Digestive disorders

DIGESTIVE DISORDERS
Digestive System
Just like the face turns red when one is angry, the stomach lining turns red too. And it pours out
large amounts of acid and enzymes. Anger, fear, jealousy, anxiety, tension etc, are emotions
which influence not only the quality and quantity of secretions in the stomach and intestine but
also alter the blood flow and the mobility of the intestine.
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There is a well-organized vigilant control mechanism operating through your automatic nervous
system to receive and send information from and to every part of the digestive tract. In other
words your brain (in turn the subconscious mind) knows every thing that happens in the
digestive system and vice versa. Thus, each one of your emotions and thoughts are perceived by
the digestive organs producing necessary changes in their functions. Many ailments of the
digestive system, starting from mouth to rectum are traceable to stress and modern lifestyle. A
stressful erratic life style with suppressed negative emotions, unexpressed fears and wrong habits
of eating, sleeping, drinking, smoking etc., over long periods, can permanently disturb the
balance resulting in common ailments like repeated mouth ulcers, hyperacidity, peptic ulcer,
irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis etc.
What protects the stomach in normal health from self-
digestion?
Proteins are the chief nutrients contained in meat, milk, egg, pulses etc. Pepsin is the enzyme
secreted by the stomach that digests these proteins in the presence of hydrochloric acid. If the
protein in the meat that we eat can be digested by the stomach juices, why does the stomach not
digest its own lining which is also a protein?
In the dynamic healthy living state, the stomach lining is well protected. A slimy thick coating of
mucus and a thin layer of alkali (bicarbonate) under the mucus, prevent the acid and pepsin from
reaching the stomach lining. The small quantity of the strong acid that may pass through the

mucus barrier, gets neutralized by this alkali. Further, if the acid passes through even this
alkaline barrier, a healthy lining with good blood flow offers natural resistance and the few cells
that may get digested are soon replaced by the capacity of the gastric lining to repair quickly.
These protectors are always in a dynamic balance with the aggressors.
What are Aggressors?
Smoking, alcohol, and medicines like aspirin, pain killers etc., that are known to induce
excessive acid production (hyperacidity), are called aggressors. All these substances are related
to one's life style and habits. That is, these are what you do against the natural healthy ways of
living.
What is Indigestion?
Almost everyone experiences occasional attacks of indigestion, which are usually quite brief. We
may feel blown out or distended after a large meal and get some relief when we bring up wind.
Most of the wind that we bring up is a result of swallowing air as we eat, but some is produced
by a chemical reaction in the stomach or from carbonated, fizzy drinks. The solution for this type
of gas problem is to eat less, eat slowly and go easy with fizzy drinks.

More persistent indigestion is usually linked with the acid produced by the stomach. If the valve
at the lower end of the oesophagus becomes weak or defective, the acid juices in the stomach
may be pushed back upwards into the oesophagus causing a burning sensation (heart-burn). This
is often troublesome at night, when you lie flat. The underlying condition is called gastro-
oesophageal reflux.
Minor digestive disorders have become a part of our present day living style, which is a malady
of affluent society with sedentary habits. And, peptic ulcer is one - inflammation of the inner
lining of the stomach due to acid peptic digestion. Peptic ulcer that occurs in the duodenum is
more common in India and the USA, and occurs at a younger age group (20-40 yrs.). Gastric
ulcer (ulcer in the stomach itself) is more common amongst Japanese showing up at a later age
(40-50 yrs.).
Yogic management of digestive disorders-
What are the practices of IAYT for these problems of
digestion?

We have understood that many of the problems of digestive system are related to stress or a
disturbed lifestyle. It is the deep rest to the nervous system that restores normalcy in any cell or
organ or tissue. It is the excessive speed at the manomaya kosa level that has resulted in
imbalances to settle down in the annamaya kosa as Acid Peptic Disease, or IBS or Ulcerative
colitis or any erratic bowel habit. This has to be tackled by deep relaxation to the digestive
system. Let us now go on to see how these yoga practices have to be used to bring about
corrections at all the kosas to reach a stable healthy balanced state of functioning of the entire
digestive system.
Annamaya Kosa practices
Annamaya kosa level practices include yogic diet, kriyas and asanas. Since the digestive system
has to deal with all that is ingested in the form of food, it is important to look into what we eat,
how much we eat and how often we eat so that the imbalances caused by wrong eating habits and
stresses can be corrected. Thus the yogic management emphasizes the role of sattvic diet.
What is Yogic diet and how does it help in digestive
disorder?
Our concept of diet according to modern science of nutrition has looked at the material content
of the foods that we eat i.e. proteins, carbohydrates, fats, iron, calcium, vitamins (A, B1, B6,
B12, C) etc. With a total of 2,000 to 3,500 calories, a modern American diet consists often of hot

dogs, coke, cornflakes, cookies, cheese, whiz and crisco. The modern urban palate has become
so acclimatized to a barrage of these brash tastes that it is no longer satisfied by the more subtle
flavours of the traditional cuisine. Yoga looks at the effect of diet on mind. Accordingly all foods
are classified into 3 categories (similar to the classification of human beings) namely Tamasik,
Rajasik and Sattvik foods.
Tamasik foods
That which is stale, tasteless, stinking, cooked overnight, refuse and impure is the food liked by
the Tamasiks.
Rajasik foods
Foods that are Katu - bitter, Amla - sour, Lavana - saline, ati Usna - steaming hot, Tiksna -
burning, Ruksha - fried, Vidahinah - generating thirst, are the ones liked by Rajasiks.
Sattvik foods
Those food which increase the Ayuh - life and vitality, Sattva - purity, Bala - strength & stamina,
Arogya - health, Sukha - happiness and Priti - Cheerfulness, are termed Sattvik. These foods are
Rasyah - savoury, Snigdhah - oleaginous, Sthirah - substantial, hrdyah - agreeable and are liked
by the Sattviks.
How do Yogasanas help in digestive disorders?
Yogasanas are techniques to bring about very deep rest to different parts of body. This is
achieved by performing the postures as per the two major hints given by Patanjali. By definition
yogasanas are postures that are maintained with ease and for some time (Sthira Sukham
Asanam). In the first step of learning the final position of different postures, it is the surface
(limb and trunk) muscles that are stretched or contracted to achieve the final posture.
After getting to the final posture you move on to the second step wherein you relax all the
unnecessary contractions by 'Prayatna Saithilya-release of effort', says Patanjali. In this phase
when you pass your awareness to all parts of the body and check whether the muscles are all
relaxed you may notice that many unnecessary muscles such as those of face, neck, back, arms
thighs were all tightened. Once you relax all these muscles except that set of muscles required to
maintain the final posture, your practice will improve further. This reduces the energy
expenditure and helps you to maintain for longer duration without exhaustion. At this stage, your
attention has already shifted to the intra-abdominal organs. You may now move on to the third
stage to experience 'Anantasamapatti - expanded awareness' at the point of stretch or pain. You
may visualize a feeling of expansion, diffusion and 'let go' without changing the final posture.

This is similar to moving from Dharana to Dhyana. In the first phase your attention is completely
focused on to the point of pain (Dharana) and in the next phase you defocus or expand or merge
in surrounding space and become one with the 3D awareness of the entire body resulting in
effortless free flow of a single thought of attention on the stretched zone (Dhyana).
In GID we use those asanas which need to bring deep rest to the stomach and intestine and
release the prana blocks. Hence the asanas used under special techniques for GID either stretch,
compress, or twist the abdominal area, so that you may bring your awareness to the part, focus
and then defocus to give very deep rest to intra-abdominal structures.

Digestive disorders

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