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You may remember from my post on my consult with Donna Gates, author of The Body Ecology Diet, that she outlined a step-by-step process for healing:

1. Create energy – heal thyroid, adrenals, reduce stress, engage in self-care, eat healthy foods that work for your situation.
2. Correct Digestion – build up microflora or beneficial bacteria.
3. Conquer Infection
4. Cleanse – this is covered in Donna’s book and is a very important concept.

This post is on step 4, cleanse. Donna believes that cleansing, although often misunderstood, is one of the most important principles of the Body Ecology Diet. Her theory of cleansing leverages the cycle of nature – the Earth and all creatures go through this natural process in order to restore balance.

Spring Cleaning – Creating Balance
As we think about our upcoming weekend of Spring Cleaning, it’s really very much the same. The idea of any cleaning process is to create balance from imbalance. When we are in an environment (our home, our office, our car, etc.) that is imbalanced in some way, maybe cluttered, messy, has strange smells – it can affect our mood. The same is true for our body. When it is clogged, stuffed, overtired, stressed – the natural urge is to do a little housecleaning. Our body’s natural healing process kicks in. For example, when you are overworked and over tired, do you tend to get sick and have to slow down? If you look at the process of illness, you may trace it back to some imbalance – and if traced back further, you may find that your habits are at the root cause.

I know this was true for me. Once I seriously started down the path of recovery, it was like I was peeling away layers and layers of old habits that were only serving to keep me tired, stuck and addicted. Well, the same is true for our body.

Cleansing – A Natural Process
Our body cleanses through multiple channels: tears, urine, mucous, sweat – and fecal matter. In the Body Ecology Diet, Donna also shares the other ways our body cleanses: disruptions like fevers, colds and skin eruptions – which we have learned to see as being “sick” or as negative events. Not so, says Donna, because these can be ways our body is fighting harmful substances in our body.

Unfortunately, we’ve gotten used to taking drugs when these things happen, which Donna says can drive toxins deeper into our body – since they are not exiting the body through normal cleansing processes. Eventually, our body can become weak and have less energy to fight toxins.

What Feels Bad Could Be Good
When we start to cleanse through diet and lifestyle, our body kind of “comes alive” because as we nurture our body and mind, we start to gain some energy. The first thing that starts to happen is our body starts to cleanse, which means we may feel a bit worse at first – or have ups and downs in the healing process. Often, people give up because they think they are getting sick, when in fact, the body is pushing toxins out in any way it can.

Well, this is how I felt when I had my first colonic. Our colon is one of the main sources for cleansing – and as you know, I had many years of constipation, leading to digestive distress. The Body Ecology Diet helped with that – and as I was cleansing through diet, I wanted to ensure that my colon was being rid of toxins as well. If you start to read about colon health, you’ll learn that the average person carries anywhere from 10 – 15 pounds of fecal matter in the colon. There are all sorts of reasons for this – diet, constipation, fatigue, poor circulation – and as I learned from Donna, the strainer effect.

The Strainer Effect
The colon is about 5 feet long and 2.5 inches in diameter. It is a muscle that has twists and turns like a roller coaster – so just like particles being caught as liquid goes through a strainer – food can be caught in pockets of the colon. Over time, the colon expands, holding more fecal matter. This can lead to problems of autointoxication, which some experts believe is behind things like migraines, auto-immune issues and chronic fatigue.

Colonics – Just What Are They?
Colonics (colon hydrotherapy, colonic irrigation) bathe the entire length of the colon with water, which softens the fecal matter and allows it to exit your body. It essentially exercises and retrains the colon toward its natural ability to create peristalsis. While there is much controversy about colonics, there is a lot of evidence that they are safe and effective for colon cleansing and irrigating the bowels.

My Experience With Colonics
When I talked to my sister about colonics recently, she said “NO WAY” and N-O! I once felt the same way until I learned more about them. They are nothing like getting a colonoscopy, which my sister had recently had, leading to her N-O exclaimation!

I went to The Natural Path Alternative, in Brighton, MA for my first colonic. I signed up for a series of 4 and my colon hydrotherapist for all of the sessions was Pamela Gregory. Pamela was excellent – I can’t recommend her enough! She was respectful, kind, nurturing – and fun! She was great to talk with, very knowledgeable about health, nutrition and cleansing (she teaches a cleansing class at the center) and had an all-around warm personality. Pamela immediately made me feel comfortable, which helped what could have been a nerve-wracking experience be more pleasant.

The Equipment
There are open and closed systems for colonics, each having a very different experience. I prefer the closed system, using a slow fill with a series of fill and release stages. With the closed system, there are no embarrassing smells or odors. The colon hydrotherapist stays with you throughout the session and may provide abdominal massage to help things along. They may also encourage you to relax, breathe and release – very important for the process.

The Natural Path Alternative uses a state-of-the-art, FDA-cleared, self-sanitizing colon hydrotherapy system with the ability to regulate temperature and pressure, while maintaining maximum safety. They use hygienic and comfortable disposable equipment with multi-filtered, purified water. It’s important to find out about the equipment used, before getting a colonic. If considering a colonic, look for a place that has disposable equipment, filtered, purified water and licensed colon hydrotherapists.

How I felt
During the colonic, I had very little pain – a little discomfort from gas and stomach distension, but overall it was fine. It was weird doing this for the first time, but I kind of knew what I was getting into because I had read J Peter Owen’s site describing exactly how the sessions went.

After my first colonic, I felt pretty bad. All of the terrible digestive pain I’d had before the Body Ecology Diet seemed to come back with a vengence. I was in digestive pain for 3 days, but thankfully, it did not trigger a relapse! I understood that the pain and abdominal distention was temporary and focused on calming activities. After the three days, I felt great and was ready to try my second session.

The second session got better, although I still had a little pain afterwards. My first breakthrough came in the third session – I felt amazing afterwards! And by the fourth, it got even better – Pamela said that yeast came out of my system on the fourth session, which is great.

Side Benefits
In Chinese medicine, our abdomen is our energy powerhouse, so it makes sense that when our liver or colon is congested or stopped up, we would feel less energy. When you cleanse your colon, your liver can do a better job processing toxins. It has also been said that we store a lot of emotions in our gut, so many colon hydrotherapists say that colonics are like “truth serum” or “waking the sleeping dragon.” Much like we hear about in yoga, when stored pain is stirred up and released, all kinds of emotions come to the surface. Pamela told me it’s not unusual for people to cry or have intense emotions during a session. Colon hydrotherapists are kind, gentle people who respect the whole process of release and can support clients through it.

While I didn’t have any emotional releases during the sessions, I did find myself reflecting on some old hurts that I had thought I’d forgotten. I was surprised to have them come to mind, but quickly realized it was stored up emotions coming out. Cleansing happens in body, mind and spirit – so when you cleanse in one area, don’t be surprised if something else comes up! It’s all good – better that it’s out, than stuck inside my gut!

Three other cool things happened:

1. My body felt lighter and there was an absence of a “need” or craving for anything.
2. I became more aware of how the food I was eating affected me – I could actually feel the affect of food on my body and that allowed me to make better decisions about how and what I ate.
3. In my 4th session, I realized I was more comfortable having a bowel movement in a public rest room. If you remember, I tended to wait until I was home, which only made constipation worse. After having colon hydrotherapy, I started to understand that elimination is natural – and being comfortable with a colon hydrotherapist in the room allowed me to get over the psychological fear of pooping with others in close proximity. Obviously it helps when there is no odor or sound, but the fact that I feel so much more comfortable is very empowering. One more fear down (so many to go!).

Going Back For More — My Own Spring Cleaning Celebration Action!
I’m already signing up for more sessions, since many people recommend a series of 10 for a good cleansing. This weekend, I’ll be getting my 5th as part of our Spring Cleaning weekend! If you are interested in colonics, keep in mind that I waited until well into my recovery before doing them. Make sure you talk to your health professional or a licensed colon hydrotherapist if you are actively engaged in an eating disorder and would like to do a colonic. I’ll talk more about that this Sunday, in my interview with Sheila Shea, a recovered anorexic and bulimic – who is now a licensed colon hydrotherapist. Stay tuned!

Other Resources:

• J Peter Owen - good account of one person’s experience with colonics. This really helped me know what to expect before I went.
• The Natural Path Alternative, Brighton MA (I highly recommend Pamela Gregory)
• The Health Lyceum, Sanford, Maine – A beautiful drive to Maine is worth the trip! Pamela Gerry, with her many years of experience as a registered nurse, is an excellent colon hydrotherapist. Pamela apprenticed with Dr. Ann Wigmore of Hippocrates, Boston and is very knowledgable about digestive health.
• From SAD to RAW - Michelle Reeves has a great blog on cleansing through a raw food diet. She shares her first colonic, with pictures of the equipment, in her journal. Michelle’s experience was with an “open” system and mine was with a “closed” system — check out her journal — a great way to see the difference!
• Sheila Shea – Sheila is a licensed colon hydrotherapist and is recovered from anorexia, bulimia and laxative abuse. I interviewed her for my blog and will be posting her article on Sunday – stay tuned! Sheila has a lot of good articles about colon hydrotherapy in her website. You can als see a picture of a closed system on her site.
• Cleansing Waters – Nancy Sphar, owner of Cleansing Waters is an I-ACT certified is colon hydrotherapist, Certified Body Ecologist and Certified Natural Health Practitoner. She has a lot of expertise from healing her own long history of constipation, depression and candida. Her experience led her to open her healing center for colon hydrotherapy, ionic foot baths and other healing services. If you are near Indianapolis, IN, I highly recommend visiting Cleansing Waters!
• International Association for Colon Hydrotherapy - look for I-ACT certified colon hydrotherapists.
• Rosie Matchette, a colon hydrotherapist and Certified Body Ecologist in northern Johnson County, Kansas.
• Article from Salon.com discussing pros & cons of colonics.

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