Ayurveda refers to digestion as the key to health and longevity and we need to tend to our digestive fire, or agni, everyday. When our digestive fire gets too cold, our digestion becomes sluggish and can lead to constipation, gas, and toxicity. When our digestive fire gets too hot, our digestion is too fast and can lead to diarrhea, acid reflux and poor nutrient absorption.

When you think about all the stress in your life - does it feel like a good thing or a bad thing? We tend to have negative feelings about “stress/stressors” in general - and honestly, it makes sense.

But we have to recognize that our body is built to handle certain kinds of stress. Our endocrine system is set up to quickly respond to a crisis and then bounce back.

If you have found yourself in the cycle of trauma, indigestion and eventual microbiome imbalance, you can reverse this cycle. A big part of rebuilding our microbial health lies with food. Our food choices choices can relieve our symptoms as they also reshape our gut microbiome and trauma response.

When we have experienced trauma, our brain communicates that message to our gut via the vagus nerve. This can result in symptoms of IBS, stomach ulcers and more. But when the messages of trauma continue repeatedly, that long term disruption can have lasting effects on our gut microbiome.

2020 was a heavy year in so many ways that it feels nearly impossible to be strong enough to reflect and hold all we have been through. Add continued uncertainty around when we will be safe to resume person-person interaction and this ritual that we have done for years, holding the old and the new, becomes overwhelming.

When I felt overwhelm and uncertainty stirring in my belly and chest, I also noticed a voice singing “na na na, na na na”. When I slowed down to hear the song playing in my head, the lyrics below were loud and clear*:

I'm starting with the <human> in the mirror
I'm asking <them> to change <their> ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you want to make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

~ Glenn Ballard & Seida Garrett