Revitalized Feeling

After my 1st week of cleansing I feel anew and I still have a long way to go. I have learned a bit more about the importance of removing toxins from the body. It is best to rid the body of toxins so that the body's cells can have enough oxygen to help operate at its optimal levels. One important purpose for me is to have better kidney and liver function due to my family's history of diabetes on mother and father side of family. My father passed away almost 6yr ago due to liver cancer, which was the result of diabetes complications. He observed a poor diet with very little to no exercise. I want to change my family's inherited bad eating and living habits. My journey thus far has not been easy and I understand that I have a long way to go. I will take each moment at best and continue to move forward in creating a better and healthier me.

I was introduce to Bikram Yoga last week and will work to incorporated into my lifestyle. Bikram Yoga is a 90 minute heated room session that will challenge the body into various poses to improve the body's strength, flexibility and balance while bringing clarity to the mind and spirit.

I located a popular studio in Farmington Hills, MI http://http//www.bikramfh.com/.

Five Tibetan Rites

Day 3-

Wow! I compare this day to a long drive to the shore with a rough road along the way. I think this was the hardest day. My body on day 1 welcome the cleansing process that I decided, yet I do not think that my body anticipated that I was in it for a journey. I began to develop strong cravings for things that I know I do not need. My body fought against my well and at one point I thought my body was winning until I began to meditate to strengthen my will against my old habits. I went to my room and prepared a soft blanket to dress the corner, so that I could relax, breath and find a center of control. I remember a good friend from Paris gave me a book a few years ago on the Five Tibetan Rites that was very helpful in learning the importance of balancing one's chakras (vortexes of energy). After I performed the 5 rites I really felt a bit more self-controlled and focus on my long term goal of becoming a healthier me from the inside out.

Day 4-

Last night I enjoyed the best sleep in a long time. I rose this morning excited to cleanse. I made it through a test of desire yesterday and today I will concur the unknown gifts of self enlightenment...smiles. I decided to begin the day with the Five Tibetan Rites. I learned that the 5 rites have amazing health benefits for the body such as aiding in increased energy, relief of joint soreness, slowing down the aging process, increase memory, improving body strength and many other benefits to discover. I am not able to preform all 5 rites at the recommended levels so I decided to start much lower than the 21 recommend repetitions. I began at 3 and will work my way to 21 repetitions. Remember to never overwhelm yourself when beginning any form of activities or exercises. Most importantly, always consult a qualified health care provider before beginning any nutritional or exercise program. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you read in this blog. This is my journal of experience to cleanse of hidden energies that seek to destroy my future life. You must learn to discover you path and I hope you are inspired by those who share their stories.

Finally cleansing my body

Yes, I am facing it. I am staring my fears right in the face. I always spoke about getting healthy and now I am doing something about it. I am in full swing of doing the 10 day master cleanse. I must admit that it is not all me. My girlfriend encouraged me to do this with her and I told her that I have been meaning to do so.

I have spoken about doing the master cleanse for a few years now, but I have never mustered up the strength to follow through with it. Now that I have someone to help pull me through, I am accomplishing this. Even with her, it is still no easy task.

We decided that the holiday weekend that just passed would be the best time for us to begin. My reasoning behind this was the 3 day weekend. It would allow us to be home during the most trying time of the fast. So Saturday morning, we woke up and started with the sea salt water flush. Boy was that ever an eye opener! I was thoroughly disgusted by what had been building up in my body.

Soon after the first step in the process (elimination) was over, I felt as this was something I could definitely do. Everyone who spoke of going through the cleanse before said this was the worst part. I assumed that it too would be the most trying aspect of this experience. Wrong.

After an hour and a half of liquid poo, we got out of the house for a while. Running a few errands and saying hello to a friend, we felt strong enough to go to my friend’s barbeque. At first, it was not as challenging as I expected. A few folks in attendance were experienced in the cleanse and were very supportive, as well as my friend.

Of course, there is always a joker at every party. Another buddy thought it would be funny to work food into every conversation we had. So far, this was probably the biggest test for me on the cleanse. But, surprisingly, I didn’t cave in. I even thought I would fold and take a bit of food here and there. When my girlfriend wasn’t looking, of course.

This led me to thinking that I would only be cheating myself. Sure, my sweetie might be disappointed in me but this is an exercise in discipline as well. Not only is this a chance to clear my body of toxins that have been there too long, but it is also a time to show myself the power my mind truly possesses. Having this realization on the first day was crucial.

The down side of picking that weekend, though, was everybody was having a grill party. On the second day, July 4^th, my next door neighbors were having one, right on their stoop. It was more trying than the party the day prior because all the smoke came right in through my front window. Every room in my house, except mine, thank goodness, smelled of charcoal briquettes and grilled meats.

We needed to pick up some maple syrup, so this gave us the perfect excuse to take a nice long walk to avoid the smell of barbeque. Again, everyone was having a grill party. It was trying but after getting the maple syrup a mile from my house, I treated it like scotch and took a shot. Suddenly, I felt no desire to eat. At this point it was just a game of mind over matter.

Disclaimer: The preceding story is about my journey through the 10 day master cleanse. In no way does this mean you will have the same results. I do encourage you to cleanse yourself but make sure you are in the proper health to attempt this. You should also read a good variety of books on the 10 day master cleanse so you better understand the process. Please feel free to ask me about any aspect of the cleanse. Good luck and good health!

Day 2 "How I am Feeling"

7/6/2010

6 am- I woke up this morning not feeling sluggish like I normally do, hey there are a few good things from my 1st day of a new me...smiles. I have to say that my mouth was dry. My tongue felt like there was something on it and I was scared to look, but I had to and there was nothing there. When I brushed my teeth I brush a white film from my tongue, ewwwh! I checked online and learned that toxins will exit the body from any means. I thought this is cool, but then I began to think of other ways these toxins can exist and decided to learn as much as possible about cleansing. Don't want to be in a situation that I can control you know what I mean...smiles.

OK dandelion tea for me this morning and I am taking some for the road as well...I will check back with you later today. On my way out and will update later today.

Day 1 "The Dan De Lion"

7/5/2010 Events of Cleanse

8:00 am- I began to prepare the dandelion tea.

Ingredients included:

-64 oz of hot distilled water

-25 dandelion leaves

-1/4 cup of grade B maple syrup

I recommend using only glass to store you tea in and stir with stainless steel ladle. Keep away from plastic because they contain chemicals

Let the water come to a boil in a stainless steel pot or if you have a stainless steel water dispenser you can pour hot water directly in to glass pitcher (this is what I did). Infuse the whole leaves into water and cover the pot with clear glass top when you're using a pot to boil water. If your using the pitcher technique and it does not have a cover, I found using a small saucer worked just as well. I did not want to use plastic...smiles. After 20-30 of steep time the tea should turn a semi-amber color. It is not going to be that dark within that time unless you allow to steep long and then I am still not sure that it will darken. When you remove the cover there will be a wonderful earthy aroma that is very pleasant. Somewhat like the smell of fresh greens of spinach...not the taste. I was happy to learn that the taste was agreeable. I can tolerant many different taste, but I suggest that you stir in some pure maple syrup to help balance the taste. I prefer you to take the courage and bare the inviting taste of the dandelion's wonderful gifts of healing...smiles.

9:18 am- I don't really know what is happening, but I have already consumed 5(10oz each) glasses of the tea and I can feel something moving around in my head. Weird, I know but this is the best way for me to describe what is happening to my body. I do feel like I have a bit more energy that normal. I love this feeling. When I stand up usually my right leg is a bit stiffed and it was not as stiffed as it normally is. I am not saying that this is from the tea, yet I can tell a huge difference since drinking the 5 (10oz each) glasses earlier today...smiles.

11:07 am- I was still feeling better. I don't think that day 1 of my journey is all I need. I will be travelling down this new exploration for 30 days. I can tell you that it is not easy learning something new and form different habits from which that you are comfortable with, yet my life depends on this. I have to grow strong into my purpose and I do not think I can get there with a wasteland growning inside of me.

12:00 pm- Lunchtime! OK, I have been drinking and eliminating all day and I do not have the usually food cravings. Nice, I hope it is the dandelion for sure...smiles. OK, time to create the afternoon meal. Let's see, chives, garlic, bok choy, basil leaves, black pepper, cayenne pepper and carrots. Ah this is a good mix. I went shopping at the eastern market on Saturday and only Michigan grown organic choices for me in my dishes.

Ingredient List:


1/2 cup of chopped chives, 2 cups of bok choy, 1 cup of chopped basil leaves, 2 medium sliced carrots, 1 teaspoons of black pepper and cayenne pepper and 3 cloves of diced garlic, 1/4 (divide) cup of Olive Oil and 1/4 of lime.

Pour half of you olive olive in stainless steel pan and saute garlic, chives, basil leaves and carrots until the aroma perfumed from the pan (1-2 mins) and toss with wooden utensil. This is a great time to add spices. Remove veggies from pan and arrange onto plate. Pour the remaining oil into pan and saute bok choy for same amount of time mention above and add the juice of the lime to the bok choy.

Wonderful taste indeed! Wow, maybe I can become a decent cook after all...smiles. Enjoy!

2:20 pm- I a more hungry than when I rarely ate...smiles. My lunch seemed to has digested within 45mins. I am still a bit hungry and have the sounds of my stomach to prove it. So, I popped some pop corn. Not the microwave brand. Nope I did it old school. I heated up about 1/8 cup of olive oil in my stainless steel pan and added kernels until it covered the entire surface of the pan. I then added black pepper, Cayenne pepper and garlic powder then I stirred the kernels with a wooden ladle until the oil began to pop. Covered with glass lid until the batch of pop corn was completed. The batch lasted until dinner time and I drank more of my dandelion tea.

5:00 pm- fruit smoothie that I purchase at a Mediterranean cafe. All natural ingredients.

6:30 pm- fatoush salad that I purchased at a Mediterranean cafe. All natural ingredients.

Inside is a wasteland

I cannot be an example to anyone if I cannot be a model to myself. I have decided to take a journey today 7/5/2010 to improve myself for myself. I have decided to clean out the parts that are unseen to me, but certainly felt. I am learning about cleansing the insides of my body. I was working backwards by caring for the outer me and not liking the results.

During my cleanse I will learn form others and post all my results good and bad so that others can learn to improve. All body's are not alike and understand that this is my journey. I hope that my experiences will inspire you to tailor a self-improvement movement for yourself.

I began the day with a the drinking of a wonderful tea made of Dandelion leaves where I found on an informative site: http://http//www.iron-clay.com/herbal_remedies/dandelion.html

I am still learning about the Dandelion plant, but what I am discovering is that the plant is great from head-to-toe. I use to walk pass the flower with hate because it would take over my lawn. Little did I know that this wonderful life is a natural free grown cure for just about everything.

Dandelion have more vitamins and minerals than most vegetables, very high in vitamin A/C and more beta carotene than carrots. More potassium than broccoli or spinach as well as good measurable levels of iron and copper. Who would have known that this flower which is so accessible would have great values for your body.

More Helpful Links:

• http://http//www.ehow.com/how_2188348_herbal-digestive-aid-tea-blend.html
• http://http//www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/d/dandel08.html