The ultimate life-changing detox

Over the next five issues, energy healer Alla Svirinskaya will take your body and soul on a cleansing journey of holistic rejuvenation

One of life's certainties is that Christmas comes but once a year. A more recent regular on the calendar, though, is the Great January Detox. Imbued with an evangelical zeal to purge our bodies after weeks of overindulgences, many of us rush into weeks of harsh deprivation, swiftly followed by months of guilt and mental self-flagellation when we fail. But failure, you'll be glad to know, is not your fault. Oh no.

The reason we give up is not because we are weak-willed. It is because January is, to put it simply, not the best time of the year to cope with such a big change. The best time for transforming your mind and body is spring. According to Alla Svirinskaya, it's then that we're primed to let go of old thought patterns and emotions. And letting go is what we need to do before we can change.

So here, in the first of five detox workshops, Alla, who trained as a medical doctor before practising as an energy healer, tells is how to prepare the mind and body for the challenge ahead. She says: 'As a fifth-generation healer, I've inherited techniques from my family that I usually only share with my patients, so I'm excited to be working with Spirit & Destiny readers. Over the next five months, we will be relieving our bodies of toxic waste, letting go of emotional burdens and mastering methods to protect ourselves from people who leave us feeling drained, or social vampires, as I like to call them!

'So often, we expect doctors or healers to fix our ailments without any effort on our part, but if we don't commit ourselves to following sound advice, healing just won't work. Finding a lasting sense of well-being requires us to make deep changes in our habits and lifestyles.

'It's so easy to mistakenly take a superficial approach towards health and waste a real opportunity for bringing about lasting change and healing. That's why I consider it my duty as a healer to bring you my practical, step-by step plan, which you can use to trigger a powerful and deep rejuvenation process.

'We won't just concentrate on detoxing our bodies; we will also be cleansing our emotions. Many of us tend to get stuck in the past and lose the ability to look forward. We live with an illusion that one day in the future things will magically change for the better. So each month we'll be using different energy exercises and meditations that help us to release toxic emotions.

'The best advice I can give you is: don't be tempted to miss anything out. This is a complete programme, one that won't work if you just pick and choose the bits you like the look of.'

PART 1

The work this month is primarily designed to loosen toxins and mucus from your system. It's also a good time to address fears of failure or your lack of faith in your ability to manage this transformation. Using my techniques, you can address any fears of change and help your body open the floodgates for the elimination of toxins. Congratulations on your first step towards your transformation! I will stay with you all the way.

Clear out

It is impossible to look after your internal energy when everything around you is stagnant and toxic. If your home still holds old energy from previous owners, past arguments or negative events in your life, this could be stopping you from leaving behind current behaviour patterns.

Hoarding the past prevents you from living in the present, and most clutter in the home is from the past. Be brutal: get rid of unwanted and unused things. Remind yourself that you're making room for the new. Once you've de-cluttered objects from the past, tidy up things lying around in the present.

Special brew

Next, give your home a good clean. Vacuum your floors and, if possible, wash them using 1/4 tsp ammonia (never mix with bleach and wear a mask and gloves) and 1 tbsp sea salt stirred into a bucket of water. Or use a drop of juniper, sandalwood, or peppermint oil instead of the ammonia. Open windows to release negativity and clean all surfaces in a clockwise direction to stimulate positive energy. Now you can stabilise, or keep, the pure energy in your home. Fill an atomiser with spring water and a few drops of lavender oil and spray around. Then take a shower, sloughing off any negative energy with sea salt or a shower mitt.

3 Clean sweep

Brushing the skin for about five minutes a day stimulates the expulsion of toxic matter clogging the lymphatic system and lymph nodes. Use a natural bristle brush on dry skin before a shower or bath. Make long, sweeping movements towards your heart. Avoid sensitive areas and broken skin.

First brush the sole of one foot, up the front and back of the leg, and over your buttocks. Repeat on the other leg. Do the same on your arms, from your palms towards your armpits. Brush your shoulders, back, chest, neck and stomach in a clockwise, circular motion, then bathe or shower. Don't forget to wash your skin brush in warm, soapy water after use.

Do this for five minutes every day. You can use a towel instead of a brush, but make short, sharp movements instead. Wet your towel slightly before using on dry skin, or use a dry towel on wet skin after a bath or shower. Take an aromatherapy bath every other day for the first week of the detox. Add 5-10 drops of either frankincense or cedarwood under the running water, then relax and soak for 20 minutes.

WHEN SHOULDN'T I DETOX

Always check with your doctor before detoxing. If you're on medication or have any health issues, you may still be able to detox under medical supervision.

You shouldn't detox if you have diabetes, you are pregnant or breastfeeding, if you're suffering from extreme fatigue, a cold, flu or acute illness or are having a flare-up of a chronic condition.

Even if you are healthy, any detox programme will usually throw up some side effects. Be reassured this is just your body reacting to the programme. Some common reactions include: headaches (usually due to caffeine withdrawal), spots and rashes, a shift in bowel movements, tiredness and fatigue, emotional shifts and mood changes.

Sound bites

Alter your diet so as not to add toxic stress to your body. Eat organic and try to get most of your protein from grains, nuts, seeds and legumes (peas, beans and pulses). Eat deep-water fish, such as halibut and monkfish, which tend to be less toxic, and ensure there's always plenty of raw vegetables and fruit in your diet. Get fibre from sprouted legumes, such as alfalfa and mung beans, as well as cabbage, carrots and millet. Drink water (if bottled, from glass). Stick to oils that have been cold-pressed for dressings and cooking. Avoid E numbers, dairy, red meat, poultry, eggs and soya, which is mucus-forming. Use oat or rice milk as a dairy substitute. Reduce your salt intake. Replace alcohol, tea and coffee with herbal teas and avoid eating two to three hours before bed.

(Alfalfa sprouts are rich in fibre)

Meditations

Deep-cleanse emotional blocks

Visualise a red ball on the floor in the corner of the room. Imagine it rolling to and fro, lifting off the floor and moving clockwise round the perimeter of the room. On every lap, it rises a little to continue at a higher level. When the ball finally reaches ceiling height, imagine a window opening. As the ball finishes its final circuit, watch it move to the window and let it float away. Do this for 5-10 minutes every day for a week.

Calming meditation

This frees you from anxiety and stops you being afraid of the future, allowing you to create space for the new. Practise it every day for a week in a well-aired room.

Wet a towel thoroughly in a bowl of water. Sit down on a straight-backed chair with your legs astride and feet shoulder-width apart. Place the bowl between your feet on the floor. Your back should be softly rounded but your stomach pulled in, so you're not slouching.
Hold the towel with both hands about 10cm apart in front of you. Imagine the towel is a deep pure blue. This is the colour of reason, conservatism and procrastination.
Concentrate on the space between your wrists. Take a deep breath in through your nose and hold it in for a few seconds. Then relax, exhale and wring out the towel into the bowl. Imagine you're wringing out every bit of the blue colour from the towel, and in doing so, releasing your conservatism and allowing a sense of daring to flourish.
Take another deep breath, hold, exhale and wring yet more reserved, uptight blue from the towel.
Empty the bowl, fill with more water and repeat, but now imagine you are wringing a vivid orange colour from the towel. This represents zest and vitality. Visualise this colour drenching your future and fix this sensation in your memory.

Spirit & Destiny
04/2008