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What does it actually mean to detox? How important is it to detox and is the only way to do it by starving ourselves with a 5 day juice cleanse once a month? Because, between you and us, we’re super over that practice. The term “detox” gets thrown around quite a bit and we wanted to get the full story, once and for all. Because we’re super down to eliminate toxins from our bodies, but would love to know what that actually means.

We spoke with one of our favourite “Healers of Humans”, Dr. Erica Grenci on the topic of detoxification and her tips for how we can incorporate the practice of detox throughout the summer and in our daily lives.

 

BACKGROUND

Quick background; education, training and what brought you to start your own clinic?

My background all began with a passion for health and learning how to become the most vibrant version of myself. After university, I entered the 4-year Naturopathic Medical program at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine which gave me a strong foundation in both clinical medicine and natural healing modalities. From there I branched outward into learning more about my favorite modalities and so I’ve pursued my masters in herbalism, certification in regenerative detoxification (by the incredible Dr. Morse!), advanced training in homeopathy, certification in facial rejuvenation acupuncture, bio-electric cranio-sacral therapy, reiki, and yoga. I believe that healing occurs on all levels – physically, emotionally, and energetically, and so I sought out tools to bring about this balance in all its forms.

 

With immense gratitude in my journey of gathering this knowledge and experience, I yearned to start giving back. So just this May 2018 I opened my clinic at Keele and Dundas St. West.

 

WHAT IS A DETOX?

 

There is a lot of “detox” advice floating around out there. Can you explain a bit about what it means to detox and what the benefits are?

 

Detoxing is integral to living – what comes in, must come out! Especially since we live in a world where it’s impossible to escape environmental pollutants, it’s essential to assist the body’s natural cleansing mechanism so it doesn’t become overburdened and stressed. Your body does a fantastic job on its own, however, combined with unhealthy living practices it may well need a boost. When the body is overburdened we begin to see lots of fatigue, mental fogginess, afternoon crashes, poor skin health, headaches, digestive issues, hormone imbalances, and more. Essentially these are all signals that the body is sending for our attention that something is amiss. If we suppress them (i.e. with pharmaceutical medication) it does not correct the root of the issue but instead places a temporary band aid. Why do this when we can dig a little deeper and nourish the body’s ailments from within? This is detoxing and it’s benefits include balancing the body so that it may heal itself – the most powerful form of medicine.

 

Essentially, detoxing supports the body in all its eliminative capacities. This is through the bowels, kidneys, lungs, and skin, as well as the supportive organs such as liver/gall bladder. Often as well, other organs need to be supported if there are any imbalances – for example, the pancreas may need some love if there are any digestive issues at hand, the parathyroid should be considered if there is a lack of calcium utilization (i.e. depression, varicose veins, easy bruising), the adrenal glands if there is a lack of energy or appropriate sugar metabolism, and even the pituitary gland if there are menstrual issues or hormonal imbalances, etc. The body is an intricately beautiful symphony of life!

 

In practice, detoxing includes dietary modifications (choosing the right foods to strengthen and cleanse your system), lifestyle practices (a targeted exercise regimen, self-care tools), herbal/botanical medicine (i.e. milk thistle for your liver, poke root for your lymphatic system, juniper for your kidneys), and supportive habits (i.e. meditation, deep breathing, positive thoughts).

 

DO WE NEED TO JUICE CLEANSE?

For those of us who are over the “juice cleanse” and fasting, are they easier, more nutritional ways to detox?  If so, how often should we be doing them?

 

Mmmmm, simply add more fruit to your diet! Fruits are very special and the highest food form of choice for detoxing because they are self-cleansing, alkaline, astringent, and carry the highest electrical vibration of all the foods (12,000 angstroms in raw fruit vs 9,000 angstroms in raw vegetables vs. 1000 angstroms in cooked vegetables vs. 0 in meat). Fruits are absorbed the quickest by the body (under 30 minutes) and don’t require the digestive energy it takes to process other foods. Therefore, your body can utilize this energy to repair itself instead of always being in digestive mode. As well, the astringent factor of fruits work to pull out toxins from the interstitial fluid of our cells – whereas no other food can do this for us? This is a practice you can easily incorporate into your daily routine. I always tell my patients to start their day with a tall glass of freshly squeezed lemon water and keep their first meal only fruit to take advantage of these benefits. My favorite detox fruits are: red grapes, blackberries, lemons, and watermelon.

 

SIMPLE SUMMER DETOX PRACTICES 

What are some simple daily practices we can incorporate this summer to ensure our bodies are detoxing on a more regular basis?

 

Dry Brushing

There are so many wonderful and easy practices to assist your body’s natural cleansing process. For one, I absolutely love dry brushing (aka lymphatic brushing) – this is a natural bristle brush that is massaged onto dry skin in circular movements along the lymphatic channels. By stimulating your skin in this way, lymphatic flow is also stirred and so is the movement of toxins. This simple method even improves circulation and leaves your skin exfoliated and glowing! I use the Province Apothecary Face Brush and the Saje Body Brush to cover my entire body.

 

Gua Sha

Another tool I absolutely love to use on my face & body is called a “Gua Sha”. It’s used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to reduce inflammation and promote healing and this is credited to the fact that it’s excellent for moving lymph and toxins, while enhancing circulation and blood flow. Even more, it’s often used as an anti-aging tool on the face since it’s stimulating action also increases collagen production. Simply glide the tool with firm pressure in the direction of the arrows over your face until you create redness (best to do this in the evening before bed! This can be a daily practice.)

Photo credit: Pinterest

 

Herbal Regimen/Teas

Another daily practice for detoxing is using a customized herbal regimen. Herbs are fantastic because they are targeted to specific organs and body systems to tonify, cleanse, and maximize their function. These are programs I create in office on an individual basis, however, there are also detox herbal teas I created which are an excellent and gentle way to get you started. I alternate the Detox Passport herbal teas daily or whenever I feel a bit sluggish and could use a boost. I also love drinking the liver tea after I’ve had a night out of celebratory fun 😉

 

Smudging

This ancient spiritual practice has a tremendous cleansing effect. There are multiple levels of cleansing and often it’s easy to forget about the energetic aspects of it all. Smudging with sage or palo santo for example, is an excellent way to clear the air of any negative energies and intentions, help to remove blockages, while also providing a renewed sense of energy.

 

Rebounding

Something else that really gets the lymph flowing is rebounding! Keep in mind that your heart pumps your blood to circulate your body, but your lymph requires the movement of your muscles to get around. In fact, something as fun and simple as jumping on a trampoline can increase your lymphatic flow and drainage up to 20 times its normal rate! Combined with a regular exercise routine, this will support your body to rid itself of the accumulated bacteria, toxic waste, trapped fat globules, and cell sewage.

 

What products do you recommend for this and how (and how often) should we use them?

Province Apothecary Face Brush – I use this x3-4/week

Saje Body Brush – I use this x3-4/week

Gua Sha – Daily in the evening

Detox Passport Tea (Colon, Lymph & Blood, Liver/Gallbladder, Kidneys) – I alternate these teas daily (I love the kidney and lymph ones the best!)

Sage Bundle – I do this daily for renewed energy or whenever I feel the energy is a bit stagnant in the air.

Mini Trampoline (aka Rebounder) – A few times/week.

Click on the images below to find out where to purchase Erica’s detox picks.

 

For more information on Dr. Erica Grenci, please visit her website. For online bookings, please visit: https://drericagrenci.janeapp.com/ To follow on social: Instagram| Facebook | YouTube

Ryan Holloway

 

Meaning

June’s moon cycle is recognized as the Strawberry Moon, aptly named by Algonquin tribes who recognized it as the best time to gather wild strawberries as they started to ripen.

On June 13th, the new moon enters Gemini and is also a Supermoon, recognized as a sacred point in the year, the halfway point. If you have been working towards something special in 2018, now is the ideal time to reflect, acknowledge and appreciate how far you’ve come at this halfway mark. How much work have you put into your intentions and desires over the past 6 months? Give yourself some serious self-love for working towards your dreams, and reflect on every brick that has been lovingly laid by your hand to create the foundation of your intentions since January.

This is an excellent time to turn to the horizon and calculate what the next 6 months will require from you in order to finish the year off with satisfaction. Remember, all goals are valuable and small wins go a very long way. Leverage the momentum of all positivity from the past few months into your focus forward. As for the negative energy? It has no place within you or around you. Let it GO!

We’re in luck as we head into the next stages of our journey towards our intentions and goals. The energy of Gemini offers extra self-expression, creativity and opportunities to speak our truth. And because of its Supermoon status, these energies will be especially vibrational, offering us the opportunity to leverage them to our benefits.

Our inner beings are highly accessible during this moon phase, opening up the possibilities to find great alignment and discover our capacities for joy. Let go of the ego and the superficial. Pick up a journal and let your inner being channel through to the page. Intention and goal writing will work strongly in your favour this moon when it comes to manifestation. Not a big writer? Try vision boarding, bullet journaling, or mantra.

 

Local Toronto Ceremonies and Rituals 

Soul Sister Sacred Circle – New Moon in Gemini

The Soul Sister Sacred Circle is a recurring new moon event designed to bring likeminded people vibrating on similar energy frequencies together, to enhance our manifestations, while leveraging intention setting practices. Expect astrological readings, visualization practices,affirmations, oracle readings, reiki, vegan snacks and wine. And it’s totally free.

 

New Moon Vibes – Cacao Ceremony & Crystal Singing Bowl Soundbath

Embrace powerful soul cleansing and prepare to leverage manifestation techniques through a ceremony with cacao, said to be the food of the gods offering a strong heart-opening effect. Crystal Bowl sounds will work to heal and set vibrations into perfect alignment for the power of the moon cycle ahead.

 

 

Rainbow Energy Healing, Meditation and Sound Healing Circle

This event doesn’t fall on the beginning of the new moon, it is within the first stages of the new moon on June 15th. This unique experience is offered in a sacred space and tailored to the specific needs of all who attend. If you are looking to connect with likeminded people and leverage healing energy into the Strawberry Moon, we recommend this event.

 

 

All Images from chrysyoga.com

Inspiring an appreciation or new consideration for nature, even when there’s an ice storm in April, is just one of the many elements Chrys Muszka brings to his yoga classes. In fact, Chrys’ love of nature can inspire the biggest urbanite among us to tinker with the idea of spending a long weekend out in the Algonquin backcountry on one of his specially designed, unique camping yoga retreats.

For those who are looking to connect with the spiritual side of the yoga practice, Chrys offers a strong insight on finding an inner calm along with a new, positive perspective on a daily negative, which can be as simple as a rainy day. As active students in Chrys’ classes at  Mimico’s Alive Yoga, members of the AOL team have found a grounding presence, a spiritual inspiration and a uniquely insightful way of looking to the inside and how it relates to the external factors that can bring us unnecessary discomfort, or unease. Life feels more beautiful after a session with Chrys.  

We sat down with this highly grounded yet super spiritual individual to get a sense of what it exactly is that makes his classes feel so unique and inspired, and chatted about his ego-facing experience of starting yoga, nature, astrology, energy and more. If you are intrigued to take a class with Chrys and discover how you can implement some routine insightful sessions into your daily life (and we highly encourage it) check out his weekly teaching schedule here.

 

YOGA AND THE EGO 

You found yoga at a very young age. Can you tell us a bit about that experience? Was it

an “ah ha” moment?

I grew up in a family that was always more arts oriented.  My sister started practicing at 15 or 16, and I had previously done kung fu and some dance throughout my childhood, so coming to yoga at first was more on the physical sense. I had developed scoliosis and some other injuries so my chiropractor recommended going to yoga, knowing I was so body-oriented.

 

My first class was a rough one, just like when you start any new physical class, not knowing the instructions. You fall over a lot and your ego is challenged, especially as a 14 year old coming from a dance, ballet, kung fo background. You think you can do it and then you stumble.

 

My family was very open from a spiritual perspective and I had a handful of friends that were open to yoga and spirituality, whose parents were artists or musicians (I went to an arts high school) and so there was this development that started happening. I found yoga at such a young age and connected to it.

 

At the same time, I was going to camp and then eventually became a staff member; you know you’re going into the forest, you’re going into nature, you’re practicing yoga or meditation and paddling your canoe, waking up with the sunrise; you’re finding more of that kind of silence, and connection to things rather than being in front of your game console or screen

 

You’ve turned this into a social thing too – you have meditation groups.

 

I’m starting to develop it into that. In your friendships you become that point person. People enjoy coming to hang out with me because I’m never putting pressure on them to do or be something, to look a certain way. It’s more like let’s go see a movie, hang out in the park or come over for dinner. There’s never any stress – I’m never complaining and demanding or taking over time, so I feel in that social sense, people find a lot of reprieve with me, that they can just hang out; it’s just Chyrs!  You’re (we/I) are always seeking that in life.

 

Rather than dedicating life to being a serious yoga practitioner & teaching, it’s nice if you’re not in it for the money or the growth. Part of it is to wake up on a day, meditate and do something for yourself, and you know, make a little bit of money 😉 cause money makes the world go round!

 

You have to afford anything you do, of course. It gets you to tune into other things, and then other people respond to that. Then you build your community.

ASTROLOGY 

 

In the first paragraph in your bio on your website, you mention that you are  guided by

your “Scorpio heart”. What is the significance of astrology to you?

 

I think astrology, its purpose for me now, after having been into it for so many years, is that it’s a great pseudo psychology, you can find accessible information of our archetypes.

 

Astrology is all meant to be taken subjectively so you can understand yourself more, be more aware. In yoga, the highest work is trying to find awareness of yourself and observe yourself, how you’re flowing and how you’re moving.

 

With astrology, you can sometimes be made aware of the negative traits to your sign or astrological notions of the time you were born for example, but if you just sit, pause and be mindful of these traits, it can be observed not as a negative quality, but more of a personal or emotional tendency to be aware of.

  

Awareness isn’t always pretty.  It’s letting yourself know good and bad and how to balance – that’s always going to be life.  You can’t be high and mighty and perfect. You’re still going to have your moments, you’re still going to have your tendencies and patterns. But that’s what I think is so great about astrology.  If you read, and get sign oriented, and see certain patterns and you grow or understand yourself, it can give you a little bit of understanding rather than  having to sit with someone tell you what’s going on in your life.

 

MASCULINITY 

From a male perspective, do you think that men can often find the “wellness” space

intimidating even though it is just as applicable to them? How can they overcome that?

  

It’s always funny when we bring up these lines of masculinity and we even use the word intimidating because some equate the idea of being a man as not being intimidated by anything. But all of sudden we bring up the words ‘feelings’ or the ‘moon’ and people are reading something into it that’s self-analytical.

 

There are always layers or covers with masculinity. It’s about putting in the work of breaking down these rules of masculinity and realizing you can do and be into different things, and that doesn’t mean that you’re emasculate, and doesn’t need to bring up the certain fear for you to have to question your sexuality.

 

And if you already are (questioning your sexuality) then you have to deal with that – it’s 2018, we all have our story, but that aspect of breaking down and through past perspectives can be tough.

 

Women tend to be open to the moon or that spiritual speak that connects you inwards and men may also  find it interesting and intriguing, but don’t share that with other men,  so that’s’ the barrier – it’s within themselves.

 

How does that relate to the practice of yoga?

 

Some men are afraid of it, or the ideas others will associate them with if they practice, so they don’t do it. Which is funny, because you go to India and yoga is super male dominated, and much more aggressive. The West brought over the commodification of the practice, but  also brought in some heart elements, which made yoga more of this mixing pot where the market became largely women, so that’s how this whole image of women in yoga took over.

 

It’s so funny, because so much of what we come to see and what we find to be popular culture in yoga in Canada is not even Canadian popular culture, it’s from outlets like the Yoga Journal which is not about Canadian Yogis. It’s about American yoga so all of a sudden everything we come to know about yoga industries, is American

ENERGY 

In terms of energy and healing, your bring a lot of healing energy to your classes. How much does Reiki play a part in how you instruct, and to that extent, are you able to feel when certain students’ energy in your class are completely off or out of alignment and how does that reflect back to you as an instructor?

 

How the principles of Reiki have developed in the last 100 years mirrors some deeper principles of the yoga practice. So the practices merge, bringing an overall connection to a greater energy that’s intrinsically good.

 

With Reiki it allows us to tune in to being present. When we think about the big giant universe, we don’t think about a big daunting, out of control thing and I’m just this little tiny ant that can get smushed. That’s so negative! We think of this big free space that we live in. In Sanskrit we call it ‘pure free forever’.

 

So Reiki is becoming a tunnel to channel energy from one human to another human, because it needs a kind of connection, a bridge.

 

Energy reception is something that we humans get from just our natural sensitivities. I think everyone has it. For example, we all of a sudden get into a busy subway and we all tense up. Then we go into our own world and then we’re more tense in our own world, not even realizing that we just got tense because there are 100 people on this train and it’s 4 o’clock and everyone is exhausted.

 

And so, walking in the yoga room I can always, being in that sensitivity of energy awareness, get that vibe of oh, is it kind of a tougher class, are people coming in with a tougher energy? Like on a grey day, you can sometimes feel the energy is low. So being energy receptive can get you to be energy sensitive.

 

How does energy receptiveness help you teach?

 

Energy receptiveness allows me to find the intuitive guide to move through by seeing what’s going on in the room rather than pushing an agenda. I’m never making yoga just a workout. I think that what a big approach is, for me and a handful of other yoga teachers, is how to bring the challenge, while still tune into that ease, the oneness, the higher side of the philosophy of yoga.

 

Even when it’s a “Power” class, it can still be powerful in the little slow moves, or if you move a little more mindful and then it becomes a whole way of thinking of how to actually be powerful in life.

 

I think that’s where hugely, getting into reiki has helped me as a teacher, a facilitator, in building that intuitive sense.

 

That intuitive response helps in my camping retreats because you’re in the forest, you’re in the woods, it’s raining, it’s a hard day, someone’s hurt or you’re just hanging out and relaxing; make sure the conversations don’t steer in a negative way because it’s the sunset and it’s beautiful, and that’s why we’re here. Intuition helps in that sense too.

YOGA AND NATURE

So talking about your retreats – some may have personal resistance to the idea of the uncomfortable, being out in the woods for 3 days with people who you may not know well for example.

 

What do you think people’s biggest challenges are when working to obtain a spiritual connection  specifically with nature – do you see resistance  responses from participants? Do you find that’s common and how would you overcome that resistance or do you have any advice for someone who does want to do something like this?

 

When it comes to something like camping, where its perceived out of our comfort zone because we live a very kind of structured life, especially in city life but even if you live in small town, you’re in your home, you lock your doors. When it comes to camping we may think “I’m in the wilderness, I’m away and sleeping on the floor in this little nylon tent” and our mind turns to fear. Once we let that seed of fear in, it’s always so hard to break it, or that fear of the discomfort.  The thing is with camping, we as humans did it before; it’s how we got here.

 

The retreats are a relatively small period of time, and you’re going to bring yourself in some way, shape or form to the edge of discomfort.

 

The last retreat I did, I left my dry shoes in the car, but I was the retreat leader, so immediately i knew I couldn’t show that this was a bother, so now I’m here for 4 days with these people and you can think it’s the worst.

 

It was actually even kind of a wet trip and it wasn’t the worst! I had extra socks and other things, and it all worked out!  In every way it actually teaches you how to handle challenge. People don’t think of a retreat, or yoga even as something that brings us to an edge, but it is in an edge because that’s where we understand ourselves. That’s where we can see fight or flight. If we never start to get to a challenge, we never know what we can do.

 

That’s where the retreats really came from, it’s something that was different then just going away a kind of created, privileged experience. Most of the yoga & physical stuff is actually the paddling, portaging, hiking, the sleeping on the floor, waking up and dealing with cold nights, cooking all your food on the campfire, wanting to check your phone but there’s no reception. Then you remind yourself, it’s only 3 more days, 2 more days. You go on the challenge of this trip but every moment you’re on it, if you realize that every minute you’re one step closer to getting out, and then you realize that complaining about these things out here is not going to help you!

 

Then at home, on wet rainy day when you have to go to work, it’s actually better, then when you’re camping on a wet rainy day. It brings you into this perspective and opens you up, which is why I like going back (into the city), because it’s like a check in, that’s why when I travel I’d rather backpack and stay somewhere that’s a little more rustic and a little bit more social because I feel like I learn more, I experience more.

 

It’s how we grow and how we learn. We choose when we want to confront a wall or discomfort, but that’s how we grow, getting to that edge. That’s what the retreats were born out; what they are for. How to give something a little bit different, that keeps people at an edge and still offers yoga. When you meditate in nature it’s beautiful, it’s those quiet moments, you see a great blue heron fly across or a beaver, all the magical stuff that happens when you are in nature! It’s part of being there (unless you get to a secluded cabin, that would be great too!)