Detoxing for Artists (and everyone else)

Even though I now have only natural art materials around, I have to admit that I spent most of my life bathing in turpentine and leaving heavy-metal laden paints on my skin to seep into my bloodstream. Noone ever brought up the subject in high school or art school or beyond so I didn’t worry about it. Even if I wasn’t an artist, just living on this planet means we need to detoxify or lesson our toxic load (since it’s impossible to completely detoxify). I went to a great class recently by two naturopaths who were also experts on detoxifying your system. They first told us that most humans on the planet have around 200 types of toxins in their body already and that there is no place on earth without toxins. Also, most newborn babies are born with around 170 types of toxins on their bloodstream (tested only minutes after birth).

The more you cleanse and take a few steps to detoxify, the better you feel- more energy, vitality, fewer colds, illnesses, diseases, the benefits are endless. I’ll mention a few of the daily and weekly detox habits that they suggested.

Daily: Releasing toxins from the skin: They begin every morning (or every time you shower) by dry brushing your entire body with a loofah mit or brush. It doesn’t have to take long, just 60 seconds or so. Then they coat their body with organic sesame oil. Next, they take a warm shower (no soap except on the underarms). Then they do a little water therapy by turning the shower to hot for 30 seconds (not scalding but just a little hotter than is comfortable), then cool for 30 seconds (not freezing, just refreshing), back to hot and then end with cool. This does alot to get those toxins out through the skin.

Weekly: Eat all fruits and vegetables one day a week, along with some good fats (coconut oil and olive oil).

Monthly: They also suggest seasonal cleanses that go much further.

To learn how to detoxify your studio, go to my previous blog entry on “Non-toxic Oil Painting” to find out more.