Improve Your Digestion with Yoga

Have you ever had indigestion? What caused it?
1. Did you eat too much, or eat something wrong?
2. Was it caused by stress?

While doing yoga might not be able to address the cause of indigestion in #1 (although it could help you be more aware of your body and hence how much or what you’re eating), yoga may be able to help you improve the general health of your digestive system. Hopefully, that would help you avoid the next bout of indigestion caused by stress.

Stress-Induced Indigestion

This article focuses on indigestion or poor digestion caused by stress. When the digestive system is affected by stress, it is a chronic situation, i.e. it goes on for a very long time. 

To understand how stress can cause indigestion, let's look at how stress affects the nervous system.

Sympathetic vs. Parasympathetic Nervous System

Since ancient times, when confronted with an enemy or predator in a “fight or flight” situation, the body automatically prioritizes activities governed by the sympathetic nervous system.

The effect is to give the body increased strength and speed in anticipation of fighting or running.

Some of the physiological changes and their functions include:

• Increased blood flow to the muscles activated by diverting blood flow from other parts of the body.
• Increased blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugars, and fats in order to supply the body with extra energy.
• The blood clotting function of the body speeds up in order to prevent excessive blood loss in the event of an injury sustained during the response.
• Increased muscle tension in order to provide the body with extra speed and strength.
• The pupils dilate to help see with increased clarity.
• Increased perspiration to prevent over-heating due to the increased metabolic rate.

At the same time, activities governed by the parasympathetic nervous system get de-prioritized. They include sexual arousal, salivation, lacrimation (tears), urination, digestion and defecation.

In short, blood flow to organs that do not have to work during the "fight or flight" situation is reduced, in order to increase the blood flow to the organs that are critical to ensure survival in that sort of situation. (Blood supply is diverted away from those functions that are not relevant to our survival from the immediate threat, and prioritized to those functions that allow us to run away or fight the enemy.)

How does Stress Lead to Indigestion?

The psychological stress that many of us feel does not appear like a "fight or flight" situation on the surface. After all, there are no lions that we need to flee from, in this urban jungle where we live.

However, the body reacts to stressors in the same way, by altering the blood flow in the body.

Since digestion is slowed down in a "fight or flight" situation, we know that stress also causes blood circulation to the digestive system to be reduced. Digestion slows down.

If we’re continually encountering stress during the day, our digestion would be restricted nearly all day!

That’s why many people suffer from indigestion, or digestion-related illnesses such as irritable bowel syndrome, as a result of stress.

How does Doing Yoga Improve the Situation?

Since the immediate cause of poor digestion is poor blood circulation, the direct solution would be to attempt to improve the situation by increasing blood flow to the area.

This can be achieved by doing twists, such as the Supine Spinal Twist.

The principle is similar to that of wringing a towel or sponge dry, then allowing the towel or sponge to absorb water by dipping it in water.

While doing the twist , pressure is applied in the abdomen area. This squeezes out “stagnant” or slow-flowing blood in the area. When the twist is released, the pressure is gone, and a fresh supply of blood rushes into the abdomen region.

The major digestive (and other) organs in the abdomen region can benefit from this fresh supply of blood.

In this way, by doing twists regularly, we can help to improve the blood circulation to the organs in the abdomen region, improving digestion.

In the medium to long term, doing yoga regularly can help to reduce one’s perception of and reaction to stress. This is a more fundamental solution for stress-induced digestive ailments.

Summary

Because stress causes the body to restrict blood flow to many organs, including the digestive organs, stress causes poor digestion in many people.

By doing the twists in yoga, such as the Supine Spinal Twist, we can improve blood circulation to the abdomen region. This helps to improve digestion.

In the medium to long term, doing yoga regularly also helps to reduce one’s reaction to stress. This helps stress-induced digestive ailments from a more fundamental level.


Don’t wait until your next bout of indigestion to do something about it. Do some simple twists regularly, and avoid that discomfort altogether.

Strengthen Your Wrists to Avoid Injury

C cringed when she came to do the Downward Facing Dog in the fifth set of Sun Salutations for the session. It was her first Vinyasa class. She had known beforehand that there would be many rounds of Sun Salutations, but she quickly discovered that she wasn’t quite prepared for it, physically.

Her arms were aching from the repetitions of Downward Facing Dog > Plank Pose > Chaturanga > Upward Facing Dog > Downward Facing Dog.

The repetition of asanas that required bearing weight on the hands were causing C’s wrists to feel weak. Rather, C had just realised that she had weak wrists.

Was she imagining things, or did she just feel a twinge of pain at her wrists?

How Dangerous Are Weak Wrists?

On a daily basis, unless your work requires it, you're unlikely to be called upon to carry heavy things, or bear your own body weight on your hands.

So, weak wrists aren’t usually a problem.

The problem might surface when you need to lift your one week’s worth of groceries out of the supermarket trolley. Or if you lose your footing and slip and fall, landing on your hands.

Without “training” the wrists beforehand, the wrists could be weak. Then, you might injure your wrists in these situations.

What Wrist Injuries?

First of all, the wrist comprises eight carpal joints, arranged in two rows.

When the wrists are weak, it means that the muscles and tendons in the area are not strong. The muscles are thin, strap-like muscles extending from the humerus (upper arm), ulna and radius (forearm) and inserting into the carpals, metacarpals and phalanges in the wrist and hand via long tendons.

When these muscles are not strong enough or flexible enough, external forces to the wrists could cause the ligaments that support the wrist to be stretched or torn. Hence, a common injury resulting from weak wrists is the wrist sprain.

Another common wrist injury is impingement, when the radius (a bone in the forearm) contacts the wrist bones. There is a lot of pressure on the wrist joint when the wrist is extended (e.g. in a push up position or Plank Pose). If the wrist is not flexible or strong enough to hold the position and prevent the bones from touching, you could wind up with painful impingement, and aggravated tendons and ligaments.

Why Do We Have Weak Wrists?

As mentioned above, weak wrists are a result of having weak forearm muscles. These muscles weaken because we don’t use them a lot. Most of us don’t often carry heavy things, nor bear weight on our hands. As with other muscles, if we don’t use them often, the muscles will eventually weaken.

Therefore, to strengthen weak wrists, we strengthen the forearm muscles and tendons.

How To Strengthen The Wrists?

These exercises strengthen the anterior and posterior muscles of the forearm that cross the wrist.

But first, let's warm up.

Warm Up 1: Wrist Circles (separated)

Make a fist with both hands and slowly make a circular motion in one direction a few times, then switch to the opposite direction.

Warm Up 2: Wrist Circles (together)

Interlace the fingers of both hands with the palms touching and make a circular motion in one direction a few times, then switch to the opposite direction.

Warm Up 3: Wrist Stretch

(a) Extend one arm in front of you, with the palm facing up.
(b) Using the other hand, press your fingers down and back gently until you feel a stretch.
(c) Hold for 15 seconds and repeat four times.
(d) Repeat on the other hand.
(e) Repeat the exercise for both hands with the palm facing down.


Now for the exercises proper...

Exercise 1: Wrist Extension

(a) Rest the back of your forearm on a table or your leg, with your hand completely over the end.
(b) Your palm should face up and your hand aligned with the arm.
(c) Hold a light weight in the hand and slowly lower the weight toward the floor.
(d) The movement should take 5 seconds, then slowly bring the hand back to the starting position.
(e) Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions on each wrist, as long as you can do it comfortably without pain.
(f) If you cannot do 10 repetitions properly, use a lighter weight. If you can complete the exercise properly and with ease, increase the weight.

Exercise 2: Wrist Flexion

(a) Rest your forearm on a table or your leg, with your hand completely over the end.
(b) Your palm should face down and your hand aligned with the arm.
(c) Hold a light weight in the hand and slowly lower the weight toward the floor.
(d) The movement should take 5 seconds, then slowly bring the hand back to the starting position.
(e) Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions on each wrist, as long as you can do it comfortably without pain.
(f) If you cannot do 10 repetitions properly, use a lighter weight. If you can complete the exercise properly and with ease, increase the weight.

Exercise 3: Radial Deviation

(a) Grip a hammer by the handle, then stand with your arms at your side, palms facing inwards.
(b) Tilt the head of the hammer toward the ceiling and slowly lower it down.
(c) Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions on each wrist, as long as you can do it comfortably without pain.
(d) If you cannot do 10 repetitions properly, use a lighter hammer. If you can complete the exercise properly and with ease, increase the weight by wrapping something around the head of the hammer, such as an ankle weight.

Exercise 4: Wrist Pronation and Supination

(a) Sit or stand with your arm at your side, elbow bent at a 90-degree angle.
(b) Hold a light weight in your hand, slowly rotate your palm up and then down.
(c) Keep your elbow still throughout the movement.
(d) Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions on each wrist, as long as you can do it comfortably without pain.

Rest for a day in between doing the exercises to give your muscles time to recover.

What If My Wrist Is Injured?

If it’s a new injury, ice it in the first 48 hours to remove any swelling. Once the swelling is gone, use a hot compress for the next 48 hours to bring back the blood circulation to the area. This will help to speed up the recovery.

More importantly, rest and stop any weight-bearing exercises that impact the wrist. However, you can and should keep your wrists mobile to maintain the flexibility of the muscles crossing the wrist. Do Warm Up 2 gently for this purpose.

When you have recovered, start by doing the strengthening exercises above, before attempting any serious wrist-impacting exercise.

Summary

Weak wrists can be dangerous, even if you don’t intend to join a Vinyasa class. They make your prone to getting injured even while doing day-to-day activities.

The good news is, you can strengthen your wrists, by strengthening the forearm muscles and tendons, with four simple exercises:
1. Wrist Extension
2. Wrist Flexion
3. Radial Deviation
4. Wrist Pronation and Supination

Back to C’s story

Fortunately, C didn't injure her wrists. But, the scare highlighted to her that her wrists weren’t strong enough. She decided to build up more strength by doing strengthening exercises for a few weeks, and thoroughly enjoyed her Vinyasa classes after that.

Yoga Could Be Bad for You (?!!)

Be Careful!

Many people around me know that I've practised yoga for many years.

Recently, concerned friends reminded me to "be careful" and not to "practise yoga too much".

Huh?

Isn't yoga supposed to be good for you? Can there be too much of a good thing?

Practising Yoga Could Be Bad for Women?

They had read an article in The Straits Times (Singapore), originally published in The New York Times. The writer, Mr. William J. Broad, claimed that there is evidence that practising yoga could be bad for women.

Mr. Broad cited statistics from orthopedic surgeons. Amongst one surgeon's patients who needed surgery to mend or replace their injured hips, roughly 100 a year were practising yoga. Another surgeon performed 10-15 hip replacement surgeries a year on people who do yoga. 90% of these cases were women.

He postulated that, women's flexibility causes them to be more susceptible to hip injuries when practising yoga.

At first glance, that's really bad news for me.

All is not lost

The Sample was Skewed

As Mr. Paul Grilley responded in an online post, Mr. Broad merely showed the correlation between people who needed hip surgery and doing yoga. There were no information as to whether the patients would have avoided hip surgery if they didn't do yoga.

Moreover, they had started with "hip surgery patients", then looked for people who "do yoga" amongst them. Selected this way, 100% of those who do yoga would be hip surgery patients!

If the universe were defined as "people who do yoga", and we look for people who underwent hip surgery, the story would be *slightly* different. Yet, it would still not prove any causal relationship between the two, only a correlation.

They were Doing it Wrong

Furthermore, if the women were practising in an unsafe manner, the risk of injury would be high. (Not only to the hips!)

Unsafe could be any of the following:

• Not taking care of alignment (subjecting the joints to unnecessary or excessive strain).
• Over-emphasising on a single aspect e.g. focussing solely on stretching to increase "flexibility" without attempting to improve the strength of the muscles.
• Focussing only on certain groups of muscles (e.g. "working on the abs") rather than working complementary and antagonist/opposing muscles and looking at the body as a system of interconnected, interrelated parts.
• Ignoring the body's limits, and "forcing" one's way to try to achieve the "yoga magazine photo" depiction of a pose.

In more technical language...

Mr. Grilley explained in his response:

Range of Motion: How much one bone moves relative to another. E.g. bending at your knee to bring the heel to touch your buttocks (the femur/thigh bone almost parallel to the tibia/shin bone and fibula) and straighten the leg completely (the above-mentioned bones forming 180 degrees to each other).

Tension ("Stretching"): Limits range of motion due to resistance of ligaments or muscles.

Compression: Limits range of motion when bone contacts bone or pinching tissue between bones.

Skeletal Variation: Recognizing that all skeletons are different and that the final mechanical limit to range of motion is when bones contact (compression).


Mr. Grilley emphasized the importance in yoga to discriminate between the sensations of tension and compression.

If a person cannot perform a pose in an aesthetically pleasing way, they consider themselves “too tight to do the pose”.

(a) Their fascia or muscles might be too tight.

(b) It is also possible their bones are compressing. If they try to push through it, they will eventually become injured.

The Bottomline Is

Do everything in moderation. (Applicable to most situations!)

Stay aware of your body.

If you're looking at practising yoga:

1. Don't emphasise on only one aspect (e.g. flexibility), at the expense of ignoring other complementary practices (strengthening, balancing).

2. Pay attention to your body while you're practising.

3. You will know when you can try to stretch further or if you should stop, if you can tell the difference between tension (stretching) and compression (bones contacting bones or bones pinching tissues). So, learn how to do so.

In any case, because everyone's body (skeletal structure, muscles etc) is different, everyone's expression of a pose would be different. Yet, the mere act of doing the pose would already yield benefits. It's not necessary to do a pose "picture-perfectly" in order to derive its benefits.

The Articles

If you'd like to read the articles, they are:

1. The piece in question by Mr. William J. Broad:
Women’s Flexibility Is a Liability (in Yoga)

2. An earlier piece by Mr. William J. Broad:
How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body

3. The response by Mr. Paul Grilley:
Paul Grilley’s Response to NY Times article on Women’s Flexibility

A Simple Way to Strengthen Your Back Muscles

Did you try the relaxing stretch for the back that was covered in the previous post?

This time, let's look at a simple exercise that can strengthen the back muscles, while stretching the front of the upper body.

Why strengthen the back muscles?

Stabilizes the "Core"

The muscle groups in the back include stabilizers and spinal support muscles. Some of these muscle groups make up part of the "core" that, in a sense, carries the body and distributes pressure to help support the body's internal infrastructure. Strengthening and toning the "core" helps these muscles do their job better.

Supports Better Posture

Being able to stand up straight and hold your stomach in requires strong, resilient muscles along your spine and in your lower back. The stronger these back muscles are, the easier it is for you to maintain good posture throughout the day and during any activity, and helps prevent many kinds of back pain.

Sphinx Pose

Focus on “extension” and “lift” in Sphinx Pose to strengthen the back and stretch the front part of your upper body

1. Lie on your belly with your legs extended, hip-width apart. Keep your arms at your sides and your chin on the mat. Press the tops of your feet into the mat and spread your toes.
2. Bring your arms up. Rest your elbows under your shoulders with your forearms on the floor, parallel to each other. Place your palms on the floor with your fingers pointed forward.
3. Inhale, press hard using your forearms and lift your head and chest off the mat. Press your pelvic bone on the mat, squeeze your buttocks and point your toes towards the back to engage your legs.
4. Keep your elbows close to your body. Drop your shoulder blades away from your ears and draw your chest forward. Lengthen your tailbone toward your heels.
5. Soften your gaze (look at the tip of your nose) and your facial expression. Draw your chin toward the back of your neck.
6. Hold for up to 10 breaths.
7. To release, exhale as you slowly lower your torso, chest, and head to the floor. Relax your arms at your sides.
8. Turn your head to the side, place your ear on the mat and rest quietly.

Benefits of the Sphinx Pose

• Strengthens the back
• Stretches the chest, shoulders, and abdomen
• Firms the buttocks
• Stimulates the abdominal organs

Stay Safe

• Take it slowly and don’t push your body to bend backwards.
• If you experience discomfort in your back or neck, only lift your chest as high as you can without causing pain.

The Sphinx Pose is a simple exercise that almost anyone can do. And it doesn't require any sophisticated equipment - just a flat surface and you're ready to get started. So, do give it a try. 

Let me know how it goes in the comments below.

Simple Exercises for Seniors: Part 1 (suitable for all ages)

Noticed Grandpa and Grandma (or Dad and Mum) shuffling a little lately? Or caught them placing a hand on their back to give themselves a massage?

Wondering what you could do to help them become stronger, to feel more comfortable?

Muscle strength and Range of motion

As we age, we lose muscle strength and our joints tend to lose their suppleness. The range of motion of our joints becomes limited.

We stop being able to bend and touch our toes. We can’t turn from the waist and look back. Lifting our legs up to climb the stairs becomes a challenge.

Other than posing an inconvenience, these situations could actually be risky or even dangerous.

According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology, one of the reasons for the higher risk for falls in the elderly is the body’s deterioration with age. 

We gradually lose muscle strength (i.e. we become weaker) with age.

Our joint tendons and ligaments lose their flexibility, resulting in limited range of motion. 

Tight muscles ( = shortened muscle fibres) also cause the range of motion of joints to be reduced.

Hence, the elderly fall more easily, often injuring themselves in the process. Many of us have heard of at least one elderly person who suffered (sometimes serious) injuries after a bad fall.

Conversely, if an elderly person can retain his/her muscle strength and joint range of motion, the risk of falling would decrease.

As is often said, “Prevention is better than cure”.

Let’s get down to the first exercise to help Grandpa and Grandma stay strong and flexible. 

We're starting with a relaxing exercise - to stretch out the back muscles and start to regain some range of motion in the spine. 

Other strengthening exercises will follow in later posts.

The exercise

If they are healthy, Grandpa and Grandma would probably not need any assistance while doing the exercise. However, it’s good to be with them when they do the exercise, especially in the first few times, just in case they need help.

What’s more, it’s nice to be by their side to offer “moral support” and encouragement while they’re trying something new!

Note:

• Do the exercise on the floor on a yoga mat, or on a firm mattress.
• Stay focused during the exercise. Observe the sensations in the body.
• If there is any pain or discomfort, stop the exercise.
• If Grandpa and Grandma have had any injury or have a chronic illness, consult a doctor before beginning the exercise.

Supine Spinal Twist

Relax and let gravity do the work in Supine Spinal Twist

1. Lie on your back.
2. Bend your knees and hug them to your chest.
3. Release your left arm to the floor, extending it straight out at shoulder level.
4. Exhale, drop both knees over to the right side of your body, twisting the spine and lower back. Place your right hand lightly on your knees.
5. Keep your left shoulder on the floor.
6. If it feels ok for your neck, turn your head and look at your left hand.
7. Relax into the pose. Let gravity pull the knees down, so you do not have to use any effort in this pose.
8. Hold for up to 10 breaths.
9. To release, inhale and roll the hips back to the floor, bringing your knees back to your chest.
10. Repeat on the other side for the same duration of time.

Benefits

• Stretches the back muscles --> this can help to reduce backache caused by tightness in the back muscles
• Realigns and lengthens the spine

Stay Safe

• Do not use force in this pose, let gravity do the work.
• Seek a doctor’s advice before practising if you have a recent or a chronic injury to the knees, hips or back.

Do let me know your feedback after Grandpa and/or Grandma (or you!) give this a try, in the comments below.

No time to take care of your health? Try this one-minute "exercise".

Want to take care of your health, but can't seem to find the time?

Your body seems to be telling you something. There's an ache in your lower back. It comes and goes. The knees feel a little stiff.

Feel like you should do something to keep fit, or stay healthy? 

Yet, there are too few hours in a day. Too many things that you want to (have to) do, that are more important, more urgent.

When you're done with everything else, you're too tired.

Too tired!

What do you do after you get home at the end of the day?

(a) Sit down to watch TV
(b) Sit down to read
(c) Sit down to surf the web/watch stuff online
(d) Sit down with the kids to go through their homework
(e) Sit down and ... (do whatever)
(f) Do something while not sitting down

My guess is, whatever you choose to do, you're probably sitting while you're doing it.

Add that to the huge chunk of time that we spend seated during the workday, that's a lot of time that we spend sitting down.

Sitting (in a chair) too much is bad for health

Prolonged sitting does the following to your hip flexors (the muscles responsible for flexing the hip or drawing the knees to your chest, and moving your legs front to back and side to side):

• Shortens the hip flexors
• Which causes tightness in the hip flexors and reduced range of motion

Tight hip flexors eventually lead to hip pain and lower back pain, pelvic tilting and even knee problems.

What if some of that time that we spend "sitting down" at home could double up as time for you to take care of your body, in a simple way?

You'll just have to make one small change.

Instead of sitting in a chair, sit on the floor. 

• Sit with your spine upright (don't round your back).
• Try to sit with your knees bent/legs crossed, if you can. If that's too difficult right now, sit with your legs stretched out in front of you.
• If you wish, sit on a low cushion/mat/rug. Don't make yourself too uncomfortable.
• You can do something else (read, watch TV, check your kid's homework) while you're sitting on the floor.

Just sit on the floor for one minute each day. 

(That's about the time taken to watch 2 TV commercials, or read one page of a book.)

After a few (probably 3 or 4) days, you will notice your body getting used to it. For example,

• You feel less uncomfortable.

• You struggle less to stay balanced.

• It gets easier to sit down and get up.

• Your bent knees don't feel so stiff or painful. Or you find that you can start to bend your knees more.

When that happens, extend the time by one more minute. Then, when your body gets used to that, add another minute.

Keep doing this every day for two weeks.

• Pay attention to how you feel immediately after every session.  
• At the end of two weeks, you would probably be able to sit on the floor for 3 to 5 minutes.

Benefits of sitting on the floor

1. Engage more muscles compared to sitting in a chair.  
2. Better blood circulation back to your heart (your heart doesn't have to work so hard to pump blood throughout the body).  
3. Strengthens the lumbar region of the body (lower back), reducing back pain and discomfort.  
4. Strengthens the core muscles. 
5. Improves the suppleness of the ankles.  
6. Stretches the hip flexors.   
7. Promotes mental calmness, soothes frazzled nerves and is said to aid one’s creative imagination 

 

Ability to sit on and rise from the floor is inversely related to mortality risk

In the 13 December 2012 issue of the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, in a study spanning 6 years, researchers reported that subjects who scored poorly on the “SRT score” (sitting-rising score) were at risk of being 6.5 times more likely to die in the next six years.

If just sitting on the floor is too easy for you

If you find just sitting on the floor, cross-legged too easy, I'll be back soon with the next post in which I will describe a more challenging exercise.

In the meantime, just sit on the floor a little longer! :)

Reference:

de Brito, Ricardo, et al. Ability to sit and rise from the floor as a predictor of all-cause mortality,  European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, Dec 2012

How to Relieve that Bloated Feeling in Your Stomach

“My tummy feels bloated. I ate too much at the get-together…”

It's the year-end festive season. The season of get-togethers of all manner of friends, family, schoolmates, colleagues...

What’s almost always present at these get-togethers? Heaps of food.

When we're happy and busy catching up, we don't pay much attention to the amount of food that we put in our mouth.

The result? A bloated stomach. Definitely uncomfortable.

There's a way to get over this feeling quickly.

It’s simple and does not require any special props. More importantly, it always helps to relieve that bloated feeling in my stomach.

Pavanamuktasana (Wind Relieving Pose)

1. Lie on your back, with your legs extended and your arms by your sides.
2. As you exhale, draw your right knee to your chest and clasp your hands just below your knee, hugging the knee to your chest.
3. Keep your left leg as straight as possible and completely on the mat.
4. Hold for the duration of 5 breaths.
5. Release your right leg back to the floor.
6. On the next exhalation, draw your left knee to your chest and clasp your hands just below your knee, hugging the knee to your chest.
7. Keep your right leg as straight as possible and completely on the mat.
8. Hold for the duration of 5 breaths.
9. Release your left leg back to the floor.
10. On your next exhalation, bend both knees and hug them to your chest.
11. Hold for the duration of 5 breaths.
12. Release both legs back to the floor and rest.
13. If it feels right, repeat 2-3 times.

Benefits

• Relieves excess digestive gas (“wind”) from the stomach and intestines
• Relieves indigestion, bloating, flatulence, acidity, and constipation
• Stimulates the intestines and other organs in the abdomen region
• Releases tension in the lower back, hips, and thighs
• Strengthens the back and abdominal muscles
• Tones the leg and arm muscles

Variations

Try these modifications to make it easier or more challenging, if it feels right to you. Always practise in a relaxed manner.

• If your stomach or chest is in the way, it might be difficult to clasp both hands around the bent knee. Instead, draw your knee slightly to the (out)side of your body, toward your armpit on the same side, instead of clasping it over the centre of the chest.
• If it is still difficult to clasp both hands around your knee in this way, wrap a yoga strap around your knee and hold onto the strap with both hands.
• If your hips are tight, bend the knee of your extended leg and place the sole of your foot flat on the floor instead.
• To deepen the stretch, lift your head off the mat to bring your nose to your knees in the full pose, i.e. when hugging both knees to your chest. (Avoid this if you have any neck injury or neck pain.)

Precautions

• Avoid practising this if you have any of the following: high blood pressure, heart problem, hyperacidity, hernia, slipped disc, neck or spinal injury, sciatica, or while recovering from abdominal surgery, or after the second trimester of pregnancy or during menstruation.
• Consciously keep your lower back and buttocks on the floor and the extended leg as straight as possible and on the floor.
• Always begin the sequence by hugging your right knee to your chest. Your right leg and knee will place pressure on the ascending colon. When you change sides (left knee in, right leg extended), your left leg places pressure on the descending colon. This right-left order stimulates digestion and correctly releases excess “wind.” Reversing the sequence and pressing on the descending colon first can cause aggravation, constipation, bloating, and intestinal discomfort.

 

Try this the next time your tummy feels bloated or if you have indigestion. Let me know in the comments below if it works for you.

Related Articles

If you suffer from indigestion frequently, the underlying cause might be something deeper. It might actually be caused by stress! Read how you can Improve Your Digestion with Yoga.

One year ago, I went under the surgeon's blade...

One year ago today, I underwent surgery to remove fibroids from the uterus.

I felt calm as I was wheeled into the operating theatre, and even joked with my doctor when she arrived. But, once the anesthetist injected the chemicals through a tube to make me go to sleep, and my eyes started to cloud over, I felt a wave of fear and panic wash over me. I started sobbing uncontrollably. 

All I heard was the anesthetist and his assistant saying, "It's ok, it's ok..." as I slipped into nothingness. My last memory was the gentle touch of the anesthetist assistant putting her hand on my shoulder to calm me down.

When I awoke, the growths had been removed and I was as good as new. (Well, almost.)

Flowers from dear friends

The episode jolted me. I had to take better care of my health. It was obvious to me that whatever I'd been doing to take care of myself was not enough to counter the ill effects of the environment, and those times that I didn't take care of myself.

Medical research hasn't found the cause of growths like these. However, I think that all the stress that I had kept bottled up inside made me more susceptible to falling sick.

Now, I frequently remind myself not to take things too hard. And, I practise yoga to keep my body and mind in balance. :)

Which reminds me... it's time for me to get serious about meditation too.

Do you (did you) have any health issues that you think are caused by stress? What do you do to combat stress?