Exercise Your Systems: Digestion

Can you really exercise your internal body systems? Yes! They're made of organs, which are also muscles, and are full of blood and lymph and movement. Go on, exercise your systems.

Digestion isn't just input and output. All the hollow spaces food goes (the mouth, esophagus,  stomach, and intestines) are called hollow organs and guess what- each one is muscular!

They can expand (think of your belly after a holiday meal) and they can shrink back to normal.

​This takes muscle control, so exercise #1 is: 
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Let Your Digestion Empty Completely

This doesn't have to be fancy- for example, a light and easily digestible dinner that's over by 7pm like a hearty soup, then nothing till at least 7am the next day.

Not only does this allow your digestive organs to practice contracting down to their smallest size, the emptiness allows time for any needed repair and construction work to happen. 

​Give your digestive organs a break, and a chance to change sizes. Give the lymph fluid and connective tissue around your organs some space, and some fresh blood flow. And give all the tissues a chance to heal: the GI tract really has a lot of constant damage to repair, so a pause gives all this a chance to happen.

These internal systems we're talking about are mostly jam-packed into the abdomen, and thanks to the "core"- your pelvic floor, diaphragm, and abdominal wall- it's all held in place by intra-abdominal pressure.

​However, our lifestyle is good at messing with this pressure. Things like sitting so much, sucking in our bellies to "look" good, thrusting out our ribs in what's really fake good posture, and breathing shallowly all keep the abdominal pressures from fluctuating appropriately. 

Exercise #2 is something you hear all.the.time. but do you really practice it?
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Deep Breathing

I'm thinking specifically about the expanding and relaxing in the ribs and belly today. We tend to always hold a bit of tension, a bit of stress, so maxing that out with a big deep breath then letting it out all the way to really empty everything, is the best way to find complete relaxation of all those muscles. 

Now, did you know that your other internal organs, the solid ones like the liver and the kidneys, move too? When you move in proper, unstressed alignment, they can move around several inches.

​When you're tense, tight, and sitting, your organs are too. Let's move them with Exercise #3:

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Practice Gentle, Full ROM Bends and Twists

ROM= Range of Motion

This could be yoga moves. This could be spine twists on the floor. This could be backbends supported by a door frame. This could be toe touches, no bouncing!

​There are so many ways to deliberately and fully twist and bend to stretch our insides, just do it smoothly and without holding your breath. 

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In addition to full Ranges of Motion, we also need full Ranges of Flavors! Tip #4 is:
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Taste Your Bitters

Herbal remedy? Aperitif? Morning bowel stimulant? Yes! 

The bitter taste is an amazing actor in our bodies- not only do our tongues taste bitter, but we have those same bitter taste receptors in all kinds of other body tissues too (like our lungs and kidneys). When we TASTE bitter, all sorts of things happen all over the body.

Specifically regarding digestion::

• Smooth muscles relaxes, so there's less tension in the gut
• Digestive juices like saliva and bile are stimulated
• Peristalsis (movement of the intestines) is stimulated
• Sweet cravings are often diminished
• Circulation is stimulated, improving digestion, metabolism, and healing of inflammation
• and more!

You can find alcohol-based bitters 3 main ways.

1. In little bottles at the liquor store, like Angostura, Peychaud's, and many small batch brands
2. In big bottles at the liquor store, like Campari, Aperol, Fernet Branca, and again, many artisan brands
3. In little bottles at the health food store, like Swedish Bitters, Urban Moonshine brand, and many small herbal makers brands

The rule of thumb is if it's in a big bottle you can sip it neat, if it's in a little bottle it's for flavoring or small dosages

Food based bitters include liquids like Coffee and greens like Dandelion, Escarole, and Radicchio, as well as Chocolate and Cacao nibs.

Dandelion root, Artichoke leaf, Bitter Orange peel, Gentian, Blue Vervain, Angelica, and Horehound are all bitter herbs you may see on some ingredient lists as well. 

Practice these 4 exercises for your Digestive System, and let me know how you're feeling! And Learn more about exercising your insides and outsides, for structural and systemic health, in my Foot to Forehead Fix program.