Holistic Detox: Make Your ‘Get Healthier Resolution’ Happen Now!

Well, January is here, yet again.  We all commit ourselves to be better, healthier, more engaged, more organized, and myriad other promises that peter out after a week or two…at least for most of us.  Through the years, one of the most frequent resolutions I see is the resolution to be healthier.  We hear you!  We all want to be healthier, but most of us lack the support and guidance to do so, hence the “falling off the wagon” phenomenon that occurs all too frequently.  

At Heights of Health, we are dedicated to changing to that pattern for good!  I have spent the last year developing a program that takes you through a step-by-step process to help you change your life – The Holistic Detox Program.   I have yet to see something like it elsewhere.  

In this program, you will go through the process of optimizing mitochondrial energy production, cell membrane health, neuroendocrine function, and proper drainage too, then, we lead you into a personalized full body detoxification process including things like environmental toxins (think microplastics and glyphosate), heavy metals, mycotoxins/mold, parasites and more.  Your practitioner will truly tailor the program to your individual needs.  

As you are going through this process, you will receive monthly actionable educational materials with excellent resources to help walk you through cleaning up your diet, your household products, your beauty routine, your kitchen and more.  This easy-to-follow process is truly holistic, as you will learn tools to detox and support your mental and emotional side, as well.  This aspect is essential if you want to truly change your life.  

The program is easy to integrate into your life and is streamlined to help save you money.  After the initial appointment, you will typically meet monthly with your practitioner for 30 minutes so that she can give you individualized support and keep you moving through the process.  Depending on your requirements and wants, The Holistic Detox program usually lasts 6-12 months and can be adjusted as needed – remember, this is truly personalized.  

Whether you are a current client or new to Heights of Health, in person or virtual, this might be a great way to finally stay committed to your goals of becoming truly holistic.

Tracy’s Tips for a Healthier Detox

Whether you choose the Holistic Detox Program or not, here are some tips to assure you are helping your body detox on a daily basis from the stew of chemicals we are all unavoidably and continuously exposed to in our lives:

1. Drink PURE water.  We all know how important water is to help flush toxins out, but when you drink tap water or plastic bottled water, are you adding more toxins than you are taking away?  Quite possibly.  This is not to deter you from drinking water, but to encourage you to make sure you are drinking clean water.  Distilled is the gold standard (you can purchase a steel or glass distiller online), but reverse osmosis and other filters can also remove most of the toxins from your water (not the refrigerator filter type, however).  Two more tips – do not drink out of plastic and change your water filters more frequently than recommended.  Houston’s tap water is notably filled with toxins (arsenic, uranium, fluoride, chlorine, etc.) so your filters will likely be working harder than expected. You can check out what is in your tap water HERE.
2. Sweat daily.  Our skin is our largest organ and it is a vital part of how we move out toxins.  Whether through exercise or a sauna, get that body temperature up.  If you do not sweat easily, talk to your practitioner about what might be out of balance. 
3. Get a good night’s rest.  We sleep 20% less than people a few decades ago did and it is not a healthy thing.  Sleep is essential for the healing process as it gets us into the parasympathetic nervous system mode so the body can repair itself and clean the brain out via the glymphatic system.  We have so many ways to track our sleep these days (I love my Oura ring, but there are others that are very good) so that we can recognize patterns and make adjustments to optimize sleep.  Talk to your practitioner if you need extra support.    

by Tracy Southwick, MBSR-MP, ND, HHP 

Heather’s Hints for a Healthier Detox

A true full-person detox should entail more than just shedding the physical yuckies, like a parasite detox or a heavy metal detox. While physical detoxes are very important, we also need to think about a fully Holistic Detoxification.  It’s important to clear out toxins from our mental and emotional spaces as well. Why? Well, the body doesn’t know the difference between a physical toxin and an emotional toxin. A similar internal stress reaction occurs when we experience a toxic thought/emotion as when we experience a toxic substance. Both affect the neuroendocrine system and can create inflammation throughout the body. And we know that inflammation is the source of all disease. For this reason, Tracy asked me to add an emotional detox component to the Heights of Health’s Holistic Detox Program. Here’s some of what I included in my portion of the program plus a little bonus.

1. Detox with Mindfulness. A fancy way to explain mindfulness is through the process of metacognition, which is simply the ability to think about what you’re thinking about. (Yes, notice and think about your own thoughts.) “ Wow, how long have I been making up this long story in my head? Does this thinking even serve me? Geez, I think I ran this same negative narrative about that person about 10 times yesterday and I didn’t feel any better afterwards! I definitely felt worse!” When we mindfully metacognate, we have the power to notice and then pivot from negative storylines to simple positive thoughts. I’m not talking about making up a huge new fairytale novel in your head. That’s hard! Simple shifts add up to big changes. One of my simple brain hacks is to notice when I’m running a crummy story (again) and then stop and find something in my immediate environment that I find joyful or beautiful. It could be the red and yellow leaves on the fall trees or it could be one of my kids doing something funny or, honestly, it could be as silly as listening to my very large cat snoring. Bottom line, take control of your thoughts and shift them onto something neutral, light and grounding. If you can do this quick habit throughout your day, you will change the toxic load in your body.
2. Detox with Meditation. Yes, I talk about meditation a lot, and it’s certainly earned the right. Meditation IS the next best thing to sliced bread. So, anytime I get a chance to throw a hint about meditation, I will. Check out this attention-grabbing study: In 2009 Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn was awarded a Nobel Prize in Medicine proving one new understanding behind the science of longevity and anti-aging. She and her colleagues demonstrated that meditating for only 12 minutes for 8 weeks dramatically affected the DNA related to the aging process! Throw away those expensive anti-wrinkle creams and incorporate a mere 10 to 12 minutes of meditation into your daily routine! 
3. Detox with Breathwork. Our lungs are one of our major detox organs. Every day we are taking in toxins with each inhale. That’s part of the purpose of those little nose hairs—Nature’s Filters! But there are two things within your power that would amplify the lung’s detox efforts. 

• Minimize exposure to environmental toxins. Get a high-quality HEPA home air filter and ensure that you’re using green, nontoxic cleaning materials, laundry detergent and personal care products. 
• Breathe on purpose!  Breathing deeply and purposefully creates multiple defenses against disease by releasing toxins through filtration via the lungs, balancing our autonomic nervous system, reducing blood pressure, reducing cortisol levels, and increasing oxygen delivery to cells. One study says that purposeful breathwork can reduce 1200 stress-reducing genes! Practicing belly breathing for 2 minutes, once in the morning and once in the evening, can have a profound effect on your detox journey. 

Click here for a 10-minute guided breathing meditation. This 10 minutes will help you incorporate all 3 of the above Hints. 

As we mentioned above, our new Holistic Detox program is easy to integrate into your life and is streamlined to help save you money.  Whether you are a current client or new to Heights of Health, in person or virtual, this might be a great way to finally stay committed to your goals of becoming truly holistically healthy.  Give our office a call to learn more.  We wish you a happy and healthy 2025!!

by Heather Goodwin, MBSR- P, MA, HHP