If you deal with digestive issues like constipation and bloating it very well may have to do with the foods that you are eating. But did you know that it may also have to do with how you are breathing and sitting?
Outline
Have you ever thought about how posture affects digestion? 0:00
The first step to creating better digestion. 1:19
How do you feel the pressure on your ribs? 3:05
How the sitting posture affects our internal organs. 4:57
How clothes affect how you digest food. 7:04
How posture affects your digestion. 8:19
Grab the FREE guide here: www.formfitonline.com/digestion
Have you ever thought about how your posture affects your digestion? So we know that if we, you know, look at ourselves in the mirror, we can all think like, Okay, I need to stand up with better posture, we think about different things like that, you might notice that you deal with aches and pains based on your posture. But have you thought about how your digestive system is affected by your posture, maybe not something you think so much about. So today, we're gonna talk to you about things that you can focus in on with yourself and your children, because our children, this generation has phones and electronics since the moment they're born, basically. So they, their posture is changing. So if we become more cognizant, and aware of these things, the more likely we can get ourselves out of these positions. Okay? So think about, we're going to start from the top. So if you put something in your mouth, and you know, you swallow some water, if you're in that forward head posture, and you can try it now grab a drink, go into that forward head, posture and swallow, you're going to feel how much the muscles have to work to help get that food down. And then try again, think about dropping your chin slightly, lengthening through your spine, and then grabbing that drink of water drinking it, and then how much easier that was. So that is that first step to creating better digestion. And we can go all the way to chewing as well making sure that we're chewing to create the enzymes that are necessary to break down within the stomach as well. But that's not quite as posture related. I mean, it is in the big scheme of things. But I'm not going to talk about all of that. So what I do want to talk about is how you know this basic forward head posture, this rounded shoulders, how this is affecting your digestion, along with your breathing and how your breathing may be affecting your digestion as well. So that is that first we you know, you work on, think about lengthening through your spine to help aid in that digestion, of taking the food from the mouth into the stomach. The next thing that I want to focus on is this rounded forward posture because most of us are sitting in eating. And when we sit, we tend to kind of round forward in our shoulders. And when we're rounding forward in our shoulders. Just I want you to do this. Now, I just want you to place your hands on your ribs. And I want you to feel where the pressure is in that area. Do you feel how your ribs we call it rib gripping? Do you feel how tense those ribs may feel. And you may not even realize that that's what this sensation is. But if you just sit here, think about where the pressure in your core is going. And probably if you have this grip down this rounded forward posture, you may notice how there's a lot of pressure on that belly area. And then if you think about again, thinking about lengthening through that spine, creating space between the ribs and the pelvis, so creating a longer midsection. What like what do you feel? Do you feel like how that changes within your midsection. So what's happening is when we put this when we are rounded forward, there's a lot of pressure going down, which is also creating a lot of the organs pressing down on each other. And when you do that, you can imagine how sluggish the digestive system becomes. And then when you extend and lengthen through your torso, so you're trying to extend from the ribs to the pelvis, how that kind of eases all of that area up. So the way that we or sitting. Especially if we're in that rounded forward posture is affecting our organs. The other thing that it's affecting, which is an organ as well, is our diaphragm. So our diaphragm is sitting there, right above all those organs. So thinking about the stomach, the bladder, you know, the uterus, all of that, underneath it. So when we breathe in, our diaphragm is moving. And it is massaging the vagus nerve. If we are in this rounded forward posture, and you may have remembered me talking about this in the past, it is not able to massage the vagus nerve. Now, why would we care about this? Well, the vagus nerve is that fight or flight system. So it's telling your body, whether it needs to fight, you know, that fight or flight situation or rest and digest. If we are fighting, because our body is not getting nice, deep cleansing breaths, because we're rounded forward in this crazy posture all day long. We are in turn not in that rest and digest state, we are more in a sympathetic state. So making sure that we are sitting up nice and tall, that we are expanding through our diaphragm, like you've heard me say numerous times about that 360 breathing, that is all going to help us get into more of a parasympathetic state that rest and digest. And this helps with the way the enzymes like work. And I am not going to go into all the scientific things that occur, but it helps the whole system work together. In that sense. I also do want to put in right here how sometimes the clothes that you wear also affect how you digest food. So if you're dealing with I'm sorry, if you wear tight fitting pants, or for those of you who wear like those yoga pants that are really tight around the midsection, notice what they're doing, they're creating a lot of pressure in on that area. Now, some some of them, you know, have a whole band, which is fine, but I'm talking more about, you know, these bands were at the top, they kind of cinch in pay attention to that. Or like with jeans or something and those of you who wear jeans and you go out to eat, you know, like, if that belts too tight, you gotta loosen that belt, and you got to undo those buttons. So that is all affecting how your digestive system is working. The last thing is once everything then comes down into you know, the small intestine, large intestine, the bowels, what is occurring there. And if we tend to tuck our tailbone under, you probably have some pelvic floor tightness, which could create problems with hemorrhoids and going to the bathroom, create constipation, things like that. So we also need to make sure that we are sitting upright, that we are allowing our pelvis to go into that neutral state, so that our pelvic floor is working properly. It's not too tight, and it's not too loose. So all of these things are affecting our posture. And all of these things are affecting our digestion. So it is imperative that we work through these things. And the reason I talk to you about this is I do think awareness is key. And if you don't know, you can't change it. And obviously if you do know and if you can work with your children, now to start helping them as well sit with better posture so that their digestion their digests This system can work better for them, that will help as well. Now, I do want to let you know that I do have a free guide to go along with this, if you're interested, you can just go to form fit online.com backslash digestion. And that will provide you with a lot of the information and a guide that will kind of walk you through the positioning that I mentioned today. And hopefully, you'll find that helpful. If you have questions, as always, feel free to reach out to me, I'm happy to help answer anything for you in regard to your digestion and your breathing. I would work on 360 breathing, which I've mentioned before in our movement snacks, to help get that diaphragm working properly so that it is massaging the vagus nerve to help ensure that you are staying in that rest and digest state when you're eating dinner. And then there's some great information. Once you go into the free guide. There's some information that you can also glean on things that you can do to help move digestion along. So after eating, making sure to go for a walk. This not only helps with your digestion, but it also helps stabilize your blood sugar. So little things like that that can help you as well. And yeah, that's that's where we're going to leave it today is on how your posture affects your breathing. So make sure to grab that free guide. I will leave the link in the show notes. And I hope you all have a wonderful day