Starting with the birth of the new season, it’s time to look at what your body will naturally crave in order to thrive in the springtime. How about trying a cleanse? Spring is one of the best times to consider changing your daily routine as kapha (water/earth-based) season releases into pitta (fire/water-based) season. The key for supreme health during the spring transition is the slow, gradual, sustainable release of any or all excess accumulation of kapha in the body in the form of weight, mucous, or phlegm by detoxifying the body and mind with an elimination diet.
Step 1: Elimination Diet
Here is an example of an elimination diet, to help you weed out the typical allergy-creating or addictive foods (keep in mind that each day builds upon the other):
*Begin each day with the Morning Master Cleanse Drink or Liver Flush
Day 1 & 2 No caffeine, sugar, alcohol (fruit in small amounts are okay)
Day 3 & 4 No wheat, dairy and processed foods
Day 5 & 6 No animal products
Day 7 & 8 Organic whole foods diet with vegetables, grains, legumes
Day 9-11 Mono-diet of Kitcheri (mung bean and rice dish)
Day 12 & 13 Organic whole foods diet with vegetables, grains, legumes
Day 14: Practice moderation and eat lots of spicy (radish), bitter (arugula), and astringent (grapefruit) foods while decreasing the heavy, oily foods from winter.
By the end of the two weeks, I hope you feel illuminated by your elimination diet!
Step 2: Asana to Promote Liver and Gallbladder Health
When it comes to your asana practice, the inner and outer legs correlate to the meridian lines that feed into the liver (inner legs) and gallbladder (outer legs). It’s a great time to deepen your relationship to poses such as pigeon, eagle, wide leg forward bends, and cow face, just to name a few of the poses that help you connect to and activate the liver and gallbladder meridians.
Watch my Seasonal Vinyasa Spring Flow, Spring Yin practice for more inspiration.
Recipe:
Master Cleanse Morning Drink
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice
1 or 2 tablespoons 100% pure maple syrup
1/10 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 ounces spring water
Drink liberally (from 6-12 glasses/day) throughout the day.
Liver Flush
1-2 Lemons
1 tablespoon cold-pressed olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
4 ounces spring water
Squeeze the lemons and add the rest of the ingredients to the juice. Bled 30 seconds and drink.
Stay tuned for more seasonal vinyasa tips on my website: www.melinameza.com
5 comments:
Thank you for this info Melina. I'm starting mine today.
Thanks Melina for sharing your time and wisdom with us...bless you..Baba.
I'll continue you the thanks! Thanks for the reminder to do some cleansing. And thanks for the info...it's encouraging me to do one of my own!
Lisa
Yoga Thailand
thank you for all of the Spring inpiration! We still have about 10 inches of snow on our deck and I've been sharing your blog link with my students...particularly re the spring cleanse. It's fantastic!
Post a Comment