digestion question

[happyyoga]

I've been doing yoga off and on over the last several years, all from various videos so i've never had a live teacher to ask questions. Anyway, I have found that whenever i'm doing any kind of forward bend or inversion of any kind that i either have to burp a lot or the food in my stomach feels like it's about to come back up. I eat 5-7 small meals a day and so i seem to always be digesting but this even happens sometimes when i do yoga first thing in the morning after not having eatin for like 10 hours since my last meal.

Is this normal and what can i do to get this to stop happening? It really makes it hard for me to hold poses such as standing forward bends for longer than a few seconds.

[Hubert]

Depends on what you eat. Food usually stays no more that 3 hours in the stomach. Of course if there are too many kinds of food and not associable types, digestion is slower. Also your body might not like certain kind of foods, oil roasted peanuts are almost indigestible for me as an example.
It is safe to say that when doing asana, the somach should be empty.Than there is nothing to come back. But if you eat every three hours, this cannot happen. Skip one meal, do asana instead. Don't bother about feeling hungry, it will pass soon after you start practicing.

[InnerAthlete]

Just during inversions and standing forward bends?

Best to have this investigated by your health care provider of choice. It is not "normal" nor is it, based on what little you've shared, to be rushing to the ER over.

It may be an acid reflux issue of sorts and may involve the ileocecal valve.

This sort of thing can always be handled in part via proper nutrition even though you mention that it occurs in the morning before you have eaten.

[happyyoga]

yeah it only happens during inversions and standing forward bends. also during those poses i usually get a pretty big headrush, often to the point where i feel like i just have to get out of the pose after no more than 5 to 10 seconds. This doesn't always happen though, sometimes i can stay down for a couple minutes.

I'm not sure it's acid reflux since i dont seem to have it in general. There's something with my stomach where i can't eat or even burp unless i'm totally upright too. i just know that between the need to burp and the headrush it's really uncomfortable for me to do inversions and forward bends. maybe it's just how my body is or maybe my timing is off, i don't know

maybe i just need to keep doing yoga consistently and longer sessions. i tend to only do 15-30 minutes every other day. i'm tryin to do at least an hour every single day. i'll just have to listen to my body when it tells me to pull out of a pose until i develop more ability/capacity and hopefully these issues will go away

I eat fairly healthy. I eat instant oatmeal for breakfast, bananas, lots of water, green tea, salads, a multivitamin every day, whole wheat bread tuna sandwhiches, pasta, and beans. i also eat some processed food mostly as snacks or sides. i havent been able to pinpoint 'trouble' foods for this issue though

[Nichole]

Are you familiar with the five prana vayus? These are the subseats for the vata dosha. I am sure that InnerAthlete will have some very good recommendations for you since you answered "yes" to his question about inversions and forward bends, so I will only add this link for now.
The Five Prana Vayus


Best wishes,

[InnerAthlete]

That's a good article Nichole links to above. Maybe she will tie it in to the OP for the rest of us. She may just be saying your Vata is aggravated but then what to do would be a logical question. and she may be advocating an ayurvedic resolutioin or consultation. Nichole??

Relative to the OP and the additional information in the thread one thing is for sure; healthy eating is subjective. To me if there's a digestive issue I would avoid refined sugars, wheat, and caffeine, not to mention dairy products. But I don't want to get into an entire discourse unrequested. It would not hurt to have your Ph checked. Please consider adding a bit of lemon juice to all the water that you are drinking and perhaps even consider organic foods over the ones listed, which I assume are currently not organic.

The issues that you mention may be completely separate. That is there may be one thing going on that is causing blood pressure shifts or "head rushes" and another causing the burping and indigestion in folds. It may also be an innervation issue affecting both. Thus it could be alignment and since the student is studying without the feedback of a teacher this is more likely.

I do not think it's a matter of practicing more though that is highly advised

[happyyoga]

"Foods that aggravate vata are dry, dehydrated foods or gas-producing foods such as raw salads, potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, potato chips, biscuits, crackers, beans (red and kidney), chick peas, and cold, fizzy drinks"

Doh, I eat a lot of salads, potatos, broccoli, potato chips, crackers, red beans and cold, fizzy drinks! I'd like to cut those out for a while to see if that helps but i can't imagine cutting most of those foods out

[InnerAthlete]

Two things.

One is that while there are general parameters for Ayurveda and constitutions it is what this or that food does IN YOUR BODY that is most germane. So the listing you have may be used as a guide but I would not forsake broccoli before testing it out in you.

And that leads me to point two, which is that the benefits of continuing to consume salads and broccoli, for example, may outweigh the burping in asana issue. Therefore I would not remove those from that list. I would remove the others - chips and fizzy drinks - first then see what is what.

[Nichole]

I am sorry I was incomplete before. I am finding out I am not doing enough in my sadhana to support what I am doing here and in my "real" life. I am feeling a bit weary and need to make some changes.

Dear Happyyoga,
So this is just the beginning of thinking of asana practice in the context of Yoga, as it was intended, as a multi-dimensional practice. To be considered is your personal doshic constitution (prikriti), your vikriti (your impermanent doshic imbalance), the gunas, the koshas, the seasons of the year, your location on the planet, your diet, your age, your practices...and many more. Many people do asana without considering these things, but none-the-less, every single one is always in play for us. Yogasana class, and the asana themselves, are often mistakenly given the credit for all the wonderful changes people feel in their bodies and lives, but it is the subtle aspects of Yoga practice that are responsible for the true and long-lasting changes in us.

From what can be shared in this limited medium of an online forum, it seems to me that you are experiencing a imbalance of the Udana Prana Vayu (upward rising air). This vayu controls speech, vomiting, keeps the body upright and gives strength to the memory and intellect. If you can't imagine changing your food too much right now, then try some other things that may help. You can do sitting forward bends instead of standing forward bends. You can modify down dog to a wall dog where a wall plays the part of the floor with all the same benefits. You can try skipping out on all postures where you head is closer to the ground than your stomach. You can try cultivating the Apana Prana vayu (downward air) with baddha konasana, bhadrasana, vajrasana, to name a few. Some gentle twists may help too. I think to get significant results, that the food choices and the frequency of your meals will also come into play.

Please keep us in the loop as you try different options out. These types of threads are great for the forum membership who are also working with these issues. I am considering these same things in my own life and recently needed to make a shift in my food and practices now that we are summer in Colorado. We are dynamic creatures!

Best wishes,

[Tyler Zambori]

Originally Posted by happyyoga

yeah it only happens during inversions and standing forward bends. also during those poses i usually get a pretty big headrush, often to the point where i feel like i just have to get out of the pose after no more than 5 to 10 seconds. This doesn't always happen though, sometimes i can stay down for a couple minutes.

I'm not sure it's acid reflux since i dont seem to have it in general. There's something with my stomach where i can't eat or even burp unless i'm totally upright too. i just know that between the need to burp and the headrush it's really uncomfortable for me to do inversions and forward bends. maybe it's just how my body is or maybe my timing is off, i don't know

maybe i just need to keep doing yoga consistently and longer sessions. i tend to only do 15-30 minutes every other day. i'm tryin to do at least an hour every single day. i'll just have to listen to my body when it tells me to pull out of a pose until i develop more ability/capacity and hopefully these issues will go away

I eat fairly healthy. I eat instant oatmeal for breakfast, bananas, lots of water, green tea, salads, a multivitamin every day, whole wheat bread tuna sandwhiches, pasta, and beans. i also eat some processed food mostly as snacks or sides. i havent been able to pinpoint 'trouble' foods for this issue though

Happy Yoga,

Please go to the doctor. That doesn't sound normal to me.
What is healthy is also relative - for example I would be very
sick if I ate like that - I have diabetes. Anyway, please go to
the doctor.