I have just completed a 4 day Juice Cleanse with Glow Juicery in Edmonton Alberta. The juice cleanse can be viewed as a reset, I personally find a reset beneficial every season. I have not done a good cleaning in 2 years as i have been pregnant and nursing, so as my son begins to wean and the seasons begin to change i felt an urge to “reset” as a way to reconnect and get back to my “self”

I speak about detoxification ALOT in my yoga classes, workshops and trainings,but to me detoxification is more than just a physical process of elimination in the body. Detoxification is a process whereby we create space; space is the birth place of possibility.

Let me explain,

With the birth of my third child and my other children growing and needing more room, I decided it was time to finish my basement. As I stared into the open room cluttered with gym equipment, toys, 2 inconveniently located windows, 2 post thingys, awkward beam and duct placement, I found myself instantly challenged, stressed and annoyed. My mind raced back and forth between, questioning my decision to grow my business out of my home in the first place “what were you thinking” “this is too hard” “what is wrong with status quo” to complaining about the lack of creativity from the builder, to wanting to buy a new bigger better house and therefore requiring more finances to pay for said house, and then my favorite thought also chimed in “fuck it” looking for the easy way out.Then it hit me, I was reacting in the same way I do every time I am challenged, whether I am on my yoga mat, working out, or dealing with the minor challenges of day to day life. The shit storm in my head brewing like a tornado ready to scoop me up out of the moment and into chaos and drama of my mind. However this time I won the war, I was able to step back, take a breath and instead of letting my mind pull me around, claiming me its victim as it so often does, I brought my attention back. I crawled into the eye of the storm; The teeny tiny space between my habitual reactive and irrational thoughts that are an accumulation of every conscious and unconscious experience I have ever had. In this space I was able to watch all of these thoughts in all their glory and as I became a witness to them, I was able to detach from them and in that way I was no longer their hostage. I was able to acknowledge and evaluate each thought, as sometimes there may be something worth listening to. The ability to take a breath instantly brought me back into the present moment and allowed me to make an intelligent decision. I decided to remove everything in the room, clearing out all of the clutter in order to see the potential in the space. I literally had to take everything out of the room in order to see the possibilities. Once I could see the possibilities I drew them on the ground, walked through the rooms and tried on each design. I am happy to say I have come up with a very functional design that will work for my family.

Setting goals and designing your life is the same. Clear your mind, create space for new possibilities, because if you are trapped in your fixed belief systems and dogma based on your history; you are literally a walking autobiography of everything that has ever happened to you, not to mention the program that has been shoved down your throat via the media, politics, religion and education system, there is no room for possibility, you become limited in your vision. Once you have created your vision, remain focused. The minute you lose focus, you become unconscious and the habitual ways of reacting will take you hostage especially in the uncomfortable and challenging situations in life.

In addition to physical detoxification via juicing, oil pulling, yoga, colonics, neti pots, sweating etc, meditation is crucial for purging the toxins from our consciousness.  When I sit in meditation I can become aware of all of my stories (mind created soap operas or perceptions tainted by my history, judgments, labels and ego) As I observe them I can detach from them, becoming a witness and then I notice just how silly they actually are. When we pay attention to something, whether it is a thought or a sensation it changes. Life changes when we pay attention. In difficult conversations i can also observe where my mind goes and i can also let go of my attachments in the moment that are preventing me from having authentic and meaningful connection The mental purge is pulling the weeds  in order to create space for planting new seeds of possibility. If you are an avid gardener like myself you know that weeds have strong roots and that this is an ongoing process.

My current philosophy on “correct alignment” in the yoga postures also has to do with creating space. In the body compression (the natural effect of gravity on the body) reduces the space in our bodies, especially the vertebral column and abdomen. With increased compression comes increased pressure, pressure by definition is “stress” Through repetitive movements, habit patterns, injuries etc we also create imbalanced joint spaces, which is also a form of  compression, or reduced space. With loss of space in our joints we get restricted rage, which means less movement, which causes tighter muscles and fascia, which eventually causes a hardening of the entire body, including your internal organs. (watch the FUZZ speech on YouTube will Gil Headly)  It makes sense then in all of the postures to work to create space in the body, which will essentially look completely different from one person to the next. (i will leave it at that, as this could be a whole different blog post all together)  In Buddhism the word Dukha (suffering or “dis” ease) literally means “bad” space. In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali defines each asana (posture) as needing to have 2 qualities-Sukha or “good” space, is one of those qualities. Disease then is a result of “bad” space in the body

The process of detoxification or creating space can also be viewed as de cluttering. Getting rid of what no longer serves us. What am I unnecessarily holding onto, can i be honest about it? can i let it go?

Get out of your own way and anything is possible,

If you are interested in a juice cleanse check out Glow Juicery and the once you have created space for possibility try one of my 12 week Empowered Lifestyle programs to detoxify, create and manifest in all areas of you life.

Namaste,

Michele Theoret