Today marks the end of my 28 day healing cleanse. I’ve been doing a countdown, sharing a benefit each day from this healing journey. Benefit #1 is living a pain free life.
The above picture was taken on Halloween last year. The cane in the pic was not part of my tourist costume! It was a necessary aid for me to walk. Twenty years after a car accident damaged my neck, sternum, lower back and legs, twenty years in which I experienced pain every day, my condition deteriorated. I developed severe sciatica down my left leg, creating great pain and difficulty in walking. Six months later, after physical therapy, energy work and massage, I was able to walk without the cane except for early in the morning. I still had pain in my leg and had trouble straightening it out if it was bent for too long, but it was better.
However, when I recently began to experience sciatica down my right leg, I knew I had to shift something. I have things to do and places to go! The healing cleanse was my something to do. Following a simple, raw, plant based diet has put me on a healing path, and makes me feel like I have taken charge of my health and well being again. I’ve learned what foods to eat, which supplements to take, and what not to eat, to heal myself.
Here is what has shifted in my health, in just 28 days:
- Headaches disappeared, after the third day on the cleanse. I haven’t taken an ibuprofen for 25 days.
- Allergies are also gone. No sinus pain or pressure, no cough, no sniffles.
- Minor aches and pains are gone, along with stiffness in fingers.
- Muscle pain is gone throughout my body.
- My neck vertebrae are much better. I still have minor discomfort there but it continues to improve.
- No indigestion or acid reflux for 28 days.
- Restless legs syndrome has disappeared, except for the afternoon I accidently ingested sugar in a restaurant smoothie.
- I sleep well at night, without using sleep aids.
- I feel lighter, more fit, better than I have in 21 years.
- The pain in my right leg has cleared up completely.
- My left leg is much, MUCH improved. I have very little pain. The last three days I haven’t used the cane, even in the mornings. I can straighten out my leg more easily after it has been bent for a while.
- I can lift my left leg with out grabbing it with my right hand, to put my shoe on.
- I can walk for several hours with no pain and only minor stiffness.
- I can speed walk and climb stairs, without pain.
I am well on my way to living a pain free life. I am much further along on the healing path than I dreamed possible in such a short time. I feel incredibly healthy and I’m not willing to trade that in for the fleeting pleasure of eating pizza or ice cream or a Reuben sandwich.
So what now, after the cleanse? I will continue on this path. I will continue to avoid sugar, dairy and gluten, while consuming a plant based diet that broadens to include cooked veggies, brown rice, olive oil, nuts and legumes. My health is important enough to me to eat in a way that improves my well being, day by day. This is a lifestyle that I can embrace and enjoy.
I am doing this.
If you would like to know more about the healing cleanse or Anthony William, whose book Medical Medium inspired my journey, check out these resources:
