Come on Baby, Lets Do the (Yogic) Twist

Image via manishtama.blogspot.com/

After a long weekend full of eating out and imbibing in a *few* celebratory adult beverages, getting back to yoga last night was absolutely delicious. Of course it's always amazing to get in a full practice after a few days off, but it was even more wonderful last night because of the detoxifying nature of the practice. 

As many of you who practice at Tranquil Space may know, we've been working with twisting this month in order to prepare the body for our challenging "Asana of the Month," parivrtta parsvakonsana (revolved extended side angle). Although it can definitely be intense to spend an entire month doing deep twists in class (and one must be mindful not to take these twists too deep!), it is also pretty wonderful to spend a month twisting, due to the amazing benefits of twists. In class last night I really could feel my body purifying itself a bit more with each twist--coming back into balance and sweating out the toxins from the weekend. 

So what exactly are the amazing benefits of twists, and how do they work? The two most interesting & important benefits (in my opinion) are as follows... 

Twists are detoxifying: You know when you've been cleaning up really dirty water with a sponge, and you need to  rinse off the sponge, so you twist it in order to get rid of the dirty water and allow for the clean water to soak into the empty spaces? That's what we yogis think twists do to the organs in the body.  As explained in the Yoga Journal article, "Let's Twist Again," "B.K.S. Iyengar describes twists as a 'squeeze-and-soak' action: the organs are compressed during a twist, pushing out blood filled with metabolic by-products and toxins. When we release the twist, fresh blood flows in, carrying oxygen and the building blocks for tissue healing. So from the physiological standpoint, twists stimulate circulation and have a cleansing and refreshing effect on the torso organs and associated glands." Pretty cool image, huh? I honestly think I can feel this happening in my body when I twist. It feels amazing to come out of a twist (you know what I'm talking about, right?) and I think they are very energizing and calming. Omm :)

Twists can help you maintain a healthy spine: Another amazing aspect of twists? They help your spine return to it's natural range of motion. How often do we twist in our daily life, while sitting at a desk or walking down the street? Not much. The only time that I can think of that we actually twist is while driving, when looking over our shoulder to check behind us. So if you don't practice twists in yoga, and you're not practicing them elsewhere, your spine can begin to lose the ability to rotate correctly. Yoga Journal explains that "many people lose full spinal rotation in the course of living a sedentary lifestyle...if you don't lengthen the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia (connective tissues) to their full length at least a few times a week, they will gradually shorten and limit the nearby joint's mobility. In the case of twisting, the limitation is usually in soft tissues around the spine, abdomen, rib cage, and hips. If you regularly practice yoga twists, there are some clear benefits to these same joints and soft tissues. Not only do you maintain the normal length and resilience of the soft tissues, but you also help to maintain the health of the discs and facet joints (the small pair of joints on the back of the spine where each two vertebrae overlap)." Again, so important, right? Especially for a culture where so many people have back issues. 

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Our asana of the month. (Image via holyyogafoundation.com)

A few more great benefits of twisting? 

-Twists can help to improve digestion and to stimulate the digestive fire.
-Twisting stretches and compresses each side of the chest, which can help to improve respiratory function. Similarly, practicing deep breathing while twisting can strengthen the lungs.
-Certain twists (practiced with awareness!) can help to relieve menstrual discomfort, fatigue, sciatica, and backache.
-Twists can help to balance out the body, aiding in decreasing stress and anxiety.
-Twists can also stretch out other parts of the body--depending on the twist, of course ;)

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and do the twist, baby ;) I know that's what I'm going to do! 

And using this information as inspiration, my goal for the week = detox + get back into my healthy routine. What's yours?

Namaste!
Mary Catherine

PS. Be mindful of the lower back and neck when twisting! So many of us tend to twist in the neck or lumbar spine, since these are the bendiest/twistiest parts of the spine, but a twist really should be an even rotation throughout the entire length of the spine--if your thoracic spine (middle back) can't twist any deeper, don't put that twist elsewhere just to look "bendier." It's not worth it! 

Now happy twisting :)

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