Yoga for Detox

So I am on detox day 7 and things are getting better all the time! You can read all about it here. In addition to adding detoxifying foods to my diet, I’m focusing on detoxifying poses in my yoga practice. Reading the book ‘Yoga as Medicine’ has offered me fresh insight into Yoga as healing. The book, written by an M.D., discusses various medical conditions and yogic prescriptions for healing. The idea that Yoga is only for the toning, flexibility, and strengthening of the outer physical body is inaccurate. Yoga has been used for centuries to repair and heal the inner space. Everything from insomnia to heart disease. I am not making the claim that yoga can 100% heal someone who needs a four vessel bypass but it can be a major support in their medical healing process.

With this information, Yoga healing the inner space and organs, it came as no surprise to me that there are yoga poses that are good for detoxifying. So here are some poses you can do at home to ramp up your detox!

So that is actually me! In the poses All photo credits to Matthew Naik who is an amazing photographer!! You can see his other work here. 

Marichyasana III

A good twist will help with detox. Twisting puts pressure on your two main detox organs: the liver and spleen. The liver is constantly working hard. One of my biochemistry professors comically called it, “the thinking organ”. While it is regulated ultimately by the brain, it’s constantly making decisions on what to do about your digestion, blood sugar, cholesterol levels, and detoxification. Why not give it a little massage? Twist to the left for your liver.

The spleen is a small overlooked organ but so important for detox! The spleen clears out old immune and blood cells in addition to storing and producing new white blood cells. The spleen also processes lymph. Lymph carries waste from the blood so squeezing the spleen can get that waste into the blood again to be processed and cleared.  The spleen does not get the high powered flow of lymph, like the liver gets the high powered flow of blood. So it’s good to stimulate and squeeze the spleen to wake it up and get it moving! Twist to the right for your spleen.

Adho Mukha Svanasana (or Downward Facing Dog)

Getting your heart higher than your head is considered an inversion. All inversions are good for detox. The reason being is it stimulates the flow of blood from the lower extremities and gets it to your heart and detox organs. Downward facing dog is a mild inversion and a good detox pose! It also adds light pressure to the abdomen, stimulating digestion.

pic coming soon!

Sirshasana (or head stand)

A headstand, sometimes called the king of all Asanans, is a serious detoxifier. There is no better way to get all of your blood flowing downward! Head stand can be a very intimidating posture to those just starting yoga.

Little crooked, but I was admittedly nervous on the concrete!

Don’t worry, you don’t need to do a headstand to get your feet up and get the same detox benefits. You can also do Salamba Sarvangasana (or shoulder stand)

Uttanasana or Paschimottanasana  (standing forward fold or seated forward fold)

Forward folds are great for any practice any time. In addition to being very calming, and detoxing your mind, forward folds place pressure on the abdominal organs (aka your detox organs). Even if you can’t go very deeply into a forward fold do what you can. Any amount of pressure is good. I also learned from a truly amazing instructor Rob Hefle (passed on from B.K.S. Iyengar’s The Light of Yoga) that as an added bonus, you can ball up your fists (or get your heels up if you are flexible enough) and place them in the groin. This will place addition pressure  to the lower abdomen and the large lymph collection sites in the groin.

So there we go. Some yoga poses to jazz you up and get the inner space flowing!

Cheers,

The Real Dish – Namaste