Tools to restore gut health damaged by Lyme disease or chronic illness
Self-care rituals to soothe your gut
Many people with Lyme disease and other forms of chronic illness need to restore healthy gut function in order to truly heal. For me, soothing and restoring my gut is an ongoing practice that I’ve come to embrace and enjoy.
There are a billion probiotics, herbs, and supplements out there to support gut health, and just as many people writing about them. Definitely take (and rotate) those probiotics! And check out slippery elm for bowel motility, and blackberry root tincture for loose stools. But for the rest of this post, I want to focus on other tools to support gut health naturally, such as bodywork and meditation. They are just as potent as supplements, and tend to get overlooked.
The following self-care rituals are my favorites for optimal gut health and happiness. Anyone can use them. They help the body stabilize and self-heal – restoring its own microbial balance. I mix and match on any given day, incorporating these practices into my daily routine.
Castor oil self-massage and hot packs
Castor oil is said to promote bile production in the liver, thereby boosting detoxification. It’s also said to aid digestion and speed elimination. I find it incredibly soothing to massage castor oil over my entire belly, and follow that with a hot pad. I use this practice whenever my belly feels out of whack.
Use a circular motion that follows the path of digestion – moving your hands up the right side of your abdomen, over the top from right to left, and down the left side. Use whatever level of pressure feels right to you, and explore both larger and smaller circles, focused wherever you need attention. If it feels soothing, you’re on the right path.
The ascending colon runs up the right side of your abdomen, starting at the very bottom below your hip bone (this is where you find your appendix). The transverse colon runs along from right to left just above your belly button. Above it lies the truly gigantic liver, covering the whole right upper side of your abdomen. Your actual stomach snuggles in right under your lower rib cage roughly in the center, with your spleen and pancreas off to the upper left. Your descending colon runs down the left side of your belly, and heads for the exit. Right above your pubic bone lies your bladder, and behind that (if you’re a lady) is your uterus. Wherever you feel discomfort, there is probably some stagnation. Spend some time with the stickier areas. Gentle pressure, diaphragmatic breathing, and your loving attention will go a long way toward releasing stuck fascia, lymph, emotions, and toxicity. You may hear some gurgling and feel movement in your organs. This is a good sign!
When you’re done massaging in the oil, place a hot pad on your stomach and chillax (wear an old t-shirt you don’t mind staining).
Tuning forks or tapping the third chakra
If you have tuning forks at home (I like the Acutonics forks) they are wonderful for stimulating acupuncture points or chakras. If you don’t have tuning forks, you can just gently tap with your fingertips.
To support gut health, place the activated tuning fork, or your fingertips, right over your third chakra, at your solar plexus. You don’t need to be exact with this point, it’s a large energy center, associated with digestion and self-empowerment. You can use the forks or tapping alone, or right after you’ve done the above self-massage. Sound the fork or tap for as long as feels right, breathing deeply and relaxing.
Ampcoil support for the vagus nerve
I love my Ampcoil! Yes, the technology is expensive, but you can rent one, or the company will hook you up with a practitioner (like myself) who can give you a demo. I bought a used Ampcoil a year ago, and it has really improved my symptoms of Lyme disease, including my gut health.
The Ampcoil uses PEMF, or pulsed electromagnetic frequencies, to help restore healthy function to different systems in the body. A few of the coil’s “journeys” are specifically targeted toward soothing the nervous system, bringing it out of a “fight or flight” response, and into the relaxed state associated with healing. These journeys seem to soothe the vagus nerve, which directly affects digestion and gut harmony.
I’m sure other PEMF devices can also be used to support harmony in the gut, vagus nerve, and general nervous system. It’s my hope that this technology will become more widely available and less expensive as time goes on. It’s completely non-invasive – it functions simply by reminding different biological systems of their own healthy vibrational frequencies. Restoring these frequencies profoundly increases wellbeing.
Meditation
Whether you’re using self-massage, tuning forks, or PEMF, a little added visualization goes a long way. Use your imagination to remind your body how you want it to feel – a smooth, calm digestive system, an easy belly, soft and relaxed. Visualize these feelings of softness and harmony as you massage your belly, or as you use tuning forks or PEMF. Your brain is powerful, and your body will follow your imagination.
If you need a little guidance, try my Anxiety Relief Meditation. It follows the path of the vagus nerve from the brain to the belly.
Thank you so much for reading! Here’s to a peaceful, safe, and deeply restorative 2021 for us all.
Inside your center are a million stars,
Shona