Carrot Leek Ginger Soup Mandala

Soup Cleanse recipes can be found  a few posts back (click here).

Wanna dive deeper into the cleanse with spices, soup toppers and self-care actions?  Check back in for our upcoming posts or follow our blog to have the posts delivered to your email

The final soup in the in the nourishing winter soup cleanse is my favorite Wednesday soup.  Yup, Wednesdays are a busy day committed as a Hometown Hero to Habitat for Humanity building houses in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  That means I need a quick lunch to take in the thermos for on-site break time or a quick dinner when I come home exhausted (in a good way) after a long epsom salt soak!

The soups can be created and enjoyed in any order.  However, the order of the soups as presented journeys you through the 12 organ network in order of energetic flow.  One or two may even become your favorite go to soups throughout the year. The first and last vegetable combinations concentrate on the Metal element organs: large intestine and lung respectively.

Several years ago, I bought a blendtec that turns chunks of vegetables and herbs into a steaming hot soup in 152 seconds.  While I love my immersion blender for the convenience that it offers by transforming my just cooked hot vegetables and stock into a delightful puree, the blendtec tops.

Compliance Tip:  Soup Share

Want to do the soup cleanse with 1/2 the work?  Consider a soup share.  Divide the soups and double the ingredients, package and swap with a friend or family member.

We are all brothers and sisters

Compliance Tip: Element Wisdom Cards

Choose an Element Wisdom Card each day. These unique messages support your seasonal health & elemental constitution as determined by your 5 element practitioner or our Seasonal Medicine Element Quiz.

Spices: 

Fresh Ginger: 

nature: acrid, warm

action: releases exterior, disperses cold: stops cough, alleviates vomiting

Skin: promotes urination, reduces edema

affinity:  Lung, Spleen & Stomach

Whole Foods Tip: Peeling the carrots will sweeten the soup. Choosing not to peel the skin imparts an ever so slight hint of earth and bitter taste. This soup freezes well for single servings later on.

Toppers:

Chopped Soaked Almonds: 

nature: sweet, neutral

action: ventilates lungs, relieves cough & asthma, transforms phlegm, lubricates intestines

affinity: Lung & Large intestine

Self Care:

To support the lung and its expression as the skin: breath work and dry brushing

I hope you enjoy this journey!  Be creative.  Love your body with healthy foods.

xoxoxoxo Sarita

The winter soup cleanse as a method of preparing the body for a spring cleanse, resetting after over indulgence and a nourishing and gentle act of a self care to resent our habits. Our goal should always be to first optimize the functioning of our bodies to aid elimination when we undertake a detox.  

There are just a few basic ‘rulz’ and a lot of room for making it your own.  In my practice, I have learned that co-creating plans supports your wellness journey.

1. No Grazing. Allow 4 to 5 hours between each meal.  This allows the nerve complex known as the migrating motor complex to move food out of our stomachs through the small intestine, optimizing nutrient absorption, maximizing digestive power while sweeping misplaced bacteria into the colon for elimination.  The MMC starts two hours after eating. Snacking between meals slows or stops the digestive process.

2. Fermented Foods. Add one to two servings of non dairy fermented foods daily. I suggest 1-2 oz of kombucha, raw sauerkraut, miso soup, kim chee, etc

3. Whole Foods. You may choose to add these soups once or twice daily to a whole foods diet free of process and refined foods.  Another option is start the day with vegetable or bone broth or miso soup, a mid day meal of in season greens sautéed in coconut or olive oil sprinkled with seeds or nuts and evening soup. You may choose to rest the digestive system further with a week of ‘smashed, mashed, pureed, broths and teas’ or intermittent fasting. Make it work for you.

4. Water and Herbal Tea. Drink ½ your body weight in clean water daily including a cup or two of your favorite detox or calm tea and supplemental mineral water or drops. During winter I always cycle back around to calming and adaptagenic teas ~ watch for our upcoming post: Teas: Adapt & Calm to dive deeper. This is the time to shop local and buy from  your peeps.

5. Grocery Lists. I’m not a fan of grocery lists.  We live in a time in which all fruits and vegetables from all parts of the globe are in season all the time in our commercial grocery stores or can be shipped to our door. I’m inviting you to shop your local farmer’s market, harvest your yard.  Absolutely whenever possible buy organic – it’s richer in minerals and free from pesticides and chemicals.  No spray is also a better choice.  Fresh is better and frozen is still good. Really look at the produce when you are shopping. Which produce looks the healthiest? the most vital?  the most alive? Choose that one.  If one or two of the vegetables from the soup cleanse ingredient list is not available – skip it. 

6. Soup Share. Consider recruiting a friend or family member to parnter with during the cleanse week.  You all could each prepare 1/2 of the soups and together you have the whole with 1/2 the work.  Check in daily. Genius!!
7. Add One. Subtract Three. Add one external element of support.  In addition to one form of circulation/movement daily ~ dance time, qi gong shaking, yoga, stretching, walks, sauna, therapeutic bathing ~ add support like our Element Wisdom Water Deck or your favorite pod cast or inspirational.  Subtract three sources of overstimulation:  social media, radio, news, TV, netflix, all technology after sunset, etc