Last week my son became very ill just after 4am. He started vomiting every 20 minutes or so, and when that abated, things started coming out the opposite end for the next several hours.

I knew what to do to help him feel better while his body did what it needed to do to kick out whatever offending critter decided to take up temporary residence in his tummy.

I also knew that the issue wasn’t the vomiting or the diarrhea.

It was something else in his gut that was making his body perform these not-so-lovely acrobatics.

I don’t share this story with you for laughs, because honestly, when anyone gets hit with some version of food poisoning, it’s anything but funny.

I share this with you because so often, when we have tummy troubles, we reach for things to treat the symptom we are experiencing, – whether it’s gas, constipation, heartburn, diarrhea, or a number of other gut issues.

But when our symptoms go away, most of us tend to stop thinking about it, and just resume life as usual

The common mistake most people make is they seldom look beyond the presenting symptoms to address whatever is causing the digestive distress in the first place.

In the case of food poisoning, once the immediate symptoms have gone away, it’s important to hydrate, and then eradicate the funky gut bacteria that caused the issue to begin with. You can use herbs or even pharmaceuticals to accomplish this.

Then it’s important to support the proliferation of healthy gut bacteria, so the healthy bacteria outnumber the unhealthy, which will then create balance and health in the gut.

Supporting yourself when you’re in an acute phase of distress is incredibly important – be it from gut issues, headaches, chronic pain, acute fatigue, or something else.

We can’t think straight or live our lives if we’re doubled over in pain, or we can’t see because of a migraine, or we have to go running to the toilet every 20 minutes for hours on end!

And…

If you want to avoid recurrences of the issues that sideline you, so you have long term relief, it’s important to address and heal the root cause.

In my 20+ years of working with bodies – as a massage therapist first, and then as a health coach – here is what I KNOW:

The root cause of nearly every health challenge so very often comes from one form of stress, or another – physical stress, mental and emotional stress, traumatic stress, environmental stress, systemic stress, and more – especially as that stress accumulates in our nervous systems and bodies, becoming chronic stress over time.

Of course there are many layers to any health issue. But very few practitioners talk about this essential piece and how important it is to address it.

The last thing I will ever do is tell you to “just relax” and “reduce stress” – as if that tells you how or what to do in any real way.

Stress of all kinds is unavoidable in our modern world. To complicate things even more, most women feel downright uncomfortable resting or relaxing – partly because it feels foreign to them, but also because it feels “wrong” somehow.

So, addressing the stress that is likely at the root of your gut or health issue requires you to look deeper, and bring in support.

It’s a call to pay attention to what your body is telling you. It is an invitation to start honoring yourself more, and to grow and stretch in ways that feel foreign to you.

What I can tell you is…
The relief you will feel…
The peace that will become your norm…
The vitality that will be yours…
All are simply priceless.

It’s worth doing the work to heal the root of your gut or health issue.

You are worth it. And the life that is waiting for you on the other side? It’s worth it, too. 💗