Yoga for IBS - what works, what didn't...
#273575 - 07/11/06 02:46 PM
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Hi all
As you might have seen from my other posts, I'm a yoga teacher (from Scotland) and invovled in yoga therapy, where I create a personal yoga practice for my students that meets their needs at whatever level they present (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual etc).
A new student tonight suffers from IBS and from her concerns over her stress levels it sounds like that's the cause (or a big influence anyway). So I've given her a practice, have a good idea over how to proceed, but wanted to check in with the real experts (i.e. YOU) and see what else I can learn.
So, to help me/her out can those of you who practice Yoga on a regular basis tell me a little more about your practice - specifically, what works, what hasn't, and so on?
Do any of you do practices other than the usual postures, breathwork and meditation (e.g. chanting, bhavana, etc)? I have a feeling there are a lot of powerful and potentially effective yoga tools that aren't being applied due to lack of teachers' knowledge or the use of books/videos alone.
Thanks for your time.
Take care,
Scott
www.exploreyoga.o.uk
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I've found that the combination of many different postures helps. For example, poses with back bends then forward bends, side twists, things that stretch your torso... Inversions are fun to throw in too because your digestive system isn't used to being that way. Poses where you are pulling your knees into your chest (ie compressing your stomach) also seem to help, assuming I'm not too bloated in which case it might hurt. These all help move your stomach around a bit and get the juices flowing  I've also found that a more vigorous practice helps more than a slow practice, and this is probably for the same reasons that people suggest walking around after eating or not sitting still if your stomach hurts.
Hope this helps,
Becca
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At least I've learned a lot about my
body...
IBS-A and still figuring things out
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Hi Becca
Thanks for the quick reply.
The postures you describe make perfect sense, but at first I couldn't understand why you find a more vigorous practice to be more beneficial. Yoga looks on ailments in a very simplistic manner, whether they manifest themselves as being a matter of excess (rajas) or dullness (tamas).
IBS would be regarded as an imbalance of excess, so to counteract this a slower, "duller" practice would be prescribed i.e. relaxing, or langhana practice. Vigorous doesn't really tie in with that approach, but then I realised that the approach I follow, Viniyoga, doesn't have the same emphasis on positions that are held for a period of time (i.e. static postures). In Viniyoga we largely advocate moving into and out of postures repeatedly without holding (although this would differ depending on what you're trying to achieve with the practice).
This means that, while I would not describe the Viniyoga approach as vigorous, I would say it is dynamic, with the student being in almost constant motion, back and forth. Does that make sense? I'd be interested to know if anyone has tried such a practice and how it affected their IBS.
Cheers,
Scott
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That sounds like what I do... Maybe vigorous was the wrong term, but it definitely feels like more of a work out because its a heated class as well The constant movement (1 breath to 1 posture, vinyasa flow) is what i really like.
-Becca
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At least I've learned a lot about my
body...
IBS-A and still figuring things out
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the more active and intense the workout (I like Ashtanga and faster-paced flow classes) the more stable I stay.
I should note that I would not be able to do a class like this in the midst of an attack - I'd need something very slow, gentle, and soothing in that case.
But, in terms of actually heading off problems in the first place, I definitely prefer a class that gets my heart rate up and keeps it there, and is so intense I have sweat dripping off me onto the floor!
- Heather
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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!
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