Did you know that yoga can improve your digestive flow? Yoga offers many benefits to your physical well-being, including improved colon health. Since it’s National Yoga Awareness Month, we’re sharing 10 poses that are designed to improve digestive flow, (aiding conditions like IBS), by improving digestion and eliminating toxins from the body!
How Yoga Can Improve Your Digestive System
Yoga offers benefits to your colon health by improving digestion, eliminating toxins from the body, and creating a sense of balance. Yoga improves digestion by stimulating blood flow and circulation, which accelerates elimination and promotes peristalsis to prevent constipation. It eliminates toxins from the body through improved lymphatic system drainage and elimination through the bowels, reducing the risk of colon cancer.
By practicing yoga, you can also improve digestive health by building abdominal strength and by spending more time with your head below heart level. In yoga class, students are encouraged to breathe deeply from their diaphragm to create a sense of calmness while stimulating digestive enzymes for increased production.
How Can Yoga Alleviate Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
IBS sufferers should consider yoga because it can reduce their stress levels, a known trigger of IBS. As it is not an aerobic exercise, your intestines will not be jarred by jumping around. Besides that, you can try certain poses to help relieve specific IBS symptoms, including bloating and gas.
10 Yoga Poses for Digestive Health
Specific yoga poses open the pelvic floor and lower abdominal muscles, great for relieving gas and improving digestive health. Here are 10 of our favorites:
Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana)
The pose can improve flexibility in the hamstrings and spine, calm the mind, improve digestion, and ease constipation.
Triangle Pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana)
This yoga pose can relieve constipation and improve digestive health. It also opens up your chest, neck, hips, and shoulders, which promotes a sense of mental clarity.
Revolved Crescent Lunge
The pose helps stimulate digestion by massaging the abdominal muscles and twisting the internal organs. Digestion can be improved by compressing the colon in specific ways (right to left). Additionally, these twists can stimulate the movement of unwanted substances in the body that accumulate and help remove them.
Camel Pose (Ushtrasana)
Camel pose can potentially alleviate constipation by stretching your stomach and intestines. It can also improve digestion by stimulating the adrenal glands.
Half-Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana)
This yoga pose is suitable for people with digestive disorders like IBS and Crohn's Disease. Half pigeon stretches out your psoas muscle located in the lower lumbar region of the spine and helps improve digestion and relieves stress on your spine.
Bow Pose (Dhanurasana)
This yoga stretch can help alleviate constipation, as well as pain in the lower back region. It lengthens the abdominal muscles, which provide an overall sense of relaxation for a more healthy digestive system.
Revolved Low Lunge
Having tight hip flexors can interfere with the function of our internal organs, including digestion. When you stretch the front of your body, things tend to move in the right direction.
Child's Pose (Balasana)
A yoga asana that can help relieve constipation in both children and adults is child's pose. This posture compresses the abdomen to massage your internal organs while you are sitting on your heels with toes tucked under to provide a sense of comfort.
Wind Relieving Pose (Apanasana)
This yoga pose is excellent for those who experience gas, bloating and abdominal discomfort. It provides relief by gently massaging the abdomen from front to back.
Corpse Pose (Savasana)
Stress is a critical component of gut health, which is why savasana plays such an important role. Sitting still and letting stress melt away will benefit your digestion and gut health.
Start with the poses that will help you feel most comfortable and relaxed. From there, explore other yoga positions (and the accompanying benefits) to find what works best for your personal needs!
Unfortunately, however, yoga alone isn’t always enough to cure most bowel problems. That’s where we come in. Whether you struggle with IBS, hemorrhoids, or suspect you might have colon cancer, we’re here to lend you are expertise, and set you on the path to recovery. Give us a call today!