Detox for Body, Mind, and Spirit

Just as you open the windows to air out your house for Autumn, it's equally essential to reset your body, mind, and spirit.

Now is the time to release stale energy that may hold you back. I recommend a detox practice every Spring and Autumn because we benefit from letting go of slow energy at the end of winter and need to slow down to restore ourselves at the end of summer.

Below are five practices for detoxification in mind, body, voice, and spirit.

1) Move

Movement helps your blood flow to flush out your lymphatic system to eradicate toxins. Get your heart rate up and strengthen your heart and lungs with fresh air, preferably outdoors. Do a vinyasa yoga practice to elevate your heart rate and explore movements that mobilize your joint systems. You will clear out your body, improve your digestion and sleep, and boost your mood from the endorphin rushes if you get your heart rate up for at least 20 minutes a day.

2) Twist

Twists in your yoga practice wring out your internal organs to release stale blood and allow them to bring in fresh blood and energy. Here's a general guideline for twists: Inhale, lengthen your spine; Exhale, and engage in the twist. You'll compress your internal organs while breathing optimally and help them to open and expand as you release the twist. Think of it as wringing out your organs and spine as you would a dishrag filled with old water. Twist in both directions and let your organs receive the good stuff. Don’t do this practice after eating!

3) Catch a buzz

You can release patterns of speaking without awareness and become present with what you say and how you say it. Feel the vibrations of your voice while you speak to connect your mind to what you are saying and how you say it. This will ground and focus you in your everyday communication. Try this: Hum on an M and feel a vibration on the lips. Hum on an N and feel a vibration in the area just behind the upper front teeth. Now play with a Y and a long E vowel ("Yee") and explore pulsing that sound to feel vocal vibration on the same area where you felt the vibration of the N. This is the Y Buzz, a therapeutic practice for your voice and your mind. The Y Buzz is a meditative practice that focuses the mind the same way a seated meditation practice would because of how it releases theta waves in the brain. Moreover, the Y Buzz strengthens the voice safely, resulting in a warm, healthy speaking voice. In a larger sense, you connect with your Voice because you feel your voice--YOU-- as you communicate.

4) Meditate

Meditation is proven to lower inflammation in the body, calm the mind, lower blood pressure, and cultivate loving-kindness in your heart/mind. You can meditate for as short as 4 minutes a day (while you steep your tea) and reap benefits. All you have to do to meditate is be still, relax, be kind to yourself, and notice your breathing. Try this: Sit in a chair with your feet touching the ground or on yoga blocks, relax your face and shoulders, and breathe easily and with awareness of the fact you are breathing. Try breathing in a mantra: Inhale, "Be"; Exhale, "Kind" and extend this thought to yourself. Feel your heart soften, your mind slowing down, and your body relaxing. "Be Kind," "Be Kind," "Be Kind..." You will soften your mind, relax your "fight or flight" response, and be more receptive to what's around you.

5) Journal

Journaling helps release your fears and anxieties, find gratitude for the good things in your life, and process a situation you are going through. Writing one page a day can provide an outlet to express yourself and clear your mind of emotional clutter. Try this: Write three things you are thankful for from the day and cultivate a warmer, kinder response to how your day unfolded. Next, write out what has you worried and go back to read it an hour later-- is it still as large and looming as it felt when you wrote it? Or can you gain perspective from it and perhaps find a solution? A daily journaling practice will give you a safe place to clear your head, get real with yourself with loving-kindness, and process the ups and downs of life with balance.