Last week, I went on a (really fascinating and fun) 5-day cleansing event for healing purposes. I have not done anything like this before, and was literally feeding only on (organic) fruits and vegetables on those days. The entire 'cooking' process involved a lot of blending, juicing and steaming the foods. As a person who already enjoys fresh fruits and vegetables on daily diet, it was an enjoyable journey and the necessary healing properties of these recipes are a bonus! As you can probably imagine, my home kitchen on those days were packed with these plant gems, as I received online guidance and coaching from medical experts to go through this healing journey in the right way to maximize the benefits it has on my body. I am proud to say this: I was fully committed and I have not cheated even a bit although I had to really resist the temptation to even taste the foods that I prepared for my son. But, I did choose for foods which are simpler to prepare for him, such as spaghetti Bolognese, chicken porridge, fried noodles or noodles soup, to name a few. I must admit to the discomfort of not tasting the foods I gave to my child, but I also refused to ruin the cleansing process. I took the scene of him finishing everything served on his plate as the sign that the foods tasted just fine.
All participants of this cleansing program were asked to prep all the key ingredients and tools and equipment required for the 5 days, about a week ahead of the event. One of the main absolute-must vegetable that I had to stock up was the celery. This was the vegetable that I have to juice and drink every morning. I am still doing this until today because I understand now that pure celery juice taken on an empty stomach, is a potent healing medium that restores our health from chronic illnesses and helps strengthening our digestion of foods that we eat for the rest of the day. However, the greatest healing power and benefits of celery juice comes only when it is consumed on its own. So, not even water or other greens should ideally be added to it. Trust me, it tastes fine! This was where I found myself deviated slightly from the recommended way due to the reason that I thought blender was adequate to do both blending and juicing - and I did not need a juicer at home. The blender did do the job...but the effort on celery stalks was almost impossible without added water, not to mention tedious as well to sieve away the fiber pulp every time post-blending and risking the longevity of the blender itself. Since I barely have proper place for my pressure cooker, rice cooker and baking machine, I brushed off the idea of buying a new juicer. I kept reminding myself, minimalism, minimalism, you don't need it. Yet, as one of the host speakers demonstrated the whole process on screen, he made it looked so easy and celery juice was prepared in less than two minutes - while it usually took me an average of 30 minutes each round. Yikes!
After the 5-day cleanse, I was on the hunt for a new juicer. I convinced myself to give it a try and if I did not find much added value from using it, I shall return it. It is mind-boggling to find so many different brands, designs and price range in the market. To save time, I went for the compact Viva Philips brand juicer after reading some excellent reviews about it and its reasonable price. When it first arrived on the next day, I eagerly unboxed everything and gave it a maiden juicing of the celery stalks. In less than two minutes indeed, I was exhilarated at the sight of the green celery juice before me. It has definitely made the work so much easier! More importantly, no water was added and hence all its powerful healing properties were well preserved. I gulped it down in no time. I knew immediately that it was a keeper. My son was so fascinated by that little machine that he suggested to try it out with other fruits and vegetables as well. So we did: apples and carrots, to date. He drank them with much pleasure. At least I managed to demonstrate to him that pure apple juice is way better (without artificial sweetener) than those bottled ones we purchase from the store.
As I look back today, I realized there are lessons here for me to learn that I would like to share. First, we should be open to trying new things. Be adventurous and experiment life in a playful way. The unease of stepping outside of our comfort zone or venturing into something unfamiliar is normal and expected. But, it is also the pathway to experiencing the new. When we open up to new opportunities, we allow ourselves to create more options and better options for ourselves. That is when we realize life has a lot to offer and there are many things that we just simply do not know yet until we make the decision to give it a go. Try first, then decide. And when we hold ourselves back, we will continue to build on a limited worldview, often frustrated and live life with a narrow mind wondering, is this all there is? Second, we should not wait too long to get the help we need. The help may be to solve a problem or simply getting a different opinion or perspective to improve the way we approach certain matters. When our masculinity energy dominates (especially in women), we want to be taking care of everything and exhaust ourselves on many levels. To many, asking for help is seen as a form of weakness. As a result, we always wait until something is triggered which leaves us no choice but to frantically or desperately seeking help from others. When we are tired, learn to pause, breathe and rest. Tomorrow is another day to start anew and fresh. Don't feel like cleaning, hire a cleaner. Don't feel like cooking, call for a takeout. Having a brain fog, go for a walk. Feeling down, go outside and get some fresh air. In my case, feeling cumbersome with the all the prep work for celery juice, get a juicer! Last but not least, we should make a habit to check in on the "rules" we tend to set for ourselves, and evaluate if they in fact empower or restrict us. The general rule of thumb for this is to eliminating those that do not serve us (re: make us happy). Remember, rules are man-made too. There are times to integrate them but also opportunities to bend them. Life is already hard, don't make it any more harder on ourselves. Let's find ways to create and explore better choices, there is always something out there waiting.
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