How to rid your body of toxins (the old fashioned way)

I've talked in a few posts about toxins and how I believe they are a key component in why I got cancer. I think of it as a three-legged stool, with environmental toxins, poor diet and lifestyle, and genetics all contributing.

There are no quick fixes. It takes decades for cancer or other chronic diseases to take hold. It takes years, at a minimum, to detoxify. This can seem daunting, like you need to do everything perfect forevermore. But Rome wasn't built in a day.

Where do you start detoxifying? Add one new good practice to your roster. Once that good practice becomes habit, add another. Don't try to change everything suddenly. They're like collecting pebbles on a beach. You don't start your walk with all the pebbles collected. You collect them as you go.

Here's what I do to shed the toxins. Some are big things, which take dedication and practice, and others are easy to add to your daily routine.

1. Meditate. Mental toxins are just as damaging as the pesticides in your salad (perhaps more so). Meditation helps remove mental toxins. There are many kinds of meditation. Some are religious, but the what I practice is non-denominational. Find a quiet and comfortable place to sit. (You don't have to cross your legs like a yoga-master!) Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Feel it come in and go out. When thoughts comes along, which they do, observe them. Usually they go away, then you can go back to focusing on your breath. Do this for about 10 minutes, ideally every day.

2. Exercise. The important thing here is that it be something you like so that you will stick with it. I do CrossFit because it is interesting, challenging, and free. The other important thing is that exercise make you sweat. Sweating removes toxins.

3. Apple cider vinegar. Pour a splash of ACV in a glass and fill with filtered water. Do this morning and night. You can almost feel it sucking the toxins out. Make sure that the ACV you buy is raw and contains the "mother" or the cloudy vinegar starter. Oh yeah, filtering your water removes toxins.

4. Eat well. Good nutrition does two things. First, it gives you the nutrients you need to be healthy. Second, it displaces junk food. This isn't difficult stuff. If you want to detoxify, start by stopping the toxins coming in.

5. Sauna. Remember what I said about exercise that makes you sweat? Sweating in a sauna helps, and it's great fun too. Ask any firefighter who gets all sooty after a good fire. You can smell the junk seeping out of your pores for days afterward, and a sauna is one of the best ways to accelerate that process. But you don't need to be a firefighter to benefit from the sauna. It doesn't have to be terribly hot, just make sure you stay in long enough to get a good sweat going. I like to extend my saunas with cold showers (or jumps in the lake), up to an hour or more.

6. Sleep. At least 8 hours a night. I prefer 9 or more, but that's hard with a baby in the house. Your body removes toxins during sleep. Imagine if you did everything else perfectly, but you didn't sleep! You'd still be completely toxic!

7. Be nice. To others and to yourself. Being mean is being toxic.

8. Forgive yourself. No one is perfect. Don't beat yourself up for things you did in the past. Resolve to do your best in the future.

9. Avoid sick people. They will make you sick, and you can't shed toxins while you're fighting a bug.

Can I find any more cliches? The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Life is a journey, not a destination.

If you're not doing the basics (eat well, sleep well, exercise well), then you will not be ridding your body of toxins. All the other things will be of no use if you haven't got the basics down. Build the walls and roof on the foundation. You can build great walls and a great roof, but if you put them directly on the ground, your house will rot and fall as surely as if you built it with shoddy materials and workmanship.