Good Belly Yoga

OVERVIEW

Abdominal massage is a gentle, noninvasive technique that can have relaxing and healing effects.

It is used to treat a wide variety of ailments, especially those related to the stomach pain, constipation, and bloating.

How you wake up is important. It makes you get in touch with your body and what it needs and wants.

You can give yourself a self-massage on a daily basis.

Just take a little time to to wake up while you rub your tummy to get your circulation going.

You may benefit from the effects of self-massage after only 5 or 10 minutes per day.

MY BELLY MASSAGE ROUTINE

This is best done when you are still a little sleepy and relaxed so you can be sensitive to yourself.

1. Place your palm on your navel and take a deep breath. Then move your hand to a circle outside your navel and work your way in. Do this as many times as you like and are comfortable doing. You don’t have to press hard, but if you give some firmness to the touch, it works better.
2. Now you are going to address the lymphatic part of your belly. This is where your immune system gets a workout. Gently stroke the sides of your abs up and down with the heel of the hand, both sides. You may feel bones of the pelvis on the other side of your gut as you massage.
3. There are two valves that are the gatekeepers for your belly: the ileocecal valve on the left side and the sigmoid flexure on the right. Rub those valves and help them relax and reset. They are in the lower corners of your belly above the pubic bone and below the navel. (See diagram).
4. Place your hands under your ribs on the soft part of your belly just under the diaphragm. Breathe softly into your hands, and let this part of your belly relax. Work your way down repeating the same breathing technique. It is better to let your belly relax naturally, then forcing yourself to take big breaths. I like to think of it as watching a flower unfurl. When it feels soft, give your stomach and pancreas (left side) a massage, along with your liver and gallbladder (right side). Don’t worry about being anatomically correct, the area under the ribs benefits if you rub it there.
5. You can do these in any order you want. Try it once and find out how your body responds, then adjust the routine to fit your tummy. We are all women, yet we all are different, so it is up to us to become experts on our own bodies.