The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet: Activate Your Body's Natural Ability to Burn Fat and Lose Weight Fast (37 page)

Do a basic meditation practice.
This is one of the most powerful things you can do to tap into your deeper spiritual and emotional life (as well as calm your mind, which we’ll cover in Day 7). There are many paths of meditation you can try, but here is my favorite basic one, which anyone can do:

1. Sit quietly in a comfortable place.
   Get yourself into a comfortable seated position, perhaps with your legs crossed and your hands resting gently in your lap, or upright in a chair if that’s better for you. You want to be able to sit without fidgeting for ten minutes.
   
2. Set a timer for ten minutes.
   As your practice deepens, try to increase the time by five minutes each day until you reach thirty minutes.
   
3. Close your eyes and begin with a few deep, cleansing breaths.
   
4. Turn your attention inward.
   Watch your breath as it passes in and out through your nose. Your breath is the steady constant to return to again and again. Don’t try to think or not think. If thoughts or feelings surface—which they will—let them. Whatever comes up for you, it’s okay. Don’t judge or try to shape it. You can live a lifetime in ten minutes, swinging from pleasant, peaceful thoughts and feelings to sad or angry ones. Just let the thoughts and feelings come and go, observing and gently releasing each one as it arises (you can imagine them floating away on a cloud, or vaporizing in the air like a wisp of smoke) and coming back to your breath. You don’t need to do anything but listen, notice, breathe, and release.
   
5. When the timer goes off, gently and slowly open your eyes.
   Spend a few minutes writing in your Detox Journal what arose for you in your meditation practice: what you experienced, how it felt, what insights or shifts you may have had.
   

Over time you will get calmer and clearer, and this practice will change your brain and how you respond to your own thoughts and feelings. For more information about meditation, go to www.10daydetox.com/resources. My CD
UltraCalm
provides a set of simple guided relaxation, meditation, and imagery experiences that can be very helpful.

Tune in to your body.
Now is a time to pay deep attention to how you feel on a physical level without the sugar and other substances you may have been using to manage your feelings and energy. What is happening to your body? How do you feel from the changes in diet? How are your chronic symptoms? How are you sleeping? How is your energy? Slowing down is key now, so you can really tune in to what your body is telling you. Are the cravings gone or subsiding (by now, they will be for most)? What does that tell you about what you believed to be true for yourself?

Let yourself be.
Being kind to yourself is key to healing. You don’t need to fix anything right now; this is the time to simply notice how you feel. Just listen to what your body and mind are saying and write it all down. The paradox is that the more you accept how things are, the more room there is for them to shift and change. You’re opening up to a new awareness of and insight into yourself; trust that you’ll continue to make positive changes that will nurture you.

Extend your journal time tonight as much as possible
and write the answers to the questions below. Recording everything that unfolds for you when it is fresh in your mind is key; while you may think you will remember the powerful epiphanies you have during this awareness meditation, they often fade when we return to the busy-ness of daily life. Write everything down so you capture it fully. Then, in the days and weeks to come, you can go back and reread what you wrote and begin to make whatever changes in your life are appropriate to reflect those inner shifts. The simple act of writing is powerful and healing. Science has shown that twenty minutes of authentic, honest recording of your feelings, thoughts, and emotions can create profound health benefits, including weight loss.