Sunday, July 10, 2011

It's Sunday. Are you hungover?

If so, I personally can think about having a glass of wine and experience a hangover the next day, so I can certainly sympathize.

And despite your inclination to crawl into bed, close the blinds and pray for death, exercise can actually do a tremendous amount of good in bringing your poor, abused body back to life.

In the final weeks of my senior year of college, I made a rule for myself: if I was too hungover from the night before to run a three mile loop off-campus, then I was too hungover to go out again that night. And since, of course, I wanted to squeeze every drop out of my last weeks of college (because apparently, you can never see your friends or drink adult beverages after you graduate), I always dragged myself through those three miles.

oh, hello college.


Without fail, after a good sweat and a good shower, I felt human enough to put some clothes on and drink more lukewarm beer. Hooray!

Fact: I will always run for beer.

I also enjoyed a Sunday evening yoga class offered at my college gym. Held at 6 pm, I had been able to rest enough that a trip to the gym did not feel too intimidating and the Level 1 vinyasa (I think?) class was relaxing enough that even a tired body could handle it.

As I've grown in my yoga practice and come to understand more of the restorative properties the practice provides, I've learned that it was more than just leaving my dorm room and getting some moderate exercise that would bring me out of my Sunday-funk.

Many poses, particularly twisting poses, serve to "wring out" your organs, releasing toxins and refreshing your body from the inside, out.

So today, try a twisted pose rather than a greasy omelette as your mode of recovery. So, so many parts of your body will thank you. Some ideas:

Twisted seated pose - so easy! - just sit down, cross your right leg over your bent left leg, and twist the upper half of your body all the way to the right, looking behind you. Repeat on the other side.

Twisted chair pose - not quite as easy! but you can do it - from a standing position, slowly bend your legs and lower yourself as if you're sitting in a chair. Bring your hands into a prayer position before your heart, and keeping this arm position, twist to the right with your left elbow outside of your right knee. Return to center, and repeat on the other side.

Happy bending!


Any other sneaky hangover cure tactics out there? I need them.

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