On sobriety, detoxing and how I heal my body and mind

I got sober this August, quitting alcohol and all substances on my 42nd birthday. And when I was sober for about a month, I did a 3-day juice cleanse and then proceeded to cut out industrial sugars, dairy and wheat from my diet. This detox is meant to, step by step, cleanse my body and mind, so that I can approach the rest of my life healthy, strong, clear-headed and aligned.   

Throughout all of this, I also started intense bioenergy healing treatments that I find similar to my ayahuasca experiences. Both modalities are about energy alignment and purging whatever toxicity we have accumulated over the years, caused by how we eat, drink, think, where we live and how we handle trauma and conflict. They both help you reach deeper states of consciousness with the purpose of healing you from whatever old pain your mind and body have been holding on to.

It’s not for the faint of heart. But for me, as a coach, I feel that detoxes like these are necessary if I want to walk the talk, so to speak.

We can hold on to old pain in different ways and for various reasons. Chronic physical pain is often psychological. I have a sore spot on my left shoulder that hurts specifically when I’m under stress. I know that there is nothing wrong with my back, physically, many experts have confirmed it, and yet, the pain is there. “The brain can cause mischief in any organ or system in the body”, as Dr. John Sarno says in his book “Healing Back Pain - The Mind-Body Connection”, which I happen to be reading at the moment (I highly recommend this book if you’re suffering from back pain, especially if you have a hard time getting it diagnosed).

You may have certain emotions that your brain is trying to hide from you by developing physical pain.

The reason behind a mother’s back pain may be subconscious anger at her children. But this idea is so far fetched for her that, instead of acknowledging it, her brain makes it more simple - her back hurts. It also gives her something to focus on, so that she can conveniently not think about he repressed feelings, that her children are keeping her from living a different kind of life for example. Only when she is able to recognize her emotions for what they are and deal with them, the pain will subside.

An employee develops low back spasms and severe pain and would rather blame it on strenuous physical activity (or lack thereof) than consider that what’s causing it are problems at work: difficulties with the team members he supervises and his boss’s criticism. When asked about it, he may nonchalantly reply ““Nothing I can’t handle”,” but he doesn’t realize that although he’’s “handling” it, he’’s generating large quantities of anxiety and anger in the process. Repressed, they show up as back pain.

The world teaches us to take a painkiller and move on. But I’ve always been a little rebellious at heart.

So I am rebelliously taking my health and my body in our own hands and healing myself by taking charge of what I put inside of myself - what I eat, drink, think, accept as truth. I believe that, if we all did this, there would be a whole new world possible, more compassionate, less aggressive, less judgmental. If we want to develop a world like this, we need to become this way primarily with ourselves.

Stay tuned for my updates and, if this inspired you to want to make a better choice in your own life, please let me know in the comments or by emailing me.