This has been my morning tonic for the last 10 days. Almond milk, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, clove and varying amounts of ghee. It took me a moment to wrap my head around drinking clarified butter but I've got it down now.
So why clarified butter in my morning tonic? Isn't butter bad for you?
Ghee nourishes the body and feeds the tissues on every level. It enhances digestion and absorption. It strengthens the immune system and nervous system while decreasing heat, acidity and inflammation in the body. It lubricates the joints, making them less prone to injury and damage. Increases sexual vitality. Benefits skin and eyes (I have definitely noticed this in myself!).
My early cleansing days:
The first cleanse I ever did was a week long food based cleanse with a group. I was an angry cleanser. When I say angry I mean lots of profanity, lots of tears and a headache that didn't stop. I was so upset that I could not eat meat and dairy. So upset. I felt like the cleanse was being done to me despite knowing that I'd willingly decided to be a part of it all. I credit that cleanse with cracking my outer shell and allowing the teensy tiniest bit of light in. Not only did I survive the week, I left it with a few keepers and changed the way I looked at food. Since that time I've found cleanses to be hugely illuminating, life changing and life affirming for me.
I lead cleanses now and help soothe those same angry feelings in others that raged inside of me in those early days. It's one of the true joys in my work. Seeing someone start a cleanse (or detox) skeptical, apprehensive and sometimes in a mood and then transform as the week progresses feels like riding a roller coaster, truly exhilarating. I love being a part of positive transformation. LOVE it.
So why this cleanse?
I am always conducting food experiments on myself to see what feels best in my body and practice something before I recommend it. This cleanse has been a long time coming. Last year I did a raw food cleanse and learned so much about my digestion. I believe that our body is intimately linked together and always speaking to us. It's that old "the knee bone is connected to the thigh bone" but deeper, more subtle and profoundly energetic.
Many of you know my breathing story. Here's the super short version. Started experiencing trouble breathing in 2004. Devastatingly long process to get proper diagnosis which eventually happened. The rare condition is called: Idiopathic Subglottic Stenosis (which translates to mystery scar tissue growing in the trachea). About 500 ish people, mostly women have it worldwide. Not 50,o00 or 500,000 just 500. Wild, right! Had a big surgery to remove the scar tissue in 2008. Experienced 4 years of easy breathing post surgery. The last 2 years I've been experiencing labored breathing again. And this is my big WHY.
We all have a big WHY. It's that thing that keeps us focused in on what we want. I want whole health. I want spontaneous healing. I believe with all my heart that I can have both. And beyond that I know it already is and I am taking the steps to remember and live into it. I AM whole health. I see my body giving me cues as to what's going in inside and I'm responding with as much love and diligence as humanly possibly.
Why now?
My body said it was time and Cliff is away so it's focused me time. Win/ Win.
What exactly am I doing?
I asked my friend Anne to create a cleanse for me. Anne is an Ayurvedic Practitioner, dear friend + the Campaign Manager for the Campaign For Confidence (doesn’t reading Campaign Manager just make you smile)! You can interact with her daily at the Campaign for Confidence Facebook page!
Basically I'm eating 3 meals per day. No snacks. No nighttime eating. No drinking alcohol. I'm making a lot of kitchari. Kitchari is an Indian one pot meal with rice, mung beans, spices and veggies. I'm also eating mung bean soup with veggies. I drinking copious amounts of ginger tea. I'm meditating daily for 40 minutes or more. I'm practicing visualization, writing, sitting in the sauna, scraping my tongue, oil-pulling, oiling my skin, moving my body and drum roll please... today I will begin sesame oil enemas. If it seems like a lot that's because it is. I'm all in. I'm intimately connected to my WHY.
How long is the cleanse?
I am not sure when it ends. My body will tell us. Anne and I check in, I share what's happening and she lovingly curates my next move. This cleanse has been deeply personal for me. Lots of emotion coming up and going out. Over the course of this experiment so far I've felt fiercely private, deep sadness, elation, pure arousal of the senses, joy, lethargy + energy to boot. I wasn't sure if I'd share it at all but I am trying to practice bravery and tell more of my story.
My word this year is ease and when I chose it I could see myself breathing with ease. When I sat down to "spend time in dreaming and giggling mode" (a quote from my sister, Kayla) to plan this year I saw myself without restriction of breathing or all the other old ways of being that hold me back. I saw myself running and playing with a huge smile, laughing and running around the house and the world with Cliff. And then my birthday arrived and I felt truly comfy in my skin. I recognized the culmination of so many years of good work. I knew it was time for the next chapter and here we are.
There are great Hippocrates quotes that read, "Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food." and "Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease." I believe them. I feel them in my bones and moving through space and time.
If you're interested in doing a loving food experiment for your body, Veg Pledge is beginning on February 24th. It's 5 days of plant strong eating and you can read all about it here.
To the journey and all we discover along the way, Lacy
p.s. Anne and and I will be hosting a cleanse together similar to the one I am doing now in April. Sign up here if you're interested in receiving more information when we roll out the details.
