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Treat Your IBS and Get in Better Shape with Yoga
Chances are, if you suffer from moderate IBS, then you would likely be willing to try anything to ease the symptoms, so that you can get on with your life as normally as possible. Your doctor probably already advised you that there is no prescription medicine that can take away all of your symptoms, but that you may be able to control them with proper diet, exercise, and possibly over the counter medications. If this works for you, then great, keep it up. If not, you might want to consider giving yoga a try. Yoga can not only help you with your IBS symptoms, but can help you lower your stress levels, which can also affect your IBS, and can get you in better physical shape, which will boost your self esteem, always an added bonus.
You may be able to find some yoga classes being offered at your local YMCA, or gym. You should look for a beginner’s class, so that you can learn the basic principles of yoga, and then can practice them on your own at home. If you aren’t comfortable doing yoga with an audience, as many are not, then you can look on the internet for many how-to books and videos, that you can use to learn yoga techniques in the privacy of your own home. You can find them at pretty good prices, and if yoga proves effective at lessening your IBS pain and symptoms, then you have made a great investment. Even if it doesn’t help your IBS, you will still benefit from the relaxation and exercise, so you win either way.
You can find instructional yoga DVD’s online for as little as $15.00. If you are a savvy shopper, you may be able to shop around and get even better deals, or maybe if you have a friend that has tried yoga in the past, you can save money altogether and borrow some of her resources. You will need to get something that can teach you the basic yoga poses, breathing, and relaxation techniques, so that you can do them on your own. It may even be possible to find a lot of this information for free on internet websites and forums; it may just take you a little time and effort to do the necessary research. I will tell you about some of the basics within this article, and then you can decide if you think yoga might be right for you.
Yoga is based on a series of nine different postures that you will need to learn first. They are standing, reclining, seated, back bends, forward bends, side bends, inverted postures, twists, and balancing postures. I know that sounds like a lot to learn, but don’t let yourself be overwhelmed by it, you don’t have to learn them all at once. Once you have the postures down, you should learn how to do the breathing exercises next, which can help your IBS by taking your mind off of your worries and points of stress in your life, truly allowing you to relax, and just breathe. There are five breathing exercises that you should take the time to learn; they are rib cage breathing, abdominal breathing, alternate nostril breathing, complete breathing, and Ujjayi breath. Again, don’t feel stressed or in a rush to learn these exercises, take your time and enjoy the learning process as you go.
Once you have learned and mastered the postures and breathing exercises, then you should focus on learning how to meditate. Meditation is a great way to take your mind off of the pain that your IBS may be causing you, giving you a temporary reprieve for a while. Meditation also lowers stress levels, which as we have already stated, can greatly improve your IBS symptoms. Meditation may be the most difficult part of yoga for you to master, but take your time, and keep working at it, and soon you will reap the full benefits that yoga has to offer.
