Solstice Weekend Cleanse

Since my last cleanse in February, which left me feeling energized and renewed, I slacked in my eating habits and started to feel a little sluggish and gross. Counter-intuitive, I thought, given that we were just coming into spring and summer and all the fruits and vegetables.

I didn't want to commit to a three-day cleanse. Instead, I decided I just needed a quick reset to help me get back on track. So I decided to kick off summer with a one-day juice cleanse. I went with the Juice Truck's Pick and Mix and based my juice selection off of the third day of the three-day cleanse, which includes the Skin Deep strawberry-kiwi juice that I hoped would help set my complexion straight.

I chose to cleanse on Sunday, the first full moon after the summer solstice, because I'd recently read a Vidya e-newsletter about cleansing with the moon cycles.

I think I thought my full moon cleanse would feel more supernatural than it did, but it was a pretty quiet weekend. Saturday night I did yoga on my balcony by candlelight as the nearly-full moon was rising. I thought of capturing the moment, but I didn't want to interrupt my practice. The sky was clouded over on Sunday, so I didn't get to see the full moon.

Whereas I bounded out of bed and was full of energy the morning after completing my three-day juice cleanse, I didn't really notice any effect of a one-day cleanse. It makes sense that it would be less noticeable as it's not as long. I did enjoy the day and it felt good to be flooding my body with good stuff. I think I would consider quarterly cleansing, but I would probably opt for 3-days to really feel detoxified.

(Photo by me of a beautiful Ghanaian coffin I saw at the ROM in Toronto in March)

On the Road

There's another three weeks left until the solstice and the official start of summer. But I've been ready for summer ever since the weather started taking a turn for the nicer in May.

A few weeks back I was telling some friends about how I was listening to this episode of This American Life about a guy who decided to walk across America. Though I haven't been on a cross-country road trip, I remarked that whenever summer rolls around I feel compelled to read "wander literature."

I was given a copy of Kerouac's On the Road seven years ago by a now-estranged friend who wrote a lovely inscription in the front cover. I remember not really getting into the book until the third part and disliking the portrayal of the female characters. I'd love to re-read it and see if I still feel the same way. You can check out a variety of editions of On the Road front covers here.

This summer I think I might read Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, the original Route 66 story.

What's on your reading list this summer? Do you find the seasons affect what you're in the mood to read?

(Photo from the film On the Road via Art Info)