If you're feeling overwhelmed by all of this information on toxins and detoxing, the thing to do is slow down, but keep your goal in sight and take it one step at a time.
Sit in a quiet spot to assess things. How urgent is it for you to make changes? Are you sick? If you're sick, it's fairly urgent, but you can still only do one thing at a time. Figure out areas in which you need to make changes and make a plan. Start with the easy ones – the ones that require less adaptation or less expense. Do those first but don't forget to plan for the bigger changes further down the road.
The plan that is going to give the biggest payoff the most quickly is to reduce consumable toxins. But reduction of consumable toxins is also one of the hardest things to accomplish. Unless you're under the supervision of a licensed healthcare professional, we don't recommend going "cold turkey" on more than one of your indulgences at a time. Indulgences include sugar, caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, and drugs.
But there are also helpful changes that don't deal with ingrained habits, such as exercise – especially walking – and nutritional supplements. Another easy and very positive change is to increase your ability to handle stress. Two excellent ways to do this are to get adequate sleep, and to practice breathing deeper and more slowly. Breathing is very important and many of us breathe very shallowly when we get stressed. Breathe deep abdominal breaths.
In some cases, people are being sickened by continual exposure to toxins or something they have developed an allergy to in their home or work environment. If the offending substance(s) can be identified and avoided, this can sometimes make an immediate difference in how someone feels. (If you suspect this may be happening to you, see Sea of Toxins and its links, or consult Debra Lynn Dadd's comprehensive book, Home Safe Home on how to avoid the many toxins our modern personal environment exposes us to.
If your response to all this is, "I'm too busy for that," but your health is failing, you have larger questions to deal with. You might seek out a counselor, perhaps a pastor, perhaps a therapist, to help you work through the issues of obligation to self and others that cause you to be in a situation that's become unsustainable. You can also do this through talking with close, but stable, well-grounded friends.
We know that turning your life around is difficult at best. We also know that health is wealth. It's worth whatever you have to do to maintain it, or regain it. Hang in there!
Related Articles: Gentle Detoxing; Master Chart of Detox Methods
