Clearing & detoxing on physical, emotional & spiritual levels

Friday– 25^th February 2011  

There’s a lot happening for our group here at the Ayurvedic Resort in terms of clearing and detoxing……We have all been given what they call PURGATION!! to flush out all the toxins! Half of the group started last night and the rest of us are starting tonight.

You are given a small bottle of oil (about 40ml) to drink 2 hours after your evening meal, which was a light dinner of mainly vegetables, and then the idea is to follow this with a couple of litres of warm water through the evening. Most chose to either skull the oil or to have it in some water…..watching as all the oil settled on top……..Apparently some people go to the toilet fairly often through the night, whilst others don’t really start until early in the morning. Breakfast the next day is a very plain rice soup followed by rice gruel with ginger chutney for lunch and lemon or basmati rice and steamed vegetables for dinner.

I’m distracted by the puddle of oil collecting at my feet as there is oil dripping off me after my treatment today. The floor is made out of onyx tiles which becomes very slide-y and slippery with the slithery oil…….:O) My oil puddle is coming from oil dripping off my lower legs as they have applied an herbal oil mix/salve that has been soaked into cotton wool and then bandaged onto my lower legs between my knee and ankle which is intended to soothe the veins in my legs. It feels really nurturing.

In general the idea is to leave the oils from your massage and treatments on your body and let them soak in. Today my ‘treatment ‘ was an “oil bath”. I didn’t actually sit in a bath – you lie on the table….. which is the same wooden box described on Monday 21^st that usually holds the vinyl mattress that is the massage table……and this is positioned at a slight incline with the head end higher than the feet……and they pour oil continuously over you for about an hour – first sitting up and then lying on your back and then on each side. And you go through each position twice.

There is a massage lady on each side of you doing the flowing of the oil on both sides at the same time. Quite h-e-a-v-e-n-l-y!……The texture of the oil was like liquid velvet or liquid silk. It was amazing to run my hands over my body covered in this slithery oil. I don’t think I have ever in my life experienced such a feeling in my body.

Did I mention that they always heat the oils for your treatment?  Makes it feel even more divine. Today we also had our ears cleaned with herbal smoke mixture and drops for our eyes.  They don’t miss any part of you. This was all followed by warm oil being dripped very slowly across my forehead for about 15-20 minutes. This was a favourite for many of the group although one ends up with very, very oily hair.

So back to the Purgation – we were talking in our group about doing a parallel process of clearing and detoxing on an emotional level……..by the way we meet each afternoon for 2 hours of learning and group process. Many have come to the Retreat with the intention of clearing outdated and harmful beliefs and relationships.

Everyone chose to become watchful and reflective throughout the time of their purge/cleanse as to what they wanted to emotionally let go of as well as the detoxing of their physical bodies. Thanks Ashlesha for your post on Feb 24^th – for reminding us that our thoughts/beliefs become our words which become our behaviours/actions which over time become our automatic habits.

Question for you: What outdated belief/opinion about yourself or someone else is it time to let go of? What new belief and behaviours are you going to replace it with?

 “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs.
Ask yourself what makes you come alive,
And then go do that.
Because what the world needs
Is people who have come alive.”
– Harold Thurman Whitman

I’m sitting here in our cottage at my computer at the desk in front of the window that faces the ocean and I listen to the waves crash onto the shore below as our background ‘music’ and I look out and see way off in the distance the horizon spotted by hundreds of lights of the fishermen’s boats. They spend their night out there every night. Working hard I imagine to bring in their meagre catch in the morning……..

 I feel grateful and blessed for my abundance and that I am sitting here writing this blog to you and for all the richness and ease in my life. How easy it is to take our blessings for granted. Part of the learning of being here for me is to appreciate my blessings – that I am being beautifully indulged and taken care of and that I have the means to do so – and being as fully in the present moment with each experience.

Question for you:  What are you grateful for in your life? What blessings do you take for granted?

 I’m going off to bed with a tummy full of oil and water and look forward to what the night brings…….:O) Be well and happy, Susie.