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Human emotions can cause the body's digestive system to suffer a variety of ailments from diarrhea to bleeding ulcers. Yoga for digestion issues will help to enhance the ability of the stomach and intestines to process and to absorb food while drawing off excess acid and gas and stimulating the production of protective mucous secretions.

A program of yoga for digestion should be undertaken in consultation with your personal physician and under the tutelage of a qualified yoga instructor. Unlike the casual classes health clubs offer as a low-impact exercise option, the targeted use of yoga for specific health problems requires the precise selection of positions and the correct performance of the moves, often in a particular sequence. Breathing, pace, and balance are all important.

Expect a yoga for digestion regimen that will focus on back bends that serve to:

• increase gastrointestinal circulation
• promote healing
• increase food absorption
• reduce acid
• increase mucous production
• decrease gas

Many of these positions will stimulate the vagus nerve, which starts at the brain stem and runs down the neck and chest to the abdomen. Proper yoga massage of this nerve will have the added benefit of lowering heart rate and blood pressure as well as settling stomach and intestinal distress and discomfort. As a good illustration of why it's important to work with a professional yoga instructor, however, if the vagus nerve is stimulated with forward bends, it will actually send more not less acid to the stomach. (There are also some inversion positions that work on the vagus nerve, but the moves are advanced and are not appropriate for beginning practitioners.)

Since many digestive complaints are intimately related to a case of "the nerves," for instance fear of attending or participating in an event or meeting or being unable to eat due to emotional distress, any yoga for digestion routine will also concentrate on calming the mind and equipping the student with stress-reducing techniques. These may range from breath training and control to subtle muscle flexes that can be performed anywhere to reduce stress. An effective breathing exercise that can calm a nervous stomach is called Alternate Nostril Breathing:

• Pinch your nose so that the nostrils are closed.
• Hold your breath for a count of 2 to 5.
• Release the right nostril and exhale, then inhale.
• Repeat for the opposite nostril.
• Work through a total of 20 breaths.

All yoga work involves cultivating the ability to detach and to control or to mitigate negative physical and emotional reactions. Since these reactions often manifest in the digestive tract, yoga for digestion issues is a natural fit.

The rate and frequency of yoga practice will depend on the nature of the complaint. In cases of indigestion, for instance, regular yoga practice promotes more routine bowel patterns and prevents the backing up of acid into the stomach. It is perfectly acceptable to practice any yoga routine daily, with the minimum requirement being two to three times a week. Most practitioners simply gauge the degree of relief they are receiving and time their yoga sessions accordingly. Since yoga for digestion has a high rate of success, practitioners tend to do more than less for the comfort they are afforded.