Yoga Detox Diet: Getting Started with Day 1

Imagine your body full of petrochemicals and industrial toxins. These toxins come from pesticides, plastics, flame retardents, and heavy metals from the environment---you name it and you've probably consumed it at one point in time.

I recently returned from a 4 day snowboarding trip in West Virgina and a pit stop in Atlanta. My belly was full of delicious food the entire time and now I feel janky, toxic and over weight. When we travel, we consume alot of processed foods and fatty foods and I am I certainly feeling the effects.

I was reading the newest Yoga Journal and there's a detox article in there with a yoga practice and a yoga diet. I figured now was a good of time as any to give it a try. Some of the recipes have pretty lengthy ingredients so I may stray away and have something else for that meal, we'll see. As for the yoga practice, I'm incorporating the reccomended poses to squeeze the body of toxins in to my classes this week.

- High Lunge

- Parsvottanasana

- Utkanasana (Variation with a twist)

- Locust

- Reclined Twist

- Reclined Bound Angle

- Legs-up-the-wall

- Savasana

Day 1

Breakfast: (which I'm eating now) consists of cooked quinoa, a grain and some trasil mix with pistachios, pecans, cashews and dried cranberries. It's not very flavorful but it's edible. Water with lemon is my beverage.

Lunch: On the menu is herbal tea, Kitchari (which I may just pick up at the local health eatery in town) and steamed collards with Lemon Miso dressing.

Dinner: Bowl of mixed fruit, broccoli, kale, onions, chick peas sauteed in olive oil, and a baked sweet potato.

Snacks: Almond Milk, Fresh fruit, homemade fruit smoothie, baked beets (ick!), vegetable juices, oatmeal, raw carrots, celery, cucumbers, and radishes, salads with Lemon Miso dressing.

Gentle Yoga Class (Using the Wall as a Prop)

I've been incorporating more props, such as blocks, straps and blankets into my Gainesville gentle yoga class. But today, we used the wall, which in my opinion is one of the best props to use. People come to gentle yoga classes because that's the yoga they want. They may have back, neck or knee issues, or even recovering from surgery. Keep that in mind when you're teaching. Use props and get off your mat when teaching and remind your students to breathe.

Here is the gentle yoga class routine I taught this morning in case you'd like to teach it yourself. This routine is great for beginners and seniors. It's not a vigorous yoga class but a gentle, restorative, energizing class. Don't forget to remind your students to breathe.

And remember, it's not how yoga looks, but how it feels.

Floor Work
- Breath Awareness
- Sacral release (rock the the clock)
- Shoulder and upper body stretching
- Easy pose forward fold

Core Movement
- Cat/Cow spinal movements
- Side Gate
- Forward fold (hold elbows release tension)
- Surya Namaskar A (Sivanada style) (start with left leg back, repeat right, use blocks for lunges)

Wall Work
- Downward dog (walk hands up and down, legs out and in, play around with it, chest towards floor and pull arm pits in, engage arms into shoulder sockets)
- Warrior 3
- Forward Fold
-Chair (shoulders reach back, start with hands on hips, then raise arms by ears, extend through chest)
- Forward Fold
- Dancer (using strap around one ankle and wall for hand, play around with it, try a short dancer first then a long, extending through arms)
- Wide Legged Forward Fold

Floor Work
- Wide leg seated foward fold
- Pigeon on back (great alternative)
- Reclined twist
- Restorative Bridge (use block under sacram, palms face up, eyes close and practice breath awareness)

Yoga Nidra
- Svasana (corpse pose)
- I usually end my gentle classes with yoga nidra, which is yoga sleep. 1 hour of effective yoga nidra is equivalent to 4 hours of sleep. I recommend the Yoga Nidra book (Paperback)by Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Join me on Fridays from 8 - 9 AM for my Gainesville gentle yoga class at Haile Plantation. The cost is $15 for non member and $10 for members.

Anyone can do yoga. Explore the benefits and live a healthy life. Namaste.