Factors including poor diet, stress, dehydration, and even certain medications could all pave the way to constipation.
If the food passes too slowly through your gut, too much water gets absorbed, causing hard stools that are difficult and painful to pass.
If this occurs more than three times a week, you are faced with constipation, Spire Healthcare explains.
Fortunately, a doctor has outlined two simple yoga poses that could alleviate this painful problem.
Speaking on her TikTok channel, Dr Janine Bowring, a naturopathic doctor, said: “If you’re suffering with constipation and slow bowels… here are the two best yoga poses.”
1. Malasana
The first pose the doctor recommended is malasana, or a squat pose. It involves putting your feet flat on the ground and apart from each other, while you’re squatting down.
The doctor demonstrated the position in the video and kept her hands linked by the fingertips, facing upwards and positioned in between her thighs, as she did the squat.
“This helps to release those bowels,” Dr Janine said. “Stay here as long as you can.”
Squatting is nothing new when it comes to optimising your bowel movement.
Even a study, published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, explored the benefits of getting a bathroom stool and putting your feet up when you’re trying to have a poo.
The research team found that using the stool and switching up positioning really increased bowel emptiness and reduced straining.
2. Ardha matsyendrasana
Ardha matsyendrasana, or half lord of the fishes pose, involves twisting your body and can aid in releasing your bowels by stimulating movement, the doctor explained.
She said: “You’re going to start with your legs out flat, then you’re bringing in your right knee. Now you’re going to twist. Any twisting posture really helps to ring out those intestines.
“You’re going to twist, so right hand behind you and twist your body, looking back over your right shoulder. You’re going to hold it for a little while, and then you’re going to repeat that on the other side.”
