While you can nourish your gut with healthy food and delicious drinkable concoctions, yoga can be another way to help keep your digestive health on track. We spoke to Lee Holmes, registered yoga teacher, gut expert, and author of Heal Your Gut, who gave us the lowdown on just how vital a regular yoga practice is to gut health. Here’s what she had to say. “Yoga is also a key factor in improving digestion, as twisting postures can help to enhance your digestion and encourage your liver and kidneys’ detoxification processes,” says Lee. “Yoga can also help with bloating, increasing the amount of oxygen to the area.” “I like to look at yoga from an Ayurvedic perspective, as it is one of the key Ayurvedic modalities,” says Lee. “I’ve found gentle Hatha yoga to be wonderful for digestion, but depending upon what type of yoga you do, it’s always best to take it at your own speed and not overly exert yourself, which can lead to injuries if not practiced correctly. If you’re competitive in yoga, this can lead to anxiety which is not great for gut health.” She adds that Vatas can balance their dosha by practicing yoga poses that add the qualities of warmth, stability, grounding, and focus, while Pittas should go for a slower, cooling practice that encourages compassion and acceptance. For Kaphas, she suggests a light yoga practice that creates space, stimulation, warmth, and buoyancy.
