11 Incredible Yoga Poses For Stomach Gas

I have been on a mission to restore my gut health for six years and have become the poster girl for any kind of bowel problems. It can be both an uncomfortable experience, as well as topic of conversation but I believe that it needs to be out there on the table. We need to become comfortable with the uncomfortable so we can figure out what is a normal part of digestion and what could be a red flag indicating a need for concern. Studies have shown that yoga can be an effective intervention for those suffering from IBS and I can’t imagine not having it as a tool to ease my discomfort.

“The road to health is paved with good intestines”

This might read like a silly quote, but the truth behind the words is all too real. The gut is our second brain and is often a reflection of our state of mind. Notice how anxiety can show up as un upset stomach!

Keeping the gut thriving is also key to prolonging health and wellbeing. If not kept in check, congestion and obstruction in the intestines can become a breeding ground for all kinds of pathogens, parasites and later disease, so it is so important that we don’t just write off excess gas as a ‘normal’ part of digestion. Clean up your diet and clean up your gut and you will feel lighter and brighter!

Excess gas can have you feeling heavy, lethargic and a little to a lot awkward, despite how common it is. Most people consider it to be a normal part of eating and enjoying food, but it can also be a sign that there is obstruction inside the body which can lay the breeding ground for unwanted pathogens, bacteria and parasites. It is important that the digestive tract be kept clear and cleansed so that there is fluidity and ease of elimination.

This will help to avoid further digestion complaints such as constipation, bloating and indigestion. This article is going to to equip you with a series of postures that will encourage unwanted gas to move downwards and out of the body to help you in times of need and to strengthen the digestive system to avoid future issues. 

This is a series of 11  easy poses that will help to release gas from the stomach. Incorporate them into your daily practice to help strengthen the digestive system so that there is more resilience when these gases start to build up.

Come into a yogic squat pose, by coming down onto your feet with the heels towards the midline of the body and the toes pointing out. Root down through the pinky toe edges of both of your feet and open up your inner thighs and invite your knees out wide. Bring your hands to heart center and use your elbows to help push your knees out a little bit wider. Drop your tailbone down and lengthen up through the spine all the way through to the crown of the head, gently drawing the chin back towards the centerline of the body.

When you bring your knees above your hips, this motion activates the downward movement encouraging gas to leave the body. Whenever you bring the knees above the hips, it tells the body to let everything go. This pose invites gentle compression into the abdomen area which helps to massaging the internal organs.

Step your feet apart with your right foot forward and your left foot to the back of your mat. Square the hips forward and support yourself up on your fingertips either side of your front foot. Ensure that your right knee is stacked over your right ankle and send your heart forward here. Lengthen through the spine and and open your chest.

This Low Lunge Pose provides an intense stretch to the groin, quadriceps, and back of the legs, while working into your balance, opening the back and stretching the length of the spine.

Plant your left hand down firmly into the mat and reach your right arm up towards the sky, coming into an easy Revolved Side Angle Pose. Keep your hips up and squared and keep the outer edge of your leg engaged. Take your gaze up to follow and breathe in to lengthen and exhaling to twist.

Twisting at the core here is working to massage the internal organs which will help to relieve gas. 

Step your right foot forward and coming into a Standing Forward Bend, so your hips are squared, your feet are about hip width distance apart and your just letting yourself hang heavy here for a moment, releasing your head and your neck and then compressing that lower abdomen here and just hanging heavy.

Take the lunge to the other side. Bring your left foot forward in between the hands and bring your fingertips down to the ground, either side of the front foot for support. Keep your hips engaged and high and squaring forward towards the front and ensure that the left knee is stacked over your left ankle.

Ground down through your right hand and come into a Revolved Side Angle Pose on the left side. Lift your left hand up towards the sky and use the breath to exhale and to twist deeper. Keep the hips lifted and engaged.

Walk your feet together and bring the big toes to touch with the heels slightly apart. Bend your knees, drop the hips down and bring the hands to heart center to come into Chair Pose. Squeeze the inner thighs together and root down through the pinky toe edges of your feet. Pull the lower belly in and reach your hands up towards the sky.

Chair Pose is going to build energy and engage the entire body which will enliven your entire system, including your digestive functioning.

Hinge the torso forward and bring your left elbow to the outside edge of your right knee, press the palms in towards one another, inhale and then exhale to twist deeper. Draw the hips down one more inch. Bring the arms back through center, reaching both hands up towards the sky. Inhale and then exhale the hands back to heart center and bring the right elbow to the outside edge of your left knee and squeeze the inner thighs. Press the palms in towards one another, inhale to lengthen the spine and exhale to twist.

This pose invites strength into the body as it activates the core and the legs. Twist and compress the abdomen, so that any gas that is trapped inside of the body will be encouraged to move through and out. 

Step your feet back to come in to Downward Facing Dog. The hips are up towards the sky and melt your heels down towards the mat. Press into the palms and spread the fingertips wide and find some ease in any perceived effort of the pose.

Downward Facing Dog improves circulation while stimulating our digestive system which will help to relieve uncomfortable gas buildup in the abdomen.

Bend your knees and bring your knees down towards the outside edge of your mat and come down to the ground. Bring the big toes to connect and drop your hips down towards your heels. Reach your hands forward and relax your forehead on to the ground.

So want to give the belly this unrestricted space so that you can take full breaths in and out. This wide legged position provides extra space so that the belly can be soft and open.

Come back up onto the knees and close the legs and sit down on a block to come into that Hero Pose variation with a block. Remove the extra flesh from underneath the sitting bones bring the hands into the lap, palms facing down.

This pose allows you to connect to your body. Keep the eyes closed and take cleansing breaths in and relaxing breaths out. Visualise any stress in the body and specifically in the belly, to melt away as you surrender into this easy pose. Trust that the body knows what to do with this excess gas and let the mind be at ease.

Gas problems are never fun to talk about, despite how common they are. They aren’t something you typically want to discuss openly, but if not, then how are you then meant to find advice or figure out what is a normal amount of gas to build up in the body!

I can assure you that excessive gas is not something that should be chalked up as being a normal part of eating. It is an indication of obstruction in the body and it will likely serve your body to consider a cleanse.

As you work to detox and purify your colon, yoga is going to twist, compress and help to move gas along. Some of the following poses might seem counter-intuitive, as you put your body into a position where the bum is up higher than the hips, but they do the trick! Spend several minutes in each pose to ensure that you can give the body enough time to respond and release that which is not serving you.

Supine Spinal Twist – Supta Matsyendrasana
This first pose is going to twist, constrict  and stretch your digestive system as your work from left to right. This movement wrings out the length of the digestive tract and cuts off circulation momentarily and then when you release the pose there is a fresh rush of blood into the area, which pushes against any obstruction and encourages movement of stagnant gases.

Plow Pose – Halasana
Sending the legs up and then behind the head is going to compress the belly and work to pump any gas that has been built up in the stomach. It is the perfect follow up pose after your Supine Spinal Twist which has stretched and wrung out the digestive system and loosened up any waste matter that is causing gas to become trapped.

Eight Limbed Salutation – Ashtanga Namaskara
The first two poses have encouraged what is blocking the free flow of movement in the body, to loosen and release and it is now time to send the hips and bum up, while lengthening the torso. This might seem a little counter intuitive, seeing as you are wanting what is trapped inside of the body to move down, but this position works!

Extended Puppy Pose
This posture is a little more intense than the previous Eight Limbed Salutation, but provides a deeper variation! It works in the same way, with hips and tailbone up to the sky and at the same time provides a deep stretch for the chest and the shoulders.

If you have had no luck with any of the tried and tested poses from this article so far, then it is likely that there is some serious obstruction in the colon. My first recommendation is to cleanse your body.

Eating a diet of easily digestible fruits and leafy greens will help to not add any more obstruction to the body and you can support this process with yoga and movement, which will ease the release of gas and help to promote intestinal mobility. 

Upward Abdominal Lock – Uddiyana Bandha
This technique will stimulate the abdominal organs and massage and tone the core, while working to remove any gas that is trapped. Its involves the pulling in and lifting up of the muscles and it can be used as a part of your sequence or as a stand alone technique to ease digestive distress. Only perform this Upward Abdominal Lock on an empty stomach or ensure to leave a considerable gap after your last meal.

Breath of Fire – Kapalabhati Pranayama
Pranayama and other breathing techniques are a great way to stimulate the internal organs and strengthen the core. For Breath of Fire you can take your right hand to the belly and inhale through the nose. When you exhale, actively suck the belly button back towards the spine. Your focus will be on the exhales which will pump the stomach each time. The inhales will come naturally. This technique is an effective means of cleansing even the most remote parts of the body and the vigorous exhalations are going to help to dispel toxins and waste matter from the body quickly.

Wind Relieving Pose – Pavana Muktasana
This article would not be complete without a shout out to this very simple yogic asana, as it is renowned for being the ultimate gas eliminator. You want to use this pose as an opportunity to work with the breath, to really send it down into the belly. As you exhale, actively use the strength of the arms to pull the thighs down into the abdomen to really compress into the problem area which will help to send this unwanted gas out of the body.

The digestive system is built in such a way that gas will leave the body voluntary or involuntary, and this involuntary action usually happens while we are sleeping. You simply have to trust in the body and allow it to do its thing, but there are some sleeping positions that can help to promote intestinal fluidity.

Studies have been conducted in order to investigate which particular sleeping positions promote better health, including that of the gut and I am going to share the results with you now so you can go to sleep knowing that body will be releasing gas and toxicity while you are resting.

Left Side Sleeping
Sleeping on your left side can boost digestion as the position of the transverse colon encourages the movement of waste matter, which could be causing constipation and gas. 

Lying Prone (Flat on Your Front)
This position ensures that the gastrointestinal tract is stretched out which can help to free trapped gas. Lying prone applies mild pressure to the abdomen which can gently massage into this space as you breathe. When you sleep curled up, you are constricting the intestines

Sleeping Elevated
Try propping yourself up on pillows so that gravity can come into play and do some of the work while you sleep. Being elevated will also help with other digestive discomfort, such as acid reflux, as it brings the oesophagus higher than the stomach.

The physical body and specifically the state of our digestion, can be a direct reflection of the quality of our mind. When the mind is at ease, it allows the body to be softer, more open and much more fluid which will help with the movement of what’s going on in our intestines.

This article has introduced you to poses that are going to help to relieve you of unwanted gas! You can use them at any time, for symptom relief, but they are also great when incorporated as part of your regular practice to help keep the body in a state of fluidity and motion. When there is obstruction in the body, this is when we suffer from gas, constipation and bloating, so movement is key!