Friday, May 7, 2010

The Best Belly?

Remember a time when you had one of those strange, but sure gut feelings? You know, that eerie, strong, undeniable certainty of something you could not possibly know based on thinking and logic. I am sure there have been plenty of times when you had that unmistakable flutter of "butterflies" in your stomach or felt green and queasy sick to your stomach as an emotional response to something.

There is a valid basis for all this colorful, folksy speak. I have told you about a second brain in your heart, but did you know there is also a third brain in your belly? The Chinese have long known about this and refer to it as the "monkey brain." Hawaiians have traditionally referred to this as the na'au which includes the bowels, the mind and the heart.

Technically known as the enteric nervous system, this brain consists of a network of some 100 million neurons lining the gut. That is more neurons than in the spinal cord. It can function without any input from the central nervous system and sends information to it. While this brain down below is not the seat (pun intended) of conscious thought, it does exert a powerful influence on our physical bodies and emotional states.

This gut brain uses over 30 neurotransmitters including dopamine and serotonin just like the brain above. A big part of our emotions are influenced by this brain. Recent scientific studies are linking this brain to stress, depression, autism and even osteoporosis and may have possible implications as to how these are treated.

Our challenge is to learn to listen to the perceptions and the information of the brains in our head, our heart, and our gut. To allow all of them to integrate and have input in directing our lives and creating our realities. In western culture, we are taught pretty much early on to solely rely on the brain in our heads and to totally ignore any other source of wisdom.

In my own experience in the past, the brain in my head greedily took over, running wild, chattering not so nice and anxious nonsense incessantly, until I got completely cut off from any other innate sense of knowledge. I have since learned how to calm it down, and shut it up long enough to let the others get in a word.

It is also our challenge to take care of each of brain in a healthy, respectful manner through diet and exercise. As you can imagine, the brain in our gut and hence, our emotions, are strongly tied to what we put in our bodies. Eat junk, feel like junk.

So the next time you have a gut feeling, give it a little more importance and attention. Your body has a many ways in which it communicates with you. Sssshhhh! Listen.


  1. This is the solar plexus animal brain center of psychic sensation.

  2. Thanks, Penn, good to hear from. You bring out an important point. This correlates with the second chakra, the solar plexus. The solar plexus defines our self esteem, our personal power, and is the home of our ego. It governs our self acceptance in the stream of life and our mental understanding of our emotions. Makes sense, huh? For more information and exercises for this chakra, go to:

  3. It's interesting that our psychic center is located two inches below our belly buttons, called the "nabhe" or Psychic Navel Center. You think it a coincidence? Maybe not.

  4. I do not think it is a coincidence at all. Funny how science is just now validating all this spiritual stuff that has been around for a long time. The innate wisdom of this and other has always been there. Again, we just need to trust the source of the knowledge which is not always our intelligent, logical brains in our heads.

  5. Well said, Lovely Debbie!

    As a scientist myself (as you know) as well as a holistic health practitioner (again, as you know), I have spent years aligning the two practices/disciplines for what makes sense for me.

    What it all boils down to, for me, is what you remarked towards the end of your post, "Eat like junk, feel like junk," and I'd add to that, "What you think, you are."

    THanks for another wonderful post, Debbie. Thumbs up!

  6. It really is pretty simple both in concept and to implement. Think better thoughts consciously and take better care of yourself all around and life will get better. It is as easy as that. Glad I figured that out! You too!