Master Cleanse

Dave,
let me know how this goes.

I started the Master Cleanse in november and got a very bad sinus infection.  could've been a coincidence.

I am curious about the ramifications to essential digestive bacteria and intestinal mucus (if i may be so bold) with such a vigorous cleansing.

I have heard springtime is best for this type of thing,,of course, its always spring for you LA boys.

case

I did my first 10-day Master Cleanse in November.  I wavered around days 5 and 7 but stuck it out.  I've done 7 days many times.  I was amazed how much of a difference the extra 3 made.  It's worth it, Hoss.  Don't give in.  Yep, like meditation, returning to the present moment helps manage the fast otherwise that potato chip your buddy absent-mindedly offers you makes it all the way to your mouth before….”holy crap what's this?” occurs.  You find a way to enjoy the lack so to speak.

Allow yourself to crash at a moments notice when possible.  Sleeping is a great way to manage a fast and allow the body to do it's thing.  There's going to be many situations where you can't go down and have to power through but let go when you can.

You will likely incur the desire to eat around day seven if that's when you normally break your cleanses.  Just enjoy the smell of food at that time as if you were eating it and move on, don't linger.  It will pass.  Be attentive to all the senses as they balance and awaken from the immobility of the micro sludge. 

I'm amazed also by the lasting effects of a deep cleanse too.  Long after the fast, your body does a better job processing toxins as it has greater capacity to do so.   It's just easier to feel better from a physical health perspective.  …Inspiration to draw from when the going gets tough.

Git 'er done, man!  Good on ya.  Enjoy the ups and downs.  It's all about balance.

I am waiting for Spring my self for my next one, another 10 day-er I hope.

Yeah Casey with an intense cleanse you can knock lose toxins that can cause further clogging like a sinus infection.  That is reason alone to cleanse further on another occasion, there's more to be done.

Go Dave and the rest of your fasting contingent.  Here's to ya'll.  (I'm raising a glass of wheatgrass not hops and barley)

Love One Another

Bike ride!  Work out!  Hiking!  I don't like you anymore. lol   When I'm fasting the first three days are gut wrenching, torture, hellish.  Day four is when I come out of my coma and start feeling alert and what I term - real.  I'm immensely jealous that you're so active.  I'm guessing you run on a pretty clean engine already.  Good on ya.  I have a rusty '63 gas guzzler.

Yep, the potential for mental and emotional detoxing is there for the manifesting.  Go deep if you can.  You will not regret it.  It gets really cool when the focus and discipline actually become fun.  You will notice that most of your life has a covering of habit and conditioning…BOING!  I did not realize I do that!!!  What's worse is watching the habitual nature return with the eating…whoa, wait a minute, I noticed you - you should be stopping…now STOP!  It's all good, though.  Life!?!  Eh?

Let me know if the “fasting high” kicks in.  It should be coming on right about now.  You should buzz with high octane energy but that's probably what you mean by feeling great.  Hope your cohorts feel as good as you.

Nah.  You Rock, Brother, I Roll…thanks.

Namaste

Rod, thanks for all this wonderful encouragement!  (I'm one of the “others” doing the cleanse with David.)  I have to say, I also appreciated your commiseration because I have definitely had some difficult moments in the first 3 days (many more so than Mr. Perfect-Work-Out-Bike-Rider-Hiker-Man, see above!  :-))  Yesterday, day 2, was especially challenging for me with a bad headache (probably yerba mate and chai withdrawal), but today I felt much better and actually went to yoga (and loved it)!!  Other than that, most of my energy is being spent taking care of my 5-year-old - let me tell you, cooking his meals is no easy task right now!!  I am looking forward to tomorrow (day 4), in which I hear the hunger tapers off…..

In terms of the mental cleanse/awareness aspect of this, I have been fascinated just watching the ebb and flow of my moods - lately they seem to have a life all their own.  (For the past couple of months I have also been doing some incredibly powerful transpersonal energy healing with the amazing Scott Schwenk, so even before I started the cleanse, I've been particularly moody because a lot of “stuff” that has been buried inside me for years is finally coming to the surface.)  Sometimes this makes me feel out of control because “negative” emotions are being triggered so easily, but this cleanse is providing me with moments of insight and lucidity (and resulting peace inside the storm) when I can clearly see just how much my mood patterns (and my THINKING) are influenced by pure biochemistry (not to even mention the past conditioning and all that other human baggage that I am working on with Scott).  In my stronger moments, I am viewing these challenges as gifts that will ultimately help me to release and finally break free of the internal sludge.  Might as well address this on all fronts!  How much more beautiful could a 10-day fast be?!?  (Hmmm, we'll see how I feel on day 7!)

Much love,
Beth

P.S.  David, Rod and Casey:  You all rock!  And Graham does too!  xoxoxo

Oh Beth, darlin', fasting and raising your boy!?!  Good Lord Gracious!!  Women are the stronger sex for sure.   My wife writes me off in regard to the kids while I'm fasting.  I think shes afraid I'll inflict lasting psychological damage with my grumpiness.  LOL

Man, you're are dealing with heaps.  NA MA STE ladyfriend…

Good on ya working with Scott.  You know then to breathe.  BREATHE…  The body can go weeks without food, days without water, but only minutes without air.  Mindful breathing in a fast is goooood medicene.

Bless ya'll   Absolute pleasure to observe ya'lls process.  With you in spirit on this one.  I'll blog my April fast, perhaps.

Laugh as much as possible…the best food.

First I want to thank David, Beth, Rod, Casey and all those who focus their energies on disciplining themselves to actualize a more pure state and allow our beautiful bodies to perform as they know how to so well.

The Master Cleanse has surprisingly been quite unproblematic. On Day 1 I looked at the clock just as it turned noon and thought to myself how I was not hungry, but within a 2-3 minutes I immediately felt hungry ;). Then around 3:45 I felt hungry again. That is usually when I eat just before getting off work to go run or swim, so I find these two instances prove to me that some of my eating habits are programmed in and that an urge to eat is not always a necessity to eat as I was maintaining a sufficient intake of calories. I rode my bike an easy 60 minutes in the afternoon and slept well. Day 2, the salt water was easier to down and instead of 1hr40min, it only took 45min to hit the porcelain. I was not hungry all day and rode 70min on the trainer in the afternoon. Day 3, I didn’t drink for about 3.5 hours just after lunch time (ha, I said lunch time!) as I had a massage and ran some errands. I’ll not do that again but I felt fine, possibly hunger approached but it didn’t affect me much. Day 3, I worked a long day, didn’t find myself hungry, and rode 80min on the bike. My goal is to add 10 more minutes a day on the bike. I’m oncall at work so I had to work till about 3:30AM, this morning, into the morning of Day 4. I set my alarm for 8AM and woke up just before 7AM. I surprisingly felt normal this morning and very alert. I hit the porcelain this morning. Can you say “bright super toxic orange spicy poo” 10 times without stuttering? I didn’t think so. So, yes Dave, I love it spicy and I notice myself putting more cayenne in each day. I think it’s possible the additional cayenne helps keep the body heat a little higher as well. I have not encountered the cold issues some others friends have mentioned, or the dry skin, however I’ve been wearing a sweater and jeans every day in case this were to occur. I have yet to feel dizzy, sick or tired as some friends have noted. I’ve also began using a straw as it keeps most of the acidic drink from hitting the sensitive spots on my teeth and from coating my teeth with the yucky film.

I began the cleanse at a weight of 177lbs which is about 12lbs more than my usual weight. I spent the last 3 weeks working super long hours and not moving my body much. I put myself through a 3 week 24x7 all you can eat lifestyle and I got a bit of a cold form it. In fact, I felt pretty darn bad and don’t plan on that style of living anytime soon. I ate because I was super stressed. Doing this cleanse has made me realize that I need to conquer that obstacle in my eating habits. Yesterday, something fun happened to me. I think it was just after I had not consumed anything for a few hours. I made a new bottle, took a sip and within a minute felt super happy. I got goose bumps, felt almost high, a big smile formed on my face. I believe it was simply because my body has become more sensitive to what I put in it. It immediately felt more energy entering the body, liked it, and said thank you!

Some of my friends have encountered some issues and have passed on the recommendation that we should consistently consume our drink, and if too much bowel movement is occurring, to not worry much with having to do the salt cleanse every morning. Maybe skip a day and just sip the sena tea in the morning. My buddy Reid, ran the AT&T Austin Marathon just 6 days after finishing the cleanse (I got to watch him) and ran fantastically. He ran 30-60 minutes every day while on the cleanse as well.

One last thing for the day: My friend Alex has lymphatic cancer. His HCG levels, one of a few main indicators of cancer, was above 300 about two weeks ago. He began this cleanse and a few days ago had his test taken again and his levels were in the mid 100s. I spoke with him early this morning and he’s going in for the test again. He wanted to attempt this cleanse before he entered chemo as he’s very aware of the side affects. I’ll keep you posted on this. His doctor can’t believe what he is seeing.

My fantabulous friend Fiana introduced me to this cleanse about a year ago and it has positively affected so many of my friends. She has been a fantastic influence on me in so many ways so muchas thanks to her…and all you who are striving for a better mind and body.

Graham

Hey guys! I was on zIM sharing this video with ROD when I just happened to mention that I was fasting. He told me he's been tracking your progress as well. Nice! Maybe there's something about this time of year that has us all feeling a need to detoxify.

Anyhow, I'm here with ya'll, so if you need any support, know that I'm starving alongside ya! ;)

To optimizing our bodies and our minds!

Irritability…Yeah!  You are human after all.  Oops.  Just kidding.  Were you able to tie the irritability to any thing particular?  A habit or condition you're missing.  (eating is obvious but it's probably something else…) 

I recommend doing what your body and emotions tell you.  You can get all the liquids you need on board and in airports.  They made my nursing wife who is constantly thirsty throw out two water bottles and we just bought water in the terminal and took it on board.  No biggie.  You can prepare and bring the proper fast breaking foods with you.  Your emotions are up to you…if you don't think you can do it, don't do it.  If you think you can then continue on and be glad.  Me, I'd keep going but I'd plan my food and drink thoroughly as not to be at the mercy of air travel.  Not that difficult really.

It cannot be worse than Christmas travel with small kids and a massive cold and I've done that a few times and didn't enter the “bad scenario.”  Fear not.  Do what you want to do and make the best of it.  Be understanding of each other and go easy.  Water off a ducks back.  I say onward. 

If you're decide to break the fast, I agree, break it on day eight having completed the 7-day fast cycle.  You can always do another in Summer or Autumn.

I'd like to try that liver cleanse for sure but I don't know if I'd do at the end of a 10 day master cleanse.  I'd ask my body first in contemplation or meditation to see where its stress level is - might be perfect or might be time to ease up.  I bet you get a clear answer either way.

Day 5 and still Rockin'.  GOOD ON YA!

Here's a little extra juice for your fasting pleasure.  Those dudes hangin' with the radical rabbi Jesus bemoaned their inability to work miracles and cast out devils.  The J-man kinda admonished them.  He said, “You boys need to fast and pray.  Now git 'er done! “  …something like that - you get the picture.   Yeeeehaaaaa. 

Here's to day six…(merely lifting a glass of H2O)

Maybe when you get back, you can stop by my crib and cast out a few devils.  We got plenty in Van Nuys.  LOL!              …most of them are in my liver.

YEEEEEEHAAAAAAAA!   WaaaaaaaaaaaHoooooooooooo!   Congrats.  Good on ya!  Nicely done.

Heck ya'll those are not lame excuses, sounds well thought out and what makes sense for you both.  I'm sure that decision came right out of being present with the situation.  Again, good on ya.

Remember the benefits continue after the cleanse so it's all good.  Yep, breaking is crucial.  Like an electrical circuit, you been running on a different voltage so it's good to ramp up slowly so you don't blow a fuse.

Here's to more volts and new amps.  You need amps to ROCK OUT!!!!  Can't wait to read the last chapter.

Love One Another

ROD, I am echoing David's thanks for all the encouragement and support - it was really wonderful to have your spirit alongside us during this process.  It was definitely with mixed feelings that David and I decided to break today (day 9).  We do believe it is the right decision under the circs, but at the same time, it's hard to break that momentum once it had been going so smoothly.  (And I was kinda getting used to that empty but light and airy feeling, ya know?)  But, among other things, this gives us the chance to ramp up to a normal diet more consciously than we'd have been able to do away from home. 

As for the effects of the cleanse…..  As a physical (and mental, and emotional, and spiritual) experience, I definitely had my ups and downs.  Many moments of vibrant, light energy, which was gorgeous - I even made it to Bryan Kest's power yoga class on day 8 - and rocked it - I felt so incredibly in the zone!!  (Of course, later that same day David and I went for a bike ride and at that point I was in the slower than slow zone!)  And, although this is less glamorous than the spiritual highs, I must confess that I also had many moments of irritability, restlessness, and relentless cravings for food.  I think there were only two days that I didn't have a pretty rough time between the hours of 4-9pm, craving-wise.  Mostly I wanted almonds, brown rice with coconut milk and raisins, and homemade hummus on raw flax crackers.  So, at least my cravings weren't too unhealthy!!  (Except for Saturday night when Dave and I drove by an IHOP and I couldn't stop thinking about it for like 2 hours - even though I haven't eaten at an IHOP in I can't even remember how many years!)  In terms of the food thing, though, I also have to say this:  The lemonade on the cleanse truly did maintain a steady level of blood sugar - the hunger was completely psychological.  (But that's some powerful psychology, I assure you!)

In addition to re-setting my body from a rather - how shall I say - disadvantageous carb-craze that I was going through pre-cleanse, I have also noticed that my joints (particularly my knees) appear to be more flexible.  And, I'd been nursing a minor trampoline-induced lower back injury for a couple of months - it wasn't that bad, and I really only felt it in backbends in yoga.  (It was wreckin' up my wheel pose!)  On day 2 of the cleanse, I started feeling this injury very acutely all the time until it disappeared completely around day 6 or 7!  I know, it's wild!!!  Will someone please explain to me how that could possibly work?!?

In closing, I would just like to add a little note of thanks to my sweetheart for being such a  wonderful source of support to me and helpful with the nipper during this process.  As you all know, it was veeeeerrrrry difficult for him to leave his little cabin in the woods to venture into the city to be with us in the house of kindergarten chaos.  But he did it, and with an astounding degree of calm, steady presence, I might add (and even some humor).  Davie, you are my hero!

Much love and many x's and o's,
Beth

You MasterCleansersersssss are all so wonderful! Thank you Beth and Dave for doing this along side me. I felt I was on an MC team. I ended day 10 with a half liter of carrot juice and a bit of homemade ginger/onion soup. Outside of day one, I hadn't had many food cravings but day 5 & 6 I couldn't stop thinking about carrot juice. So, my first treat to myself was chugging that cold, orange, sugar-ee-ness! It was like having a snickers. So much sugar. I was seriously high from drinking it. I cycled 610 minutes, ran 25 minutes in 10 days and lost 9 lbs. I was a bit sad coming off the cleanse as I knew I could continue it for some time. I was comfortable with the simplicity of it and enjoy not having to worry about what to eat. I'm taking from this experienc a much simpler philosophy on food. I'll eat what I need and not much more, appreciate what I have and…drink lots more carrot juice!!!  ;)

Have a fantastic trip Dave & Beth!
Luv,
Graham

Wow, simply, WOW…

Really fun to witness this.  Beth you put your body in detox/heal mode and that's what it does.  Wonderful scientific answer, huh?  Really great to hear your back injury mended.  Hope the trip is going well for both of you.

Graham, sounds like you went deep, Lad.  Good on ya.  Back to regular poos, I trust? lol.

Here's to living lighter, clearer, more consciously…(raising a light beer on this one)