Esophagus Spiraling

There have been some questions in regards to a workshop I taught on digestion:

Which way does the food go when we swallow?

In the workshop I discuss a sensation of food/water spiraling to the right as we swallow.  Please take a moment here and drink a glass of water. Picture the water spiraling to the left when you swallow.  How was this? Now take another sip and picture the water spiraling to the right. How was this? There seems to be a more relaxed sensation when there is an image of water spiraling to the right. Why is this though?

One could imagine a toilet bowl when flushed to help with the spiraling image. The water does not simply go straight down the tube, but it has a spiraling motion. Some might say this is based on Coriolis Force.  Direction of the water when flushed is based on the water jets in the toilet, not Coriolis Force. Since toilet bowl jets typically spiral water clockwise towards the right this image can be useful when imagining your food/water substances making their way down your esophagus towards your stomach.

Anatomically one could look at the embryonic development of the stomach to describe this sensation. The following link depicts a slide show where you can see the development of the stomach:

Stomach Slide Show

Pay particular interest to the seventh week.  What do you notice here?  There seems to be a rotation to the right of the stomach from the back towards the left. This motion places the large curvature of the stomach towards the left.  Can you imagine what this motion on the seventh week would have on the esophagus? See the effects this image has on your esophagus and try swallowing some water again.

©2011 Matthew Deal Movement