Yoga For Digestion

brought to you by YogLA founder, Nick Ryder

Lying Twist

Whilst one of the best seasons of the year,  Christmas can be a bit of a nightmare when it comes to remaining Hip & Healthy. Embarrassing jumpers from obscure relatives negate any form of winter style, and the obligatory mountain of food followed by a chocolate and a TV induced coma can leave you feeling less than healthy.

However, we’ve got the perfect yoga pose that will help aid your digestion, alleviate stomach pain/ bloating and help to reset any kinks/ tension in the spine from hunching up on the sofa with the family watching Her Majesty.

Start off lying on your back with your arms extending on the floor at 90 degrees to the torso. Draw your right leg into the chest and place your left hand on the outside of the knee. Take a deep breath in and as you exhale, gently move your right knee to the floor on the left hand side. Gaze out to your right hand and aim to keep your shoulders relaxed and on the floor.  An alternative if you really ate a lot and can’t face lifting your knee up is to bend the knees, leaving the feet on the floor and rock the knees from side to side – this one’s called ‘windscreen wipers’ and is one of my favourites!

Just a few points…

Let gravity do the work – don’t force it!

The depth of the twist relates to how far up you bring your knee – you can bend it slightly and roll it out to the side if you want.

Use your inhale/ exhale to relax the muscles deeper into the stretch.

Don’t be alarmed if you hear a few pops – that’s just your spine realigning (or maybe you ate too many Brussels’ sprouts)!