Friday Q&A: Yoga for Better Digestion

Q: I tend to suffer from digestive problems, so I was wondering whether there are any yoga poses that I could do after eating to improve my digestion?

A: Although Baxter and I wrote a post about how there are no hard and fast rules about how long to wait after eating to do yoga (see Friday Q&A: When to Eat), if you do tend to suffer from digestive problems, it is probably best for you to refrain from doing active poses immediately after eating.

However, there is one restorative yoga pose that you could try after eating to see if it provides any help, Reclined Cobbler’s pose (Supta Baddha Konasana). Reclined Cobbler’s pose is the classic pose for improving digestion (as well as providing relief for women with PMS or during menstruation).

Baxter includes this pose as the first pose in his three-pose sequence for improving digestion (or just general relaxation), Mini Restorative Sequence. And we just happen to have made our one and only video about how to do this pose!

If you suffer from digestive problems, it is probably best to skip the other two poses in the Mini Restorative Sequence unless you are practicing 11/2 to 2 hours after eating because forward bends, like Child’s pose, and inverted poses, like Legs Up the Wall pose, could cause acid reflux or discomfort. But do give the entire sequence a try sometime when you have safely digested your last meal to see if it can provide help in general.

Finally, many digestive problems are related to chronic stress (see Chronic Stress: An Introduction). So you could experiment with trying some form of conscious relaxation (see The Relaxation Response and Yoga) to calm your nervous system after you eat. After all, the opposite of the Stress response (Fight or Flight) isn’t called the Rest and Digest response for nothing! Rather than lying flat on your back for these practices, I recommend that you prop yourself up on a bolster, as shown in this version of Supported Relaxation pose (Savasana) so your head is higher than your heart, and your heart is higher than your stomach.

In general, pacifying your nervous system through conscious relaxation and gentle yoga practices may help enhance your digestion in the long run.