Ring in the Spring ☼ New Year Detox Plan

I’ve always felt some aversion towards the Gregorian calendar…

The new year beginning on 1st January never seems to reflect the vibes in the outside world.

It’s the thick of winter, people are struggling to come back to reality after the holiday season, and there’s an ambience of hermitage as the motivation to do anything other than curl up in a blanket on the sofa ceases to exist.

Fast forward to March, the 20th to be precise (also the very date that I write this), and things are beginning to look up.

The sun is finally making not just one, but four guest appearances in the last week, the thermometer is hitting the mid to late teens (°C), and a colour palette of flowers are very much in bloom.

Resetting the Mind

At last, the darkness of winter is over and we can start to see the light of spring once again. Leaving behind any heaviness and readying ourselves for another “second chance” at life.

This is why I love Astrology, as the new year officially begins now, at the time of the Equinox which is when Aries, the first sign of the Zodiac bursts onto the scene, embodying the archetypes of “newness”.

Beginnings. Renewal. Optimism. Energy. Motivation.

No time to wait, let’s get moving.

The Equinox is representative of universal balance and harmony as for the next 3 days, the hours of day and night are equal, helping us to feel a sense of re-centring.

Resetting the Body

Each year, after the darkness of winter and long heat of summer, I like to do a seasonal detox to help my body make the big shift between the changing temperatures.

We don’t realise it consciously but internally our bodies go through a lot to make the adjustment when the seasons change. However, if we can mindfully connect to ourselves and nurture our health during this time of transition, we can reap the rewards through fresh energy, enthusiasm and all-round balance and peace within.

What is Detoxing?

First, it’s important to distinguish what detoxing actually means.

👉 “a process or period of time in which one abstains from or rids the body of toxic or unhealthy substances; detoxification.” – Oxford Dictionary

Although there are many ways to detox, I’m speaking about a dietary detox, which means to eliminate all processed food and drink for 7 days. The benefit of this is, when the body doesn’t need to spend time on these hard to digest, inflammatory prone ingredients, (gluten, dairy, sugar, animal products, coffee, alcohol) it has more time to repair itself on a deeper, cellular level.

There are many types of detox plans out there, and after experimenting with many myself, I’ve landed on one that actually sustains you with energy and fullness throughout the day and can provide variety in what you eat.

Start here!

The diet is plant based and includes 5 small meals throughout the day which begins with some hot water and lemon when you first wake up. Even though lemon tastes acidic, when it’s ingested, our bodies actually convert it to alkaline which is why this is a great ritual to help reset your gut to begin the day.

Breakfast

Then, the most important part of the detox plan is a breakfast smoothie containing the superfood powder, spirulina – a type of algae raised in warm alkaline lakes containing many vitamins and minerals. Spirulina also absorbs heavy metals such as mercury in the organs and boosts the production of white blood cells and antibodies that fight viruses and bacteria in your body. (Spirulix definition) 

Now, let’s not sugar coat anything here, spirulina tastes absolutely awful, so the part of this breakfast smoothie is adding ingredients that will mask its pungent, seaweedy taste…

My go to recipe is this:

Satori’s Sexy Spirulina Breakfast Smoothie

• 1 tbsp spirulina powder
• Good glug of coconut water
• 1 banana (or portion of strawberries or blueberries)
• ¼ big cooked Beetroot
• 1 stick Celery (chopped)
• Spinach (handful)
• Fresh ginger (4cm)
• Lemon (big squeeze)
• Olive oil (big glug for added healthy fats)

Then blend it up and serve with some seeds (flax, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame).

Lunch and Dinner

Throughout the rest of the day, you can get creative and colourful by making nutritious salad bowls, vegetable stews and soups for lunch and dinner with a variety of vegetables and finding your protein from sources such as beans (black, white), tofu or tempeh and your fats from avocados, nuts, olive oil, olives (just be careful with olives to be sure they’re fresh and not shop bought packaged as they’ll likely contain preservatives. I found this out the hard way when I did my spring detox last week… 😜

Snacks

It’s not necessary to eat 5 meals a day, you’ll probably find as you go that you won’t always be so hungry as your body adjusts to the cleanse. So 3 meals a day is also fine! But if you do feel your tummy rumbling, especially during the first couple of days, here are some snack suggestions to keep you going.

• Mixed nuts
• Celery sticks and apple / melon / berries
• Fruit of choice
• Dates (but as they have a lot of natural sugar in, try not to have too many during the week)

Disclaimer⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

Again, I don’t want to sugar coat (no pun intended lol) the detox process, it requires a lot of mental discipline, especially the first few times you do it.

If you’re finding it too challenging to commit to a full 7 days, I completely understand…

This is the ideal time frame to create some deep results but the first detoxes I ever tried were 4 days and this was already a challenge.

If you don’t manage to complete the 7 days, don’t beat yourself up!!

Try setting a target of 3, 4 days for example and if you can manage to surpass that up to the 7, even better! Do your best and just remember, even though the mind wants to give in to the glory of processed food, the healing benefits are HUGE if you keep going.

You’re not just ridding the body of physical toxins but also mental and emotional toxins too.

We store so much in our bodies with time and as an advocate for holistic health, I believe the body and mind are interconnected so by healing one, you also heal the other.

Unexpected big picture consequences of detoxing…

Feeling good within makes us far more likely to shine this sense of wholeness without, to the people and world around us.

When we take the time to heal ourselves, we’re also helping to heal the world.

If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading!

I hope you feel inspired to put your health and wellbeing first and challenge yourself! You can only benefit!

Let me know in the comments how many days you think you can set as your target and let me know your progress!!

You can also contact me via Instagram direct message or by email at tori@satorishifts.com 

Keep up to date on essential wellness knowledge, future events and retreats via my email newsletter and Instagram! 🦋

Sending you LOVE, LIGHT and good tidings for the new year!

Breathe in the fresh air, enjoy the moment and go for your goals, this is what life is about!! 🌸