Breathing plays a significant role in digestion, with stress levels directly impacting IBS. Stress-sensitive disorders like IBS can be aggravated without effective stress management techniques.

• In this episode I cover diaphragmatic breathing, alternate nostril breathing, box breathing, 4-7-8 breathing, and belly breathing with visualisation
• Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also known as tapping - While evidence for EFT's efficacy in managing IBS stress is limited, incorporating stress-relief practices into daily life can foster a virtuous cycle of improved well-being and digestion.

Tapping Points:

1. Top of the Head: Tap gently with your fingertips on the crown of your head.
2. Eyebrow: Tap at the beginning of your eyebrow, right above your nose.
3. Side of the Eye: Tap on the bone bordering the outer corner of your eye.
4. Under the Eye: Tap on the bone beneath your eye.
5. Under the Nose: Tap above your upper lip, right beneath your nose.
6. Chin: Tap beneath your bottom lip, above your chin.
7. Collarbone: Tap just below your collarbone.
8. Under the Arm: Tap on the side of your body, about 4 inches below your armpit.

Episodes

• Ep 4 - Controlling IBS with your Mind

Work with me

• Group Gut Reset - https://www.goodnessme-nutrition.com/group-course-ibsc/
• 1:1 Gut Reset - https://www.goodnessme-nutrition.com/consultations/

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Are you breathing properly?

2

Did you know how you breathe can

actually impact on your digestion?

3

This might all sound a bit far fetched,

but actually the way we take air into

4

our body and out of our body is a

result of how we're feeling and can

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actually influence how we're feeling.

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IBS is a stress sensitive disorder,

but knowing that doesn't help you

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manage it unless you know some ways

to bring your stress levels down.

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In this episode of the Inside Knowledge

podcast, I'll run through some techniques

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for better breathing to help calm

your digestion so you can reduce down

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your symptoms of bloating, abdominal

pain and erratic bowel movements.

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Welcome to episode 48 of the

Inside Knowledge podcast.

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For people with IBS, I'm Anna Mapson.

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This episode is all about some breathing

techniques and things that you can

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put into practice to improve your

levels or your experience of stress.

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IBS is not necessarily related to stress,

although in many people, the psychological

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stress of having IBS can also then

Contribute to worsening of symptoms.

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So it's almost like it exacerbates

the symptoms that you would've

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had from another reason.

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But sometimes people's IBS is purely

down to stress and how they are rushing

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around in life, not really stopping

eating on the go, feeling very anxious

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repeatedly again and again day after day.

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This can lead to changes

in our gut microbiome.

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It can lead to changes in

how we're digesting our food.

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So I'm going to just run through some

different breathing techniques that

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you might be able to put into practice.

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Now what I'm not saying in this episode

is just do these and your stress will

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melt away because although that would be

lovely, it's It's probably not realistic,

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but what you might be able to do is help

manage your experience of the stress.

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So it won't necessarily

make your stress go away.

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It won't necessarily change your

relationship with your anxiety.

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But if you've got a few techniques, and

just to feel more confident, like to feel

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that you've got some tools in your toolbox

that can help you manage your stress.

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When we are feeling very stressed

it can have a big impact on How

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sensitive our digestive system is so

you might find you feel more pain.

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You notice more sensations

in your digestive system when

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you are feeling more stressed.

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Stress can also affect our gut motility,

um, so it can speed it up or slow it down.

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It can affect the secretion of

digestive enzymes and stomach acid.

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It can also affect the permeability

of the lining of your gut, so

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whether things can escape through

into the tissues around the gut.

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And there's a strong correlation

with our immune function that

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lives in the mucosa, that's like

the, the mucous lining of the gut.

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And there's a, correlation between this

immune system activation and stress.

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So there's lots of reasons for improving

your stress levels if you feel like that

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might have a connection to your symptoms.

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This might not be the cause of your

IBS, however it can be a cause of a

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flare up or a cause of a worsening

of your symptoms in that moment.

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And the way breathing interacts with this

is that sometimes when we are feeling

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stressed, we can be holding our breath,

like really just not breathing out.

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A lot of people do this when they're

working, like really concentrating,

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and it can become a habit.

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It tells the body that there is

some sort of problem, and without you

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realizing it, you could be in pain.

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making your body feel more stress

by this shallow breathing that

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comes more frequently when we are

in a state of anxiety or worry.

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We're breathing just in the top half

of our chest and this can then stop

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the activation of the pelvic floor.

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Parasympathetic Nervous System.

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That is our relaxing nervous system

that helps us feel safe and calm.

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When that is activated, then we feel

better and our digestive system relaxes.

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That is moving us into a rest and

digest state and away from that

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fight, flight or freeze state.

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And we have evidence to

back this up as well.

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It's been studied, and people with IBS

who were constipation predominant, so

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IBSC patients, around 80, or I think

85 of them, were split into two groups

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randomly, and they were measured on

how their IBS was affecting their life.

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There's, there's something called an IBS

symptom severity score, and they were

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measured at the baseline at the beginning.

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And then they went through this

breathing intervention where one group

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had a breathing routine for six weeks.

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And at the end of that, they

measured how they were feeling.

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The group who followed the breathing

routine, instructions for over

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the six weeks had improvements

in their stool consistency.

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They had more spontaneous bowel

movements and this was a The only thing

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that had changed, so the control group

and the group who had the breathing

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were exactly the same at the start.

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There was no difference really

in their type of symptoms.

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And remember, these are people who

had constipation predominance, so

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they want more bowel movements.

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But it was basically regulating

their digestive system.

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And I just think this is really

interesting that nothing else was

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changing for these people, except that

they were practicing this breathing.

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What's interesting is that they

didn't only improve the actual

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symptoms of how often they were

going to the toilet, but they also

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reduced the feelings of sensitivity

and how much they could tolerate.

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We know that breathing, deep breathing,

has used a lot in pain management, and

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so the really uncomfortable feelings of

being so full and needing to go to the

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toilet and not being able to pass that

stool can be really, really painful.

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awful for a lot of people with

constipation predominant symptoms.

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So, if there's a way that you can

tolerate those symptoms and even get some

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significant improvements in the actual way

that you're going to the toilet, this is

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definitely worth looking into, I think.

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So, I'm going to go through five different

breathing techniques and then a little

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bit of an exploration over tapping

as well, which is sometimes called

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emotional freedom technique, and just

run through a little bit about what that

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is and how it might be able to help you.

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So firstly, the basic deep breathing is

just it's called diaphragmatic breathing.

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It's using this wall of muscle that

runs across our torso underneath the

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lungs and it helps to expand your lungs.

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So a good way to measure whether you are

doing diaphragmatic breathing is to sit up

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straight or you can lie down on the floor

which is the best way to do it really

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because then it's sort of more relaxing.

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Place one hand on your chest and

the other hand on your tummy and

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then you slowly inhale through your

nose and try and feel your stomach.

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So you don't just want to inhale

and feel your chest move and

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feel your lungs expanding.

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You actually want to draw down that draw

down the muscle to help yourself relax.

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expand your lungs, but

going deep into your belly.

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And then you're going to slowly

exhale out through your mouth.

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So this way you're slowing down the

breath, extending the exhalation, but

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also making sure that you're just using

the right muscles when you're breathing.

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The other benefit to this is that

actually that movement inside your body

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of breathing in and pushing down with

that diaphragm is actually helping to

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give yourself a little internal massage

on your insides, which can really help.

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And also remember we're activating that

vagus nerve, which is helping calm the

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connection between the gut and the brain.

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So once you've got that technique

right and you're just doing that

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deeper breathing like really using

the right parts of your body, then we

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can get into some specific techniques.

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So one way to kind of really focus

your mind and calm down is to

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do alternate nostril breathing.

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So how we do it is you sit up comfortably

with your back straight and you close Your

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right nostril with your right thumb, and

inhale in up through your left nostril.

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Then you close your left nostril with

your right ring finger, and exhale

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down out through your right nostril.

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So you're kind of going in on

one side, out on the other side.

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So you put your hand in front

of your face, and just use Your

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fingers and your thumb to close

and open the alternate nostrils.

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Part of the way this works is that

you're using your mind to just focus on

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something quite basic, which can help

to block your mind from thinking about a

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lot of stress and the stressful things.

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And also studies have shown that

practicing alternate nostril

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breathing regularly can actually

help to lower your heart rate, help

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with your blood pressure and also

improving memory and concentration.

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So there is some evidence about using

This type of breathing, and I think

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it's good for your digestion as well.

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Another variation on breathing

is called box breathing.

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So you imagine that you're tracing an

outline in your mind, going up the side

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of a box, across, down, and around.

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And what you're going to do is breathe in

for four, hold for four, breathe out for

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four, Hold for four, breathe in for four.

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So it's very slow but even breaths.

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Now this is just one way you're

pausing at the inhalation and

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exhalation point before you change

over and just retaining that breath.

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So you're imagining in your mind tracing

an outline and breathing in through your

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nose, hold your breath and then breathing

out through your mouth and then hold

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your breath and again and just repeat.

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Another.

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Alternative version of this would

be something called 4 7 8 breathing.

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So you're breathing in through your nose

for a count of 4, holding your breath

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for a count of 7, and then exhaling

completely for around a count of 8.

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So the exhalation is twice as long

as the inhalation, and you've got

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that little pause in the middle.

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And then the fifth example that I

wanted to share with you is back to

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the basic belly breathing, like that

diaphragmatic breathing we talked about

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at the beginning, but this time you're

doing it with some visualization and

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actually using your mind to imagine,

you know, a cool, calming colour seeping

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through you, or just gently as you're

exhaling, like visualizing all that

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tension and stress just floating away.

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And when you're breathing in, you're

breathing in like calm, healing breath.

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powerful breath.

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Those are a few breathing

techniques that you can try.

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Just pick something that works for you.

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It doesn't really matter

exactly how you do it.

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What matters is that you are

able to use it without any pain.

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Stressing yourself out and

that you're finding it does

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bring you some level of calm.

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Now, the other thing I mentioned in my

intro is that I want to talk a little bit

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about this emotional freedom technique,

or sometimes it's called tapping.

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It's a mind body technique that combines

ancient Chinese acupressure and modern

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psychology or psychological support.

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I.

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At first thought this is silly, not

silly, but I at first was skeptical,

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shall we say, about whether this could

work, but I've actually found that

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some people get on really well with it

and so Basically, what it involves is

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you're tapping specific points on your

body to kind of release these emotional

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blockages and restore your balance.

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So this is why, to me, it sounded a little

bit, you know, woo, and not very rooted

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in an evidence base or, you know, any

science, any evidence that it might work.

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But I do think there is a

possibility it could be helpful

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for people who've got IBS.

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Before you start the exercise, you create

a statement that acknowledges your issue.

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So, for example, you might say,

Even though I feel really anxious

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about my digestion, I deeply

and completely accept myself.

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Or you might say something like, Even

though I'm worried about going to this

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meal tonight, I accept myself and my

body and so this is giving you like this

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sense of acceptance with yourself and

just helps you to acknowledge what else

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might be going on for you in your body.

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Whilst you're saying that statement to

yourself something that resonates with

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you that feels right for you don't have

to use my examples but on the edge of your

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hand so from your little finger if you go

down towards your hand right on the edge

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of your hand as if you were going to do

a karate kick chop, uh, that bit there.

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So, with your other hand, you

tap with your fingertips on

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that point while repeating your

statement three times to yourself.

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So, you say it again and again, even

though I feel anxious about going to

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this meal tonight, I accept myself

and my body, and again, and again.

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Okay, and then we're going to

go through the tapping tapping.

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process.

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Tapping should be light.

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It should be not enough to cause

redness or bruising, but um, just

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really tapping with your fingertips.

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So you're going to start on the

top of your head, just tapping

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with your fingertips at the crown

of your head a couple of times,

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maybe five to eight times, and

then you move on to the next point.

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The second point is tapping

at the beginning of your

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eyebrow, right above your nose.

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So tapping in the middle of your eyebrows,

then on the sides of your eye, just,

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uh, underneath your eye, on the bone,

which is just coming to the outer corner

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of your eye, so that's the third point.

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Tapping on the bone around the

corner of your eye, then tapping

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underneath your eye, in the middle

of your eye socket underneath.

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Then you're going to tap underneath

your nose, so just above your

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upper lip, right beneath your nose.

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Then the sixth point is tapping beneath

your bottom lip, just above your

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chin, so kind of in the indentation

between your lip and your chin.

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Then you're going to move down and

tap just below your collarbone.

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And then also underneath each armpit,

so alternate arms, you're tapping

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on the side of your body around

four inches underneath your armpit.

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Then you can just Check in with

yourself, have a deep breath, check

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in how you're feeling, and you can

repeat the whole process again.

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I will put this process into the show

notes so you can refer back to it so you

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don't have to listen and write it down.

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There have been some small scale studies

looking at this emotional freedom

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technique and its beneficial impact

on stress levels and stress markers.

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And they actually have shown that

people can reduce signs of stress

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when they've actually measured

cortisol in the saliva of people.

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So before and after they measured

their psychological distress, but

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also we're looking at the sort of

biochemical evidence of stress, which

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is the cortisol levels in the saliva.

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And the people who were doing this

EFT tapping experienced a significant

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decrease in their cortisol levels once

they'd done the tapping, but they didn't.

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get a significant decrease in their

psychological symptoms and this

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could be because it was a short term

study so we don't really know what

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happens if you do this over time.

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I think again there's no harm in

having this technique and there's

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no harm in it if it helps you, if it

helps you feel comforted and if it

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helps you take you out of that anxiety

state then it is effective for you.

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So whilst we don't have a lot of

large scale studies proving this

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is a Good technique for managing

stress in IBS or any kind of anxiety.

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I do think it's probably worth

a try to see if it does help.

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And I think probably some of the

mechanism by which it helps is that,

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like I was saying with the breathing,

it's just forcing your mind to

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focus on something quite mundane.

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Forcing yourself to move your

body a little bit, which helps you

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get back in touch with your body.

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You know, it's just, really reconnecting

with what is happening right now,

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rather than spinning out into what

might be happening with your digestion

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or over catastrophizing your symptoms.

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Like I said, this is a

little bit different for me.

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I do tend to like to stick to

evidence based suggestions for you.

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And I know a lot of my podcast

listeners really appreciate that,

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that it's not unfounded suggestions

and things that I know don't work.

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However, I do think this is a

relatively safe thing to experiment

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with and to give it a try.

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The other thing that I wanted

to mention is that obviously

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I'm not an EFT practitioner.

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There are people out there who are trained

in this who have a better understanding.

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You know, I've just researched it.

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I've read quite a lot about

it, but I am not trained in it.

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And so my advice might

not be the best on it.

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To summarize this episode of the inside

knowledge, I guess I just wanted to

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give you a few techniques and things

to try if you are struggling with

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anxiety, you're struggling with worrying

about symptoms or stress at work and

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relationship issues, whatever have been

impacting on your digestion, whichever

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way around it goes, IBS and stress

and anxiety absolutely go hand in

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hand and we can't get away from that.

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So any tools that you've got that

can help you calm yourself down.

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is going to help create that virtuous

circle where you're feeling better,

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then your digestion's better, then

you're feeling even better, and then

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your digestion gets even better.

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All right, so it's worth investing

a little bit of time into some of

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these things to see if it helps.

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If you're struggling with a lot of

emotions, All the time it is going to

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impact on your digestion and you can't

really get away from that unfortunately.

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So it either reduces your appetite, it

can leave you feeling sick if you've got

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a lot of anxiety and a lot of tension,

can then also give you physical symptoms

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by slowing down your motility or creating

an inhospitable environment for eating.

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So that you feel more bloated,

you feel more pain after eating.

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So it is worth addressing.

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If you want a bit more about the gut brain

connection and how to improve the vagus

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nerve, then you might be interested in

episode four, where I run through some

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suggestions for how to calm your IBS

using your mind and some techniques for

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improving that vagal nerve stimulation.

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So that is it for this episode.

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I will be back next week

with another episode.

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Please do send me your questions.

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I've had quite a few questions over

the last few weeks and I'm going

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to be working my way through those

and creating episodes for people

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who have sent me in their requests.

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So if you've got a topic you'd like

me to cover in the Inside Knowledge

291

podcast, then please email me at

info at goodnessme nutrition.

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com and I will get back to you and let

you know if I can meet your request.

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Thanks for listening to this

episode of the Inside Knowledge.

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Better digestion for everyone.