Detoxification and Environmental Wellness2024-05-29T07:14:55-04:00
Detoxification Services

Modern life and technology creates many substances which are harmful to our bodies and brains. Sometimes we expose ourselves to toxic substances on purpose (e.g. medications, smoking, alcohol, breast implants) but even more often we are not aware of our exposure (e.g. poor air quality, toxins in our food, mold inside buildings).

Toxins will get inside cells and damage them or otherwise affect their ability to function. The longer you live, the more toxins you are exposed to. An important part of feeling better not older is cleansing the body of toxins! Let’s find the best way for you!

Is this you?

A 3 day fast sounds like torture and a juice cleanse must mean you spend all day in the bathroom – right? The idea of feeling better after a detox is so appealing though!

It doesn’t have to be like that. Detox should help you feel better during and after the process.

Is this you?

Everything was fine until your mid 40’s when feeling good went to hell in a handbasket. If detox fixes this, you are in!

Life accumulates and at some point you just need to rest, reset, and clear out the trash. Perimenopause is an opportunity to do just that!

Wellness Lifestyle Approach: Detoxification as Preventative Medicine

When enough cells in an organ are damaged by toxins, your body shuts down that organ (or parts of it) in order to protect it.

  • If this is your liver, you can no longer process sugars well which often leads to a diabetes diagnosis.
  • If part of your brain shuts down, you may lose memory (Alzheimer’s) or motor control (Parkinson’s).
  • If mold mycotoxins are attacking the mitochondria in your cells, your entire body is affected with low energy, pain, and poor functioning.
  • If the mercury in your teeth’s fillings or in the air from a nearby coal burning plant get stuck in your brain, your entire brain is at risk of poor or suspended functioning.

Many chronic diseases and medical conditions can be traced back to toxins building up in the body and brain. Instead of waiting for an Alzheimer’s diagnosis or taking pharmaceuticals to deal with fibromyalgia and chronic pain, Zen and Vitality is here to help you take steps to encourage your body get rid of the things harming you from the inside.

Step 1: Reduce your exposure to toxins by assessing and making changes to the air you breath, the water you drink, what you put in your body, and what you put on your body.

Step 2: Actively work to remove toxins from your body being careful to go slow enough so that you feel as good as you can while detoxing and you do not overload your body with work.

Step 3: Go global to protect yourself, your children, and all living things on Earth from the devastating effects of toxic chemicals – you can shop local, use solar energy, and so much more!

When enough cells in an organ are damaged by toxins, your body shuts down that organ (or parts of it) in order to protect it.

  • If this is your liver, you can no longer process sugars well which often leads to a diabetes diagnosis.
  • If part of your brain shuts down, you may lose memory (Alzheimer’s) or motor control (Parkinson’s).
  • If mold mycotoxins are attacking the mitochondria in your cells, your entire body is affected with low energy, pain, and poor functioning.
  • If the mercury in your teeth’s fillings or in the air from a nearby coal burning plant get stuck in your brain, your entire brain is at risk of poor or suspended functioning.

Many chronic diseases and medical conditions can be traced back to toxins building up in the body and brain. Instead of waiting for an Alzheimer’s diagnosis or taking pharmaceuticals to deal with fibromyalgia and chronic pain, Zen and Vitality is here to help you take steps to encourage your body get rid of the things harming you from the inside.

Step 1: Reduce your exposure to toxins by assessing and making changes to the air you breath, the water you drink, what you put in your body, and what you put on your body.

Step 2: Actively work to remove toxins from your body being careful to go slow enough so that you feel as good as you can while detoxing and you do not overload your body with work.

Step 3: Go global to protect yourself, your children, and all living things on Earth from the devastating effects of toxic chemicals – you can shop local, use solar energy, and so much more!

Every body carries a toxic load. The questions are: how heavy is your load and how much load are you strong enough to carry and for how long? Many times, we hear of someone who lived a “healthy life” and “did all the right things” and still got cancer or some other disease or diagnosis. Our personal choices are only part of the calculation of our toxic load. We have to account for both what we intentionally put into and onto our bodies and also what our environment gives us without our consent.

Therapy #1: Detoxification Support Plan

Ionic Detox Footbath

The longer you live or the worse you feel, the more detoxification should be at the forefront of your mind. Each of us travels through life with a unique body and a varied history of exposures to things your body should not hold onto. How do you navigate what to do for your body and brain right now so that you feel better not worse? That’s where I come in! Together we devise a plan for you and I help you through the process of following it for up to 2 months.

Therapy #2: Ionic Detox Foot Bath to Move Toxins Out of Your Cells

Ionic Detox Footbath

Many toxic substances get stored in your cells because your body does not know what else to do with them. As long as they are residing inside your cells, your lymphatic system has to work very hard to get them out of the cells and then out of your body. The Ionic Detox Foot Bath coaxes the positively charged toxins out of the cells and into the extracellular spaces where your lymph system can locate them and mobilize their removal.

The Ionic Detox Foot Bath’s encouragement is like priming a pump or planting a seed and watering it. Once that initial step has occurred, the detox process can operate smoothly. Your body still has a lot of work to do on its own, but the Ionic Detox Foot Bath is a great tool to boost the effectiveness of your detox protocol.

Therapy #3: Rebounder to Improve Lymph Fluid Flow

Rebounder

Your lymphatic system is your body’s trash removal system. There are lymph vessels, lymph fluid, and lymph nodes, and supporting organs. There is however no pump to push the lymph fluid around the body like the heart does for your blood. Your whole body movement is the driving force to getting the lymph fluid all around the body to flow towards the center of the body for processing and removal of things that may harm you.

One gentle way to get whole body movement for lymphatic system stimulation is to come to Zen and Vitality in La Plata, MD and use the Rebounder for a Gentle Health Bounce.

To get started, keep both feet on the trampoline (and perhaps your hands on the walls for comfort) then just gently bend your knees and ankles or lift and lower your heels to get a little movement. This is enough to stimulate your lymph flow to detoxify your body. Start with 2 minutes and work up to perhaps 10 minutes a session. When you engage in the Gentle Health Bounce, there is no impact to your joints or spine since your feet never leave the trampoline!

Therapy #4: Homeopathic Remedies to Stimulate Your Body’s Detox Organs

Homeopathic Remedies

Homeopathy is a time honored healing tool used world-wide. It is gentle plant medicine but incredibly effective when the chosen remedy matches your body and its needs.

I think of homeopathic remedies as gentle reminders to the body of how to do its job better. That does not mean homeopathic remedies are always gentle! They can be quite powerful and effective. Explore!

Therapy #5: Eat Primarily Local, Organic, Sustainably Grown Food

Local Organic Food

Organic has been a buzz word for a while now but does it guarantee that your food is non-toxic? There are no guarantees in life but having relationships with the farmers that grow your food makes a big difference.

My farmers are Heinz, Gabrielle, and their daughters at Next Step Produce. If you live near La Plata, MD, they can be your farmers too – with easy pickup of your produce, grains, flours, beans, and more twice a week at Zen and Vitality.

Non-toxic food is important for your health. Choose food that is:

  • pesticide-free, artificial hormone-free, endocrine disruptor-free and herbicide free
  • grown in soil tested for mineral content and regenerated through sustainable farming practices
  • close to its natural form
  • grown as close to your mouth as possible
  • cooked in ways that do not add harmful components
  • shown to have more health benefits than potential risks

Where does your non-toxic food come from?

Therapy #6: Infrared Sauna to Stimulate Sweat and Circulation

Zoa laying in the Infrared Sauna

An Infrared Sauna session provides the right kind of heat directly to cells inside your body to give you an internal temperature rise.

When your body warms in the Infrared Sauna, your circulation pattern changes. In order to cool you off, more blood comes to the surface – to the skin – than stays in your core. This blood moves nutrients and toxins alike to the skin.

The Infrared Sauna induced body heating activates your immune system so it can return you to a state of health. This temperature rise also stimulates sweating of your whole body. Sweat is known to carry with it heavy metal and other toxins from just under the skin to the outside for you to wipe off!

Therapy #7: Drink to Support a Healthy Gut Microbiome

Gut health is whole body health. Many toxins kill off the incredibly complex collection of bacteria friends that live in your gut and keep you healthy. When your gut microbiome is damaged, your ability to make energy, your body’s access to vitamins and minerals in your diet, your ability to regulate moods and blood sugar, and your immune function are also damaged.

Kombucha Brewing

Your digestive system also feeds one of your primary detox pathways – your poop. When your microbiome is off, so are your bathroom habits. You need a regular deposit into the toilet of healthy looking poo so that toxins leave before they have the chance to be reabsorbed through your intestinal wall.

When your intestinal flora, your gut bacteria, shifts to have more bad boys than good ones kombucha and other fermented foods to the rescue! Drink your way to more good bacteria in your large intestine and to healthy, daily bowel movements!

You might only be able to drink a shot glass full in a day as you get started, but kombucha has a long history of restoring your intestinal microbiome to a healthy state. You just want to go slow enough to not shock your system into a bad boy die off that makes you feel worse!

Therapy #8: Supplement with Minerals That Carry Toxins Away From Cells

BEAM Liquid Minerals

Fulvic minerals are tiny, complex mineral structures that carry nutrients into your cells and toxins out and into the blood stream. Fulvic minerals help rejuvenate your cells.

Humic minerals are large mineral complexes that carry toxins through the blood stream to your detox organs – your liver and kidneys – for proper processing. Humic minerals improves the effectiveness of your body at getting rid of harmful things.

Both of these mineral types are particularly helpful when you have a chronic illness that affects your whole body and brain. I take both daily!

Therapy #9: Outdoor Air Quality Monitoring

Zoa Practicing Yoga

Air quality is crucial to feeling good in our bodies and the operation of our brains. The indoor air quality of our homes is under our direct control. Outdoor air quality has many complicated factors and is difficult for us to impact except when we work together for the goal of clean, breathable air. If you live with an existing breathing challenge, air quality directly impacts what you can do on a day-by-day basis.

As a public service to the La Plata, Maryland community, Zen and Vitality maintains (as of 12/10/20) a Purple Air outdoor air quality sensor. The information is publicly available and updated in real time. Check the outdoor air quality before you exercise outside or whenever you need!

Reading Resources about Detoxification and Your Health

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