It doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive to detox your life. Did you know you’re exposed to toxins daily in your water, environment and food. A true detox involves the body, mind and spirit since they’re all interconnected. Below are 12 cost-conscious ways to detox your life!
1. Detox your Cleaning Products
Take a look inside your kitchen and bathroom cabinets and even your cosmetics drawer. May I introduce you to the EWG.org (The Environmental Working Group. EWG has set out to improve human health by rating our common household products from best to worse on the toxicity scale. And did you know U.S. law allows manufacturers of cleaning products to use almost any ingredient, including known carcinogens and toxic substances?
How does EWG work?
EWG’s scientists compare ingredients on cleaning product labels and websites with information from government and academic databases on health or environmental problems tied to cleaning products. Then they review and rate over 2,000 common household products.
Tip on Swapping Out Your Products
Try switching out one product at a time. I started with reviewing products that scored and A, so I knew what to put on my list, and the F’s, so I knew what I had to throw out right away.
2. Start the Day with Lemon Water
It’s nearly free, helps with weight loss, digestion and gives you glowing skin? Also, your brain and your body work better and growth and repair don’t happen without hydration. After a good night’s sleep, kick start your body, mind and organs with water. Add some lemon and now you’re functioning like you’re running a marathon not a mile. If you want to know more, check out this in depth article by the amazing Dr. Axe and my post on 10 Lifestyle Strategies to Beat Inflammation.
3. Detox with Yoga
Our bodies naturally detox through our digestive, circulatory and lymphatic systems.
- Digestive System – where we process our food and store the nutrition we need while shedding the waste and toxins.
- Circulatory System – pumps blood from the heart to your body delivering oxygen to cells and removing waste.
- Lymphatic System – lymph fluid transports harmful stuff to lymph nodes where bacteria is removed before returning to the bloodstream. But, the BIG difference is the lymphatic flow has no pump and relies on exercise or massage to operate optimally.
Where does Yoga Come Into Play?
There are three main types of yoga postures that help with detoxification.
- Twists – squeeze and stimulate the abdominal and digestive organs, thereby rinsing toxins from the body.
- Forward bends – actively compress the digestive organs, speeding up elimination. Nice, good for a flat tummy.
- Inversions – when you go upside down fluids from your feet and legs move up toward your heart and face. It’s believed inversions purge the body of impurities by moving it up to the agni (fire) area of our body. Ayurveda promotes the regular practice of inversions on the concept that many of the impurities in our body are held in the lower abdominal area. When you invert the body and raise your feet above your head, gravity moves these impurities towards our agni (fire), located in our digestive tract. By allowing these impurities (which were previously stuck) to move to your agni (your fire source where they’ll burn off), you’ll be able to breathe deeper and be healthier.
4. Non-Toxic Skin-Care
The next step to reducing exposure to harmful toxins is skin care. Let’s explore why non-toxic skin care is important and how you can find the best products?
Why Is Non-Toxic Skin-Care Important?
Our skin is the largest organ on our bodies. In fact, adults carry roughly 8 lbs. or 22 square feet of skin. Our skin is our barrier from the outside world to inside our body and blood. What we put on our skin can go into our body and our bloodstream. Still think it’s not a big of deal?
How Do We Find the Best Skin-Care Products?
In the same way, we examine our food, we should examine our skin care and know the 12 toxic chemicals to avoid. Everything from cosmetics to lotions are important to consider. A great place to find low toxicity products is EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database, where you can look up any product’s toxicity rating. One of my new product finds from using EWG is the Shea Moisture brand which tends to be low on the toxicity scale.
5. Detox your Mind
What’s the first thing you think about when I say “toxic thoughts”? Negativity right? I got this book of 52 Lists for Happiness” by Moorea Seal as a gift that I’ve been loving. One of the lists had me write everything I am grateful for, another was everything that made me feel good about myself. This definitely torched any negative self-talk.
What if you started the day with these three things:
- Practicing Gratitude
- Deep Breathing (through Yoga or Meditation)
- Humor (playing with your dog or a practical joke on your spouse)
6. Use Essential Oils
I’ve been diffusing essential oils in my home for quite a while. Between that and my salt lamps, I’ve got some pretty good “zen” vibes going! Here are my five faves for detoxing:
- Lavender – known for it’s calming and stress relief properties. Great for at home cleaning, sleep and even digestion.
- Lemon – a great antiseptic also citrus oil amps up white blood cells to defend the body against infection. Also aid in bringing clarity to mind and emotions.
- Lemongrass – is great for it’s purifying, anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, Also essential for drainage in the body and flushing out toxins.
- Peppermint – is excellent for the lymph system, sluggish digestion and can kick start weight loss.
- Grapefruit – is a disinfectant, diuretic, reduces depression, stimulates the immune system, helps with weight loss and helps disperse negative energy.
7. Hot Yoga
While there’s little truth to sweating out “toxins”, hot yoga can help you increase your water intake which naturally detoxifies your system, increases blood flow and delivers oxygenated detoxifying blood to your muscles. Also, the intense heat also allows you to burn calories at a higher rate. And finally, you just “feel” like you’ve detoxed when you leave hot yoga!
8. Try Meditation
As mentioned above in #5, meditation calms the mind and relaxes stress responses that are pumping too much cortisol into your body, creating inflammation and toxins. Start with 5 minutes, close your eyes and focus on your breathing. There are some great meditation podcasts and YouTube videos to get you started or check out Kris Carr’s website.
9. Get Some Natural Vitamin D
Sunshine provides vitamin D which is truly “healing hormone” that has been linked to lower inflammation, decreased blood pressure, improvements in muscle tone, better brain function, and even cancer protection. So, if you live in a place where it gets cold, maybe its time you take an annual “warm-weather” vacation!
10. Take a Bath
“Hyperthermia,” or using heat to heal, is a great detox modality. Your bathtub can be your own hyperthermia tool. Take a hot bath and release tension with some added Epson salts and calming essential oils, like lavender. After getting out of the bath, wrap yourself in a blanket for a few minutes for some extra sweating power.
11. Social Connections
Connect with people daily in person. Schedule a lunch date, make a phone call or walk over to talk to someone at work. Even saying hello in a coffee shop or a park can help you with your “happy”. Also, make your interactions personal and consider doing a social media detox. Studies have shown the more time you spend on a social media site, the more likely you are to develop depression, feel unhealthy competition and compare yourself to others.
12. Take Time for Gratitude
Take the time to simply let go. Detox from negative thinking by tuning in to the things, people, and situations in your life that you appreciate the most. Take it one step further and start a gratitude journal.
Are you grateful for what you’ve learned about detoxing and ready to put it to use?!
Live healthy,
