Balancing the digestive system is key for our wellbeing. 

We may experience discomfort in our belly regularly which can be caused by some source of stress: our nutrition, the stress, difficulty to assimilate and to digest in a healthy way. 

The Enteric Nervous System is the nervous system of our gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and it actually has more neurons than the spinal cord! 

It is a part of our Autonomic Nervous System - the part that’s involuntary - it responds to stress by inducing our ‘fight or flight’ response and responds to relaxation by inducing our ‘rest and digest’ response. Fight or flight mode / stress causes a decrease in muscular activity in the digestive tract and less secretion of glandular fluids (including stomach acid) for digestion - basically less digestive activity in our gut as it’s not a priority if we’re under stress (historically we would have been in actual danger and had to fight or run away, but these days stress is part of our daily lives in a much different way!) 

This decreased activity in the gut decreases the absorption of vitamins and nutrients, and compromises our immune response as 70% of our immune system lives in the GIT tract!

Think about the effects of chronic stress on the body.

Diaphragmatic breathing stimulates our vagus nerve, which runs through most of our gut and is the main nerve of the ‘rest and digest’ and enteric nervous system. Try breathing diaphragmatically to stimulate the vagus nerve and the rest and digest nervous system - this promotes muscular and glandular activity of the digestive system - therefore increased digestion, absorption, and immune function. Something to think about!! 

Do you or have you experienced chronic stress and the associated effects of it?

It’s hard to feel great about anything when you are experiencing GIT issues and also one of your happy hormones Serotonin lives predominantly in the gut. 

Takeaway message: stress decreases your ability to digest food, absorb nutrients and vitamins, lowers your immune response and lowers your mood. 

Yoga and meditation help to alleviate stress by altering how your nervous system functions - moving us to a relaxed state where these processes start to take place: increased nutrient absorption, increased immune function, increased mood - most of this relating directly to our gut health. 

Thursdays at 8amEST 

6x 90min. classes online via zoom 

Christelle is a holistic therapist and specialist in the alchemy of the 5 elements since 1991. 

She is a yoga therapist since 2006 accredited by IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapists) and E-RYT500 with Yoga Alliance