I’ve just returned from a 2 week Chi Gong retreat in Kauai. This is my longest Chi Gong immersion ever and a major focus of the retreat was improving digestion.

We practiced in a beautiful, yoga-inspired retreat center surrounded by jungle and all sorts of animals. Peacocks and chickens roamed the property.  Here’s a glance…

Chi gong in paradise while learning about my favorite topic? I was in heaven. And I’m thrilled to  share what I learned with you.

I began practicing Chi Gong because after healing my body I found I still suffered from emotional issues that kept true happiness at bay.

If diet, rest and the right attitude could reverse my IBS, then why couldn’t an ancient moving meditation heal my heart, mind and soul?

Chi Gong uses mind, body posture and slow movement to break through energy blockages in the body. Chi Gong works by the same principles as acupuncture. When energy  is flowing freely, blood and lymph circulation also improves. The Chinese believe that disease arises when energy stagnates in tight, contracted or inflamed areas of the body.

Chi Gong is a great meditative practice for people who spend a lot of time in their heads and can’t seem to sit still. It has helped me shift my attention from what’s going on in my head, to what’s going on in my body, and that has increased my stability and intuition. The more chi gong you practice, the more clarity you get. Eventually that clarity turns you into your own guru. You are guided intuitively to do what is best for you and no longer look to others for answers.

If you are curious to sample some chi gong, here’s video demonstrating the classic heaven and earth exercise.

As promised, I’ll share some Chi gong wisdom on improving digestion. you.

But first there are two caveats.

1) If any of the practices below cause stress, then stop. Stress is counter intuitive for improving digestion.

2)No rules fit everyone, so always test things on yourself slowly and gently. Ask yourself, is this working for me? Questioning and trusting your experience is how you start becoming your own guru.

How you eat is as important as what you eat

Because we focus so much energy on the right foods to eat, we pay much less attention on the right ways to eat. How you chew, your state of mind while eating and how you combine your food can make a huge difference in digestion.

I’ve known about these rules for a while now, but I finally got to test them personally. The results: I felt lighter, pooped better and slept deeper. Eating this way sets my body up for digestive success and ease, allowing it to better assimilate nutrients.

Tip #1) Don’t Drink Water with meals

Water dilutes digestive juices, enzymes and acids and makes the body work harder to digest foods.  A good guideline is to drink water at least half an hour before eating and not drink anything for at least an hour after eating.  This wasn’t an easy habit to break, and took a bit of planning, but it went well after an adjustment period. Drinking with food is a bad digestive habit that should be broken, according to my chi gong teacher.

We live in a culture that pushes hydration and cause people to over hydrate. Drinking too much water can slow down metabolism, which is terrible for people who tend to run cold. Don’t drink water because you heard you should. Drink water only when you’re thirsty.

Tip #2) Don’t combine fruit and other food.

Because fruit is comprised of simple sugars that digest very quickly, eating them with foods that take longer to digest may cause fruit to ferment in the belly. This may cause gas, bloating or bacterial overgrowth.

Fruit is best eaten on an empty stomach in the morning or between meals. You can eat fruit 30 minute before a meal but wait 2 to 3 hours to eat fruit after a heavy meal.

Tip #3) Chew slowly and thoroughly.

This tip is common sense, but happens to be the one that I struggle with the most. One of the most common causes of belching is eating too fast and swallowing air. This can also cause bloating. Think of meal time as a meditation. Slow down and notice everything about the experience of eating: tastes, colors, textures.

If this is a big challenge (I get it!), start just by noticing how fast you eat. Being aware of how you eat will eventually help you slow down. Eventually you can move on to chewing slowly for just the few minutes of each meal.

Remember, the more work your teeth do, the less work your stomach, liver and intestines have to do. Believe me, your organs will thank you in wonderful ways!

Tip #4) Don’t eat at late at night (also known as Intermittent Fasting) 

This is a very popular practice in the Paleo community right now for cleansing and weight loss. There are different ways of doing this, but for IBS folks I recommend restricting food in the late evening.

Intermittent fasting is a gentle yet powerful way to cleanse, while stricter and more extremely cleanse can be too depleting. It doesn’t dictate what food to should eat, it simply creates a window for eating and a window for fasting on water.

An example would be eating from 9 am to 6 pm every day but not eating anything before or after those hours.  This schedule allows the body to rest and cleanse 15 hours a day. You can tweak the times to fit your schedule and even lengthen the eating hours by an hour or two, but it’s best not to eat after 7 or 8 pm.

This break from food allows the liver to catch up on self cleaning and repair activities that it can’t do while you’re digesting or snacking. A detoxified liver makes a big difference in not only digestive strength but also eases hormonal issues like PMS.

People with unstable blood sugar issues should stabilize blood sugar before doing any type of fasting.

Here’s a blog I wrote about this topic, which explains it in depth.

Tip #5) Relax before eating

Another common sense tip that’s tough to do but will bring the most benefit! When we ‘re stressed or wound up before we eat our body is in fight or flight mode. Digestion partially shuts down in this mode so it can respond to stress and pump blood to extremities for escape.

Eating when your digestion is not fully online is obviously problematic. Here are some ideas for calming down before eating: deep breathing, lay down on the floor with legs propped on the couch, interacting with you pet, child or favorite family member, talking a walk or watching a funny video.

If any of these suggestions resonates with you, try out one or two to see how you feel.

Remember that making changes to your routine is stressful so take it easy and do it in baby steps. Pick the tip that seems the easiest to do and start with that.

Playing with how you eat can be the small detail that makes the big difference in your recovery.

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