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«Where it is thin, there it breaks.» If the state of stress persists for a long time, then sooner or later it begins to affect health. Mature people know their «thin», vulnerable place in the body, which primarily responds to stress. For some, these are “female” or “male” diseases, for others, the head starts to hurt regularly … And for some, it affects digestion. What to do in this situation?
A special nuisance of «digestive» stress is that it comes, as it seems, once and for all. Feelings of bloating and pain in the abdomen, heartburn, stool disorders can accompany a person for years. And very often nothing can be done with these symptoms: they go down a little, and then return, it’s worth getting nervous again.
None of the drugs alone work. A systematic approach is required, and this is what it looks like in traditional Chinese medicine.
Food
People who are faced with digestive problems very quickly give up junk food (heavy, high-calorie and unhealthy food) and try to eat right. As a rule, «healthy eating» means a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits — which, oddly enough, only make it worse. Why?
Taoist doctors believe that with such problems, the fire of digestion “fades out” — that is, there is little strength in the body to digest food. Following this logic, the body needs food, the digestion of which requires a minimum of energy costs. And fresh vegetables and fruits are the most indigestible foods.
Therefore, according to the logic of Chinese doctors, in a healthy diet with digestive problems, only heat-treated foods should be present: boiled, baked, or better boiled during long cooking. Rich soups, broths, aspics, boiled cereals are excellent.
Fruits and vegetables may also be present, but in baked, boiled or steamed form. To get the necessary vitamins, you need to add seeds, nuts, and the same dried berries and fruits to the dishes. Or drink compotes.
According to the traditions of Chinese medicine, such a diet should be maintained for a sufficiently long time, up to six months. The digestive tract needs to rest, «reboot» and restore its functions in a natural way.
Dream
In addition, a person who suffers from gastrointestinal problems that are exacerbated by stress needs to get enough sleep. According to Chinese medicine, we get energy from sleep, food and breathing. And when food does not give us enough strength due to the fact that substances are poorly absorbed, it is necessary to compensate for this with sleep.
If your body requires more sleep than usual due to digestive problems, know that this is a natural process. And this requirement must be succumbed to in order not to worsen the situation. Let’s get enough sleep at least on weekends, and on weekdays try to go to bed as early as possible.
Emotions
In Taoist medicine, any physical ailment is associated with one or another deviation in the emotional state. People who suffer from digestive problems, on an emotional level, in the same way, cannot “digest” what is happening to them. Hence the impossibility to express emotions, to explain what exactly one does not like in this or that situation.
For example, a person can endure for a long time, and then explode — and it will seem to others that he was offended «from scratch». He didn’t say before that he didn’t like something!
In this case, various exercises for verbalizing experiences are suitable for correcting the emotional state. For example, try keeping a diary, cognitive psychotherapy or acting classes, where they teach you how to find forms of public expression for your emotions, can give excellent results.
Active points
What exercises will be useful for people whose digestive response to stress has become “habitual”? In Chinese medicine, the point of the twelfth thoracic vertebra is associated with digestion — it is located opposite the solar plexus zone. To normalize the processes, any exercises to give mobility to this area will be useful.
They are usually associated with:
• with rotation — turns left / right on the area of the twelfth chest. Such exercises can be found, for example, in Qigong for the spine Sing Shen Juang.
• with diaphragm manipulation — with giving it mobility, increasing the amplitude of its movement. The fact is that the quality of the movement of the diaphragm depends on the blood supply to all digestive organs. She, as it were, «massages» what lies under her. And if this does not happen, then the blood supply to the stomach, spleen, and intestines decreases.
These exercises are usually associated with holding the breath. For example, in female and male Taoist practices, they are done on a full exhalation, thus the diaphragm is pulled up, providing an effective outflow of blood from the digestive organs and toning the flow of new, oxygen-rich blood to the organs.
Remember that the secret to success is consistency. Proper nutrition, sleep, exercise. Plus, if necessary, certain drugs prescribed by a doctor — and gradually the digestive system will return to normal, active functioning.