For many students, the most common uses for yoga are improved flexibility, core strength and stability and improved endurance. However, there are several yoga poses which can help with other issues, including minor digestive problems. If you suffer from constipation, bloating, diarrhoea, indigestion and irritable bowel syndrome (to name a few common problems) you may find that several common yoga poses will help to ease your pain.
poses to try out:
If you’ve been suffering from minor digestive issues, you may want to see about adding these poses to your set:
- Yoga Mudrasana: This pose stretches out your spine and massages your internal organs. It relieves constipation and indigestion, and is even believed to help with diabetes, as it stimulates the pancreas.
- Forward Bending Asanas: These all work well because they force the body to stop pumping blood to the system for a bit and then when the pose is released, new blood is brought in again. It’s also good for massaging your stomach and works best for constipation and bloating. Some great forward bends include: bal asana and Paschimottan asana
- Twists: Twisting poses help you to wring out your digestive system and remove toxin build up.
- Backbends: Just like forward bends, back bends massage your internal organs and help you get rid of gas. Any gentle backbend is good for indigestion.
- Just sitting in the Vajrasana can help your digestion smooth out.
a note from the doctor
Yoga won’t help you as much with serious digestive issues such as Crohn’s Disease, though it has been known to help by relieving gas and pain and cutting down on stress. If you have a food intolerance, yoga can’t help you. But yoga can be highly beneficial for most other forms of digestive issues. You should discuss the idea with your nutritionist to see how you can incorporate yoga into an overall regime to aid in your digestion.
We’d love to chew the fat with you on the yoga mat! Drop into Root Whole Body for yoga or movement class and see how yoga can help you live a healthier, happier life.