What your gut is saying…
… is music to my ears.
Of the many things I wanted to write about this week, a beloved client suggested that I speak to ….
… tummy gurgling. :)
During a bodywork session, that is.
Maybe this isn’t you, but I’ve had a number of people become a little self-conscious, even apologetic, when their abdomens begin making sounds in the middle of a treatment.
Bubbles, gurgles, squirts, squishes, rumbling, you name it.
Whether I’m actually touching the belly or not, there’s often a point where it just seem to want to start up a conversation.
And what I want to tell you is this:
It’s all good.
I usually say that to my people. Along with, It’s a Very Good Sign (and… I take it as a compliment :)
Because we tend to hold a lot of tension in our abdominal region - for various reasons.
And, the sounds - the fluids, ducts, gas, etc.- mean there’s not only movement happening in and around our organs, but that you’re starting to relax.
You’ve likely heard of the ‘fight/ flight/freeze’ response.
This refers to the activation of the orthosympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system that governs the mobilization of resources quickly when we’re faced with an unfamiliar or threatening stimulus.
Among other things, this takes the form of dilated pupils, increased heart rate, shallower breathing and… shuttling blood away from the internal organs out to the muscles in case of the sudden need for speedy movement.
The ‘ortho response’ - as we lovingly call it - isn’t just an on-off switch.
There are degrees of its engagement between total relaxation and running for your life.
As I mentioned above, even unfamiliar situations - walking into a party of people you’ve never met, or getting a massage from a new therapist, or anything out of our routine - can spark a little of the ‘alert’ response, as we’re consciously and unconsciously tracking what we do and don’t recognize, weighing the input against our sense of safety.
This is to be expected, and ideally within the capacity for the parasympathetic branch (‘rest, digest and regenerate’) to bring the physiological functions back to the default state of ease when we’ve returned to our sense of comfort.
However.
For a multitude of reasons, many of us are stuck with our engines idling, even if we’re not going anywhere - kind of a low-level continual ortho engagement where the para system rarely, if ever, has the opportunity to close up shop, take inventory and restock.
Yes. I know I mixed metaphors there. Try to overlook that.
This is something we might refer to as a ‘chronic’ stress pattern, and you can see (and probably have experienced) that this state depletes more than restores, and isn’t sustainable in the long-term.
So, coming back to your wonderful abdomen …
… when I hear the belly rumbling, the gall bladder squirting, and all that groovy stuff, that means your rest and digest system is kicking in, and your body is feeling safe enough to return your blood and Qi back to your organs so they can get their job done.
And that’s something to celebrate, rather than feel weird about, yes?
(This is also why some folks feel a little light-headed after a session - when muscles relax, blood pressure can drop a bit. Your tissues open up, and that’s a good reason to also drink water and take it easy just after a session.)
I hope this helps you put your mind (and belly) at ease.
(And if it makes you feel any better, it’s not unusual for my stomach to get into a kind of call-and-response thing with a client - especially if I just had a smoothie.:)
I’m Gina Loree Bryan, bodyworker, movement & meditation teacher, human.
I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. Feel free to forward to a friend, and thank you for respecting the thought and time I put into these writings by sharing them with all credit due to the author. :)
You can find my free movement and meditations videos on YouTube, and some of my rambly-er extrapolations on Substack. © 2023 - gina loree bryan
