As my mentor Marc David says, “How we digest and assimilate food is how we digest and assimilate life…”
Do you have digestive issues? Do you get stuck in your head? Come to find out they can be one in the same problem. Digestion can be a very intimate subject, one that can be quietly ignored and the symptoms become “a part of life.”
At the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, “Digestive problems aren’t problems at all. Every digestive symptom or complaint is a message, a whispering, body wisdom, feedback, an opportunity to listen and deepen into our journey.”
How can you help your body be the best that it can be? How can you improve your digestion and actually make it stronger?
As a yoga teacher, I know that an automatic function that we take advantage of throughout our day is our breath. It’s easy to ignore something that happens without having to think about it. Bringing awareness to your breath, creating space by slowing down your inhale and exhale, and noticing the way oxygen makes your body feels is a gift that yoga gives us.
Digestion is another automatic function that we can take for granted. Once you eat food, you are handing the keys over to your body to break down and process foreign substances.
Luckily, by bringing awareness to our breath we will inherently improve our digestion. Relaxation, Breath, Slowing down, Time, Awareness, Body Wisdom, and Rhythm can turn your digestion completely around. These are all part of Mind-Body Nutrition.
In the physiologic relaxation response the breath is rhythmic and deep, and digestion is fully turned on. When we are living in a stressful state, we are moving too quickly, not living in the moment, anxious for the future, don’t have enough time in the day, and ignore our body wisdom.
If you have a sensitive digestion, you are a sensitive person. Start embracing it instead of thinking something is wrong with you. Being sensitive gives you the power to take care of yourself to the highest degree. Don’t be worried if you can’t eat foods that you used to, that’s not a bad thing. Your digestion is actually getting more specific with what it agrees with, and it is constantly learning from its past experiences.
Body wisdom trumps ANY expert, because if something is causing you unwanted symptom, it’s obviously not working for you.
Over 60% of our population has experienced indigestion and upset stomach. The time and age that we are living in isn’t one that is supportive of improving digestion. We are constantly stressed, overworked, and using extra food as a substitute for self-care because we aren’t taking the time to nourish and pleasure our bodies.
A toxic belief that I have learned is our society’s obsession with hard abs. We condition ourselves to believe that if we have a hard stomach, that means we are “tough and have guts, are worthy, put the time in,” and if your belly is soft you are “weak, can’t handle yourself, and are lazy.” I believe we are truly searching for our inner being, our core, that place where we feel aligned with our world and what’s happening in it. A person can be physically strong in the core, but lack their emotional core, and vice versa. Once again, slowing down and noticing the way we feel in our body, the way we are holding ourselves, and how awake we are to the present moment, may be what our obsession around the midsection is really longing for.
So if you have problems with your digestion, take a deeper look into your unwanted symptoms. What are they truly trying to tell you? How can you evolve as a person?
Maybe you need to take a few extra minutes at meal times, eat higher quality of foods, change your eating rhythm, breath deeply, or relax.
I hope you found this article helpful. If you have any questions, please comment below or email me at macymig@gmail.com
Much Love,
Macy