Juicy January

Today is Day 14 of my Juicy January Juice Fast: the final day of a two week “Temple Cleanse” as I like to call it.

The old Temple (my body) has had a thrashing since I landed in France in September last year for a family holiday. It was a total food and wine fest (as it should be in France) and when I arrived back in Australia, well, the silly season had sort of begun already! All of the October and November birthdays had to be celebrated and that rolled straight into Christmas party season: there goes 2017! I had been treating my Temple like a nightclub for the last three months and it was time to give it some love.

For the last five years I have done a juice cleanse every January. I find that it sets me up for the year – both mentally and physically.

Mentally – by reaffirming my health and vitality beliefs (because of how amazing I feel afterwards) and by resetting all those sneaky little eating habits that creep in so insidiously. It requires a fair bit of discipline and focus to drink nothing but juice for 14 days and by creating the evidence that I can do it I feel supported in so many other areas of my life. I see juicing as the ultimate gift I can give my body and mind: it is a profound act of self-love.

Physically – because everything works better!! Those little aches and pains disappear, my digestive system works seamlessly, the holiday layer of fat disappears, my skin and eyes are clear and bright, and the list goes on.

One of my favourite benefits of juicing is how much better I sleep and the vivid and colourful dreams that I have. I read once that the cleaner our body is the closer we are able to move towards the Divine and this feels so true when I am having such meaningful and bright dreams.

I appreciate that juicing isn’t for everyone but if you are looking to do something new for your mind and body, then this might be it.

I had my first juice experience back in 2013 in Fiji at an event called Life Mastery. For eight days we drank juice and took part in activities that support wholeness, wellness, health and wealth. Alongside the juicing I had colonic irrigations (a first for me) and went to the day spa every second day. To say those eight days were life changing would be an understatement!

When I came home I got myself a juicer and started to include juicing in my everyday routine. My friends and family noticed a profound difference in me and things in my life were shifting as a result of me feeling so well.

A few months later my very dear friend Bron invited me to go and see a movie about juicing with her. Of course I said yes!

Sick, Fat and Nearly Dead 2  is the second part of the story of an Australian man, Joe Cross, and his life-changing journey with juice. Joe healed his body from chronic illness and totally changed the relationship he had with himself through juicing. He was so hardcore that he did 60 days of just juice and documented his journey. The results he achieved with his health and wellness were dramatic and far-reaching and prompted him to change the direction of his life to become an advocate for juicing.

After the film we got back in the car and I said to Bron “Well, it would be crazy not to do a juice fast after watching that movie!” so we scheduled it in and since then I have juiced every six or so months.

As well as Joe Cross, there is another man I deeply admire in the world of juicing – his name is Jason Vale.

Jason has also changed his health and vitality dramatically through juicing and has become one of the leaders in the field. He had several chronic auto immune disorders including eczema and colitis and was on a brutal regime of medication to manage these aliments.

When Jason discovered juicing his life changed as his health improved, and because of that he has dedicated his life to spreading the word. He made a film called Super Juice Me which documents the journey of eight chronically ill people on a 28 day juice fast at his retreat in Portugal, Juicy Oasis. It is a phenomenal film showing just how quickly our bodies can heal when we give them the right conditions to do so.

I firmly believe that our bodies want to be well. Their natural state is that of abundant health yet because of poor nutrition, pollution, and poor drinking water (not to mention our compromised mental and emotional health) we create an environment for “dis-ease” – also known as disease. If you can create an optimal environment for your body to be well, it will heal itself as it is hardwired to do.

For me, juicing is a key part of creating that environment. Perhaps it might be for you too?