Here is our first contribution from Ankur Shah, author, chef, farmer and spiritual care jedi.
The Cleanse of The Clutter:
i look at The Cleanse as the opposite of The Clutter. it doesn't have
to be about weight loss or discipline or liberating hundreds of
millions of people (though it can be, see Gandhi...). it can just be
about shaking off the shackles of The Clutter.
if we are what we eat, then the pantry is the large intestine, and
don't you know they both need a little bit of The Cleanse. so i would
take advantage of this particular Holy Now (one in a long stream,
don't you worry) to get some of the garbage out. The advantage, of
course, of the digestive system over the pantry is that it has _a deep
inclination_ to purge. as we all know, it likes to purge every morning
of every day. and, to be blunt, it feels _good_ to purge. With the
pantry you have to actually think about it, make the time to collect
all those packets of "edible food-like products" and give them to
the food bank or chop-shop or whatever. but with the body, all you
have to do is eat Goodness, and pretty soon you have the outcome
you've been waiting for: out comes the poison, tra la la la la.
from another lens: the body is psyched to be perfect. at every minute,
the body is balancing, recalibrating, adjusting, evolving towards
perfection, through a flock of chemicals, enzymes, hormones, and the
like. all you have to do is Back Off, quit gumming up the works with
high-fructose corn syrup and red#40, and it should do the rest. and,
of course, like any good magic machine, it loves:
lots of water, sunshine, fruit, and hugs.
to be about weight loss or discipline or liberating hundreds of
millions of people (though it can be, see Gandhi...). it can just be
about shaking off the shackles of The Clutter.
if we are what we eat, then the pantry is the large intestine, and
don't you know they both need a little bit of The Cleanse. so i would
take advantage of this particular Holy Now (one in a long stream,
don't you worry) to get some of the garbage out. The advantage, of
course, of the digestive system over the pantry is that it has _a deep
inclination_ to purge. as we all know, it likes to purge every morning
of every day. and, to be blunt, it feels _good_ to purge. With the
pantry you have to actually think about it, make the time to collect
all those packets of "edible food-like products" and give them to
the food bank or chop-shop or whatever. but with the body, all you
have to do is eat Goodness, and pretty soon you have the outcome
you've been waiting for: out comes the poison, tra la la la la.
from another lens: the body is psyched to be perfect. at every minute,
the body is balancing, recalibrating, adjusting, evolving towards
perfection, through a flock of chemicals, enzymes, hormones, and the
like. all you have to do is Back Off, quit gumming up the works with
high-fructose corn syrup and red#40, and it should do the rest. and,
of course, like any good magic machine, it loves:
lots of water, sunshine, fruit, and hugs.
Ankur Shah
(Ankur has been kind enough to invite people to email him with questions about cleansing, spiritually or nutritionally, at ankurbhai@mangolandia.org)
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(Ankur has been kind enough to invite people to email him with questions about cleansing, spiritually or nutritionally, at ankurbhai@mangolandia.org)
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I would also like to briefly point to the benefits of cleansing (simply eating extra clean for a set period of time) for the many athletes out there. As triathletes and runners we are constantly asking, asking, asking our bodies to do, do, do for us. Your body is going to be better equipped to perform properly if you're fueling well, along with offering up the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals needed to recover, repair and simply be strong. During the off-season and holiday season we tend to create "The Clutter", as Ankur brilliantly calls it, and the Spring is the perfect time to focus on de-Cluttering... according to Mother Nature and also according to our training plans.
Aside from the obvious benefits of getting rid of junk and adding more healthy goodness, I like to set a goal to eat super clean for a certain number of days as a way to reset my healthy habits for training and racing. I know what I need to focus on. And here are the habits that a professional triathlete (John Hirsch) wants to reset.
What are 1-3 things that you know you could be doing better for your health?
I'll post my intention tomorrow morning... I'm already SO inspired by the responses we've recieved for this #i8this :)
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