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Sitting on the floor has numerous health benefits, and you must start doing it. (Photo: Freepik)
It is recommended to consume your food mindfully, while sitting on the floor, away from distractions. This is a good way to down the food, ensuring that it gets digested properly. Traditionally, we are supposed to sit down on the floor and cross our legs and eat, like how our ancestors did it. Back then, there weren't too many people complaining of heartburn, irregular bowel movements, weight gain, feeling of fullness, and digestive disorders. As such, maybe it is time to reconsider our eating habits and our posture, and revert to the old ways.
Throwing more light on this, Ayurveda and gut health coach Dr Dimple Jangda explained that in order to prevent overeating and putting on excessive weight, one must eat in the 'Sukhasana' posture. Sukhasana, also known as 'Easy Pose' is a beginner yoga posture, in which you sit cross-legged on the floor with your spine straight and your hands resting on the knees.
Stressing on the health benefits of this asana, Dr Jangda said since 'sukha' means 'at ease' or 'easy', and 'asana' means 'posture', this pose can put the mind and body at ease. You become more aware of the food that you are eating. According to the expert, when the brain is calm, it is able to better focus on what is on the plate, allowing the body to digest and assimilate the nutrients. Interestingly, in the absence of movements in the lower limbs, the brain is "ready and tuned to receive signals from the five sense organs". It can send messages to the stomach on what kind of digestive juices to prepare in advance, so as to digest the food in a proper manner.
Additionally, the gut health coach explained that when one sits on the floor, the lower part of their body is closer to the ground. It reduces the pressure on the heart to pump blood to parts of the body that are in a 'resting phase', thereby increasing blood circulation to the abdominal region, where the actual action is happening.
The expert also said that the muscles of stomach, liver, gall bladder are exercised and squeezed enough when one sits on the floor to eat, so as to secrete the 'required digestive juices' and aid in the process of digestion. It can also strengthen the pelvic regions and help with better absorption of all kinds of nutrients.
The Ayurveda expert explained in an Instagram post that when we sit on the floor to consume food, our body is able to "pick a natural and rhythmic back-and-forth" movement. The action of bending to pick a morsel of food and place it in the mouth can aid digestion.
According to the expert, the mind is able to register a feeling of fullness only after 20 minutes of eating, which is when the vagus nerves take signals to the brain. The process of bending forward and eating can slow down the process, giving enough time for the brain to comprehend signals from the vagus nerve and prevent the body from consuming too much food.
Sitting on the floor has numerous health benefits, and you must start doing it. Remember to check with your doctor first if you have an ongoing health issue or an injury in your joints or spine.