How many everyday sayings that relate to some kind of emotion come back to a physical feeling in the tummy?
– I had butterflies in my stomach
– I felt like I had swallowed a lead balloon
-I felt sick with fear
– It was like being kicked in the guts
– What’s eating away at you?
– My stomach was churning
Etc, etc.
It’s why, for thousands of years, the wise yogis and vaidyas understood that most dis-ease (exclude parasite, virus, bacteria and fungus) originates in the digestive organs. Finally, Western Science has caught up despite being slow to make the emotional link.
It’s a tragedy that most of us are heading off to the doctors with the same or similar symptoms. Poor digestion, sleep issues, lack of energy… but yet, has anything really changed? Perhaps not if we consider that the father of modern yoga, Patanjali, described “yoga” as something that would help soothe the fluctuations of the mind. So, bearing this in mind, it seems likely that humans have always found been prone to negativity and even back in the day were either dwelling on a past that couldn’t be changed, or worrying about an imaginary and unpredictable future!
There are many tools and options available and simple changes in habits that can soothe, aid and improve digestion (of food and life), for example, practising mindfulness and gratitude, being in nature, meditation, talking therapy, yoga nidra and of course, being self-aware.
For myself, I had terrible, terrible issues and lots of tests and many invasive procedures shortly after beginning a serious health journey and complete dietary overhaul at the age of 17. A long time ago now! Absolutely nothing really made a difference and there was no pathology. Indeed, it was a mystery and something I had to put up with and manage, until 10 years later, I began and stuck with a twice-weekly yoga practise. It was surreptitious but things happened over time. I was more relaxed so I slept better. I let go of those lofty ideals of perfectionism. I realised that no matter what I did I was only ever going to look like me and indeed be me, so best stop wasting time and accept that one! In the past twenty years, I had one massive, very telling, year-long flare up – just after a friend died suddenly. Non acceptance. Right there.
It’s fair to say that a truly healthy person can eat anything without issue (this is the essence of Tantra). So as Master Zhenua Yang says, there is little point in focussing on an organic diet if your system / mindset is not organic.