Rebuilding: 100 Days of Schizandra

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In this health-is-wealth and powerful book "The Ancient Wisdom of the Chinese Tonic Herbs" Ron Teeguarden shares with us an ancient tool to realign us with the "primary energies of life." Specifically "Schizandra generates vitality and radiant beauty when used regularly for sometime....If used for one hundred days successively, Schizandra is said to purify the blood, sharpen the mind, improve memory, rejuvenate the Kidney energy...and cause the skin to become radiantly beautiful. " Furthermore, his website elaborates: " People who start taking Schizandra regularly all change for the better. Their skin virtually glows and becomes clear and fine after several months."

So, I have accepted the 100 day challenge. Today is day 2. I decided to start with Dragon Herbs because I became an admirer of Ron Teeguarden through his presentations at the Longevity Now  Conferences. He strikes me not only as knowledgeable in Chinese herbalism, but someone who bears the responsibility of that knowledge with integrity and grace. In one presentation he said he had made a vow to love everything. I'm hooked!

From Dragon Herbs

I will freely admit I have had this book for years and I am still uneducated on the ways of Chinese herbalism. Each entry in the book is written in loving and glowing terms and it can be difficult to not fall for these plants yourself! I am fairly certain I will not use encapsulated herbs during the Juice Feast, however I am seeking to start the Juice Feast at a higher level of health and explore where the Feast may take me. For today, I am starting with Schizandra to strengthen and rebuild. Let's see where that takes me.

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

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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.

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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. 

Summer's Release (Another Liver Cleanse)

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Summer is officially here! When I observe nature this time of the year I see a comfortable, confident flowing relationship. It is a season where nature lets it all hang out. Naturally with the new moon on Tuesday and the Summer Solstice on Wednesday I felt like it would be a good time to do another liver flush. I was conscientious this week to drink extra detox liver tea, take chlorella and spirulina often, drink plenty of pure water and make as many wise eating choices that I could. There were no hardships or guilty feelings, instead I translated them into health-bringing moments of pleasure. To me, this indicates my reduced toxic load as cravings no longer control me. I am always amazed how much I can be influenced by toxins.

Perhaps this feeling of contentedness supported me last night as I stood in the darkness of my bedroom with my glass of organic olive oil and organic grapefruit juice, I already had the shakes knowing I was going to drink it. I have never been able to swallow the Epsom salts straight so I encapsulate them and save myself that unpleasantness. But there is no way to avoid drinking down the olive oil. It was the greatest hindrance to me starting on this liver cleanse protocol. Yes, it's difficult to get it down psychologically but it does go down. This time I chanted the Medicine Buddha mantra while I drank and I hardly noticed it. Then I immediately hopped in bed. I had put on a castor oil treatment before preparing the oil for drinking so I lay scrunched on my right side with a castor oiled cloth and a heating pad draining toxins from the outside. I remained still for a long time and finally I fell asleep.

The liver cleanse is certainly a challenge but the rewards keep me coming back for more. The best thing for me, is these cleanses release anger, irritation and other unhealthy thoughts.  When I was doing them with every new moon I felt euphoric after each one. Now, several years after the first cleanse I maintain my feeling of peace and evenness with greater ease. Each cleanse gently places me back where I need to be. My level of awareness has raised to a new level from the liver cleanse.

Another Short Fast

My previous modified fast lasted close to, if not 4 full days. It was slightly uncomfortable. It appears I have stretched my stomach for my cravings to eat troubled me the most. However around the 3 day mark those cravings disappeared and I began to enjoy the fast. I was completely exhausted and mostly rested to the point of light reading and watching movies. I watched the entire season of Out of the Wild: Venezuela. I enjoy group dynamics under extreme situations--for it shows me the truth of human nature. Plus, I had seen the previous season featuring Alaska and I knew the people would be fasting more rigorously than I was. In fact they go hungry for days and exert themselves to the breaking point. I merely laid on my couch and let me body heal itself.

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I am in round two of another modified fast. This one is for 3 days over a long weekend. It's much easier this time. One thing which I have added and will continue to use on my full-fledged Juice Feast is incorporating probiotics.

I am not a follower of the Body Ecology Diet but I have learned a lot from its principles. The main thing I have incorporated is the strategic use of probiotics.  In my juices I am adding a dose of Cocobiotic and in grapefruit juice I am adding a scoop of Vitality SuperGreen. In the last modified fast I regularly took MRM Digest-All digestive enzymes with my juices. I had success with it, but I have to be careful as my constitution can be revved up from a hot coal to a bonfire and into intense healing and a desire to return to solid food right quickly.

The most important thing in this light, modified fasting is allowing my body down time. It truly is with gratitude that I thank my body with its infinite wisdom to heal itself.  I intend to prepare myself for the Juice Feast with as many short fasts as I can. As I mentioned before I want to master the art of breaking the fast. At present all I can say is I have a lot of learning and experimenting to do.

Breaking My Fasting Abstinence

My first Juice Feast was in full swing this time two years ago. I have not fasted since.  Because of my work schedule and lifestyle choices I usually fast to some degree over holidays. Yet with graduate school added into my schedule I have felt too tired and simply unready to fast.  One of the reasons this blog is so important to me pre-Juice Feasting, is because I have needed to stay as close to healthy choices as I can.  So I continue to challenge and prepare myself for a Juice Feast that will likely occur one year from now.  In the meantime I am learning about and making better choices in small increments.

I recently traveled home. This trip transitioned into a soul searching journey. Through healing conversations with family members, beautiful bare foot walks on the lake shore and internal spiritual discoveries I felt several releases of energy. When I came back I had to reconcile these differences. So for the first time in two years, I engaged in a three day modified fast.


For most people water fasts can be a little too severe. As I am easing my way back into fasting I opted for crystal-charged water, Vitamineral green-spiked grapefruit juice, herbal tea (both dried and fresh from the garden) and even a helping of organic miso broth. I have found that long, deep sleeps are required to succeed on this fast. Although the fast has not been troublesome, I have needed to be mindful  and rest regularly.

Fasting again puts me in touch with the areas that I need to work on. I think my greatest challenge is how I can sensibly come off the fast.  Today is my final day and I plan to break it carefully with green smoothies tomorrow.  I am considering several one day fasts in the future to train for breaking fasts.