Yin Yoga & Pranayama For Digestion And Bloating

Slow down and create space through the body and mind with this calming Yin Yoga practice designed to support digestion, ease abdominal tension and encourage deep relaxation.

Through longer-held Yin postures, mindful movement, mudra and pranayama, you'll gently stimulate the abdominal region while using the breath to settle the nervous system and support the body's natural digestive processes.

In yoga, digestion extends beyond food. We are continually processing and assimilating thoughts, emotions and life experiences too. This therapeutic practice invites you to soften, breathe and perhaps release a little of what you no longer need to carry.

Ideal when you're feeling bloated, uncomfortable, stressed or simply in need of a slower, grounding practice.

Props: Yoga bolster, or substitute with a thick rolled blanket or 2-3 pillows.

Transcript

Thanks for joining me today. Today's deeply restorative practice is tailored to stimulate your digestion. So all of yoga will stimulate your digestion. Consider your yoga practice as being 90% waste removal. So we do that through stimulating our digestion, We do that through sweating, And also purging through the breath. So modern research has shown that when we lose weight, We actually metabolize that weight loss through the breath. But today's class is slightly different because I have specifically chosen postures which are really good for eliminating toxins. There'll be some breath work which will also help with that. We'll be focusing on vishama ruti which is uneven breath. So with that we're going to have a longer exhalation to allow more time for the body to rid those toxins. We're going to use a pan mudra today. So one of my favorite mudras. We're connecting the tip of the middle and ring fingers to the tip of the thumb. So a pan mudra is also known as the detox mudra. I do have a couple of props for this practice. A yoga bolster. If you don't have a bolster, You can still do this class. You can improvise with a really thick blanket that's rolled up nice and tight, Or you can simply stack two or three pillows on top of one another. I've got two blocks, But if you've only got the one, That's fine. You'll be able to do this practice with just the one block. If you do have two, Then grab them both, Just for a little more comfort. So let's begin. Now the first posture that we're coming into isn't one that necessarily stimulates digestion, But it's a pivotal point that will help to release tension in our outer hips, Piriformis muscle and glutes. And certainly that part of the body, For most of us, Can hold a lot of tension, Which can inhibit our side bends, Our forward bends as well. So we're just going to take a modified seated pigeon pose. So just straighten out your right leg for me. Left leg is bent. Place your left ankle above the right one. Now for some of you this might be enough, You might already be feeling a bit of relief in that outer left hip, Otherwise you can lean back and bend that right leg. So the closer you bring the right heel to the buttocks, The deeper the pose will become. We're only here for a few breaths. And you might choose to take a little rock from side to side, Especially if you're overly tight through the outer heel. So throughout the class, I will encourage you to place the tip of your tongue where the teeth meet the roof of the mouth. So this space between the top and bottom teeth. But we're gently toning the throat for Ujjayi breath. So there's a slight constriction happening in the very back of the throat. And when we do this, We start to hear the breath almost like the soothing sound of the ocean rolling over the back of the throat. From here, Yogis, Let's straighten out that right leg again. Come into an open twist, So leaning only onto your right leg now, Left buttock off the mat, Left foot on the floor. Place your arm on the inner knee and look over your shoulder. It's a lovely open twist. Let's deepen the twist by deepening the breath. And return, Let's change sides. So if you're nursing a knee or hip injury, You'll probably have a slightly different variation from one side to the other. Moving into our open twist, You can straighten and relax the left leg, Roll over only onto the left leg, Pressing right arm into the inner knee. And let's return. So coming into a seated side bend now, We'll take the right leg out on a 45 degree angle. And bending the left leg. Now, If your hip and knee need support, You can prop up that leg. If you've limited a range of motion and you've got a bolster, You might choose to place that on top of the leg. We're going to fall down over that leg. If you would like to go a little deeper, You can fold down to your block. Or you can bring that elbow down to the leg. Now your left arm, Let's take a palm mudra. Through the left hand, Rest the back of the palm on your low back and keep that shoulder drawing back. Supporting the head. You can allow your lower back to round just a little. Neither settle your drishti. Your thousand miles dare. Or close the eyes altogether. Feeling the left side waist expand as you inhale. That gentle compression on the right side of the body. The magic in your practice. Lies with the breath. To any time your mind wanders. A busy mind chatter begins to distract you. Come back to the pulse of the breath moving the body. And on your next inhalation, Let's slowly lift up. Natural to feel a little fragile sometimes after these long holds. Let's lean back and just swish those knees from side to side. You'll probably be feeling a little uneven, A little longer on one side than the other. If you need longer with this motion, Please do take it. Otherwise, Moving straight over to the other side. So propping the body. However you need to with blocks. Bolster or your pillow. Taking a Pan Mudra through the right hand. Settling into the pose. At the top of each inhalation, See if you can pause, Hold the breath. For one or two counts. Before exhaling slowly. And on your next inhalation, Slowly lifting up. Same as before, We'll take those hands behind, Give those knees a quick swish from side to side. So the next pose is a seated forward bend. And I want us all to begin with the knees bent. So what we want to do here is bring our belly to touch the thighs. And if you're carrying a bit of tension in your back, You'll certainly feel much better in your forward bends to bend those knees. But the reason that we're doing that today is not only because of our back, But again, We're trying to stimulate that digestion. So to have the belly on the thighs is going to bring in a little bit more of a massage, Especially as we deepen the breath for that diaphragmatic breath. So you might choose to have your bolster. Your pillow or your blocks or even a rolled up towel underneath those minis. We don't have to keep it here for the whole time. So toes up, Heels down. We're going to come in and out of the pose three times before we settle. As we inhale the arms lift up. And as you exhale, Hinging forward. So my feet are about hip width apart. Inhaling, Press into the heels, Find your way back up. Exhale to fold. And then this time we're staying down. Holding on to either the legs, The feet, Or maybe just resting the palms facing up. So here belly is touching the thighs and we're allowing the back to round. Now if you can go a little further. You could have a lower prop underneath your legs instead. So you might find after a minute or two that you adjust those props underneath the legs. Maybe even eventually taking them away, As long as your belly is touching your thighs. Now from here to deepen the pose, Let's deepen the breath in the back. We've got that lovely compression happening on those digestive organs, The front side of the body. Let's begin to puff out our bag with the in-breath. See if you can find a longer exhalation. So to help with that, I'm going to count your next breath. But if my count is too long, Ignore me. And find your own count. I'm going to count for an inhalation of four. Hold for two. Exhale for six. Let's breathe out together. And inhale one. Two, Three. Four, Holding one. Exhale one. Three. Oh. Five, Six, Inhaling once… Two. Three. Four, Holding 1 Exhale, One. Two, 3. Fool. I. Just a few more breaths. You might like to take one or two exhalations through the mouth. Breathing away anything residing in your body or mind. That no longer serves for your highest good. And let's very slowly roll our way back up. You can move those props to the side. Again, Lean back, Quick swish of the knees. You might like to continue with this motion. Only if there's no concerns with wrists and shoulders, You might like to take a brief table top just as a counter stretch. It's only an option. If so, Those knees will stay bent. Press into the hands and the feet. Lift up the hips. And lower down. So recruiting either your bolster, Your pillows or your blanket, Whatever you've got going on. And have it running parallel to the long side of the mat. So we're taking a prone twist. So prone is when we're on our belly. And what I love especially about this pose is that the presence of the bolster on your belly is going to prompt that diaphragmatic belly breath. And we've also, All twists are very cleansing for our digestive organs, They're very soothing for the spine. But being on our belly here, We've got the extra body weight, Which is going to make the pose a little bit deeper, Hopefully, For you. So when you're ready. Lengthening the spine. I've got my right hip next to the bolster and then I'm bringing as much of my navel down as I can. Now if you find that the incline on your prop is too steep, You can always have a block underneath the end. You can turn your head either left or right, Whichever feels best for your neck. And settling down into the pose. You might like to take a palm mudra and turn those palms to face up. And once again, Let's practice Vishamavriti, Our uneven breath. Let's breathe out together. And inhale one, 2. 3. 4, Holding 1, Two. Exhale 1. 3. 5. Inhaling 1, 2. Three. Fool. Holding one, Exhaling 1. You might like to continue that count in your mind. And following your next inhalation out of the pose. So you can come to your knees and simply change sides or you might like a brief downward facing dog. Just a counter stretch through those knees. Maybe a little walk out. And then changing sides when you're ready. Left hip touching your front. Inhaling to lengthen the spine, Exhale to lay yourself down. And once again, Counting your breaths. That cleansing exhalation. Now let's follow the next inhalation out of the pose. Well done, Yogis. Turning your prop around now so that it's parallel to the short side of the mat, We'll take our Sphinx Pose. So, Sphinx Pose is on the belly. If you prefer not to use a prop for this, You can take them to the side and just lay flat on your mat as well. If you are using the prop, This is where I would use either one or two blocks underneath the forearms just to prop those arms up. So, My lower belly, It's resting on the bolster, Forearms are supported. You can always support the head here by taking the hands to the jaw or framing the face. Otherwise, If you can, Just keep those shoulders gently drawing down the spine. Chin lift. Throat moving forward just a little. Again, You can close your eyes down or settle your Drishti. And we won't be here for quite as long. Again, Tuning into the breath. Feeling the pulse of the breath moving the body. The pulse of life. And let's release. I'm tucking those toes. If you've got the blocks, Press the hands up onto the blocks. Just coming up into a tabletop position, A little counter stretch here. You can gently start to round the spine, Look down towards your belly button. And then inhale slowly, Either come back to a neutral spine or if it's comfortable for your back, Maybe another little back bend, But not too strong. Exhaling to round the spine. Let's hold it here this time and ever so slightly press your knees away from one another and notice the space it brings into the back of the hips. You might like to stay there or sit back into a child's pose. And when you're ready to move on, Bringing yourself back up. Let's take all those props to the side. And then we'll come down. Onto your back. So we'll do one more twist. This one's with a little back bend as well. You will need your. . . You can straighten and relax your right leg, Draw your left knee in and take that left knee over to the right, Resting that leg on your block. Now a few ways to get into this next pose if you're quite tight. Through your quads, Your back. You might like to roll onto your side and prop your head up with your hands. We're taking a quad stretch with that right leg. So we're going to rotate the leg, Tuck the toes under, Heel points up to the ceiling, Move the leg back a little. And then bend the knee and reach for the foot. If you can't reach the foot with ease, You can always use a yoga strap or improvise with a scarf or a belt. If you're going a little deeper, You can bring that head down. Deeper again, Allow that left shoulder to come back. So those collarbones are starting to face a little more towards the ceiling. Find your sweet spot. And if there is any discomfort or pain here in the low back or the hips, Just release that leg. And stay in your twist. You're still stimulating digestion here. And if you do have a hold of that right foot. Gently deepening the breath down the right side of the body. Option to take a palm mudra with your right hand. Take one last inhalation. As you exhale, Release the foot. If you haven't, Return to your back. And let's practice that on the other side. So again, Option one, Stay in your twist. Option two, Roll onto your side, Prop up the head. Otherwise, Stay as you are. Let's move that left leg back. Bend the knee. Reach for the foot. Gently deepen the pose by deepening the breath. Take one last inhalation. As you exhale, Release the foot, Return to your back. You might like to take a brief moment to hug the knees into the chest or maybe take a little rock from side to side. And you can take as long as you need to with this counter stretch. The next pose will be a brief supported bridge pose and then we'll move from there into Shavasana. So I'm choosing to use my bolster as my prop because after supported bridge pose, I'll simply roll it down so it's under my knees for Shavasana. But if you prefer your block, That's fine as well. So the knees are bent, We're lifting the hips and then placing your prop underneath your bottom. You might choose to rest with your arms by your side, Your knees bent. Otherwise, You can straighten and relax the legs. Maybe even take the arms overhead. To one of my favorite postures, Which I do every day. So many benefits to this one. It's a nice soothing way to lengthen. The colon. Those digestive organs. Also offers nice relief to the low back. Is said to be therapeutic for our respiratory function. And also mildly stimulating that thyroid gland. Which governs our metabolism. And just observing that cleansing breath in the front side of the body. Navel rising and falling. With the ebb and flow of the breath. And in your own time, We'll bend the knees if the legs are straight. We're simply lifting the hips a little. If you've got the bolster or your blanket or pillow, See if you can just slide them down so that they're underneath your knees. If you have the block, Just take it to the side and I'd get your other props and have them behind your knees for Shavasana. Shoulders tucking under. Taking a palm mudra once again. Forehead softening, Eyes rolling back. As you take the next few moments to just be. Leave no traces in your thoughts. Just as birds leave no tracks. In the sky. Let your thoughts float off into the distance. Just be the witness. The Quiet Observer. Inhale, A little deeper. Feeling the breath, Top of the nostrils. Feel free to wiggle toes and fingers. Following any urges to move or stretch. Your own time, Rolling to your preferred side, Take as long as you like there. For that nice moment. In between moments. Only pressing yourself up to seated when you're ready to continue with your day. Thanks to your geese for practicing with me. I hope that you enjoyed that deeply restorative class and that we've managed to stimulate your digestion. Please don't underestimate the breath. So as I mentioned earlier, Not only do we purge through the breath, But also the way we feel is reflected in the way that we breathe. If our body is unable to. Assimilate process and release naturally. There's a good chance that mentally or emotionally you're holding on to things as well. So we can always soothe the nervous system, The mind. Relax the body by taking a longer exhalation. So I encourage you to do that throughout your day. Have a lovely day.