Emotional ties to our tummies? Yes! It’s a very difficult area to deal with… they have “let us down”… miscarriages, infertility, c-sections… past abuse, too much tummy fat, out of shape after babies… PAIN….so what happens? Sometimes the “connections” between the brain and tummy shut off and we can’t even make the tummy move. We can’t isolate it to even begin to rehab it.
Client yesterday. 16 years postpartum. Could not bring her tummy back to her spine. It would start. Stop. Shake. Release. She closed her eyes and really tried to concentrate – it would not “cooperate”. How can I not make my tummy move?? Emotionally she had disconnected from her tummy. Did not even want to think about it. Look at it. It had let her down. She had been abused as a child. She had had four abdominal surgeries. Diastasis Recti. There was a lot of pain held in that area.
So I stopped her and told her to just begin some abdominal massage over her abdominal area. From the sides in. Circles. Embrace it. Love it. And then the tears started flowing. Years of pain came to the surface; years of denial. It’s hard, but so necessary. If you don’t release it and deal with the pain, it stays with you. We cried; smiled; hugged; and her tummy stopped shaking and started slowly to steadily move in and out at a steady pace. Some of the pain was gone and finally she could begin afresh to love her tummy and her tummy could love her back and start supporting her in all the ways intended when it was created and whole.
I am humbled and blessed to be allowed to be let in to such a deep, painful and sacred place on a daily basis to help women heal. To be trusted. I know she will probably go home refreshed yet drained, and will go through this many more times in her own solitude as she deals with the past, but we need to let it out, deal with the pain, then let it go to heal.
If you are in that situation, learn to love your tummy; embrace it; it is not your enemy and wants to rehab and hold you strong and tall, but then you can begin to walk the road to recovery and health. Remember, your tummy wants to heal and work for you, it just needs a little help… and love.
Emotional ties to our tummies? Yes! It’s a very difficult area to deal with… they have “let us down”… miscarriages, infertility, c-sections… past abuse, too much tummy fat, out of shape after babies… PAIN….so what happens? Sometimes the “connections” between the brain and tummy shut off and we can’t even make the tummy move. We can’t isolate it to even begin to rehab it.