A Wild Woman’s Winter Weekend Cleanse

I wasn’t sure about writing a detox post (again) this year, but over the past couple weeks, my body told my brain to stop thinking so much and just do what feels good.

There are many reasons people feel the need to press the reset button as 2022 hit us. Overindulgence, chronic stress, CoVid anxiety syndrome, fatigue or sluggishness are the usual suspects.

Luckily, there are also positive grounds for clearing out the toxins from our body, such as wanting to gain more energy and increase vitality, achieve higher levels of clarity, and realign with our internal guidance systems.

I know the signs for myself, and they usually involve a slight disinterest in eating (which is the biggest sign for me as normally, I’m always hungry), along with the desire to examine my food-body-mind relationship. Since I am often cooking everyday (for a living mostly), I can sometimes lose sight of the  magic that food is.

But how can we make this easy?

I’ve gotten so much positive feedback from my past articles about detoxing and my 3 day Kitchari cleanse program, but one thing that people mention most is how much food is included!  I thought I would design a super-simple plan this year with only two recipes and you can make the decision how long you want to go for.

One smoothie. One soup. Both are alkalizing, filling yet supporting the natural detoxifying of the body, and super tasty. In fact, I believe you’ll love both of these recipes so much that you’ll be enjoying them long after the cleanse is over! The Spinach-Ginger-Pear Smoothie is luscious, sweet-and-spicy with cooling mint and creamy avocado. The Cilantro Sweet Potato Soup is like eating a crazy-delicious hug in a mug.

ॐ Dosha quiz to find the perfect method for your body
ॐ Personalized, delicious recipes for your dosha
ॐ Daily routine plan
ॐ Guide to follow before and after the cleanse
ॐ Community & Support

Join more than 1000 wild sisters from around the world to
receive weekly inspiration.

[wd_hustle id=”3″ type=”embedded”/]

Certain foods and herbs can aid in the natural detoxification process of the body, but they alone do not do the detoxification for you. What else can we do to boost our cleansing process on a daily basis?

Exercise: Moving our bodies is essential for balance and overall health as it creates the conditions to breathe deeply, stretch the muscles, circulate the blood and lymph, and sweat. The more we move, the more efficient our body becomes at circulating and flushing out toxins. Gentle, low-intensity exercise such as yoga, stretching, or walking is best during a juice fast or reduced-calorie diet, high-impact exercises are recommended at least 3 times a week once you are back to eating a regular, healthy diet.

Dry skin brushing:  helps stimulate your lymphatic system, which is responsible for ridding the body of toxins. It improves the surface circulation on the skin and keeps the pores open, encouraging your body’s discharge of metabolic waste, resulting in an improved ability to combat bacteria, helping your skin to look and feel healthier and more resilient! Skin brushing also strengthens the immune system and helps aid the digestion system, (both  greatly involved in the detoxification process).

Sauna:  Sweat is one of the most important elimination routes for toxins. Sauna can help slowly restore skin elimination as viruses, toxin-burdened cells, and tumors are weaker than normal cells and tolerate heat poorly. The heating of the tissues helps the body heal from infections and disease more quickly.

You can do this simple program for just one day, but I’d recommend at least two or three days to really feel the benefits. You can also go longer if you like, and include one or more of the recipes from my previous programs to compliment this one, to keep your taste buds excited.

Drink as much water as you need, but consume at least 1½-2 liters throughout the day. I love to start the day with warm water with lemon, as this will assist in flushing your digestive system, preparing your tummy for food by increasing stomach acid, and alkalizing your entire system. Herbal teas are acceptable, but choose ones that are particularly detoxifying. Burdock, cleavers, chickweed, yarrow, nettle and plantain are some of my favorites. I also have a wonderful ayurvedic herbal detox tea recipe here.

You can have the smoothie for breakfast and afternoon snack, but it also fills in for a lunch. You can make up the entire batch for a day if you’ll be on the go.

Since we are in the colder months of the year here, I’d encourage you not to use frozen ingredients. It’s important to keep warm when the weather is cold! I like to enjoy this smoothie at room temperature, and I promise it’s just as delicious.

The soup can be eaten for lunch and dinner or as a snack too. I know many of you like it blended, but I love it rustic so free to keep it chunky too!

Upon rising: warm lemon water

Breakfast: Spinach-Ginger-Pear Smoothie

Throughout the day: water! Aim for 1½ – 2½ liters a day (about 6-10 cups)

Lunch: Cilantro Sweet Potato Soup

Snack: Spinach-Ginger-Pear Smoothie

Dinner: Cilantro Sweet Potato Soup

Repeat on the following day, for as many days as you like.

Things to Avoid: caffeine, sugar, alcohol, tobacco, computer time, television, stressful situations.

Things to Embrace: sleep and rest, time outdoors, gentle yoga, meditation, deep breathing/pranayama, sauna, dry skin brushing.

• 1 1/2 cups water (can substitute coconut water or plant milk of choice)
• 2 cups baby spinach, washed and dried
• 1 ripe pear, seeded and chopped
• 1 banana
• 1 avocado, flesh scooped out
• 1 tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1 ts freshly grated ginger
• 1 tbs ground flaxseed
• Honey to taste (optional)
• Mint to garnish (optional)

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy.

• 1 tbs coconut oil
• 1 tsp Himalaya rock salt
• 3 cups water
• 2 medium-large sweet potato, scrubbed and cut into 2 cm cubes
• 1 tbs freshly-squeezed lemon or lime juice
• pinch cayenne pepper (to your taste)
• 2 cups  cilantro (leaves and tender stems)
• 2 cups firmly packed baby spinach

Directions:
1. Heat coconut oil in a large stockpot. Add sweet potato and water, season with salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
2. With a hand blender blend the soup until smooth, then add spinach, cilantro, lemon and cayenne. You can blend further or leave it chunky at this point. Season to taste.

Remember to take things slow, set realistic goals for yourself and be celebrate each small victory! I truly wish you all the best for 2022 – this year is going to be the cleanest, wildest yet.

Love and light,

Imola

* * * * * *