I found this description of Marichyasana (Half Lord of the Fish Twist) in the book, "Tales from the Yoga Studio" and loved the metaphor:
"...like all spinal twists (Marichyasana) is detoxifying. And because there are a million variations on this one, there's a version to suit every need. And let's face it, who among us doesn't need a little detoxification every once in a while?
If you're trying to manage a chemical addiction, this pose can help the liver and the spleen wash out all poisons you've built up in your system, making it look like an untended litter box.
But drugs and alcohol are not the only things we need to detox from. There are relationships that leave us so full of emotional and spiritual poison we need to purify on the deep level we get from really twisting and squeezing them out of our spines. (Kind of like the way we sometimes wanted to "wring someone's neck," back before doing yoga, when we still dabbled in violent metaphors.)
And sometimes we need to wring out whatever self-destructive patterns of behavior are making it impossible for us to accept that we do deserve a good relationship or a steady job or just a plain old break once in a while.
But here's the thing about twisting and detoxing - it isn't as much about wringing out as it is about the lifting up. Your head, your heart, your spirit. Because you can't get into marichyasana, or any of the twisting poses, unless you have your chest lifted and your heart open and are ready to move into it.
And believe me, you can't start clearing all the emotional and spiritual litter out of your life unless you're first ready to hold your head high and open your heart and lift yourself out of the old patterns and the rehearsed reactions and expectations of failure.
Lift, open, twist. Shampoo, rinse, repeat. Don't overthink it. Just do it. Don't get bent out of shape."
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