Your liver is responsible for various physiological functions that are essential to sustain your life. From filtering toxins, aiding digestion to regulating metabolism, it does it all. Still, people rarely pay much attention to their health until a health crisis strikes them. In 2019 alone, 1.47 million deaths were reported due to chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. Meanwhile, multiple studies have shown that yoga is increasingly gaining acceptance as a daily mind-body activity to support overall wellness. It can also help in optimal functioning of the liver. In this blog, we will discuss the use of Yoga for liver health alongside the best yoga poses for liver care.
10 Best Yoga Poses for Liver Health
These are the carefully chosen yoga postures helping to take care of the liver:
Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)
It is a mildly backbend that is among the most available yoga postures in the support of the liver.
How to Practice: -
- Lie on his back with palms to his shoulders.
- Clench hands and get your chest off the floor.
- Elbows bent and shoulders low.
- Wait 15-30 seconds, taking in deep breaths.
Liver Effects: - Cobra Pose is a stretching movement that depresses the belly area and activates liver action, as well as enhances blood flow to the liver. The given yoga pose is also the basis of liver exercising, which can help de-stress and enhance general digestiveness.
Alterations: - Hold the lift low to have a softer version that is equally good to use in yoga of liver benefits.
Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)
This is an impressive backbend, which is one of the yoga that is good to stimulate the liver.
How to Practice: -
- Lie on your stomach
- Bend knee and reach back and get ankles.
- Breath in and push chest and thighs out of the ground.
- Hold for 20-30 seconds
Liver Benefits: - Bow Pose gives a deep abdominal massage to the liver boosting its ability to be detoxified. This younique healthy liver pose that uses dynamic yoga also enhances the digestive process and lessening of fatty deposits.
Caution: - Do not take when you have a high blood pressure or when you have had an abdominal surgery.
Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Spinal Twist)
Yoga poses such as twisting are vital poses to the health of the liver because of their wringing capacity to internal organs.
How to Practice: -
- Sit with legs extended
- Right knee bend, position foot outside left thigh.
- Turn right side, left elbow against right knee.
- Hold for 30-60 seconds per side
Liver Benefits: - This twist squeezes the liver on one side and then releases it which produces a pumping effect that improves blood circulation and increases the detoxification process. It is among the best yoga poses in cleansing the liver.
Tips: - Move slowly- do not force the movement. This pose in liver yoga must be a nice squeeze not a painful squeeze.
Kapalbhati Pranayama (Skull Shining Breath)
This breathing method is not a physical pose; however, it is essential yoga at cleansing the liver.
How to Practice:
- Sit in an upright position.
- Take a deep breath in
- Breath out strongly with the nose caused by shortening of the abdominal muscles.
- Allow passive inhalation
- 3 rounds of repeat 20-30 times.
Liver Benefits: - Kapalbhati is a heat generating body, which boosts the metabolism of the body and helps detoxify the liver. This effective liver workout yoga pose boosts the supply of oxygen to the liver cells and promotes digestive fire (Agni).
Caution: Do not use it when pregnant, having a menstrual period or high blood pressure.
Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose)
This is a posed sitting position that features light compression that is helpful in yoga as a treatment of liver issues.
How to Practice: -
- Sit, with right leg crossed on left, stacking of knees.
- Right arm up up back, left arm up up back.
- Close hands behind in case possible.
- Wait 30-60 sec and alternate.
Benefits: - The sitting posture with stacked knees provides mild compression of the abdomen that rubs the liver. This yoga healthy liver pose in combination with the arm position improves body circulation as well.
Modification: - A strap is an option in case you are not able to clasp hands- the benefits of liver health yoga are not limited by modifications.
Naukasana (Boat Pose)
It is an inner-strengthening position that is a great yoga that is best.
How to Practice: -
- Sit with knees bent, feet flat
- Bend back and take feet off.
- Extend legs to form a V-shape
- Bend arms at right angles with floor.
- Hold for 30-60 seconds
Liver Benefits: - Boat Pose helps to press on the liver area and tighten abdominal muscles thus enhancing liver functionality. Use of the core muscles will promote the general digestive health, and hence this is worthwhile liver exercise yoga.
Variation: - Make knees bent to do an easier type that would still give you yoga benefits of the liver.
Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend)
This is a relaxing posture necessary to pose yoga poses to the liver.
How to Practice:
- Sit with legs spread forward.
- Inhale and lengthen spine
- Breath out and bend forward over hips.
- Hold for 1-2 minutes
Liver Benefits: - The forward fold helps squeeze the abdominal area rubbing the liver and enhancing the flow of blood. This liver yoga practice also alleviates stress and this has a direct effect on the liver.
Tips: - forcing the bend gently is better than aggressive stretching, so that the ligaments of the liver can be lengthened without violence.
Setu Bandhasana (Bridge Pose)
This easy part of the inversion aids liver health yoga by enhancing circulation.
How to Practice:
- Lying on the back, feet flat with knees bent.
- Press with feet and direct hips towards the ceiling.
- Clasp hands under back
- Hold for 30-60 seconds
Liver Benefits: - Bridge Pose will improve the blood circulation to all the abdominal organs including liver. The low-level of inversion effect promotes the process of detoxification, and it is hence a wonderful yoga that helps maintain a healthy liver.
Variation: Restorative version of same has a block placed under the sacrum, and yet offers the best of yoga to the liver.
Viparita Karani (Legs up the Wall)
This is one of the most soothing yoga poses that should be applied to the liver.
How to Practice:
- Sit sideways against a wall
- Lie back with the swing of legs on the wall.
- Rest arms at sides, palms up
- Hold for 5-10 minutes
Liver Benefits: This mild upside-down is circulatory without creating strain, and helps to detoxify the liver as well as profoundly relaxing the nervous system. It is ideal liver workout yoga in the evenings.
Benefits: Wards off swelling, Lymphs are drained, which is an advantage of yoga to the liver.
Abdominal Breathing (Corpse Pose) Shavasana.
Finding a yoga that does not involve relaxation is incomplete in terms of liver practice.
How to Practice: -
- Lying on back, with arms a little distance between the body.
- fold eyebrows and rest all round.
- Do deep breathing in the abdomen.
- Rest for 10-15 minutes
Liver Benefits: Deep relaxation lowers cortisol and stress hormones which destroy the liver. Abdominal breathing works on internal organs and helps in detoxification. This last pose is a combination of the whole yoga asanas to benefit the liver that you perform during your practicing session.
Focus: Visualize the healing energy going into your liver with every inhalation of the breath to amplify the benefits of yoga to your liver.
Conclusion
Yoga practice is a healthy and effective way of supporting the liver. By choosing poses that stimulate your liver particularly the twists, back bends, and forward folds and uniting them with special breathing positions, you will be able to increase the natural capacity of the liver to detoxify, regenerate and work at its best. Liver exercise yoga is beautiful by nature because it is accessible to all people: all age groups and fitness levels can do these liver-health-related yoga asanas, and all types of health conditions may have adaptations. It can be yoga to cure liver issues or just to preserve maximum liver activity by yoga to take good care of liver exercises in modern times, this old knowledge gives modern solutions.
