Welcome to week two of our cleanse. Jane and I are beginning to feel pretty good. How are you doing?

Hopefully your intestines are working well after our week-long colon cleanse. This week we’ll continue to support the ability to eliminate by taking the colon cleansing herbs and we’ll add in some herbs to support and cleanse the liver and gall bladder. You will continue to take these herbs for the next three weeks because good liver function, like a healthy colon, is essential to a successful cleanse. Also this week you will take four formulas aimed at eliminating parasites and replenishing friendly bacteria

From your kit you will need the following :-

• The Digestive Stimulator™ – You will continue to take this intestine support formula in the dosage that you have established gives you 1 – 3 formed but soft bowel movements per day.
• The Toxin Absorber™ – You will continue to take this colon cleansing formula
• Liver & Gallbladder Rejuvenator™ – To clean and protect these organs which play a crucial role in detoxification
• Large Para Cleanser 1 & 2™ and Small Para Cleanser™ – Which work together to eliminate parasites
• Friendly Bacteria Replenisher™ – To recolonize the intestines with friendly fauna
• Toxin Neutralizer™ – To help prevent newly released toxins from damaging healthy cells.

Please refer to the instructions in the booklet that comes with your kit to get information about dosage and timing.

Food

If you have been following a liquid diet during the first week of the cleanse now is the time to reintroduce solid foods.

Avoid the following foods

• Meat
• Dairy products
• Fried foods
• Processed sugars
• Processed foods
• Coffee
• Alcohol

Instead eat predominantly organic fruits and veggies and whole foods and remember to drink plenty of water. If weight loss is a goal you should restrict but not eliminate carbohydrates. Otherwise choose organic whole grains such as brown rice or quinoa.

Some recipes that we have enjoyed this week include

• This wild seaweed salad from 101 Cookbooks
• Avocado salad with ginger miso dressing from the Mayo Clinic
• Roasted Cauliflower Soup from the blog Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
• Grilled Romaine Salad from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
• Quinoa and Spinach soup from the blog Hello Veggie
• Kale Soup from the blog Hello Veggie

A Helpful Qi Gong Exercise to Benefit the Liver

Sit comfortably in a chair or in a more meditative position. Focus on your breathing.
Place both of your hands over your liver which is located on the right side of the body under the rib cage.
Exhale as you tap the liver 5 times. Imagine releasing letting go of sludge, heat and heaviness as you tap. Consciously let go of any feelings of anger or frustration.
Inhale and visualize cool, green energy flooding through your liver. Let this energy fill you with peace and compassion.
Repeat this inhale and exhale 10 times every morning and evening this week.

Continue to follow our YinOva recommendations to support your cleanse

• Start each day with a cup of hot water with lemon in it.
• Eat three small meals and two snacks a day.
• Take some time each day to do deep breathing, meditation, gentle stretching or yoga
• Get at least 8 hours sleep each night
• In the shower brush your skin with a loofah, skin brush or Japanese skin cloth
• Drink one 8 oz glass of water or cup of herbal tea an hour. Explore a variety of herbal teas. Green tea is nice first thing in the morning and chamomile tea is relaxing before bed.
• Eat small portions and stop eating when you are satisfied.
• Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly
• Have a weekly acupuncture treatment to encourage detoxification and to deal with any symptoms that may arise
• Once a week place a castor oil pack over your liver. Rub castor oil over your liver on your right side of your upper abdomen from the mid-line out under your ribcage. Place an old towel over the caster oil and put a hot pack over the area and leave it there for 30 – 40 minutes whilst you relax.
• Reiki can be helpful especially if you find that your cleansing process involves processing negative emotions.
• Try to walk for at least 30 minutes a day

Thank you to all of you have emailed to share your experiences and recipes. As you begin to cleanse your liver you may notice that you experience some negative emotions. There is no explanation for this in Western medicine but in Eastern medicine the liver can become constrained by repressing emotions so it follows that de-sludging your liver may free some emotions that you have pushed down. To help these feelings move though you try moving your body. Go for a brisk walk or a jog or arrange to have a massage or a reiki treatment.

Next week we will be focusing on the kidneys, bladder and lungs whilst continuing with the progress we have made supporting our intestines, liver and gall bladder.

All herbs in our YinOva Cleanse are supplied by Blessed Herbs. We sell the kits at The YinOva Center or you can buy them directly from the manufacturer.

Please check with your doctor or health care provider to make sure that you are healthy enough to spend a month on a restricted diet. Do not take herbs, vitamins, recreational drugs or over the counter medication whilst you are cleansing. If you are taking prescribed medications please ask your prescribing physician for advice about combining them with this cleanse. The instruction book that accompanies your kit has information about the way in which the cleansing herbs can interact with certain prescribed medications.

Do NOT cleanse :-

• If you are pregnant (if you discover you are pregnant whilst cleansing, please discontinue with the cleanse)
• If you have an active, acute infection
• If you are weak or debilitated
• If you are about to undergo or are recovering from surgery
• If you are suffering from the following GI problems – diarrhea, vomiting, intestinal infection, bowel obstruction, inflammation of the GI tract, abnormal narrowing of the esophagus or intestines, difficulty swallowing.

Last week we introduced you to The YinOva Cleanse and made some general recommendations about cleansing and detoxifying. This week Jane and I are going to be following the cleanse ourselves and several of our patients have decided to join us. If you want to participate you can pick up your kits at our office where we will be happy to answer your questions. Alternatively you can buy one directly from the manufacturer, Blessed Herbs (it’s the same price).

Week One – The Colon Cleanse

The first week of the cleanse is devoted to getting your intestines working well. It’s important to get your digestive system to eliminate properly before we begin to cleanse other organs. So this week we are going to concentrate on removing old, accumulated waste from your large intestine and making sure that you are moving your bowels regularly.

In your kit you will find the following: -

• Toxin Absorber ™ This herbal supplement of made of psyllium seed husks, apple pectin, ginger root OR peppermint leaf, and bentonite clay should be taken mixed with water 5 x a day.
• Digestive Stimulator™ This supplement contains laxative herbs combined with herbs that tone the digestive system. Everyone will need a different dosage of the digestive stimulator. Experiment by starting at a low dose and build up until you are having 3 bowel movements a day.
• A jar for mixing the toxin absorber with water
• Complete instructions

During this part of the cleanse it is important that you have at least one, and preferably three, bowel movements a day. You will be taking the digestive stimulator each night to promote a bowel movement but if you find that you have not moved your bowels during the course of the day increase the number of digestive stimulator pills, increase your water intake and give yourself an enema. Refer to the booklet with your kit for more information about this.

Pre-Cleanse – Days 1 -3

The object of the three day pre-cleanse is to gently introduce your body to the cleanse and help you determine how many digestive stimulator pills you will need to have three soft but formed bowel movements a day.

• Begin to adopt your cleansing diet as explained in the introductory article
• Drink 6 – 8 glasses of water every day
• Take the toxin absorber and digestive stimulator every evening (Refer to page 11 in your instruction book to work out how many pills to take)

The Main Colon Cleanse – Days 3 – 7

You will now increase the amount of toxin absorber you take to 5 packets evenly spread throughout the day. This equates to a packet every three hours. You will continue to take your dosage of the digestive stimulator every evening. Remember to drink 6 -8 glasses of water a day.

Food

As you know I am not fond of very low calorie diets which I think deplete your metabolism and lead to rebound weight gain. However the main part of the colon cleanse does work much better if you limit your intake of solid food. If you are in good health and feel up to it you can achieve a more intense detoxifying effect by restricting yourself to liquids only. During the pre-cleanse gradually reduce your intake of solid foods and from days 3 – 7 drink juice, nut milks, smoothies, and vegetable soups.

If you decide not to do the liquid diet, simply follow the dietary guidelines below.

Avoid the following foods

• Red meat
• Dairy products
• Fried foods
• Processed sugars
• Processed foods
• Coffee
• Alcohol

Instead eat predominantly organic fruits and veggies and whole foods and remember to drink plenty of water. If weight loss is a goal you should restrict but not eliminate carbohydrates. Otherwise choose organic whole grains such as brown rice or quinoa.

Here are some meal suggestions that we have found helpful

• Marinated Kale – This lovely salad is the creation of nutritionalist, Jeanette Bronee who runs Path for Life which is in the same building as The YinOva Center
• Ginger Jeweled Salad from one of my favorite blogs 101 Cookbooks
• In a hurry green curry again this is from the lovely healthy website 101 cookbooks
• Basic Miso Soup – feel free to add chopped veggies to this to make it more substantial
• Any of the fabulous detox recipes in this newsletter from Gwyneth Paltrow’s website GOOP. I particularly like the salad with carrot and ginger dressing and the detox teriyaki chicken.
• If, like me, you are on the run you can always pick up raw veggies and salad at your corner deli and dribble them with olive oil and vinegar

A Helpful Qi Gong Exercise to Benefit the Colon

Every morning stand comfortably and move your arms backward behind your body with the palms facing upwards.
Hold this position for two seconds.
Make a fist with both hands, inhale a tighten your anus
Hold this position for 2 seconds
Then exhale and relax your anus and loosen your fists.
Repeat this exercise 20 times.

Recommendations to Support your Cleanse

• Start each day with a cup of hot water with lemon in it.
• Eat three small meals and two snacks a day.
• Take some time each day to do deep breathing, meditation, gentle stretching or yoga
• Get at least 8 hours sleep each night
• In the shower brush your skin with a loofah, skin brush or Japanese skin cloth
• Drink one 8 oz glass of water or cup of herbal tea an hour. Explore a variety of herbal teas. Green tea is nice first thing in the morning and chamomile tea is relaxing before bed.
• Eat small portions and stop eating when you are satisfied.
• Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly
• Have a weekly acupuncture treatment to encourage detoxification and to deal with any symptoms that may arise
• Once a week place a castor oil pack over your liver. Rub castor oil over your liver on your right side of your upper abdomen from the mid-line out under your ribcage. Place an old towel over the caster oil and put a hot pack over the area and leave it there for 30 – 40 minutes whilst you relax.
• Reiki can be helpful especially if you find that your cleansing process involves processing negative emotions.
• Try to walk for at least 30 minutes a day

Good luck and please share your experiences with us. We love to know how you are doing and would be especially interested in any healthy detox recipes you’d like to share.

Next week we will move on to eliminating parasites and cleansing and tonifying the liver and gall bladder.

All herbs in our YinOva Cleanse are supplied by Blessed Herbs. We sell the kits at The YinOva Center or you can buy them directly from the manufacturer.

Please check with your doctor or health care provider to make sure that you are healthy enough to spend a month on a restricted diet. Do not take herbs, vitamins, recreational drugs or over the counter medication whilst you are cleansing. If you are taking prescribed medications please ask your prescribing physician for advice about combining them with this cleanse. The instruction book that accompanies your kit has information about the way in which the cleansing herbs can interact with certain prescribed medications.

Do NOT cleanse :-

• If you are pregnant (if you discover you are pregnant whilst cleansing, please discontinue with the cleanse)
• If you have an active, acute infection
• If you are weak or debilitated
• If you are about to undergo or are recovering from surgery
• If you are suffering from the following GI problems – diarrhea, vomiting, intestinal infection, bowel obstruction, inflammation of the GI tract, abnormal narrowing of the esophagus or intestines, difficulty swallowing.

It’s that time of year!

I don’t know about you, but I gained a few pounds over the holidays and now that we’re all back at work, it’s time to cleanse and restore. Although it’s bitterly cold here in New York my thoughts are turning to spring. In a few short weeks we will be shedding our bulky coats and woolly sweaters and emerging from our winter sluggishness. In Chinese medicine spring is the season of the wood element which governs the liver and gallbladder, two organs that become particularly sluggish thanks to festive excesses. In the five element system spring is associated with cleansing and renewal. So as we contemplate the New Year, here at The YinOva Center we are thinking about cleansing. Jane, our office manager, and I will be doing The YinOva Cleanse for the next month and would love you to join us as we shed a few pounds and give our overworked systems a break.

At The YinOva Center we’re not big fans of the more draconian cleanses where people drink nothing but lemon and cayenne water. We prefer a more gentle detoxifying regimen using herbs to cleanse each organ in turn. The cleanse we recommend lasts one month and detoxifies specific organs in a logical order. All the herbs are available as a kit from our center. The kit contains over 90 different herbs in 13 separate formulas designed to support your body as it cleanses, reduce unwanted para-organisms and restore healthy flora in the intestines.

• Week One – The Colon Cleanse
• Week Two – The Liver and Gallbladder Cleanse
• Week Three – The Kidney Bladder and Lung Cleanse
• Week Four – The Blood, Skin and Lymph Cleanse

Food

As for food. We won’t be asking you to live on juice and veggie broth (at least not for any length of time) but we will be asking you to eliminate or at least restrict some foods that are hard for your body to digest. These include : -

• Meat
• Dairy products
• Fried foods
• Processed sugars
• Processed foods
• Coffee
• Alcohol

Try to eat predominantly organic fruits and veggies and whole foods and remember to drink plenty of water. If weight loss is a goal you should restrict but not eliminate carbohydrates. Otherwise choose organic whole grains such as brown rice or quinoa. Replace your coffee with the green tea blend you will find in your kit. We will talk about food in greater depth as we tackle the cleanse week by week and I will be making some suggestions and sharing some recipes as I go along.

Recommendations to Support your Cleanse

• Start each day with a cup of hot water with lemon in it.
• Eat three small meals and two snacks a day.
• Take some time each day to do deep breathing, meditation, gentle stretching or yoga
• Get at least 8 hours sleep each night
• In the shower brush your skin with a loofah, skin brush or Japanese skin cloth
• Drink one 8 oz glass of water or cup of herbal tea an hour. Explore a variety of herbal teas. Green tea is nice first thing in the morning and chamomile tea is relaxing before bed.
• Eat small portions and stop eating when you are satisfied.
• Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly
• Have a weekly acupuncture treatment to encourage detoxification and to deal with any symptoms that may arise
• Once a week place a castor oil pack over your liver. Rub castor oil over your liver on your right side of your upper abdomen from the mid-line out under your ribcage. Place an old towel over the caster oil and put a hot pack over the area and leave it there for 30 – 40 minutes whilst you relax.
• Reiki can be helpful especially if you find that your cleansing process involves processing negative emotions.
• Try to walk for at least 30 minutes a day

A Sample Day

7.00am – Drink a cup of hot water with lemon

7.15am – Stretching exercises and deep breathing

7.30am – Green Tea + Herbs from your kit

Drink water and the herbal tea from your kit throughout the day

8.00am – Oatmeal made with rice milk or a smoothy made with silken tofu, fruit and honey

10.00am – An apple

1.00pm – Miso soup with vegetables or a raw vegetable salad + Herbs from your kit

3.00pm – A handful of almonds

6.00pm – Steamed Salmon, leafy greens and baked squash + Herbs from your kit

7.30pm – Walk for 1/2 an hour

9.00pm – Chamomile Tea

10.00pm – Meditate/ Yoga/ Castor oil pack

10.30pm – Bed

I’m going to outline each week of this four week cleanse in more detail as we go along. So …..Good luck and let’s get started.

All herbs in our YinOva Cleanse are supplied by Blessed Herbs. We sell the kits at The YinOva Center or you can buy them directly from the manufacturer.

Please check with your doctor or health care provider to make sure that you are healthy enough to spend a month on a restricted diet. Do not take herbs, vitamins, recreational drugs or over the counter medication whilst you are cleansing. If you are taking prescribed medications please ask your prescribing physician for advice about combining them with this cleanse. The instruction book that accompanies your kit has information about the way in which the cleansing herbs can interact with certain prescribed medications.

Do NOT cleanse :-

• If you are pregnant (if you discover you are pregnant whilst cleansing, please discontinue with the cleanse)
• If you have an active, acute infection
• If you are weak or debilitated
• If you are about to undergo or are recovering from surgery
• If you are suffering from the following GI problems – diarrhea, vomiting, intestinal infection, bowel obstruction, inflammation of the GI tract, abnormal narrowing of the esophagus or intestines, difficulty swallowing.