As you may know, some cultures traditionally sit on the floor, or very low stools, crossed legged to eat their meals.

Why is this?

Well, without getting into an explanation for each and every culture, I can certainly tell you why this is a very smart practice and why our culture (North American) of all of them, could really use this practice.

When you sit crossed legged on the floor, which can also be known as “Sukhasana” or easy seated pose in yoga, you are restricting the blood flow to your legs. That is a very factual statement. A more spiritual statement is that you are grounding down through your sitting bones & root chakra, connecting to the very earth that created you and the food you are about to receive.

What does this have to do with eating?

When you sit down to eat, it is important that there is ample blood flow to your digestive system. In our current way of life here in North America, we are on the go, rushing, worrying, thinking, moving so much that when it is time to sit down to eat we rarely do so with a conscious mind, let alone a fully functioning digestive system.

When your body is in “fight or flight mode”, the blood in your body rushes to your extremities to allow you to move quickly away from the danger or threat that it perceives. You see, even though a bear or tiger isn’t chasing you down your worried thoughts still create the same reaction inside your body, it doesn’t know the difference, it just knows it needs to protect itself.

You follow? I hope so.

So when you eat in a state of “fight or flight” there is not the preferred amount blood or consciousness in your digestive system to allow for proper absorption and assimilation of the food you consumed.

So then what happens?
Well a few things, one is the food goes right through you, essentially.  Have you ever experienced the Nervous Poops? Your body is too busy protecting you that it does not have the capacity to also assist in nourishing you.

You may end up with stomach cramps, indigestion, bloating, etc.

Every-body is different in how it reacts.

Back to sitting on the floor.

When you sit crossed legged on the floor and restrict the blood circulation to your legs, you are then inviting that blood flow back up into your digestive system.

It would be great if that were enough, we could sit crossed legged anywhere and eat and not have to worry about indigestion again. But it’s not.

Because most systems are so overburdened by every day life events, proper digestion is one of the biggest problems.

A few more tips on digestion:

• Sitting crossed legged once again allows you to connect through your sitting bones, when you do this take deep breaths into your lower belly so you can really feel your belly expand. This is helping to bring awareness to your digestive tract but also helping to calm the body and mind. Do not underestimate the therapeutic power of deep conscious breathing.
• Chewing your food thoroughly until it becomes a paste in your mouth. This will stimulate enzymes both in your mouth and your stomach, to further breakdown food. When the food is already very broken down, it makes for a much easier transition through the body.
• Avoid drinking any fluids with your meals so as to not dilute the hydrochloric acid in your stomach & enzymes.

So there you have it, next meal time try sitting crossed legged on the floor and see how much of a difference that makes in how you digest your food!

Love, light & good digestion

<3 Janine