back-log of work that has piled up.

The cessation of consuming food is a powerful tool when executed correctly, but done incorrectly, it can be a major health misstep. Following are some tips to ensure you get the most out of your fast/cleanse:

1. Determine what level of fasting is right for you.

If you are relatively new to cleansing there is not likely a need to do an all out juice fast. Fasting too early your transition to eating a cleaner diet is not usually necessary. When people start to eat according to the principles in my books (The Raw Food Detox Diet and Raw Food Life Force Energy), the applications of properly combining Quick Exit foods and juicing until lunch create such an opening in the body and a dramatic shift in what the body is used to taking in on a daily basis that the body immediately starts to go into cleansing/healing mode. Fasting is not needed and in fact, not even recommended at this point since it would only encourage more old waste to be dredged up than the body could cope with. Just as you would not go from a sedentary lifestyle to running the New York marathon in a day, the same logic applies to undertaking a major cleanse before you have even started to dramatically elevate the quality of foods you are eating. Simply incorporating the basic beginner principles from The Raw Food Detox Diet at this stage is equivalent to a fast for the beginner.

One of the things that distracts people from sticking to their level of transition are the reports they hear about how quickly you can lose weight on a fast. For example, they will hear that a friend lost 20 lbs on the Master Cleanse and immediately think they should do that too. Please don’t fall into that trap. Know your level and be intelligent about how to approach a cleanse. Most people have no idea what they are doing physiologically when they undertake a fast but are just going on whims and fads. Rest assured, if you steadily apply the transition principles you will enjoy maximum weight loss without fasting. It won’t be weight loss in a vacuum, which is what most people experience when doing a fast before transitioning and that imbalance sends them careening to the opposite extreme time and time again. When you cleanse in accord with nature, weight loss, inner calm, clarity, beautiful skin tone, natural energy and overall rejuvenation come together. This is the prize. So take your time and don’t get distracted by what other people are doing.

Mini-fasts, such as “juicing ‘til lunch”, that become part of one’s regular day-to-day lifestyle are the most beneficial types of fast for most people because they offer long term protection against over accumulation on a daily basis (akin to making sure the garbage doesn’t overflow in your kitchen everyday). This is extremely beneficial and can help keep you in excellent balance and at a perfect weight for life! Notice that when you juice until lunch you are in fact undertaking a mini-fast – you are fasting between dinner and lunch the next day! You could try doing this a few times a week.

2. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you can be redeemed from your excessive consumption over years of unfit eating by a few days of juice fasting. The accumulation in the modern body is so extensive that what you might “cleanse” in 2-4 days of juice fasting is a drop in the land fill of people’s internal waste matter. This is not to discourage you, but to point out that a short fast is no more of a cleanse than cleaning out a ziplock’s worth of rubbish from an overflowing community waste bin! You will feel a sense of well being relative to your state of toxicity, but don’t be fooled into thinking this means you have tapped the depth of waste that is buried within the tissues. From this perspective, you can see why such regular mini-fasts are more effective in deep cleansing than placing the occasional longer fasts among a typical diet/lifestyle. If you return to old habits (as in the case of most people who undertake the Master Cleanse for example) you have a false sense of having cleansed. Your health is a reflection of your daily consumption; the effects of occasional fasts will be lost like words written on the beach.

Tune in on Thursday for Part 2 of All about FASTING!