3 Amazing Yoga Poses to Improve Digestion

I’ve already told you about a great yoga flow when you are experiencing IBS, but in this article, I’d like to focus more on some static yoga poses that might be a good change from your everyday flow.

Not just this, but these yoga poses are easy to do separately or you can incorporate them into your own flow.

These yoga poses will be a great aid to improve your digestion, whether if you just had a big dinner or if you have problems digesting in general.

This article is to improve digestion and relieve bloating and such. If you have an over-energetic digestive system, it’s best not to do these poses. Let’s begin!

Easy Yoga Poses for Digestion

#1 Thunderbolt Pose (Vajrasana) and Hero Pose (Virasana)

These two poses might look the same but they are different in the way you’ll be seated.

In the first one, Thunderbolt Pose, you’ll find yourself seated right in between your heels.

What you’ll have to do in this pose is: Sit on your knees, legs are closed, feet together.

Make sure that the two big toes are touching each other and that you lower the heels a bit towards the outside.

Your buttocks will fall right in while you are sitting down. Make sure that you keep a straight spine (within this position it’s quite hard to slouch, so you shouldn’t be too worried about that).

This yoga position is actually a great one to do right after your meal.

Normally you have to wait a couple of hours before doing any yoga, but this asana is amazing if you just had some big lunch or dinner.

If you have digestive issues, it might even be good to sit in this position for a couple of minutes after you’ve eaten.

Because of the stress you’ll be putting on your knees and legs, it’s best not to do this position when you have week knees or if you had surgery.

For this reason, it’s best to go into hero Pose as here you’ll be able to use a pillow to relieve the pressure.

So, for the next position, which is Hero pose, you’ll be actually doing the same.

You’ll start on your knees and when you do, you’ll bring your knees together, after that you open the feet a bit until you can hit the ground with your buttocks.

Make sure that your feet are as close to your hips as possible, your heels even have to touch them.

This position is great as it has more varieties than the thunderbolt position.

For the advanced yogis, you’ll have the inclined hero pose, where you’ll be going down on your back.

As a beginner, it’s best not to do this yet until you’ve gained some flexibility.

Another great option, and this one is great for those with knee or leg problems, is to use a block or pillow.

While you do the position as I explained, you can put a block or pillow in between your feet and put your buttocks on them.

This way it will relieve some pressure off your knees while you are having the same benefits.

With this pose you can actually stay seated for as long as you’d like while your digestion does its thing!

#2 Wind-Relieving Pose (Pawanmuktasana)

Yes, I know, there actually is a pose called the Wind-Relieving pose.

And to be really honest, it does what it says it does. Sometimes it might be best to do this position at the comfort of your own home as gasses may be released.

This position is great for people who have a lot of bloating issues as it gives a subtle massage to your intestines.

It’s also a very easy one to do, however, this one I really wouldn’t do just after you’ve eaten.

Your food will still be in your stomach, making it quite hard to get its full benefits. Worse even, you might get a bit of heartburn as your food will be finding it harder to go down into the intestines.

When you are lying on your back, bring your knees to your belly. This pose has a bit of a flow to it to make sure that you get its full effect.

Bend the knees, bring your feet together and exhale. While you are exhaling, press your knees closer into your belly, releasing all of the air.

After that, when you start inhaling again, make sure that you push away your knees gently.

It actually will be hard to breathe in any way, so you don’t have much of a choice releasing your grip a bit. Continue this for a while, you can do it as much as you’d like.

PS: This pose might cause farting, don’t worry about it and just let it happen! Go with the flow ;).

#3 Legs-Up-The-Wall Pose (Viparita Karani)

This one is a great asana which is often used in Restorative Yoga. It helps with digestion as the flow of your blood will be retained a bit at your belly as gravity pushes the blood a bit back from your legs.

This will give some extra energy to the intestines, making sure that they can do their work properly. And not just that, but it’s also a great pose when you are up on your legs all day.

This position is a very relaxing position, and if I could I would stay in it for hours. Of course, we don’t always have that time and it would be good to do this position while you are preparing yourself to go to bed.

For this asana, you do need a wall. It can be done without one if you’d like to give your legs a little workout as well. However, to aid our digestion, it’s best to keep our legs up the wall, like the name already suggests.

How to start?

Well, first sit down next to the wall.

Make sure that one of your hips is right next to the wall, making sure that you are sitting side by side to the wall.

After that, it might look a bit acrobatic, and a bit unflattering as well. Lift the leg closest to the wall and start lowering your back, it’s going to look a bit like a circular movement.

Next, bring your other leg up as well and raise them both until your back is on the floor. Put your arms next to your body, wide open, in a very relaxing position. Stay there for as long as you’d like!

This asana has actually some really great variations as well. For example, you can decide to start seated on a pillow while you are following the instructions above. This will lift your hips and will make you feel more comfortable, which will result in being able to stay in that position longer.

The second option is great for those who’d like to have a stretch on their inner tighs. You do all of the above, best without the pillow though. After that, you just let your feet gently fall towards the outside, over the wall. Just let gravity do it’s work. Don’t stay too long in this position though as you don’t want to overstretch either.

Conclusion

That’s it for some great yoga poses you can do separately to improve your digestion. If you’d like guidance with your own yoga practice and tackle what you’d like to work on, I offer private online yoga classes as well. They are fairly priced and completely tailored to your needs!

Nama-stay wonderful!