The Detox Retoxers

Sun Herald

Sunday June 15, 2008

Angela Cuming

Sydney's party-hard players think a little exercise and juice will redress the balance, writes ANGELA CUMING, but could they be doing more harm than good?

IT IS 8am on Saturday at an eastern suburbs beachside location and a group of 20-something women are unrolling their yoga mats for a relaxing workout.

Most rose early to make the class - but for Sarah and Melanie the day began a long time ago. In fact they haven't been to sleep from the night before.

Still fuelled on a cocktail of alcohol and cocaine from their bar-hopping, they won't be able to sleep for hours.

The pair, who have professional, well-paying jobs, are part of the new culture of "cocaine yogis" spreading across the city.

They are the types who head out on a Friday night to party hard and use illicit drugs, often staying well past sunrise - or the whole weekend - before switching into detox mode with yoga and freshly squeezed juices.

They are part of a new breed and they don't see anything wrong with what they are doing.

"I figure that if I go out on Friday night with my friends to write myself off then I have the rest of the weekend - or the working week - to recover and do healthy stuff to balance it all out," says Sarah, 27. "It's the best way. Guilt-free partying and you don't feel like your body is taking too much of a beating."

Melanie, 25, works in the fashion industry and is a self-confessed "detoxer and retoxer".

"During the week it is so full-on for me with functions every night. You can't avoid the alcohol or the drugs floating around with it.

"So the best thing I think I can do for myself is be healthy one day a week, where I do yoga, go for a swim and drink lots of water.

"I suppose it's a bit naughty going to yoga without sleeping off a big night but we figure that, while we are still wide awake, we might as well do something constructive for our health."

Yoga teacher Jenny says she has seen young women turn up for some of her classes who "clearly should have been at home, in bed, sleeping it off".

"These girls seem to think they can abuse their bodies and their minds, then atone their sins by taking a yoga class," she says. "I think it's a symptom of the times we live in.

"These women want instant gratification, everything right now or sooner, so they figure they can have the best of both worlds and party guilt-free. If only it was as easy as that.

"Besides which, things like yoga and Pilates involve serious stretching and balance and concentration, and doing it on little or no sleep is dangerous."

Dr Rodney Irvine, senior lecturer in pharmacology and health sciences at the University of Adelaide, says the practice is not only "silly", but dangerous.

"I don't think that, after consuming drugs or alcohol, something like yoga would help in detoxing," he says.

"It is very misguided of anyone to think they can undo all the damage to their bodies with a bit of exercise or laying off the drugs and alcohol for a couple of days. These people are obviously in some sort of mindset that it all balances itself out, but that is simply not true.

"There is research that now suggests drugs like cocaine and ecstasy have severe, long-term effects and no amount of yoga or fruit juice is going to counterbalance that.

"You can never fully recover from any sort of drug or alcohol abuse and get back to zero with a bit of exercise.

"It is like people saying it's OK that they smoke marijuana because they don't drink alcohol."

For some girls, however, their justification for cocaine binges are heavy-duty detox programs at health retreats, preferably out of Sydney.

"Every year after Fashion Week I book myself a two-week detox program up on the North Coast," says Rebecca, 29, a fashion PR.

"No booze, no drugs, no cigarettes, nothing. It's hell for the first few days as my body readjusts but then I come good and my skin clears up and I get plenty of sleep. It is the ultimate purging of all those nasties from the system."

Yet even Rebecca admits that all her good work is pretty much in vain.

"I walk out of there feeling really good about myself and nice and healthy.

"But then I get back to Bondi and the first thing I do is call my girlfriends and catch up with them over cocktails, like a reward for all my discipline.

"I suppose it's not the healthiest way to go about things but I figure it's better than nothing."

* Names have been changed for privacy reasons.

On the plus side

Five ways to get yourself back in balance.

Detox yoga

Even the name screams healthy. The Bamboo Vegetarian Organic Cafe in Bondi offers a 10-day, $530 detox program which centres on 6am yoga every day, shiatsu massages and macrobiotic breakfasts and dinners.

Details Phone (02)93657599.

Health retreat

Ignore the wines on offer in the Hunter Valley and check into the Golden Door Health Retreat - Elysia instead. Its programs include yoga, tai chi, tribal dancing, meditation and detox-friendly mocktails.

Details Phone 1800212011 or see

www.goldendoor.com.au.

Juice therapy

They don't like to call it a fast, but the Hopewood Health Retreat at Wallacia (south-west of Sydney) offers juice therapy as part of its "optimal health and wellbeing" program. You drink only fresh juices for seven days to detox your system. The cost is $1610.

Details Phone (02)47738401 or see www.hopewood.com.au.

Meditation

Find your inner peace and light at a Brahma Kumaris Centre for Spiritual Learning retreat in the Blue Mountains. If the meditation doesn't relax you, the gardens and waterfalls will.

Details Phone (02)47842500 or see www.brahmakumaris.com.au.

Surf and yoga retreat

This girls-only surf and yoga retreat will not only leave you zen but will get you a tan, too. Based at Broulee on the NSW South Coast, there is also an emphasis on nutrition.

Details Phone (02)44717370 or see www.brouleesurfschool.com.au.