Get Detox Ready
It is the time of year when nature awakens, and we embrace a fresh start, getting rid of the old to start anew. In order to proceed we need to work on improving our life style choices. To begin, we start with our physical body and clearing it of toxins accumulated over the winter. We can then begin to deal with our emotional self and begin clearing out our past that may be holding us back. Consider your relationships, your body and toxins accumulated in your living space, take note of where you are and where you want to be to help focus on what steps need to be taken to achieve a healthy life moving forward in the year.
With healthy lifestyle choices, the body is able to detox naturally, and without even having to think about it we are doing it every day. While our bodies are superstars at keeping us healthy, it is not uncommon for many of our clients to be exposed to factors that put us into a toxic overload due to our constant exposure to pesticides and other chemicals in our food and products, pollutants, radiation, alcohol, and many other elements.
Toxins are any substance that can cause a negative effect on our bodies. Toxic overload leads to an array of physical health issues like bad breath, digestive issues, weight issues, headaches, brain fog, low moods, sore muscles and joints and the list goes on.
While recommending the usual lifestyle tips like drinking lots of water, exercising regularly, eating lots of raw fruit and veggies, avoiding foods like dairy, sugar and fried food and minimizing caffeine intake are great ways to keep your body healthy and working efficiently. The best way to start a healthier lifestyle is to begin detoxing your body at the beginning of spring to ensure your liver is functioning at full capacity.
When we look at seasonal attunement, the liver and gallbladder are the organs for the spring season. The liver plays many crucial roles in the body including the filtering of toxins from our blood.
Detoxification can include using key products on your body to be absorbed through your skin. While simultaneously providing a “break” to your liver in terms of the food and drinks we consume so it can work on healing and detoxifying.
At Home Detoxification Practices
People have used baths throughout history for religious, hygiene and health-focused purposes. Superficially, bathing has tremendous effects on our skin, largely due to the temperature reaction that happens depending is the water is hot or cold. Vasodilation and vasoconstriction occur, causing either a lowering or rise in blood flow to the skin, resulting often in erythema, increased oxygen and nutrients to the skin, as well as an increase in the removal of metabolic waste products. Through this, we see the detoxification of the skin is highly linked to hydrotherapy.
Similar effects can be seen deeper in the body, however with opposite water temperatures. Warmer water causes more of the blood supply to the skin, lessening the amount being sourced to the deeper tissues. This can help temporarily sedate the central nervous system and digestive system, as well as slowing the adrenal glands. Also, a commonly sought-after effect of bathing in warmer waters is the relaxation one gets from the muscles. Alternatively, cold water exposure sends a surge of blood to our internal organs and can help boost our bodies metabolism.
Dry brushing is a method using natural densely packed and stiff bristles in a stroking motion to help activate the lymphatic system, aiding toxin removal. As the skin is a major organ of elimination, allowing pores to become unclogged can greatly improve its detoxification abilities in addition to its boost to the lymphatic and immune system. Through this process, we can see a reduction in water retention, increased erythema on the skin, and an overall healthier appearance of the skin’s tissues. Pairing dry brushing with your body scrubs and bath routines is an easy and effective boost to your everyday health.
Essential oils come in many forms, from all over the world, each oil has its own set of properties. While the list of essential oils properties is long, many tie back to the subject at hand, detoxification.
Certain oils are recognized as an alternative to stimulate various organs such as the liver, kidneys, lymphatic system, lungs, sweat glands and bowels to boost the body’s detoxification process.
Key properties you may see used to describe these oils include hepatic, which means to boost liver function, diaphoretic; increases sweating, lymphatic; to boost lymph system, diuretic; boost kidney functions, and laxative; assists large intestine with bowel movements. Adding oils with these properties can greatly boost client success with at-home detoxification.
