10 Ways to Do a Cleanse
Let me preface this entire article by saying that of all the ways I will present here for how to do a cleanse, none of them will require you invest extra money, buy any product, or promote putting anything foreign into your body.
You will find many ways, indeed entire books, on ways to cleanse your body, mind, or spirit that require lengthy periods of time taken out of your day, trips to a colonic clinic, and/or hundreds of dollars spent on smoothies, juices, and herbal supplements.
And I’m here to tell you that none of that is necessary for an actual cleanse.
Table of Contents
What Is a Cleanse?
Why? Because a cleanse is just allowing your body to get back to homeostasis, which is something your body is always trying to do anyway.
What?
Did I hear that right?
Yes. You did.
Your body, mind, and spirit are always, always working hard to get all of your systems back to optimal levels.
And all you have to do is get out of the way.
We humans, especially in the west, don’t really understand any of this because we don’t really get how much crap we are putting into our bodies, minds, and spirits in the form of processed foods, entertainment media, alcohol, drugs, and stress, among other things.
The human body was not meant to live on artificial ingredients and a longing for the future or a dwelling in the past.
We have evolved from our apelike ancestors with a higher consciousness designed to live in the present moment, with joy, on clean air, clean water, plenty of movement, fresh food, and creativity.
That’s what we came here for – to create and have fun in healthy ways while doing it.
How many of us are doing that?
Are living like that?
Are happy, fulfilled, and reaching for more happiness and fulfillment?
Almost none.
Abraham Hicks puts us at around 3%.
The good news is that just the fact that you are here and still reading this means you are up here with the rest of us working on our awakening journey.
For everyone else, a cleanse will mean a quick fix to a backed up, clogged up, toxic environment that will be returned to almost immediately upon “cleansing.”
Your Body Knows What to Do
And look, there’s no shame over here.
We all enjoy the occasional Ben N Jerry’s or Doritos, or, my favorite, sour gummy worms.
We all stay up too late watching Netflix and wake up and turn on our social media to see what updates there may be.
We are all humans living in a fast-paced hustle and grind culture just trying to get by.
And in moderation? It’s all good.
Because your body already knows what to do.
Do you have any idea how many organs and mechanisms you have in your body to cleanse you on a daily basis?
So many.
Your liver, your kidneys, your lungs, and your intestines (including your colon), and your skin are all self-cleaning and regenerating.
They don’t need help!
Further, your brain cleans itself up and out every single night while you sleep.
Your gut takes care of itself with the proper healthy bacterial environment.
You’re in really, really good shape!
As long as you are not actively blocking all of these organs and healing mechanisms faster than they can do their job.
And sadly, most of us are.
So, how do you get out of your own way?
10 Ways to Do a Cleanse
Dietary
The first group of cleanse options here are dietary as it is worth looking at what we are putting in our mouths and how that may interfere with the body’s self-healing program. A true detox simply stops doing the damage that toxins provide to our bodies.
Pegan
If you’ve been feeling stuffed, bloated, and dealing with indigestion, try switching to the pegan diet, as Dr. Mark Hyman created it, at least for a few months.
It basically brings together all the finest qualities of veganism and the paleo diet.
It’s all plants and clean meats, meaning organic, pasture raised, and usually gluten and dairy free.
It will allow your body the opportunity to get itself back into balance, and it may show you where you have intolerances.
The nice thing today is that we have so many gluten and dairy alternative products that are just as good, if not better than the originals.
Mediterranean
If Pegan feels too extreme for you, try the Mediterranean diet.
It is the most studied diet in history, and evidence shows it is the all-around healthiest among them all.
The Mediterranean diet is basically lean meats, low carbohydrates, rich in plants and nuts and seeds, and very low in dairy and red meat.
For wine drinkers, you can continue to have one glass of wine with dinner daily.
The Mediterranean diet is a lifestyle, meaning you should be committing to it for life with few exceptions, and you should be incorporating daily walks as the most long lived and healthiest in the Mediterranean are highly pedestrian, meaning they walk A LOT.
Alcohol and Drug Free and Cut Sugar
At the very least, cut alcohol and all drugs out of your diet completely and cut way back on sugar.
All alcohol, drugs, and yes even sugar, are poisons to your body.
They cause inflammation and extensive damage that takes days to recover from.
And if you think just drinking on the weekends will do it, think again.
Alcohol still shows up in your urine up to 5 days after you have had a drink, which means that by the time your body is finally clearing all traces of alcohol out, you are filling it up with poison again.
Your body never fully recovers, and you stay stuck in a low energy, brain fog state for your entire life!
Who wants that?
Try a 6-month cleanse with no alcohol, no drugs, and very little sugar.
You’ll be a different person by the end of one month, and you won’t want to go back to the foggy way things were.
Fasting
Fasting is one of the most important services you can do for your body.
Stopping eating for hours at a time allows your body to go into a state of detoxification and your cells are stimulated in ways they cannot be with a constant flow of fuel in the form of calories.
Fasting for as little as 12 hours a day slows the effects of aging, disease, and all-cause mortality.
12/12
The minimum period for fasting is 12 hours; this is the one I do, and it’s so freaking easy.
Just stop eating by 8PM and then don’t eat again until 8AM.
Easy peasy.
After 10 hours of fasting, your body begins healing itself from damage done the day, week, month, years, prior, and 12 hours gives a good two hours of that process.
Most doctors will say no one should be eating in that 12-hour period anyway.
We don’t need to be constantly grazing.
14/10
14 hours is the maximum amount of fasting time recommended for menstruating women.
After 14 hours, our hormones can be affected and throw a ton of other mechanisms out of wack.
I will sometimes go 13 or 14 hours on a good day when I’m working out early in the morning or if I was up late the night before watching a movie and sleep in late.
16/8
From here, it just starts to get extreme, in my opinion.
Some celebrities, and celebrity doctors, will promote longer fasting periods of 16 or 20 hours, or even just get all your caloric needs in a single meal.
This seems crazy to me, but hey, to each his (or her) own.
It feels impossible to get all of your nutritional needs in a single meal, and I don’t want to be getting all of my nutrients in pill form.
No thanks.
One Day
For religious and dietary purposes, you can also fast for a single day each week.
If you do this, I would also still stick to the 12/12 method for daily cleansing.
Meditation
The time periods noted below for meditation have a lot to do with how much spiritual cleansing you feel you need.
Abraham Hicks says 20 minutes a day is plenty to connect to Source Energy.
Dr. Joe Dispenza claims at least 45 minutes and up to an hour per day for self-healing to kick in.
And Colin O’Brady recommends a solitude walk of up to 12 hours in complete silence for a total spiritual and mental reset.
20 Minutes a Day
45 Minutes a Day
One Hour
Solitude Walk
Tech Free
Then there’s your screen time.
I turn all social media off for the entire weekend so I can spend time with my family and without work.
You can do this daily for several hours or for just a day, but it is critical to set limits so you can stay mindful and present.
It is also a good idea to give your brain a break from all screens entirely, so turn off all screens by a certain time of day and then read a real book, get outside, or just sit and visit with your loved ones.
Screen Free
Social Media Breaks
Remember, in the end, a cleanse is about allowing your body to do what it does naturally, best.
It will get you to optimal levels, and you will feel the full effects in a very short while.
And hey, it’s free.
So it can’t hurt to try.
Happy manifesting!
