Oh, detox? Bring it on!

Okay, so I thought to myself: I am approaching 28 years old this year and the philosophy behind the concept of detox is still pretty alien to me. Never had I tried one or attempted to try one. Ever. 

That's how I led myself to sign up for the 3 days 2 nights (3D2N) Detox/Yoga Retreat organised by Surya Yoga at the cost of RM550.00 (despite the fact that I would be going there without a close friend and even so after my baby sister bitterly rejected my invitation plus sponsorship of her joining me in my endeavour of detoxing my rotting 28 year old body).

At 9.30 am on 30 April 2011, I (who gave myself the license to binge on steamboat buffet plus 2 servings of ice-cream the night before) was already at the centre, all set to face the 3D2N challenge. An hour's drive by Jo (I car pooled with my instructor because like I said, I didn't have a close friend who went with me) led us to Janda Baik. We reached House No. 183, owned by a very lovely lady whom we known as Pat.

The look-out point at House 183

The dining area

The stuff that filled up Jo's car

The porch, where we hung around most of the time

The colourful ingredients awaiting to be crushed and blended as our beverage

Day 2 began with an early morning outdoor Yoga session. Aaahh... early morning air is indeed the best! I was having problems with my contact lenses which I was frustratingly trying to keep them in my eyes without having them constantly poking my poor eyes at intervals. 

Okay, I was definitely NOT being vain about how I look. I mean, who even cared how I look there?? That's another bonus point to add during this 3D2N event - I didn't need to bother how I look or how I dress. At all. The house was only manned by 20 people, all of whom were ladies except a gentleman (who is the husband of one our instructors and also our tai chi master). That's one. And there were no mirrors for us to check on ourselves save for the small ones in the baths. That's two. 

Anyway, my NEED to wear contact lenses instead of my glasses was mainly due to the sake of convenience during my workout sessions. It can be pretty annoying when my face started to sweat and I had to stop my glasses from sliding down my face for the zillion-th time. 

I decided not to get hyped up over the failure of my contact lenses (given that I was at a retreat; I should fully relax, enjoy the greens and focus on my detox). So, I gave them up and surprisingly I felt comfortable enough to practise my Yoga session without contacts or glasses. Hmmm.. must be the greens all around coupled with the undying cool breeze that made me all zen. I sincerely believed so.

   

Early morning outdoor Yoga session

Our hearty lunch, that's the only solid food we had. The rest of the time, solid food was forbidden!

The zen moment. I could lie there and dream forever.

Our discovery a few kilometres down from House 183. The water felt amazingly cool. The one thing we wished were to take a dip there. Well, naked of course!

The view from our dining area. I wish I could capture how the trees danced and swayed in the wonderful breeze!

Hanie serving our "lunch" LOL!

Our fruit juice; we savoured every bit of it.

in the making of the 'mechanism' to cleanse our colon

ta-dahhhh, olive oil (+) lemon juice

The toughest part for me was the moment after I gulped down the olive oil lemon juice. This beverage was meant to cleanse our colon. Apparently, the "bad" food that we had 10 years ago may very well still be stuck in our colons. We were instructed to lie on our bed after the consumption for at least 20 minutes for the oil to set in. We, of course obligingly did so. 

My reaction could be summarised as follows:-

Pre - Excited plus a tinge of fear of what the taste would be like;

During - Not too bad, oily (of course LAH, I'm drinking OIL!) but thank God, the lemon juice took the dominant role;

Post - Felt like a minor storm raging inside my stomach and the juice gradually making its way upwards towards my throat. Tried to sleep it off.

5 hours later - Threw up. Not all of it, so I thought. I was pretty sure a good quarter of it stayed in my stomach to cleanse my colon. I tried my best.

my view while lying on my Yoga mat. I could lie on it and stare at the sky forever. I'm serious. The wind and the air were amazing.

My before and after achievement

At the end of my detox retreat, I lost 2.2 kgs and 2.1% of fats. Oh well, not too shabby huh?

But for me, it's not the weight lost that counts. It was the whole experience of a real retreat that made it worthwhile.

I was really glad that Surya Yoga managed to find such a lovely, secluded and zen place for us to get away from the city life that we are living each and every day. Even if it's just for 3 days.