Ayurveda changed my life: The Best Fall Detox For Women

She had me at Apple & Butternut squash for breakfast…

And chai tea with all my meals.

When I moved to the Oregon coast back in the fall of 2019, I had the most unexpected experience… a detox that filled my belly, heart, and soul!

Now, I Do An Ayurvedic Detox Every Spring And Fall!

Hey beautiful human,

Welcome to Rewilding Feminine, where I share the thoughts, activities, perspectives, and habits that have helped me to create a radiant, joyful, peaceful life for myself - beyond anything I imagined back when I was stuck in a life I didn’t know how to get out of. (Back before I went wild.)

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I never share something I haven’t personally done/used and loved, or that I don’t believe in with my whole heart. This post is my experience, spelled out for you — not an ad.

What I want to share today comes from another incredible entrepreneur and wild woman - Carly Banks, CEO of The Habit Ayurveda, creator of Everyday Ayurveda (which has literally changed my life - more on that in a moment), and host of annual spring and fall detoxes.

Detox shouldn’t be about being more pure, better than, or making up for anything.

Before we dive into the one and only detox I’ve ever supported, I want to make it clear that I’m someone who is very much against detox and diet culture for women. Really, I’m against telling women that they are too much (or not enough) of anything.

There’s a social push to be a perfect woman in almost every social circle, and I’m not about that. I think so many detoxes come wrapped in promises of blasting fat from your waistline and thighs in unsafe timeframes or “fixing” aspects of women’s bodies that are just natural, and when it all bounces back after a few days of starving herself, the woman is then meant to feel ashamed, as if it’s her fault she couldn’t sustain the starvation - or that she should feel ashamed for wanting more than juice and a couple carrots over the course of three days.

I’ve seen more than enough of that garbage in my life. Haven’t you?

We Are WHOLE Ass Humans. Whole Entire Human Beings.

Delightful, delicious, beautiful, strong, powerful…

There’s no shame in wanting to lose some adipose and feel more energized and strong and beautiful in our bodies… if that’s your experience. And there are better ways to do it than by starving ourselves.

It’s also no secret that everyday American food and beauty items are full of harmful and unhealthy chemicals that can build up and be stored in our bodies. For me, detox is about helping get those toxins moving, or helping my body adjust to living without some of my favorite unhealthy cravings and adding in some whole foods and healthy alternatives that I can reach for more frequently in the place of processed junk.

For me, entering into Carly’s Fall 2019 detox actually had nothing to do with weight…

I had just moved away from my (now ex) husband, was healing from sexual assault, and the toxicity of an abusive family cycle. I moved from the summer heat of Idaho to the cool moist autumn of the Oregon coast. I didn’t know what was going to happen with my marriage yet, I was writing a healing memoir called Raped, Not Ruined, and I was also coming down from Prednisone - a steroid I’d been put on because my cystic fibrosis caused an immune flare up.

The internet told me Prednisone is essentially the closest legal thing to meth. That doesn’t surprise me; it was a really scary, painful, spiral of actual insanity coping with withdrawals my doctors didn’t warn me about, all by myself in a new place. My body was going nuts, my brain was even worse. I was exhausted, I felt strung out and over-stretched. I cried a lot.

I was struggling.

My muscles felt so weak in the mornings that I couldn’t even lift up a cup of water…

My sleep cycles were a mess.

I was an emotional disaster.

All the ups and downs - I was genuinely afraid of who I might be when I got out of bed every morning. I never knew what to expect — and I was running a small business while coping with all of this.

I was super reactive and irritable, even though I was actively trying to be calm, gentle, and patient.

I was exhausted, no matter how long I slept… and the list goes on.

I was in counseling and getting support on that end of things, but physically - and somewhere in my soul, too - I felt completely drained and hopeless.

And Then… Carly Came Into My Life With Her Ayurvedic Magic.

Leaning into her detox idea, I asked what I could do. I knew I couldn’t possibly eat less. I was already struggling to eat enough (Cystic fibrosis comes with high caloric needs for most patients).

I was afraid a detox would ask me to starve myself. Instead, Carly assured me we could do the opposite. An Ayurvedic detox doesn’t focus on what you don’t want. Instead, it focuses on getting in more and more of what you do want.

Suddenly, instead of trying to avoid the processed foods I knew would only sap my energy (and then arguing with myself about how eating processed food was better than not eating at all — which was true)… I was reading through lists of fall detox foods  -  all the amazing fruits, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and herbs that would help my body reset and prepare for winter.

It Was Empowering, Delicious, And A Wildly Liberating Experience!

What I didn’t expect was how the impact of those detox menu items would ripple throughout the rest of my life. I’ve become known as the friend who knows herbs and spices, who always has seasonal produce on the counter, who makes the best fall soups, who somehow knows exactly what special touch to add to a dish to get the vibes of the season in every bite, and who has the perfect kind of tea for every situation…

That happened by accident, in a way. It came from the part of rewilding where I got in touch with nature’s rhythms, the foods that grow naturally in my region at the times when they’re ripest, and preparing them intentionally for the season. If you don’t know where to start but you want to have a sort of herbal apothecary and seasonal foods, an Ayurvedic detox will probably give you exactly what you’re looking for. It eases you in and you get recipe guides and all sorts of ideas that you’ll be able to explore as it suits you — plus a community of other women sharing their experiences and ideas throughout the process.

Now, I take part in some form of Ayurvedic detox every spring and fall (the traditional times for detox in the ancient science of Ayurveda), and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself.

I’m an affiliate for this program because I want to share it with everyone I know, honestly. (And I have! Haha!) So, let me give you some specifics on what it actually looks like. You can get all the details here.

What is an Ayurvedic seasonal detox?

When you go through a seasonal detox at The Habit, it takes a whole 21 days. And it’s absolutely divine!

The detox is broken into three sections, one each week. There’s no overwhelm, no rush, and no 3-days-of-craziness-and-then-back-to-normal. Instead, you ease into detox, and then ease back out in an intentional way, keeping some new habits and perspectives to brighten and renew your life going forward. It’s a beautiful experience.

Here’s what the weeks in the detox look like:

Easing in week - 

Listen in to a call on setting up your environment

Build a structure for your perfect detox (there are different options to suit your schedule and lifestyle),

PLAN your meals, and remove barriers to success

Communicate your plans to loved ones & those who can be of support

PURGE your environment. Start with the external to give space for internal release.

Going deep week - 

This week’s live call supports the emotional cycle of cleansing. On the other side of discomfort, is freedom.

Slow down. Allow for silence in your days. 

Under-schedule. Say no, with so much compassion. Let your yesses come from deep desire

FEEL your feelings. Allow for processing of old emotions that in the past have been avoided with simple pleasures. 

Disconnect. Experience life in the present, free of distraction.

Find your hunger. Experience deep hunger, and hear what your body is truly asking for. 

Enjoy simple meals with robust flavor. Reset your tastebuds to quit craving sugar

Easing out week - 

Our 3rd live call celebrates the changes you’ve seen. 

Adopt a new relationship with your food + your energy

Feed healthy hunger, healthy thoughts, healthy experiences

Give less energy to unhealthy cravings, thoughts, experiences

I love the gentle flow of this process. There’s no extreme shock for your body to deal with. As someone who has fought hard for emotional regulation and has spent years slowly, lovingly befriending my mind and body, I understand that sharp changes and shocking processes are unhelpful to me. The way this detox gives me a week of easing in and a week of easing out is one of the things that helped me build trust with myself over the years.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little peak inside Carly’s incredible Ayurvedic detox support. I really believe it can help you. If you do too, I hope you’ll join us this season! It supported me as I struggled through chronic physical and mental health issues in my early 20s and it gently moved me into my 30s as my chronic illness progressed and my body began to feel older and I started to feel the pains everyone jokes about as they leave their 20s and those sweet years of quality sleep (or being able to function without it) and lack of back and joint pain behind them.

Behind the scenes, Carly is an absolutely beautiful human being who has had my back in many ways and helped me to grow into a beautifully serendipitous lifestyle more in every passing season. It’s an honor to share her work with you, and I want you to know that I’m grateful for her support and influence in my life, always, and I know you will be too.

With love from the Willamette valley,

Vera