The liver may look like a small organ, but it plays an important role in supporting metabolism, digestion, immunity, and detoxification. Sometimes we ignore it and it leads to liver disease. According to the National Library of Medicine, liver problems are responsible for about two million deaths a year worldwide. While one million deaths are due to complications of liver cirrhosis, the other millions are due to hepatocellular carcinoma and viral hepatitis. So on World Liver Day, observed on April 19th to raise awareness about liver disease, let’s focus on trying yoga poses to detoxify the liver.
Health Shots contacted Dr. Mickey Mehta, the world’s leading holistic health guru and corporate life coach, to learn about the right yoga asanas for a healthy liver. He knows that the liver is the general manager of your energy and all of your day-to-day operations. If your liver is congested, full of toxins, unhealthy and sluggish, your energy levels will certainly be poor.
Yoga asanas for liver detoxification
Eating right, avoiding alcohol, and maintaining a regular exercise routine are essential to good liver health. But there are some yoga poses that can help your liver stay healthy. Here are some of the asanas!
1. Mandukasana
• Sit in Vajrasana, make fists with both hands and place them on either side of your abdomen.
• Take a deep breath, bend forward on the exhale and hold this position for 10 seconds.
• Inhale and then come up.
2. Pavanamuktasana
• Lie flat and exhale fully.
• Fold your legs and bring them to your chest.
• Try to raise your head as high as possible and hold the pose for 10 to 20 seconds.
• Breathe in and then relax for a while.
3. Paschimottanasana
• Sit upright with your legs stretched out.
• Inhale and raise your arms to your sides at shoulder height. They should be parallel to the floor.
• Continue to breathe in and continue to raise your arms vertically. Your biceps should touch your ears. Extend the core from the tailbone area.
• Now turn your palms forward and reach high up like a rising sun.
• As you exhale, bend your torso forward from your lower back.
• Tighten your abdominal cavity, forming hooks with your index fingers and touching your big toes.
• Gradually arch your back forward from the lumbar-sacral area so that your trunk is straight along your thighs. Try to support your face on your knees. With normal breathing, stay in this position for about a minute and then return to the starting position.
• Come up and exhale your negative feelings.
4. Naukasana
• Lie on your mat with your arms at your sides and your fingers toward your toes. Your feet should be together.
• Breathe in and as you breathe out, raise your torso and bend your knee. Extend your arms toward your feet as you do this.
• Slowly try to straighten your legs, feel the stretch in your stomach area and balance your body completely on your buttocks.
• Make sure your toes, eyes and fingers are in line, then take a deep breath and hold this position for 10 seconds.
• Exhale slowly and bring your legs and then your upper body down and then relax.
5. Adho mukha shvanasana
• Sit in Vajrasana and hold your hands in front of you.
• On an exhale, lift your buttocks up and push your head down until your heels touch the floor. You should do this without changing the position of your hands and feet.
• Hold it for some time, breathe in and then slowly come back.
dr Mehta says that along with yoga, healthy eating plays a big part in the liver’s cleansing process. You should eat foods that help improve your liver health and not burden it. So eat veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds rather than junk food.
