The Power of your Gut Brain
In an earlier article I told you about mBraining and how you can harness the power of your head, heart and gut brains for better decisions, deeper learning and accessing your full potential.
Today I’d like to share some more insights about your gut intelligence, and how you can access it to better understand yourself and take action on what’s important to you.
Some cool facts about your gut intelligence:
- The gut brain was originally discovered more than 100 years ago but for unknown reasons was forgotten until it began to re-emerge over the last 20 years or so. Even in the late 1800s researchers were discovering that the gut brain was able to function separately from the head brain.
- The gut brain contains over 500 million neurons (approximately the same size and complexity as the brain of a cat).
- Your gut produces about 95% of your serotonin (an important neurotransmitter often known as the happiness chemical). There is a large body of research linking gut health and food choices to cognitive and emotional wellbeing.
Just as your heart processes the world differently to your head brain, so does your gut. Consider some words and phrases that indicate what’s important to your gut brain:
“Trust your gut”
“Go with your gut instinct”
“I don’t have the guts to do that”
“That was a gutsy move”
It might not be a surprise to hear that the gut brain is all about self-preservation, courage, and taking action. It’s also the seat of your core identity. Consider this: your gut examines everything you eat and drink and decides what will be absorbed into your body and what will be exited from your body.
Paying attention to and looking after your gut brain can be an important part of understanding who you truly are, being able to choose courage over fear, and taking action rather than procrastinating.
How to tune in to your gut intelligence.
Here are a few ways to practice tuning in to the wisdom of your gut brain:
- Start paying attention to communication from your gut. What do you crave, literally or metaphorically? What physical signals does your gut give you? (for example, belly rumbling, gut health issues, butterflies in your stomach). What might these be indicating?
- Notice if you feel any fears or niggling feelings that something isn’t quite right. Practice tuning in to these sensations and listening to them, rather than dismissing them. Be curious and ask yourself “what message is coming from my gut?”
- Pay attention if you discover yourself procrastinating. What’s really going on? What’s stopping you taking action?
- Notice what words and metaphors you are using in relation to your gut. For example, notice when you find yourself saying something like ‘I’ve got a gut feeling about this’, That’s distasteful to me’ or ‘I need to digest that information’. What clues are your words giving you?
- Practice swallowing a smile*. This can send a powerful message from your head to your gut brain. In a relaxed state, imagine being in your favourite place in the world. Experience the joy and beauty of this place and allow yourself to smile, making your smile bigger and bigger as bring more positive emotion forward. Send the smile throughout your body by literally swallowing it down and imagining it spreading through your entire gut and all of your organs. Allow your inner smile to fill up every part of your body.
You have an incredible source of wisdom within your gut brain, and the first step to accessing it is to start to tune in to the messages it’s giving you. The ability to have your head, gut and heart all in communication and alignment can truly support you to gain clarity, build confidence and create impact.
Curious to learn more? Set up a time to talk to me about multiple brain coaching and how this can help you achieve the success you desire.
Go well,
Ruth
*For full instructions, please see the book mBraining: Using your Multiple Brains to do Cool Stuff by Grant Soosalu and Marvin Oka