Biodynamic Massage - A gut instinct?

Throughout my training in Biodynamic Massage one of the things that I’ve enjoyed thinking about is the language we use to describe situations, events or people - and how, often, they are intrinsinctly associated with our experience of them in the body.

Our feelings are bodily experiences - it isn’t our mind alone that experiences feeling of jealousy, of grief or of happiness. We experience them as whole, living, breathing being.

What can you think of that we often find ourselves saying?

It’s a ‘pain in the neck’.

I’ve got a ‘gut feeling’

‘I can’t stomach this’

‘My stomach dropped’

A burden to shoulder

She’s carrying a lot on her shoulders

I’m broken hearted

Get your teeth stuck into it…

It’s hard to swallow

I need to chew it over

I can’t stomach this

I haven’t got the guts

I need time to digest this…

I’m hungry for more…

I feel empty.

There are so many related to the digestive system aren’t there? Although I’m sure I’ve missed many out. Unease, distrust is often felt in the gut - we feel it here first rather than are consciously aware of it. In fact, our stomach often tells us how we feel but we may override this through the brain or conditioning.

A book that explores the connection between our emotional body and our digestive system is Stauffer’s book, Anatomy and Physiology for Psychotherapists. A healthy digestive system, she proposes, digests not only food but all our experiences and emotions. Furthermore, she argues, it is discerning: with the ability to close our mouths, as well as open them to food/emotions/experiences. Our digestive system chews our emotional experiences and wider environment - not just only food.

We may even find it hard to know what to digest, what to keep hold of and what to let go of. Stress and anxiety can show up in our digestive system in so many ways - stomach ache, constipation, diarrhoea, a buttterfly fluttering sensation in the tummy. Sometimes we may experience digestive discomfort and find it really hard to work out why - we don’t seem to have eaten anything unusual. Perhaps you notice this discomfort happening before certain events or meetings.

Sometimes we may open open our mouths to things we know don’t make us feel good - just as we may absorb too much of something negative around us. Sometimes we may reject things that we know will nourish us.

It is quite fascinating that in Biodynamic Massage and by use of the perisaltic stethoscope you can actually hear the gut processing our conscious and unconscious experiences. I have experienced this both as a client and as a therapist - when tension or experiences are met they are allowed to be released through the gut. The sound may be quite charged at first and then as the experience or tension is released the sounds soften.

I find that the use of the stethoscope helps the client immensely - perhaps in some ways even more than the therapist. It invites you to be an active participant in the experience - you can hear when there is a big charge and release. You can hear when it’s burbling and quiet. It’s not just ‘me’ doing something to ‘you’ - we are both listening to the sounds and being curious about them.

Sometimes it’s hard to ‘listen in’ to the body or to tune into the bodies ‘inner wisdom’. To figure out what your gut instinct is on something, to trust it or even figure out how you feel about it. So much of our decision making is influenced by social conditioning and external voices it can be really hard to find out how you really feel about something.

My invitation is simply to be curious about your body. It holds so much wisdom. Other times you may find yourself overanalysing or overthinking everything - almost hyperfixating on every feeling. It’s good perhaps to be curious but always holding all of this lightly. There is so much mystery in the body and it’s good to remember we are part of a wider whole too.