Yoga for digestion

I have been practicing yoga for over 15 years. I am grateful to have learned this amazing practice because it has played a very important role in my recovery and healing.

These are the benefits I have receive from practicing yoga;

• Yoga has helped me deliver two healthy children naturally. I believe an established yoga practice pre-pregnancy and pre-natal yoga prepared my body for childbirth however I was also blessed pregnancies with no complications and small babies 
• Yoga has helped me strengthen my muscles around my mobile joints to prevent injuries. I was constantly injuring my self as a child because of my mobile joints. I often sprain my ankles just from a simple light run. It wasn't until I was an adult that I learned my flexible joints was causing me my childhood pains. 
• Yoga has helped me through tough times of being a care giver and facing the unknown future of my IBD diagnosis. Yoga became my escape when I was dealing with caregiving stress. During my early Ulcerative Colitis days, I relied on my home practice especially when I was too weak and sick to attend classes at yoga studios.

Here I would like to share with you the few yoga poses I found exceptionally helpful to aid my digestions and provide comfort from IBD/ IBS symptoms.

Bridge

After I get into this pose, I slightly tapping around my belly starting from lower right hip up around down to lower left to stimulate my colon's function.

Twists 

I find supine twist to be more gentle as shown here, but a seated twist also helps aid digestion by wringing out the body.

Seated Twist

Plough to Shoulder stand 

In the plough or shoulder stand pose, I make soft fists with my hands and lightly "pound" along the sides of my lower back. It helps release trapped gas in my colon.

Wind removing pose  

After loosening up the trapped gas in the last post, this wind removing  pose does exactly what it sound like. It is quite affective so you might want to practice in a private setting, if you know what I mean.

Legs up the wall 

This restorative pose is great to relaxation and edema. Perfect pose to wind down before a good night sleep. 

I hope you find these yoga pose helpful for your digestion. Let me know if you feel any improvements.