The Cleanse: The End
"The healing power of transformational nourishment isn't about never eating sugar again. Healing happens when you are willing to engage in the process of awareness with yourself. Healing means being willing to take risks to truly nourish yourself when the easy route would be to disregard or abuse yourself. As most things worthy of our time and attention, nourishment is a process. It's a beginning, not an end." Halé Sofia Schatz
And so the cleanse comes to an end. As you probably noticed, I didn't do much journaling during Phase Three, the final five days of the program. The reasons for this are varied: lack of enthusiasm, social commitments, frustration for "falling off the wagon" a few times, etc. However, now that this experience comes to its official close, I can look back at it and feel good about what I've done, despite the occasional lapses in the second half.
It's been a long time since I've undertaken something as regimented as this program, and that fact that I made it 9 days following it to the letter feels good. Not only from a discipline standpoint, but also knowing that I gave my body a full nine days worth of rest and ease of digestion. Throughout the course of the program, I made really good choices in what I ate, and I didn't let my frustration with my mental state knock me off course completely.
Naturally, in hindsight I can see plenty of ways that I could have supported myself better during the cleanse. I think one of the key recommendations that I didn't follow was coming to clarity about my intent for undertaking the program, and bringing that intent into focus on a daily basis. I did lose sight as to why I was doing it. When people would ask me why I was undertaking this, I'd often say it was to release the toxins built up in my body. And while that's true, it wasn't a statement that I held my sights to daily, and frequently I would focus on other motivators when the going got rough. More times than not, those other motivators really weren't enough to put me back on the track of taking care of myself in a holistic way.
One of the biggest lessons for me is the simple awareness that I haven't practiced self-nourishment enough to make it a habit. Even during the cleanse, when nourishment was supposed to be catamount to my daily existencee, I often didn't engage in the activitiess I had set out for myself to support my self-care: walking, creative inspiration, long baths, journaling, etc.
I believe that it will be easier for me to make the time to shop for and prepare more nourishing meals for myself going forward. While I transition out of the cleanse and back into less-structured eating, I think the real challenge at hand will be to find simple ways, every day, for me to support myself in nourishing my body, mind and spirit. Equally important will be recognizing, in each moment, that which does not support me in this endeavor, and choosing wisely. Mostly, I wish for myself oceans of patience. After all, this is a beginning, not an end.
And so the cleanse comes to an end. As you probably noticed, I didn't do much journaling during Phase Three, the final five days of the program. The reasons for this are varied: lack of enthusiasm, social commitments, frustration for "falling off the wagon" a few times, etc. However, now that this experience comes to its official close, I can look back at it and feel good about what I've done, despite the occasional lapses in the second half.
It's been a long time since I've undertaken something as regimented as this program, and that fact that I made it 9 days following it to the letter feels good. Not only from a discipline standpoint, but also knowing that I gave my body a full nine days worth of rest and ease of digestion. Throughout the course of the program, I made really good choices in what I ate, and I didn't let my frustration with my mental state knock me off course completely.
Naturally, in hindsight I can see plenty of ways that I could have supported myself better during the cleanse. I think one of the key recommendations that I didn't follow was coming to clarity about my intent for undertaking the program, and bringing that intent into focus on a daily basis. I did lose sight as to why I was doing it. When people would ask me why I was undertaking this, I'd often say it was to release the toxins built up in my body. And while that's true, it wasn't a statement that I held my sights to daily, and frequently I would focus on other motivators when the going got rough. More times than not, those other motivators really weren't enough to put me back on the track of taking care of myself in a holistic way.
One of the biggest lessons for me is the simple awareness that I haven't practiced self-nourishment enough to make it a habit. Even during the cleanse, when nourishment was supposed to be catamount to my daily existencee, I often didn't engage in the activitiess I had set out for myself to support my self-care: walking, creative inspiration, long baths, journaling, etc.
I believe that it will be easier for me to make the time to shop for and prepare more nourishing meals for myself going forward. While I transition out of the cleanse and back into less-structured eating, I think the real challenge at hand will be to find simple ways, every day, for me to support myself in nourishing my body, mind and spirit. Equally important will be recognizing, in each moment, that which does not support me in this endeavor, and choosing wisely. Mostly, I wish for myself oceans of patience. After all, this is a beginning, not an end.
posted by Rhoda Harley at Monday, June 13, 2005
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