Yoga to Relieve Gas Pain from a Colonoscopy, IBS or Overeating

If you've ever had a colonoscopy, you know the doctor pumps gas into the colon, and the gas pains afterward are as miserable as the laxatives they give prior to the colonoscopy. The most common advice given by doctors after a colonoscopy is to either lie on your right side, or to walk, which moves the gas out ... in theory.

In practicality, however, both methods are slow to rid you of the pain.

Excess gas is also a common problem, causing pain upon digestion, for those with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Although there are medications that help IBS, gas pain still occurs.

If you've never experienced either of those joyful situations that cause gas pains in the lower abdomen, there are always the feasts at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays. The ones where at the end, you stare at your plate and quote the old Alka-Seltzer commercial, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." Then, you dread the next several hours until all that food-and the gas caused by it-has passed through your system.

Rather than wait for nature to take its course in reliving gas pain, there are yoga positions that help move the gas, and that sometimes give almost instantaneous relief. Listed below are three yoga positions that are particularly beneficial for expelling gas, whether caused by a colonoscopy, IBS, or overeating.

Cat-Cow Yoga Pose: Get onto the floor on your hands and knees. Make sure your knees are directly in line with your hips and your hands are in line with your shoulders. Exhale while tilting your head down between your arms and rounding your back and shoulders (like a cat that's arched its back). Then, inhale, and move slowly into a reverse arch (cow) rounding your stomach toward the floor while bringing your head up through your arms into a backward tilt that pulls your chest upward. Repeat several times.

Abdominal Massage Yoga Pose: Sit on the floor with your legs and feet tucked under your buttocks. Fold your arms. Bend your torso forward and touch your forehead to the floor. Hold for 3-5 seconds, then slowly lift your torso back up to the sitting position. Breath deeply. Switch the way your arms are folded and repeat the yoga pose. Do this several times.

Wind-relieving Yoga Pose: Lay on the floor on your back, with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Pull your right knee toward your chest, clasp your hands over the knee (or just behind it, if you have knee troubles) and slowly pull the knee up toward your chest or armpit. Breathe and hold the yoga pose for several seconds, then unclasp the hands and move the leg slowly into the starting position with the knee bent and foot flat on the floor. Switch and repeat the yoga movement with the left leg. Repeat, alternating knees, several times.

As with all exercise, neither do more than you're able nor continue to hold a pose if it causes pain. Remember to breathe slowly and deeply, repeat each pose, and in no time at all the gas will work its way out of your system. And just a note of caution on getting rid of gas pain ... you might want to do these yoga poses in private, not with your family and friends sitting in a circle around you and cheering you on, since expelling gas might be a little embarrassing in a crowd.

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Sources:
BNet: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NAH/is_6_31/ai_80088295/
Help For IBS.com: http://www.helpforibs.com/yoga/pictures.asp#wind
Move It to Lose It Fitness.com:
http://www.moveit2loseitfitness.com/UserFiles/File/M2LF%20YOGA%20POSITIONS.pdf
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/