fbpx

This is one of the many amazing things I’ve learnt at yoga. Yes, yoga.

You see I’ve got a teacher who helps me understand how the various systems in our body power our body and our mind and how we can use this knowledge to push further than we originally thought.

I absolutely love it when I rock up at yoga and the first three sentences out of the teacher’s mouth I just want to bottle (and remember so that I can write on my blog to remember over and over and share with you!) Then she says something even better and I want to bottle that. Then I give up and listen with the intent of putting into practise what she’s actually talking about and succumbing to the session.

There are hundreds of types of yoga (which is a good reason not give up if you don’t like the first one you try). The Yoga House (in Gladesville) I go to, teaches Japanese Therapy Yoga. Each of the masterclasses I attend focuses on understanding that part of the body and like any masterclass it is about understanding the focus points and the tiny bits that make a difference to the impact of the move, and the change that can therefore occur. Today we focused on digestion (specifically, it was a spleen/stomach class, each of these classes focuses on the combination of a hollow and solid organ. Learn more about that here.

Other than leaving with a very empty stomach and feeling happy, grateful, clear and intune, I left with four key take aways.

1. Our bodies CAN do anything. It is our mind that often stops us.

2. Digestion is about more than food in, food out. It is about taking the nutrients from the food which affects our blood quality and every flow on effect from there.

3. Good digestion makes us feel happy.

4. Most of us need to work pretty hard at digestion.

A quick google search on Chinese Medicine found the top article was by one of the practical doctors I like to grab info from, Dr Frank Lipman. Check out this link for more info.

I also loved this article, with a nice little pic of the digestive system, and summarising ‘However, to best benefit from good nutrition and a healthy diet, the body must be able to properly digest these foods. In addition to poor hair, nail, or skin health, stomach aches, bloating, fatigue, gas, diarrhea and constipation can all be signs of poor digestion. Paying attention to the signs your body is giving you is the first step to solving any imbalance.’

It also discusses a topic I love about Traditional Chinese Medicine, which is that the body has all the clues to tell you what is going on, you just need to know how to read them. A good example is nail and hair health, and this article mentions ‘A common physical sign of poor digestion is hair and nail health. The quality of hair, skin, and nails directly reflects the quality of a person’s nutrition and their ability to absorb and digest nutrients.’

The final article Google introduced me to draw me back to some great principles on the stomach and spleen, and how Western and Eastern medicines view these explains the spleen and stomach’s role in the body and six ways to improve your digestion which are so SUPER simple you wouldn’t believe you’re not doing them.

And if you wondered what my yoga teacher looks like, or the vibe of my yoga house is like, you can learn more about Lisa Masters here. Lisa is also my doctor of Chinese medicine (and I think she must be telepathic at times cause she is just so clever and teaches me just what I need to know on that day with where I’m up on my path). She is a very clever mama, with three kids in tow. She and her business partner Lyn, and the other teachers at the Yoga House host a place of yoga for normal people!

It was kind of interesting to be in a digestion class today and it is an important topic in my family at the moment, as my nephew is having digestive issues which have landed him in hospital.

And there are simple things you can do to help with digestion and my favourite is probably tea!

Actually, my favourite would be yoga, but tea is my most regular habit.

But back to coping, today I learnt that when the moves in yoga got tough, I wanted to stop and quit. But when I actually push past what I thought I could, I actually could do it. I simply needed to say ‘you CAN’, then practise, find a rhythm, and keep going. You see sometimes we will fail, and sometimes this is the lesson, but we learn through practise.

The beauty of yoga in the busy world is that we often convince ourselves we’re totally fine, but underneath we need something. Yoga helps you show yourself what you need a hand with, and to improve that little thing as part of the bigger picture.

But now that I’ve had a total power up from digestive yoga, I am ravishingly hungry and need to get some food!

Rx

PS Another interesting link I’m planning to explore about this one, as a follow up to me putting pieces of my own puzzle together, is how the spleen’s performance is linked to thyroid function. I know from my yoga practises that there are significant spleen meridian points just above my ankles on the insides of my leg at the squishy point and I know this area gets inflamed and puffy. I heard from a Western medical doctor at the very start of my thyroid investigations that often you get swollen ankles when you have an out of whack thyroid function.