Yoga Tips For Holiday Digestion
As a vegetarian married to a vegan, I’ve grown accustomed to dealing with a great deal of well-meaning fretting from both my mother and my mother-in-law when my husband and I visit our families for the holidays. My mother brought me up on the USDA’s “Four Food Groups” nutritional model of the 1970s; in her mind, a proper dinner consists of a meat-based main dish accompanied by a vegetable, a plant-based starch, and white rolls with margarine. There are no exceptions to this rule, and she prides herself on having provided me, my three sisters and our father with a “proper” dinner every single night for 20 years. And don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it. The idea of coming home from a long day of work and cooking a full dinner for six people even once a week makes me want to get into child’s pose and stay there. My husband’s mother was a pediatric nurse who often worked the evening shift, so his father—not a man who grew up cooking— was usually responsible for providing nightly dinner for three growing boys, on a budget. Unsurprisingly, to this day it is hard for my husband’s parents to conceive of a family dinner that doesn’t revolve around two to three pounds of hamburger incorporated into a recipe off the back of a box.
Like many loving mothers of adult children, my mother and my mother-in-law remain consumed with concern about what and when and how often my husband and I eat, especially when we’re in their homes. Cooking and serving food is a way of showing love, and it is frustrating to both of them to be denied the pleasure of making our favorite childhood foods now that we no longer eat many of them. Even more so, I think their concern stems from a phenomenon common to non-vegetarians, namely, a sincere worry that vegetarians and vegans simply aren’t getting sufficient nutrients. It’s been well over a decade since we both stopped eating meat, but at family functions the question still arises with seemingly unassuageable vexation: “Will there be anything for you to eat?!” Unsurprisingly, the issue assumes an even greater intensity around the holidays, particularly Thanksgiving (which, in my husband’s family, is celebrated as less of a holiday and more of a 14-hour competitive eating decathlon).
Two years ago, after remaining at home in New York City for Thanksgiving for logistical reasons and fielding agitated FaceTime calls from both of our mothers –-“Did you get enough to eat?!” (his) “What did you even eat?!” (mine), we decided to put our parents’ minds at rest once and for all. After a bit of persuading, we convinced our families to let us cook them vegetarian/vegan holiday meals last year—we visited his family for Thanksgiving in mine for Christmas— to close the book once and for all on the question of whether it’s possible to uphold the American holiday tradition of gluttonous overindulgence without eating animal products.
They were skeptical at first, but after enjoying seconds of my Brussels sprouts gratin, thirds of his mushroom-sage stuffing, and subsequently passing out on the couch only to awaken two hours later for one more slice of dairy-free pecan/pumpkin pie, we had them convinced: it’s not only possible to overdo it at a vegetarian Thanksgiving, it’s positively easy. As a yogi, I try to practice brahmacharya—sometimes defined as discipline over the impulse towards excess—but I am only mortal, and my self-restraint tends to fly out the window when confronted with garlic mashed potatoes.
All of which is to say, whether vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian or omnivore, most of us have a tendency to overindulge at this time of year. I teach at a college, and by the time I’m finished with the fall semester I have usually attended at least four work-related holiday parties, having managed to resist housing a bucketful of my colleague Professor Yao’s home-made Chex mix at exactly none of them. Brahmacharya is all well and good, but you know what’s also good? My friend Dave’s praline pecans.
If you’re anything like me, dramatically increasing your intake of sugary, fatty and processed foods tends to wreak havoc on your digestive system. We can’t put a halt to holiday fun (who would want to?) and I, at least, probably cannot stop myself for reaching for that second White Fudge Oreo (they’re only in stores once a year!). Thankfully, asana and yogic techniques are available to aid and improve our digestion, as well as mindfulness practices which can help us truly appreciate the sensory ritual of eating. Read on for five tips for improving digestion with yoga this holiday season.
1) Add Twists to Your Asana Practice
Let’s not beat around the bush: between the eggnog and the port-wine cheese balls, I tend to consume a lot more dairy than usual during the holiday season, which tends to, um, cause my inner elves to slooooow down production in the ol’ toy shop, if you take my meaning. In other words, I get constipated, and when I do, I make sure that my on-the-mat practice includes plenty of twists. Just make sure you’re doing them correctly to aid in… efficient toy production.
Twists aid in the movement of waste through your colon, as long as you begin by twisting to the right side. Starting this way targets the ascending colon, helping it to stretch and send waste across the transverse colon. Then, when you twist to the left, your body encourages the waste to continue on to the descending colon and finally into the sigmoid colon, where it becomes ready for elimination. Try incorporating parivritta ardha chandrasana (revolved half-moon) and parivritta trikonasana (revolved triangle) into a warrior sequence, or add parivritta utkatasana (revolved chair) into a standing balance sequence.
2) Boost Your Agni
Agni is the Ayurvedic term for “digestive fire” (meaning your body’s capability to digest food easily and completely). Undigested or poorly digested food results in the body’s production of a toxic by-product called ama, which inhibits immunity. (For more on agni, ama, and boosting immunity with yoga, refer to our post “Yoga Hacks for Allergy Season” here.)
Healthy digestion requires strong agni, and strong abdominals beget strong agni. Asana that target the abdominal muscles include phalakasana (plank pose) purvottanasana (upward plank) utthtita trikonasana (extended triangle) and virabhadrasana (warrior) III. Strengthening the lower back muscles will contribute to your core strength, so make sure that your on-the-mat practice includes plenty of vinyasas (adho and urdhva mukha svavasana are both excellent for increasing back strength) as well as danurasana (bow), salabhasana (locust) and/or setu bandha sarvangasana (bridge).
In addition, try practicing the pranayama/asana hybrid agni sara. Agni sara (literally “essence of fire”) utilizes the solar plexus, lower abdominals and pelvic floor muscles, stimulating the digestive system and aiding in proper elimination of waste. You can view a step-by-step guide to agni sara here. For beginners: start in sukhasana or malasana and contract the lower abdominals. Breathe deeply into the belly and pelvic floor, pulling the navel firmly towards the spine on the exhale and relaxing the belly fully on the inhale. Three rounds of ten breaths—ideally on an empty stomach—are sufficient.
3) Utilize Pranayama to Reduce Stress
Over-indulgence in rich or sugary holiday treats, alcohol and/or gluten and dairy can result in bloating as well as constipation. But bloating can also be a by-product of stress, and stress can inhibit effective digestion. There’s a reason the gut is often referred to as the body’s “second brain.” Acute stress directs blood flow to away from gut to the brain and limbs, and chronic stress can cause imbalances in beneficial gut bacteria, as well as inflammation.
There are many aspects of yoga that reduce stress, but deep belly-breathing in particular releases tension in the abdomen, allowing for increased blood flow and aiding in digestion, which in turn reduces bloating. A simple breathing exercise that targets the belly is Dirga Pranayama, or three-part breath. To practice Dirga Pranayama, find an easy seat with a straight back and a hand loosely placed on your belly. Inhale deeply and slowly, imagining that you are filling your belly, ribcage, and upper chest completely. Then exhale equally slowly, “deflating” the upper chest, ribcage, and belly. (Note: of course, you cannot actually breathe into your belly! But you can feel the sensation of breathing into your belly by practicing Dirga Pranayama, which in turn can help your abdominal muscles relax.) Another effective way to feel the breath drop low in the body is to find a comfortable child’s pose with relaxed arms, and inhale slowly with the intention of feeling the sensation of expanding your lower back with your breath. If it’s comfortable for you, separate your thighs so that your belly can “flop” between them.
4) Plan Ayurvedic Holiday Meals
Happily, Ayurveda already involves eating seasonally and regionally, and many of the traditional holiday dishes associated with Thanksgiving and other holiday meals are already based around fall harvest produce in North America. Yams, Brussels sprouts, carrots and other root vegetables are all in season in the autumn and can contribute to a balanced holiday meal while supplying nutrients without reducing agni. Even potatoes—sometimes regarded as a blanket no-no in Ayurvedic cooking—can take their part on your table, as long as you prepare them according to your dosha: add oil or other fat for Vata, limit fat and add warming spices for Kapha. Potatoes are basically neutral for Pittas, so go ahead and have that second scoop!
In addition to eating seasonally, keep your holiday meal Ayurvedically sound by including the six tastes: sour, salty, sweet, pungent, bitter and astringent. The fatty, moist recipes associated with Thanksgiving dishes will help to balance the dry, cold Vata season in which the holiday falls. Just make sure you include bitter, pungent, and astringent tastes as well, to balance the flavor and nourish the dhatus. Ayurvedic holiday recipes, including Thanksgiving favorites, can be found here.
5) Try Following a Sattvic Diet
Following a Sattvic diet at points throughout the year can certainly ease radical eating disparities during the holidays. In Ayurvedic philosophy, there are three qualities, or gunas, that exist in all of nature: rajas, tamas and sattva. With regard to nutrition, these qualities manifest as stimulating rajasic foods (spicy, salty, or bitter tastes), enervating tamasic foods (bland, heavy tastes, or anything artificial or stale) and purifying sattvic foods (fresh, calming, and easily digestible).
The term sattvic can refer to an entire lifestyle of intentional ritual, meditation and philosophy. Serious yogis will often maintain a sattvic diet for months or even years at a time, or undertake a sattvic cleanse, which can be intense and should be conducted under the supervision of a professional Ayurvedic practitioner. But we can all add elements of sattvic eating into our daily diets to improve digestion and wellbeing. Here are some simple suggestions to get digestion back on track after a holiday meal, keeping in mind that you may need to make adjustments if you are currently eating to balance your particular dosha:
• Eat fresh, organic produce. Try to base meals around fresh ingredients and whole foods.
• Eat less meat. Try beans and lentils as alternate sources of protein.
• Cut down on refined sugar and processed foods. Consider honey or molasses as an alternative to sugar.
• Reduce your intake of alcohol and caffeine. Alcohol is enervating, or tamasic, and caffeine is stimulating, or rajasic. Reducing both helps to bring the both mind and the gut into a balanced, calm sattvic state.
• Pay attention to where and how your food is prepared. Truly sattvic food is prepared in a pleasant atmosphere, with intention and love. While this might not be practical for every meal, especially if you frequently eat outside your home, you can start by making one sattvic meal day for yourself every day, such as a simple breakfast of whole oats, fresh milk, and some honey or fruit.
While brahmacharya is certainly a virtue, even the most disciplined among us can fall prey to the perils of holiday revelry, leaving our tummies to pick up the proverbial tab. Happily, whether we’re planning ahead or looking back in regret, yoga and Ayurveda offer plenty of tools for soothing and regulating digestion. So, bring on those special edition White Fudge Oreos! After all, they’re technically vegan, and this year I’ll stop after one. Or two. Definitely not more than three.
For an intro to Ayurveda, please join us for Prema Yoga Therapeutics Essentials February 7 -March 1, 2020, or for a more in-depth explanation in our annual Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy Therapy Training.
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Molly Goforth is a yoga and meditation teacher and a student at Prema Yoga Institute. She specializes in accessibility and trauma-informed yoga teaching and practice.
