Three-Part Yoga Breath for Improved Digestion and Less Stress

Eating bad food is not the only cause of indigestion. Did you know gas, bloating, GERD, constipation, diarrhea, and all that fun stuff can also be related to stress? If you’re not able to digest your food, you’re likely not able to digest what is happening in your life. This three-part yoga breathing exercise will help improve your gut health, relax stress-induced tension and help you practice mindfulness when eating too.

How To Do The Three-Part Yogic Breath

Our breath is meant to assist the whole body in resting and digesting as it soothes the body in it’s parasympathetic nervous system state. However in our fast-past, stress-inducing lifestyles that pull us away from body awareness leave us with shallow breathing.

When we’re just breathing in the upper body, the digestive organs are not massaged as they’re meant to be, and of course we’re also dealing with the stress hormones that are released too.

The Three-part Yogic Breath is meant to help you breathe deeply again, to use the diaphragm which increases lymph and blood flow in the belly, increases peristalsis & bowel movement, and soothes the nervous system.

Watch the video above or follow the instructions here to learn this simple breathing technique.

Three-Part Yoga Breathing Instructions:

1. Come into a comfortable seated position or sit in a chair with the spine straight.
2. Close your eyes, interiorize your attention to focus on the movement of the breath moving in and out of the nose.
3. Place one hand on the belly and one on the chest, and bring the breath in deep now, to feel the belly expand.
4. Now inhale in two parts, first into the belly and then up into the chest. Then exhale completely in one part.
5. Continue, and as you get comfortable, you can extend out the breath. For example:
   • 2 seconds inhale into the belly, 2 seconds into the chest / 4 second exhale
   • 3 seconds inhale belly, 3 seconds chest / 6 second exhale
   • 4 seconds inhale belly, 4 seconds chest / 8 second exhale
   • etc….

You can do this style of breathing whenever you’re wanting to calm your mind, nerves, and digestion!

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