As I write this essay, I am sitting in my post-holiday stupor.
The tree needs to be taken down. I need to shift back into reality. I feel a little sluggish, a little foggy, the tail end of a cold is finishing its course, and I feel the itch of that old programming....
It’s telling me: “You just ate about 3 million cookies last month, cinnamon rolls, wine, cheese, and don’t forget you’ve been adding a splash of eggnog in your morning latte for the last however many weeks. It’s time to cut the shit.”
I’ll be returning to in-person client work next week, seeing clients for facials and skincare consults. I am already prepared to answer many questions about breakouts, skin that feels dry, dull, and most likely sensitive. You might notice this too. Maybe you also feel bloated, tired, and just generally living in a post-holiday body.
If any of this sounds familiar, you’ve come to the right place, because I want to offer a different lens on detox and getting back on track.
After periods of indulgence, stress, travel, disrupted sleep, or illness, the body doesn’t suddenly become “toxic.”
During everyday living, some substances are meant to be cleared from the body. This includes byproducts of food breakdown, hormones that have already done their job, inflammatory compounds, leftover material from food that wasn’t fully broken down, normal waste produced by gut bacteria, and environmental exposures such as alcohol, food additives, medications, and pollutants. We want all of these things to leave the body, so obviously, detoxification is a normal, natural part of all organic life.
When people feel bloated, foggy, or start breaking out, it’s rarely because the body doesn’t know how to detox.
The systems responsible for clearing waste, like digestion, circulation, elimination, nervous system regulation, and sleep, can get overwhelmed and under-resourced. For example, bile flow can slow down from stress or irregular eating. When this happens, the liver keeps working, but the material that needs to be cleared isn’t being removed as efficiently. With other pathways like lymph, inflammation increases what it has to carry, but also slows it down, and dehydration makes it thicker.
So what do we do?
It feels like there are two options for how the collective internet feed talks about responding after indulgence.
In one camp, we have the “75 Hard Era,” and in the other, the “Soft Girl Era.” No shade because I have been both of these. I did the 75 Hard a few years ago - which, honestly, is not really that extreme (or doesn’t have to be because you primarily choose the way you will move through it, aside from forcing a gallon of water every day, I’m not into that). But the *name* lends to the idea I am trying to get across.
The “hard” approach treats the body like something to dominate. This is also where most conversations about detox go off the rails. “Detox” gets talked about like you’re trying to control something or purify a dirty system.
I remember I used to get these “tea-tox” teas in my twenties that were supposed to help make you skinny. There was a whole program, all you had to do was barely eat and just drink this tea (which also made you poop your pants) all day long! Glorious!
In all seriousness, I am NOT saying we shouldn’t support detox. I am saying, it’s not appropriate to treat detox like a hack (especially to get “skinny”). It’s a necessary physiological process that needs the right conditions. I’ll share some ways to think about that below.
On the flip side of the coin, the “soft” approach looks at the body like something so fragile that it can’t tolerate structure at all, so it dissolves responsibility entirely. Passivity and apathy.
I got bored with both of these messages, but this is where I fell in love with vitalism.
Vitalism is the view that the body is a living system with innate intelligence. It says that health comes by supporting the conditions that allow our system to regulate itself.
Vitalism looks at detox as a natural, ongoing function instead of as a corrective intervention. So the whole point is that we aren’t treating our bodies like machines anymore. We are treating them like living beings. With a machine, more pressure leads to more output. Like hitting the gas pedal, you go faster.
I don’t know about you, but I am not a car. In a living system, more pressure often leads to defensive contraction. Poop schedules become erratic, the nervous system stays on edge, sleep gets lighter and maybe fragmented, cravings increase, and skin becomes reactive and unpredictable.
Vitalism has understood all of this for a very long time; it’s all about creating the terrain where detox can happen naturally and be ongoing, which is what we want and need!
It’s all about having good conditions present, like:
1. Warm foods, warm drinks, warmth in general. Warmth reduces the energy needed to digest food so that energy can go toward detoxification. Think: warm water in the morning, warm breakfasts.
2. Consistently eating around the same time every day. Consistently eating around the same time each day trains the body to anticipate digestion, which strengthens stomach acid secretion, enzyme release, bile flow, and elimination. Irregular eating, or even just not thoroughly chewing your food, leads to incomplete digestion and more waste downstream.
3. Movement that increases circulation. Detox depends on circulation. Movement increases blood and lymphatic flow, allowing waste products to be transported out of tissues and delivered to the organs responsible for elimination. Without movement, stagnation can stall the natural detox flow.
4. A well-resourced nervous system. When stress is constant, digestion and elimination are deprioritized because your body wants to focus on what it sees as the immediate threat. A few techniques I really enjoy for toning the nervous system include EFT tapping and yoga nidra, as well as nervine herbs like passionflower and milky oat tincture.
5. Hydration and other elimination support. This one speaks for itself. Waste needs to be able to exit. When bowel movements are inconsistent, metabolic byproducts remain in circulation longer, increasing the inflammatory load and often manifest downstream as skin congestion rather than being cleared out through the other pathways. Ideas to keep in mind here are fiber, minerals, and warm water.
6. Sleep. Deep sleep supports the liver, the brain’s lymphatic system, which needs to be cleared, and lymphatic movement. When sleep is inconsistent, detox slows no matter how “good” everything else looks.
7. Targeted support, a few recommendations from a vitalist perspective:
(These are meant to assist flow once the basics are in place — warmth, regularity, sleep, movement — not replace them.)
Castor Oil Packs (purchase here)
Sauna
Practicing deep breathing
Self Massage- especially abdominal massage
Bitters and digestive herbs- Dandelion root, burdock root, yellow dock root, chamomile, cardamom, CCF tea (cumin, coriander, fennel, triphala (an ayurvedic herb used to support digestion and gentle, consistent elimination- makes a great evening tea!)
Now let’s talk about your skin.
The skin isn’t a primary detox organ, but it is highly responsive. When all of the processes needed for detox slow down: digestion, circulation, elimination, and nervous system regulation, the skin often reflects that back up as congestion, inflammation, or sensitivity. Supporting the skin during these times is all about reducing the burden on detox organs, calming inflammation, and supporting your skin barrier.
A few favorite products (available for purchase in my curated apothecary) to use topically. At the same time, the rest of the system gets back online:
This mask combines clay, mineral-rich seaweeds, and traditional alterative herbs like burdock and dandelion to gently clarify surface congestion while calming the skin and reducing the appearance of breakouts. This mask is my secret sauce for when a client comes in with breakouts... It’s like magic!
Oasis Enzyme Mask from Live Botanicals
The Oasis Enzyme Mask supports the skin’s natural exfoliation cycle through gentle plant enzymes and deep hydration, helping surface renewal complete without triggering inflammation. It is packed full of antioxidants that also help to reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation- a plus if you find that once a breakout is gone, a dark spot lingers.
This one is my ride or die. I cannot live without it. Unburden is designed to support lymphatic flow and reduce skin congestion.
Skin support can help reduce surface burden, but real change comes from restoring flow through the whole system.
Instead of feeling like you now need to undo December and feeling bad about yourself, focus on restoring flow. Vitality returns through support and structure.
Think of it like putting the house back together after a party!
🔗 Resources & Links Mentioned in This Episode
Shop My Curated Apothecary
StratumAesthetics.com
(Skincare, body care, and wellness tools hand-selected by me)
Castor Oil Support
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Podcast episode: Castor Oil: Everything You Want to Know
Nervous System Support
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Yoga Nidra (YouTube): Ali Boothroyd
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EFT Tapping (YouTube): Tapping with Brad
Skincare Products Discussed
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