This week I am on an Ayurvedic cleanse, which consists of many practices and does not involve fasting. In fact, the diet is very bland yet very filling. Why would I subject myself to this for 14 days (including pre- and post-cleanse rituals)? I’ll tell you in a minute, but first…
My Ayurvedic Cleanse
Upon waking in the morning, rinse the eyes in cold water, scrape the tongue 7 times with a copper tongue scraper, and administer a couple of drops of nasal oil into each nostril.
Before eating or drinking anything else, drink an increasing dosage of ghee. After drinking the ghee, wait 30 minutes prior to consuming any other food or beverage.
The first food/beverage after that half-hour is warm water with lemon, to which I add some sea salt. I then perform dry brushing and abhyanga (a form of self-massage), and then I meditate.
A few hours later, the first food, preceded by herbs, is congee.
Lunch and dinner consist of a mono-diet of kitchari.
Reasons to Cleanse – Individualized Nutrition Goals
So, why would I do this? I’m experiencing a confluence of issues that all seem potent and worth investigating. Becoming conscious of my everyday routine will give me the framework within which I could create a higher degree of awareness around what I want to cleanse.
Addressing the question of ‘what I really want’ every 3-6 months is key because intentions can change, and if I stay with the old old, then I will not be growing.
The truth about nutrition, like lifestyle and fitness, is that it has to be individualized to your needs and wellness goals.
Free Consultation to Assess Your Nutrition
To help guide you, the coaches at Coaching by G offer a free 20-minute consultation to assess your nutrition. It is very unlikely that we will ask you to eat kitchari and ghee every day, but we will look at what you already enjoy eating and see where we can optimize your nutrition.
What happens in a free consultation to assess your nutrition? Since the first step toward changing anything is awareness, we ask you to keep a food log for three days (including at least one weekend day) that we can then review together.
Next, we ask some questions about your sleep, current health practices and routines, digestion, aches and pains, and how you feel eating the foods in your log.
The Mental Part of Nutrition
Food is meant to nourish our bodies–and minds. Eating is not just about fueling you, it is also a form of meditation. When you practice gratitude for the food you are eating to nourish yourself, you might become more relaxed when you eat. This will also help you to become more conscious of what you are actually using to create the very cells of your body.
How does gratitude work its way into good nutrition? Gratitude for what you are about to consume can be a spiritual practice. Imagine a holiday food you love. Chances are you know that it is prepared with love by someone who loves you, or perhaps you are the chef. It is easy to be grateful for food that is prepared with love.
‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Foods are Not One-Size-Fits-All
One piece of advice we give in our free nutrition assessment consultation is that shopping for (or growing) and preparing your own organic food is a great ritual that is also the healthiest way to live. At Coaching by G, we don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition.
I often hear clients say, “But I thought (food x,y, or z) is good for you!” In fact, food is not inherently good or bad. Food can become good for you or bad for you only after it enters your system. For example, my niece, Alice, has a severe allergy to nuts. So, hazelnuts might be great for you, but Alice will actually die if she eats them. So, nuts aren’t “healthy” or “not healthy.” They are just food.
I wrote a blog post about what not to eat. But really you already know what to avoid: fast food, sugary foods, trans fats, artificial colors and flavors, any artificial sweeteners, soda, diet soda, etc.
Rhythm and Routine are Part of Assessing Your Nutrition
Another piece of advice the coaches at Coaching by G always give is to develop rhythms and routines. A consistent routine supports the nervous system and gives it a chance to relax. Your mind and body can rest because there is a known and felt rhythm. When the nervous system is relaxed, digestion improves, our mind is clear, and we feel calm and peaceful. When the nervous system is stressed, digestion is inhibited as blood is shunted toward the extremities in a flight or fight response.
This concept may seem preposterous to some people, but if you’ve ever had a baby or a puppy you know that interrupting their eating or sleeping schedule has dramatic effects. This is how your nervous system responds to stress as well. Unfortunately, people are well-practiced at suppressing these reactions. This is why awareness is key.
Understanding how you create your own stress is a great place to start in terms of getting healthier. Most people need to rest far more than they let themselves (present company included). Instead, they power through with the attitude that whoever does the most wins.
A Coach Can Lead You to Your Dreams
The truth about nutrition, like lifestyle and like fitness, is it just has to be individualized. First and foremost, gaining clarity of what you really want is the ultimate guide. If you don’t really know what you want, a coach can’t guide you there. You have to dig deep and get vulnerable with the process—it is not easy when you start out doing anything new, but when you know what you want, it is easy to align with it.
Having a coach makes it all so much easier. After your free consultation to assess nutrition, it is crucial to find the right coach to help you traverse the process. Having a trusted advisor along on your journey is always beneficial. The right coach will guide you toward your dreams.
“To persevere on our busy course doesn’t usually require courage. It takes an overly developed sense of responsibility—or a tendency to hope that everything will get better even if we don’t do anything differently. What really takes courage is to stop—stop running, stop pushing, stop trying to please everyone, stop outspending our reserves. Just stop. Stop and begin to live the life we really want to be living.
When we do, I have found that our worlds do not come crashing down. On the contrary, if we take little steps to slow our pace and have more time, we find life becomes more enjoyable, even easier; and we begin to gain the confidence to slow things down further. The downward cycle becomes an upward spiral that gains momentum and delivers us into a life saturated with more joy than stress, more meaning than emptiness, and more health than disorder.”
~Dr. Claudia Welch
At Coaching by G, we offer a free 20-minute consultation for any service our clients are seeking. Our goal is to learn about each potential client and see if they are a good fit with one of our coaches. At Coaching by G, we offer coaching services for people who are interested in transforming their lives through better fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle. We offer remote and onsite coaching and currently, we have clients based all around the U.S. and Mexico.