Reflux, heartburn, gas - can better posture help?

5 common digestive health issues that can be caused by poor posture and a simple exercise that can help you change your posture for better health

Posture has a huge effect on our health and wellbeing and can be the root of many health issues, including our digestive health. I speak from personal experience! I was one of life's "slouchers": at breakfast I used to check my phone or read the newspaper, lunch was often a rushed sandwich in front of my computer and for dinner my husband and I used to love snuggling up on our comfy sofa with our food.

No more! These days are gone. I now know how crucial posture is for my digestive health and wellbeing. Let me share with you 5 common digestive issues that can be caused by poor posture - and not just when you eat your meal, but also hours later when you digest your food or when you move your bowels.

1. Acid reflux and heartburn

Are you reading this on your phone? If yes, it is likely that you are slouching.... Slouching can compress our chest and stomach area. This can cause food from the stomach to leak back up the oesophagus towards the mouth. Food in the stomach has been mixed with stomach acid to break it down. Result: a burning sensation in the chest, throat or even the mouth, that is, acid reflux, heartburn, indigestion.

2. Bloating and gas

Slouching can slow down transition time as it compresses the abdominal digestive organs. This might affect peristalsis, the contraction and relaxing of the digestive muscle that propulses our food along. Result: food stays longer in the gut which can cause bloating and gas.

3. Straining and constipation

Slouching usually also leads to a "tucked" pelvis. This affects the tone of our pelvic floor. Our rectum passes through our pelvic floor so the tone of the pelvic floor can impair defecation. A tucked pelvic also kinks our rectum in such a way that we can't easily empty our bowels. Result: Slouching can lead to straining and constipation. Incidentally, you don't even have to be very slouched for this to happen: even slightly rounded shoulders may have this effect on the pelvic floor and digestive tract! If you want to find out more about the ideal toilet posture (yes, there is an ideal toilet posture!!!) read this blog on constipation and the pelvic floor.

4. Difficult Swallowing

The position of our head affects our digestive tube, the oesophagus. When we swallow, our food travel through this tube to the stomach which is situated on the left, just under the ribcage. Now when we tilt our head too far back (often as a result of slouching in front of our computer) or forward (when we read or check our phone), we compress the oesophagus. Result: swallowing becomes difficult.

5. Chewing and digestive health

Bad posture can impair chewing: The position of our head affects the position of our jaw. Shortening the neck or having the head tilted to one side affects our bite. Result: we might find it hard to chew well. Chewing is an important first part of digestion to break down our food and mix it up with saliva . If we don't chew well, our food takes longer to digest which can lead to bloating, gas or constipation. You can find out a bit more in my blog "Dry mouth, Smelly Breath, Digestive Problems? 8 Tips for a Healthy Mouth and Improved Digestion".

...and that's not all: Our posture also affects our spine and the nerves that support digestion. One of the most well known digestive nerves is the vagus nerve. Bad posture in our neck can compress the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is a nerve that has been connected to our general health and wellbeing and most digestive problems. It deserves its own blog actually....

Now, posture training on its own is unlikely to fix your digestive health. A balanced healthy lifestyle, including exercise, stress relief and diet are usually necessary. Also, you should always get a medical diagnosis if you have a digestive health condition to exclude other, possibly serious, causes. You may need medical or other treatment. Posture, however, can support that treatment. Posture also affects our mind. Studies have shown that posture, such as slouching, can lead to anxiety, depression and other emotional states that in turn affect our digestion.

So, how can you improve your posture?

Many of us feel that to achieve good posture we need to tense our muscles and sit or stand up straight, fighting gravity. In the short term this will feel very uncomfortable. In the long term this can lead to tension-related pain in the back, neck, shoulders or buttocks. Tension can also lead to breathing pattern disorders. Neither tension nor holding our breath are good for our digestion. So how can we find easy, comfortable good posture that supports our digestion?

Many forms of movement can help. The choice depends on your preferences. I teach a variety of movement styles that can help to improve posture: Yoga, specially adapted Pilates, Chi Gong and Feldenkrais are my favourite.

Here's a short exercise from Chi Gong that supports the upper spine as well as the neck and shoulders:

Another favourite of mine for posture is Feldenkrais! Feldenkrais teaches us not to fight gravity. Instead, in a Feldenkrais lesson we move the body in such a way that our body starts to align well but, at the same time, we are feeling at ease.

Feldenkrais and Chi Gong offer slow, mindful movement. This allows our nervous system to settle down and our muscles to relax. This is perfect for our digestive system!

Would you like to take a class with me?

If you are interested to work with me, I offer one-to-one classes as well as courses.

If you would like to enquire or book private one-to-one sessions contact me with this form. In a one-to-one session we can develop an individual plan to support your digestive health and lymphatic system (lymph is vital for healthy digestion). This plan depends on your health and can include movement and lifestyle coaching, including mindfulness, sleep restoration and relaxation techniques.

My qualifications: I am a Feldenkrais practitioner, a Yoga and Chi Gong teacher with special training in digestive health. With a background as a medical herbalist, I understand the complexities of the digestive system. I also have specialist qualifications in women's intimate and psychosexual health (intimate pelvic health can affect digestion), lymphatic health and osteoporosis. If you want to find out how Feldenkrais helped my own digestive health issues, read this blog.

This blog does not replace medical advice. Remember that it is always advisable to get a medical diagnosis for digestive health issues, including reflux, heartburn and bloating to exclude any serious underlying health condition.

Categories: digestive health