How Twisting Can Benefit Digestion
Spinal rotation, or twisting, can be a life-saver if you’re dealing with back pain- but yogic philosophy also suggests it can ease digestions pains and massage the internal organs as well.
Twisting helps digestion by moving stool through the colon’s, four main parts: the ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon, and sigmoid colon. While twisting is not going to “cleanse” the colon, your body is adept at doing that all on it’s own, thank you very much, it can help with digestive discomfort or constipation.
My favorite twisting stretch is supine hip twist- you can find a video demo in my previous blog post, or over on my IG.
How To Supine Hip Twist
Laying flat on your back, hug the right knee into your chest, take the right arm straight to the side and keep your right shoulder pressed to the floor as you take the right knee in the left hand and draw that knee towards the left side of the body. Hold for a few deep breaths focusing on expanding through the back ribs. Remember that even though your leg is sweeping to the left, your torso is rotating to the right. Repeat on the second side.
Tips For Better Twisting
1) Twist right first
To get the most benefit, you want to pay attention to which direction you twist first. Twisting right first is thought to open the ascending colon (which ascends up the right side of the colon) to get stool moving up and across the transverse colon. Twisting left compresses the descending colon (descends down the left side) and gets things moving towards the sigmoid colon and on to elimination.
2) Breathe
Breath is really our favorite “exercise” over at Helen Phelan Studio. Before you twist, breathe in through the nose to elongate the body and prepare for the rotation, exhale to do the twist itself. Once in your twist, use your inhale to direct all your airflow in to the tightest part of your back- the upper mid thoracic area. As you exhale, allow your body to relax deeper into the stretch (if doing the above twist, aim to get your knee closer to the floor with each exhale).
3) Aim for symmetry
Our bodies will never be perfectly symmetrical but making sure you twist in both directions encourages better balance of the musculature.
Don’t force it
Resist the urge to crank your body into a stretch that you’re not ready for- as it can have the exact opposite effect and cause strain or pulled muscles.
Conclusion
Try these twisting exercises (with video demos) to practice and let me know if you notice any changes in your digestion!
You can find more twists and full body workouts in the Rotate Right collection on HPS- which you can access for free for the first 10 days!