By Amy Marturana, SELF
It's an unfortunate fact of life that we all feel bloated from time to time. With so many potential causes—like you ate too fast, you drank something bubbly, you ate too little (or too much) fiber, you went overboard on salt, you didn't drink enough water—it can be tough to pinpoint the best way to get rid of bloat.
Experts have lots of suggestions for what to eat and drink to de-bloat, but there's actually something even easier that helps get rid of bloating fast: stretching. Specifically, opening up your hips and twisting your torso.
"When you feel bloated, the back and core muscles are going to feel really tight, because the organs are expanding," Rebecca Weible, yoga instructor and founder and owner of Yo Yoga! in New York City, tells SELF. "Stretching is going to help open things up a little bit, and it can be really relieving. It's also going to increase circulation in the torso, and therefore, the organs that are working to digest."
Weible explains that when your hips are tight, your pelvis tilts and presses against your digestive organs. When you do stretches that open your hips, you can relieve pressure on the pelvis and with it, some discomfort.
Yes, you might pass a little gas. But that might be just what your body needs. "That gas can be what makes you feel bloated and gross," Weible says. Oftentimes for women, she adds, water retention is a big cause of bloat. But if it's just a buildup of air, relieving yourself can be, well, a big relief.
Here's a super simple yoga stretch sequence Weible suggests for when you're feeling bloated:
The name says it all. Here's how to do it: Lie on your back and pull your knees into your chest with both hands. "This is going to let you open up the hips a little bit and stretch through your back," Weible says.
"Try to keep your lower back and tailbone as close to the mat as possible," she adds. "Some people may have to be a little more conscious of pressing [their back] down."
Reach your arms out to form a T, and try to keep your knees and hips in line with each other as you draw them toward the floor. "Keep your chest relatively square to the ceiling," Weible says. "Depending on your chest tightness, your shoulders might move a bit and that’s not wrong, but you want to do your best to keep your shoulders square on the mat." This allows you to stretch more deeply.
"If you're feeling bloated, sometimes the last thing you want to put on a really tight pair of yoga pants and put yourself in weird positions," Weible says. "But this is something you can do anytime and almost anywhere that can help make you feel a little bit better."
It's an unfortunate fact of life that we all feel bloated from time to time. With so many potential causes—like you ate too fast, you drank something bubbly, you ate too little (or too much) fiber, you went overboard on salt, you didn't drink enough water—it can be tough to pinpoint the best way to get rid of bloat.
Experts have lots of suggestions for what to eat and drink to de-bloat, but there's actually something even easier that helps get rid of bloating fast: stretching. Specifically, opening up your hips and twisting your torso.
"When you feel bloated, the back and core muscles are going to feel really tight, because the organs are expanding," Rebecca Weible, yoga instructor and founder and owner of Yo Yoga! in New York City, tells SELF. "Stretching is going to help open things up a little bit, and it can be really relieving. It's also going to increase circulation in the torso, and therefore, the organs that are working to digest."
Weible explains that when your hips are tight, your pelvis tilts and presses against your digestive organs. When you do stretches that open your hips, you can relieve pressure on the pelvis and with it, some discomfort.
Yes, you might pass a little gas. But that might be just what your body needs. "That gas can be what makes you feel bloated and gross," Weible says. Oftentimes for women, she adds, water retention is a big cause of bloat. But if it's just a buildup of air, relieving yourself can be, well, a big relief.
Here's a super simple yoga stretch sequence Weible suggests for when you're feeling bloated:
Part 1. Start in wind-relieving pose.
"Try to keep your lower back and tailbone as close to the mat as possible," she adds. "Some people may have to be a little more conscious of pressing [their back] down."
Part 2. Slowly drop your knees to one side into a reclined spinal twist.
"If you're feeling bloated, sometimes the last thing you want to put on a really tight pair of yoga pants and put yourself in weird positions," Weible says. "But this is something you can do anytime and almost anywhere that can help make you feel a little bit better."
