Healthier Ways to Digest Emotions

We have two digestive systems within us.

The first one is our physical digestive system. It works despite us.

The second one is our emotional digestive system. This one we have some control over — but only once we become aware of it.

We know that if our physical digestive system is healthy, then once we eat a meal or a snack, our body absorbs and uses all the nutrients that it needs from that meal. It then breaks everything down and automatically nourishes and feeds our cells. Whatever is not useful or necessary is then eliminated. For the most part, it functions really well and keeps us healthy.

The emotional digestive system, on the other hand, is a little trickier. It, too, works despite us. It absorbs almost every encounter that we have, be it a conversation, an email, an incident, an experience. Just like food travels through our body, our encounters become part of us.

If we have a heathy emotional digestive system, we should be able to take what is not essential, healthy or helpful and follow the lead of our physical digestive system, eliminating all the “junk” by completely flushing it out of our system once and for all.

If we are able to understand and acknowledge that we have an emotional digestive system, then we become conscious of what we are holding onto. We allow ourselves to develop a plan to establish a healthy emotional digestive system. To absorb that which is beneficial to us and release that which is not.

Creating a Healthy Emotional Digestive System

To digest optimally, follow this lifestyle plan:

     • Be conscious of what you are taking in

     • Be conscious of what comes out of your mouth

     • Listen before talking

     • Take a moment to pause and breathe before responding

Become aware of your internal communication system (feelings and thoughts) when someone enters your sacred space. Do you feel safe and calm or defensive and edgy? Is your heart racing? Is there a pounding in your ears? These are all indications that your emotional digestive system is absorbing the moment and reacting, just like you would if your body was having a reaction to food that was not good for you or that you were allergic to.

When you take heed of this, you now have an opportunity to respond and build up a healthy emotional digestive system.

Sometimes, we eat something and it’s tough — we need to chew on it a bit longer before we can swallow. It takes some work. We don’t just swallow; we know that is not safe or healthy. We don’t just spit it out (there could be some yumminess we’d miss out on). We patiently chew on it before we swallow, before we absorb it, before we take it in.

Once we swallow, our body then goes to work absorbing, nourishing or eliminating.

This is the same with our emotional digestive system. Sometimes things come to us that are tough or difficult, but we have to deal with them. You could react, spit it out, throw it away. But the bitterness still leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

If you are enjoying the moment, notice how your body feels good — it takes all that goodness in and stores it as a reminder of good times.

So maybe instead of reacting to an encounter, we can chew on it, break it down, contemplate, reflect and see it for what it is. We are then able to absorb what we need and eliminate what we don’t.

Sometimes we just need to chew a little bit harder.

Take the time. Don't just spit it out because perhaps there is something beneficial there. Swallow and absorb what is beneficial to you and then eliminate what is not.

Food for Thought

It all starts with simple awareness. With this, you then have the ability to transform, to evolve and to take in what you need — but only after a thorough act of chewing (refection) and swallowing (accepting). We can then embrace what we need and eliminate what we don’t, without attaching, holding and grasping.

When you start developing a healthy emotional digestive system, you not only feel lighter, but you appear brighter to others. You become a beacon of light.

It’s not a case of you are what you eat — it’s more a case of you are what you choose to keep.

Try this class, Drop Negativity on the Spot, by meditation teacher Almeiri Santos, to learn how to access the feeling of love and let it radiate inside of you.

Header photo: AleksandarNakic/E+/Getty Images