Mar 22, 20224 min read

3 Easy Ways to Cleanse for Spring

Spring has sprung! The sun is out longer, the ground is defrosting and the birds are chirping. You are getting the urge to purge and clean your closets, your kitchen and most importantly... yourself. You have heard countless times that juicing and sweating are great "detoxifiers" but that doesn't appeal to you and quite frankly, from a personal and scientific clinical perspective, can wreck havoc on your gut lining depending on your

current health. This will leave you more exhausted, irritable and inflamed- the exact opposite of what you are looking to do.

All hope is not lost! Thinking outside the internet trend box, will open your mind to how you can utilize nature to shed the winter heaviness and hop like a bunny through the spring season.

Did you know cleansing comes in many forms? Cleansing your entire being through BREATHING, MOVING, and RECOVERING are excellent ways to lighten your load and feel refreshed for the upcoming season change.

Breathe

The breath is our expression of the element of air moving through and around us. The atmospheric air is approximately 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, and has a small amounts of other gases. These gaseous molecules move through our lungs and into the blood stream where our red blood cells pick up the oxygen to be transported to other cells for cellular respiration and create the energy molecules of ATP. Yogis have known for thousands of years that the breath does more than this physiological process.

The breath can also:

1. balance your nervous system

2. decrease brain fog

3.increase alertness

4. alter heart rate and blood pressure

In context of cleansing, the breath can scrub our insides so we feel shiny like a waxed car. This specific "skull shining" breath is called kapalabahti pranayama. This is a breathing technique where the emphasis is on the forceful exhale and passive inhale to catapult the breath from the abdomen up into the thoracic cavity then the skull to enhance lymphatic drainage of toxins from these three areas. Do this for 30 seconds to a minute and observe how you feel clear and focused afterwards.

To learn this breath and other practical breathing techniques to cleanse your body, mind and spirit click https://www.caseymauro.com/programs

Move

Ignite your inner fire by moving your body. Moving helps elimination and stagnation so you can go from feeling like a sluggish caterpillar to a fluttering butterfly while keeping those allergies at bay. Rotating your torso like ringing out a towel will increase peristalsis- the smooth muscle contractions allowing for elimination. Relieve constipation and bloating by doing the twist! Put on your favorite tune and swirl those hips and ribs.

If you are more of a hit the weights kind of creature, Russian Twists or cable twists are my favorite to get that spiraling friction while building core stabilization.

Russian Twists: Sit on the ground feet on the floor knees up. Keeping a long straight spine, lean your torso back holding your core tight. Hold your hands together in a blade and tap the ground beside your torso side to side by twisting from your rib cage. Hold a kettlebell, or dumbbell for added resistance. You can also lift your legs for a next level challenge! Aim for 30 reps 3 times.

Recover

Recovery is when we restore balance to the nervous system, clean up free radicals from inflammation, and assimilate nutrients and new knowledge into our body. Nutrition is essential for recovery.

What you put into your body will be reflected back to you in your mood, the mirror, and your immune system.

Nutrition is one of the easiest ways to influence your recovery and transition to spring. You can have complete control of what and how much you put into your body for a desired result. In spring, we want to offset the heavy, cold and damp so we prepare foods to eat that are lighter, dryer and warmer! Think pungent (spicy), astringent and bitter. Look to the Earth as to what foods are in season. This is represented in Mama Gaia's gardens because she is balancing herself out too. Dandelion, sprouts, cauliflower, lean meats, broths and cacao to name a few.

Cacao in its purest form (ceremonial grade) is bitter in taste. Or as some of my clients like to say "it tastes like dirt". Skittles says Taste the Rainbow and I say Taste the Earth.

Sipping a cup of warm cacao transports me to a place of fresh air, soil and sunshine while cleaning the liver, increasing circulation and aiding in peristalsis through its high magnesium content.

Email me at casey@caseymauro.com to set up your Cacao Session to experience all the amazing benefits of this plant medicine and allow you to shed your skin for spring.

Cruciferous vegetables are great too because they literally scrub your intestinal lining to help remove the sludge that has build up over the denser foods from winter. Steam some of your favorite veggies and add spices such as cayenne and clove for a nice invigorating kick!

Here is one of my favorite dressings I add to steamed veggies, or salads during the spring. The cilantro is an excellent in helping the body remove heavy metals, decreases bloat and lowers inflammation. Parsley is rich in Vitamin K, good for bone health and contains antioxidants.

Spring Herb Dressing: