Stretch it out for better bowel health

Movement is hugely therapeutic and certain yoga postures affect how we feel and how our internal systems function.  The liver has a very important job - it’s the body’s largest gland used for detoxification.  It’s responsible for purifying blood, producing bile and digesting fats.  By adding the yoga poses below into your practice, you’ll help your liver function at its very best.

1. Spiral twist supine - Supta Matsyendrasana



Stretch out your spine and glutes.  Massage out and soothe your internal organs.

2. Cobra pose - Bhujangasana

This posture stretches the whole length of the spine, the transverse and rectus abdominals and neck muscles.  By stretching the abdominal wall you also transfer blood flow to the liver. 


Step one

Step two

3. Forward fold - Padangusthasana

This posture helps to calm the mind and nervous system.  The hamstrings lengthen and this can help ease any lower back pain. Your liver gets a little massage from the body being folded.

4. Yoga inversions - headstands, shoulder stands, handstands and forward folds

These poses increase the lymph flow by reversing it.  This helps the body rid itself of any impurities that have built up in different organs, including the liver.

Louisa Drake is your Better in 30 Fitness Professional.  She’ll stretch you out, tone you up and have you feeling your best by day 30.  Louisa is the Founder of the Louisa Drake Method and a fitness teacher at several of London’s hot spots including Equinox, Shoreditch House and The Detox Kitchen.  She’s worked with some of Hollywood’s leading ladies including Gwyneth Paltrow and Victoria Beckham.  And now you.

All photography by Oly Barnsley.