Ah, the hangover. Many a festive evening has been influenced by Mae West’s words, “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!” which of course can result in a pounding headache, upset stomach, dehydration, achy muscles, and a general feeling of death and regret. Those aching muscles are potentially caused by wearing totally impractical footwear, dancing with great enthusiasm for extended periods of time, attempting physical activity in which you have no business engaging, and/or walking/running/skipping great distances home from the bar, but in any case, yoga can help.
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Yoga can gently help stimulate the processes in the body working double overtime to get whatever you drank out of the body so you can feel better. These stretches can also help relieve the ache and soothe pain caused by Saturday Night Syndrome which is when you fall asleep peacefully with your arm, leg or otherwise in a terrible position and remain there until noon. Yoga gently encourages blood to flow to your organs and do their all-important job of removing garbage from your system.
If you are currently hungover, just look at these photos and give some of the poses a gentle try. Drink water, do a couple poses, nap, and repeat. You’ll feel ready to rally in no time!
Yoga for Hangover
Sit cross-legged. Inhale arms overhead, touch fingertips. Stretch to the left & then right.
Twist to left, slowly and breathe and then to the right.
Spread legs wide in a V. Fold forward, reaching straight then left & right.
Bring legs together, ankles touching. Draw tall through the crown of the head and gently fold forward.
If you are really feeling good, draw one foot into your inner thigh and fold forward over extended leg.
If you are planning for the eventuality of a hangover, print this baby out and leave it on your bedside table with a large serving of water and the meds of your choice. Print it here and be grateful in the morning!
I’m no doctor or expert, but I’m a proud Chico State grad and had a hangover most Friday mornings of college (Thursday was the night to go out) and as such I have tried all manner of store bought remedies that swear to banish hangover and I would say that in addition to water, ibuprofen (though I think that made my stomach ache more…) and multivitamins, I liked Alka Seltzer AM relief the most. It has bubbles + caffeine and it forces you to drink more water. That’s what I’d put in my little meds circle on the printable if I were you. Order yours from Amazon by clicking the little photo below!
If you are not hungover and just want to be ready the next chance excess strikes, read this infographic below for more information on detoxing with yoga. You’ll notice that I didn’t include some of the below poses in my sequence because moving one’s head up and down while hungover is the equivalent to slamming your head in a door. If you experience no headache while hungover, go crazy detoxing with the poses suggested below and you’ll be bellied up to the bar or back on the dance floor in no time.
“Yoga for Detoxification” on Health Perch
what an amazing piece of content. I do practice yoga but for the hangover, I would take a mug of coffee. After reading these informative articles, I am surely gonna try these poses to get relived of hangover pangs. Thank you for sharing this useful information.
Glad you found it useful!