Welcome Spring With a Digestive Cleanse

Spring is a great time to prepare our bodies for the active summer season from the inside out!

Marquette, MI – We Yoopers know the importance of preparing our homes for winter. in the fall and Spring we clean the yards, gardens and home to prepare for Summer. Our bodies which are made of the great 5 elements, also should get cleaned out of accumulated waste and toxins, a kind of house cleaning of our sacred temple. Why not welcome spring with a digestive cleanse?

Therefore, those that are practicing Ayurveda (the science of longevity) do a cleanse in the spring and fall to prevent disease or suffering and stay healthy.  Ideally when we eat food we fully digest the food.  However, depending on the type and situation, sometimes we do not completely digest our food.  Food that is not fully digested can get stuck inside the digestive tract or be absorbed out the digestive tract and move to other parts of the body which can start the disease process.  This leftover product is called Ama in Sanskrit.

Ama can also collect from parts of food we eat that is not real food such as: manufactured substances ie. Preservatives, additives, and dyes.  Another form of toxins in the system can come from medications we take that are all manufactured.

Herbs and spices that are made from the same five elements as our bodies can be digested and processed and can take the AMA and toxins out of the body.  The effects of herbs on the tissues of the body may not happen as fast as western medications but should not cause side effects. Each individual is uniquely formed and some foods are easier to digest than others.

Also, the WAY a person eats can dictate how food is digested.  Our busy and hurried lifestyle is causing some of this indigestion, as well as causing food cravings.  Therefore, knowing where our food sources are coming from, as well as making sure the food is freshly cooked for most of our meals will slow down the accumulation of AMA or toxic, slimy, sludgy accumulation.

Our modern lifestyle which has stress also stresses our digestion, physical body, mind, and emotions.  So, for thousands of years those practicing Ayurveda have done a digestive cleanse to de-stress, cleanup, and reset the tired digestive tract so that the new fresh harvested foods of each season can provide optimal nourishment for the body.

Cleanses have many shapes and forms. Raw Juice, Grapefruit, Isogenix, you name it, and it can be made into a cleanse.  But that doesn’t mean it is appropriate for all body types.

Some people think that doing a cleanse after a big party weekend,  at the new year, or before or after a wedding will take care of the body  then feeling free to go back to eating harmful foods. Why?

Because our hurried lifestyles and convenience foods affect our minds so that we momentarily forget that certain foods and lifestyle habits make us feel miserable. Most of the things we put into our bodies to feel good are so subtle, we do not realize the effects they have on our bodies.   Things like coffee, alcohol, sugar, marijauna, and other recreational drugs become a habit, one that can be very hard to break.

The Ayurveda Type cleanse is done for 4 main reasons.

1. To eliminate excess Dosha or dominant bio-psycho humour of the body, that have been built up from the season, of eating particular foods and lifestyle abuse.
2. To pull the toxins from various body tissues, to be eliminated with our waste products.
3. Allow the body to get needed rest in the digestive system as well as the mind and body.
4. Perform a week or more of self care to nourish and nurture the body, mind, and soul.

The Marquette yoga center has been conducting these cleanses for the past few years, to teach Ayurveda to the public, teach people to learn more about themselves and how to stay balanced from season to season and day by day. There are also do-it-Yourselves cleanse kits to do on your own at any time, when you feel it is time to “get back on track”

There are three main causes for disease:

1. Misusing our sense organs, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, skin. Reading and working on a computer all day then going home and watching TV all night.
2. Doing things we know are wrong, like alcoholic drinking or intellectual blasphemy.
3. Eating and doing activities at the wrong time of the day or night and season. Jogging at 9 pm and then try to go to sleep at 10 pm.

Learning some of this ancient wisdom will seem very simple, logical, and beautiful, but the basic idea is to have your body and Dosha stay balanced day to day.  It may take some effort but as I teach my students, it is well worth it to take time, practice, and energy to stay well and free form disease and discomfort.  Today is the day to put forth effort to do self care and it will make and keep you happy.

The main dish you eat during this cleanse is a simple basmati rice, mung bean lentils, and spices that help with digestion paired with fresh cooked vegetables.  The use soft cooked meals will allow the villi in the intestines to heal and flush out the AMA and toxins.  During this week of easy eating, the intestines rest, the body and with smaller meals this week the body starts to use stored fat. Our fat holds on to toxins, AMA, and mental AMA, know as held emotions, and thoughts.  Therefore the Ayurveda cleanse will cleanse the body, mind and soul! welcome the beauty and renewal season with a cleanse of your choice.

Mary Connor will be leading a guided group cleanse starting on 4/21/14 with first meeting 4/16/14. For more info about this upcoming group cleanse visit her website at: MarquetteYogaCenter.com

by Mary Connor

I started yoga 12 years ago taking a short level one, YogaFit training. This was just to add CEU for my Fitness Leader Certification. I realized at that first class that YOGA was my calling. Being one of the early teachers in the Upper Peninsula and Marquette area, introducing Yoga to the community took hard work and lots of classes at a real discounted rate. I held classes in the Sports Rack LTD. for about 5 years ,eventually running out of room it was time to open up the Marquette Yoga Center. The studio was for myself and other certified teachers to have a nice quiet space to teach . I am about to finish my ERYT-500. Eryt 500 is a high level but realizing yoga is a long journey. I will continue to get education in the many faceted branches of Yoga. My love for teaching yoga as a form of Mind, Body Fitness, and wellness will help, heal, work, strengthen, stretch, balance peoples lives, and just feel good.

Website