The Gut-Brain Axis: How Yoga and Breathwork Improve Digestion

Hello, lovely yogis and seekers of health!

Have you ever realized that when you’re experiencing stress, you can suddenly develop nausea? Or when you hear some exciting news, your stomach does a flip? These are not coincidences but your incredible gut-brain axis at work, a fascinating superhighway of communication between your brain and your gut. And guess what? While we can’t control everything that goes on in our gut and with the gut-brain axis, yoga and breathwork are literally like traffic cops making sure things move along, and digestive peace of mind and flow happen!

At Maa Shakti Yog Bali, we see this connection every day with our yoga and wellness community. The way your mind and gut talk to each other is truly incredible — and yoga gives you the tools to tune in.

Let’s explore this amazing link in more detail and see how you might capture the benefits of these age-old methods for everyday health and well-being.

So, what is the gut-brain axis?

Think of a two-way street from your busy brain to your equally busy gut, and the gut-brain axis is a highly complex system of roads of nerves, hormones, and biochemicals sending signals back and forth all day long. Your gut, often referred to as your “second brain,” contains its own nervous system known as the enteric nervous system (ENS), actually situated in the walls of your gut. It is so smart it can even function on its own but is constantly communicating with your central nervous system (CNS), which is your brain and your spinal cord.

Consider the connection:

Brain to Gut: Stress, anxiety, and feelings from the brain can affect your gut; many people experience symptoms like indigestion, bloating, or diarrhea.
Gut to Brain: Your gut microbiota (the trillions of bacteria in your intestines) produces neurotransmitters that can affect your mood, sleep, and mental health. A healthy gut likely indicates a happy mind!

This relationship illustrates the significance of holistic health—if one section of the system is off, the other section will feel the effects as well.

How Stress Impacts Your Digestion

In today’s fast-paced world, chronic stress may have become an unwelcome guest for many. When you are stressed, you enter “fight or flight” mode. Think about all the factors at play:

Blood is Diverted: Blood is diverted from your digestion organs to your muscles to prepare you to run or fight. This diverts blood towards digestion.
Decreased Digestive Enzymes: Your body puts survival over digestion, so your body diminishes digestive enzymes.
Increased Gut Permeability: Oftentimes referred to as ‘leaky gut.’ Stress can damage the intestinal lining, which leads to inflammation and discomfort.
Motility Changes: digestion can either slow, resulting in constipation, or speed up, resulting in diarrhea; either way, it is not pleasant!

Clearly, learning how to manage stress is essential for a happy gut. And this is where yoga and breathwork come in!

Yoga for Digestive Health

Also Read: Sattvic Foods for Mental Clarity: A Practical Guide

Yoga is much more than just complicated poses; it is a dynamic practice that combines the mind, body, and breath together! This mind-body connection is the foundation of what we explore in the 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Course in Bali, where students learn how practices like twists, breathwork, and mindfulness directly support gut health and emotional balance. Here is how yoga helps to support your gut health in specific ways:

Decreases Stress or stress relief yoga: Yoga stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system (“rest and digest” mode). As you move through a yoga practice, your nervous system calms and sends a signal to your body that you are safe and to digest.
Gentle Compression and Decompression, Yoga for Digestion, and Yoga Twists for Gut Health: Many yoga poses, especially twists and forward folds, will gently compress and decompress your organs, stimulating blood flow and helping to eliminate waste.

Twists: These poses are like wringing out a sponge! Yoga postures, such as Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes Pose) and Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana (Revolved Head to Knee Pose), will stimulate the digestive organs.
Forward Folds: This position will also help move digestion along by compressing the abdomen. Stress relief yoga requires some equipment. Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Fold) or Pawanmuktasana (Wind Release Pose)—which is more appropriately named—are examples of gentle yoga for digestion that will stimulate peristalsis and help release “whoopee” gas.

Improved Circulation: Improved blood flow to the digestive organs leads to more efficient nutrient absorption and waste removal.
Mindful Eating or Mindful Eating Yoga: Regularly practicing yoga promotes greater body awareness and encourages you to slow down, actually taste your food, and notice how you feel when you eat other foods. This is a game changer for digestion!

Breathwork: Your Secret Digestive Armament

Also Read: Yoga for Gut Health: Poses That Influence the Enteric Nervous System

If yoga is the symphony, then breathwork is the conductor, ushering your body into a calm state that allows digestion to flourish. Your breath is a powerful tool; it speaks to and sometimes shapes your nervous system.

Diaphragmatic breathing, or deep breathing for digestion and belly breathing benefits: This is the foundation of effective breathwork for digestion. When you breathe deep into your belly, your diaphragm moves down towards your abdomen and massages your abdominal organs. This activates the vagus nerve, the dominant nerve in the gut-brain axis, which sends signals of calm and relaxation to your gut.

How to practice: Lie on your back, and place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your belly. Inhale slowly through your nose and feel your belly rise. Exhale slowly, through your nose or mouth, and feel your belly fall. You may find 5-10 minutes a day beneficial.

Alternate Nostril Breathing (Nadi Shodhana Pranayama): This cooling practice harmonizes both hemispheres of the brain and calms the nervous system, which can help relieve stress and bring a sense of balance that is very good for the digestive process.

How to practice: Sitting comfortably. Use the right thumb to close off the right nostril and inhale through the left nostril. Then close off the left nostril with your ring finger, let go of the right nostril, and exhale through the right. Inhale through the right nostril, close it off with the right thumb, let go of the ring finger, and then exhale through the left nostril. Continue following this soft and steady rhythm a few times.

Incorporating and Practicing Yoga & Breathwork in Daily Life

You don’t have to spend hours on the mat! You can see huge benefits to your digestive health by practicing consistently, even in small doses.

In the morning: To establish a feeling of peace for the day, begin your day with five to ten minutes of easy stretching and diaphragmatic breathing in the morning.
Midday: To reset, spend a few minutes at your desk doing deep abdominal breathing and seated twists.
Evening: Before bed, practice some restorative yoga poses and Nadi Shodhana to prepare for restful, restorative sleep and good digestion through the night.

Your gut health is your best friend and is your ally, so taking care of it with yoga and breathwork is a fantastic way to take care of yourself; it’s like pouring your life with all the good health. Enjoy the journey to a better, more contented gut-brain connection, pay attention to your body and what it requires to be good, and practice self-compassion!

Which breathing exercises or yoga poses are your favorites for improving digestion? Leave a comment below about your experiences!