There always gets a point over the festive period where you realise you’ve really overdone the eating. You’ve foie gras-ed yourself – and it’s uncomfortable. While there’s no turning back time on that last turkey sandwich, there are some yoga techniques that can help.
Yoga is known to help digestive health in general by helping to improve stress – something that can worsen gut issues – as well as physically help move digested food along the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
The reason? Not only do “Yoga movements boost blood flow to the digestive organs, supporting their function and relieving digestive symptoms,” according to Catherine Weston, a yoga teacher at East Of Eden in Walthamstow, “but by helping to reduce stress, it aids digestion.”
When we’re stressed, the connection between the brain and the gut can become disrupted and cause digestion to slow or stop. “The brain and the gut send signals back and forth through a pathway called the gut brain axis,” Weston says. “When the body is in a heightened state of stress, the nervous system tips into its ‘fight or flight” response which restricts digestion.”
Studies have found that it can be helpful for those suffering with IBS: in a 2018 study, 208 participants either followed a low-FODMAP diet (a short-term elimination diet) or participated in yoga lessons for 12 weeks. Indian researchers found that both groups showed improvements in their symptoms. A separate study in 2021 in the elderly population found that yoga helped with constipation, meanwhile a 2018 review published in Frontiers in Psychiatry suggested that yoga could help lower stress responses and therefore improve bowel function.
Deep belly breathing is a simple way to support digestion over the festive season
“I think any movement is helpful for digestion, but yoga can be particularly gentle post-turkey,” Jamie Hepburn, founder of the south London yoga studio Basic Space, agrees (basicspacelondon.com).
She suggests “slow, gentle movements, keeping yourself mainly upright (rather than upside down) with some gentle seated twists, maybe some cat cows, where you gently move between an arched back position and a rounded back position, and some baby cobras, where you lie on your front and do a very gentle back bend by placing your hands next to your chest and pressing into your palms into the ground.”
She adds that for painful trapped wind, “anything knee to belly is helpful as well (as you would for an infant with gas) so happy baby, knees to chest and rocking is nice, some supine twists, which is where you lie on the floor, and bring one leg over too.”
Diaphragmatic belly breathing, a relaxation technique that involves taking slow, deep breaths using the diaphragm, can help to soothe stress levels, because it activates the parasympathetic nervous system.
“Deep belly breathing is a simple way to support digestion over the festive season,” agrees south London-based yoga teacher Laura Moss (lauramossyoga.com). “Focusing on lengthening the exhale - for example, inhaling for a count of four and exhaling for six - activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the body’s ’rest and digest’ response. This helps counteract stress-induced digestive issues like bloating and lowers cortisol levels, creating a calmer overall state to reduce discomfort and support better digestion.”
So, when you realise you’ve overeaten, and you’re in discomfort, take some deep breaths, try a few gentle stretches, and perhaps tomorrow ease up on the leftovers.
