Good digestion is a like a well stoked fire – hot enough to do the job, but there’s no need to burn the whole house down. There are two main issues with digestion – too hot, where food moves too quickly causing discomfort and cramps; and too cool, feeling sluggish, stuck and bloated. You need completely different yoga solutions for each.

If your intestines – lower abdomen – are cramping and digestion is erractic, then relaxation and gentle rhythmic movements will help to calm and regulate the process. Hypnotherapy, guided visualisations and meditation are all excellent methods to help manage issues like IBS. There’s lots of research (yes, even under the NHS) to substantiate the improvements. You don’t need to pay a hypnotherapist (though I’m happy to take you for sessions to help you to learn to manage your IBS), you can use relaxation podcasts or CDs or go to a meditation group. The key is regular practice with a focus on releasing the tummy. Gentle twists – lying down with feet on the floor and allowing the knees to release first to one side then the other help give your body a steady rhythm. Follow your breathing, or simply release into the posture for a few long breaths… breathe and relax.

When your digestion is sluggish, you often find yourself feeling ‘stuck’ in other ways too. Digestion energy in yoga is not just about extracting nourishment from food and releasing what you don’t need, it’s also about processing and releasing situations, events, emotions and people. Pay attention, your body may be suggesting that something needs to move on. The best way to help your stomach, particularly after a big meal is to release the upper chest. Either roll up a blanket or get a foam block and place it under your shoulder blades – bra strap height is ideal (gentlemen, you will have to imagine where that would be!). Allow your shoulders to relax and the block will open your chest in a passive, relaxed, easy way. Exactly what you don’t tend to do after christmas dinner.

The intestines need some more energetic work to get moving. Seated twists are excellent, or even a revolved triangle. Remember to warm up first, starting with smaller twists like jathara paravritti. Also, breathe in and lengthen before you twist. Make space for the spine to corkskrew upwards.

Pay attention too not just to what you eat and when, but also how you eat. Be mindful, savour what you eat. In yoga it’s said that half of the stomach should be food, one quarter water and one quarter air to allow space for digestion. Water is particularly important to the smooth transit of the intestines too. In the western world no wonder tummies are tight. We spend hours holding them in, toning, making them rigid when they are designed to be soft, sensuous, forgiving and emotional. The energy of the abdomen is soft and squishy, make friends with it.

Next time: Releases anxiety and dealing with panic using yoga www.shantispirit.co.uk

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