If you often experience digestive problems including constipation, irritable bowel, acidity, heavy stomach, acid refluxes, gas, or stomach pain, yoga may just be the perfect fit for you!
Yoga is one of the most popular alternative medical treatments which are growing rapidly around the world. For people who are looking to get away from over the counter drugs, yoga offers an alternative with its holistic approach to health.
Yoga has proven itself in providing a wide variety of health benefits both physical as well as mental, including alleviation and even prevention of digestive distress. Therefore the goal of yoga is joining together body and mind into a state of balance and harmony.
There are many poses that you’ll find in yoga that stimulates and motivates organs such as the pancreas, intestines, and stomach. Due to this, these organs become incredibly strong and healthy. Here are some of the great benefits of doing yoga; It can add to the circulation of the gastrointestinal function, help you to increase the absorption of sustenance, reduce the level of acid in your stomach, helps to make a larger amount of mucus, help to decrease the pressures of gas, and can completely remove any constipation problems.
Part of doing yoga is learning the myriad of different positions that affect the body. The idea is to put your body into the position and hold it for a set amount of time. The theory is that each position can have a different impact on the body. For example, some postures restrict the flow of blood into certain areas of the body. Thus when the position is released, a rush of blood and oxygen enters that part of the body. This can be very effective in the digestive process.
If you want to improve your digestion, you can try some yoga pose such as Bhadrasana (the Gracious pose), Danda Mayurasana (the Peacock pose), Shashankasana (the Moon pose), Moola Bandhasana (the root lock), Uttana Mandukasana (the Frog Pose), Virasana (the hero pose), Bhujangasana (or Cobra), Ustrasana (the Camel pose), and Supta Vajrasana (the Supine Diamond pose).
Another important part of yoga is yoga breathing exercises. Yoga breathing increases the blood flow to the digestive tract stimulating the intestinal action peristalsis making digestion more efficient. Yoga even calms and relaxes the digestive system leading to the effective elimination of toxins. Various forward bends increase the spaces in the abdomen facilitating the release of entrapped gases.
A basic breathing exercise begins by simply watching your breath. Sit down, close your eyes, and pay attention to each inhalation and exhalation. Place one hand on your stomach and feel it move as you inhale into your belly. Breathe gently and begin to inhale and exhale on a count of four. You can then increase this to inhaling for four and exhaling completely on a count of eight. Continue breathing in and out of your nose for at least five minutes, or longer if you wish.
Yoga has a lot of benefits including making you feel better about your body as you become stronger and more flexible, toning your muscles, reducing stress and improving your mental and physical well-being.
Joan Holt is a writer and stylist with a passion for the intersection between biology, technology and design. Raised in Bali and of Swedish heritage, She travels across the world have encouraged and informed a global perspective regarding the future of fashion and its relationship to planetary health. She is currently working for a sustainable fashion label in Bali, Indonesia.