January cleanse

January is here and so is my annual cleanse.  Okay, so "annual" may be too strong of a word as this is only my second year doing this but I swear I'm committed.  Having proclaimed my intent let me also say that this cleanse is not an intense cleanse.  I avoid all refined sugar (I can still eat honey and fruit and anything natural), caffeine and alcohol.  Last year when I did this I slept like a baby the whole month and felt so good I even did it a few weeks into February.  

This year it seems to be a different story.  In the last year I have semi-ended a five year relationship (though it still continues and it's a long story), moved into two new places (one of them being my parents house, ugh), and started a Pilates studio that I love (and subsequently went into debt for).  Now, that is a lot of change for a girl...maybe too much change.  I have been contemplating this mass shift in my life and I am truly astonished that I'm not hyper-ventilating into a bag as we speak.  When I was younger I would get stressed out about everything.  Eventually I even had a panic attack at the ripe age of 17 and almost went to the ER before it stopped and I could compose myself.   This is not me being melodramatic for the audience (that being the one person to look at this blog).  I had tunnel vision, could not breath and it honestly felt like a heart attack.  So, why with all this new stress in my life is my anxiety not over-whelming me?  Well, the simple answer is: Pilates.  OH!  Of course it is Pilates.  With all my life shifts and stresses I have been regularly been participating in Pilates.  

Bottom line: Pilates is a wonderful way of reducing stress, feeling good and focusing your mind.  I'm sure my cleanse is great and I will try to do it ever year but I will NEVER stop doing Pilates because it is my feel-good de-stresser all year round.