Her Spring Detox will be held April 12th at Devotion Yoga in Hoboken.
The $60, 3-part workshop will include what Krasner calls a “cleanse-friendly” food preparation demo, a spring detox how-to and detox yoga class, all designed to help the body eliminate toxins. The yoga class will involve a sequence of twisting poses that energize and prepare the body for healthy digestion and for the cleanse process by "stoking healthy digestive fires." Krasner refers to these by the Sanskrit word Agni.
Krasner, whose website yourwholelife.net offers info on a variety of wellness programs, “just turned 50 years young.” She came to work in health and nutrition after more than two decades as a full-time fashion copywriter.
After an injury from a car accident, “yoga healed me,” she says. In 2001, she began intensive weekend training to become a certified instructor. Discovering NYC’s Institute for Integrative Nutrition in 2004 led to additional certification as a holistic health counselor.
She still works part-time as an e-commerce fashion writer, but Krasner spends most of her time teaching yoga and working one-on-one with clients to help them understand that “it is not just the food on your plate; it is also the food of life that comes into play.”
Many people come to her saying their lives are fine. “They just want me to help them lose ten pounds and have more energy,” she says. In most cases, after a few sessions, they discover that careers, relationships and activities all have something to do with their physical state.
This holistic approach led Krasner, a native of West Orange and a 1981 graduate of Glassboro State College, to develop the spring detox program six years ago. After taking the workshop, students will go home with instruction on how to begin a new approach to eating, as well as a booklet full of recipes.
“I have tried cleanses, tried fasting, never liked it,” says Krasner. “I didn’t like the idea of mixing together funky, colored-powdered concoctions with water, or mixing maple syrup with lemon juice and cayenne pepper. It all seemed like torture to me. I thought there has to be a way that I can cleanse and eat at the same time.”
Her detox starts with a “rainbow” day that requires “eating as many colors of fruits and vegetables as you can fit into your world, raw or cooked. That allows the body to take a break, rest and digest what may have been sticking around for a little too long.”
After Day One, different food groups are added gradually. “This gives your body the opportunity to tell you what you may actually have an intolerance to.”
Other than highly refined and processed foods, Krasner does not outlaw anything in her approach to diet and nutrition. She advocates organic food and is a part-time vegetarian. “I find that my body feels more balanced with some animal protein, although I’m very, very conscious of buying humanely raised products,” she says. “It may be a little more expensive, but what you are spending on food you are saving with your health later on in medical expenses."
The point is not deprivation. She wants her clients “to learn how to eat clean and green, how to shop well and be prepared when they are really busy with their week, and how to throw together meals in a jiffy instead of running to the corner store and eating something crappy.”
Devotion Yoga
12 Hudson Place, 2nd floor
Hoboken
201-610-9642
devotionyoga.com
Jocelyn’s Smiling Buddha Green Smoothie
The benefits of smoothies over juices is that they contain the whole fruits and veggies, providing fiber (roughage), which not only helps to maintain a healthy digestive system, but while cleansing, helps to “slough away” the sludge that is found loitering in your digestive system! The Smiling Buddha is easy to digest and assimilates quickly in the gut. Note: Please use organic ingredients! Chemicals: OUT! Clean: IN!
Ingredients:
1-2 Granny Smith apple(s), cored, skin on
1 big handful baby spinach (or other dark leafy green)
1 stalk celery with leaves, rough chop
1/2 medium cucumber, rough chop
1/2-inch ginger root, peeled
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Blend all ingredients in a blender. If desired, add extra water or ice cubes to adjust consistency and temperature.
SUZANNE ZIMMER LOWERY is a food writer, pastry chef and culinary instructor at a number of New Jersey cooking schools. Find out more about her at suzannelowery.com.