Massaging your stomach will help keep your belly flat

Your stomach may not be feeling the best after eight days of latkes, the open bar at your holiday party and all the Christmas cookies you’ve already eaten.

Here’s how to make it through your next holiday feast — a stomach massage.

One of the simplest ways to ease stomach pain, aid digestion, and battle the bloat, specifically rubbing the stomach properly can aid a wide variety of health concerns, especially those related to the stomach, including constipation and bloating.

Ada Ooi, TCM practitioner and founder of 001 Skincare explained to The Standard that certain movements help by “promoting the smooth movement of food and fluids through the digestive tract, strengthening digestion and absorption of food, and alleviating common issues like bloating and indigestion.”

It can also lead to “improved blood circulation, a release of built-up emotional stress, and a boost to overall wellbeing.”

Massaging the stomach has also been proven to induce relaxation to help regulate the nervous system.

“The parasympathetic nervous system gets activated, and the pressure towards the diaphragm is reduced, helping to relax the muscles of the shoulder and neck,” Dr Maximilian Schubert, medical director at Mayrlife, told The Standard.

To properly massage your stomach, Ooi advises starting at your belly button with light pressure in “gentle, clockwise, circular motions using the palm of the hand…to move in a clockwise direction to follow the natural path of digestion” for about five to ten minutes at a time.

However, she warned you should stop if you feel any “pain, discomfort, of adverse effects like indigestion or nausea after the massage.”

The massages are most helpful when done a few minutes before or after a meal but can be done at any time to boost overall wellbeing.

Stomach massages may relieve discomfort temporarily but experts advise consorting with a medical professional for those with recurring issues seeking long-term solutions.