Ayurveda tips to improve digestion and reduce digestive problems like heartburn, IBS, and bloating

Are you the one always farting in the zoom meeting? Or rushing out to the drug store for Pepto Bismol or Tums? Sounds like your digestion might need some TLC booboo!

According to Ayurveda, the ancient Indian science of health, we aren’t what we eat, we are what we digest!!!

Ayurveda sees our digestive system like a fire. When our digestive “fire” is healthy and strong, we feel vibrant, healthy, and lit up!

On the other hand, if our digestive fire is too powerful (think inferno!) or too weak (dying coals), we become weak, worn down, and vulnerable to disease.

Having a poor digestive fire means we can’t absorb the nutrients we eat. This causes us to become malnourished, even if we’re eating instagram worthy buddha bowls every meal!

Malnourishment can lead us to feel exhausted, even if we’ve slept 10 hours and had 20 cups of coffee!

It also can lead bodies to crave sugar for quick fuel (ie. I NEED A RED VELVET CUPCAKE RIGHT NOW!!!)

Here are some tips to reduce those cravings, restore your energy, stop the burping, and make peace with your digestive system!

1.Take 10 deep breaths before eating. Deep breathing relaxes our intestinal tract muscles which allows us to better absorb the nutrients we eat!

2. Chew your food thoroughly! Your stomach doesn't have teeth. By chewing with your mouth, you're making life much easier for your belly!

3. Drink liquids BEFORE meals (at least 30 minutes) rather than during meals. Drinking during meals weakens your digestion.

And if you do choose to sip during your meal, make sure your beverage is tepid or ideally warm, since icy liquids weaken our digestive fire even more!!

4. When you eat fruit, eat it on its own or BEFORE meals. Fruit digests more quickly than other foods, so if you eat it as dessert, it will putrefy in your stomach while it waits for the rest of your food to digest. Ick!

5. After you finish eating, take a leisurely walk. Walking helps stimulate the stomach and intestinal muscles which digest our food.

6. Eat your largest meal(s) of the day between 10am-2pm. This is during the time of the day when our digestive fire is strongest. Eating at this time makes you less likely to experience bloating, heartburn, or acid reflux after your meal, even if you choose the chili cheese fries, woohoo!!

7. Eat until you have completely satisfied your hunger. But not so much that you feel ready to explode!!

If you’re putting into practice all of these techniques and your digestion is still wacko, it might be time for a nourishing detox to cleanse the body!!

Another cause might be an imbalance in your 3rd chakra/ (your energy center located around your belly button related to your self esteem, finances, and power!).

Some great ways to rebalance this chakra/energy center are to…

Do power poses such as standing tall with your arms at your side like a warrior

Stress reducing practices like yoga, meditation and breathwork

Anger releasing practices like hitting a pillow, screaming in a forest, martial arts, or having a non-violent conversation with the person you are angry at