What are you Eating or What's Eating You?

Today I noticed some sadness coming out of no where. Along with it came a desire to eat more than I had planned or actually even wanted on a physical level. It seems my wires were short circuiting for a moment and I was having a hard time distinguishing between my physical and my emotional hunger. I could feel a satiated and content belly, yet this emotional hole was overriding the circuitry of full with a feeling of emptiness.

Does this happen to you? What can you do?

The other day I wrote about opposite action, elaborating upon changing our thought to another more higher-level one when we are in "addictive thinking"; thinking that repeats itself, pulls us in and doesn't take us to a healthy place. You can do this as well when the circuitry of clear hunger signs goes awry. When we are feeling a missing piece inside, it is super easy to rationalize bagging our commitments to our healthiest, most balanced and vibrant selves. If we have a history of using (abusing) food to numb or fill our feelings, then food thoughts will still come up once in awhile. This does not mean you don't have a loving relationship with food. It's simply that an old message got stuck in the body system (cellular DNA) and needs clearing out. 

The first and most pivotal piece is not to punish yourself or make yourself wrong for these thoughts. That self-hatred will facilitate an internal battle, when what you need at the moment is a strong belief in yourself and an honoring of this "shadow" side that has temporarily emerged (I recommend reading Debbie Ford's, "The Shadow Effect," to get more of a sense of how to embrace our shadow side). No matter what you are feeling, take yourself out of the experience by remembering something powerful you are committed to in your life; something you wanted accomplish today along the lines of goals.

Take an Opposite Action. Literally switch the circuitry of your brain and body by physically putting yourself in a task you have set for yourself. Here are some examples:

Make or return phone calls that relate to other parts of your life

Do 15 minutes of stimulating exercise

Do 15 minutes of deep yoga

Write a new post for your blog!

Answer an email

Think of 5 goals that you are committed to and take 1 step toward one of these goals

Clean out a drawer

Put yourself  "in the activity" of the commitments for your day. It's literally by being in the healthy activity and taking ourselves out of the repetitive addictive feeling state that we switch the cellular response from one of self-flagellation, or punishment, to one of pride and success. Once the new cellular response kicks in, the feelings of emotional hunger are quelled. This action has nothing to do with willpower and is all about cellular circuitry.
By the time I was midway through writing my blog post and responding to a couple of emails, the intense food fantasies were gone; come dinnertime, the physical hunger had actually left my body.
The cleaner we keep our relationship with food, using this technique to rewire any old messages our body is still holding onto, the easier it will become to cultivate an unconditionally loving relationship with our most intimate partner; food, and with ourselves. From this place, we can manifest the life we desire.

10 Tools to Take You Through the Holidays

I am sharing the "quick guide" to a talk I started to give ten years ago around this time of year. I still pass these tools on to clients each year. Wherever you are for Thanksgiving, use them as a way to help you stay balanced through the holiday.
 

10 Tools to Take You Through the Holidays

1.    Take a Breath; Pause between bites:

Notice how much more important the food has become than the connection and conversation.

Know you can have more to eat, and take a breath to engage in conversation.

Introduce yourself to someone you may not know.

If you are by yourself, take 5 minutes to do some deep inhales and exhales before going back for more food.

 

2.     Drink water each day. Increase it now. It will both help satiate your

hunger and move your digestive system through all the holiday foods.

Notice the difference it makes in your level of energy and fatigue.

Notice any other changes with mood, desire to eat less and become full more quickly.

 

3.     Balance your holiday meals with your typical way of eating.

Have at least one meal a day that supports your body with balancing and energizing foods. Have this meal be a meal like the one you would normally eat the other 364 days of the year. If possible, sit quietly by yourself when eating this meal, and really tap into yourself. If you are with others, chew your food slowly and engage in an “active meditation.”

4.     Surround and honor yourself with some of your typical foods. If you

are going away, pack a cooler with a few of your Core Foods.

If you normally eat steel cut oats for breakfast, bring a bag with you. Go to the market the first day you are there, and pick up a few foods that support your normal way of eating.

This does not set you apart from others; in fact, by taking really good care of yourself, it allows for you to truly appreciate the holiday foods that you eat and know they are cooked with love; so eat them and Enjoy.

Others may see you eating leafy greens and want to try; let them into your world, too, but don’t have expectations. This is about taking good care of you.

5.     Never skip a meal.

Meals are usually skipped because we are “punishing” ourselves for being “bad” with food; now we must deprive ourselves to pay the piper.

Deprivation promotes unhealthy eating, and untimately, weight gain and mood imbalance. We want to stay consistent in our eating during this time of year;

Consistency creates balance.

We are never “bad.” We just make choices each day. Honor that whatever food choice you make is the right choice and enjoy your next meal without guilt.

If you are too full to eat your next meal, take a break or eat a smaller portion.

6.     Enagage in one calming, relaxing, balancing practice each day – Yoga,

Meditation, Deep Breathing are a few options.

Even if you are very busy with holiday shopping, cooking and entertaining, take

5 to 10 minutes early in the morning or at night before bed to just “be” with you.

Do a breathwork/meditation, with some nice, deep inhales and exhales. Get in touch with how your body feels when you allow it to slow down and get “core connected.”

 You can take this “feeling” and bring it into the rest of your day or night.

The more you give yourself this daily gift, the more you will have the energy and focus for the rest of your day.

7.  Exercise for 30 minutes each day.

Our bodies were not designed to be sedentary; this is why we have legs!

Exercise this time of year is even more valuable in its ability to balance the mood, as we get our heart rates up and endorphins are released. It facilitates healthy digestion and elimination. And, it feels good! We are taking care of ourselves and accomplishing something in the process.

If you have an exercise you do regularly, continue with it. If you are out of town and not near your gym, see if you can use a family member’s guest pass.

Try some Winter holiday exercises, like ice skating, snow shoeing or taking a run or cross country ski with someone you haven’t seen in awhile.

When you start to hesitate about getting out for your workout and turn to head for the kitchen, put your fleece and sneakers on and head out the door!

8.  Make a list of things you’ve accomplished this year.

As the year closes, we tend to look to resolutions for the new year. These are all about what we feel we haven’t done well and want to alter.

Why not stop to see all the wonderful, powerful ways in which we have made forward movement in our lives.

Run through the past year in your mind; what actions, conversations and decisions brought you even a little bit closer to your goals and dreams? Write them down.

Where did you make a difference in another person’s life?

What did you let go of that allowed you to move forward?

Where did you walk through your fear and venture ahead?

Write down even the smallest of actions…they count just as much!

 

9.   Make a Gratitude list.

What are you grateful for this year?

Who are you grateful for this year?

How has that helped shape your life?

Sometimes even acknowledging a special sunrise or the movement of the trees outside your window can connect you to being present.

 

10. Trust in whom you've become and the choices you make each day. Trust that your body will honor you. Trust that you ARE good enough. Trust that you are loveable. Trust all parts of you; the light and the shadow. Just TRUST.

 

Have The Most Beautiful and Heart-Centered Thanksgiving.

Thank you for being in my life :)

With Love,

Hope

 

 

 

 

 

Affirmations

May each person who had damage to their home have it easily and completely affordably restored.









Affirmations for This Week:
To be said upon awakening, before getting out of bed:

I am so grateful for today.
My life flows easily.
I focus only on what I am proud of.
Everything I choose to eat nourishes each cell in my body.
I accept all parts of myself.
All my conversations are comfortable.
I have amazing friends who support me.
I believe in myself.
I trust my choices.
I allow myself to receive love.
My life is abundant.
Money flows to me with ease.
I have everything I need.
My body shines with health.
So Be it. So it is. It is Done.

Opposite Action

May each person have a warm home to sleep in and easily rebuild anything that was lost.
May all the trees grow strong and rooted to the earth.

One of my main areas of focus in counseling is with eating disorders, where long-held beliefs and behaviors are deeply ingrained in the body's memory. In these situations, where people keep turning and returning to self-destructive behaviors, one of the most effective ways to shift the response mechanism is with a tool called, "opposite action." Using this tool, we can start to recondition the body's cellular belief system, or cellular DNA (different from our genetic DNA, which is actually only responsible for 5% of our health outcome). From this model, we can turn major obstacles into personal victories and begin to heal our ED, or any addictive, compulsive or self-destructive pattern.
Here's how it works: Let's say it's lunchtime, and you eat something out of your normal routine for food. You are at work, and to celebrate a coworkers birthday, they've brought in the most delicious chocolate mousse cake, so you join in and have a big slice. It's luscious; really yummy. Now it's
mid-afternoon, and there's a voice in your head saying something like this: "Maybe I'll skip out on dinner tonight. It was really too much for me to have that cake. It must be hundreds of calories. I am not allowed to have that and have dinner, too. Ok, I'll just have an apple, or maybe some carrots. Shoot, I'm really mad at myself for eating that stupid cake. Now I'm sure to gain five pounds. I'm going to look really bad. Ok, I'm just going to skip dinner. Maybe I'll skip dinner, go for a run and then eat really light for breakfast. I hate myself for eating that cake! Forget it, maybe I should just eat more cake, since I'm fat already."
We know this kind of self-talk is sure to send you down the rabbit hole, so to speak. What do you do now? It's time for opposite action, which is originally attributed to Sigmund Freud's daughter, Anna Freud, whose focus was on "adopting a behavior that is opposite of the instinctual urge - acting opposite" with regards to"reaction formation." When the first negative thought comes up, take an opposite action. Move the thought out of your head and replace it with a new one. When you start to think about the piece of cake and skipping dinner, think about something soothing, like the great day you just had with your friend or the trip you have planned. It's helpful to add in a physical change, such as removing yourself from your immediate environment, by getting up and walking around the office. This can release the body's hold on the negative impulse and replace it with a new and different somatic (body-centered) experience. That's where I believe we want to both shift the thought and shift our body's experience of the thought, adding in the cellular belief component.
When you get home and it's dinner time, boom, if the thought comes up again, do some opposite action self-talk: "Dinner is so nourishing for my body. I completely trust my choices. I know I have a right to eat dinner." Use intentions and affirmations like these to support the action of preparing dinner. Incorporate some deep breathing to shift the cellular response, which would typically be constricted or tight with the disturbing thoughts. Expand your body and open up your thoughts beyond the repetitive.
After dinner, continue with some more affirmations, such as, "I love everything I ate. This food really nurtures me and supports my body. I am calm and content."
Opposite action can be used to break any cycle of addiction, including the pull we sometimes feel to stay in unhealthy relationships or situations that compromise our highest good by feeling good for the moment. The key is to turn to the opposite thought no matter how much you want to dwell on the destructive one; just choose the other. It's also a great tool for people grieving a relationship that has recently ended, when self-doubts and mistrust often come in.
Once you start to recondition your cellular DNA by taking opposite action more often, you will feel an enormous sense of liberation, as if the chains you couldn't break for years have just been untied, and you no longer have to be in bondage to yourself. Try it and see.

Creating Quiet

May each person be breathing in warmth and light.
May the water, earth and trees be restored to highest health.

Today I awoke to snow. All I saw out of my windows was white magic. Since the NorEaster didn't have the force originally predicted, I can't help but think that the snow is nature cleansing from the hurricane. What I noticed, when I went out early in the morning to clean off my car, was how quiet it was. It was so quiet. Then I remembered; after the winds die down, all that is left is the quietness of snow, and snow is quiet.
Do we know how to bring in quiet when we need to? Many of us continue to do, rather than be. I took my time this morning, trying out my new snow brush with its multiple adjustments for cleaning snow and ice off of a car. I made this one of my meditations today, taking my time, unlike the many times I have rushed to clean off my snow-laden car to get somewhere. Even though I had places to go this morning, I gave myself enough time to enter into my day with quiet.
Was it, "Wax on, wax off," that was a line so many years ago in the moveie, "The Karate Kid?" I took the time to be with something so nothing as clearing my car. I meditated on the bristles of the brush as they smoothed against the windshield. I saw each drop of water suspend from the finish on the car. I breathed in the early morning snow air; clean, clear and very crisp.
I find that the quieter I am in the beginning of my day, the quieter I can be when life surrounds me with people, places and conversations that don't always go my way or fit my picture. The more I've cultivated quietness inside of me, the deeper is my foundation of well being.
I try to do this with food as well. Being quiet with my food allows me to deeply appreciate it; notice that it brings vitality into every cell of my body and nourishes me. Eating with intention allows me to taste my food very differently than when I mix it into conversations and decisions. It's yet another form of meditation, and often the most difficult.
Try this Food Meditation:
Take one meal and allow yourself to be only with you and your food.
Notice what you have prepared or bought to eat; the colors, textures, shapes and smells.
Notice what it feels like to lift your fork or spoon and take your first bite.
Breathe deeply into that first contact with your food.
See what you taste when you slow down and really spend time getting to know your food like your lover; the intimate one who you choose to allow inside of you.
What is new about this experience?
What tastes different?
Where in your body do you connect with your food?
What parts come alive when you eat?
What emotions arise?
Eat each bite in intimacy between yourself and your food.
When you finish, take out a journal and write for 5 minutes on what you noticed and experienced.
See how this food meditation connects you with the rest of your day.
See what other ways you can create quiet for yourself.

A Prayer and Writing as a Healing Tool

A Prayer for those who are healing from the storm:

May each person have a warm home to be in and many lights that shine brightly upon them.
May everyone who lost a loved one be healed completely.
May each soul who left this earth be surrounded by God.
May anyone who lost their home have it easily and affordably rebuilt, with even stronger foundation and beauty.
May every single person affected by the storm have a warm, safe and loving bed to sleep in, good food to nourish them, warm clothes to wear and the loving arms of friends and family to wrap around them.
May everyone across the East Coast have a feeling of well being inside of them.
So Be it. So it is. It is done.
Amen.

This Monday morning feels different from last, and far different from the one before. Life has changed for so many people; thousands have moved from thriving into surviving. Over the last few days, I witnessed the eerie sight of gas lines running blocks down the street and pumps that read, "no more gas." I heard stories of people who have lost their homes and their lives. Gratefully, I was only out of power for three days, but since I blog on Mondays and Thursdays, this is the first time I've sat down to write. It's a strange feeling to both want to reach out with a positive message and also know that some may not want to hear one right now. So, I start with the deep and healing prayer above, and hope that whatever I write today may be just right for whoever reads it.
Writing is a healing tool in itself. I am offering it as a recommendation even to those who may only have a napkin, scrap of paper or back of a gas receipt upon which to write. It is not the size of your paper; it may only be three or four words that you choose to put down. I encourage you to release whatever you might be holding inside through the act of writing. Whatever feelings and experiences have been housed inside of your body (somatic experience) can start to move out through putting pen, pencil or even crayon to paper. Writing is one of the most cathartic tools to clear out our internal cobwebs, and anyone can write. Many people don't believe they are "good enough" writers to journal, and they make up a whole story about how it's not worth trying. I've heard this same story about meditation, too, another powerful clearing and healing tool that anyone can utilize; even the most scattered thinkers.
Here's an example of some words you can write if you don't know where to begin. These reflect the personal events of the last week:
I am so angry.
I don't know what to do with myself.
My feelings are out of control.
I am terribly scared.
I really need a hug.
I can't stop crying.
I'm overwhelmed.
Help!
Feel free to borrow any of these starters and use them as a diving board for a couple of additional sentences. You can write anywhere, including the bathroom, closet or car. Writing doesn't require space or time; merely the intention to release. From clearing and releasing eventually comes healing. There were some days in my life, where after I "made" myself write, I finally felt like I could breathe. Writing also grounded me when I felt like I was floating in space, which is how we often feel when pain or sadness envelops us. 
When we can't make sense of the world or our lives; when everything has changed and we can't seem to get back what we had, writing can shine a light on a place that feels very dark. I encourage you to trust the process, and wherever you are at this moment, to give yourself this gift. You are worth it and you deserve it.
With Deep Healing Love,
Hope

How to Shift the Genetic Code

Did you know that only five percent (5%) of how our physical and emotional health turns out is from genetics? The other ninety five percent (95%) is from environment; what we choose to feed our body, both nutritionally and emotionally. This taps into what I call, "Learning how to shift our cellular belief system, or 'cellular DNA'."
We are never too old to start giving our bodies new messages to reverse and recondition the old messages that were fed to us. A large part of what I do in counseling, whether guiding someone who is in an abusive or high-conflict relationship or working with a person with long-term eating disorder (my two areas of focus), is to have them create a new vision for their lives and their health.
Initially, when we are suffering and in emotional or physical pain, it is hard to perceive or believe this is possible. Shifting the glass from half empty to half full may seem like a stretch, but it only starts with a small step that is infinitely large.
"Change your thoughts to change your consciousness," the quantum physicists teach us. Dr. Masuro Emoto, who wrote, "Messages from Water," microscopically photographed water molecules both when "fed" negative, hateful verbal messages or loving, positive affirmations. These molecules shone whole, healthy and sparkling, like diamond crystals, when receiving the positive messages. They looked diseased and dark when fed negative human dialogue. Astounding, right? Not really, when you begin to understand molecules or atoms as energy, and energy as shiftable or mutable.
We are comprised of seventy eight percent water, and we, too, respond by either sparkling as our highest selves or shrinking into pain and suffering, depending upon the messages we feed ourselves. We want to continually feed ourselves messages that affirm our highest worth, and if that seems untenable to reach for, we can do it in small increments.
Here is a great technique that anyone can bring in to start the process of reconditioning their cellular DNA. Early morning, before you get out of bed and while you welcome in the start of a new day, is the most powerful time to begin this process. We have just come from our sleep state, where all the truths of our subconscious have been dancing in our dreams. Often, we wake up carrying dark messages without even knowing. Here are some cellular affirmations you can say out loud at this time:
I am worthy
I am filled with self-love
Everything I eat today digests perfectly in my body
I trust my food to love and nourish me
I am loveable
I am perfect exactly as I am
I love and trust my body
I have the most fabulous day
I stay clear and focused today
I move through my day easily
Notice that these statements are in the present; not the past or future. We say them as if they already exist. Even if you feel "fat and ugly," you can say, "I love and trust my body" as if you already do. When you wake up with shame, you can still say, "I am loveable," and picture yourself smiling with self-love. We literally shift our cellular belief system by being "in the activity" of speaking it as if it is already so.
We have the capacity to personally design and choose our lives in the way we sometimes only secretly desire and long for them to be. We have the opportunity to shed any old messages that were fed to us, no matter how abusive or harmful. Because we are energy, and energy is able to change, we can change, too; just by saying we are. I have seen extraordinary responses and results with clients from following this method. I encourage you to try it for yourself. Once we rise up to meet ourselves from this higher place, the universe rises up to meet us there as well; it's the law of quantum physics. And remember, it's not about perfection; it is all part of the process, so play with it and see what happens.

Fall Foliage

I am in awe of the tree. I frequently bring it into counseling as a  metaphor for our lives. I see the tree as a tool for grounding, balance and resilience and guide clients in visualizations of becoming like the tree in their own energy. So, what is it about trees that elicits this response in me?
Have you ever seen a tree that is two hundred years old? Its roots plunge deep into the earth with both solidity and gracefulness. Looking at a tree is like gazing into the eyes of an old soul; you can feel the wisdom emanating from within; she is not going anywhere and is comfortable in her own skin.
Can we say that? How many times do we want to run from ourselves?
Trees have the amazing ability to be foundational, stable and flexible under any circumstance. It is extraordinary that a tree can withstand warm, hot, cool, cold, snow, sun, wind, rain, hail, ice and storm and still stand strong. It is precisely because it is rooted so powerfully that it is capable of resilience. When we, too are grounded in our core, we can adapt to our ever-changing circumstances and environment. It is then that we can bend and sway but not break when life comes at us; we can be with life as it is, maintaining our self-esteem, confidence and personal power. We can be passionate and protected at the same time.
It doesn't matter if your mother says something critical or you have a difficult night with your boyfriend; if you suffer a real loss or feel stress. If your core is solid and your path is clear, then nothing can take you away from your vision ultimately becoming your reality. It is the decision to allow you to stay connected to you, no matter what, that is most important. What are your goals; your dreams and your passions? Who are you and who do you desire to be? No one and no thing can take you away from your truth; unless you say so.
As the seasons change, the tree adapts as well, shedding, growing and changing colors to match the environment needed to survive and to thrive. What do we need to do to adapt more easily to our surroundings yet stay in our core? What leaves do we have to shed? What new colors do we need to bring in? Perhaps you decide to let go of the sadness of a relationship ended and shift into possibility and hope. Maybe you try something completely new and colorful in your life; something you've always wanted to do but never dared.
Yesterday, when I drove up to the Berkshires with a friend to see the fall leaves, we were overwhelmed by the beauty of perfection. Each of the hundreds of trees had an aura of godliness surrounding it. As we drove through canopy after canopy of color; reds, burnt reds, bright yellows and oranges, we understood the mystical nature of the tree.
We are given the gift of nature to teach us how to live according to our truth. A tree can only be a tree; a cloud a cloud. They know no different than to be who they are; perfect as they are. Because we are given the gift of cognitive ability, we begin to question the rightness of who we are. Let us use our minds not to criticize ourselves, not to question ourselves or put ourselves down, but to enhance the already-existing perfection of who we are. When we begin to embrace ourselves as perfect, we  start to take on the beauty of the tree; some of us red, some yellow and some orange; some with leaves and some without, but all perfect exactly as we are. It is from this place that we truly live.

Food is Our Most Intimate Partner

This evening I was over at Irina's, who is still cleansing for a few more days. As I ate my delicious dinner, leftovers so lovingly created by me yesterday for a women's gathering I had last night, I could feel Irina's cleansing energy different than my eating energy. At the end of the 31-day Juice Feast, which we did last April to May, I felt that I could have gone on for the 90 days taken on by some of my colleagues in the field of raw and living foods. However, I stopped after day 31, because I feel that having a healthy relationship with food also means honoring the commitments that you and food make to one another. We can easily be disordered in our eating when we change those just to cater to the "high" of the moment.
Counseling intensively and extensively in the world of eating disorders, I understand how a loving relationship with food can easily beome a controlling one. I do see the health value in a 90-day cleanse, and at some point I may undertake it, but on May ninth of last spring, I resumed my regular eating. This time around, I might have extended my cleanse, but ironically, I was entering into some mealtime sessions with eating disordered clients and knew I couldn't show up to lunch drinking a bottle of clear liquid. There is sometimes a fine line between a loving, healthy and nurturing relationship with food and a withholding, anxious and controlling one. If someone has lived in the latter for many years, as is the case with many of my clients, and they see their therapist drinking yellow liquid, they don't see "cleanse." They see it as another way to keep their disorder alive. My question is: How many ways do we find in our lives to keep our own disorders alive, and how does food play a pivotal role in this?
As the unique species that we are as human beings, we have a myriad of subtle and self-deceptive methods to keep ourselves small when we are yearning to be large. As a counselor, I see this all the time. Food is only one of these ways, but it is the foundational one that is merely a metaphor for all of our other relationships. How often do we choose one more way to obsess about our food and body imperfections instead of putting our focus and energy into something that will make us grow and expand; something for which we secretly long? It's easier to take this beautiful sustenance we call food and abuse it rather than to look at what's missing in our lives and go for it.
When you are struggling in your relationship with food, try this exercise: Think about the most passionate and loving relationship that you either have or desire; your spiritual soulmate, so to speak. Then write down all the adjectives that would describe this relationship, such as; loving, compassionate, adventurous, exciting, honest, trustworthy....whatever you desire in this person. When you are finished, read the list again. Now think about your relationship with food. Does it meet this description, or does it sound more like this; angry, starving, fat, ugly, scary, unpredictable...
Our relationship with ourselves begins with our relationship with food. We are fed from when we are born.
If you are looking to quell the source of some of your personal conflict and unrest, look no further than your relationship with food. Food creates the energy in every cell, organ, tissue and muscle in our bodies. It feeds our blood and nourishes our brain. The way we feel directly correlates to what we eat, and what we eat determines how we feel and what we attract into our lives. If we keep suppressing our souls in this most intimate relationship; punishing ourselves by either withholding or overconsuming food or eating foods that do not honor us, we disallow ourselves from the intimacy we so desire. If we cannot be intimate and loving with our own self first, how can we allow for others to love us appropriately?
Dream large and create. Then start each day by nourishing your body with the foods that make it shine. Never say you are "bad" or "good" because of what you eat. Choose your foods with love and let them love you back. Let go of any unwanted thoughts that keep you stuck in negative body image. Instead, put your energy into your passions and desires and keep your focus there. Allow food to elevate you into action rather than suppress you into sadness.
Having returned to the world of eating again post-cleanse, I am conscious of the space I was given through those ten days to reconnect with and reaffirm my relationship with myself. That was my commitment in undertaking this cleanse; to clean out whatever old "waste" was stopping me from being my highest self; physically, emotionally and spiritually. That has been met, and now I can lovingly renew my relationship with food and all of my relationships; those present and those yet to be.

Day 10 Final Day of My Autumn Cleanse!

October 9 Day 9 Master Cleanser:
7:15 AM Enema
9:15 AM 1 Quart Master Cleanser with: 1 quart warmed water, 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, pulp (and seeds), 4 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne spicy
11:15 AM Core Strengthening Exercises
1:30 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
7:30 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
Total: 3 Quarts

October 10 Day 10 Master Cleanser:
9:55 AM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
1:30 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
7:00 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
Total: 3 Quarts

I cannot believe it's almost over, and that tomorrow morning, I'll be starting my day with 8 ounces of soaked organic prunes and no Master Cleanser. Moving right into my life, I'll be having a lunchtime counseling session as well, though I will be somewhere that I can eat raw and light. Still, it feels strange to think about.
Though I feel complete and in gratitude that I cleansed according to my vision and commitment, I also feel a little sad to let it go. If I weren't moving into some venues where I would be sharing meals with other people, I would keep it going for a few more days. My body feels like it is in its truth, so to speak. I am releasing old beliefs and ways of coping every day, and meeting myself in all aspects of my life without food as an avoidance masked as pleasure.
How often do we just eat for the pure joy of eating? When I cleanse, I see an even deeper layer than I was aware. As much as I counsel others in Ecstatic Eating! and what it means to purely nourish ourselves and have a passionate relationship with our food, our bodies and our health, I understand how even I can deceive myself sometimes around food. I would say that I quite often do know the distinction between eating for the unadulterated sake of eating and eating to momentarily fill, avoid, numb or push away life. But even I witnessed a number of times during the past ten days, where if I had been eating solid food, I would have reached for it in relation to my experience of my life at just that moment. It's subtle sometimes, as those moments can also correlate with true hunger or mealtime; but it's that moment when food becomes a reaction rather than an action.
In the wild, animals don't look at the clock or even the sun to gage their hunger; they feel it instinctively. Because their emotional senses are not nearly as developed as ours (though their spiritual senses are, if you've ever had a cat), the stuff of life does not cloud their instinct. Even if a lion cub gets killed by another lion, its parent does not track down food to quell the sadness. It is only the human species who acts out their life experiences with food.
Today was a particularly difficult day for me emotionally. I had a major disappointment and an expectation of something in my life that didn't come to pass. I even had what I would call a meltdown in terms of the depth of emotion, pain and frustration I felt about this. At that moment, I felt physically wiped and exhausted, with no desire to uphold all the fabulous commitments in my life. Luckily, my commitment to myself and self-love rose above this painful period of time, and I put one foot in front of the other, walking through my day where I needed to be, until the feelings passed. There is no doubt that had I been eating solid food, I would have reached for something healthy, raw and fabulous a few times during those hours; I would have used food to soothe my mood.
Cleansing not only cleans out the waste and toxins; it is also a time for us to retrain our somatic, body response in not acting out with food in reaction to the intensity of emotion; that if we remove the food at that moment, the intensity will still pass, not by numbing out, but by allowing.  Even more, the emotion will not be digested along with the food. Throughout my years of counseling, I have encountered a number of clients who, even after shifting into very aligned eating for weight loss, were not losing. Once we cleared out the old emotional waste, then the weight could come off. We digest our food with our lives, and cleansing is an opportunity to heal that response mechanism and return to our highest relationship with food; the one with which we were born and were meant to have.
I will take this gift with me tomorrow as I move into Ecstatic Eating!
I want to also thank my Facebook Ecstatic Eating! community for supporting me and one another in this adventure called a cleanse. As I finish mine, others are now inspired to start theirs. Thank you.

Contrast Deepens Our Relationship with Ourselves

Day 7 Autumn Cleanse October 7:
10:00 AM Core strengthening exercises
11:00 4.5 mile walk and run at the beach, with 1 mile of it slow run - nice, soft rain coming down
12:15 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser with 1 quart warmed water, 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, pulp (and seeds); now lessening the lemon from 6 to 5 tablespoons; 4 tablespoons grade B maple syrup; and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper spicy
2:15 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
Afternoon: Extraordinary session of reflexology with Irina Breslav
40 Minute sauna
5:45 PM 8 oz. Master Cleanser
7:00 PM 16 oz. Master Cleanser
Total: 2 Quarts, 24 oz.
Day 8 Autumn Cleanse October 8:
11:45 AM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
2:30 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
7:00 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
Total: 3 Quarts

As some of you may know, I fractured my metatarsal (i.e. broken foot) during the beginning of July and spent the summer healing my broken bone. That meant no running, swimming, or yoga; no rebounding on the trampoline when it was messy outside. I wore a specialized sandal (in lieu of a boot) and used a cane. It was an intense time and a time of quiet contemplation.
Some of my readers may have seen the video of joy that I shot as I was about to go swimming in the Long Island Sound, when my foot was finally healed enough to swim.
This past Friday, I went running for the first time in three months; while cleansing, of course!
Those who know me well and have followed my blog know I am an avid runner and athelete, lover of movement, exercise and the outdoors, and have been running on and off since I was sixteen. You might have read when I blogged about shifting my entire relationship with winter a few years ago, while healing a broken heart, simply by running outside all winter; whether forty degrees or six degrees. This relationship with winter moved from "I can't stand it," to become the most intimate and adoring relationship, which unbelievably, I have been sad to see go the last couple of seasons (even though I am a beach bum).
Running is "in my heart, it's in my soul," and it will "be my friend till I grow old," and beyond. My father ran until he was seventy nine. He was my first running partner. On Friday, I put on my old best friends, my running shoes (saucony-s) and walked over to the beach. Very carefully, I began a slow run once around; just under a mile. My goal right now is to continue to realign my foot after months of it being dormant. Where in counseling, I am often helping people to recondition, reframe or clear our their old "cellular belief systems," those experiences housed in our bodies that cause us suffering, in my case, I am doing the opposite. I am reigniting my body's cellular memory, specifically that foot, to run and move the way it used to. This requires a slow process, literally, meaning that I am starting to run very slowly, just to have my foot re-remember what it felt like logging all those miles in its shoe; what each step and bounce was like for every muscle, nerve, tendon and ligament. It's part of my personal foot therapy.
Here I was, both on Friday and Sunday, running one quarter or one half of my usual speed with a huge smile on my face; feeling the feeling of well being that comes when one is doing something they love. Much like my relationship with food, it was a time of Ecstatic Running! even though I was lightly jogging. When we are aligned with what is right for us, it's not about the perfection; it's about the sheer bliss of the process. I was as exuberant as if I had just run a half marathon.
Contrast is a wonderful thing. When we get back that which we temporarily lost, the appreciation we have is far larger than it was. I thought I was passionately grateful for every minute of every run I have had in the past, and I was, but the gratitude I had on those two days outmeasured even that. The difference was that for three months, I had met myself where I was at, and learned to love myself through my limitations.
It was a kind of cleansing of the soul to go through the process. I loved myself even more for all parts of me; the whole and the broken; the light and the shadow.
As I wind down from my eighth day of no solid food, I wonder what I will feel this Thursday morning, when I bite into my first meal. I know that the first food I ate after my 31-day juice feast, which was only some soaked organic prunes, tasted like the nectar of the gods. I look forward to experiencing the act of eating on a whole new level, and deepening my relationship with food and my body. Each new path upon which we embark changes us forever. Food is only a metaphor for the rest of our lives, and I thank God I can transform all my relationships, most especially that with myself, through my ever-evolving relationship with food.

School and doctor refusing to allow healthy food

Day 6 of the Cleanse
Yesterday's Nourishment:
11:50 AM 1 Quart Master Cleanser: 1 quart warmed water with 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, pulp (and seeds), 4 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup - I lessened the maple syrup today - and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne spicy
1:30 PM Ran my first mile in 3 months! 4 miles total, with 3 mile walk and 1 mile run
2:30 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
7:00 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
Total: 3 Quarts

Moving into the weekend and a lighter, quieter schedule, my body felt like it did not need as much "protection" from the environment. I was drawn to scale down the maple syrup to 4 tablespoons and only wanted 3 quarts, even though I had prepared a fourth. I am feeling the same today; it's 3:00 PM and I've only had one quart of Master Cleanser so far. My energy is off the charts! Last night, I went shopping at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods with my High-Level Assistant Denisse, who, along with her sister, is also cleansing. Denisse has also shifted her entire family into whole, vegetarian and raw food. The other day she told me that when she brought home fresh asparagus, intending to make a soup with them, they never even got as far as the pot, as her daughter pounced upon them and ate them raw! Denisse and I were purchasing the rest of our cleanse "foods," and we ended up spending three hours walking through the aisles at Whole Foods and just talking about food. Neither of us was hungry; we both had tons of energy and we were focusing on how to effectively educate people with all kinds of food choices, no matter what stage they are at in their dietary journey.
I said to Denisse, "Isn't is amazing that we've had no solid food for five days and are so energized, clear and focused?" It's such a misconception that we need so much food to thrive, or even to survive; it's the right foods that we need.
Which brings me to the story that Denisse told me yesterday. She and her sister now send their children to school with homemade guacamole, kale salad, quinoa and all kinds of vegetables and fruits. Their collective children (three in all) can't get enough of these foods. They have been to the farmers markets and eaten vegetables from the garden they planted at home. Denisse and her sister's two sons recently had their lunchboxes returned full, and Denisse was told by their teacher that the boys are required to eat the lunch food supplied by the school. This food consists of yogurt, bagels with cream cheese and the like. By the way, Denisse was cleansing when she had this conversation at the school, and she said it only reaffirmed her commitment to her cleanse even more. She was told that she would need a note from her doctor, and since her kids were not lactose intolerant or did not have specific allergies, that was required; otherwise, they could not eat their home-prepared food and would have to eat the school food.
The story gets ever more interesting. The pediatrician to whom Denisse took her children, and with whom she was completely on the same page with regards to nutrition and children, had left the practice, and she was referred to one of the other pediatricians there. Denisse spoke with the office manager, a friend of hers, who wrote a simple note stating that Denisse's children could bring food from home to school. This person was then fired by the doctor's practice, and Denisse was told by her new pediatrician that she did not support what Denisse was doing and that she supported the school's policy. Denisse said to her doctor, "I'll need my children's records, as I will be looking for a new pediatrician," and she left the office. 
I was extremely upset when I heard this story and my first response was, "This is something we need to get out into the local news." As one of the founders of the Rockland Coalition for Better School Foods and someone who has given talks and workshops within schools to educate children, parents, teacher and admistrators on healthy eating, I am wondering how often this is happening daily in our schools? How often are children their ages (two to five) having their food returned or thrown out unknowingly and given  bagels, cream cheese and yogurt to eat instead? Here is how the food chain works: Children are fed these foods; then they contract repeated colds, flus and resperatory symptoms throughout the fall and winter. They are brought to their doctors, who prescribe multiple rounds of antibiotics, which also lower their immune systems. They continue to eat the foods that lower their immune systems, perpetuating the cycle of sickness and medication. These children become adults, who then contract more serious, chronic symptoms due to lowered immune systems resulting from this cycle of food and antibiotics.
I am compelled to blog about this today in hopes that if this is happening to your children in their schools, that you step up and say no these practices and yes to healthy food for our kids.
Denisse will be seeing a new pediatrician who is known to be an excellent doctor in partnering with her patients, and she is planning to meet with the head of the school this week to say no to this policy and ensure that her children get to eat the foods that nourish their bodies. If this is happening to you, don't walk away feeling there is nothing you can do. We need to educate others; it is the best catalyst to transformation. I suggested to Denisse that she offer to give a talk at the the school to teachers, parents and administration on healthy eating. Who knows what their response will be, but it is certainly a way of turning adversity into possibility, which is what we want to teach our children.

Cleansing is Moment by Moment

Day 4 Autumn Cleanse:
Yesterday October 4:
8:00 AM 1 Quart Master Cleanser: 1 quart warmed water with 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, pulp (and seeds), 5 tablespoons grade B maple syrup and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder (I like it spicy)
2:00 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
6:00 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
7:15 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
Total: 1 Gallon

Day 5:
Today October 5:
9:45 AM Enema - switched to this today to take a break from salt water flushing and reach into the colon and intestine to remove old waste. This is what my body guided me to do, as the salt felt a little too retaining and approaching flush from the other end, so to speak, felt right for today.
~ time of first quart of master Cleaner will be at 11:00 AM

Debbie Ford, Author of, "The Shadow Effect," speaks about meeting all parts of ourselves; our light and our shadow, and that it is by doing so that we can truly transform places of suffering into well being. I believe that if we just stay with ourselves long enough to embrace our shadows and not fill the difficult moments with food (or anything else), we create an opportunity for unlimited possibilities in our lives. 
Cleansing brings out our shadows; the dark, "icky" parts we'd rather avoid, deny or shove under the pillow. Yesterday brought up some of those for me. During the more difficult parts of my day, I found myself seeing my life as a whole of shame and lack; I was feeling very less than and very sorry for myself. It was at that moment that I walked by one of my favorite secret pleasures; Fat Cat Pie Co., an organic pizza bistro in Norwalk, Connecticut that offers farm-to-table toppings on their pizza. I love Fat Cat; eating my kale and quinoa salad with Reggiano parmesan, followed by an organic crust pizza with broccoli rabe, eggplant, carmelized mushrooms, sauteed onions, garlic chips and kalamata olives is a sacred ritual for me; every mouthful a surge of ecstasy. It is my non-guilty pleasure, as I don't associate guilt with the art of eating. But yesterday, as I was in my shadow side walking by Fat Cat, the irony of emotional eating revealed itself. At that moment, had I stealthfully gone inside and indulged, it would not have been to asuage any physical hunger, as there was none. It would have been to soothe the wicked beast inside of me; to slay my internal dragon.  
I remember my early life; adolescent and teenage years, when I numbed out with food because my emotional dragons were too scary, but had to take myself wherever I went anyway; thinner or heavier. There was no ecstatic eating while battling my demons with food as my weapon. Eventually, my body caught up with my spirit, and in my twenties, my weight reached two hundred and twenty pounds.
What did I do yesterday when these feelings "hit?" I texted two friends and released them through writing. The act of letting them out and moving them through, without anyone needing to solve it or fix it for me; merely "hear" me, started to diminish them. I also identified what was happening, and knew that  even though it felt large, it was merely one moment in my extraordinary life. If I had eaten over it, it would have become me, merging through the act of digestion into my cells and cellular memory.
Today, my relationship with food is sacred loving and fun, and there is no guilt, pain or suffering associated with it. I counsel clients in Ecstatic Eating!, which is available to each of us, no matter what our journey or our past. Food is our intimate partner, with whom we get to dance the longest, slowest dance of all; never to be rushed, abused or neglected.
After the most difficult part of my day came the most beautiful moments. I had a counseling session and the energy in the office was so pure and high. When I left, the old loathing feelings had completely vanished, replaced with immense gratitude for every part of my life, accompanied by a surge of joy. Leaving the office, I texted these same two friends the deep feelings of gratitude I was having for my life at that moment. It is important to voice the shift into light as well once we have let go of the shadow; what we language becomes us.
My life had not changed, yet I had shifted, merely by allowing each moment to exist and by being present to each moment. I am grateful for the opportunity this cleanse gives me; not to do, but just to be.

Who did I once write in as a presidential candidate?

Day 3 of the Cleanse:
8:00 AM Salt Water Flush: 1 Quart warmed water with 2 teaspoons sea salt
11:15 AM 1st Quart Master Cleanser:
1 Quart warmed water with 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, pulp (and seeds), 5 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne (spicy)
12:30 PM Quart #2 Master Cleanser
4:30 PM Quart #3 Master Cleanser
6:30 PM Quart #4 Master Cleanser
Total: 1 Gallon

I have been an advocate and activist for health since my twenties; actually, since I was about ten and wrote into the Hills Corporation asking them if they killed horses for their dog food and got an answer back assuring me they didn't kill Mustangs. That reminds me of the disturbing video I saw this week exposing Whole Foods allowing many GMO foods into their store, including Monsanto's GMO corn, and lying to consumers about it. When a friend and colleague of mine emailed her local Whole Foods in response, they responded simply that they needed to train their team leaders more effectively in how to respond to consumers about which foods are clearly labeled as Non-GMO. Hello: That's not the issue. Blaming their employees deflects responsibility even more. The issue is that Whole Foods, which has always portrayed themselves as the number one advocate for non-genetically engineered foods, and has time and time again said that they do not support GMO's and do not carry them, has lied to us who support and trust them because of the drive to make a profit.
Is there also lots of good that Whole Foods does? Yes! Are there many foods worth purchasing there? Definitely. So what is the answer? It is to "call" them on this issue and let them know that this is unacceptable. We need to email our local Whole Foods and let them know that they need to uphold what we trust them to espouse with the food we buy for ourselves and our children. They will respond, and even if it is not the response we want, they will see the numbers of people who care about these choices and will have to step up to the plate with integrity. Here's what I wrote, if you are looking for how to word your email:

Hi,
As a Holistic Health Counselor and consumer, I am very disturbed about this video. I want to be able to not only shop at Whole Foods, but to send clients there reliably. My concern is that Whole Foods carries ANY GMO foods. When the store was founded, I thought that the message communicated at the time was NO to GMO. It's not just about the labeling. It's about trusting the sources, and for Whole Foods to take a stand and not allow GMO foods inside the store. I appeal to Whole Foods to take a firm stand on this and eliminate all GMO foods from your store.
Thank you,
Hope Stanger

Back to my twenties, when I was living in New York City. It was then that I learned of the plight of the U.S. farm workers, and the major health risks they were being exposed to in order to supply the produce we eat. I received regular newsletters from the Untited Farm Workers (U.F.W.) that were so disturbing and graphic. This was an organization that told the untold truth about the lives of the many men and women who were working for low wages in our farming industry just to support their families. It finally uncovered and exposed the truth about pesticides and their impact on physical health. I got to see graphic images of real farm workers with cancer, skin lesions, corroded arms and legs, nerve damage and serious life-threatening illnesses resulting from being sprayed with pesticides while in the fields or handling the earth and produce that was sprayed. I learned all the scientific names for pesticides and the concrete scientific research about the physical health impact of each individual chemical. My eyes were opened and I wept every time I read a new newsletter from the U.F.W. So it's no wonder that in 2012,  I don't even know how to respond to one more person saying that they heard organic fruits and vegetables are no more healthy than non-organics, or that it's ok to eat the produce with hard shells or skins. Of course, I try to educate people time and again about this; that it is from day one of planting, and even before, that the soil is sprayed with a multitude of pesticides/chemicals, which continue to be sprayed through harvesting. The earth is sprayed; the baby seedlings are sprayed; the blooming vegetables and fruits are sprayed; and the fully grown plants are sprayed; over and over throughout the cycle. It doesn't matter if it's an avocado or a red pepper; when pesticides are used, they inundate the entire food. Back in my twenties, during a presidential election, I didn't align with either plan being presented by each candidate. Therefore, I decided at the time to write in as my choice Ceasar Chavez, the founder and head of the United Farm Workers, because I knew he genuinely cared about the health and well being of people on this earth, and that is who I wanted as president of our precious country.
It's food for thought...

Cleansing to Our Truth

Day 2 of the Autumn Cleanse!
8:30 AM Salt Water Flush:
1 warmed quart (32 oz.) of water with 2 teaspoons sea salt, drunk all at one sitting
10:15 AM Core mat exercises
10:30 AM First quart of Master Cleanser, with 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and pulp (and seeds), 5 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup and 1/8 spicy teaspoon of cayenne
Noon: Quart 2 of Master Cleanser
5:40 PM Quart 3
6:30 PM Quart 4
Total: 1 gallon and done for the day :)

I cannot believe this, but I am sitting here typing and filled with energy. I feel almost wired, but in a good way. I don't drink coffee, but I suppose this is what people reach for. I've had this feeling from juicing or the frequency of raw foods, but there's an added component. It feels like a letting go and an adding in at the same time. I am releasing the old debris and toxins from my colon, intestines, organs, blood and tissues and taking in the mineralization of new energy. I feel like I could dance for a couple of hours!
That being said, don't worry if you feel exhausted while cleansing. A cleanse reaches to the core, and you can experience incredible energy for a couple of hours and then need to sleep far more than normal. Wherever you are at is wherever you need to be; your body will tell you. If I were fatigued, I would stop typing and go to sleep, even at 8:30.
My first flush of the cleanse was perfect. I remember the first time I did a salt water flush, which was during the 31-day juice feast. It already had felt so vulnerable doing the enemas 7 days in a row, and then when I switched from juicing to Master Cleanser, I followed that protocol. The first time I drank the salt water I said, "I can't do this. It's disgusting, and I'll never make my way through it." The next time, it suddenly tasted a lot better, as if my body had accepted and connected with it. For this Autumn cleanse, I actually loved it! Forty five minutes later I was releasing all of the old.
I had a half an hour of shaky blood sugar in the middle of the afternoon, which then passed. Now my body is filled with a feeling of well being cleansing through me.
Imagine if everyone in the world cleansed for ten days; what do you think the leaders of our government would be like? What about the heads of the food industry? How would the military generals act? What would happen to those suffering from depression, ADD, OCD, anxiety, psychoses and medication overload? That's an evolution I would like to witness. What I find most powerful today is that as I walked through my day, navigating the "stuff of life" with all its dilemmas, fears and stressors, I couldn't hide out in my food. I had to be present to who I am when I am simply in my truth. I had to let go of all my self-judgements and replace them with self-love; as if the cleansing spurred my body to say: "You are who you are, Hope. Now can you love yourself for all of it; light and shadow, and can you allow others to love you "as is" as well?
Cleansing allows us to return to our truth; the souls of who we came here to be. It's an opportunity to let go of our limited beliefs and expand into our unlimited potential. What if you lived your life like each day was a cleanse? Who would you be and what would your life look like? It's only a matter of choice..

When we cleanse, it's not just our bodies....Day 1

Hello World,

Today is Day 1 of Master Cleanser:
So far today:
7:30 AM 1 quart Master Cleanser, with 6 tablespoons fresh organic lemon juice and pulp (and seeds), 5 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne (very spicy)
12:50 PM Quart #2
5:00 PM Quart #3
One more quart to come, but not too late.

I am sipping my third quart of Master Cleanser as I type. Figuring I'd breeze through this cleanse, after juice feasting with no solids for 31 days in the spring, I forgot that my body has been so reconditioned to food that the removal of it is causing a bit of an uproar :) Last week, I celebrated the Jewish holidays with some foods I don't typically eat, and I felt the feeling of "stuffed" that I haven't felt in a long time. When I eat solely raw foods, the molecular frequency is so high and the nutrients so dense that I get filled up without ever getting stuffed. Even though I transitioned back after the holiday, I am still letting go of those meals, as well as the last four months since my previous cleanse.
What am I feeling? A little shakiness (blood sugar), a little annoyance (having my food taken away), a little bereft (feeling lonlier than usual); all of the above.
This leads me into one of the most relevant yet rarely touched upon aspects of cleansing; the emotional component. I blogged about this over the course of the 31-day cleanse. Cleanses are so hip now; so "au courant." Everyone is on a cleanse and everyone advertises one. On the one hand, it is so great that people want to get healthier and can have access and support in doing so. The problem lies in the act of omission. What we need to know is what is left out when cleansing; that we are not only cleansing our bodies of all the food-based and environmental toxins and old debris (and this can go back a lifetime, if we have never cleansed before - more on this in another post), we are also cleansing from an emotional perspective. All the stored up experiences that get processed (or not) in our somatic (body-centered) selves are cleansing as well. Think about what has transpired in your life since your last cleanse; did you end a relationship or have it ended by someone else? Have you had loss, sadness, pain, hurt, anger or any other emotion/experience taking up space? Look at these areas; family, love, relationships, work, joy, health, finances; if you processed any of these on an emotional end, or if they got "lodged" in between your energy centers and held as "wounds" to the chakras (the energy centers we have in our bodies; just like organs, tissues and blood, these also exist and house our experiences) you might need to cleanse them as well.
I also tell clients: Our body is the higher intellect; our minds the lesser! Not that we can't be smart, but it's the body we really need to listen to, and the mind always trips us up with its intelligence. Our bodies really tell us what we need to know, if we pay attention and honor them.
If you are cleansing and suddenly, for no apparent reason feel weepy or angry or terribly sad, you are not losing your mind! In fact, most probably you are healing core issues that have been hanging out inside of you with nowhere to go. Don't reach for the pills to make it go away. Instead, ask your body what it is telling you; literally. I recommend clients speak to their bodies all the time. Then listen for an answer. Once you get one, see if is to just allow the old, bottled up feelings to move through you or whether there is an action that would help heal them. Pull your journal out and write for a few minutes about your discovery. This is the pivotal component that draws people into letting go of their commitments and going back to addictive behaviours; being uncomfortable with the feelings, the emotions, finally coming up to the surface. You don't have to eat over it! Just breathe deeply, ten inhales and ten exhales, and let the oxygen fill you.
If you have never cleansed before, and even sometimes if you have, your body might transport you back to many years ago, where you find yourself emotionally re-experiencing an event from twenty years ago. That happended to me a couple of times during the 31-day Juice Feast.
Don't be concerned; just stay with it and allow it a "voice." Once you do, it will be able to shift and move through you.
So, what's coming up for me on Day 1 as I type? I'm missing loving touch and connection. If you're the next person I see, I'll be asking you for a hug!
PS - My upper back muscles are starting to ache as I blog. This is a sure sign that the cleansing is working! As Dr. Fred Bisci speaks about, when you start to cleanse, all the energy used for the muscles and joints starts to leave those areas and go the the organs and parts of the body needing core healing. That is a good sign.

10-Day Cleanse Starting October 1st

Today's Ecstatic Eating!tm Recipes:
Kale salad:
1 bunch Lacinato kale, massaged with Mom's homemade dressing: 2 cloves garlic chopped, then mashed into a paste with 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, with 1/2 inch olive oil in measuring cup, some Bragg's Amino Acids and 1 teaspoon Organic Stone Ground Mustard (with apple cider vinegar - this keeps it raw and alkaline); then 2 beautifully shredded beets tossed in (shredded with the blade of my food processor), along with 1 sliced Granny Smith apple and a bunch of Crimini mushrooms rubbed down with Bragg's; sliced and tossed in. This was beyond delicious, and I put so much love into it xo
Pâté: ~ 2 1/2 cups soaked sunflower seeds and ~ 2 oz. soaked pecans; soaked in an uncovered bowl overnight with water to cover; then drained and rinsed
Food processed with: 1 red pepper, some spinach leaves, lots of fresh dill, Garam Masala Tandoori seasoning (organic paprika, organic cumin, organic coriander, organic garlic, organic ginger, organic cardamom), and some cayenne; with lots of olive oil, some tamari, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1 stalk celery
Karita's amazing smoothie: Filled Vitamix (64 oz.): Water, box of organic strawberries, soaked high-level raw almonds, maple syrup, a pinch of Himalayan sea salt, a little bit of agave and lots of ice cubes
I love to honor my body with the right foods when it's hungry. What feels great is knowing I eat more of the foods that nourish and nurture my body. That is such a different feeling than filling up with foods that don't digest and assimilate easily, which leaves me with a bloated and low-energy feeling.
Have you ever noticed when that happens to you?


It is the most perfect time for a cleanse with Autumn moving in. This weather pulls us to crave more food for warmth and often quickly put on weight. Then it's March and we wonder how fifteen pounds came on; sound familiar?
Cleansing lets go of all the waste we've accumulated in our bodies; both physical and emotional. We clean out, thereby lightening our bodies and boosting our immune systems.
I'm already noticing people all around with sniffling noses and coughs; their Autumn colds are right on track. Shift your food and you shift your health.
I will be using The Master Cleanser format, as written by Stanley Burroughs in his book by the same name. This will be so different from the 31-day cleanse I did last April - May. Ten days seem like so short next to that! Isn't it interesting how everything becomes relative to what we've already experienced in our lives? I remember when the prospect of ten days would have seemed really daunting, and now my body is craving it and ready to start.
I chose Master Cleanser because the maple syrup makes me think of Autumn and the cayenne warms the body and circulates the blood. My Spring cleanse had the green energy of spring with its gallon of juice-feasting a day. This time of year, I want a cleanse that is simple, warming, nourishing and cleansing. My goal is to feel grounded and ready for the cooler weather when I'm done.

5 Girls Juicing Days 22 - 28 Morning - Juice Feast

Good Morning World!

I feel magnificent. Two days to go in our Juice Feast; it's been 4 weeks today!
I realized a dream of being able to cleanse and live on only juicing for one month.

Cleanse Menu:
4/30 Day 22
Master Cleanser Day 7
Salt water flush
Cleansed my bathroom sink (see below :)
1 quart master cleanse early afternoon
1 quart master cleanser early evening
1 quart master cleanse night
Total: 3 quarts

5/1 Day 23
Master Cleanser Day 8
1 quart master cleanse morning
1 quart master cleanse later afternoon
1 quart master cleanse evening
Total: 3 quarts

5/2 Day 24
Master Cleanser Day 9
2 quarts master cleanse morning - needed it!
1 quart master cleanse afternoon
1 quart master cleanse night
Total: 1 gallon

5/3 Day 25
Master Cleanser Day 10
1 quart master cleanse morning
1 quart master cleanse afternoon
1 quart master cleanse evening
1 quart master cleanse night
Total: 1 gallon

5/4 Day 26
Warm salt water flush, followed by 30 minutes laying on my right side - 2 hour wait to eliminate
12:00 noon: 16 oz. juice of 1 whole organic cantaloupe and cilantro - the most delicious juice of liquid bliss ever!
8 oz. of 1/2 bunch spinach, 1 container grape tomatoes, 3 carrots, 3 stalks celery, parsley
20 chlorella tabs
Night: 1 litre coconut water
Total: 1 litre 24 oz.

5/5 Day 27
1 quart cantelope cilantro juice
2 teaspoons bee pollen
22 oz. cantaloupe cilantro juice
1 quart 8 oz. beet, collards, cucumber, apple
1 teaspoon bee pollen
Hot bath with Jota ozonated Rizol oil (oils of clove, Moxa, thyme, marjoram, oil of bitter almonds, frankincense, Rizoles from ozonated pure raw lipid plant extracts) and salt scrub
1 litre coconut oil
Total: 1 gallon

5/5 Day 28 Today!
1 quart spinach, carrots, celery, red pepper and dill
1 teaspoon bee pollen


My bathroom sink was filling up and not draining properly. Guess what? It was filled with "old waste" ands needed to be cleansed! One morning, I had alot of energy and plumbed my sink myself, clearing out the cabinet below, unhooking the drain, cleansing the sink of its "gunk," and rehooking the drain. It felt so fabulous to know I had the capacity to do this on my own, without a plumber or brawny man :) I also appreciated the black waste as I cleaned it with bare hands from my sink; it was all the stuff that had served me well and now needed to be let go, revealing a sparkling clean drain. The metaphor was not lost on me! I am responsible for my own cleansing; I am capable of my own cleansing; I know what has to be released and what gets revealed under the layers of mud. My purpose is to stay in my own process and not another's business, so to speak. It is my responsibility to cleanse my "stuff" and get to my higher self. It is from there I can relate to others.
On the topic of elimination, my last salt water flush took two hours before I released. It required patience, as I knew I couldn't start juicing until the flush worked, so that meant waiting till noon to drink. I felt pretty cleaned out, and then the last two days, I started releasing on my own without any flushes. It feels like the last of the old garbage making its way out.
On the subject of going back to juicing, my experience of drinking my canteloupe-cilantro juice deserves a description. I am not exaggerating when I say that this juice was the sweetest taste I ever experienced. It was passionate and sublime, and I literally felt all of amy chakra energy centers open, including my sexual chakra. It reminds me of when I lecture on food, and share how a child who grows up on fast food often cannot taste the sweetness of a string bean or a piece of broccoli. Maybe it's because I was drinking Master Cleanser for 10 days; I'm not sure. All I know is that I never tasted something so delicious in my life, and I've eaten all kinds of foods of every nationality. I will hold onto that flavor and somatic (body) response for a long time, going back to it when I need inspiration, a tangible reminder of the sweetness of life or when I want to eat more quickly than my body should be.
Just a mention of my last few days of Master Cleanser. Days 7 and 8, my body only desired 3 quarts, rather than the gallon I had been consuming every day. Then Day 9, my body felt weak and I "downed" 2 quarts just in the morning. What I see from this is another reminder to observe the changes during the cleanse and honor your body with what it needs in that moment. It may shift from day-to-day.
I would also recommend waiting till completion of the cleanse to have any new "processes" done connected to your physical being. In other words, I had originally planned to have my hair done a couple of weeks ago, and my body clearly told me that it was in the process of cleansing and to wait until I was done with my cleanse to go to my stylist. We want to let go of the old before we bring in the new. Also, I waited on a dental consult as well. If you do go, I recommend waiting on any x-rays or procedures until your cleanse is finished.
I am sitting in wonder of the last month. Could it be that in only 3 days I will be eating solid food? If I didn't have some new things in my life happening, I would stay on this cleanse for longer. It does feel a bit weird to think of chewing! That being said, when we commit to a process and length of time, it is important to honor our orginal commitment; mine being to Juice Feast for 1 month; 30 days. That is a powerful methodology for any and all aspects of our lives; stay with the time you allot to something. In other words, if you are working on a project and have designated two hours in your day to focus on it, when that two hours is up, stop working an move onto something else. It's a wonderful methodology to accomplish your goals and homor your commitments.
Wednesday evening, Nubia is having the 5 Girls over, minus Irina, who is in Paris celebrating her life with dear friends. We'll be breaking bread with a raw potluck, though I will start my re-initiation to solid food with soaked prunes and prune water on Wednesday morning.
I appreciate everyone who inspired me on my journey and all the moments that have led up to this last month. I have been empowered by our fabulous Facebook Juice Feast community! Whenever I had a low moment, I would go on FB and see a hundred and fifteen names holding the energy for each of us to juice a little more in our lives; letting go of the old and bringing in the new. Thank you for keeping me on my path.
With Love and Gratitude,
Hope & The Holistic Empire