Inguinal Hernia

Yoga and lifestyle changes have been used successfully to reduce hernia discomfort but seem to be only temporary solutions. These include dieting if you're overweight in the abdomen area; eating foods with good fiber content to maintain regular bowel movements and reduce straining, learning to properly lift heavy objects by bending from the knees and not the back; and not standing for long periods. Once a hernia develops, it is important to keep it reduced to avoid the risk of bowel strangulation, and it's here that yoga poses might help. Using gravity to take the pressure off the defect in the abdominal wall is an important method,. Inversions like shoulder stand can do this and also be helpful in alleviating the symptoms and placing the hernia back in the abdomen. But again, this is only a short-term measure. Once the hernia becomes a physical reality, it is probably best to get a complete diagnosis and review surgery options. We recommend Cobra Pose push-ups, being careful not to let the hips come off the ground. Also, the breathing practicings like the Hands Like a Teapot Meditation on Fat Free Yoga and Sitali Pranayam which can be found on the A - Z Health archive on www.raviana.com is a very healing technique. So, as you've experienced, it may be possible to heal something of this nature, through Kundalini Yoga, but we would be remiss if we made that claim.