detox & sleep
DIY detox Do you have trouble getting to sleep at night? Do you have deep pain in your muscles or joints? How about muscle spasms, cramps, or restless legs? Do you have anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, or low energy? Each one of these symptoms is a normal and natural physiological adaptation to stress on your body. Each of these can also be an indicator of an accumulation of toxins in the body, or a magnesium deficiency a deficiency that most Americans are prone to, though they may not know it. Under chronic stress, the body becomes toxic and deficient. So, the best approach to increasing resiliency to that stress is to add what the body is missing (in this case, magnesium), and take out the toxins. There must be a balance between these two minerals, and taking a detox bath is a great way to restore that balance! page # 2 A detox bath accomplishes both of those at the same time, and can make you feel fantastic! Because the skin is the largest organ in the body, toxins are easily eliminated through its pores. There are about 1,000 pores for every inch of your skin, so as you can see, that s a lot of holes for detoxification and absorption! Magnesium is very calming for your body because it relaxes muscles. Americans get too much calcium in their diets, not realizing that calcium is in charge of contracting muscles.
bath recipe Draw a bath as warm as you can stand it, and as deep as you can manage. Add a cup of Epsom Salts, a few drops of lavender essential oils, a couple Tablespoons of coconut oil, and a cup of baking soda. Turn on some soothing music, and soak for at least 20 minutes. During this time, the salts and warmth of the bath will combine to pull toxins out through your pores, and the lavender oil combined with the Epsom salts will relax your muscles, soothe pain, and help boost magnesium levels. Baking soda helps exfoliate the top, dead layer of skin; and helps make your skin smoother. If you have been in the pool, baking soda is key to reversing the damage chlorine does to your hair. 1 cup Epsom Salts Few drops of Lavender essential oil 2 Tablespoons coconut oil 1 cup baking soda Coconut oil is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and great for your whole body! a great way to get the rest you need! Don t get in a bath that is too hot, and make sure to keep children away from hot water and/or deep baths. Be careful getting in and out of the tub with these added ingredients, because the tub may be slick, and you could sustain injury. page # 3
ease your chronic pain 1. Massage Some people can t even stand to be touched because they are so sensitive; but if you can find someone who will consistently work with you, it may really help. Massage helps unblock areas where excess energy has been stored in the body. By working with pressure points, a good massage therapist can help ease pain by unblocking energy flow. 2. Exercise Yes, it s the last thing you feel like doing, but gentle exercise like Tai Chi or water aerobics has been shown to help ease chronic pain. Some of the most common causes of toxin buildup in CFS and fibromyalgia include persistent bacterial, viral, yeast and/or mold infections, heavy metal toxicity, low vitamin D levels, subclinical hypothyroidism, chronically elevated levels of stress, and chronic exposure to electromagnetic forces. 4. Grounding or Earthing Grounding one s body to the Earth reduces chronic inflammation and chronic pain. Your body functions better when it has an adequate supply of electrons. These are obtained easily from simply walking barefoot on the ground. Start slowly, get support (do it with a friend), and stay at it. Research shows that regular exercise helps you manage chronic pain. 3. Practice Daily Detox Protocols Chronic overload of toxins in the body whether heavy metals, food additives, sugar, Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr virus, or chemicals in the environment have been shown to trigger both chronic fatigue syndrome as well as fibromyalgia (chronic, unexplained pain). Earth maintains a negative electrical potential on its surface. When you sit, lie, or stand barefoot on the ground those electrons are conducted to your body. When you ground to the electron enriched earth, your body s sympathetic (fight/flight) and parasympathetic (rest/digest) systems get balanced. This helps break the stress response. page # 4
tips for sleeping well Don t multitask in bed. Save the bed for romance and sleep. Period. Make your room very cool. Scientifically, the best sleeping temperature is between 60 and 68 degrees. Try to go to bed around 10 pm or as close as possible to it since melatonin (the sleep hormone) is at its highest peak around that time. Invest in a good quality mattress. Get a new mattress every eight years. Keep your room completely dark. Avoid blue light emissions from televisions, computers, cell phones, tablets, etc. They interfere with the pineal gland s functioning. Keep a regular routine. Even on the weekends, go to bed at around the same time and get up at the same time. This develops a strong circadian rhythm. Turn off all electronics an hour before you want to be asleep. Read, talk, meditate, or color engage in some activity that doesn t involve staring at a screen even a TV. Avoid caffeine in the late afternoons or evenings to ensure better sleep. Don t exercise right before bed because it ramps up all your body s systems when you want to be slowing down. But DO exercise during the day. It will aid deep, restful sleep. Get at least 20 minutes of sunshine during the day to stimulate the production of melatonin by the pineal gland. Best sunshine is before noon; but any time is better than none! page # 5