Overcoming Chronic Digestive Conditions: Release the Visceral Layers of Post-Traumatic Gut Disorder
By (Author) Nikki Kenward
Foreword by Eric Moya
Inner Traditions Bear and Company
Healing Arts Press
29th November 2023
2nd Edition, Revised and Updated Edition of It's All in Your Gut
United States
General
Non Fiction
Gastroenterology
Coping with / advice about PTSD and other psychological traumas
Complementary and alternative medicine and therapies
612.3
Paperback
224
Width 152mm, Height 229mm, Spine 15mm
345g
A holistic approach for healing trauma stored in the gut
Explains how and why emotions and trauma are stored in the gut, causing digestive issues and visceral tensions
Presents recent research that enriches our understanding of the gut as a center of emotional and spiritual growth
Shares a hands-on process of listening to the gut layer by layer to help heal gut issues, renew the microbiome, and release intergenerational trauma
A healthy gut is fundamental to a healthy life. Embedded within our digestive system is the enteric nervous system, our second brain, which serves to protect us from the external world of adversity, including not only viruses and bacteria, but also traumatic events. As Nikki Kenward, CST-D, MCSS, explains, past challenges and traumas, whether emotional or physical, are held in the enteric nervous system in many ways, including fascial tension, cellular changes, and unhelpful default settings.
Exploring in depth what she calls the Post-Traumatic Gut, Kenward describes the anatomy and physiology of the enteric nervous system, including the polyvagal system, and the many ways that our emotional history and current emotional state can impact our digestive system. Sharing recent research, she describes the science behind the emotional gut and how to apply it to chronic digestive issues like IBS and Crohns disease as well as mental health issues such as anorexia, bulimia, anxiety, and depression. She explains how and why the digestive gut absorbs emotions and what you can do to heal its functions by addressing psychosomatic stressors, rather than just nutrition. Presenting case studies from her 25 years in clinical practice as well as her own healing journey, she reveals the synchronicity between digestive/metabolic functions and psychological/perceptual insight and how allowing the cells to speak through bodywork such as CranioSacral Therapy and SomatoEmotional Release Therapy can help renew the microbiome of the second brain, release intergenerational trauma and illness, and restore ones psychospiritual life.
Sharing visualization exercises and a hands-on process of listening to the gut layer by layer, the author helps readers unwind stagnant cellular patterns, discover the dynamic intelligence in every cell, and transform Post-Traumatic Gut into Post-Traumatic growth.
Nikki Kenward, CST-D, MCSS, is a CranioSacral Therapist, international healthcare educator through Upledger Institute International, yoga therapist, theater director, and poet. A former professional dancer and dance therapist, she has been in private practice for 25 years. She lives in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, UK.