Your Gut, Your Mood, Your Mat: The Surprising Link Between Movement & Digestion
If you’ve ever had “butterflies” before a big moment, or felt your stomach clench during a stressful conversation, you already know… your gut feels everything. But what you might not realize is just how deep that connection runs.
Modern science is finally catching up to something yogis have known for centuries: the body doesn’t compartmentalize stress, emotion, or energy. It holds it. And one of the main places it does that? The gut.
Let’s talk about the gut-brain connection, and how your yoga mat might be one of the best places to start supporting it.
Your Second Brain (Really)
The gut is often called the “second brain”, and that’s not just a metaphor. Your enteric nervous system, which lives in your digestive tract, is packed with over 100 million nerve cells. That’s more than your spinal cord.
This system communicates constantly with your central nervous system via the vagus nerve: a two-way highway between your brain and your gut. When your nervous system is dysregulated, your digestion suffers. When your digestion is off, your mood tanks. It’s a loop.
Stress, inflammation, anxiety, and even posture all affect how your body digests food and absorbs nutrients. So if you’ve been bloated, sluggish, or just a little “off,” the answer might not be another supplement. It might be movement.
How Yoga Supports Digestion
We talk a lot about flexibility and strength in yoga, but let’s not forget function. Movement affects your digestion in subtle and powerful ways:
It stimulates the vagus nerve, activating your parasympathetic “rest and digest” system
It helps mobilize the abdominal organs, especially through twists, folds, and compression
It calms the stress response, reducing cortisol that can interfere with gut health
It improves circulation and lymphatic flow, supporting your body’s natural detox processes
You don’t need a hardcore sweat session to feel the benefits. In fact, many students report they come from our gentler offerings: like Yin and Restore. These classes slow things down, tune you in, and allow your nervous system (and gut) to finally exhale.
Yoga Poses to Support Your Gut
You don’t need to memorize a sequence, just a few go-to shapes can offer a lot of relief. A simple supine twist, knees-to-chest, or a seated forward fold can create gentle compression in the belly, which helps stimulate digestion. Cat-cow is also a fantastic tool for bringing movement into the spine and abdomen without strain.
In Yin, long holds in postures like “sphinx” or “dragonfly” can create space around the low belly while inviting your system to settle. And in podFLOW, mindful movement paired with breath increases circulation and builds internal awareness, which can improve everything from metabolism to elimination.
Sometimes, just lying on your back with your legs up the wall can do wonders. It's not always about stretching the body, it’s about giving your nervous system a moment to feel safe.
Support Tools Beyond the Pose
Movement is a powerful start, but creating a gut-friendly environment is a whole-system process. Here are a few ideas to support your digestion both on and off the mat:
Breathwork: Simple breath awareness or lengthening your exhale helps stimulate the vagus nerve. Even a few minutes before bed or after meals can support digestion.
Hydration: Your digestive system relies on water to move things along. Try a warm herbal tea after class: ginger, fennel, or peppermint are all lovely.
Nervous System Care: Your gut can’t function well if your system is stuck in high alert. Yoga is a great tool, but so are rest, connection, boundaries, and laughter. Yes, laughter (it literally massages your abdominal organs).
And of course, remember: you don’t need to “biohack” your way to wellness. Sometimes, the most effective tools are also the simplest ones, like moving your body with presence and kindness.
Try a Gentle Yoga Class and Notice How You Feel
The gut-brain connection is real, and it’s something you can feel for yourself. The next time you’re feeling foggy, bloated, or anxious, resist the urge to overanalyze. Try stepping on your mat instead.
Choose a gentle class from our Class Schedule. Take your time. Breathe deeply. Move mindfully. Pay attention to how your belly feels afterward, not just physically, but energetically.
We offer a variety of classes that support movement and wellness, and our instructors are trained to help you customize your practice based on what you need most. Because when your gut is happy, your mood follows. And it turns out, one of the best tools for both might just be your yoga mat.
As always… You. Belong. Here. 💙