
Dare I ask what kinds of images the word “cleanse” evokes for you?
I fear that cleansing may be one of those very helpful healing practices that more than delivers on its promise of wonderful results – but at a price. Namely, predictable discomfort, as the body expels the detritus that has prevented it from firing on all cylinders.
A friend of ours described his first happy successes with physical cleansing: “I felt wonderful afterward – ‘stupendously renewed’ is not too strong. My body felt as if I’d taken to the garage for a complete engine overhaul. My body, mind, and spirit were comprehensively renovated.”

For most people, I suspect “cleansing” makes them think of the temporary price to be paid for the long-lasting results.
Here’s the good news. The program that Dr. Connie and I direct at Hawaii Peace Garden Retreat is different, with gentle therapies and an emphasis on healing in beauty.
We’ve taken a holistic focus. The very vibrations of the beautiful Big Island are healing for all facets of our being. The ocean delivers powerful 24/7 currents of subtle energy that nourish us on every level. The wonderful tropical fruits and herbs – grown in luscious profusion on the retreat grounds – are cleansing for the body and for restoring health. The Hawaiian aloha peace and tranquility draw us inward to discover our ever-healthy, eternal, deeply healing soul-self within.
Our goal is to inspire cellular renewal for body, mind, and spirit.
BODY
The body’s natural detoxification systems are finding it increasingly hard to defend us from the relentless assaults of an over-chemicalized world.
In the past, simple cleansing approaches were up to the task, such as water fasting, juice fasting, Master Cleanse, and others.
These simple low-tech cleanses were highly effective in their day. But they were developed in the context of a much cleaner world, where the body’s own regulatory mechanisms were more than capable of effectuating self-healing.
However, water fasting and juice-based cleanses alone are no longer able to supply the nutrients and calories needed to support effective physical detoxification.
The production of vast quantities of toxic metabolites has simply overwhelmed the organs of detoxification and excretion. Thus, the body has no other option but to store the unprocessed toxins in the fat cells and connective tissues.
The resulting metabolic pathology often manifests as chronic illness, sending a clear signal that the body is attempting to rid itself of toxins, and that it needs additional help to complete its cleansing mission.
A well-planned metabolic detoxification program can help free us of the body’s burden of waste and toxins, so that its own regulatory self-healing mechanisms can regain their full functionality.
Metabolic detoxification (aka “biotransformation”) is a built-in physiological function that removes toxic substances.
The detoxification program at Hawaii Peace Garden Retreat employs nutrients that enhance the function of the main organs of detoxification – liver, kidneys, colon, lungs, lymph, and skin. These nutrients also optimize the body’s elimination and digestive functions.
Mind
How many of us, actively engaged with the modern world, have not felt besieged by the details of our lives?
Who among us has remained unaffected by the ceaseless doom-and-gloom news streams? Who doesn’t feel burdened by emotional baggage from the past?
“Emotional detox” involves ridding our consciousness of stagnant concepts and perspectives that no are longer serving us.

Emotional detox is about becoming the wise observer in the drama of our life. The great yogi sage Paramhansa Yogananda promised that deep meditation empowers us to “stand unshaken amidst the crash of breaking worlds.”
By elevating our understanding and discovering our inborn capacity for “solution-oriented” awareness, we find ourselves living on a plane where non-functional thoughts and actions fall away and cease to hinder us.
This higher perspective does not ignore our emotional “stuff,” or seek to run away from our feelings. The capacity to feel is one of life’s treasures – it is the capacity that enables us to experience the full spectrum of our life’s challenges, sorrows, and joys, all of which are meant to teach us invaluable lessons on our unique pathway to ultimate joy.

An important process of mental cleansing requires that we notice the events that trigger various emotions in us, including the events that trigger uncomfortable reactions.
When we become conscious of these emotional reactions and understand what sets them off, we can discover ways to step back and observe them calmly, and take realistic, productive steps to free ourselves from the suffering they bring.
At Peace Garden Retreat, we are overly concerned with delving deeply in psychological issues, because we understand that the real solutions must come from expanding our consciousness.
As Paramhansa Yogananda said, a room can be in darkness for a thousand years, yet if we turn on a small lightbulb, the darkness will vanish as if it had never been.
We “turn on the light” by becoming aware of a level of awareness that is already ours, but that has been generally hidden from our conscious awareness, where solutions always exist, just waiting for us to discover them.
We cannot achieve this understanding by digging through the flotsam and jetsam of the past. To help us learn to tap our birthright of “superconscious solution-consciousness,” we offer guided meditations, spiritual practices, and focused discussion that promote awareness and help us detoxify our inner mental and emotional environment..

Spirit
Spiritual cleansing is closely related to the process of detoxifying our mental and emotional realms.
Spiritual healing requires that we clear away negative energies of the past and create space for new, positive energy to enter.
Spiritual cleansing can change our lives through its enduring effects on our wellbeing.
It can help us become more kind, compassionate, and connected, so that we are able to live with unprecedented clarity, purpose, and joy.
Consistent spiritual cleansing practice can help us find increased success, creativity, and abundance. It can help us improve our physical and mental health and attract more loving relationships.
Those who’ve spent time in the Islands will know that the natural world of Hawaii has a profoundly calming and purifying effect on the soul.

Basking in the tropical sun and drawing energy from the fresh ocean breezes, while delighting in the sound of tropical songbirds will help you cleanse your spirit of negativity.
This is the constant, enfolding healing aura of the Hawaii Peace Garden Retreat.
In our being, we are gifted with five elements of action and perception: body, heart, will, mind, and soul. These correspond to five elements found in the natural world: earth, water, fire, air, and ether.
We often conduct rituals during our healing retreats that help us connect consciously with these elements.
For instance, we can observe a water ritual by bathing in the ocean and feeling the water wash away our negative thoughts and feelings.
We can ground ourselves with the healing power of the earth element by walking barefoot in the grass, or by lying quietly and feeling the healing energy of the planet flow into us.
Through fire ceremonies, bathing in the embracing airflow of the soft trade winds, and connecting with the ether element through meditation, we can immerse ourselves more deeply in the positive healing energies that pervade the Islands and that have achieved a special focus at the Hawaii Peace Garden Retreat.
There are additional rituals through by we may choose to cleanse our spirit and bring light and harmony into our lives. These include:
Meditation, karma yoga (selfless service), pranayama (breathing practices), chanting, mantras, prayer, uplifting readings, forgiveness exercises, conscious breathing, gratefulness practices, journaling, sound healing, visualization, affirmations, sage smudging, herbal and salt baths, energetic medicines, and other practices.
We practice many of these techniques, and others during The Total Being Cleanse at Hawaii Peace Garden Retreat.
Spiritual cleansing is a powerful means of freeing ourselves from the emotional and spiritual toxins that have built up in our lives.
Regardless of your path, universal, nondenominational spiritual cleansing practices can provide a wonderful way to reconnect with yourself and discover your connection to the eternal cosmic peace that is ever present within you.
Spaces at the retreats are limited.
RESERVE YOUR SPACE NOW HERE!
Please contact DrMarcel@DrsHernandez.com or DrConnie@DrsHernandez.com for reservation instructions and further information.