Are you suffering from diverticulitis or diverticulosis, and looking to relieve pain by trying yoga for diverticulitis? It has been observed that people around the age of 30 have been victims of this disease a lot due to changing lifestyles. The main reasons are a low-fiber diet and lack of exercise/activity.
In this article, I will walk you through yoga poses to aid symptoms of diverticulitis, lifestyle changes you need to adopt, and dietary advice for diverticulosis.
What is Diverticulitis?
Diverticulitis is a disease or condition occurring from formation of small pouches toward the end of the large intestine. Symptoms includes nausea, abdominal pain and vomiting. Presence of single bulging pouch is known as Diverticulosis and if more than one pouches are formed with may include infection also then condition is known as Diverticulitis.
Lifestyle changes needed
First thing any physician suggest after you are diagnosed with diverticulitis is to do some lifestyle changes based on your work profile. Below are some common changes suggested by doctors
- Increase Fiber intake in your diet to avoid the formation of diverticula in the future.
- Add 30 minutes of exercise in the morning or evening. (Prefer walking, or yoga poses/stretches)
- Avoid seating for longer hours. Don’t sit on a chair continuously for more than one hour, stand/walk for a minute after continued sitting, then continue.
- Reduce intake of junk food like Pizza, Burger, Hotdog, etc
- Increase water intake.
Yoga Poses for Diverticulitis and Diverticulosis
Yoga for diverticulitis patients should be of low intensity and should be avoided when there high abdominal pain or recent surgery. Below are poses you can try
Easy Pose (Sukhasana)
Easy pose is simply crossed leg sitting position which you might have seen in Bollywood movies while actors enjoy their meal. This pose brings balance to the mind, body, and soul. It reduces stress and hence aids in diverticulitis.
Read the guide to perform it here: Easy Pose Guide
Thunderbolt Pose (Vajrasana)
The Thunderbolt pose is one of the meditative poses, whose focus is on mastering breathing. It helps to improve slow digestion thereby helping to reduce toxins in the body.
Aiding in digestion can relieve symptoms of diverticulitis. Read the guide to perform it here: Guide to thunderbolt pose
Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)
Cobra pose is a posture that replicates the nature of King Cobra Snake. It is a back-bending posture, introduced to increase the strength of the arms, back, and neck. It stretches abdominal muscles hence aiding in improved digestion and thereby in the prevention of diverticulitis.
Read the guide to perform it here: Guide to Cobra pose, yoga for diverticulitis
Tree Pose (Vrkshasana)
Tree pose is a posture replicating a tree, depicting the tree’s stability and groundedness. In this standing pose, we stand tall with arms making the namaskaram pose above the head. It helps to improve neuro-muscular coordination, hence important for diverticulosis patients.
Read the guide to perform it here: Guide to tree pose, yoga for diverticulitis
Breathing Exercises
Breathing exercises plays important role in improving immunity power of human body. During diverticulitis it is observed that people with low immunity suffer most from infection in colon area. So following breathing exercises are suggested. Please follow below video guide.
Dietary Advice
Dietary advice depends on your current condition of diverticulitis. If you are currently suffering with higher abdominal pain then you should consult your physician/dietician regarding your fiber intake. In some conditions, doctors may suggest to eat low-fiber foods like eggs, fish and a clear liquid diet as part of your treatment.
After recovering from diverticulitis, you should avoid smoking and drinking alchol. Many a times we ignore drinking water while watching TV, reading, etc, You should avoid this mistake and increase intake of water or liquid fluids like fruit juices, broth. Always make sure to eat on time, and maintain balanced fiber intake. Include fruits or fruit juices in breakfast. Avoid eating hard to digest food in the evening
Note : Diverticulitis diet is always based on your condition of it, first one is when you are suffering from it ( low fiber diet is advised )and second one is when you recovered from it and you want to avoid it in future ( Balanced fiber diet and excersices are suggested ).
Conclusion
Mild Diverticulitis can be treated with antibiotics medicine, proper rest and dietary changes in fiber intake. So it is always better to consult physician when you are having continuous abdominal pain and get the diagnosis done for diverticulitis. Make an routine of above mentioned yoga poses for quick recovery.
Comment out your experiences and suggestions after trying out above yoga poses. Keep reading imaginesouls.com
FAQs
What are good foods that you can eat for diverticulitis?
In Diverticulitis, you should always consult your dietician or physician for your diet. When you are having high abdominal pain consume liquid diet with balanced fiber intake. Give precedence to fruit juices, broth, and less spicy soups. In case when you have recovered from diverticulitis, you can have below foods
1. Fruits or juice of banana, apple, pears, etc
2. Root vegetables, carrot in low quantity with removed outer skin
3. Oats
4. Egg, chicken properly steamed/cooked, fish
5. Brown rice, refined white bread
Is yoga good for diverticulitis?
Patients suffering from diverticulitis are always advised to include some exercise in their daily routine so that they benefit from bowel movement. Yoga along with 15-30 minutes of walking will suffice this requirement. You can try Easy pose, thunderbolt pose, cobra pose and simple breathing exercises called pranayamas.
It has been observed that recovered patients with yoga session or increased physical activity have less chance of having diverticula in future when followed with correct diet plan.
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