Gut-Brain Meditation

This is a gut-directed, imagery-based meditation to improve gut functioning and reduce stresses held in the digestive system. It includes tension release, imagery and intention setting. It is 18 minutes in length. Please get a comfortable position prior to playing, either lying or sitting in a supported space.

Transcript

Okay,

So I'm going to guide you through a meditation to calm your digestive system and the messages between the gut and the brain,

Encouraging flow and comfort through the system.

Before we begin,

Ensure you are in a comfortable position,

Either sitting or lying down,

But in a position where you can fully relax the body without any strain.

Make sure you are warm enough,

Using a blanket if you wish,

And setting up a space where you are looking after yourself,

Ready for this practice.

I'll begin after the chime.

Settling in and noticing the points of contact between your body and the surface that you are positioned on.

Noticing the touch of any fabrics on your skin,

The temperature of the air on your skin,

And the rate and rhythm of your breath.

Feeling yourself letting any stresses or strains go,

Giving yourself wholly to this practice for the next 15 to 20 minutes.

Bringing your attention to your breathing and taking some nice deep slow breaths in through your nose if you can,

And as if you are breathing all the way into the stomach.

Noticing the movement of your diaphragm as you breathe,

And any restriction you feel on its movement,

Either on the inhale or the exhale.

Just focusing on softening the belly,

Feeling the smooth movement of the diaphragm as you take these nice deep breaths all the way into the abdomen.

And we are just going to start to scan through the body,

Releasing tension and increasing comfort.

So starting at the top of your head,

Noticing any tightness in the muscles of the scalp and forehead,

And directing your breath to these areas to release tension.

Allowing that tension to drain down into your face,

Relaxing your eyes behind your eyelids.

Noticing any tightness you may be holding in your cheeks and jaw,

Relaxing your tongue inside your mouth.

Bringing your attention to the base of your skull,

Your neck and shoulders,

Where we often hold a lot of tension throughout the day without realising it.

And just notice any tightness or strain in these areas,

And direct your breath there to release gently as you exhale.

Allowing any tension to drain down into the arms,

Into the hands and fingers,

And release into the air around you.

Now bring your attention to your chest and heart area,

Noticing any tightness in the muscles,

And again any restriction of breath.

And expanding your awareness to creating space around the heart,

Opening up this area,

Releasing any tension down and through the body.

Moving down into the abdominal area,

Softening the belly further,

Breathing into the stomach again and letting go.

Releasing any tension down into the pelvis,

Sacrum,

Hips and buttocks,

Allowing the pelvis to have space and comfort,

And just letting that area go.

Then continuing to drain any tension down through the thighs,

Knees,

Calves and shins,

And releasing into the ankles,

Feet and toes,

And out through the ground beneath you and the air around you.

And finally bringing your attention to your spine,

From the base of the skull to the bottom of your spine,

Noticing any tension held here,

Breathing into the spinal area,

Helping to create space between the vertebrae to ease any discomfort,

And just allowing any tension to drain all the way from the top of the spine,

Out the bottom of the spine and into the surface beneath you.

Now I'd like us to focus more on your digestive tract,

Bringing your attention to however you visualize this.

This doesn't need to be anatomically correct,

Just how you see it,

From your mouth where food enters,

All the way to your anus where food products are expelled.

Notice any specific areas along this digestive journey where you immediately feel a sense of discomfort or dis-ease,

Either in the language or the thought of the area,

Or in the form of physical discomfort.

And acknowledge what kinds of messages this unease might be sending back to your brain through your nervous system,

Which may in turn be impacting on your digestive processes.

And as you visualize this,

Just connecting with how you usually eat and chew,

Setting intentions to slow down and eat mindfully,

Noticing your usual posture when eating and sitting up if possible whilst eating and for a while afterwards to allow the functioning of the digestive system,

And chewing your food fully.

Getting a sense of your esophagus.

Imagining the wave-like peristalsis of food traveling down the esophagus,

Which stems from your throat all the way down to the stomach.

Notice any tightness remaining in this area.

Recognize any feelings of discomfort,

Heat or inflammation.

And just spending a few moments focusing on this area and breathing in a soothing,

Cooling energy or colour to provide comfort,

Reduce any burning sensation and to reverse inflammation.

Enabling this breath and energy to calmly flow in the direction from the mouth to the stomach.

Now imagine your food or digestive juices flowing into the stomach,

Noticing any tightness remaining here and softening that area a little more.

Notice any discomfort in your stomach and breathe into this area again as you did with your esophagus,

Using colour and imagery to calm and soothe the area and to encourage the correct flow.

Acknowledging the free movement of the strong muscular walls of the stomach,

Unrestricted,

At ease.

Now take your attention to the small and large intestines.

You may or may not be able to distinguish between the two.

Again noticing any discomfort or feelings of inflammation or variants of temperature in this area.

Breathe into these areas,

Releasing any tension in the muscles,

Enabling the peristaltic action of the smooth muscles in the intestine walls to absorb what's valuable to us from our diets and to let go of our waste products.

All the way through the system,

Ready to release from the body.

Noticing any feelings of restriction in that flow and in that action of those smooth muscles and just breathing into those areas of restriction or discomfort.

And finally notice any holding on in the anus area.

Any holding of tension,

Which is preventing this release of waste from the body naturally.

And just acknowledging being ready to let go of this when it's comfortable to do so.

Now just starting to imagine the whole digestive tract as a river flowing to the sea,

Taking twists and turns as it goes but always flowing in one direction.

Perhaps using your breath and colour to enhance this image.

Allowing your breath to flow in through your nose or mouth and imagining exhaling through the bottom of your gut.

So in at the top and out through the bottom.

Continuing to imagine the breath as this flowing river through the body.

Feeling yourself releasing into the flow more and more easily.

And just following that movement of breath.

In from the top and out through the bottom of the body.

Flowing in one direction.

And whilst you're doing this,

Following the breath,

Just connecting with messages of calmness and health now being passed back to the brain via the nervous system.

And therefore the correct signals for the function of your gut being communicated by the brain back to the gut.

Recognising this gut-brain axis.

This two way system of constant messages being communicated between the gut and the brain.

The brain and the gut.

Noticing that you can influence these messages to improve your gut health and thereby your overall health and wellbeing.

Stress and tension interfere with these messages both directly and indirectly.

All the way from changing your eating patterns or the types of food that you might choose to digest.

To stress impacting on the actual functioning of your gut.

And recognising that you can have some control over these processes by bringing your attention to these areas.

And now just setting any intentions around your eating patterns,

Your management of stress and any other ways which could enable you to take some more control of these messages which may be interfering with your digestive functioning.

And any small changes you can make over the next few days to assist and support your body's natural processes.

Making these intentions realistic.

Just taking small steps to lead to greater goals in the future.

And softly bringing your attention back to your breath and your whole body.

Noticing how the body and mind feels and starting to return to breathing smoothly and deeply into your abdomen.

And beginning to prepare for the end of this practice for today.

Knowing that you can return to it again whenever you're ready.

And remembering the intentions that you've set today.

Noticing the points of contact with your body and the surface that you are sitting or lying on.

The fabric of your clothes on your skin.

The temperature of the room that you're in.

Being aware of any sounds,

Either internally or externally.

Just starting to introduce gentle movement by wiggling your fingers or your toes.

Before gently opening your eyes when you are ready.

And if you are lying down,

Taking care by rolling onto your side for a minute or so before getting up.

And if sitting already,

Taking care coming out of your position.

And trying to take a few more moments of peace to yourself before you completely return to your daily activities.

Namaste.

Reviews

Very helpful and truly resonated with me. I could feel movement in my gut during the meditation. I will come back and listen again and again. Thank you.

That was great thank you. Lots of nice imagery and things to focus on. I'm going to go and buy some good gut friendly fermented food and delay my breakfast this morning to give my digestive system a break, and move my body more! Thanks

Very helpful, practical meditation. Appreciated the focus on the gut.
Thank you.

Incredible. This is the first time I've ever found controllable relief.

Oh my. I received a very clear message from my intestines to Eat. More. Vegetables. lol. Thank you for this wonderful practice.
🥦🥕🥒🥬🫑🍠

Very nice. All of it. Liked the reminders about conscious mindful eating.

My stressed out system now feels relief and more ease. Adding this to my “go to” for wellness. Thank you!

Musicless meditation with a relaxing body scan and mindful focus on the digestive system.

Joanne’s voice and cues guided my awareness the whole time. Thank you!

Excellent morning meditation,Namaste with love and gratitude.💕😇

Helped to ease my stomach pain. Will use again. 🙏

A wonderfully calming meditation for those with digestive tract illnesses.

Exactly what I need, thank you! 🙏🏽💜

🙏 Pleasant voice

This was great! Ty!
Blessings to you.🙏🏾🙏🙏🏼🌻🕊🫶🌺

Wonderful. Really allowed me to connect to certain areas of my body to relax. Thank you!

Very helpful practice after having confusing IBS symptoms. I feel relaxed

Can feel the love and the calm energy through your voice. Thanks for guiding this.

Very beneficial

I really loved this meditation.