I Just Swallowed a Lemon Pit! Day 10 and the end of my Winter Wonderland Cleanse

Gorgeous White Winter, Thank You to the Angels for this Day
Day 10 The Master Cleanser Winter Wonderland Cleanse:

I have been conserving my energy, or rather, putting it to where I wanted it to go most. I thought I'd be posting a lot more, but each day, I "met myself where I was at" and didn't push beyond that. It's been a wonderful ride and the BEST decision I could have made! Winter cleansing is always a whole other perspective. 
As is typical when I do The Master Cleanser, I downscaled my amounts of lemon and maple syrup as the days went on, ending up with 4 tablespoons of lemon per quart and 3 tablespoons of maple syrup.
 I also downsized from 4 quarts to 3 the last 3 days of the cleanse. This is totally intuitive and going with my body - if and when you do this cleanse, trust your own guidance system.
Normally I exercise any day I'm not Flushing with salt water, but yesterday, I skipped it and honored what my body asked for. This morning, my salt water flush took only 12-15 minutes from consumption (and laying on my right side) to elimination. That tells me things are moving really easily on all levels. 
My energy is back with a force today (I got up at 6:45). I feel motivated, focused and alive. My mood is super high and I can literally feel the joy moving inside. As is typical with cleansing, I went through many ups and downs with physical energy, fatigue and lowered mood as well as being "wired," filled with energy and happy - all at different moments, and sometimes close together! My goal of gaining clarity and letting go of any old stuff that was hanging around in me is met. I feel a cleanness inside, as if whatever I needed to let go of was washed away. Mostly, I feel aligned on a spiritual-emotional level, trusting my choices and intuition.
Report: I've dropped almost 9 pounds this time around and by tomorrow, I expect it to be a total of 10. Though that was not my reason  for cleansing, it puts me back in the zone in which I feel my body truly wants to be.
Tomorrow I will introduce solid foods gently, starting off with a kale, pineapple, dill and ginger smoothie and probably having a grapefruit during the day as well. I want to pause between the foods, re-introducing the art of chewing and allowing my digestive system to rest. Cleansing is a highly spiritual and meditative journey. It takes us within to the quieter place of intuition. On a nutritional end, it always becomes so clear how much less food we really need then we think we do, and how much we use food as a filler for sadness, anxiety, fear and lonliness. As I move deeper into February, my intention is to take time each day to tune into my body, eat when I know my body is truly asking for food, pause between the bites to listen and take with me the gifts from this cleanse. My next cleanse will probably be a springtime Juice Feast, so stay tuned...
Most importantly, allow yourself to slow down and listen to what your body is truly asking for. When you think you need to fill it, first take a moment to "Just Be" and see what happens. Don't be afraid to listen to your body and quiet your brain. Let food honor you; choose it with love and not abuse. Love everything you choose and eat it with passion. Most of all, know that you are perfect exactly the way you are and love all parts of yourself. 
As Valentine's Day approaches, do something sacred that affirms your love for YOU. Self-love is the most passionate and healing of all. Sending each of you love...

Weddings Inspire Me

Over the last month and a half, I went to two weddings, each celebrating the marriage of one of my dearest friends. Both were unique to themselves and reflected the personal tastes and styles of my girlfriends. At each, I danced to fabulous music and ate great food. What was common to both was the joy that every guest had; as if they, too, were invested in the act of these unions. What was most significant to me was feeling I had inside affirming this thing we call marriage. 

These two couples inspired, moved and touched me by the journeys they had each taken as individuals in their own rite and collectively, in their evolving partnerships of growth, trust, loving kindness, challenges, respect, friendship, attraction, devotion, love and now marriage. I had an overwhelming feeling that I understood the distinction between a relationship and a marriage, and how as a couple, choosing to be married creates and opportunity to become more intimate, more committed, more willing to say, "I am my beloved and my beloved is mine." I don't feel that marriage is the only way, or that not being married makes a couple less committed or less in love. It's just that being in the presence of clear and strong "choice" over the last couple of months, it was so obvious that, as much as we can poke at the institution of marriage with its visible downfalls as well as the rates of divorce, in the right context, it has the capability to add a new foundation to a relationship which can build a stronger and more sustainable house. Given the right two people, who each can let go of their ego from time to time and not always have to be "more right;" who see their relationship more in terms of what does make it special rather than what is wrong, and who can practice loving kindness with a wide open heart and an ability to breathe through the challenging moments and rejoice in the beautiful ones, marriage has the ability to create extraordinary joy and divine  and lasting love.
Bearing witness my friends as they declared publicly before everyone they love and who loves them that the sum of their parts is greater as a whole, I had an experience of "being in the right place at the right time," so to speak. In other words, I think I would have missed out not to see, in front of my eyes and illuminated in my soul, the purpose and poignancy of a simple act that can connect two people, heart-to heart, in a way that offers an even greater wholeness than each already had. One can be the most independent person with a rich and full life, which is wonderful, because that person makes the best partner. Self-love and a sense of one's own worthiness are pivotal, and without those, we cannot ever attract a healthy partner and spouse, but the love of another allows us to finally complete the open circle that begins in childhood. Marriage is a ritual that seals the circle. Beyond that, as I saw in these two weddings, when it is agreed upon by two already-committed people, it opens up another level in this spiritual partnership that happens right in the act of getting married. It can only be understood at that moment in which it occurs, and requires trust and a willingness to let go into the other's arms. I think it is worth the risk.