This featured article is sponsored by VSL#3. All opinions are my own.

It’s been a while since I’ve written about my health journey. And so, today I wanted to take some time to talk about where I’ve been, how I’ve been feeling and what’s next. I started this website back in the winter of 2009, just over a decade ago, and it’s incredible to see where I started with my health and where I am now as I begin to more fully emerge back into life and start to truly L-I-V-E. I’ve learned a lot throughout this journey of chronic illness from the age of 24-38, and it’s taught me more than I can put into words. However, I am going to do my best today to talk about a few of the experiences that really made a profound difference with my healing process—especially my experience with the high-potency probiotic medical food VSL#3 for the management of IBS. 

THE FIRST SHIFT INTO INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE 

The first shift I want to address is releasing the old paradigm of allopathic medicine and working with Integrative Medicine + Energy Medicine. This has been profound for me. If you’ve read my book, Eating Clean, you know all about the difference between the conventional medicine route and the alternative path (the road less traveled). If you’re new here or you’re just starting on your journey, I highly suggest reading the front of my book as well as the integrative medical testing in the back of the book so that you can understand how and why to find an integrative practitioner who can look closer at your condition and imbalances as well as the tests that gave me so many answers – that unfortunately allopathic medicine does not use.

This shift into Integrative Medicine is the first step. Here is where you’ll start to realize that many of your diagnoses are simply jumbled up toxicity: yeast, mold, fungus, non-beneficial bacteria, heavy metals and so forth. Shifting to Integrative Medicine changed my life because it allowed me to address all of these issues on a deeper level and it took me off of medication. It looked at my body as though everything was connected – something no one addressed with me for even a second before I discovered this new way to fully treat the body.

From Integrative Medicine, I still had healing to do that couldn’t be done by solely relying on medical treatments and supplements, so I went on to discover Energy Medicine and dove into years upon years of how to heal the nervous system and trauma, all of which is what shut me down in the first place, unbeknownst to me until my mid-30s. It’s taken me quite a while to understand this deep connection, which I couldn’t clearly see for many years because I was in such a state of survival, fear and pumping out cortisol and adrenaline every minute. I will be speaking much more deeply about how I connected all these pieces moving forward this year on Instagram, so stay tuned for more about this mind-body connection.

For now, you can read these mind-body articles to start to help you piece together what has slowly been shutting you down over the years because we all know illness does not happen overnight – it’s a long journey of toxicity accumulating, bacteria getting out of balance, stress compounding and so much more. It’s the result of years, often decades of imbalance in our bodies that conventional methods overlook. Now, it’s up to us to take our power back, to take full responsibility for our own wellbeing and help to address what has been out of balance within ourselves. 

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM + STRESS

In regard to stress, which is something I often ignored reading about throughout the first portion of my journey, I do want to mention how important it is to regulate your response to stress versus just trying to lower your stress, which often backfires. In my experience, so much of this comes down to regulating how we respond to stressors in our daily lives that toss us into survival mode and keep us locked in that mode for months, years, and even decades because getting out of the go-go-go to slow down is too scary for our nervous systems and this often becomes who we think we are – we think this is just “us” but it’s not. It’s actually learned behavior that has kept us in survival mode going 100mph unable to address what’s going on deep down inside.

What happens when we’re in survival mode is that our digestion slows down so we’re left with bloating and digestive issues while our food does not get digested properly and ferments in our gut, turning into everything from SIBO to candida and more serious issues. This is where probiotics come in, which I’m going to touch on in a moment because they’re a key piece to our health journeys and it’s important to know what brands to trust and use regularly.

Along with our digestion slowing down, our livers also stop detoxing toxins, which is what leads to all sorts of health issues because the toxins that we accumulate in our bodies everyday have nowhere to go and no way to leave the body, so they get recirculated throughout the body and wreak havoc on our organs, especially our digestion. PMS is one example of this because if our livers are not detoxing our hormones, those hormones get recirculated throughout the body and start to cause terrible symptoms from PMS to endometriosis to more serious hormonal conditions. The liver is also in control of so many internal operations and affects our moods, our breath, and our digestion and is often the culprit of brain fog and fatigue.

HORMONE BALANCING

Lastly, when we are in survival mode, our reproductive organs start to stall because our bodies do not think it’s safe enough to carry a child. When even one tiny hormone stalls and falls out of balance, the other hormones follow because hormonal balance is a dance and when one is high, the others are low or when some are low, there are others that are high and so forth. This also pertains to our digestion because we have so many hormones in our gut, which I learned after I gained tons of water weight after having C. diff colitis ten years ago. When your hormones are off, you’ll experience everything from weight gain to hair loss, brittle nails, mood swings, sweats and so much more. With hormonal imbalances, you’re also likely to experience candida since our hormones play a role in the levels of yeast we have in our bodies, which is another reason your digestion may be off and you can experience bloating and gas as well as other digestive symptoms. 

Just from this brief overview, I hope you can start to see how our minds impact our bodies, especially our digestion, and how we have to look at our bodies as a whole to start feeling better instead of covering every symptom up with a band-aid approach, which ends up not working in the long run and often causing more harm than good. Our gut makes up over 60% of our immune cells so it’s the headquarters for your immune system and the hub for so many of our day-to-day ailments, not to mention it contains trillions of bacteria, which you’ve heard me address over and over again throughout the years. Most of this bacteria is beneficial bacteria keeping us healthy (because we are more bacteria than we are cells, folks), yet there is also non-beneficial bacteria and if you’re someone with IBS or other digestive issues, you know what I mean. 

SOOTHING RITUALS

What you’ll notice from all of the above is a common thread: digestion, which is what takes such a huge hit when we are stressed or living in survival mode, which we all are living in these days! Because of this, I want to talk for a minute about a probiotic that helps me tremendously in my gut health journey and has continued to benefit me in incredible ways. It has been a staple in my refrigerator, and it is my go-to recommendation for my clients as well as my family for quite a long time.

Along with taking VSL#3 probiotic daily as a supplement with my vitamins and minerals, I also add it in recipes as another way to get my daily dose of high-potency probiotic into my routine. Most people ask me how I’ve been able to stay so positive throughout all of these ups and downs and it’s because I literally made everything I had to do for my health into a ritual.

I bought beautiful tiny handmade wooden bowls to hold my daily supplements, so I wasn’t reminded every day that I was sick with tons of bottles of nutrients around me; I added this VSL#3 probiotic to my smoothies and chilled summer soups to allow me to be a bit more creative in my kitchen versus taking it as a capsule all the time; I bought beautiful plates on sale at Marshall’s and made myself beautiful meals (when I had the energy to do so); I bought a few electric candles and dimmed the lighting in my home with dimmers so my adrenal fatigue didn’t suffer from bright lights; I bought a small speaker for my kitchen and listen to beautiful music (like this playlist I created for you) to soothe me and relax my nervous system while cooking; and so much more. These are a few ways I started creating soothing and nourishing rituals for myself. I have many more that I will share as time goes on and now that I’m really starting to get my energy back, you’ll see more of me, especially on Instagram stories. 

Speaking of Instagram stories, I’ve created a delicious organic soup recipe (as seen in the photos in this article) using VSL#3 probiotics and you can watch me make it step-by-step.

VSL#3 PROBIOTICS

So, now that you have a slight peek into how I’ve been able to manage my health journey, I want to give you some more information on VSL#3. Whether you’re living with digestive issues, or you experience gut health imbalances from time to time, I’ve found that it’s key to really keep your microbial balance in check with a quality probiotic and it’s taken me many years to find one that my body does not reject and that actually works for me. 

If you’re like me and you’ve dealt with IBS or other digestive issues, you know that it just so happens that we end up with more non-beneficial bacteria than beneficial bacteria in our gut, which can lead to anxiety, bloating and overwhelm in trying to manage and determine what is actually going on inside of us. I use VSL#3 for the main reason that it provides multiple strains of bacteria needed to restore the necessary amount of good bacteria in our gut. I nearly fell on the floor in amazement when I realized this probiotic carried billions of CFUs (colony forming units) because up until that point, I personally had never seen a probiotic that powerful.

Now, patience is key here. Just because there is a lot of power in this probiotic, it can take up to one month for the colonization of the gut to become optimally stable, so be patient with yourself. Patience is key because stressing out over not feeling better “soon enough” does more harm than good, putting you even deeper into survival mode and making the situation much worse. 

What I love about this probiotic is that it provides a higher CFU count and diversity of strains than other leading over-the-counter brands* to help protect the GI tract and help manage your gut health – I like to think of it as helping to restore the necessary amount of beneficial bacteria in your digestive tract. Please note that, VSL#3 must be used under medical supervision.

I prefer to use the powder form of this supplement as shown in this article but you can certainly use the capsule form if you’d like. Remember these probiotics must be refrigerated to keep the bacteria alive. And for those of you who need to read ingredient lists, this probiotic is free of lactose and gluten and non-GMO verified. More information on VSL#3 and its use for serious digestive issues can be found at www.vsl3.com.

TRUSTING YOUR BODY + MOVING FORWARD

As you continue to work towards building back your health, I implore you to also keep in mind the connection between what’s going on in your mind and your body. This was a huge piece of the puzzle for me. When you’re anxious, what is going on in your body? Does your stomach hurt? Do you feel pressure in your head? Do your shoulders get tense? Start to look at what your nervous system is telling you – your body is a feedback mechanism so in conjunction with taking supplements and probiotics, it is key to look at your own level of consciousness (self-awareness) and see what feedback your body is giving you based on what is going on in your mind. I suggest digging deeper to understand what causes fear in your nervous system as that will directly impact your digestion and your overall wellbeing. Start with this two-part series on How to Trust Your Body Again, which is a powerful place to begin. 

I’m sending you all a lot of love and remember that life is a journey and chronic health issues are a wakeup call to help us restore and reclaim who we are, take full responsibility for our past and move forward into a more conscious way of living so our bodies can return to balance. My book, Eating Clean, is a wonderful resource to help you get started and to point out the deeper medical testing that took me years to discover. My hope is that this article provided you with some support and guidance on your own journey. 

Believe in yourself and keep going. If I can do this, so can you. 

*Compared to Culturelle and Align.

VSL#3® is a probiotic medical food intended for the dietary management of ulcerative colitis (UC), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or an ileal pouch. Use under medical supervision.

0 comment(s)

The post My 14-Year Health Journey + The Power of Probiotics appeared first on Amie Valpone.

I’m honored and excited to be sharing my upcoming retreat, Whole Body Transformation, with all of you in Santa Cruz, California. This retreat is going to be specifically for women and will address the underlying issues keeping women stuck, unwell, symptomatic and going in circles with their health.

This retreat center is brand new with a gorgeous new kitchen so we’ll be cooking and I’ll be sharing my formula for an anti-inflammatory meal. We’ll also be enjoying time outdoors on the beautiful property as well as going through The Valpone Method, which is the formula I created to help women go deeper into their healing journey.

I created The Valpone Method, a three-layered approach to healing your body and your mind, to share what I’ve learned throughout my 12 years of deep healing going through chronic illness and pain and this is my way of giving back to you and sharing the answers I had to discover myself that weren’t found in a book or doctor’s office.

The retreat will start on Friday evening and will go through Sunday morning. 

If you’re struggling with your health and you feel like you’ve tried everything, this is the retreat for you because what I’ve discovered throughout the last decade of healing myself is that no one person will ever heal you – you’re the one that has to do the work and put the pieces together. Luckily, I did all of this work for you so I can help you navigate how to heal yourself and spearhead your journey. 

For so many years I thought I had to suffer and just deal with the symptoms I was facing because eating clean food and taking supplements wasn’t cutting it. I had to go deeper beyond the physical layer of the body into the emotional layer and then finally the energetic layer to really start to see improvements in my body and that’s exactly what happens for all of my clients, as well. There is more work to be done but unfortunately, that work cannot be done in a doctor’s office. Sadly, as wonderful as doctors are, they put us into a one-size-fits-all approach that we all know by now doesn’t work because each of our bodies (and our past conditioning and traumas and so forth) are different and the cause of our symptoms is different for everyone so treating everyone with the same approach- even if the symptoms look similar- is not the way to go!

Someone said to me last month, “you can only help people as much as you’ve been able to discover, figure out and help yourself”, which is why most doctors cannot help you because, sure they can save your life and I am not dismissing them at all (I am very grateful for doctors), but they haven’t been through this so unfortunately, they cannot help you navigate this. There is another way.

And that’s exactly what we’re going to review during these three days together. This will be an intimate safe space for women to come and enjoy themselves and discover what is holding them back from getting to the next level with their health.

• Explore the three layers of healing the body through The Valpone Method: physical, emotional, and energetic layers.
• Discover the missing pieces keeping you unwell, symptomatic and feeling like you are ‘going in circles’ with your health. 
• Learn how to balance your hormones naturally without using synthetic hormone products.
• Understand the unconscious mind, trauma, and past experiences that may be silently and negatively affecting your health. The Valpone Method that I will be presenting will help you heal these deeper layers so you can go home with tools to help yourself on a daily basis.
• Learning how to use your subconscious mind to create your own reality and understand the quantum physics behind how your internal reality creates your external reality. This is the true process of manifestation and creation, which includes understanding the feminine and masculine energies that we all embody, as well as the allowing and receiving (receptive) energies, our true self identity, consciousness, deep present moment awareness and more.
• Decrease anxiety, overwhelm and other emotions driving your body on a daily basis. You’ll be learning how to gently move your body and nervous system into a new, healthier emotional state.
• Learn how to create flavor in your food while addressing weight, cravings, and fatigue without using gluten, dairy, soy, sugar, or other inflammatory foods in the gorgeous NEW kitchen at the retreat center.
• Empower yourself with daily step-by-step whole-body detoxification- true health is far more than just eating clean!
• Learning The Movement and embodying this gentle approach to releasing stored emotions, understanding how our past emotions and traumas are stored in our fascia and allowing our physical body to move through the emotional and energetic experiences of our past without burning out our adrenals. This will be a light workout every morning led by Amie with beautiful soothing music to relax your nervous system and allow your body to enter a flow state with your mind.
• Take your health into your own hands with practical tools to improve the quality of your life for optimal health and a deeper sense of well-being.

Lastly, throughout the last 12 years of my searching and struggling, I have yet to find a book, method or technique that offers all of the components of this groundbreaking method while shifting the physical, emotional and energetic layers of the body and I am so excited to share all of this with you. My goal is to set you up for a path of hope and to teach you how to have more autonomy over your health and your entire life by allowing you to take back your power and spearhead your own journey.

All the information for the retreat can be found on the 1440 website. I truly hope to see you in August! It’s going to be a lot of fun.

Much Love,

Amie

p.s. If you have any questions about the retreat, we are more than happy to answer them. You can email us at hello@thehealthyapple.com.

BEGIN TO HEAL YOUR BODY // Start your journey to healing your body with our 30 Day Reset Program, filled with anti-inflammatory recipes to help detox your body full of harsh chemicals, available for a limited time through summer.

0 comment(s)

The post Amie’s Santa Cruz, California Retreat // August 2019 appeared first on Amie Valpone.

Many of my clients come to me with awful insomnia and sleep disturbances and they often don’t realize how lack of sleep plays a huge role in affecting the quality of their day and their overall health. Today we’re sharing with you 4 small changes to transform your sleep, and in turn, support your overall health and well-being. Sleep is so important for all of us; it’s the time when our body detoxes from the day and each organ (see below for the chart) has a particular time when it detoxes (example: if you wake up at between 1-3 AM, that’s a sign your liver woke you up and that your liver is doing extra work detoxing–possibly from too many glasses of wine you drank that night.

The same goes for all of the other organs listed below. When you start to track your sleep to see what time you’re waking up, the below chart will be quite helpful to help you understand what’s going on in your body. This chart has helped me in so many ways throughout the last few years with my health because my energy workers (chiropractors, acupuncturists, etc) all use this to understand what’s happening inside my body.

AUDIO

Click on the PLAY button below to listen.

Tips to Transform Your Sleep

The below four tips are important to review if you want to improve the quality of your sleep and the quality of your life because sleep is what fuels us, regenerates us and detoxes us from the toxins we encounter that day.

1. Bedtime & Wake-Up Time 

Bedtime and wake-up time should be consistent as much as possible meaning you should go to bed around the same time every night and wake up around the same time every night. I cannot stress enough how important it is to sleep in tune with the circadian rhythm (in bed around 10 PM and up around 6 AM). Your circadian rhythm is a 24-hour internal clock that is running in the background of your brain and cycles between sleepiness and alertness at regular intervals. Your circadian rhythm works best when you have regular sleep habits such as going to bed and waking up around the same times from day to day…YES, this also includes weekends.

I learned a lot about this through alternative medicine and falling asleep/waking up around 10 PM/ 6 AM will do wonders for your hormones and your overall energy level. I know it’s not easy to do, I do not do this every night because life happens, but I do my best. The Chinese Body Clock, below, is also very helpful to understand what’s going on in your body when you wake up or have a consistent symptom at the same time each day.

The Chinese Body Clock

If you’re feeling off at a particular time during the day, this chart can help you decipher the meaning behind what’s out of balance and what needs to be addressed. This does not mean it’s time to pop an Advil when you have a headache. It does mean that if you have a headache, it’s important to work with an alternative medicine specialist to help you understand what’s throwing your body off balance.

Throughout the first 7 years of my chronic health issues, I would wake up between 1-3 AM, which of course, was my liver, as I mentioned above. My liver has been the biggest issue for me throughout my journey, which is why DETOX is such a huge part of my story, my book, my retreats and my talks. I have been working on my liver for over 5 years now every day via Castor Oil Packs, Coffee Enemas, eating organic, drinking filtered water, using non-toxic personal care products, and doing lots of energy work.

Image Source: Chalkboard magazine

2. Get Your Hormones & Minerals Tested

If you have my book, Eating Clean, you know that you cannot test for hormones or minerals in the blood and expect an accurate reading. If your doctor is reading your hormones or minerals from your blood, you need a new doctor. PRONTO! I can help you if you’re lost and not sure where to go. These are the tests I help my clients with when I work with them in a Private Session because (especially for women), your hormones and your minerals WILL affect every aspect of your sleep, your mood, your weight, the pace your body/skin ages, and so much more.

3. Use an Organic Mattress

This is so important, especially for anyone who has a thyroid problem, hormonal imbalances or any other health issue because the toxins in mattresses will contribute to the load of body burden your body is trying to manage. The more toxins you come into contact with, the more your body has to detox and sooner or later, there will be too many toxins to detox, which is what causes PMS and many other hormonal symptoms, weight gain, fatigue and so much more.

I’ve been using Naturepedic‘s fluffy pillows, organic mattress, organic sheet sets and organic waterproof mattress protective pad for four years and I love them. They’re incredibly clean and pure and they’re made without the use of any toxic chemicals, unlike conventional mattresses. 

Support your liver with a few of the ideas above (in the Chinese Body Clock paragraphs) and click on the links to learn more about how you can support your liver on a daily basis.

Naturepedic is offering 10% off their organic mattresses just for YOU! Use Code: healthyapple10 at checkout.

Disclaimer: *10% off qualifying Naturepedic adult mattress online only valid through December 31, 2018 with code healthyapple10. Qualifying mattresses are Chorus, Serenade, EOS® Classic, EOS Pillowtop, and EOS Trilux. While supplies last. Cannot be used with other offers, discounts or promo codes. Cannot be applied to past purchases. Valid one time per customer. Other restrictions may apply.

4. Remove Your Blue Light Exposure

Remove yourself from the exposure of blue lights of screens (computer, phone, kindle, etc.) at least one hour before bed. Too much mental arousal before bed from these lights will keep you awake, even if you are tired. The lights and wi-fi do affect our body but many of us aren’t sensitive enough to feel it. If you’re anything like me or if you’ve been through the ringer with health issues, I’m sure you feel it, as well. Take the time to close your computer and turn off your phone an hour before bed. Read a book, connect with your partner, meditate, listen to my favorite relaxing playlist and allow your nervous system to move from the sympathetic (fight/flight mode we’re all in during the day) to the parasympathetic (rest/relaxation mode we need to sleep).

Now, for the GIVEAWAY you’ve been waiting for:

Naturepedic is offering a giveaway for one WINNER to win 2 of their ORGANIC TRIO PILLOWS.

Leave a comment below to enter and let us know why you would LOVE to win these pillows. We’ll be choosing one winner on November 5th, 2018. This giveaway is only eligble to US residents. Good luck!

If you haven’t read How Your Mattress & Sheets Could Be Affecting Your Health, we suggest you read this article for a deeper look at what’s hiding in conventional mattresses and sheets.

1 comment(s)

The post 4 Small Changes to Transform Your Sleep appeared first on Amie Valpone.

Before you dive into the below content, I’ve created a video for you about liver detox and how coffee enemas can help. Click the PLAY button below to get started.

Well, this certainly is not a post I ever thought I’d write. Ever.

So, there’s a reason for today’s post. A few years ago when I was trying to detox my liver, I had read about coffee enemas and how they are used to pull toxins out of the liver for a rapid detox to support your body in removing Lyme and other toxins. I was intrigued but swore I’d never do it. Ever.

Then my Lyme disease got so bad that I was on my bathroom floor in so much pain that I couldn’t even function. I was going through what is known as a Herx reaction and “Die-off”, which is when you’re killing the ‘bad bugs’ aka Lyme or other toxins so rapidly that your liver can’t flush out the toxins fast enough. For me, I was dealing with crazy migraines, crying and exhaustion to the point that I couldn’t function. I needed relief. I was desperate. Desperate enough to put coffee in the other end? Well, sorry folks. Yes, that’s how bad it got. I had no other choice.

So, today I’m sharing with you a post about how to detox your liver in a way that I’ve seen profound benefits from. A treatment that has allowed me to remove toxins so that my body can do the hard work of healing instead of fighting off and trying to release the toxins itself. This, my friends is why a healthy detox can be so important for people in their healing journey- because you want to give your body as much energy as possible so it can do it’s job to heal you. Just like when you have a cut on your finger, your body knows how to heal that! But in the case of bigger, more complicated health issues, your body gets SO overwhelmed from just trying to kill off the bad bugs and your liver is overburdened, so today I’m sharing an easy way to support your liver. I do not recommend you do a coffee enema every day.

Talking to Your Doctor

Please talk to your Integrative/Functional MD about adding in this protocol before you start. When I was going through the Lyme, I had to do a coffee enema daily for 2 years just to survive and make it through my day. Yes, that’s how bad it was. AND that’s how amazing the relief was every day. But I stopped the enemas last year when I started to feel better. Why? Because they’re a lot of work and they also deplete your colon from nutrients that you need, which is why you should only do a coffee enema if it’s needed for detox. Now, I do a coffee enema on Saturday and/or Sunday to detox me from my week and keep my body humming along! I don’t crave them or need them like I did, which is amazing and magical all at the same time.

So, now that you’re armed with the WHY I did coffee enemas to keep me from jumping out a window with the amount of “Die-off” I had, I’ll share HOW to do it so you can try this at home, if desired.

You should have seen the look on my parents face when I told them this is why I was making coffee on their stove-top one morning when I was at their home. Ha. They’ve come around, to say the least. There were days when I was too sick to get out of bed and my mother would make the coffee for me because she was amazed at how I bounced up and into life as soon as I did it. She called it ‘The Exorcist’. It was wild to say the least…

Now, when clients come to me with toxic symptoms, this is the very first thing we do because the results are profound!

Is Your Liver Toxic?

If you read my book, Eating Clean, there is a test in the book that asks specific questions for you to answer to find out whether you are toxic or not. If you do not have my book, I highly suggest you purchase it to take this test. Here are a few symptoms of a toxic liver:

• Bad breath
• Acne
• Weight loss or unable to gain weight
• Constipation
• Digestion Issues
• Brain Fog
• Anger/Rage/Irritable
• Chronic fatigue
• High cholesterol
• Frequent colds
• Coated tongue
• Gas
• Allergies
• Slow metabolism

FYI- Constipation is VERY toxic for the body because your body needs to have at least 1-2 bowel movements each day to remove those toxins. If you are constipated, toxins are sitting in your colon and that’s not a pretty picture, folks! Check out my Constipation Program for more information if you are experiencing symptoms.

Your body can heal. Doing a coffee enema is releasing YEARS and DECADES of accumulated toxins in your body. Your body can heal, remember that!

What does a Coffee Enema do?

We’re surrounded by so many toxins on a daily basis that it’s key to support your body in detoxing. As I mention in my book, Eating Clean: The 21-Day Plan to Detox, Fight Inflammation, and Reset Your Body, there are numerous ways to detox. Infrared saunas and Epsom salt baths are two ways but coffee enemas have had the most profound impact on me, so that’s what we’re focusing on today.

The benefits of a coffee enema will probably surprise you. Here are a few benefits:

• Detoxes your liver.
• Boosts energy.
• Eliminates parasites.
• Cleans out your colon.
• Improves digestion.
• Helps release “Die-off” symptoms.
• Helps your body function better so you can heal and recover from any health issues.
• Releases migraines/headaches.
• Reduces the amount of toxins in your body, which are the cause of hundreds of health issues.
• Increases your MAIN DETOXIFIER, aka: Glutathione.

How do you do a Coffee Enema?

Let’s just say that EVERY time I did a coffee enema when I was sick, I immediately felt relief ALL over my body, especially my crazy migraine that immediately dissipated. I felt ALIVE for the first time in over a decade because all my toxins were literally flushed out of me.

The MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT COFFEE ENEMAS IS THAT YOUR COFFEE MUST, MUST, MUST, MUST, MUST, MUST, MUST BE ORGANIC. REPEAT AFTER ME. DO NOT USE CONVENTIONAL COFFEE- IT IS SO TOXIC AND FILLED WITH A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF TOXINS AND PESTICIDES. PLEASE ONLY USE ORGANIC COFFEE AND FILTERED WATER. DO NOT USE TAP WATER BECAUSE THAT IS FULL OF TOXINS AND FLUORIDE, AS WELL- WHICH WILL NOT BE PRETTY IF YOU USE THEM!

What do you need for a Coffee Enema?

Here’s what you’ll need (click on the links below to see the exact brands that I use/trust):

• Organic Coffee (This is my favorite brand that I trust)
  
• Filtered Water (This is my favorite and only water filter that I trust)
  
• Glass or Ceramic Large Dedicated Pot-I dedicate one pot to coffee for my enemas so that food scum and yuckiness doesn’t get on the pot.
• Strainer
• Enema Bag
• Organic Coconut Oil
• Organic Coffee Filters (for traveling to use the coffee machine in your hotel room). See below for traveling tips.

Contrary to what you may have learned, taking herbal supplements will NOT quickly detox your body, however a coffee enema WILL! The coffee enema can be done with less coffee. If 2 Tbsp. is too strong for you (ex: if you feel shaky or jittery after you do it—similar to the feeling of drinking too much caffeine, then lower the amount of coffee you use).

Coffee enemas don’t just detox the liver but they detox the colon, as well. Here’s the drill. Please do this before 12:00PM so that the caffeine does not keep you awake when you are trying to sleep that evening.

The Steps of a Coffee Enema:

1. Cook 2 Tbsp. of organic coffee on the stove-top with 4 cups of filtered water.
2. Strain coffee and discard the coffee grounds.
3. Place cooked (and cooled) coffee into the enema bag.
4. Add filtered water if needed.
5. Go into the bathroom and lock the door.
6. If you have low blood sugar, eat before you do the enema.
7. Do this in the bathtub or on a thick towel on the floor near the toilet in case you leak.
8. Light a candle and put on soft music (search Satnum Kaur on youtube) to relax your body so you can enjoy the process. Put some coconut oil on a tissue and spread it onto your butt hole, where you are inserting the enema.
9. Insert the enema into the colon and retain it for 15-20 minutes. NOTE: You won’t be able to hold it for this long the first few times you do an enema because you’ll have SO much junk inside of you so get ready to hit the toilet after only a few minutes. You’ll gradually work up to 15-20 minutes.
10. Release on the toilet and flush.
11. Stay close to the toilet for the next 30 minutes or so just in case you need to release more from your colon.
12. Drink lots of purified water mixed with sea salt (through your mouth) or bone broth to hydrate yourself throughout the day so you don’t get dehydrated.
13. Smile.

How do you do Coffee Enemas while traveling?

Yep. I travel and sometimes still do travel with my enema bag and organic coffee and filter. It’s easier than you think. I bring my enema bag in my suitcase. One time the TSA folks had to search my bag and they pulled it out and I almost died of laughter. Hysterical. Oh, the joys of detoxing!

I hope this post was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions. Always happy to help any of you that I can.

Big hugs!

xo

This article may contain Amazon or other affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase by clicking those links.

90 comment(s)

The post The Best Liver Detox: Coffee Enemas appeared first on Amie Valpone.

Survival Mode. Ahhhhhhh the state I lived in for about 30 years of my life without even realizing it. Lovely.

I was addicted to it without even knowing it. I knew it well but had no idea that I wasn’t living life fully….I had no idea that I was just ‘getting’ by. I was a super positive woman and never in a million years would have thought I had any fears (aside from sharks and lions, tigers and bears…o my!).

In February, I turned 34 years old and it wasn’t until four years ago when I turned 30 that I started to realize that I was living in pure survival mode and had a fear mentality that wasn’t obvious to me until I started to go inwards and realize I was blocking myself to so many things in my life because of fear. Another word for survival mode is stress mode. When we feel threatened in our life, our survival mode kicks into gear. I spent way too many years focusing all of my attention on helping myself out of threatening health situations. I was in and out of doctors offices, my Epsom salt baths, my infrared sauna, my healers, my body workers, my acupuncturist, etc. and reading book after book after book and listening to podcasts and seminars and webinars that pertained to my health issues. I engrossed myself in the subject to heal myself and it turns out I did end up healing myself, which was incredible. However, one of the biggest lessons I learned from chronic illness was that most of the people in the world are living in survival mode without even realizing it. Scared of losing their job, their health, terrorism, GMO’s, non-organic foods, chemicals, losing loved ones, being abandoned, not being good enough, etc…the list goes on and on.

Turns out there is a way to get ourselves out of this stressful mode to get our life back and LIVE again.

Getting Started

First, make a game plan. If it’s a health issue that is keeping you stuck, write down what’s going on in a list, then prioritize the list and figure out your first step, then your second step, then your third step and so on. If we look at the big picture, it can be overwhelming. When I was in my 20’s and my blood work would come in, I’d see about 30 things that were ‘off’ and I can recall wondering what was the chicken and what was the egg? How did all of this start? Was my liver off because of my candida? Was my thyroid off because of the chemicals in my life? Was my hemoglobin off because I wasn’t eating red meat? Was my sodium too high because I was eating a lot of salt? I had no idea. I wanted to get everything fixed and I dove into everything to try to fix everything at once, which meant going to a ton of doctors who all told me to do something different. I was confused. That’s when I sat myself down and started to do things step by step. Slowly. One thing at a time. If you want to see results, start with one thing first and if that doesn’t work, move on after 3 months and try something different. Give your body time to heal and also time to feel the effects of each treatment and each new doctor or protocol. Doing everything at once isn’t going to help you- it will just confuse you. Trust me. I learned that lesson trying to do everything until I hit a wall with it about 20 times.

Breathe

Breathe from your belly not your chest. This is how you signal your parasympathetic nervous system, the system that allows you to relax and detox. If you breathe from your chest, you are using your sympathetic nervous system, which is the fight or flight response. You can read more about this in my post on Cortisol.

Reframe

Reframe the way you look at your life. What is draining you? What is energizing you? Make a list. Seriously. Make a LIST. You won’t see it and realize it until you put it in writing. Trust me. Based on that list, make the changes you need to bring more peace and less stress into your life.

Listen to Your Body

What do you need? The last 12 months I needed QUIET. Pure quiet and reflecting time. I made no plans. Didn’t travel much and stayed home a LOT. I needed it. The thought of being with people exhausted me. I was in my last stages of healing and was dealing with so many modalities that my body needed a lot of sleep, rest and relaxation. I read books, I meditated, I got quiet and only did things that I wanted to do. I started saying NO more and doing things that I felt good about doing. I let go of friendships that no longer worked for me or that I was working too hard for—I don’t have time for that anymore and neither do you.

Listen to What Your ‘Inner Critic’ Is Telling Yourself

What is that voice in your mind telling you everyday? What are you telling yourself when you look at yourself in the mirror? When you mess up on something? When your body isn’t cooperating with you? When you gain weight? When you see wrinkles on your face? When you break out with a pimple? When you are abandoned in a relationship? When you don’t do as well as you were expecting on a work project or a school test? When you don’t think someone likes you and you think of a million reasons why? All of these things are those voices in your mind that are keeping you from living your life in peace. Everyone has these voices but we just don’t all realize them. I didn’t until I was 30 and now I’m aware of my ‘inner critic’ as we all have. I witness it, thank it for its opinion and then send myself loving thoughts and move on.

Release Fear

Easier said than done. Trust me on this one, as well. I never realized I had any fear in my life. I’m an incredibly confident and successful and smart woman who is incredibly ambitious and loving and happy. BUT—once I started getting quiet with myself I started realizing I had a lot of fears. Fears of finding a nice man since I’ve been single for so many years of my life, fears of adding back new foods into my lifestyle that once made me very sick, fears of leaving my apartment where I was so ‘safe’ and cozy for so many years healing myself, fear of being seen since I was still puffy from my progesterone incident, fears of not really knowing who I was after being sick for so many years and mostly fears of how to enter the world now that I was fully healed. These may not sound like a big deal but they were and they were keeping me stuck. I was in my own way. I’m sure you’ve heard that phrase before but maybe you didn’t realize what it meant. Neither did I. Until I was in the thick of it all.

Visualize

Sit with yourself, close your eyes and start to visualize the healthy and happy you. What would your life look like? How will you act? How will you dress? How will you be? Ask yourself these questions and FEEEEEEEEEEL it. This feeling is in your heart. Thinking about it isn’t what this is about. The purpose of this is to open your heart and actually FEEL what you want and where you see yourself in a restful, healthy, happy state of life- not in survival mode.

LIVE and Believe You Can Safe Yourself

You’re the only person that can save yourself. No doctor, therapist, teacher, parent, spouse, child, friend, etc. can do it for you. You’ve got to find the tools that work for you and start using them to save yourself to pull yourself out of this survival mentality because you want to live a healthy and happy life. Who wants to live in fear and stress all day? Not me. That’s exhausting and just thinking about that makes my body cringe.

Start living your life today. Stop fearing all the things that COULD happen. Stop fearing what food can do to you and start looking at what food can do FOR you. What can your life do FOR you? Go and do that. Go do what makes your heart sing. Go paint, go for a walk, go for a bike ride, go meditate or sit in stillness, go on a getaway or a road trip or a drive to somewhere that makes you happy, go take yourself to a nice tea or coffee shop and savor each sip, go take a bath and care for yourself.

Start living and stop surviving. Life is too short.

Try a few of these examples everyday before bed at night or when you wake up in the morning to help train your mind to get out of living in a fear mentality.

xo

21 comment(s)

The post How to Get Out of Survival Mode and Start to Heal Your Body appeared first on Amie Valpone.