This past month I fasted for a day so I could binge that night on my hometown high-calorie favorite Mexican food, replete with extra hot salsa and a margarita. Then I paid for it beyond anything I’d ever experienced, in five days of gastrointestinal distress.

I frantically tried natural remedies, experimenting with one after another. I gorged on water, juiced meals and ate natural and organic foods. A chiropractor friend also suggested I exercise to strengthen my stomach muscles. On day three it became clear I needed the detox when a face breakout signaled there was still bad stuff being expelled. On day four I went full bore with every remedy at hand, including three sets of 20 stomach crunches. Finally, I got relief from the bloating and discomfort; the zits went away too.

How thankful I am for Meredith Montgomery’s feature article, “Natural Ways to Cleanse Body and Mind: Take Toxins Out of Your Life.” It’s prompted my own research and I am now more determined than ever to be vigilant about what goes into and onto my body. We need to be wise to avoid toxins sprayed on conventional foods; engineered into most personal care and household products and furnishings; petroleum-based clothing; and asphalt residue and lawn chemicals tracked into the house. It is possible to clean up our personal environment.

Cleaning up our mental and emotional environment is equally vital and even more challenging. Trying to get a handle on what’s important and helpful in the midst of the barrage of “if it bleeds it leads” media, pharmaceutical ads teaching us to be sick, 24/7 schedules, political partisanship, social injustices, troubling world events and climate change can put us on mental and emotional overload if we let it. 

Mental detox of our emotional life including relationships with ourselves and others requires alertness, training and long-term discipline. One key appears to be mindfulness and I love the idea that we can cleanse our minds by staying in and appreciating the now of “Father, what is mine to do today?” Our creator guides us in Philippians (chapter 4) on the wisdom of dwelling on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable, focusing on anything excellent or praiseworthy. Proverbs 4:23 likewise instructs us to be careful about what we think… because our thoughts run our life. Contemplating all this has me signing up for the four-week Introduction to Mindfulness class starting July 17 at the Mastermind Meditation Center.  

Inspiring us to laying a pure foundation of nutritious eating, this issue offers our annual Farmers’ Market Guide pullout with handy information on North Texas farms. It covers the Metroplex and includes farm stands, you-pick options and consumer supported agriculture programs with weekly, bi-monthly and monthly boxes of fresh, natural and organic produce, sometimes delivered to our door. It also has garden stores where we can get help, advice and supplies to grow our own natural, clean food.

To a glorious summer,

Bernice Butler, Publisher