Detoxification has been used as a health tool throughout time.

Detoxification (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver.

From juice fasts to colon cleanses, detox diets and purges have become popular in recent years to lose weight or kickstart a healthy lifestyle. Often, we think of a detox as a time where we abstain from over-indulging. 

While periodic detoxing may be a useful practice and certainly can benefit the human body, it overlooks the body’s innate ability to purify and cleanse daily. What if you could support your body’s natural ability to eliminate daily?

Consider these facts about the human body:

1. Lungs are daily detoxifiers: Breathing is the job of the lungs. We take air into our bodies when we inhale. Air is made of a variety of gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and carbon dioxide. We need oxygen, but we can not use other gases. Dust and pollutants are also a part of the air we breathe. Our nose and throat help filter out some of these particles so that they never make it to our lungs.²
2. Kidneys flush toxins regularly: Your body is 60% water. This water needs to be flushed out and replaced all of the time. In your body, the excretory system keeps salts and urea from building up to dangerous levels and becoming toxic. The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs that remove these toxins from your blood and produce urine to carry them from the body.²
3. Intestines eliminate daily: When we eat, our body begins to digest the food matter in our mouth. First, we grind the food with our teeth, and then our saliva helps to dissolve certain parts of it. When we swallow, the food moves into our stomach and through the intestines so that helpful nutrients can pass into the bloodstream and unusable elements can pass into the large intestine to be eliminated.²
4. Skin: The skin (your body’s largest organ of elimination) acts as a supplemental filter to the kidneys for removing wastes from the blood. When the other organs are congested, the body tries to push out toxins through the skin. The skin throws off about two pounds of toxic waste a day in the form of sweat.³

At the very core of yoga is the idea of cleanliness. Ancient texts and scripts refer to yoga as a way to cleanse the body and the mind. In Kaiut Yoga, we support the body’s natural cleansing abilities in the following ways:

Compression/ Decompression: With the unique combination of shapes in the practice, Kaiut Yoga uses compression and decompression to improve circulation throughout the system. By improving the blood and lymphatic pump, the body can assimilate and eliminate with more efficiency. 

Leveraging the system: Through direct instruction throughout the Kaiut sequences, we teach our students how to access their restrictions through the intelligent use of the body. As the student progresses in the practice (improving listening skills and mindset/approach), the student becomes even more attuned indirectly, assessing and releasing a restriction. As a restriction softens, the body is more adept at operating as a daily detoxifier. 

Stimulation of the Organs: Every organ in the body needs to be able to slide and glide in relation to other organs and the skeletal system. By varying the time in a pose, Kaiut Yoga can enhance and promote any organ’s natural movement. As organ movement improves and integrates with the nervous system, the ability for that organ to cleanse improves dramatically.

Reintroduction of the Spiral: The spiral shape is often repeated through nature. In Kaiut Yoga, we reintroduce the spiral concept through the various shapes and sequences.  (Think of the twisting layers of a towel being wrung out) As a result, we are able to encourage freedom in the soft tissue layers’ ability to slide and glide in relation to each other. This movement frees the pathway to release and remove toxins that often get stuck and are difficult to mobilize.

The key to engaging an effective detoxification process is through consistent support, helping the system “remember” and “facilitate” the body’s inherent ability to cleanse and purify. If you’re interested in improving your health through regular practice, we invite you and those in your friend/family circle to practice with us at our school or online.

From here you can view our online program and take a demo class, view our membership page or join us for our to get access to unlimited online classes and in-person classes for your first month.