important guideline to follow, as ongoing symptoms would indicate
that something else is amiss.
A healing crisis can be slowed down if it is too dreadful by eating
cooked food and reducing the number of days taken for the cleanse. Do
not feel that you have failed if you do this; accept that your particular
body needs to adjust more slowly and that you need to allow it to detoxify
in smaller, less strenuous stages.
In the wrong hands and with certain diseases, a healing crisis could
become a real crisis, resulting in excessive loss of weight from an already
underweight and sick body. There is much to consider, physically,
genetically, and emotionally before embarking on a cleanse, just as there
is when choosing the right food program. It is vital to look not only at
your body type and constitution but also at what your body is doing at the
time. Under skilled professional supervision, weight can be allowed to
drop in certain situations, but in these circumstances, daily massage with
feeding oils and other natural healing therapies should be used as backup
in order to maintain and support the body.
A one-day cleanse can provide a gentle start, allowing you slowly to
progress to three days, fi ve days, or longer at later dates, as you become
more experienced and your body has fewer toxins to expel. Drinking
water mixed with lemon juice will fl ush toxins through more quickly and,
within a few days, the worst will usually be over. For the fi t and able, extra
exercise will help alleviate headaches and body aches by increasing
circulation, thus moving and expelling the toxins more rapidly. For those
who are sick and weak and fi nd exercise almost impossible or very
debilitating, cold showers are a perfect substitute. Alternatively, try a little
yoga — deep breathing helps the lymph system work more effi ciently. The
fi t and able must do all of these.
Speed of Elimination
It is important to keep in mind that fast elimination is not necessarily the
best elimination. Excessive toxins forced through an organ can result in
overload and crisis. A crucial rule to observe is cleanse a little, build a
little.
The body’s systems all have their own capacity, their own delicacy. A
car engine doesn’t run on jet fuel. Healing is the careful creative use of
purifying elements. In a classic system, W. H. Cook (quoted in The
Textbook of Modern Herbology by Terry Willard) described four groups:
Slow organs (e.g., liver) require slow remedies.
Rapid action organs (e.g., kidneys) require active remedies.
Sudden conditions require prompt and strong herbal remedies.
cleansing and detoxification 85