As we feel the crisp autumn air and see the leaves changing colors, it’s the perfect time to discuss one of my favorite topics: seasonal cleansing. If you’ve been reading my blogs, you know I’m a big believer in aligning your health practices with nature’s rhythms, as these cyclical transitions directly impact your physical and emotional well-being.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, autumn is associated with the Metal element, which relates to the lungs and large intestine. Autumn is also connected to the practice of letting go and releasing whatever is weighing you down—making room for new beginnings. Think of it as nature’s way of encouraging you to declutter, both physically and emotionally.
If you want to have more energy and strengthen your immune system for the winter months ahead, a gentle fall detox is the way to go. Let go of the baggage, physical and emotional. I promise you will feel lighter, brighter, and more in tune with the world around you.
This year, I had the opportunity to gather with a group of 50+ inspiring people during my four-day Open Heart Medicine Meditation & Healing Retreat on Hawaii’s Big Island. This event was a profound and meaningful way to welcome the Fall season. With the theme of heart-centered living, participants began the process of peeling away those unnecessary layers that block and interfere with the body’s innate healing potential. Practicing Open Heart Medicine creates a new kind of communication and catalyst for healing yourself, those connected to you, and the entire community. → Learn More About Open Heart Medicine.
Preparing Your Body for a Cleanse
Just as I and others experienced in Hawaii, your inner vitality and healing energies can flow more freely and you can experience profound improvements in your health, happiness and well-being with a gentle seasonal cleanse.
Our busy lives, our patterns and habits, and the stress we place on ourselves affect us all differently, but there are some basic, common threads connecting us. One that we all share is the underlying capacity to transform and heal ourselves.
Simple cleansing and detoxification is centered in the heart and mind, in deciding what you want to clear on a physical, mental and emotional level, and letting go. As such, I would like to highlight helpful meditation practices to begin engaging your mind-body connection for optimal cleansing and healing (see below).
Autumn is connected to the practice of letting go and releasing whatever is weighing you down—making room for new beginnings. Think of it as nature’s way of encouraging you to declutter, both physically and emotionally.
Also critically important: following an alkalizing, detoxifying diet that includes plenty of organic vegetables and fruit, high-quality protein like fish and lentils, and gluten-free grains. I also strongly recommend adding a simple, two-ingredient tonic to your bedtime routine, the Lemon and Olive Oil Detox Drink. This antioxidant-rich beverage is designed to cleanse the liver, stimulate bile, and improve sleep. → Get the recipe for my Lemon and Olive Oil Detox Drink.
If you feel you need them, some gentle exercises, such as QiGong, can help enhance your cleanse and leave you feeling more refreshed and energized.
In addition to diet and movement, certain nutritional supplements, including modified citrus pectin and medicinal mushrooms, will help increase the cleansing process, supporting the natural detoxification capacities of your organs and tissues.
→Visit my Fullscript Store, where you can create an account and order the detox supplements I recommend at a discounted rate. You can also download free resources—including a Detox Supplement Protocol PDF with detailed dosage instructions and supplement information.
Deepen your Cleanse with Simple Breathing Practices
A well planned seasonal cleanse, whether you engage in it for 3 days, 10 days, or longer, can balance and harmonize the many layers of your being: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. The primary connection between these layers is the breath.
Breathing brings nourishment and information from the universe in the form of oxygen, and releases old toxins in the form of carbon dioxide. Because the many layers of your being are interconnected, then clearing and releasing toxins from your physical body can also help to ease toxic emotions and other afflictive states. This is why individuals undergoing a cleanse often report such feelings of euphoria and clarity during and after the process.
But it also works going the other way: releasing afflictive emotions and mental states can aid in removing physical toxins from your body as well. This release is greatly enhanced through focused breathing, which is particularly relevant during a fall cleanse.
Simple Meditation & Breathing Exercise
Here’s a simple meditation and breathing practice to get you started: Sit comfortably in a quiet spot, and think about the things that you’re ready to shed this season, be they physical health issues, emotional issues, mental patterns, clutter in your space, anything at all. Then focus your breath onto a specific object, such as a rock. When you exhale, visualize all that you’re letting go of being released into the rock. When you breathe in, visualize pure healing energy entering your body through your breath and filling your entire being with light. As you repeat this process, allow any emotions, thoughts, and feelings to arise and slip away, as you bring your attention back to your breath.
As I said in the beginning of this blog, in TCM, the Fall season relates to the lungs, and to the large intestine. The lungs regulate emotions of sadness, thus providing an energetic view into the process of releasing old, toxic feelings as we exhale. When we exhale, we can feel and visualize our toxins and toxic emotions as a part of our out-breath, released in preparation for receiving vital, fresh information and healing energy with each in-breath. Simply through slowing down and bringing awareness to our breath and to this cyclical exchange of energy, we can significantly enhance our cleansing and healing processes to bring about greater vitality and lightness of being.
You May Also Like:
Dr. Eliaz’s Detox Wellness Guide—Download Your Free Copy
Natural Detox: The Power of Binding Foods Like Cilantro and Seaweed
The Art of Giving and Receiving: Understanding Tonglen Meditation
