It is helpful for us to recognize the seasons and bring our body in tune with nature. We can do this by cleansing our body and creating ceremonies. A great time for connecting with nature is during the solstices and equinoxes. There are several different quarterly ceremonies that would be helpful to implement. Let us talk about body cleanses. This will help us to become more aware of our bodies and be in the natural flow of the universe. It is very difficult in today's world to eat healthy food. All the unhealthy food that is available and the billions of dollars spent on advertising to influence our thoughts about what we want to put into our bodies, challenges us to stay with a healthy diet.

A great cleanse to begin with would be to cut out all hyper allergenic foods such as wheat, soy, eggs, dairy, corn, refined sugar, alcohol, caffeine, and night shades such as tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant. Essentially anything that you think you might have a reaction to, cut it out of your diet for a while. Eat clean foods. Give your body the opportunity to restore itself. You can have a little bit of grain each day but keep it around 1 cup a day. Eat plenty of green vegetables and a limited amount of starchy ones. It is okay to have a piece or two of fruit a day. If you tend to have blood sugar issues, watch your intake of sugar. Cut back on your fat intake. If you eat meat, feel free to eat some clean meat, fish, or chicken as you need. Drink plenty of water.

When you feel clear in your thoughts and a strong energy level in your body, you can start introducing foods back into your diet. This can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks. You will know. You may want to bring one food back per day to see how your body does with this food. If you have any kind of reaction to it, you may want to keep it out of your diet for a while. A possible reaction could be a runny nose, scratchy throat, feeling very tired or wired after eating the food. You will know if your body does not like it for you are in a pure state and the body wisdom is available to you. Listen to it. There is a great book on this way of eating called, Food is Your Best Medicine, by Henry G. Bieler, MD Random House © 1965.

If you have never done a fast, it is a wonderful gift to give yourself. It is very powerful to know that you can go without food for a few days. We can also learn about discipline and listening to our body wisdom. When we are no longer processing food, we are able to have the energy for other things. This is a great restorative and reflective time.

Start with a one-day fast of just fresh vegetable juices. Invest in a good juicer. You will use it throughout your lifetime. The night before you do your fast, it is best to eat light. It will make it much easier for you to stick with your fast. The first time you do this, take the day off and just be quiet with you. Allow yourself the freedom to be with yourself for this healing and nourishing time.

Once you feel comfortable with a one day fast, do a 3 day fast the next time. As a typical rule of thumb, fruits are detoxifying and vegetables are rebuilding. It is nice to have fresh fruit juice the first day and vegetable juice the next day. If you have difficulties with sugar, then you may just want to have one glass of fruit juice in the morning and then vegetable juices the rest of the day.

Most of us are challenged with sugar. Refined sugar has absolutely no nutritional value. A general understanding about food cravings is if you crave it on a regular basis, you have a problem with it. Learn the difference between cravings that tells us our body is in need of something, verses a craving that has become a substitute for an emotional imbalance. Watch yourself to see when you want something sweet. Oftentimes, we can crave sugar after a meal with protein in it because we are not breaking down our proteins correctly. Another time we crave something sweet, is when we are feeling emotionally challenged and want to check out. Sugar is a great way to numb the pain, temporarily. Or so we think. Actually, this is a great cause for all the adult onset of diabetes plaguing this country. Pay attention to your body and eat consciously.

You can move onto extended cleanses when you feel ready. A week cleanse is a beautiful time of restoration. It is very healing and nurturing. When you are ready for this, there are many retreats available to help guide you through it or you can venture to do it on your own. If you do not feel comfortable with this, seek out an experienced health practitioner. You can also do a strict cleanse of just pure or distilled water. Do not attempt this until you feel comfortable with your own healing and ability to listen to your body wisdom.

While you are cleansing, it is important to take time out for yourself. Take some walks out in nature. Find the time to be still. Meditate. Allow yourself time for rest. You are in a restoration phase of your body. Allow it to regenerate itself.

Remember, food is supposed to be nourishment for our body. When you eat, allow yourself to masticate your food. Eat slowly and eat with love. Bless your food and pay attention to your thoughts while you are eating. Bring pleasant conversations into your mealtime. If you have an issue with someone, it is best to save it for an after dinner circle or another time so that you do not bring havoc or chaos into your time of nourishment.