Moving Air

By Dominika Borovansky-Gaines

This morning I had my first colonoscopy, per the recommendations for someone age 50.  Everything went well and I am completely healthy.  But only minutes after I walked out of the surgical center, I began to have very sharp pains in my stomach.  Trapped gas is a common problem following this procedure.  Sitting was not comfortable, standing worse and lying down did not ease the pain fully.

I decided to get down on the floor and work on abdominal release, an exercise part of the REx for digestive issues.  This exercise is useful for long-held abdominal tension, for those times you feel gassy or if you are constipated.  Within moments of releasing my belly fully (see bottom photo), the trapped air exited in a long, tuneful wind.  And, voila!, the pain was gone.

I highly recommend this exercise if you habitually suck your belly in to appear slimmer, wear belts or tight-fitting undergarments --Spanx!--or other compressive clothing (yoga compression wear counts too).  And especially if you have recently had a procedure such as mine.