Unraveling the Energetics of Digestive Healing
The Undeniable Connection
Working as a dietitian for the past two decades, I have learned a thing or two about digestive health. I used to focus solely on the physical body; what tests to run, what symptoms to measure, what supplements to use, etc. I often ignored the emotional patterns and belief systems of my clients, believing if we balanced the physiology, the rest would fall into place.
I was wrong.
Digestive health is greatly impacted by energetic forces. I realized that in order to be an authentic practitioner and healer, I had to hold the physiological science of the body and energetics. This article explores the profound energetic connection between the mind and body and five ways that you can start to improve your digestive health.
The Gut Brain Axis: Where Energy Meets Science
Scientific research has highlighted the relationship between the gut and the brain, known as the gut-brain axis. This bidirectional communication system, connected by the vagus nerve, influences the development of emotional behavior, brain neurotransmitters, stress- and pain-modulation (1). Chronic stress, anxiety, and unresolved emotions can manifest as physical symptoms in the digestive system (2). If we believe something is true… “My body is broken", “IBS is my genetic destiny,” “I am a mystery that no-one can figure out and I will never heal,” then our brain is going to send specific signals throughout our body. Our thoughts create our environment which directly impacts cellular response. What we believe, becomes our genetic reality expressed in our physical body.
Stress, beliefs and emotions (energy in motion) impact the composition and function of the gut microbiome. The microbiome, comprising trillions of microorganisms, plays a pivotal role in digestive health.(3). Increased stress, decreases the diversity of the microbiome. Trauma like divorce, death of a loved one, natural disasters, car accidents, house fires, or emotional/physical abuse are correlated to higher rates of IBS (4). Our gut is the epicenter of our emotional history.
An Updated Paradigm of Digestive Healing
Knowing the profound impact our thoughts, beliefs and emotions have on our digestion, it’s time to upgrade the way we approach healing. Yes, the physiology and science are important AND the energetics are just as important to blend into your healing journey. You need both for deep, sustainable healing. Lets take a look at five ways to understand energetics and get more connected to your body.
Energetic Blueprints and Decision Making
We live in a hustle-culture that often celebrates one type of personality. We love success stories, people who have overcome hardship and worked their butt off to win. We don’t often celebrate people who are more emotional, need more time and space to process their feelings or who aren’t energized by working their butts off. The constant comparison of how you “should be” vs. how you actually move in the world, makes it hard to know yourself.
Getting clear on how you make decisions is critical when it comes to healing your digestion. You have to know yourself. Human Design is a great first step to connect with your energetic blueprint. Using your birth date, time and location you can find out your strategy and authority, which helps identify how you make decisions. Are you someone who thrives on instant decision making (this is often celebrated in our culture) or do you need time to feel the decision, be alone to connect to the feeling or wait a full 28 days to understand your feelings? These are all different energetic patterns and ways you are wired to make decisions. Finding yours can help you understand yourself better but also allow for more permission to move through the world the way that feels best for you.
2. Reconnect to Your Physical Body
It can be hard to connect with your physical body when you are experiencing digestive issues. Your body is often a place that is uncomfortable to exist in, and disassociation with the body is a way to cope. However, you are a connected human body and recognizing all parts of the body is important for overall healing. Taking the time to lovingly put your hands on your gut, feel your breath move through your body and sitting with the discomfort, are all important ways to move through the experience. This also signals energetically that you are listening and playing an active role in your own healing. Acceptance of what is can be the most powerful place to start. My favorite ways to feel my body is through twisting yoga poses (we have a flow sequence in our 5 day series), qi massage and kundalini breathing. This not only helps oxygen move to the gut, improving digestive function, it also reminds you that you have a body and moving it can feel empowering. At the end of the day, you are your own greatest healer.
3. Fueling for Digestive Health
The main question I always get is, “what the heck do I eat?” This is a challenging question to answer because your body is unique, your microbiome is unique and the foods you will and will not tolerate are unique. After having run hundreds of food sensitivity tests on a population with digestive issues, I can tell you the top five foods come up again and again: wheat, dairy, sugar, corn and soy. These can be a great place to start with a basic food elimination trial.
With the elimination concept being said, it’s important to move away from demonizing foods. I always use food eliminations as a temporary approach to identifying which foods are not currently being tolerated, then focusing on strengthening the resiliency of the gut and ultimately re-introducing foods. When you get into a black and white approach to food… this is good and this bad, you can end up harming your body. The diet can become very restricted, stress and anxiety surround almost every food interaction which sends the message to your body that food isn’t safe.
4. Learn How to Hear the Messages of your Body
One of the most important actions you can take your healing journey is to understand that symptoms are messengers. Symptoms are not here to ruin your life, they are here to tell you something needs attention. With a fast-paced lifestyle it is almost impossible to hear what your body is saying. Physical manifestations are usually the bodies last resort to alert us to an imbalance. When we get quiet, still and listen, our bodies usually have a profond story to share. I ran a group where we did a “listening” exercise to see what the body wanted to say. One of our participants had shoulder pain and when she sat with this pain and ultimately asked it what it wanted to share with her, she got the image of a little ball of yarn with big eyes looking at her and asking for acknowledgement and love. There are so many parts of ourselves that are neglected, shamed and hidden due to fear. It takes courage and bravery to sit with our pain and see what messages it has for us. When you can get comfortable in this practice, you will be blown away by the intelligence of your own body.
5. Integration
And finally the piece almost everybody misses, integration. Once you experience something different, upgrade an old belief system or have pain resolution, you are a different person. You have to learn how to move through the world in a different way with this new information. Journaling, tracking and a stillness practice are such great ways to process changes. I encourage taking the time to be more present with your own body, even if it doesn’t feel productive. The more you can love who you are, even the parts of yourself that feel shameful, the deeper your healing journey will be.
Integrating Innate Energetic Wisdom into Digestive Healing
As we navigate the fascinating intersection of science and energetics in digestive healing, it becomes evident that our energetic states profoundly impact our well-being. By incorporating practices that honor the mind-body-spirit connection, we embark on a journey towards holistic digestive health.
To put these concepts into practice, check out our 5-day gut healing series where we provide worksheets, action items, rituals and journal prompts to help you learn this updated healing paradigm. Each day we cover:
Day 1: Identify your personal digestive healing energy blueprint and creating an energetic manifesto
Day 2: Reconnect to your physical Body through movement that best suits your energetic digestive archetype
Day 3: Learn how to create powerful digestive boosting tonics to support your personal healing
Day 4: Learn How to Hear the Messages of your Body
Day 5: Integration to continue your momentum and create long-term change
We are looking forward to supporting you in this 5-day series.
References
Mayer, E. A., Tillisch, K., & Gupta, A. (2015). "Gut/brain axis and the microbiota." Journal of Clinical Investigation, 125(3), 926-938.
Mawdsley, J. E., & Rampton, D. S. (2006). "The role of psychological stress in inflammatory bowel disease." Neuroimmunomodulation, 13(5-6), 327-336.
Cryan, J. F., & Dinan, T. G. (2012). "Mind-altering microorganisms: the impact of the gut microbiota on brain and behaviour." Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 13(10), 701-712.
https://www.livescience.com/16799-psychological-trauma-linked-irritable-bowel-syndrome.html