To Cleanse or Not To Cleanse
By Marie Bouvier-Newman

It is a common practice to give our homes a good cleaning once in awhile. We open the windows to change the air. We wash the curtains, clean behind the furniture and organize the clutter, disposing of things that are no longer useful. Similarly, we maintain our vehicles and clean other things that require our attention to perform optimally.

While a clean environment is important to our well-being, we often forget that our bodies require
the same kind of consideration. I’m not talking about a daily shower. I’m talking about an inner cleansing that gives our cells the opportunity to “change the air” and remove the clutter. I can tell you from personal experience that the feeling you get when your house is clean and fresh is nothing compared to the energetic feeling you get when you’ve taken the time to clean your body from the inside out.

Isn’t the body built to clean itself? Frankly, yes. The body has filters and elimination channels responsible for general cleaning. These filters and channels are constantly separating the helpful from the harmful absorbing the good and eliminating the bad. Occasionally, though, the body reaches a point when it can no longer process the clutter that has accumulated through poor diet and habits. When saturation occurs, the body becomes fatigued, and sooner or later we get sick. The body shuts down normal operations and focuses on cleaning itself out. This “natural” cleanse drains us and makes us feel downright awful. If the sickness is severe enough the residual damage lowers our body’s “clutter limit” and we get sick more frequently, every bug that goes around!

Think for a minute about what our bodies endure every day. Many of the foods we eat contain chemicals that are hard to process. Consider the sticky, unhealthy flour we regularly consume in cereals, breads, pastries, cookies and the like. Consider also the cluttering effects of sugar, table salt, meats, additives and preservatives present in most diets. Consider the things in our daily lives such as the air we breathe and the soaps we use to wash ourselves, our clothes and our homes. There’s also nicotine, caffeine and alcohol as well as the chemicals in over-the-counter and prescription drugs and finally, the granddaddy of them all, the continuous stress we put ourselves under every day. All of these things accumulate in one way or another.

An intentional cleansing program, along with improved diet and habits, helps us manage our body’s clutter before it reaches the level of saturation and sickness. Sometimes, if we are really in need of a cleanse and we begin one, we may experience a day or two of feeling a bit out of sorts but this discomfort is nothing compared to which can happen when we wait for the body to reach its limit.

We can usually tell when we need to cleanse, because a general feeling of heaviness and fatigue envelopes our whole being. We’re tired and we can’t quite figure out why. We can’t think straight, or we find ourselves waking up frequently during the night. Instead of waiting for these signs to appear, a good plan is to cleanse regularly. The beginning of each season is a wonderful routine to establish, with spring being the most important time to take action. Spring is a time when we want to shed our heavy coats in exchange for lighter outdoor gear. So it is with our bodies as well .A good cleansing program can help us accomplish this task.

What is involved in a cleanse? Perhaps most importantly, we consume very clean and light foods to lessen the burden on our bodies. We then open our elimination channels using specific herbs and fluids to get things flowing properly. This step is extremely important because if the body cannot get rid of things easily, the clutter we are trying to remove will have no place to go and our efforts could cause further accumulation. Once we have good flow, we use more herbs, fluids and exercises to continue the cleansing process. We move methodically, one body system at a time until we have flushed out every cell. Depending on our level of clutter, this process can take a few days to a few weeks. There are a variety of good products available to help us cleanse properly and most are fairly easy to use.

When is cleansing not recommended? Cleansing should be avoided during pregnancy. Also, in people who have been weakened by severe sickness, a careful balance between building and cleansing must be carefully orchestrated. It is usually wise to consult your doctor for guidance whenever you have any health concerns.

Marie Bouvier-Newman is the owner of It’s My Health Wellcare Collaborative in Pascoag, RI, a center that offers health products, services, information and education. Marie is also a naturopathic student at ClaytonCollege of Natural Health and a Certified Comprehensive Iridologist and board member of the International Iridology Practitioners Association (IIPA). Visit www.its-my-health.com  

First appeared in the Apr/May 2006 issue of aspire… Magainze.