Can Yoga Help My Digestion?
Did you know that the process of digestion begins before you put a piece of food in your mouth? It begins with your anticipation to eat. Your hunger cues, the hormones that send signals to your brain to notify that you are hungry, and the thought of food begins the process of digestion. Then it continues with the sight and small of the food that you choose to cook or prepare in response to your hunger.
The nutrients in your food begin their journey through your body by being broken down in your mouth; chewing breaks food into smaller pieces to help the rest of the following systems. Saliva in your mouth contains enzymes that begin the chemical breakdown process of carbohydrates. Your food takes its journey through your body by following the digestive tract from your mouth all the way down to your rectum. Take a moment to pause before your next meal or snack and observe how hungry you are, how much saliva you are producing and even how many times you chew your food before you swallow it.
Digestion is not only impacted by the steps you take before a snack or meal; your level of stress and emotional state can also play a role in the digestive process.
Yoga’s Role as a Digestive Aid
Yoga is a practice that includes centering for your mind, movement for your body (now always) and breathwork to tie them together. Moving slowly through the yoga asanas (poses) can help digestion by creating a gentle compression followed by release on the various organs such as the stomach, liver and intestines. Regular practice of mindful movement, like yoga, can also help improve digestion by assisting in nervous system regulation through meditation techniques and breathwork.
Meditation for Digestion
Meditation is a practice of calming the chatter in the mind; the thoughts that never seen to stop moving throughout. Meditation can help bring a sense of calm and centering into the body.
The practice of meditation aids in the digestive process by regulating the nervous system. The brain is connected to the digestive system via the vagus nerve; a nerve that innervates several organs that play important roles in digestion. According to EOC Institute practicing meditation can help decrease levels of anxiety and improve digestive discomfort by shifting nervous system activations from a state of ‘fight or flight’ to a state of ‘rest and digest’.
Pranayama for Digestion | Breathwork
Pranayama is a Sanskrit word that translates to energy (prana) control (yama). Breath is considered to be prana along with other bodily energies. Pranayama in the terms of breath means to control breath; to control the movement of prana through the body. Breath control can aid digestive processed by changing the pressure of the space above and below the diaphragm (the muscle below lungs that moves up and down when using a belly breath). Breath control can also aid digestion by bringing a sense of calmness over the body; it can aid in the transition from a ‘high stressed’ state to a ‘rest’ state. Try the following breathing exercises below and reflect with how you feel after!
| Diaphragmatic Breathing - Belly Breathing |
How to - Sit or lie down in a comfortable position in a chair or on the floor. Find a long and steady inhale with a long and steady exhale; do not pause at the top of your inhale or bottom of your exhale. Your breath moves like a circle, there is no beginning or end. Now, as you inhale let your belly and abdominal area expand outward and up (if you are lying on the ground). As you exhale, your belly moves inward and down. Continue to feel your belly rise as your take air in and fall as you let air out of your lungs.
| Nadi Shodhana - Alternate Nostril Breath |
How To - Start by exhaling as much air out of your lungs as you can, then gentle place your index and middle fingers of your right hand on the space in between your eyebrows. With your thumb, gently close the right nostril of your nose and inhale through your left nostril completely. Hold your breath in as you close your left nostril with your right ring finger. Release your right thumb and exhale through your right nostril. Keep the right nostril open and inhale, then close the right nostril open the left and exhale. Keep the left nostril open and inhale through your left nostril, close the left and open the right to exhale. Continue this cycle for 10 breaths or as long as feel appropriate.
| Bhramari - Bumble Bee Breath |
How To - Gently create a cage with your fingers over your eyes with your fingertips resting gently on your center forehead and bridge of your nose. Use your thumbs to plug your ears to shut out the noise around you. Take a long and slow inhale through your nose and hum as you slowly exhale. Repeat this for 10 rounds (breaths).
Asanas for Digestion | Yoga Postures
In Sanskrit the work asana means posture or pose. The physical movement of yoga is a series of asanas or postures strung together to form a yoga practice, in some classes this string of postures is guided by the pace and movement of your breath (vinyasa yoga).
| Prone Savasana |
How To - Lay on a harder surface with your belly on the ground. Legs extended long and arms extended down by your side, right or left cheek can find the floor. If this is uncomfortable for your neck, make a pillow with the backs of your hands and place your forehead on your hands.
| Wind Removing Pose |
How To - Lay flat on your back with your arms down at your sides. Hug your right knee into your chest, finding a gentle compression of the right side of your lower abdomen. Gently pull your right knee towards your right arm pit, this creates a slight hip opening action. Pull your knee and shin back to the center on your right side and release your right leg to the floor. Hug both knees in to compress in the center then repeat on using your left leg.
| Twisting Postures |
How To - Compression of twisting postures are often taught in relation to the movement of waste through the large intestine also referred to as the colon. Compression is found from right to center and finishing with compression to the left side. This follows the ascending colon (right), transverse colon (top and across) to the descending colon (left).
The mindfulness, movement and breathwork in yoga all can play important roles in supporting digestion. To cultivate a well-functioning and balanced digestive system, it is important to take care of the body as a whole from checking in with mental and emotional stressors to finding support and tools to manage them. Nutrition also plays an important role in the various systems affiliated with digestion, if you notice digestive changes or concerns, it is important to have a conversation about these changes with your primary care provider.
You Want To Learn More?
Join Registered Dietitian and Yoga Teacher Katie Fischer for a workshop about Nutrition & Yoga for Gut Health!
-
Yoga as a Therapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome | SpringerLink
Effects of Diaphragmatic Breathing on the Pathophysiology and Treatment of Upright Gastroesophageal Reflux: A Randomized Controlled Trial - PubMed (nih.gov)
Breathing Exercises in Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease: A Systematic Review - PubMed (nih.gov)
International Journal of Indian Medicine, 2023; 4(7):30-35 ISSN: 2582-7634 (ijim.co.in)
How Meditation Helps Digestion, Gastric Problems – EOC Institute
Role of yoga therapy in improving digestive health and quality of sleep in an elderly population: A randomized controlled trial - PubMed (nih.gov)
Watts, C. (2018). Yoga therapy for Digestive Health. Singing Dragon.
