Hello,
I'm Charlotte Watts,
And this is an excerpt from my book,
Yoga Therapy for Digestive Health,
Covering the microbiome and relations with stress,
Immunity,
And of course,
Yoga.
The microbiome.
Recently,
Our knowledge of the importance of the gut environment,
The microbiome,
For all aspects of our health and even psychological states,
Has increased.
The intestines contain a world of organisms that have evolved along with us,
And that we even share with our primate cousins.
In the gut,
There are about three to four pounds of live bacteria,
More cells than in the whole of our skin.
We are home to trillions of bacteria,
And in the healthy digestive tract,
About 80% of the bacteria are friendly,
And 20% are pathogenic or harmful.
The beneficial or probiotic bacteria help keep the bad bacteria,
Like clostridium,
And other colonizers,
Like yeasts,
For example,
Candida orbicans,
In check.
Low probiotic bacteria levels are associated with depression and fatigue states,
Whereas a healthy gut flora can modulate the hypersensitivity that may come from chronic exposure to stress.
Our microbiome is now believed to be a large part of the signaling mechanisms up through the gut-brain axis,
Where its communication has been shown to play a vital role in healthy brain function.
Not only does stress affect the physiological function of the gut,
But it also changes the composition of and reduces the microbiota or gut flora.
This can then be relayed via the microbiome-gut-brain axis,
Possibly one of the ways that the brain receives the perception of danger.
Lowered levels of beneficial bacteria affect psychological health,
Adaptability,
And resilience,
In other words,
How we cope with stress.
According to one study,
There has been a rethinking of how the central nervous system and periphery communicate,
Showing that commensal bacteria are important to central nervous system function,
And both neuroplasticity-related systems,
Neurotransmitter systems,
Are influenced by the gut-brain axis,
Foster,
McVeigh,
And Neufeld,
2013.
The word psychobiotics refers to the huge influence that probiotics,
And therefore digestive tract health,
May exert on mood and stress responses.
It is no coincidence that many people with mental health issues suffer from digestive disruption.
Research has demonstrated significant improvements in depression,
Anger,
And anxiety,
As well as lowered levels of cortisol,
Among otherwise healthy adults taking a daily probiotic supplement as compared with a placebo.
This data suggests not only that chronic stress can change the diversity of microflora in the gut,
But also that the quality and health of friendly gut bacteria may promote mental health and well-being.
This is all bound up in our embryological journey.
We are sterile without bacteria in the womb and are first ideally colonized by the protective probiotic bacteria in our mother's vagina.
We continue to receive her immune capacity and information from her breast,
Milk,
And skin.
This postnatal gut microbial colonization sets the scene for life and has a long-lasting impact on our neural processing of sensory information,
Particularly regarding the stress response.
The health of our burgeoning bacterial colonization sets how we perceive the safety of our world.
This is how our bodies and minds learn how to calibrate reactivity levels.
The hypothalamus-pertuitary-adrenal axis,
From the brain to the adrenals,
Has been shown to be more reactive when beneficial bacteria is low,
Resulting in poor adaptation to stressors,
Stress-reactive inflammation,
Persistent epithelial or gut wall dysfunction,
And increased pain sensitivity.
We do not need to blame our past,
But rather use knowledge of how the gut environment is part of our emotional world to help bring it back to being whole.
Stress and the gut.
Listening to the whispers before they become shouts.
As stress,
Trauma,
And unsafe feelings affect our microbiome-gut-brain axis,
We can see how yoga can support digestion through the nervous system,
Where physical and subtle,
Conscious and unconscious,
Meet.
We have seen how stress muddles our connection with the food we seek and choose,
But it also has further reaching consequences cascading down into the digestive tract.
Health issues are issues of survival,
And more so than those at our central being,
Our digestive system.
We are either in defence or growth mode.
We cannot be in both.
Breaking down food to regain energy and constituents for growth and healing is halted as a long-term plan for times of safety and ease.
Only short-term survival strategies are prioritised when the mind-body feels under threat.
Within the field of psychoneuroimmunology,
It is theorised that modern stressors are directed in towards our guts and brain,
Leaving our immune system barely aware of the skin and other body parts on the periphery.
The self-massage of floor work in yoga brings attention to the periphery and redirects the immune system back out to the skin,
Our first barrier defence.
The autonomic nervous system.
In yoga,
As we respond to breathing signals,
We are tuning into the expressions of our autonomic nervous system,
Which unconsciously regulates the body.
It used to be believed that we had no control over its actions,
But research on yogis in the early 20th century demonstrated that we could affect its expressions,
Like heart rate and muscle tension,
Through conscious focus and breathing.
The sympathetic nervous system engages the stress responses,
And this is opposed by the parasympathetic nervous system that takes us to a resting state.
Meditative practices engage the parasympathetic nervous system and help to reset tendencies for heightened reactions.
The sympathetic nervous system is referred to as the fight-flight-freeze response,
Although the freeze response can be discussed separately in relation to polyvagal theory.
The parasympathetics can be referred to in any combination of the following terms that describe their soothing and connective nature.
Rest,
Digest,
Detoxify,
Tend and befriend.
Too much doing or achieving can cause a state of sympathetic dominance,
Where constant alert may lead to burnout.
In many studies,
Yoga has been shown to allow the self-soothing mechanisms of the opposing and calming parasympathetic nervous system.
Addressing this heightened nervous system setting can have a knock-on effect on other expressions of the same root cause,
Sleep issues,
Addictive tendencies,
Mood swings,
And the ability to act reflectively rather than impulsively under stress.
If we live in a purely parasympathetic state,
We can become listless,
Demotivated,
And unresponsive to stress.
This is often seen in those with chronic fatigue syndrome or ME and burnout,
Where a tired body enforces recovery mode.
Too much parasympathetic activity from depleted adrenals can damage the systems it normally supports,
For instance digestion.
Finding equilibrium between stimulation and regular rest balances these systems and strengthens the ability to manage stress.
Most people who are out of balance lurch between the parasympathetic and sympathetic dominance,
And any of the symptoms can be experienced by both digestive,
Immune,
Skin,
And hormonal imbalances,
Insomnia,
Fatigue,
Difficulty focusing and listening,
Poor body awareness,
And depression.
Stress in the gut.
The stress response immediately diverts energy,
Oxygen,
And nutrients from the gut and skin towards the brain and muscle.
In survival mode,
Digestion is non-essential.
While digestion initially slows down when stress hits,
Ongoing and chronic stress can cause spasm or constriction of gut muscles or uncomfortable cycles of diarrhoea and constipation.
Although less information moves from brain to gut,
These voices can be very loud and have the capacity to override.
Much anxiety,
Fear,
Or overwhelm is expressed physically in the belly.
Nausea,
Pain,
Stomach churning,
Tightness of the diaphragm,
And breathing or butterflies.
Solar plexus nerves in the abdomen,
Where we can often feel stress acutely,
Also contain cells that nourish neurons and are involved in immune response and the protection of the blood-brain barrier.
The corticoreleasing factors,
A cortisol-related family of peptides,
Coordinate the body's stress responses and have a direct effect on the gut.
Through modulation of inflammation,
Increase of gut permeability,
Contribution to visceral hypersensitivity,
Increased perception to pain,
And changes to gut motility.
The catabolic or breaking down nature of cortisol,
Combined with less oxygen and nutrients available for the digestive tract,
Mean that continual healing of the vast expanse of the gut lining can be compromised by chronic stress.
Inflammation within the bowel lining may make accessing and feeling core muscles difficult.
Stilling the agitated mind,
The research.
Much of modern yoga philosophy is based on the yoga sutras of Patanjali,
Written around 400 CE.
Where the second sutra or thread states,
Yoga is the mastery of the activities of the mind field.
We now know how this inherent wisdom is so effective.
Awareness of the body engages the right visual spatial hemisphere of the brain,
Dampening the left brain's internal commentary,
The monkey mind.
Practicing postural yoga with an emphasis on increasing interoception,
Noticing and feeling the inner landscape,
Helps body awareness that switches off left brain chatter.
Being with both physical and emotional sensations as they arise through a mindful physical practice helps those with overstimulated inner voices to be with their responses without overly identifying with them.
The resilience and adaptation that yoga can develop has been shown to help reduce emotional interference when we have fast reactions from the fear-based and emotional limbic system,
Part of our more ancient and survivalist brain.
A 2017 study states,
Yoga may help improve self-regulatory skills and lower anxiety.
The yoga group studied presented lower emotional interference and rated emotional images as less unpleasant and reported lower anxiety scores relative to controls.
The gut immune stress connection.
The main anti-inflammatory part of our immune system is housed in the mucous linings of the digestive tract,
Lungs and urinary tract.
This is responsible for immune modulation and regulated by secretory antibodies,
Or SIGA.
Low levels of SIGA,
Often related to poor integrity of the gut mucosa,
Can result in poor signaling from the gut and result in inappropriate immune responses like reacting to self in autoimmune diseases or overreaction contributing to inflammatory conditions such as eczema,
Asthma,
Hay fever,
Migraines,
Arthritis and psoriasis.
Research has shown that one angry stressful episode of five minutes can cause an SIGA drop lasting up to five hours.
As SIGA is the only true anti-inflammatory system our body has,
Low levels can lead to chronic immune conditions.
Inflammation processes use up an enormous amount of energy and can contribute to much of the fatigue felt by stress.
Continual and chronic stress has been shown to reduce levels of probiotic bacteria and secretory IGA,
Increasing the tendency towards inflammatory cytokine response.
Cytokines are immune messengers that raise the alert as the inflammatory cascade begins and can give us flu-like symptoms.
Long-term stress can cause poor immune modulation or inappropriate immune responses,
Leaving us more open to invasion from pathogenic bacteria and viruses.
Inflammation is part of the stress response and stimulates the HPA axis,
The hypothalamus-pertuitary-adrenal axis,
Creating a vicious cycle via the gut.
Inflammatory bowel disease has been shown to induce anxiety-like symptoms that are likely mediated via vagal sensory neurons.
The psychoneuroimmunological viewpoint.
Every emotion has a biological correlate.
Dr.
Gaber-Marte,
2012.
Psychoneuroimmunology or PNI is the study of the interaction between psychological processes and the nervous and immune systems.
This extends into all body systems,
None of which are actual biology and consciousness view as separate.
The immune system is part of the nervous system,
Part of the gut.
As with fascia and muscle,
We are one systemic continuum.
This is the well-researched science of mind-body medicine.
PNI takes an interdisciplinary approach and one of its most well-known proponents,
Dr.
Gaber-Marte,
Outlines its use in understanding the emotional connections with disease.
Where modern reductionist science removes the dirty business of emotions from the mechanics of the body,
More systemic and even quantum viewpoints show that our whole life experience not only affects,
But is also never uncoupled from all body system expressions and how these might manifest as dis-ease.
This is an epigenetic rather than a genetic stance.
Where genetics would say our genes program everything we will be,
Epigenetics,
Where epi means above,
States that while we start with some genetic predispositions,
It is all aspects of our lives that shape how our whole beings respond.
This fits perfectly with the yoga model of Samskaras.
Trauma is a large player in cultivating this internal landscape and how it plays out in our behaviours.
Trauma and the belly.
From a PNI perspective,
Trauma is not something outside of disorder or symptomology.
This supports the yogic model of providing a framework to reconnect with the whole.
This is not to fix or solve what may be broken or wrong,
But to nurture the entire being to health and healing.
Holism.
From the root word hold.
Trauma has been historically categorised and treated as a purely psychological issue,
With labels such as post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD,
Acute stress disorder,
Depression,
Anxiety orders like panic attacks and obsessive compulsive patterns,
Addictions and eating disorders,
As well as borderline personality and associative disorders,
Given to describe what is well researched to be a full physiological response,
A reliving in this moment of an event or felt state that came before.
For those with trauma,
These responses are the only way their more primal,
Instinctive responses can make sense of the present.
When survival mechanisms have us being hyper-vigilant to the external world,
Exteroception rather than interoception,
There is no place or space for reflection,
Weighing up options and mostly the choice itself.
In a traumatised state,
Physical,
Mental,
Emotional and relational choices are removed.
We act from immediate protective gut to brain instinct.
While previously recognised within such large events,
The definition of trauma has opened up to include anything that overwhelms our being to the point that we can't cope,
Including trauma from adverse childhood experiences.
The point at which overwhelm occurs is subjective.
Now those who work in a more systemic mind,
Body and non-reductionist perspective recognise that any trauma,
Any stress or in fact any event that happens to us is wholly physiologically.
The vagus nerve of compassion.
The mind-body safety that is the antithesis of stress and trauma demands an understanding of the soothing potential of the vagus nerve.
This brings us back to the gut-brain axis as the route to yoga as a support for digestive health,
A path that is relevant whether trauma or any level of stress are present.
The vagus nerve is our tenth cranial nerve and part of our older nervous system,
Our primal patterning.
It is the only cranial nerve that reaches down and out of the skull into the body,
Going from the back of the head into the base of the skull,
Down into the solar plexus and from the spine into the digestive and reproductive organs.
The vagus wraps around our heart and core areas via the solar plexus,
Creating a channel between these seats of compassion and awareness.
Anxiety is the vagus nerve disengaging.
20% of the fibres of the vagus nerve control the organs that maintain our bodies.
Heart,
Digestion,
Breathing,
Glands,
Etc.
The other 80% of its fibres send information from gut to brain.
Its whole channel through the brain to the pelvis is the route for the soul scrape sacrum polarity that we can explore through yoga asana.
The awareness we can cultivate is tuning into the visceral feelings and gut instincts that are literally emotional intuitions transferred up the brain via the vagus.
As the vagus picks up on signals moving top down and bottom up,
There is the opportunity to bring these to consciousness and move through samskaras.
In a very real sense,
Mindful practices can rewire our minds and full physiological responses through this neuroplasticity.
The vagus has the opposite effect and function to the stress response,
A reset after the stressor has passed where we move from reactive to reflective states into parasympathetic.
It is often referred to as the nerve of compassion.
The fight or flight stress response is activated from the brain down to the adrenals to stay alert and respond.
This stems from the newer mammalian midbrain.
The vagus initiates the opposite parasympathetic nervous system activity to calm the body,
Rest,
Digest,
Heal and detoxify via the lower primal reptilian brain.
The HPA axis,
Hypothalamus,
Pituitary,
Adrenal axis is fueled by adrenaline and the main neurotransmitter of the vagus is acetylcholine,
Responsible for memory,
One reason why stress or trauma can impair recall and remembering.
Soothing and calming all the body systems is signaled via our vagus,
Where we can also dream,
Learn,
Reflect and think from a more open and creative perspective.
Coming back to this naturally meditative state after time in sympathetic tone means we can digest optimally.
Blood can flow fully to the skin,
High blood pressure can be lowered and tension through body tissues can relax.
I hope you enjoyed that excerpt from the book.
The full references and diagrams are found within the book Yoga Therapy for Digestive Health.
Thank you.
