How to Boost your Digestion with Yoga
Strong digestion keeps you healthy.
In Ayurveda, your digestive capacity, your Agni, is the make or break of your health.
A few Words about Digestion.
Your digestion is a meticulously orchestrated process involving the digestive and hormonal systems. Digestive enzymes are released at different stages to help break down food groups, carbs, fat, and protein, making them more absorbable for the body.
The process starts when thinking about food, preparing it, and then eating it. Thorough chewing is the first step to healthy digestion. Eating in a calm environment without any distractions sounds a little like Yoga, right?
In Ayurveda, the first step of digestion is the Kapha phase, releasing saliva to mix everything together, followed by the Pitta phase of upping the heat, breaking the food even more down with the stomach acid and absorbing the nutrients. Vata concludes the process by absorbing more nutrients and drying out the mass into the stool that we then poop out.
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How can Yoga help with that?
You might remember the advice not to eat at least two hours before attending a Yoga class. Suppose you have ever eaten even one hour before a class. In that case, you might remember this very uncomfortable feeling in some poses, where the food seems to travel upwards again, and the breath seems to stop at your stomach.
Apart from these uncomfortable feelings, practising with a full(ish) stomach can lead to imbalances such as acidity and bloating.
So, how CAN it help, then?
Post-eating Yoga
There are a few post-eating postures that are highly beneficial.
# 1 is Vajrasana, the heal seat.
Sitting for 10 minutes after eating in this pose is said to help jump-start digestion. The energy stays in the abdomen rather than travelling through the legs and out of the body.
If this pose is comfortable, try it; if you feel heavy after eating or tired, try it for a week and see what happens.
#2 Matsyasana, the fish pose
This is a more advanced pose, but you could sit on the floor, put your hands behind your back, fingers pointing towards the body, roll your pelvis forward, lift your check, and bend back. This creates space in the stomach area for digestion. Your stomach churns quite powerfully to break the food down. The movement is effective if the area is spacious rather than squashed by slouching.
# 3, side lying Savasana
Lie on your left side for 10 minutes. This is not strictly a yoga pose, but it is beneficial.
It stimulates the active right side of the body, which is also responsible for digestion.
Yoga Postures and Breathing for Digestion
Your daily or even weekly Yoga practice strengthens your digestive organs. Apart from the muscles and joints, Yoga affects your organs.
This happens in two ways:
Directly through movement; for example, a twist directly affects the abdominal area. The wringing movement of the twist draws the blood out of the tissues, and the release lets the blood flood back for better circulation. Good circulation means the organs have the necessary oxygen and nutrients.
Via stimulation of certain meridians; finer energy channels in the body provide the organs with energy. This means as you bend the body forward and backwards, energy channels of the liver, gallbladder, and spleen are affected. As you use your arms, your small intestine and colon are affected.
In a way, all the asanas (Yoga postures) are beneficial. The following, though, are very helpful:
All twists, whether standing, seated, or lying, target the solar plexus area, the centre of digestion. Twists help get things moving and release gas.
Forward bends are also very beneficial. The seated forward bend, Pashimottanasana, or standing forward bends like the wide-legged forward bend, Prasarita Padottanasana, are said to cure constipation or ward off gas. Navasana is said to help with gastric trouble from half-digested food.
Backbends, especially the ones from a prone position, cobra pose, Bhujangasana, locust pose, Shalabhasana, and bow pose, Dhanurasana. Here, we stretch the abdomen and breathe against the floor, an excellent massage for the organs.
Cat and cow pose is wonderful; its combination of back and forward bends and pelvic movement helps initiate the elimination process.
Bridge poses, dynamic or static, are lovely for the abdominal organs for all the above reasons.
Inversions are excellent in case of digestive imbalances such as constipation, bloating, or flatulence. The digestive fire always burns upwards. If you turn upside down, the digestive fire burn up, now in the direction of the colon, helps to balance Vata imbalances as the mentioned constipation, bloating or flatulence and create a since of lightness again in the lower abdomen.
Restorative Yoga poses are excellent for digestive issues. They allow the body to open from a base of total support and let the breath do its job.
Remember, daily Surya Namaskar (salute to the sun) and Chandra Namaskar (salute to the moon). Both balance all bodily systems and are said to prevent illnesses and keep you healthy.
Where can the Digestion go wrong?
Digestive issues are so common today. They might include acidity, acid reflux, bloating, flatulence, constipation, diarrhoea, IBS, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, ulcerations in any of the organs, and so forth. These issues obviously need to be addressed by suitable diet and lifestyle changes.
In these cases, restorative Yoga is excellent. The body is supported, and the breath can deliver energy and oxygen for healing. Deep belly breathing and the 3-part breath are very powerful healing tools. Sometimes, the body needs rest or gentler practice without getting exhausted.
Final Thoughts
Incorporating Yoga into your daily or weekly routine can significantly improve your digestive health, a vital aspect of overall well-being emphasised in Ayurveda. Postures, such as Vajrasana for post-meal digestion, Matsyasana to create abdominal space, and the relaxing side-lying Savasana, illustrate Yoga's adaptability to support digestive processes at various stages. These practices alleviate immediate discomforts like bloating and acidity and contribute to a more robust digestive system over time.
Moreover, the broader spectrum of Yoga poses, including twists, forward bends, backbends, and even the dynamic sequences of Surya Namaskar strengthen and massage the digestive organs, improving circulation and energy flow.
This holistic approach addresses the physical and energetic aspects of digestion, ensuring a harmonious balance within the body. Embracing Yoga as part of your lifestyle can significantly improve digestive health, potentially preventing common digestive disorders and enhancing your overall quality of life.
Have you learned something new? Have you noticed that Yoga influences your digestion? Let me know. You can leave a message below, on Instagram, Facebook or even good old email.
I love hearing from you!
Katja x
P.S. Remember healthy eating habits are essential for a strong digestion.
