By Michele Tenney
Here’s to Your Health
Michele Tenney
Most of us know detoxing the body can be beneficial. For example, when you have a cold or are feeling under the weather hitting the sauna is a good way to release toxins in your body.
I am a huge believer in wet sock therapy, although I will fully admit it took me a few years to bite the bullet and try it because it sounds awful and cold. The truth is it creates circulation and some say it draws out toxins in your body through your feet.
Detoxing is important. However, the best way to detoxify your body is with food. Lemons detox your liver, foods with fiber help detox the colon and ginger helps detox your kidneys while also serving as an anti-inflammatory.
Toxins are in our beauty and hygiene products, deodorants, shampoos, laundry detergent and household cleaning products. Your skin is the largest organ of your body. What you put on it you may as well consider to be lathered on your stomach, liver and heart.
Some deodorants have aluminum, which has been linked to Alzheimer’s and dementia. Some shampoos have sulfites and parabens which some studies show can contribute to certain forms of breast cancer.
I am not telling you these things to scare you. Knowledge is power. There are plenty of healthier, nontoxic options out there you can purchase.
What’s under your kitchen sink is another area you can begin to purge. Air fresheners, harmful-smelling cleaning solutions and the like can be replaced by one amazing and very inexpensive disinfectant – vinegar. Yes, vinegar. It doesn’t leave an odor behind. If you’re not a vinegar fan, there are plant-based, planet-friendly choices.
Now let’s talk a little about detoxing your soul. How do you start your day? Hit the snooze a couple times, jump out of bed, get a sip of coffee and rush out the door? Go to the nearest drive-through for a large coffee and maybe breakfast? Get stuck in traffic and arrive to work more tired that when you went to bed?
Why not try to be intentional about getting up 10 to 15 minutes earlier, set apart some quiet meditation or prayer time and set the course of your day with peace and mindfulness.
Maybe you think about the areas in your life where you can slow yourself down and say no to something to make sure that time is reserved for you and only you. How about detoxing the people who simply aren’t adding to or enriching your life? Set some boundaries and spend more time with those people who make you smile. Read a good book or take a stroll on the beach at sunset.
You are worth every bit of effort you put into yourself by making small changes over and over that will eventually become a lifestyle. As you can see, eating healthy is not enough to detox. There is an art to detoxing. You can do this. I believe in you. Here’s to your health.