What is Detox Yoga: A Detox Flow to get you Started?
We can’t stress
enough the importance of offering our bodies a recess from our daily
overconsumption of food and beverages. Throughout the year our bodies
accumulate toxins, both physical and emotional. We eat the wrong foods, drink
the wrong drinks. We over occupy our minds with negative thoughts and stress
and fear. On top of that many of us don’t get enough sleep and resist even
basic exercise. Daily life begins to drain us and finally, we reach a point
where everything is “too much” to handle. Under such circumstances, our health
can become compromised.
At Ananda Yoga and Detox Center we
have encountered many guests who have reached this point. They struggle with
the issues of not being able to control their weight, various body and skin
ailments, and their stress levels. For us, the answer for everyone is the
same–give your body and mind a proper rest.
Scientific research
has analysed and demonstrated the importance of fasting on our overall health.
It shows how fasting can help our bodies can become more effective and our
mental state less problematic. Fasting can also improve our blood circulation
making the distribution of blood, rich with oxygen and nutrients, to our organs
more efficient. Improved circulation can also promote the exchange of toxins
and gases which can then be eliminated from our liver, kidneys, lungs,
intestines and skin.
But fasting in
itself is not enough. Our bodies need a daily minimum of gentle movement and
proper breathing. Therein lies the heart of our approach in our detox fasting
programs on Koh Phangan Thailand – our detox yoga approach.
Why Detox Yoga?
The benefits of
yoga for our body and mind are well known. When you combine our special detox
yoga sequence with your fasting, the benefits multiply three-fold. Our
detox yoga sequences are based on promoting your detox experience at Ananda
Yoga and Detox Center. But the sequence can also serve as a gentle stand-alone
sequence so feel free to try this at home. All of our detox yoga sequences
include inversions, twists, forward bends, and balances. They also focus on
breathing, meditation, self-massage techniques, and of course, relaxation. All
of these yoga poses and techniques are known for their detoxifying and calming
effect.
Twisted yoga poses,
for example, are a detox yoga go-to. The basic principle is that the
compression of a body area through twisting allows for a fresh supply of
oxygenated blood to move into that area upon release. You can feel this if you
are focusing your concentration and breathing quietly. Inversions, of
course, stimulate circulation, a basic health necessity, and balance poses are
the first step towards concentration from which grows our meditation. The
forward bends that we include in this detox yoga sequence can provide a massage
of digestive system but they also promote withdrawal from the external world
and for that alone are hugely beneficial.
The poses are
listed below with brief instructions and elaborations. Pop over to see my video
class on YouTube which I will be releasing soon. (I will update with a link
when I do.)
Our Detox Yoga Flow:
1. Begin in a
kneeing position in the center of your mat. Start your practice with 5 soft
nasal breaths.
2. Press back into
Downward Dog. Feel free to keep your knees as bent as necessary. Hold for 5
breaths. Downward Dog is a basic inversion pose and can help to stimulate the
circulation system.
3. Drop down onto
your hands and knees and expel the breath forcefully through the mouth. Push
back into Downward Dog through child. Repeat this action three times. This is a
lion’s breath exercise which is also known as Simhasana Pranayama. It
stimulates the throat chakra which is associated with the thyroid gland and our
metabolism.
4. Come back to
your knees for 5 soft nasal breaths again. Press back into Downward Dog and
hold for 5 breaths.
5. Extend one leg
to the ceiling for a one-legged extended Downward Dog. This pose helps us to
focus and accentuates the effects of Downward Dog on our circulation system.
Repeat on the other side.
6. Walk your feet
up to behind your hands. Relax into a forward bend here. Keep it soft and
continue to feel the reversal of your circulation system and the lengthening of
the spine and hamstrings.
7. Walk your feet
back to Downward Dog then drop into child to allow the circulation system to
normalise.
8. From child walk
your hands to one side and stretch through the side body. Hold for 5 breaths
and then repeat on the other side.
9. Push back into
Downward Dog and then step your right foot forward into a yoga lunge position.
Hold for 5 breaths and then repeat on the other side. This is the heating part
of the practice. You can accentuate the heating action by adding vinyasas
between poses or by adding additional standing positions.
10. From Downward
Dog step your right foot forward again. Drop your back knee, square the hips
then twist over the front knee. Hold for 5 breaths then try to move deeper into
the pose and hold for another 5 breaths. Repeat on the other side. Finish this
small sequence by pushing back into Downward Dog.
11. From Downward
Dog walk your feet up towards your hands and come to standing. Balance in tree
pose. To make this pose more challenging you can balance in half lotus tree or
use the more familiar tree pose. Hold for 5 breaths on each side then repeat
holding for 10 breaths on each side.
12. Vinyasa to the
floor.
13. Take a
variation of seated forward bend. Breathe. As above the point of this pose is
not to go deep into a stretch though that can feel good but to withdraw the
senses from the outside world.
Optional vinyasa to keep building heat.
14. From seated forward
bend take Janu Sirasana or Half lotus forward bend.
Optional Vinyasa
15. At this point
in the class, we want to start working on seated twists. There are many options
for this moving from simple twists to more complicated ones. I recommend that
you choose a comfortable seated twist and then hold it for an extended period breathing
softly.
Optional Vinyasa
16. Come to a lying
down position and draw one knee into your chest using this to compress the
abdominal region. Repeat on the other side. Repeat pulling both knees in.
Optional Vinyasa
18. Reclined twist.
Hold for 3 mins on each side
Stomach massage. (Highly Optional) This can be done lying on your
back and just using your hands to massage the belly. To intensify the
experience you can roll over and lie on top of a small ball and roll back and
forth.
19. Relaxation
We hope these
suggestions for detox yoga are helpful to you. Please feel free to comment
below or send us questions and as above a YouTube video of our Detox yoga flow
will be posted shortly.
For more information about Yoga Teacher
Training Koh Phangan and Yoga Teacher
Training Thailand Browse our website https://anandayogadetox.com/
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