Suffering from Heartburn and Acidity? Read on.

Acidity and heartburn are a common problem among all of us. The new living style and eating habits has a lot of adverse effect on our digestive system which leads to acidity. When we eat rich and oily food, drink aerated drinks and follow irregular eating habits, our digestive system reacts to it, by producing more acid inside the stomach which causes acidity. Sometimes, due to excessive secretion of acids, the food that are undigested in the stomach, are pushed back in the food pipe which results in heartburn.

Before we get into treating the problem, we should first stop the reason of its occurrence. So, it is very important to have your food on time and stick to homemade food that are less spicy and oily. If you have to take food from outside, try sticking to the fresh-made foods that have less or no oil and spices.

Many people eat heavy at night and have less or no breakfast at all, and say that they are dieting. This is WRONG. Dieting means taking right food at the right time. Dieting doesn’t mean that you stop eating. Breakfast is a must, that too, heavy breakfast. Don’t eat anything after 7 pm. After breakfast take small diets after an interval of around 2-3 hours. And off-course drink lots and lots of water.

Along with right food, massaging your inner system is very important. This is done with the help of Yoga – the age-old self-medicine, that’s what I like calling it.

Vajrasana

Vajrasana is a very effective asana for digesting the food. After having your meal, sit in Vajrasana for about 10-15 minutes and you will see a lot of relief from acidity. You will not even feel your stomach bloated. For this, kneel down and rest your buttock on your heel, put both the palms on each knee. While breathing slowly sit for around 10-15 minutes and you will see the difference yourself. Follow this after every meal.

Makarasana

Makarasana improves the digestive system which reduces acidity and heartburn. Lie down on your stomach for about 10-15 minutes and slowly breathe in and breathe out.

Pawanmuktanasan

This asana gives relief from chronic acidity and heartburn. Lie down on your back with both legs straight. Fold one leg, hold it with both the hands and bring it towards the chest. Count 10 and go back to the normal position. Repeat this with the second leg and then both the legs. Repeat this entire process for at least 3 times to get best results. Pregnant women or people having back problem should avoid this asana.

Setubandhasana

Along with irregular and incorrect eating habits, even stress affects our digestive system. Hence, we need to keep ourselves stress-free. Setubandhasana is a very good technique of keeping stress away along with working on the digestive system. For this, we lie down on our back, then fold the knees, hold the ankle with the hands and push the body upwards, while still keeping the shoulders and head on the ground. Stay in this position till 10 count, then come back to the normal position. Repeat this for 4-5 times.

These yoga steps are very effective for heartburn and acidity. If followed daily, it can even cure the problem for ever.

Quick tips for practicing Yoga in winters

During winters, we don’t like waking up early, instead, we like staying inside the blanket with a hot cup of tea watching our favourite channels throughout the day. The long nights and cold breeze make it almost impossible for us to wake up early morning and practice Yoga. So, we kind of, skip any exercises during this time. But that’s ok. Throughout the year we are on our toes working, exercising and fulfilling our duties. This is one season, when we like to live for ourselves. So, instead of pushing yourself for getting up and exercising, use your laziness wisely and in such a way that it gives you a lot of energy for the rest of the year.

Sleep a lot

Sleep as much as you want. Don’t stress yourself, don’t tell yourself all the time that you need to get up from bed and do your daily chorus. Although this is not for people who go for work or, are students, but as soon as you come back home, and if you long for the bed the entire day, slip inside your blanket. This is one season, when you can rest your body fully.

Have warm bath

There are lot of people who skip their bath during winters. But remember, during winters it becomes more important to take a bath daily. This helps your body in adjusting itself with the outside temperature and you feel less cold. You also get a good sleep and rest. Have a bath with warm water with your favourite bathing solution. You will feel like heaven and very relaxed.

Add such pranayama which induces heat

There are many breathing exercises which you can do even when you are on the bed. Like –

Anulom-Vilom – In Anulom-Vilom, sit in Sukhasana, with your right ring finger close your left nostril, breathe from the right, close the right nostril with your right thumb and slowly exhale from the left. Then again, inhale from the left nostril, close it with your right ring finger and slowly exhale from the right nostril. This is a continuous process. Repeat it for at least 10-15 minutes.

Kapalbhati – In kapalbhati, with the help of your belly muscles, push the air from your lungs out from the nose. Read more about kapalbhati and other exercises in my previous post here: http://experiencingseconds.blogspot.in/2016/01/say-bye-to-cold-in-this-winter.html. Repeat it for about 5-10 minutes. It improves the health of your lungs and fills you with lot of energy.

Ujjayi Pranayama – While doing ujjayi pranayama, contract your throat a little and breathe from your nose to fill the lungs with air. Stay in this position till 10 count then release the air from your left nose. This gives you a lot of energy, warms up the body and calms the mind.

Enjoy this season with these little tips and a cup of hot green tea J