Three Best Exercises to Kickstart Your Digestion

by Erica B. San Diego, DECEMBER 2022

With the holidays around the corner, tempting food buffets will make you eat too much. While you might not feel like working out after eating during the holidays these three exercises can help kickstart digestion, ease any belly bloat, and more. 

Do Some Yoga

If you’re in a food coma, an intense workout might be too aggressive. But yoga can get your insides moving and your body back to feeling normal in 15 minutes.

Photo by Max Nikhil Thimmayya on Pexels.com

First up: “easy pose” or sukhasana. To begin this exercise after eating too much, sit with your legs crossed on the floor or, if you have one, on a meditation pillow. Place your hand on the knees, draw in the stomach, and lift the chest, rolling the shoulders back and down; close the eyes for one to two minutes.

The second exercise after eating too much. Anuloma viloma or alternate nasal breathing. Start seated in sukhasana then place left hand on left knee, open right palm, and pull-down right index and middle fingers. Close right nostril with right thumb, taking a big inhale through left open nostril. At top of inhale, close left nostril with ring and pinky finger so that both nostrils are shut. Pause briefly, then move right thumb off of right nostril and exhale out of right nostril. Keep right nostril open and inhale through right nostril. At top of inhale, close right nostril with thumb and pause. Exhale out of left nostril and inhale through left nostril. Then close it and exhale out of right. Keep going like this, inhaling and exhaling out of each nostril for one minute. Repeat two to three times.

Go for a Walk

One easy way to get your dinner digesting better is to do some easy, low-impact cardio post-binge. Whether it’s a quick jaunt around the block or a longer stroll through the neighborhood, walking is a good exercise after eating too much.

Photo by Stanislav Kondratiev on Pexels.com

Work Your Core

The last thing you’d probably want to do is focus even more on your midsection — after all, that bad boy is more bloated than usual and likely aches. But doing core exercises after eating too much can help ease any post-dinner distress.