Are emotions triggering your IBS symptoms?

It is not uncommon for clients of mine to tell me that their IBS is worse when they are stressed.

But did you know that often deeper issues may be the problem?

Do you find that your IBS seems to strike at random?

That you cannot identify particular foods that trigger an attack?

Emotions and memories held within your body may be to blame.

I want to share my story

In my mid-30s I was diagnosed with IBS. Before that, I had very few digestive issues, beyond a known intolerance to lactose.

It was a particularly stressful time. I had been severely let down by my then partner, and also by my manager at work who had let me take the blame for something that was, in fact, their doing.

My doctor was of little use. He prescribed some meds to control the symptoms and when asked what could have caused these symptoms he vaguely said: “Oh, could be almost anything..” Very helpful!

I had an allergy test through a naturopathic doctor, which did identify a few food triggers, and I was better for avoiding them. However, the symptoms persisted.

A couple of years later I met my now-husband, who was trained in the natural allergy treatment, NAET. He successfully desensitised me to the foods that had been identified, and some others too. Again, this helped, but .. the symptoms persisted.

My reactions seemed to be almost random, I would have changed nothing in my diet, but the IBS would flare up.. it was a very frustrating time.

Organs and emotions

It was when I met with a Shaman and Energy healer that I finally found some answers.

He taught me that each of our organs holds particular emotions.
The large intestine (Colon) is associated with loss, sadness, loneliness, grief.

The small intestine to betrayal, abandonment, insecurity, being lost and vulnerable, deserted.

This made absolute sense to me. I had been betrayed and abandoned by my former partner and then betrayed by my manager.

The Shaman also told me that the reason for my extreme reaction to these more recent events was due to emotions and memories held within my body from a difficult childhood, and also my mother’s experiences as a child, which was attached to my genes; a “genetic memory”.

The recent events had triggered these memories and stored emotions, leading to actual physical symptoms of IBS.

So how can we resolve these issues?

The simple answer is that we need to release these emotions from our bodies.
We cannot change events that have happened to us, but we can effectively “file these away” in our past, so they are not so raw and able to impact our current state.

However, achieving this is not so simple as snapping your fingers, and it is done… if only it were!
It is a process through which we have to work. So how can we do this?

In my case, I was led to work with the Shaman using hands-on energy work to release the trapped emotions and bring balance.

I also had many sessions of Shamanic journeying where I learnt to let go of the memories passed down by my mother.

And now?

This is still a work in progress, and I do occasionally get triggered by events in my life. However, my IBS is almost entirely resolved, and on the odd occasion I do have a flare-up, I am always very well able to identify the particular incident that has triggered my emotional response, and I can work to resolve the situation.

This experience has also led me to study NAET allergy therapy and to become a hands-on energy healer.

Come and find out more about how your emotions may be triggering your IBS and other health concerns

I offer a free meet and greet to discuss your questions.

Disclaimer

This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Now I would like to hear from you. Do you suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome? What have you tried to help your symptoms? Let us know in the comments below.