Day 10 Juice Feast -- Adjuncts that Alleviate Detox Symptoms

Sauna Cat

Last night I crawled into the sauna and finished my final green juice--I don't remember the last time I slept so well. I felt absolutely amazing all day. The weather perked up beautifully yesterday and today so in lieu of produce shopping I went out for long walks at lunch in the sunshine.

I don't remember the last time I slept so well and it got me thinking about those extras I do to support myself. Although the ionic footbath and FAR infrared sauna are not mandatory elements of a JF, they are tools to me that feel like when I squeeze that sponge one final time. Of course I'm never alone in the sauna. When I prepare the sauna by gathering my towels, water and entertainment my cat is in before I am. She crawls down to the bottom and takes a bath. In a few minutes as the sauna heats up she wedges her way out and naps on her kitty post nearby. Even though she has been a sauna cat for over a year I've noticed lately with the spring water, she is drinking a lot more water--she really likes it.

I did an ionic footbath Wednesday night and like the sauna, it took the edge off the detox and stress I was beginning to feel. My detox symptoms have been noticeable but minor: temporary blocked nasal passage, swollen upper roof of my mouth and some tongue coating. Today is my official last day of graduate school and when I left work today and walked out into the warm sunshine I literally did not know what to do with myself. I've been attentive to my JF but I will now be able to be more mindful of the process. I have no idea what I am going to do tonight--for the first time in a very long time.

Completed: 30 Days Niacin, Rebounder, FAR Infrared Sauna

I gave myself another challenge and I completed that challenge. For 30 treatments (as consecutive as I could make it) I sweated out a lot of toxins. Often this program dominated my evening so in that sense it felt a little draining. If I ate dinner I had to factor in my digestive  needs before exercising and sometimes I got hung up on the mundane aspects of the repetitive elements of it all. However, in the end it was completely worth it.

It felt similar to fasting. The first three days showed dramatic results in my external appearances. It's my understanding the first few days of a fast are when I release the bulk of the toxins and each day thereafter I go more deeply into older debris, injuries and toxin stock piles.

I will continue to experiment with smaller bursts of this powerful treatment as I move closer to my Juice Feast. I think it would be a powerful prelude (the three days prior) to my Juice Feast. A modified version of it (read: no niacin!) might also be appropriate during the Juice Feast.

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In the most pressing thought of the today I feel it's the post-treatment that is the most important. This is perhaps the greatest lesson I need to learn. How can I rebuild and not slide back into unhealthy choices? Obviously I now know I can sweat it out. When I follow the sweat with activated charcoal the desire is simply gone. But now I must experiment and discover what it is my body needs to rebuild.

My new philosophy from this is that I have discovered pursuing my ultimate health should not be about resolving an issue which upsets me but living up to who I can truly be. With this approach I simply release and allow the issues to resolve themselves.

70 Hours: A Far Infrared Sauna Experiment

(Google Images)

When I was in undergrad I lived in an apartment complex that had a dry sauna. I was in the sauna three times a week and I always had the sauna to myself. I even wrote a poem about the swirling caramel strands in the wood. I would bring an enormous bottle of water and that was the extent of my chugging in college.  Even so when I returned to my apartment I had steam trailing above and behind me.


My experience has changed with my Far Infrared.  The time in the FAR Infrared is hot, but it is more gentle than the dry sauna. I keep a large jar of water at my side and finish it while sweating. As I lay there resting I usually practice mental exercises and otherwise try to keep my cool. After a sauna session I immediately shower to avoid reabsorbing toxins.  Through these 70 hours I have learned a few things.

Perhaps my greatest find in all of this is to learn my FAR Infrared experience has allowed me to shed excessive skin. When I started using the sauna I had rough, dry skin. The type of skin that does not really absorb oil or lotion. So it's been wonderful to find a treatment other than sunbathing that releases this excessive skin. When I finish the sauna I immediately drop the towels in the washer and head for the shower. After a sauna session I always wash my hair. Sometimes I scrub my body with zeolites, sometimes with salt and oils and other times with castile or herbal soap.  When I scrub with soap I will sometimes finish with a dousing in organic raw apple cider vinegar from the neck down. I will then carefully dab small amounts on my face.  Vinegar can be aggravating to the eyes so it's important to be gentle when using it on the face.  All of these techniques do wonderful things so I vary them according to how much energy I have.

(Google Images)

I have also found using the sauna requires I stay on top of my liquids. This may mean I can more easily break out sweating outside my sauna time but I have learned to appreciate this for the long term benefits of having open detox pathways. Sweating is healthy!

Finally I completed a sauna session at the end of a fast to test out how I feel and it felt like I had squeezed the sponge out. It felt great in terms of releasing toxins and my energy level was not depleted. I think small increments during a Juice Feast are possible for me.

Niacin, Rebounder, Far Infrared Sauna

Another good thing about this blog is that it keeps me vigilant to new cleansing opportunities. Although I am a person of integrity, there is more on the line when I write down a practice rather than let it float around in my head.  In other words, if it is a good idea and worth trying my mind feasts on it and I sometimes spontaneously try the new idea and other times I will spend great amounts of time preparing myself for the challenge. In the past I fooled myself by thinking I would remember a tip or technique without writing it down. So this blog is a cohesive and focused approach to my second Juice Feast. This approach has yielded many surprising wisdom nuggets because my attention has been on daily training rather than waiting until the last minute and jumping off a cliff into the unknown.



The niacin, rebounder and FIR sauna was one such spontaneous quest.  I had heard of a version of it before and there it sat. The lightning bugs are out this time of year, so perhaps the rapid glow and bright lights in my back yard turned on a thing or two in my mind. I decided to start it the day I heard again of it. That was Tuesday and I have just completed my 6th treatment. I started on the new moon and I sweated out on the Summer Solstice. These are powerful times to clean and release toxins.

I also decided to take activated charcoal after I finished the sauna. My protocol has been to eat when I get home from work, take a niacin tablet with it, relax for a short period of time, do 20 minutes on the rebounder followed by at least 40 minutes in the sauna. It is fairly common for me to test my limits, so it was no surprise to me when I took too much niacin and flushed red all over my body. My skin itched and I felt heat in my skin, but otherwise it was not unpleasant. It passed quickly. Then I followed up with an immediate shower. Most nights I just want to scrub and go to bed, but one night I managed to scrub with zeolite powder. I thought it would be a good idea to rub zeolite into my scalp, but it wasn't. The type of zeolite I used is actually for my garden and it's in small little balls. These little balls embedded in my scalp! They came out the next day, but I think a better choice is to use liquid zeolites or at least strain the little balls out.

The protocol is recommended for 30 days. That is my goal. It has been an interesting few days. I felt the most clean on the first 3 days, now I don't feel much different after the sessions. 

35 Hours: An Experiment with a Far Infrared Sauna

My first sauna

During my first Juice Feast I discovered the benefits of profuse sweating. More recently I've discovered the benefits of profusely sweating in a healthy, more strategic way. My first portable sauna was an exploration. I was hesitant and skeptical it would provide me any health benefits worth my time and money.

I kept it and used it regularly for 2 years. At that point it smelled terribly of concentrated sweat and I was ready to get rid of it. I went several months without using anything when I began to reconsider a new sauna. I heard about the new low EMF FIR saunas and how other saunas may be doing damage with high EMF output. After a lot of deliberation I decided to buy a Clearlight portable dome sauna.

I have used it for 35 hours and it is an amazing healing tool. I cannot wait to try it when I am fasting. In general it has helped me detox and I have felt great from it, although it's hard to give an overall assessment. For instance on my first use my belly button was red and sore afterwards, just like when I had my amalgam fillings removed. I am not able to articulate why this happened--although I speculate it is a healing reaction to stored toxins in my belly button (I had a ruptured belly button as a child). My skin looks much better, but it is still very dry. I have noticed after a session many dead skin cells scrape off easily. To enhance this process I try to do a dry brushing before the sauna and I use a rough exfoliating cloth in the shower afterwards. I prefer to use a detoxing soap with charcoal in it to absorb any toxins on the surface.

I have had an unusual healing experience with my ear. I pierced my ears several times as a child and I often had infections in them. To date I have had a healing incident in two holes of the left ear. On one a stubborn sore stayed for weeks and after digging it out several times, it finally expelled some old debris and has healed nicely. On a milder note it happened on a second hole, which is still scabbed over.

I lay towels down on the heating mat on the floor and I have adopted the advice I saw on a Daniel Vitalis video to wash the towels in zeolites. I use my usual mild detergent as well. Another best practice I am going to use for the sessions beyond today are a grounding mat. I heard this practice from Len Foley in a Longevity Conference video. A further addition I have used and will continue to use is an ionic air purifier.   I am still learning what works best, but I must say this is one of the best healing tools for me.