BANISH BLOATING With Yoga Practice

Five Yoga poses that can help banish bloating and help return to your balance point. As you go about the session remember that the exhale breath is critical to breaking blockages for internal cleansing. Inhale for a count of four and exhale to a count of eight while practicing these postures.

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Viparita Karani

(Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose)

Before performing the pose, determine two things about your support:

height and

distance from the wall.

If you're stiffer, the support should be lower and placed farther from the wall; if you’re more flexible, use a higher support that is closer to the wall. Your distance from the wall also depends on your height: if you’re shorter move closer to the wall, if taller move farther from the wall. Experiment with the position of your support until you find the placement that works for you.

Start with your support about 5 to 6 inches away from the wall. Sit sideways on right end of the support, with your right side against the wall (left-handers can substitute “left” for “right” in these instructions).

Exhale and, with one smooth movement, swing your legs up onto the wall and your shoulders and head lightly down onto the floor. Your sitting bones don’t need to be right against the wall, but they should be “dripping” down into the space between the support and the wall.

Check that the front of your torso gently arches from the pubis to the top of the shoulders. If the front of your torso seems flat, then you've probably slipped a bit off the support.

Bend your knees, press your feet into the wall and lift your pelvis off the support a few inches, tuck the support a little higher up under your pelvis, then lower your pelvis onto the support again.

Lift and release the base of your skull away from the back of your neck and soften your throat. Don’t push your chin against your sternum; instead let your sternum lift toward the chin. Take a small roll (made from a towel for example) under your neck if the cervical spine feels flat.