How Your Digestion is Linked To Your Emotions

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Everybody already knows this… that digestion and emotions are directly linked.

You know that sudden feeling when you are scared and you become instantly nauseous?

As a mom I got that feeling all the time when my kids were younger and I lost sight of them for a moment in a public place.

It’s a horrendous feeling… it doesn’t matter how hungry you were or how long since your last meal — in life-or-death situations, hunger immediately evaporates and the rest of your senses are heightened (heart pounding and ears and eyes on maximum alert) and you scan the crowd looking for your precious child.

Or… have you ever had nervous diarrhea before a big test, a blind date, a job interview?

Or… what about a dry mouth as you stand up to give an important speech to your peers, act in a play, sing your solo at a choir concert?

Your dry mouth isn’t a true reflection of your hydration status… matter of fact you just drank two cups of water before stepping out on that stage… it’s your body’s immediate response to emotional stimulus.

While we all *know* on some level that our digestive state and our bowels are connected to our emotions, you may not know how.

 

The answer to that, is chakra number three, my friends:

The Solar Plexus Chakra.

 

I’m telling you what, just typing up all of those scenarios for you has gotten my own dear stomach in a knot and here’s why: I’m a solar plexus babe.

I’ve always had to consciously work hard to balance out my solar plexus… and it seems that no matter how old I get or how much I understand about health and healing, it’s something I always am going to need to be aware of.

It’s just my energetic make-up to have an imbalanced solar plexus chakra… although it is open now, I constantly have to take the time to keep it flowing or else like anything else, it tends to revert to its old ways.

Growing up I had a permanent knot in my stomach.

I woke up with it, hated eating breakfast (really didn’t even like food in general, but breakfast was the worst…) carried it around at school all day, carried it home with me in the evenings, and stayed up curled in my bed with it late into the night. Because of my old friend — let’s call her Knot-In-The-Stomach (a.k.a anxiety) — sleep was always extremely hard to come by.

I was super skinny to the point that my loved ones were concerned I had either a tape worm or an eating disorder.

Me? Nope. I had neither. Just a completely blocked solar plexus chakra.

 

Now you can’t always see imbalances from the outside.

I dearly loved my friends at school, was constantly cracking up with my very favorite BFF in the world, adored my family, loved joking around, didn’t care if I was horrible at playing musical instruments and soccer and dancing, I had so much fun doing all those anyway.

I was voted “Loudest” for my senior superlative in my class of 500 graduating seniors in high school (so you know that’s LOUD!) and I loved my sorority sisters in college.

 

But my secret nemesis was carrying around a 10 ton rock in my gut… a ball of anxiety that kept me from sleeping deeply, eating well, relaxing and enjoying the moment. I was constantly in a battle to force myself to eat something, always nervous to meet new people, and always worried that something would happen to someone I loved.

As a child I worried constantly and incessantly about something happening to my parents.

In school it was my friends or boyfriends I worried about.

Remember your fun college years where you partied all night and let loose? Yeah, mine wasn’t like that. I always dreaded parties, I’d be a nervous wreck to make small talk to people and as soon as it was possible for me to sneak out early I’d run home and sit in a worried lump on my bed. NO FUN.

I had chronic constipation my whole life (and I bet you didn’t think you’d swing by my blog today to be talking about my poop, did you?) Because as I was constantly holding myself together in a tight little knot in the center of my gut, I never could just eat freely, process freely, and eliminate freely.

The people I loved and the family I adored I felt I absolutely could not live without. I always felt so much better with those I loved gathered tightly by my side.

As a mother I still struggle with this constant and daily feeling that I love my children so dearly I could never possibly EVER survive if something should happen to them.

 

It’s that solar plexus, popping up constantly trying to show me who’s the boss.

 

 

Is my solar plexus the boss?

It thinks so.

But I know it’s not, it is an illusion. A powerful illusion, but an illusion none-the-less.

 

The solar plexus is all about power, self-worth, and feeling like you are *enough* just how you are.

A solar plexus wound feels like you are never quite enough, you aren’t sure about your own power, and you want the security of your loved ones around you to feel centered.

For me the solar plexus wound kept me constantly nauseous and hating food, but it can just as easily go the other way… keeping you constantly eating for security, embroiled in weight issues, and starving for your next dose of nourishment. A solar plexus imbalance doesn’t care if you have already eaten more then enough today, it either makes you nauseous with anxiety or it is literally ravenous for more food and it has nothing to do with what you have or haven’t eaten that day.

 

Do any of these symptoms sound like you?

  • irritable bowel issues
  • constipation
  • weight struggles (either over or underweight)
  • binge eating
  • addictions
  • diabetes
  • self-worth issues
  • stomach ulcers
  • reflux issues
  • hepatitis
  • gallstones
  • pancreatitis

Those are all symptoms that your solar plexus chakra is imbalanced.

 

 

When it is balanced you feel empowered, strong, effective, spontaneous and open to new things.

I know I’m doing a good job of freeing up my solar plexus when I feel more open to meeting new people, open to travel opportunities, and feeling like just being myself is *enough*.

When it is unbalanced you can feel worried, nervous, nauseous, anxious, hungry, shy, hesitant and unsure of yourself.

I know I need to work on balancing my solar plexus when I start to become disinterested in eating and really begin to hate cooking meals for my family, when I wake up with a knot in my stomach, when I feel super shy and not wanting to go to any social engagements, and when I start to doubt my own path.

Do you or one of your loved ones suffer from a solar plexus imbalance?

Forward them this blog post and tell them to sign up for future posts because they really won’t want to miss my next one — all about how to heal and free up solar plexus blocks.

Mine requires constant release to keep me open and channeling my full inner strength, so I’m a pro at this and I’ll walk you through it right here on my blog this Wednesday.

See you then! xoxoxo, Laura