Ever heard this joke?
One day the different parts of the body were having an argument to see which should be in charge.
The brain said, “I do all the thinking so I’m the most important and I should be in charge.”
The eyes said, “I see everything and let the rest of you know where we are, so I’m the most important and I should be in charge.”
The hands said, “Without me we wouldn’t be able to pick anything up or move anything. So I’m the most important and I should be in charge.”
The stomach said, “I turn the food we eat into energy for the rest of you. Without me, we’d starve. So I’m the most important and I should be in charge.”
The legs said, “Without me we wouldn’t be able to move anywhere. So I’m the most important and I should be in charge.”
Then the rectum said, “I think I should be in charge.”
All the rest of the parts said, “You?!? You don’t do anything! You’re not important! You can’t be in charge.”
So the rectum closed up.
After a few days, the legs were all wobbly, the stomach was all queasy, the hands were all shaky, the eyes were all watery, and the brain was all cloudy. They all agreed that they couldn’t take any more of this and agreed to put the rectum in charge.
The moral of the story?
You don’t have to be the most important to be in charge, any a**hole can do it!
We all know our gut is an integral part of our body. Our guts, not just the rectum but also the large and small intestines, are invaluable to helping us feel GOOD. And when they don’t feel good, when they aren’t working well, NONE of our parts feel good.
I know this firsthand because I’ve had IBS my whole adult life. IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) is one of those catch-all diagnoses which means they’ve ruled out everything else and you still have issues. It often results in great abdominal discomfort: gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, cramps and spasms, pain, and misery. Poorly treated, it is no fun.
And treatment isn’t straightforward! Specialists give drugs that provide relief for some. For me, the super-gentle, non-habit-forming intestinal muscle relaxer (aka, laxative) simply stopped working. For many people, diet is a huge concern, with many otherwise healthy foods having to be eliminated (think whole grains or even whole food groups, like dairy). Coffee, the drink of the gods, is a gut irritant. And so is alcohol! All the fun can be sucked out of life with IBS.
More importantly, having all those unresolved gut problems can wreak havoc on your gut feelings too. Gut feelings as in INTUITION. How, you might ask, does having an irritated, agitated, stopped up, overactive gut affect our intuition?
Well, you see…we have energy centers throughout our body, often referred to as chakras. These areas are integral in the health of our energy body, as well as our physical body, allowing the universal energy (qi, chi, prana), which both surrounds us and is part of us, to flow smoothly. When it doesn’t flow smoothly, because of illness, stress, trauma, or other imbalances, we get blockages to our energy flow. These can be temporary or long-term, depending on the situation and what we do to resolve it.
One of these energy centers—the sacral chakra—is located directly over our gut. Whenever we have gut issues, that energy center is affected. The sacral chakra is the energy center involved in creation – both procreation and the creation of new ideas, thoughts, and behaviors. We often think of the third eye as the seat of our intuition, and it does play a primary role in being able to see clearly and with inner wisdom. However, the power of creation is also a natural connection to our intuition. Seeing clearly is only part of the puzzle; we must have enough support and strength from our creative center to bring forth our vision into the world.
This is an important point to remember, as so many people go into spiritual development thinking they need to focus on their upper chakras, especially the third eye and crown, in order to connect. In reality, it’s about BALANCE, like everything else in our lives. Not only balancing the chakras, but also balancing the body, mind, and spirit. It’s why we nurture ALL our parts!
Because I’ve suffered so much over the years with IBS, lack of balance, and their collective impact on my natural intuitive nature, I’ve cultivated a few tips that may help YOU to get your gut—and therefore, your intuition—back in order.
Eat a gut-friendly diet – There are many diets out there; the key is to find that one that works for you! Generally speaking, avoiding standard gut irritants and identifying any food sensitivities is crucial. These (sadly) most often include: coffee (and caffeine in general, so no sodas either), alcohol, greasy foods, spicy foods, acidic foods, dairy, and wheat/gluten. You may not need to completely eliminate all of these foods, however. Test each one out by eliminating for a week and then adding back in to see what causes irritation for your unique system. For me, I can handle dairy most of the time (which is great because I LOVE ice cream), but eliminating wheat has been super helpful. I also have sensitivity to eggs, so I avoid those too. It makes breakfast difficult (no bread, no eggs!) but my belly feels sooo much better when I tend to its needs and it helps keep my sacral chakra clear and flowing!
On a side note, I also recently learned that there’s such an ailment as “irritable bladder;” I know because I have it too! Apparently some bodies are just extra-sensitive. The dietary suggestions for this are pretty much the same as for irritable bowel, not surprisingly since they’re in the same area (apparently they often occur together…who knew?), which also means they’re both governed by the sacral chakra. The good part of nurturing your intuition is that you start to become much more aware of your body and can identify when something is off. I’ve known for a while I had something new going on, it just took some time figure out exactly what.
Balance all your chakras daily – You only have to know a few basics about chakras to help them stay balanced. You have 7 main chakras:
- Root (red) – Located at the base of your spine
- Sacral (orange) – Located in your lower abdomen
- Solar Plexus (yellow) – Located in your upper abdomen, just below your ribcage
- Heart (green) – Located at your heart
- Throat (sky blue) – Located at your throat
- Third eye (indigo) – Located in the middle of your forehead
- Crown (violet or white) – Located on top of your head
While sitting quietly, take several deep, slow breaths. Then bring your awareness to the root chakra and imagine breathing in cleansing red light into the root. Do this until the area feels clear, then move your awareness up to the sacral area and breathe in orange light. Continue through each chakra and color until you feel clear and refreshed, or until you feel like you’re finished. As an alternative, you can breathe white light into each chakra, or even simply breathe white light into your body, starting with your feet and moving up to your crown. This process should take 5-7 minutes, unless you feel the need to stay with an area longer.
It’s important to balance all your chakras, not just the ones that seem blocked. The key is balance and focusing only on one or two can cause them to become out of balance instead. You can put extra focus onto blocked chakras, but be sure to work with all of them during a session.
Flex your creative muscles – The gut is the area of creative energy – it needs to create! There are so many options to flex your creative muscles, and there’s not requirement to be a pro. If you like painting, drawing, or other visual arts, make time for that. If you like writing (ME, ME!), make that a priority. Perhaps you have some unfinished projects (or some you’ve never even started) that need to be brought to life. Don’t put it off one more day! These stagnant creative energies get stuck in the sacral area and they need to be released (and keep in mind, sex is a creative energy too…maybe you need more of that)!
As a reminder, it’s important to keep our gut happy in order to keep our intuition flowing! A happy gut grows our intuition, which in turn, helps us be more aware of what’s really going on with us. So eat some good foods, create some interesting things, and be sure to keep those chakras clear!
Not sure where to start? Reach out to me for additional tips, tools, or one-on-one chakra healing!
Until we connect again,
XOXO
P.S. If any part of this article resonated with you, please leave a comment below and share on your favorite social media site!