4 Reasons Vegans Should Consider a Detox Vacation

A detox vacation is an experience that aims to provide you with a healthy reset. It’s a time and place to evaluate your current state of health and to focus on revitalization of your mind and body. These retreats can include digital detoxing, fasting, or juice cleansing, as well as yoga and meditation. All things considered, the vegan lifestyle is a relatively clean one, but taking off precious time to not only vacation but to detox from all of life’s stressors, is mandatory. Here are four of our favorite reasons to consider making your next vacation a detox.
 
1. To decrease stress
From work and relationships to hobbies and that time spent preparing healthy meals, vegans balance a lot in their day-to-day lives. According to Gabi Moriarty, the assistant manager who supervises cleanse journeys at detox vacation destination The Sanctuary Thailand, “Our bodies can feel stress even when we do things we don’t consider stressful, like eating or exercise. If your stress response is on, you can’t rest and digest. The stress response and the relaxation response are opposites and cannot happen simultaneously very well.” Without proper clearing of this stress—whether it be running from place to place or that really annoying Facebook post from your ex-boyfriend that you can’t stop looking at—your body begins to weaken, which is why taking your detox vacation in a supportive environment is important. By doing so, you can give your body the space it needs to naturally do its thing—getting you back to you. With an added cleanse or mindfulness component, you can learn ways to reduce the effects of everyday stresses so when you go back to your routine, you’ve got increased awareness of triggers and the tools to manage them.
 
2. To increase mindfulness
Taking a full stop from your routine gives you pause to ponder the parts of your life that aren’t serving you. Choosing to go on a fast or digital detox can be a tool for self-examination and an opportunity to find fulfillment from within rather than from external stimulation. Whenever you decide to return to solid foods or your Instagram feed, you will likely find new appreciation. One of the benefits of fasting is that it creates a more acute awareness for when you are actually full. For example, when you eat lunch in front of your laptop, you’re not fully paying attention to the amount you eat or when you feel physically satisfied, which can lead to chronic overeating or eating for comfort rather than nourishment. Similar to hitting a reset button, a fast or routine change can break these patterns. If you choose a fast, doing so on a detox vacation provides you the company of other fasters and the experience of professionals because the built-in community and support makes giving up food that much easier.
 
3. To decrease toxins
According to experts at The Sanctuary Thailand, anything your body registers as harmful is a toxin. In the modern world, there are so many toxins introduced to the system that your body can struggle in its natural detoxification process. Vegans are affected, too: toxins come from many sources, including tap water, air pollution, skin creams, toothpastes, and overcooked food that changes its chemical makeup. As tough as you are, you might have learned to ignore the tell-tale signs of toxicity. In a wellness article written by Mark Hyman, MD, he explains how bad breath, acne, rashes, foul-smelling stool, and fatigue are signs of toxicity in your body. One good way to eliminate these stored toxins by to participate in a detox vacation or cleanse with professional guidance.
 
4. To feel refreshed
Have you ever been on a vacation and felt that you needed a vacation from the vacation? Maybe you overdid the recreational activities and sightseeing in the same manner in which you overschedule meetings and daily tasks outside of vacation time. Yes, there’s a lot to see, time is limited, and you want to enjoy your vacation, so increasing your intake of stimulants such as caffeine, sugar, or alcohol is understandable. However, an increase of stimulants can leave you feeling more tired than before your vacation. To remedy this, find a vacation spot where unplugging from technology is encouraged and where yoga, meditation, and plant-based, non-processed food is abundantly available to help you get the rest and relaxation you need and deserve.
 
Jordana Reim is a California-based vegan, blogger, and social media consultant who’s currently sharing her cleanse journey from Koh Phagnan in daily Instagram stories.