Blog Articles

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Cleanse Focus:

Eat nutrient dense and fibre-rich natural foods

Hydrate optimally

Ensure proper bowel movement daily

Exercise, move your body and sweat

Stretch your body

Relax deeply

Practice breathing and meditation

Exfoliate the body – not just the face

Sleep more

Enjoy regular Facial and Neuro Reflexology treatments

Experiment with intermittent fasting*

Focusing on cleansing the body and mind on an ongoing basis by adhering to ‘lifestyle medicine’ approaches is vital to gain the desired level of vibrant health and clarity of mind, in order to reach our highest potential.

Our bodies are designed with an innate ability to cleanse and detox. One of the ways it does this is through a natural process called autophagy*, a method by which cells clean out damaged cellular components, helping to produce fresh and healthy cells. Over time, our cells may accumulate a variety of dead organelles, damaged proteins and oxidised particles that can clog the body’s detoxification pathways and we become stagnant. This can lead to ill health, ageing and age-related diseases, as the cells can’t function optimally, regenerate and divide.

Unfortunately stress and stressors, in the guise of daily living tend to overload us with undesired chemical substances from all sides, and cellular debris accumulates, which our body needs to dispose of. Therefore, keeping our detox pathways open as part of our general self-care should be a priority.

Stressors that impact us can be physical, such as not enough sleep, unhealthy diet, disrupted circadian rhythm, sedentary lifestyle or even too much exercise, and of course chronic pain. The emotional stressors that cause internal chemical reactions and therefore chemical substance overload are negative emotions such as fear, anger, frustration, worry, despair, overwhelm etc… The environmental stressors constitute of things such as exposure to mould, agricultural and domestic pesticide spraying, city pollution, certain household and industrial cleaning products, and public sanitation including tap water quality etc. Our body relies on numerous organs for getting rid of our metabolic waste, cellular garbage, toxins, medication and other waste compounds, so if any our elimination channels are not functioning optimally, this places additional stress on the rest of the body, and other channels need to work harder to ensure adequate elimination takes place.

There are five major elimination channels: digestive system, lymphatic system, skin, kidneys, lungs, and the sixth one is the glymphatic system – the brain’s dedicated waste clearance system – which is mostly active while we sleep. As our central nervous system (comprising of our brain and spinal cord) is highly active, waste can build up quickly, and our glymphatic system takes care of that… if we sleep. Facial and Neuro Reflexology is an effective therapy to regulate the overall body function, enhance all the body flows, and help with keeping the elimination channels open.

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* There are several ways to stimulate our body’s autophagy process, and one of the key ways of doing this is through fasting. Research suggests that autophagy and fasting go hand in hand, as we can turn up the autophagy process by restricting our ‘eating window’ or fast intermittently. 

Intermittent fasting (IF) means you eat within a shortened period of time, and you fast the rest of the time. IF gives your digestive system and your body a chance to reset; when you take a break between meals your insulin levels drop and your body has a chance to stimulate the autophagy process and cleanse.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to intermittent fasting. If you are a beginner, the 12:12 protocol is a great place to start, as it is less restrictive, and you only fast for 12 hours per day, and have an equal amount of time to eat your meals.

Eating within a shortened period (typically a 16-8 hour window) and fasting the rest of the time, 16/8 is a great option for those who usually don’t find themselves hungry in the mornings. 

Research shows that longer periods of fasting has greater benefits for overall healing, so build yourself up for longer fasts by regularly practicing intermittent fasts.