The gastrointestinal tract is sensitive to emotion. Anger, anxiety, sadness, elation — all of these feelings (and others) can trigger symptoms in the gut. The brain has a direct effect on the stomach and intestines. For example, the very thought of eating can release the stomach's juices before food gets there.
Can stress give me a stomach ache?
The brain-gut axis also explains how you can feel stress and emotions in the gut. Most people have experienced butterflies before a first date or diarrhea before public speaking.
These "gut feelings" are the result of stress being communicated to the gut via these bidirectional nerve pathways. For many patients, living with unpredictable GI symptoms can be highly stressful on its own.
How can I use my mind to heal my gut?
Medicine is moving towards a more holistic approach to treating patients, and there is growing interest in finding non-medication treatment options. GI diseases are a great example of the positive effects of mind-body interventions on health.
There's a particularly deep relationship between our emotions and thoughts—both conscious and unconscious—and our digestion shows that inflammation—a typical immune response to obesity, high-sugar diets, high quantities of trans fats, and unhealthy diets—may be the precursor to mood disorders such as depression. When people clean up their diet, inflammation is reduced, and your mood relaxes.
The word emotion itself comes from the Latin word emovere—to be moved. Emotions move us. They are a call to action and attention. Emotions are energy in motion. Our feelings only become a problem when we short circuit their natural tendency to move by “not feeling” or by overreacting.
Many of us are afraid to feel our emotions. If we lovingly hold space and presence for our emotions to flow through us, they can find a natural digestive process and end point. Just like eating a banana, we don't have to tell it what to do in our digestive system. We eat the banana and our body naturally digests it. The same thing holds true with the emotions.
If we simply observe and feel the emotion, it will rise, fall, and come to a natural state of completion. We can let go of what isn't needed (elimination) and keep what is useful (nutritional wisdom). A detox of the colon can be very useful to help deal with some of emotions realize that if we “juice” our emotions in the moment—when they're ripe—we become calmer, more stable people. We seem, ironically, less emotional.
During our lifetime, we make changes. Like divorce or dealing with issues from our past. We talk about changes or solving problems with therapists. But when detox of the colon happens, it's the exact right time to take it out of the body to really get rid of those old emotions and those old issues we hang on to.
Some parts of the colon indicate emotions and effects that happen from childhood. Parent influence also trigger spots that a person is holding for many years without realizing it.
Making the connection between out body mind and digestive health can help in getting rid of so many patterns that stop us from moving forward to the next chapter.
Remember when we intend to hold our emotions, we create constipation. That's why it so important to free your body as well.
Colonics is one of the best methods to do it.
Karin Nahmani is an award winning author, entrepreneur and podcast host.
She own Pure Center - https://purecenter.com - has a line of vitamins, NOA, that will help you improve your health and wellness, and lives in Los Angeles California. She holds a Bachelors in Science and credentials as a Naturopathic Doctor from Medi College in Israel. She has worked as a Certified Colon Hydrotherapist since 2001 and has owned and operated Pure Center since 2006. She is a Certified Massage Therapist and Instructor as well as a Certified Doula. Karin is the proud mother of four.
Buy her new book "Shit Isn't a Dirty Word: An Unorthodox Approach to Colon and Digestive Health"
Listen To The Podcast - Sh*t Isn't A Dirty Word - A Not So Ordinary Podcast Hosted By Karin Nahmani