…also called “gastric ructions”, caused by peristalsis, are the bane of some yoga relaxations.
There’s something diverting about getting to the quiet time at the end of a yoga class when the teacher has soothed and cajoled the group into a semi-somnolent state, when suddenly the low- pitched rumbling from some quarter starts up. The noise can be both embarrassing and amusing, and reminds me of the nighttime sounds that emanate from the boggy back three acres of our land.
When I taught at SBS in Artarmon (Sydney) a few years ago, we would sometimes have to hold the sessions in the radio department sound studio. You can imagine a room where you can hear the quietest breathing going on, with the yoga relaxation conducted in sotto voce, that any stomach noises in this sort of environment sound like the country trains rolling through Central Station.
Why be embarrassed? We’d be stuffed without the wavelike internal movements in our digestive tract. Everyone’s got one, and the truth is that peristalsis can be a reflection of deep relaxation. So, might as well own our rumbles and even embrace them 🙂