Review
“In Total Life Cleanse, Jonathan Glass combines ancient ayurvedic wisdom with modern science to create a user’s manual for your life. This book is comprehensive, practical, and tremendously useful. The more people who follow its advice, the more healthy and happy our world will be.” (Ocean Robbins, coauthor of Voices of the Food Revolution)
“Total Life Cleanse is a real jewel. It is filled with profound insights into the true nature of disharmony and illness as well as very practical strategies to regain balance and health. It is a wonderful guide to reclaim our true treasure--radiant health.” (Dr. Sherrill Sellman, host of What Women Must Know radio show)
“The teachings of Total Life Cleanse are much needed during these challenging times that stress the mind, body, and spirit. The merging of genomic science with ancient traditions for healing is unique and sure to help many.” (Joel Kahn, M.D., F.A.C.C., author of The Plant-Based Solution)
“Total Life Cleanse clearly explains that we are all exposed to toxins--both physical and subtle. Therefore, it is so essential to glean the knowledge from this book. The included Daily Guide, with its recipes, supplement protocols, daily practices, and tips, provides a powerful detox method that will benefit all who are pursuing the path of health and wellness in body, mind, and spirit.” (Bruce Canvasser, N.D., founder of Integrative Therapeutics)
“My very first cleanse was a life-changing experience. The energy surge was incredible, the mental clarity was phenomenal, and the overall experience was a challenge well worth every moment. Total Life Cleanse can guide you to experience the same life-changing benefits that my very first cleanse brought into my life!” (Jairek Robbins, bestselling author of Live It!: Achieve Success by Living with Purpose)
“Total Life Cleanse is the most excellent, comprehensive, documented truth, including all of the essential ingredients and knowledge needed to maintain and nourish our bodies, minds, hearts, and general well-being. A must-read for all consciously awake souls.” (BV Tridandi Swami, author, monk, and bhakti yoga teacher)
“The synthesis of a lifetime of research, practice, and experience, Total Life Cleanse is a compendium of knowledge and a labor of love. Glass takes ancient principles of healing and wellbeing and renders them easily accessible to contemporary Western readers. The Cleanse is not just physical but one that reaches all aspects of a person’s being and touches the sacred self, the self-luminous soul. This is a valuable contribution.” (Simon Haas, teacher of dharma and yoga philosophy and author of The Book of Dharma)
“Jonathan Glass has given us an amazing gift to heal and enrich our lives with Total Life Cleanse. This book should be in every home and office, and its practices can be a foundation for a healthy society, if only we were all to embrace them.” (Ken Manning, Ph.D., coauthor of Invisible Power and president of Insight Principles, Inc.)
“Total Life Cleanse is a must-read if you want to reclaim your health, vitality, and well-being. Glass makes a compelling case by drawing on authoritative references that tell the story of why our collective health is in serious decline. Glass lays out a plan of action for healing, recovery, and renewal. It is full of practical wisdom on how to get well and stay well.” (Michael Geary, Ph.D., life coach, astrologer, author, and speaker)
“Total Life Cleanse far exceeds the scope of fasting and diet alone. It far exceeds the topic of just detoxification and stress management. It is more than just another wellness course. From resolving blockages and stagnation in the physical or emotional body, to clearing out toxic programs in the mind, to coping with stress from any source--internal or external--this book gently guides the reader into new ways of thinking, seeing, and being and a greater understanding of oneself. From this empowered state of mind--of health and inner balance--one can manifest their true self in a way that empowers and transforms others and, in turn, oneself.” (Dave Ehrlichman, M.Ac.O.M., owner of Golden Lotus Herbs)
“In Total Life Cleanse, Jonathan Glass has created a healing manual that takes the reader through one of the most important transformational journeys of their life, creating complete harmony in their mind, body, spirit complex. I highly recommend this book and cleanse to every person sincerely seeking true and complete transformational healing.” (Sripad BV Bhagavat Maharaja, bhakti yoga teacher, master herbalist, and ayurvedic practitioner)
“Total Life Cleanse provides the tools necessary for cleansing and healing your body, mind, and soul. Jonathan Glass shares numerous success stories of patients he has guided on their journeys to a healthier lifestyle. Get ready for life transformation!” (Bruce Howe, D.C., C.C.N., owner and cofounder of Nutragen Health Innovations)
“In Total Life Cleanse, Glass guides you on how to do an extraordinary cleanse practically and also on how to transform your life to live it purely, thus preventing any future ailments of body, mind, or soul.” (Vishnu Swami, author of Eternal Dharma)
About the Author
Jonathan Glass, M.Ac., C.A.T., is a master acupuncturist, certified Shuddha Ayurveda therapist, and herbalist who has served on the faculty of the New England School of Acupuncture and The Dharma Institute of Yoga and Ayurveda. An advocate of group-supported transformational cleanse programs, he has been in private practice since 1987 and co-founded the Healing Essence Center with his wife. He lives in Concord, Massachusetts.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
Essentials of Cleansing
Never before in recorded history have we been so intensively exposed to such a barrage of toxins, including biological, dietary, chemical, heavy metal, electrical, and radioactive, as well as modern-day emotional, psychological, and spiritual stressors.
With thousands of man-made chemicals in our water and air--far too many of which have never been tested for human safety--and electrical smog in the form of electromagnetic and wireless frequencies clouding the ether, it is no wonder so many types of cancer, autoimmune diseases, and anxiety disorders are exponentially on the rise.
What Is Cleansing?
Cleansing is the art and process of making health-enhancing dietary and lifestyle changes. These changes aid in effectively managing stress, eliminating toxins, improving nutritional intake, and cultivating a deeper connection with our innate wisdom.
Cleansing is a natural opportunity to relieve the body and mind from the burden of toxicity and unhealthy stress. It is truly remarkable how positively the body and mind respond when given an opportunity. After a balanced cleanse, one normally experiences many subtle and not-so-subtle benefits, including:
• reduced aches and pains
• improved digestion
• enhanced energy
• stronger immunity
• calmer and more focused mind
• more pleasure from the taste of whole foods
• clearer skin
• loss of excess weight
• deeper internal connection
• sense of personal empowerment
• improved relationships
• deeper connection to one's innate wisdom and life purpose
These are just a few of the rewards that come from cleansing and taking our health and our lives into our own hands!
We regularly clean our homes, our automobiles, our skin, and our teeth. How often does it occur to us to purify our internal organs, nervous system, mind, and heart?
In addition to environmental stressors and toxins, the nutritional quality of our food and produce has significantly diminished in the past fifty years. This synergistic effect of stress, toxicity, and nutritional depletion is devastating to our well-being.
The good news is that the principle of synergy--the property of combining elements to create an effect greater than the sum of their parts--works just as effectively in a positive direction. When we manage stress more effectively, heal the nervous system, improve our nutritional status, eliminate stored toxins, and reduce exposure to environmental and dietary toxins, we regain and enhance our potential for health, vitality, and mental and spiritual clarity.
Ayurveda and Cleansing
Ayurvedic principles are based on an underlying philosophy that serves as a foundation for the Total Life Cleanse (TLC) dietary and lifestyle program. Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of holistic medicine, which acknowledges and integrates knowledge of the body, the senses, the mind, and the soul into one meaningful system. It comprises highly sophisticated and advanced herbal, dietary, and lifestyle approaches to healing.
Cleansing and detoxification are fundamental practices of Ayurveda and were considered important even thousands of years ago when our water and air were pure and humankind was not challenged with today’s levels of stress. In today’s challenging world, it is even more essential that we use this time-tested wisdom. If we wish to reach our greatest potential, we can no longer embrace the standard American diet (SAD) of refined sugars, bad fats, refined carbohydrates, processed foods, excess animal protein, and hormone and toxin-laden dairy.
Humankind would do well to embrace the tenets of Ayurveda, many of which are essential components of the cleansing techniques introduced here. Ayurveda teaches us that we are responsible for our ultimate well-being.
Our Organs of Detoxification
We have five essential organs of detoxification: lungs, liver, kidneys, large intestine, and skin. Each of these organs assists in the body’s natural process of detoxification.
When we are young, our organs of detoxification generally function with ease. According to Chinese medicine (and my experience concurs) long held or repeated negative emotions also adversely impact the organs they correspond with. Healing and managing mental/emotional stress is essential for good health. As we get older, dehydration, scar tissue, stiffness, stress, and toxins burden our organs. We can experience low-grade symptoms of dis-ease and may become increasingly ill. Eventually, many forget what quality life feels like. Quite often, poor diet and lifestyle end up decreasing one’s duration of life.
The TLC Approach to Cleansing
The Cleanse is based on the principles of Ayurveda and Chinese medicine. It is informed by natural hygiene principles, pH balancing concepts, naturopathy, and whole food plant-based science. They are synthesized together based on the intentions and objectives of the TLC.
Severe or aggressive cleansing is generally not recommended. After many years of personal experimentation, I have found that a gradual and incremental approach, over a number of days, weeks, or even months, produces the greatest benefit. This is aligned with Ayurvedic cleansing principles. Gradual cleansing, however, is very powerful and can also have fast and remarkable results.
It usually doesn’t work to “hurry up and cleanse.” It’s kind of like trying to “hurry up and meditate.”
Removing toxins slowly and steadily is the most effective approach as it also avoids severe detoxification reactions. Detox reactions (such as stuffy noses, headaches, body aches, and digestive issues) arise when our cells release toxins faster than our body can eliminate them. This encourages toxins to relocate from one area of the body to another. This is known as the detox/retox syndrome. In overly aggressive cleansing, benefits gained can sometimes be quickly lost.
Becoming aware of the planetary toxicity problem increases our inclination to implement procedures that safely eliminate toxins from our bodies, minds, and environments. For many, The Cleanse becomes an ongoing process and can even become a way of life.
The Cleanse includes:
• four dietary phases
• two super detox phases
• hygienic detox practices
• transformational lifestyle practices
• sweating practices
• media fasting and other mind cleansing practices
• daily yoga, breathing, meditation and exercise practices
• dietary supplements and herbs
• meal and smoothie recipes
And it doesn’t all end with the last day of The Cleanse. The tools learned, the insights gained, and the inspiration received will travel with you in the days and years to come.
