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"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James Baldwin
Digestion involves transformation, integration, and elimination. In a fast-paced world where we are often required to multi-task, disregard our own needs, and move on quickly to the next thing, we don't always have the time and space we need to metabolize and integrate. This makes it hard for us to eliminate, or let go of, what isn't for us. It also makes it hard for us to move on from relationships and places that aren't serving us.
Digesting difficult experiences takes time and support, and it is harder to move through the three stages of digestion when we have internal and external pressure to simply let go or move on. We have to be willing and able to feel our feelings and to hold space for the difficult things in order to really move on.
Trust Your Gut
Did you know that your gut has its own nervous system, called the enteric nervous system, that is kind of like a second brain? The enteric nervous system has as many nerve cells as the spinal cord, and in collaboration with the gut microbiome, produces neurotransmitters that influence mood, immune function, hormone release, digestion, and pain. The enteric nervous system and the brain communicate with each other via the vagus nerve about things like nausea, hunger, fullness, emotion, discomfort, and danger. In other words, the gut and the brain are interconnected, which is why can get a stomachache when we are stressed, or get anxious when we are constipated. It is also why our digestion is affected when we are in pain, and why supporting a healthy gut is important in unraveling persistent pain.
Food is Medicine: Part 1 - Digestive FIre
All of Life is a Fire Ceremony
In ancient yogic texts, the first word of a text is the most important word. The first word of the Rig Veda, one of the oldest spiritual texts in the world, is agni, which means fire, and the first chapter is devoted to rituals to honor the god of fire. My teachers frequently say, “All of life is a fire ceremony,” and Ayurvedic practices center around tending to the digestive fire. This is because without fire, we would not be able to transform the food we eat into the energy we need to sustain our lives. Keeping the digestive fire strong is key to maintaining health and to recovering from illness and injury. In fact, almost every disorder or disease begins in the gastrointestinal tract and can be treated, in full or in part, by tending the digestive fire and using food as medicine.