Digestive
Understanding Your
SYSTEM
How Yoga Helps
Whether it is yoga asana, pranayama or
meditation you practice the most, all aspects of
yoga help support a healthy digestive system.
Here are four main ways in which yoga can help
improve your digestive health:
If you are one of the millions of
people in the world struggling
with digestive issues, such as
irritable bowel syndrome or
celiac disease, then chances are
you are fairly aware of the
importance of looking after
your gut health.
Yet, for many of us, the digestive
system isn’t really something
that gets given much thought,
unless something starts to go
wrong and symptoms arise.
Digestive health plays a key role
in not only how you are feeling
physically, but also your mental
and emotional health as well.
Your digestion system plays a
leading role in the overall health
and well-being of your entire
body. Not only is it responsible
for converting the foods you eat
into the energy needed to feed
each and every cell in your
body, it also houses about 70%
of your immune system. This
involves helping keep infectious
microorganisms, such as bad
bacteria, viruses and fungi at bay.
In fact, poor digestion is
believed to be the root of most
diseases in the body!
So this means that keeping your
digestive system healthy is vital
to maintaining good health and
wellbeing.
Yoga asana massages your digestive organs -
The different static and dynamic physical
practices of asana, as well as many of the
breathing techniques of pranayama, all work to
massage, stimulate, cleanse, tone and aid the
digestive function.
Some specific asanas, focus on stimulating the
digestive process by applying pressure to the
different organs of digestion. While others help
relieve abdominal tension and are often used to
help relieve complaints, such as constipation,
gas, bloating and cramps.
Examples of asana that are used to stimulate
and tone the digestive organs include:
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Improved strength
Trikonasana (triangle pose)
Supta Pawanmuktasana (leg lock pose)
Paschimottanasana (forward bending pose)
Ustrasana (camel pose)
Pavanamuktasana (wind relieving pose)
Bakasana (Crow/Crane Pose)
Mayurasana (peacock pose)
Jan./Feb. 2019 www.yogicherald.com
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