Follow these yoga routines every day to get rid of toxicity from your mind and body!
Yoga Routines to Clear Your Mind and Detox Your Body
How Yoga Exercises Release Tension and Detox the Body
When you feel run down, stressed and tired, it can really take its toll on your quality of life both mentally and physically. A combination of lack of exercise and poor food choices can leave both your body and mind in serious need of a detox.
A detox doesn’t need to be an intense fast or rigorous diet that might seem a little overwhelming to even start in the first place. You can detox through yoga; it can aid digestion, boost strength, and provide mental clarity.
To detox, cleanse, and feel more energetic, try these yoga poses:
- Revolved Chair Pose
- Locust Pose
- Plow Pose
- Reclined Spine Twist Pose
- Eagle Pose
- Warrior II Pose
- Revolved Side Angle Pose
- Downward Facing Dog
To start detoxing and feeling great, a consistent yoga practice can do wonders.
Simply roll out your trusted mat and the poses will take care of the rest. Yoga can help to stimulate your digestive, circulatory, and lymphatic systems, helping you to get rid of toxins from your body.
In addition to the physical benefits yoga offers, its calming and centering effects mean it’s a complete body and mind cleanse. Yoga encourages you to stay present, remain calm, and just breath through each move.
There are several benefits that come from daily conscious breathing. Yoga is well-known for its ability to lower stress and increase relaxation.
Studies have shown that yoga can decrease the secretion of cortisol, the stress hormone. Practicing yoga regularly and stretching your body has a number of benefits including:
- Increase energy
- Improve sleep
- Lower stress
- Reduce anxiety
- Improve flexibility and balance
How to Cleanse and Detox Your Body with Yoga
With yoga routines, you do not just release tension in your neck, back, hips, thighs, arms, and legs, you also improve your overall wellbeing.
Sure, eating a well-balanced meal nourishes the body with the nutrients it needs, but exercising and doing yoga helps the body cleanse and shed off excess fat and other toxins.
To get all these health benefits, practice these stretching yoga poses every day:
1. Revolved Chair Pose
This move is great for the spine and stimulates the liver, spleen, and digestive system —all while toning the abs and your thighs in the process.
Follow the steps below for this yoga move:
- Depending on your comfort level, either bring your feet together or hip-width apart.
- Bend your knees as if you were sitting back into a chair, making sure your knees are aligned with the center of your feet.
- Bring your hands to your heart and slowly move one elbow to the opposite knee.
- Keep your hands pressed firmly together and squeeze your shoulder blades together.
- Hold the post for a minute.
- Repeat on the opposite side.
2. Locust Pose
This pose helps to strengthen the entire back, opens up the heart and encourages proper posture and digestion.
To do this yoga position, follow the steps below:
- Begin lying on your stomach on your mat with your arms by your side and your forehead resting on the mat.
- Inhale, raise your head and look forward.
- On the exhale, lift your chest and arms, keeping your arms alongside your body.
- Reach your arms back towards your feet and lift your feet.
- Hold for up to one minute, depending on your practice level then slowly release your body from the pose.
3. Plow Pose
Plow pose focuses on the back, strengthening and stretching the spine while improving posture and massaging abdominal organs like the bladder and kidneys.
The steps below will get you into this yoga stretch routine:
- Start by lying flat on your back with your arms at your side, palms down. Inhale and use your core to lift your legs and hips up towards the ceiling.
- Straighten your legs and slowly lower your toes the floor.
- If your toes can’t reach the floor yet, don’t force it. There’s an option to support your back with your hands and only lower legs as far as you can while keeping them straight.
- Hold the pose for up to five minutes then slowly roll back down.
4. Reclined Spine Twist Pose
A twist leaves you feeling energized but is also great for relaxation and to relieve stress and tension. It helps to massage your internal organs, promoting the elimination of toxins.
Follow the yoga sequence below to get into this position:
- Lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor and knees bent. Bring both of your knees to your chest.
- Extend your right leg on the floor, keeping your left knee to your chest.
- Extend your left arm out with your palm facing down. Place your right hand on the outside of your left leg.
- As you exhale drop your left knee over the right side of your body and gently turn your head to the left. Hold the position for up to 25 breaths.
- On an inhale slowly come back to center then repeat on the opposite side.
RELATED: DIY 5 Yoga Postures
5. Eagle Pose
Eagle Pose stretches the ankles, calves, hips, thighs, and upper back providing deeper circulation.
This may look like those complicated yoga postures, but it’s actually quite easy to follow. Check out the steps below:
- Stand tall with your feet together and arms down by your side.
- Slowly draw your right foot upward, bending the knee as you lift. Wrap your right foot around your left leg as you sit into the pose.
- Cross your arms at the elbows, right over left and join the palms.
- Take a deep inhale and hold the pose for up to a minute, then on your exhale return to a standing position.
- Repeat the pose on the opposite side.
Tip: If you’re new to a yoga practice, this 5-day plan will help increase your metabolism and your sense of gratitude.
6. Warrior II Pose
This pose helps to build both mental and physical stamina and focus the mind. It also opens the hips and strengthens the arms.
If you’re doing the downward facing dog position, you can transition into this position through the steps below:
- From downward-facing dog, step your left foot to the top of the mat, between your hands. Pivot on your right heel so your toes are facing outwards at a 45-degree angle.
- Windmill your arms up, with your left arm forward and right arm back.
- Bend your left knee over your left ankle while the right leg stays straight.
- Keep your shoulders stacked over your hips and take a deep breath.
- Hold for five breaths and repeat on the opposite leg.
7. Revolved Side Angle Pose
This pose is great for strengthening your legs, ankles, and knees. It helps to improve stamina while stimulating your digestive system.
Try this yoga pose now with the steps below:
- Begin in a crescent lunge with your front knee over your front ankle and back leg extended straight out behind you.
- Sink deeper into the lunge and bring your palms together at your heart.
- Exhale and twist over your left shoulder, pressing your right elbow against your thigh.
- Hold for three breaths and repeat on the opposite side.
What is a Crescent Lunge? Known as the Anjaneyasana, is one of the standing yoga poses for beginners to stretch and strengthen the arms, back, and legs.
8. Downward Facing Dog Pose
When doing downward facing dog pose, your heart is situated above your head, allowing blood to circulate in a different direction. This helps cleanse your lymph nodes.
To do this pose, follow the steps below:
- Come to your hands and knees, making sure your wrists are located straight below the shoulder.
- Spread your fingers, bracing your hands on the mat as you push back to lift your hips. Straighten your legs and arms to form an inverted V.
- Broaden your collarbones by rotating your upper arms outward. This will give more stability in the pose.
- Allow your head to hang between your arms, but make sure your shoulders roll back towards your hips and not your ears.
- Relax and clear your mind while in this pose.
- You can stay in this position for one to three minutes.
- To release, bend your knees and bring yourself back to your hands and knees.
Additional Tip: To give your body a bit more of a stretch, reach your left hand out to your right ankle or shin while keeping your torso straight. Gaze up from under your right arm to give your rib cage area a squeeze.
Are you ready to try Sun Salutations? Follow Grace Van Berkum in this video by Sunwarrior:
Whether you’re a beginner or you incorporate more advanced poses into your practice, yoga is a great tool that can encourage the detoxification process. As with any exercise, if your body is giving you a signal to stop, slowly move out of the pose and try an easier modified version or use support.
When you hit the mat regularly, you start to feel the benefits of yoga happen naturally, giving you the ultimate detox.
Couple detoxifying yoga stretches with probiotics to keep your gut healthy. Add Sunwarrior Ormus Super Greens to your morning smoothie or drink to get healthy probiotics every day!
What yoga routine and stretching exercises do you practice every day to improve your health? Share your workout exercises in the comments section below!
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on May 14, 2019, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.