Exercises You Can Do To Improve Your Digestion

The digestive tract is aided by muscular contractions and gravity.  This means that our alignment in the gravitation field, also known as posture, influences our ability to properly digest food.  Proper digestion requires a proper diet as well as proper exercise and posture; so sit up straight! When you sit up straight, you take the pressure off of your lower abdomen and back and force your upper body to hold your body weight.  This is the way your body was meant to hold its weight and remembering to sit up straight will not only make you look taller and more lean, but it will increase you body’s digestion efficiency.  With a straight spine, your abdomen now has the space it needs to carry out the digestive processes without your ribs and upper internal organs interfering.

The digestive system is composed of muscles just like the rest of the body. The intestinal muscles move in a wave-like pattern called peristalsis and act to push a long the fecal matter.  If it weren’t for these muscles, we would not be able to excrete our waste, thus the strength of those muscles is directly related to our health.  Just like we have to lift weights in order to strengthen our arm muscles, we need to do exercises to strengthen our peristaltic muscles.  Exercises like jogging and basketball, although healthy, do not specifically target the digestive tract.  In order to strengthen those muscles, it is important to focus on improving core strength.  Core strength refers to the strength of the muscles in the abdomen, lower back, buttocks and upper thighs.  A strong core means a strong digestive tract, so exercises such as yoga, sit-ups, push-ups, aerobics and swimming are the most beneficial.  It sometimes helps to think about bending at the waist because exercises and activities that involve that type of bending will generally strengthen the digestive system.  When you are working out, try to ask yourself “will my exercise routine include any bending at the waist?”  If so, then you are probably working your core strength and digestive system.  Keep in mind that the largest muscles in your body; the buttocks are there to support your core, so when doing push-ups, yoga and other core-strengthening activities, remember to engage your buttocks muscles.  You’ll be surprised how much pressure that takes off of your lower back.

Even simple stretching (bending at the waist) can help digestion.  Forward bends increase the space in the abdomen and facilitate the release of entrapped gases.  These activities heat the front of the body and cool the back of the body.  If you have trouble bending over, try lying on your back with your knees to your chest. Sitting or lying in this position for 5 minutes a day can help some people’s digestive tracts become regular again.  Most people need to do more activity than that, but if you can’t do anything else, these things will help.

The most beneficial exercise for digestion is yoga.  Yoga poses increase blood flow to your digestive tract and stimulate the intestinal action known as peristalsis.  Yoga also calms you, which in turn relaxes your digestive system and leads to more effective elimination.  Practicing the following poses daily on an empty stomach will help improve your digestion and core strength. 

Caution: Avoid these poses if you have had a hiatal hernia, abdominal surgery, have abdominal inflammation, a hyperthyroid condition, severe back problems or if you are pregnant.  Although everyone can do yoga regardless of their size or physical condition, not every pose is for everyone, every time.  If you have any of the above-mentioned conditions, it is important to do yoga under the supervision of a yoga master.

Cobra

1. Lie on your stomach with your forehead on the floor. Draw your legs together. Place your hands under your shoulders with your fingers spread apart. Move your elbows close to your body. Relax your shoulders and keep them lowered away from your ears throughout the pose. Squeeze your buttocks, and press your hipbones and pubic bone into the floor.
 
2. Using the muscles in your back, lift your upper body, beginning with your forehead. Next, lift your nose, your neck, and your shoulders, and finally, your upper chest.
 

3. Press down into your palms to lift your middle torso off the floor, as pictured. Imagine that you are a strong and flexible cobra. Breathe deeply as you hold here for 3 to 10 breaths.
 
4. To release, keep your buttocks squeezed as you slowly roll back down to the floor, starting with your middle torso and ending with your nose and forehead. Turn your head to one side and rest quietly. Let go of any tension.

Spinal Twist
1. Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you. Throughout this posture, be sure that your sitting bones are firmly on the floor and that you maintain a tall spine. Do not round your back; sitting on the edge of a cushion can prevent this.

2. Bend your right knee and plant your right foot on the floor near the inside of your left knee or thigh. Lift your left arm out in front of you, bend your elbow, and place your elbow on the outside of your bent right knee with your palm facing away from you. Put your right hand on the floor behind you.

3. Twist your torso to the right to look behind you, as pictured, and hold for 3 to 10 breaths. Each time you inhale, lengthen your spine to grow taller. Each time you exhale, twist to the right a little more. Imagine that your belly is doing the twisting.
 
4. To release, slowly turn back to center and extend your legs out in front of you. Repeat on the opposite side.