My #1 pro tip for those struggling with gut issues like constipation, diarrhea, acid reflux, belly pain, gassiness or bloat?
Start with your breath.
More specifically, start with a calming style of breathing.
Calming styles of breathing like nasal breathing, slower breathing (especially longer exhales) and diaphragmatic or rib cage breathing (vs. chest) all stimulate the vagus nerve and bring us into the parasympathetic state. The state of the nervous system known as REST AND DIGEST.
As you can imagine, in this state we optimize our body’s digestive processes…specifically, slow breathing before we eat helps engage our brain in the process of eating. This is referred to as the cephalic phase of eating. The beauty of this brain phase of eating is it’s essentially a ‘pregame’ to your meal and helps upregulate digestive secretions by 20% (1).
What are digestive secretions? These are things like salivary enzymes, stomach acid, digestive hormones, digestive enzymes and bile; which help us optimally breakdown and absorb our food from the second it hits our mouth.
So, let’s go back to the breath. Since so many of us live in a busy, go-go-go lifestyle where we’re eating on the go, ‘vacuuming’ our food down, eating while standing up, rushing through our meals or eating while on a computer or a work meeting, we oftentimes completely bypass the use of our breath to help optimize the process of digestion. IT’S A MISSED, FREE OPPORTUNITY TO HELP YOUR BLOAT.
So, what’s my specific breath remedy?
My Rule of 3’s.
It's 3 breaths, 3 times per meal.
How to do it:
1. SIT DOWN + SENSES: Before you run to eliminate foods or adjust your diet, start by slowing down, sitting down, and engaging your senses (take in the colors and smells in front of you) with the process of eating before it even starts.
2. BREATHE + SLOW: Prime your body for digestion with 3 deep breaths. Then start eating, chewing well (10-12 chews per bite), noticing your swallows, slowing the eating movements down. Become present to what you’re doing - this is MINDFUL eating at it’s finest friends!
3. BREATHE AGAIN: Stop again later in the meal for another cycle of 3 deep breaths. Again, check in with your body, relax your belly, notice your chewing.
4. END WITH BREATH: Again, around the end of the meal, stop and take 3 deep breaths. Hence, 3 breaths, 3 times: the Rule of 3’s.
TL;DR: Practice 3 slow, nasal breaths before, during and after each meal to optimize digestion and help with gut issues. Visual guidance on my IG here!
Start this for a few days as a practice at meal times and notice if anything shifts. You may notice food digesting a little better, bloat is slightly improved and maybe you're even feeling happier and more satiated by your meals!
Ready to uplevel? Breath work + digestive bitters at meals is my GOAT simple approach to improving digestive and gut health outcomes. Try JÜJ with your next meal now 😉
