Coming clean

Day 3- I woke up feeling a bit weak, but immediately after my morning of water, followed by fruit, and then brown rice with flax oil I felt amazing! Wow! Could this be it? Am I over the hump? Hmmm.... not so fast. I had to drive to Maryland for a moms group presentation. For those of you who do not live in the DC metro area, the traffic here is some of the worst in the country. I really try to avoid the car at all possible costs! An accident here, road work there- and my 1 hour trip turned into two with a very hungry 8 month old in the back and an antsy 3 year old. Dead stop traffic- I was going to be late. Bliss over. Headache came back, was hungry and would have killed for a warm mug of coffee.

Made it to the group. Drank my vegetable water w/ sea kelp while everyone else had juice, donuts and McDonald's. My presentation went well. Continued to eat according to my plan through lunch- eyeing the Pb&j my son did not finish and the avocado and turkey sandwiches that my friend had made. I sat and thoroughly chewed my spinach and one half of a sweet potato.

Way home- another traffic jam. I cracked- I had a half of a Lara bar (raw fruit and nut bar). I began to feel better for a bit, but was so tired. It was hard to concentrate on driving. I had to teach that evening and was not sure how I could remain focused. Got home- 1/2 cup of coffee! Headache gone, continued with my vegetables for dinner.

Woke up today- should I abandon it? NO! I am back with 1 cup of "1/2 caf " coffee in the a.m. Continuing with the food aspect. Even a few days has given me a chance to slow down and look at how often I pick at food all day long, never giving the body a rest from digestion. By keeping my meals simple, and sticking to only eating at meal times I am allowing my body to use its energy in other places. In a few days I will be back to eating meals with my family again but for now I will continue "my cleanse" - my way!

Cleansing

After Dakota was born, and the first 3 months or so of baby bliss wore off (yes, I had bliss... with Jasper I had a very different first 3 months, but that is another story) I found myself slipping back to my old vices to get through the days - a 1/2 cup of coffee in the a.m., and one at 3 or 4 in the afternoon just to have the energy to get dinner together (I have never in my life had coffee at this hour), a glass of wine (or two) I felt I deserved in the evening, and an hour or so of television to "relax" every night before bed. This coupled with the inability to lose the baby weight, my feelings of "aghhhh!!!!" every morning when my kids woke up at 5 or 5:30 a.m to start the day, and a general feeling of losing control of my life lead me to believe this was the perfect time for a cleanse!

Marcela decided to get a group together to do a cleanse. There are many ways to cleanse, and I picked the Elson Haas "Detox Diet". This cleanse does entail some eating, which was important to me as I am still nursing and want to ensure that I keep up my milk supply. It consists of fruit in the a.m., followed by brown rice, and steamed vegetables for lunch and dinner. I am adding spirulina (at Marcela's recommendation) and some beans for protein. Yesterday was the first day, and for the most part it was good. I started to get a headache around 4 which lasted until I went to bed at an awesome 8:30- no television!

Today is day two- I woke up a little weak. I am sitting writing on this rainy day, desperately wanting a warm mug of coffee as I work while my baby sleeps. I am hungry and a little foggy. Today is going to be tough.

Simple Meditation

It is fascinating to me that the linguistic root of the word  meditation comes from the same place as medicine. Both arise from a Sanskrit root that also has given us the English word measure.  While it's impossible to pin down the exact meaning of the ancient Sanskrit root, it seams to have something to do with the idea of "thoughtful action to establish order". Meditation and medicine are both different expressions of that in different realms.

The simplest way to define meditation is that meditation is concentration directed to a specific object or focus.  That focus of meditation could be anything - a thought, a sound, a person, a body sensation, a visual image, etc - but there is purpose in the selection of the object of meditation so to achieve a goal.

A nice way to start a meditation practice is to allow concentration on a sound or voice to lead you to the object or focus of the meditation.  Guided meditations or visualizations are great examples of that.  All you need is a few moments and a quiet space.  You can do it alone or with a partner.  A nourishing warm bath could be the perfect place to give it a try.

We have put together a 7 min. guided meditation that you can use anytime.  Once you know where you're going with it you won't need the recording anymore. You'll know the way on your own. Click here to download the guided meditation.

Try to practice once a day to start with.  Any quite moment you can find during your crazy busy day as a mom.  And please let us know how having a few moments of focusing deeply on yourself has affected your life.

One lucky reader will get a gift from us this mother's day.  Just post your comments to win.  We will pick one comment by May 17th.  

We look forward to hearing from you. And Happy Mother's Day!