Today in yoga class we talked about poop!

No subject will turn someone’s head quicker whilst being in a seated spinal twist than beginning a conversation about poop. But today while teaching yoga to my group of regulars, and by regulars I mean they have attended my class every Monday, Wednesday, Friday for the past four months, I asked if anyone had noticed a change in their digestive system. Specifically, if anyone had noticed they are less bloated, having a bowel movement more easily, or simply have become regular with their BMs. There we were, seated on the mat doing an assisted spinal twist, I had mentioned that we should be breathing down into the belly. The belly, expanding with the inhale, would be touching the leg closest to the torso which would then be gently massaging the organs of the digestive tract. That’s what sparked my inquiry about poop (we tend to have the most interesting and off the wall conversations in my yoga class).

Perhaps talking about pooping isn’t the most sought after topic, but hey, we all do it! Pooping is important. As one of my participants said, who is a very bright medical student, “Don’t let it sit there and fester, get it out!” He was willing to get into the conversation because that happens to be part of his job, but the rest of the class was silent. So allow me to recognize some of the benefits yoga has on the GI tract.

As hinted before, some movements and twisting poses allow for the lower organs to be massaged. Just as a sore muscle is relieved from discomfort by being massaged, massaging the intestines loosens up the digested food particles that are hanging out in there, which will also alleviate discomfort. The massaging action helps to move waste products along to their end point (I intend to keep this as classy as humanly possible). The best movements for this are several cycles of swan dive, standing and seated forward folds, child’s pose with wide knees and /or hips lifted to just over the knees, all spinal twists, and prone (lying facedown) back extensions. One of my favorite movements I use to start a class with is seated ribcage rolls, or belly circles. We sit on the mat comfortably, legs can be crossed or slightly extended in front, hands resting on knees. We start by drawing a small circle with our belly button and progress to making the circles bigger. Doing about 10 to 20 circles per direction. I encourage my students to get their shoulders moving with the circles as well. Not only is this gentle movement good for the GI organs, it’s great for the lower back. It can relieve tightness of the lower back muscles and feel like they are getting a massage. In addition, this is a good movement to do if we have lost some passion in our life. Sometimes we find we’ve lost the will or desire to do something, even if it’s something we love to do; this movement literally stokes our internal fire. We may have to do it consistently over time but it can help. Another exercise for both lower back and digestive organs is lying down knees to chest. We start by lying on our backs, knees bent into chest. We place our hands behind the knees, to protect the knee joint, and rock side to side. Follow this by flowing one knee to chest while the other leg lowers to the floor, alternating legs about 10 to 20 times.

There are a few other exercises that may not be practiced in a typical yoga classs. These are best done first thing in the morn, on an empty stomach. However, one must drink at least one cup of water prior to doing these. The first exercise is called Agnisar Kriya; the word Agni is Sanskrit for fire, Kriya means action. Stand with feet shoulder width apart, bend from the hips placing hands on the thighs just above the knees and come into a slight squat. You will take a full inhale through the nose then fully exhale out of the mouth. While holding the breath, push the belly out as far as you can then draw the belly in toward the spine as mush as possible. This is done quickly and with a pumping action. Do as many times as you can until you need to take another breath. Complete 3-5 cycles of this every morn. In addition to being great for the digestive organs, this is also good for strengthening the abdominal muscles and making them more flexible. There is another technique called Nauli, however, this is best left to a professional teaching it in person.

While twisting poses are some of the best exercises for the mid-section, the wringing action squeezes toxins from the organs, adding a deep, expansive breath to these poses adds further dimension. There are two places to think of a massage originating from: externally and internally. External massage obviously comes form a source outside of the body, internal massage comes from the utilization of our muscle, the diaphragm. We all know that as we inhale our diaphragmatic muscle lowers down. When we are mindful of taking a deep “belly” breath, we are giving our digestive organs a nice, gentle rub. Simon Kidd wrote a great article call “How to Activate Your Diaphragm to Improve Breathing and Performance.” This article will give you a deeper understanding of what is going on when we breathe. The key term here is mindful; being mindful of a full breath while twisting, or forward folding, allows us to move deeper into the pose and release more internally. A good example of a seated twisting pose that gives our organs an external and internal massage while performing deep belly breathes is Marichyasana III.

  Marichyasana III

When we apply all this knowledge to our yoga practice, or even while simply stretching, we must also remember to drink plenty of water afterward. Since we have squeezed toxins out of our internal arena, we must drink to flush it all out of our system. Again, don’t let it fester, get it out!

  Wide-knee child’s pose hips above knees

  Locust

  Seated forward fold

While we’re talking about mechanically moving waste products from the body, why not mention some of the drinks and foods that can also help. Earlier I stated that drinking water is crucial to moving things along, but drinking hot tea has many incentives. The best teas for digestive betterment are Pu-erh, peppermint, ginger, kombucha, and chamomile (German chamomile is used medicinally). Most store bought boxes of chamomile will not mention if it is German or not, but it safe to know this is the right tea to brew. I suggest buying a bag of dried chamomile flowers as the benefits are greater than the prepackaged leaves. I found a big bag on Amazon and it’s nice to know this tea can be steeped more than once. Chamomile is also great if you have a “nervous” stomach, just make sure to steep for a full 10 minutes. I am not a fan of the laxative teas. I don’t feel it’s safe or healthy to take laxatives of any kind, unless prescribed by a doctor after a medical procedure.

Milk kefir deserves its own paragraph. This probiotic is powerful and does amazing things for the body, you will literally notice with your skin and energy. Store bought kefir, unfortunately, is not the same as milk kefir. Real kefir is not pasteurized, the beneficial enzymes are killed from the heat of the pasteurization process. You can buy milk kefir grains or a starter kit and make your own milk kefir. It does take some daily TLC, just a few minutes a day, but it’s certainly worth it and more affordable. Hey, why not start a milk kefir friendship batch? You start with some grains and let it culture a bit, then share the added grains with a friend, and so on. Then the whole world will have kefir to keep themselves and their families healthy! Here’s a good site that should get your questions answered and you ready to go. I’ve flavored mine, separately, with organic strawberries, blueberries, and oranges before. The taste is subtle but nice.

There are two types of foods that keep the gut in a healthy state: probiotics and prebiotics. What’s the difference between the two? Probiotics are the good bacteria that keep the intestines in healthy working order, they keep the bad bacteria in check. Prebiotics are carbohydrates that are food for probiotics. Consuming both together is the ideal partnership. Here’s a list of probiotc foods:

Active-culture yogurt– be mindful of the sugar content in these. It’s best to stick with plain, either regular or Greek, and add fruit and/or honey to sweeten. Have you ever tried plain Greek yogurt drizzled with honey and lavender?

Kefir– as described above.

Kombucha tea– which is fermented black or green tea. You can make your own from here.

Tempeh– a complete protein made of fermented soybeans. Stick to non-gmo tempeh.

Miso– which is a Japanese seasoning made of soybeans fermented in salt and koji.

Kimchi– this is one of the most powerful of the probiotics. It usually consists of fermented cabbage, radishes, brine, and spices such as ginger or chili pepper. Be warned, it is spicy.

Sauerkraut – make sure it’s raw.

Pickled fruits and vegetables– must be pickled in brine, not vinegar.

Apple cider vinegar– it must have the “mother” to be legit.

Spirulina– this is a microalgae that does wonders for the body. Chlorella has received much attention lately, however, I’ve read so many conflicting reports on this algae. I’ve been taking Spirulina for years and the way my body feels when I take it is enough evidence for me to keep taking it.

Ginger– helps greatly with indigestion, nausea, diarrhea, and other ailments. While I was pregnant I suffered from late night indigestion, lucky for me I had no morning sickness. I learned quickly to eat a few pieces of crystallized ginger before bed and it helped tremendously. I make my own crystallized ginger and ginger syrup and add the syrup to flavored seltzer water.

Since our intestines absorb the majority of the nutrients we consume, it’s a bonus to know that prebiotics aid in the absorption of calcium. Our bodies are constantly using and losing calcium, so it’s important to keep calcium levels high for the health of our bones and teeth. Here’s the list of prebiotic foods:

Asparagus– raw asparagus gets you more benefits.

Onions– raw and cooked.

Garlic– this works best if it’s raw. Hummus is a great way to get this raw without scaring everyone out of your life because your breath is making people cry like babies.

Beans and legumes

Jerusalem Artichoke Hearts– this is actually a species of sunflower.

Leeks– they must also be raw. Boy are you going to have to get creative with all this raw stuff!

Chicory– the roots of this plant are roasted and grounded up to be brewed as a decaffeinated coffee. Also, some beer brewers add it to flavor their stouts. You may also know this as endive or radicchio, which you will find in the garden isle at the market.

Cruciferous vegetables– this would include: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, radish and rutabaga.

Consuming all most or all of these items on a regular basis will bring much alleviation of abdominal distress and improve the immune system. Start slowly by adding what appeals to you most, then once your body is getting used to the change in internal environment, add more from the list. This doesn’t have a be a jump in the deep end, tread the waters and then dive in once you feel better.