"Yoga helps calm the nervous system and release toxins from your body. So it is only fitting that it would help heal and recover you from a hangover." Photo: Stocksy
After an especially indulgent night, the last thing you may want to do is think about working out. Though research has shown that a quick sweat session is good for your hangover, sticking to a lower-impact option may be best for some.
"When you're going out, your nervous system is stimulated," yoga instructor Alexis Novak said. "You're dehydrated, exhausted, and later, your body is trying to nurture itself."
And one of the best ways to give your body some much-needed love is to skip the mat, stay in bed, and practice your flow.
"Yoga helps calm the nervous system, reset the endocrine system, and release toxins from your body," Novak said. "So it is only fitting that it would help heal and recover you from a hangover."
First thing you should do the morning after, is respect your body. The next step: follow Novak's five yoga moves to help cure your hangover.
1. Start in corpse pose
If you were out late, you most likely didn't get an adequate amount of sleep. Savasana (a yoga move you should never skip) is your body's neutral position.
Do it: Lay flat on your back with your palms facing up. Allow for your neck, head, and shoulders to "melt" into your bed or onto the floor. Breathe deeply in this calming position.
Bonus: Take your tongue away from the roof of your mouth for throat space.
2. Supine twist
Did you stand all night? Dance? Drop it lower than you can even believe or remember? This pose will help you relieve the lower back. It elongates the tiny muscles that run along the spine, and gluteus.
Do it: Starting on your back, twist your knees to one side. Reclined twists aide in the digestive process and rinse toxins from our body. Let the good times roll right out.
3. Child's pose
This pose is perfect for improving your posture and your endocrine system, which starts at the head and ends in the belly, and regulates your hormones and nervous system - which can get pretty over-stimulated after a night out.
Do it: With a pillow or block variation under the forehead. Let your hips and back relax and send a few calming breaths into the front of the chest. You're nurturing a baby back to health, you.
4. Legs-up-the-wall pose
This pose helps to restore awareness and soothe anxiety. It's one of the yoga moves that remedies cramps, belly bloat and ache, and eases migraine tension. Allowing for the feet to take a rest above our pelvis also will reduce lower body swelling and aches.
Do it: Start on your side, scoot your tail about 4-inches away from the wall or your headboard and roll onto your back. Walk your heels up the wall, and find a comfortable relaxed position.
5. Supported fetal position
Do it: Start on your right side. Allow for your entire body to relax in any way that feels naturally comfortable for you. Use your bicep as a pillow (or maybe even a real pillow). We roll to the right side first, because anatomically the heart is on the left. Rolling to your right places your heart above the organs. Pausing on the right side helps to regulate the pulse and allows blood pressure to gradually reach homeostasis after relaxation, by alleviating pressure on the heart.
- Rodale Wellness
