Relief from Constipation through Backbending Poses

As we have explored in previous articles, yoga provides many different poses to help provide relief from constipation. This is because yoga poses both bring more awareness to the body and help to move the digestive organs in a way that is conducive to healthy bowel movements. In this article we’ll look at one class of helpful poses for the relief from constipation: backbends.

Backbending poses are also referred to as heart opening poses. The one detail that tends to escape our busy minds is that backbending actually should involve a lot of front body muscle contraction. The abdominal muscles help support your body and the back muscles. The stronger your core is, the less your back muscles will have to work, though you will still get a deep back bend. Also, engaging the core muscles during back bends prevents your low back from collapsing and truly contributes to opening the heart.

With the engagement of these lower abdominal muscles during a backbend comes stimulation of the organs housed there such as the colon, intestines, spleen, etc.. Similar to forward folds, backbends gently press the inner organs, helping them to release toxins and bring in fresh blood that leads to relief from constipation and a variety of other digestive issues. Be careful, a warmup is absolutely necessary for any backbending, so the spine is adjusted to the movements. Either do some other yoga poses first or at least some light jogging (i.e. enough to break a sweat). A simple backbend that you can start with is called Shalabasana:

Lay down on your yoga mat with your belly to the ground.
Lay your arms beside you.
Lift your chest up gently, then lift a little more, then more until you reach a that juicy spot.
Now, lift your legs gently, then lift a little more, then more until you feel that your low back is warmed up.
Finally, lift both your legs and chest at the same time to arrive at Locust Pose.

You can repeat this pose with different variations like extending your arms overhead or clasping your hand behind you and interlacing your fingers to add a shoulder stretch to the mix.

Backbends are essential to continue the healthy development of the spine and support a good posture. They also massage and stimulate the organs such as the colon and help alleviate health issues that are sometimes chronic. Constipation can be treated and prevented with a daily physical routine combined with natural supplements for relief from constipation.