Today I had lunch at Urth in Santa Monica with Michelle LeMay, one of the country's top fitness gurus. She explained that stretching and yoga not only exercise the body, they also have a detoxing effect, opening up places inside us that hold onto toxicity and fat. The side (or possibly primary) benefit is that as you open your body, you also open up and free closed aspects of your mental, emotional and spiritual self. Anger, resentment, hurt... all negative emotions... create physical reactions in our body. When the physical components of repressed emotions aren't allowed to move through us, they establish blocks where blood flow, digestion and metabolism can't do their job. Exercise, particularly yoga and stretching, can free both toxic fat and emotions.
Michelle's DVDs, such as "Alive in Your Body" and "Spirit Flow," are excellent examples of mind-body exercise that provides a detoxing effect physically and emotionally, while spiritually awakening your consciousness.
