Gut Feelings: Digestive Health & Energy Healing

Angelique Flynn
May 1
4 min read

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Let me introduce you to Rachel. She’s 47, rocks Lululemon like a second skin, has a Peloton leaderboard name you wouldn’t dare challenge, and is fiercely devoted to her green juice—with ginger, thank you very much. But lately, Rachel’s been feeling like a bloated stranger in her own body.

Despite her kale addiction and relentless wellness hustle, her gut is a wreck. She wakes up feeling puffy, craves sugar and wine like clockwork at 4 PM, and has developed an unsettling intimacy with the probiotic aisle at Whole Foods. Her doctor says everything looks "fine," but her intuition says otherwise.

Welcome to modern womanhood.

In your 40s and 50s, your gut often becomes a battleground where hormones, stress, immunity, and unresolved emotional crap duke it out. And guess what? That bloating? That midsection rebellion? The brain fog, mood swings, mysterious fatigue? That’s not just "getting older." That’s your belly waving a red flag.

The Gut: Your Second (and Arguably Smarter) Brain

Let’s geek out for a second: the gut has over 100 million neurons and produces about 90% of your serotonin. Yup, your feel-good neurotransmitter is getting brewed in your belly—not your brain. That means poor gut health can tank your mood, mess with your sleep, and make you feel emotionally wobbly.

Serotonin regulates mood, sleep, appetite, digestion, memory, and sexual desire. Low serotonin levels are linked to depression, anxiety, and IBS-like symptoms. When your gut is inflamed or imbalanced, serotonin production gets thrown off—and so does your mental health.

And then there’s the vagus nerve—that wild, wonderful superhighway connecting your brain and your gut. It’s how your body and mind gossip behind your back. Chronic stress strangles the vagus nerve's tone, leading to slower digestion, heightened inflammation, and emotional dysregulation.

“The vagus nerve… modulates immune response, gut motility, and inflammation—all of which affect your mood.” – Dr. Stephen Porges, Polyvagal Theory

So when Rachel says, “I feel off,” she’s not being dramatic. Her body is literally misfiring messages between her brain and gut.

Diagram of the Vagus nerve connecting the brain and the digestive system.

The Gut-Immune Connection

70–80% of your immune system lives in your gut. When your microbiome is out of whack, your immune defenses fizzle out, leaving you susceptible to everything from colds to chronic inflammation. Add hormonal changes, sleep deprivation, and stress—and boom—you’ve got the recipe for low-grade misery that’s hard to name but impossible to ignore.

Your gut microbiome—trillions of bacteria and microbes—acts like a microscopic army. They digest food, make vitamins (hello, B12 and K!), protect against pathogens, and regulate inflammation.

Disrupt them with stress, antibiotics, or too much sugar, and they retaliate: bloating, brain fog, fatigue, food sensitivities, skin issues, and weakened immunity.

“The state of your microbiome is the state of your health.” – Dr. Mark Hyman

An imbalance in the gut microbiota, known as dysbiosis, has been linked to various health issues, including inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, and mental health disorders. Maintaining a diverse and balanced microbiome is crucial for overall health.

The History of Gut Health Wisdom

Ancient Ayurvedic texts thousands of years old talk about "Agni," or digestive fire, as the root of all health. When Agni is strong, digestion, assimilation, and elimination flow. When it’s weak or excessive, toxins (Ama) build up, and disease creeps in.

Charaka Samhita, one of Ayurveda’s foundational texts, states:

“The fire for digestion and metabolism is the reason for lifespan, complexion, strength, health, enthusiasm, and mental clarity.”

Western medicine is catching up. In the last decade, journals like Nature and The Lancet have linked gut health to autoimmune conditions, mental health, and chronic disease. What Ayurveda knew intuitively, science now proves with PET scans and double-blinds.

Solutions That Don’t Suck

You don’t need another diet or another app. You need a mind-body rewire. Here’s what that looks like:

1. Rewire Your Nervous System

Vagus nerve activation is the MVP of digestive repair. Think: humming, singing, gargling, slow breathing, yoga poses that twist and release, and even Reiki. These stimulate the vagus nerve and improve gut motility and mood regulation.

2. Regulate Your Rhythm

Ayurveda calls this Dinacharya—your daily rituals. Simple anchors like tongue scraping, sipping hot water, or eating lunch at the same time daily can stabilize digestion and hormones more than trendy biohacks ever could.

3. Real Rest, Not Just Sleep

Rachel sleeps 7 hours but wakes up drained. Because sleep isn’t enough if your nervous system never truly turns off. Restorative yoga, Yoga Nidra, and Reiki can reset that overdrive and rebuild from burnout. (Learn more about Ayurveda & Sleep here.)

4. Embodied Healing

We store emotions in our tissues (hi, psoas!). Belly massage, intuitive movement, chakra-focused breathwork—these aren’t “extras.” They’re how we digest life, not just food.

5. Herbal Support That Works

The Ayurvedic proverb says it best: “When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is not needed.” But when you need a nudge:

Triphala: For gentle daily detox and bowel regularity

Ashwagandha: For nervous system support and hormonal resilience

Ginger + Fennel: To soothe bloat and improve Agni

Adaptogens like Tulsi or Shatavari: For emotional calm and hormonal harmony

(Psst: I’ll drop affiliate links into the Sacred Belly follow-up email.)

6. Connection

Healing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The Sacred Belly Workshop isn’t just about learning—it’s about experiencing healing in a space where you’re seen, held, and gently reminded: you’re not broken. You’re becoming.

Photo of 4 women wearing white, sitting in a circle with their hands on their bellies. Candles in the middle of the circle, big window behind them. Words read: Sacred Belly, A Women's Wellness Workshop, May 9, 2025, 6-8 PM, Newtown, PA.

Sacred Belly: A Women's Wellness Workshop

Join us on May 9th from 6–8 PM at the Whole Image Wellness office in Newtown for an intimate, transformative workshop that gets to the root of your belly’s truth.

You’ll experience: