Yoga to Improve Digestion

It’s that time of year – when our usual “eat well” routines race out the window in exchange for brief moments of culinary delight – freshly baked breads, homemade candies, comforting dishes that only Mom or Grandma can prepare perfectly.  Yet, along with the delight sometimes comes the indigestion.

I know, it’s not a very holiday-happy topic.  This week and next, we’ll partake of many foods we’re not used to eating and I thought some poses for better digestion might do the trick in getting us back to feeling ourselves.

Remember, always wait a couple hours after eating a full meal to do these stretches and twists.

Lying Down Poses:

Knees to Chest: Lie on your back and hug your knees toward your chest.  Breathe slowly and fully.  Gently rock side-to-side or just hold your legs toward you and rest.

Recline Twist:  On your back with your feet on the floor right under your knees, bring your arms out to a T (shoulder height).  Inhale gently and as you exhale allow your legs to rest to the right side. Relax your shoulders down from the ears and breathe.  Stay here 6-8 breaths and gently reverse.

Kneeling & Seated Poses:

Cat & Cow:  On all 4’s (wrists under shoulders and knees under hips),  inhale as you let your belly release and draw your sternum forward. Exhale as you reverse the motion, pressing your hands into the floor and rounding your back. Continue slowing 4-6 times.

Seated Twist: While seated comfortably on the floor (either legs crossed or legs open in a V), breathe gently feeling your spine lengthen.  Gently cross your right hand to rest on your left knee and place your left hand lightly by your left hip.  On an exhale, gently allow your belly, rib cage, chest, shoulders and head to twist gently to the left.  Find something to look at at eye level. Hold and breathe for 4-6 breaths. Gently unwind and reverse the twist to the other side.

Rest in a comfortable position and find your 3-part breath.  Enjoy!

Slowing Down Your Practice

It’s that time of year – traffic picks up, the to-do list grows exponentially and our stress meter skyrockets.  For those of you that do still make time for yourself and make it to yoga class, it can feel like one more thing scratched off the list. Great, I did my yoga – now on to the rest of the crazyness.

This week, I began changing some classes up a bit.  I’m not quite 100% from my bout with the crud (so this was partly selfish), but mostly I just thought we should try to slow down.  So, in class, we did each movement, each flow at half of our normal pace.

For Full Flows:

We stepped back into a low lunge and held the pose, feeling the stretch in the hip flexors before moving to Downward Dog.  From Downward we shifted over to Plank and held for a couple of breaths, lifting in between the shoulder blades and engaging our core and legs.  For our push-up, we shifted forward and lowered down slowly, pausing before pressing through to Upward Dog (you can do the on-your-knees version too).  We stayed lifted out of the low back, shoulders down in Up Dog before pressing back to Down Dog.  Finally, we swung our leg through to our low lunge, back to our Forward Fold and Mountain Pose (pausing and holding each pose).  We did 4 Full Flows in the time it normally takes us to do 8.

With my more gentle yoga classes, we did the same thing with poses like Cat & Cow, Spinal Balance, Sunflowers — it doesn’t have to be a flow of poses — it’s really more about slowing down the movement — whatever it is.

By slowing down, it allows us to focus more inwardly on what we’re feeling, how the body moves through each distinct movement. When we take momentum out of it and the familiar pace of how we always practice, we’re building more strength in the body and maintaining a level of awareness that is very beneficial for our well-being, not to mention keeping us safe by being mindful in our practice.

Especially this time of year — we should look for some activity — a yoga class, a good book, a leisurely walk — that can be slow, unhurried, unfrazzled…and just enjoyed for what it is… a break from the hustle of the holidays…