Lunar Chakra Cleanse Lessons

 

A couple weeks ago I completed a cleanse that I created and named the Lunar Chakra Cleanse. It involved eating foods matching the colours of each of the seven chakras (ROYGBIV) during one moon cycle, four days for each colour for a total of 28 days. My main intention was to ‘mono’ eat (only one or two foods at a time) in order to isolate different foods and to see how they made me feel. When we eat many ingredients and then feel a certain way, it is difficult to know which food caused the effect.

 

Going into the cleanse I had a slight expectation that the effects of individual foods would be easy to notice. To be totally honest, I really did not feel much variation throughout the 28 days. I think this was due in part to the fact that I was eating almost entirely whole, raw, and organic foods. I was feeling energized, balanced, rested, and relatively stable the entire cleanse (even with only getting six hours of sleep). I realized it was largely the food I cut out entirely that would cause imbalances within my body. The break from sugar, caffeine, gluten, processed foods, and preservatives felt revitalizing (other than the withdrawal headaches on day four). I also realize that even though I did not notice changes from the food I was eating, it does not mean they were not taking place. Most of my attention was devoted to physical effects and I did not make any correlations between food and more subtle changes, such as changes in my mood. None of the food really disagreed with my body.

 

The four day cycle frequency kept me motivated by changing up the potential foods I could eat on a regular basis. It was still easy to get tired of the limited foods available for each colour, but this challenged me to get creative. I felt like I developed a better relationship with my food by being able to get excited about preparing a meal with only a couple ingredients. Best of all, I came out of the cleanse with a few recipes (below) for incredibly simple and tasty snacks!

 

I did learn that I require more proteins in my diet, after eating fruit I am hungry again in an hour or so. Unfortunately I did not learn from my past food journeys and came out of the cleanse too fast. I jumped right back into eating the food I cut out and felt bloated, gassy, and in pain for a few days after the end. It is essential to slowly reintroduce foods into your diet when they have been removed for a while.

 

An interesting point I learned that did not have to do with food came about when I realized that the 28 day lunar cycle I began during the new moon ended two days before the next new moon. Everyone I talked to knew the lunar cycle was 28 days and yet here I was counting 30 on the calendar between two of the same moon phases! I looked this one up and found out that the time it takes the moon to circle the Earth one complete rotation (Sidereal month) is about 27.32 days, on average, from a perspective above the solar system. However, the time it takes the moon to move from full moon phase to full moon phase from the perspective of someone on Earth (Lunar month) is 29.53 days on average. The difference is due to the distance the Earth also circles around the sun during the moon cycle – it requires another two days to arrive at the full moon position again. You can check the wikipedia article for visuals of this.

 

I am definitely incorporating more simple eating into my diet after this cleanse. Sticking to only a few ingredients really makes it easier for your digestive system to sort and break down. In closing I would like to share a few of the recipes I came across in case you are interested in trying them out!

 

Happy eating!

Skye

 

Spaghetti Squash

-> Cut spaghetti squash in half, scrape out the seeds, and put on cookie sheet, open face down, in the oven at 350F for 40 minutes. Scrape out squash with a fork, mix with some pepper and lemon juice!

 

Yam Fries

-> Peel and cut yam into slices just less than 1cm thick. Mix in a bowl with melted coconut oil and seasoning (I would use pepper and cayenne) then spread out over a cookie sheet. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes (mixing around at 20 and 40 minutes). I also started putting on onions and other veggies at 40 minutes.

 

Green Snack

-> Cut avocado and cucumber slices and place them side by side on a plate. Sprinkle some sea salt and pepper on top and add a bunch of pea shoots and sprouts to munch on. Eat with your fingers!

 

Eggplant

-> Peel skin to make stripes then slice into approximately 1cm slices. Lay side by side on a plate and sprinkle salt on top of each slice. Leave for 1 hour – this pulls the bitterness out – the slices will get ‘sweaty’. Rinse with water and pat dry with paper towel. Fry (or grill) them in a frying pan over coconut oil and medium high heat. Sprinkle some sea salt and pepper before flipping when the underside is a nice brown colour. Add more seasoning, then cook about a half onion sliced on top. Flip one more time and cook onions under the eggplant slices for a few minutes. Goes great with hot sauce if you want, tasty by itself too!