Using your mind to help manage and relieve your IBS symptoms
‘Name it to Tame it.’ is a simple, yet effective method for reducing the intensity of feelings. You can use Name it to Tame it whenever you're feeling stressed or anxious (or experiencing any other uncomfortable feeling). It only takes a few seconds and can be used anytime you feel an uncomfortable spike in feelings.
Stress is both a trigger for, and a symptom of, IBS. This is a vicious cycle that needs to be interrupted to facilitate IBS symptom relief. One of the ways we can begin to reduce our stress level is through a technique called Progressive Muscle Relaxation.
Did you know there are over 600 muscles in the human body? Although their natural state is to be at rest, people are so stressed and tense much of the time that the situation actually becomes the opposite: we train our bodies for tension.
People with stress and anxiety are so used to being tense throughout the day that they don’t even recognize what being relaxed feels like anymore. It’s a little bit like good posture; it feels weird to sit properly if we normally slouch because we are asking our body to do something it doesn’t normally do.
Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is a great way to take time out, be in the present moment, and release tension in your body (and mind).
In PMR, you tense a group of muscles as you breathe in, and you relax them as you breathe out. You work on your muscle groups in a certain order. PMR can take 15 – 30 minutes to complete but the benefits are worth the time invested.
PMR yields a variety of benefits, including the development of a feeling of well-being, lowered blood pressure, decreased muscle tension, thereby reducing the body’s need for oxygen and reducing fatigue, stress and anxiety.
Through regular PMR practice you learn:
not only what relaxation feels like, but also to recognize when you are starting to get tense during the day.
distinguish between the feelings of a tensed muscle and a completely relaxed muscle. Then, you can begin to “cue” this relaxed state at the first sign of the muscle tension that accompanies your feelings of anxiety and stress.
As you perform PMR:
Keep your eyes closed.
Keep your mind focused on the word “relax”, throughout.
Use the 7/11 breathing technique and tense the muscles on the in-breath and release them on the out-breath. Anxiety and panic specialist Dr. Patricia Farrell suggests we breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Keep concentrating on the word “relax”.
Find a safe comfortable place where you won’t be disturbed for 10-15 minutes. Perhaps put on some relaxing music. Close your eyes and start PMR with:
The muscles in your hands and forearms:
You tense these muscles by clenching your fists as tightly as you can.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your fists.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your hands and forearms.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.
The muscles in your upper arms:
You tense these muscles by bending your arms at the elbows and trying to touch your wrists to your shoulders.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your arms.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your upper arms.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.
The muscles in the back of your arms:
You tense these muscles by straightening your arms as hard as you can.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your arms.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in the back of your arms.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.
The muscles in your shoulders:
You tense these muscles by shrugging your shoulders tightly into your neck.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your shoulders.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your shoulders.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.
The muscles in your neck:
You tense these muscles by pressing your head back as far as you can.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your neck.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your neck.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.
The muscles in your forehead:
You tense these muscles by raising your eyebrows as though enquiring.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your eyebrows.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your fore-head.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.
The muscles in your brows and eyelids:
You tense these muscles by frowning and squeezing your eyes tightly shut.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your brows and eyelids.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your brows and eyelids.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.
The muscles in your jaw:
You tense these muscles by clenching your teeth as hard as you can.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your jaw.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your jaw.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.
The muscles in your tongue and throat:
You tense these muscles by pushing your tongue against the roof of your mouth.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your tongue.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your tongue and throat.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.
The muscles in your lips and face:
You tense these muscles by pressing your lips together tightly.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your lips.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your lips and face.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.
The muscles in your chest:
You tense these muscles by taking a deep breath and holding it
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your chest by breathing out.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your chest.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.
The muscles in your stomach:
You tense these muscles by making your stomach muscles hard as though expecting a punch.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your stomach.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your stomach
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.
The muscles in your hips and lower back:
You tense these muscles by arching your back and clenching your buttocks.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your hips and lower back..
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your hips and lower back.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.
The muscles in your legs and feet:
You tense these muscles by straightening your legs and pointing your toes down.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your legs and feet.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your legs and feet.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.
Now let the feeling of relaxation spread throughout the whole of your body and enjoy being completely relaxed for 10-15 minutes. Keep focusing on the word relax and enjoy that feeling of deep relaxation.
You should practice PMR at least twice a day until you know it off by heart and are able to relax any set of muscles at any time.
Remember to practise progressive muscle relaxation often, whether you are feeling anxious or not. This will make the exercise even more effective when you really do need to relax! Though it may feel a bit tedious at first, ultimately you will gain a skill that will probably become a very important part of managing your anxiety in your daily life.
The right quantity and quality of sleep is vital to our overall health. With regards to IBS poor sleep has been shown to have a direct effect on the severity of IBS symptoms the following morning. The internet is awash with tips for how to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep but here are the three key things I recommend, that will improve your sleep.
Sleep hygiene. This can be a toughie to implement if you’ve got into the habit of watching TV from bed or using your mobile phone into the bedroom. The advice is to only use your bedroom for sleep and sex.
Avoid blue light for at least an hour before bed. Another toughie if you’re in the habit of using your PC, notebook, e-reader, phone before bed. These devices emit bright light that decrease the production of melatonin. Melatonin plays a role in your natural sleep-wake cycle. Natural levels of melatonin in the blood are highest at night.
Wind down before you go to bed. Develop a regular routine in the evening that allows you to ‘put the day to rest.’ This could involve reading, meditating, listening to calming music, a soak in warm bath. If your mind is actively worrying spend 15 -20 minutes writing down all your worries before going to bed.
If you want to know more about how I can help you manage your Irritable Bowel Syndrome using hypnosis and other psychological techniques, please do get in touch today!
The field of neuroscience has discovered that in addition to our head (cephalic) brain, we have complex and functional brains in both our heart and gut. Called the cardiac and enteric brains respectively, scientific evidence is emerging that these neural networks exhibit intelligence and wisdom.
These three brains are all part of one nervous system and are in constant communication, and interact, with each other for our optimal functioning. We also have complex neural networks that communicate with these three brains.
The gut- heart – head -communication cycle
Research suggests that IBS could be the manifestation of a problem within our gut- heart - head - communication cycle. Poorly coordinated signals between the head brain and the gut brain can cause our body to overreact to changes that normally occur in the digestive process, resulting in pain, diarrhoea or constipation.
Do we really have 3 brains?
What constitutes a brain?
Large numbers of neurons and ganglia, including sensory neurons and motor neurons
Neural cells with inter-neurons; neurons interconnecting with other neurons
Support cells and components such as glial cells, astrocytes, proteins, etc.
Functional attributes: perceiving/assimilating information, processing information, memory storage and access
Able to mediate complex reflexes via an intrinsic nervous system (i.e. it doesn't need the head brain to direct it, it functions even in the complete absence of the head brain)
A chemical warehouse of neurotransmitters (those found in the head brain are also found in the gut and heart brains)
[Source: mBraining Chapter 1 – Neuroscience meets ancient wisdom by G Soosalu and M Oka (2012)]
Each of our three brains has a particular role
Each brain has a particular role.
The head – our intellectual brain - thinking, problem solving, creative, rational, logical. We ‘think things through’ and ‘use our head.’
The heart – our emotional brain. We ‘follow our heart’s desires’. We are ‘true to our heart.’ We know when our ‘heart’s not in it,’ or that we have ‘a broken heart.’
The gut – our intuitive/instinctive brain. We ‘follow our gut’ and rely on our ‘gut instincts’. We ‘trust our gut.’ Often we are unable to ‘swallow’ or ‘digest the facts.’ We get ‘butterflies in the stomach.’
Let’s take a closer look at the Gut Brain
The gut (enteric) brain was discovered just over 100 years ago, but is ancient in evolutionary terms and predates the head brain and central nervous system.
Back when evolution was at the stage of complexity of sea cucumbers and worms, organisms only had a neural processing system of an enteric brain. This intelligence was used to detect threats and food in the environment and move away from danger and towards food.
The human gut brain contains over 500 million neurons located in the sheaths of tissue lining the oesophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, colon and bowel. It has the equivalent size and complexity of something like a cat's brain. It sends and receives nerve signals throughout the chest and torso and innervates organs as diverse as the pancreas, lungs, diaphragm and liver.
Of the 500 million neurons in the gut, more than 100 million are located in the small intestine, roughly the same number as in our spinal cord. Once you add in the nerve cells in the oesophagus, stomach and large intestine and the total number of nerve cells exceeds those in the spinal cord.
The enteric nervous system is also a vast chemical factory within which is found every one of the classes of neurotransmitter found in the head brain. Neurotransmitters are the signals brain cells use to communicate with each other and with the cells under their control. Major neurotransmitters found in the enteric brain include serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, norepinehrine and nitric oxide. Interestingly, over 95 percent of the serotonin used throughout the body and brain is made in the gut. Brain peptides and endorphins have also been found in the gut.
Research has shown that more than 80 percent of our immune cells are located in the gut, and the gut brain is intimately involved in managing immune function. Some people with IBS have an increased number of immune-system cells in their intestines. This immune-system response is associated with pain and diarrhea.
The gut is also a large source of benzodiazepines, which are psychoactive chemicals used in popular drugs such as Valium and Xanax. It's been found that in times of massive acute stress, the gut produces sufficient benzodiazepines to calm and sedate the head brain, downregulating the cognitive and emotional stress response. Our gut literally hijacks the head brain. This is why when in danger we are limited to ‘black and white’/’all or nothing’ thinking and, can 'choke' with emotion.
The gut brain can learn!
There is evidence that the gut brain exhibits plasticity and can learn, form memories, take on new behaviours and grow new neurons, just like our head brain can.
Research performed by gastroenterologist Dr Yuri Saito Loftus from the Mayo Clinic, indicates that the gut brain learns from traumatic experiences such as the death of a loved one, divorce, natural disasters, accidents and physical or mental abuse. These traumatic experiences can cause changes in the nerves and muscles that control sensation and motility of the bowel.
Dr. Jackie D Wood, a professor at Ohio State University, and leading expert on the enteric nervous system (ENS) who named the ENS ‘The brain-in-the-gut,’ says there’s a growing body of evidence that suggests that autoimmune diseases like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis may involve the gut brain.
Gut Directed Hypnotherapy
The focus of gut directed hypnotherapy is communicating with all three brains that control our mind body system. A key element of the Hypno4IBS programme is to identify and systematically de-traumatise past trauma, effectively changing the way the traumatic memories are encoded in the brain(s) and to positively affect the workings of the ENS.
If you want to know more about how I can help you manage your Irritable Bowel Syndrome using hypnosis and other psychological techniques, please do get in touch today!
