Indulging in a delicious meal with family and friends is one of the great joys of the holiday season. Starting with the Thanksgiving feast and going all through the holiday season, it can be a time of enthusiastic eating and drinking. While this is often a pleasure and something many people look forward to all year, sometimes it can be too much for the digestive system and we wind up feeling bloated, and uneasy in the stomach.
Here is a short easy series of yoga poses to help relieve digestive discomfort post-feast. These yoga poses were selected to help massage your internal organs that are associated with the digestive tract. By stimulating the digestive muscles you increase blood flow and movement through your body and help to reduce discomfort and restore energy.
Begin by laying on your back with your knees bent, and feet on the floor. Place your hands onto your abdomen and feel your breath slowly rise and fall. Breathe slowly for a minimum of 1 minute, or as long as it feels comfortable. Slow, calm breathing allows your body to relax and get to work on digesting all that food.
Bring your knees into your chest and give your shins a gentle squeeze. Hold this stretch comfortably for 5-15 slow deep breaths.
Allow your knees to go over to the right while opening your arms to either side and turning your head to the left. Breath in the twist for 5-15 breaths and then twist the knees over to the left and repeat on the other side. Twisting gently can be beneficial for getting the digestive tract moving. To modify place a pillow or block between your knees to put less of a stretch on your lower back. This is also a good stretch for the neck, shoulders, spine, and hips.
This next series should be taken as a slow moving sequence. Start on your hands and knees. On your inhale, look up towards the ceiling allowing your abdomen to stretch and open. On your exhale, thread an arm underneath your chest and come to lay on your shoulder. Pause in the stretch and breath for 2-4 slow deep breaths. On your next inhale come back to your hands and knees, and look up towards the ceiling. Exhale and thread the other arm underneath. To modify, put a large pillow or yoga block under your head. In addition to aiding digestion, this is also a pleasant stretch for the neck, shoulders, spine and hips.
And last, but not least, take a walk! Walk slowly after a big meal to help get the food moving and ease any post meal discomfort.
Morgana Tessler is a Certified Orthopedic Personal Trainer, Yoga, Pilates, Meditation and Barre Instructor based in NYC. Morgana offers private and group fitness sessions. For more information visit www.morgana.nyc Facebook, Instagram