Imagine the porous body of a sponge. It is absorbent and sucks energy and substances in. As it stores these compounds it expands in volume and shape. As it releases them digested and filtered, it restores its original form. The sponge retains its properties as it expands and contracts. It has the fascinating quality to regenerate itself.

Now picture your liver as that spongy, reddish brown organ that lies just below the diaphragm in the abdominal cavity. Simply put, the liver is the filtration plant, chemical factory, and storage depot for the body. And just like any sponge it has the power to regenerate itself.

Well, Chinese Traditional Medicine appoints the liver as the “General” or ‘Chief of Staff’. This navigator regulates the functions of the other organs and glands and ranks second after the heart in performing essential functions including metabolism, detoxification, and formation of important compounds. It also filters, regulates, and stores blood. At the same time, the Liver is responsible for regulating the blood volume throughout the entire body according to physical activity. During the day when the body is active, blood flows to the tendons and muscles and then returns to the liver at night.

Funny enough, our liver has been filtering blood day and night our entire lifetime – often with little nutritional support and with quite a lot of dietary and environmental challenges. This creates a situation in which most people over the age of 50 will have liver weakness or toxicity. As a result, blood quality will slowly deteriorate to the point where the affected individual feels sluggish and heavy due to poor circulation. Liver congestion and stagnation are common liver problems. Yet conventional medicine does not understand them and has no test to detect them. Ironically, liver function tests only detect deterioration in liver function when it is critical. All chronically sick people will have heavily compromised liver function and working to detoxify and support the liver is crucial to recovery.

This means that when liver “Chi” is functioning harmoniously, we have good energy during the day and feel rested and revitalized when we wake in the morning. The joints and tendons are nourished enabling us to move freely. In Chinese Traditional Medicine, the Liver (yin organ) is paired with the Gallbladder (yang organ) and both are associated with the wood element – the element that allows us to grow. The Liver is also has a powerful effect on the digestion because not only does the Liver control the proper functioning of the Stomach and Spleen Chi, but also the secretion of bile from the gallbladder.

Essentially, the liver is in charge of denaturing sex hormones. A congested, inefficient liver can lead to elevated blood levels of circulating sex hormones. This in turn can induce abnormal cell growth such as uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, breast cysts, and breast cancer in women and prostate enlargement and prostate cancer in men.

The liver also acts as a bridge between blood returning from the digestive system and the heart. This makes the liver an important organ for the health of the heart with a weakened, swollen or congested liver obstructing the venous blood flow to the heart and potentially causing heart palpitations or even heart attacks.

In other words, a healthy liver is essential for maintaining an adequate amount of blood flow to the heart and the heart can only pump the blood it receives. Not to underestimate the liver’s role as a stronghold of emotional digestion. The liver stores a variety of emotions including anger, fear or aggression. Thus, excessively angry people are more prone to heart problems and strokes.

We all need a good liver cleanse at least twice a year at spring and in fall. But even if we are not up to flushing the liver with herbs, supplements, juicing or a dairy-free vegan diet, we can maintain its health by practicing detox yoga. The Yogic liver cleanse is a unique blend of breathing, asana and creative visualization that helps us digest and filter unresolved emotions. All contracting and twisting poses stimulate the abdominal organs, including the liver and all digestive organs. They flush the poisonous substances from the blood stream.

The liver actually cleans the blood that has just been enriched with vitamins and minerals during digestion. After you’ve eaten something, the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients from the food pass from the intestine into the blood. Before going out to the rest of the body, the nutrient-rich blood makes a stop at the liver.

The liver processes the good stuff into forms that the rest of the body can use. Waste or stuff your body doesn’t need can be carried by bile back into the intestine and out of the body. Other waste processed by the liver goes through your blood to your kidneys and out in the urine. And amazingly, if you ever accidentally ate something that was harmful, your liver would try to break it down and clear it out of your system. But don’t put your liver to the test! Steer clear of poisons and sponge away harmful stuff while practicing this brief and regenerative liver detox sequence.

Yogea Liver Detox Routine: Sponge Away (open level)

This Yogea routine offers breathing tools and valuable poses to flush toxins from the liver and the other digestive organs, as well as to process unresolved emotions that have been hampering vital organ functions. A Qi-Gong based tapping breath with an emphasis on pelvic twists squeezes toxins out of the liver and spleen and boosts their filtering functions. Seated, kneeling and standing twists alternate with forward bends and twisted low lunges, and lead to complex balancing poses with enhanced meridian stretching. Reclining hip openers roll into deep spinal twists and contracted back-bends. The purifying effect of yogic toe locking is stressed when performing poses at all levels and in all directions. Reclining backbends further massage the intestinal tract and promote regular bowel movements. Supine massage of the spleen and liver area, while lifting the hips and criss-crossing the arms regulates homeostatic balance in the body and invites beneficial bacteria into the gut. A progressive relaxation winds the body down and elicits the parasympathetic nervous system response, while clearing unwanted emotions and toxic residue.