How to Emotionally Deal with Bloat

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Although it is important to focus on your mental health every month, I thought this was a great opportunity to share some tips I give my gutTogether clients to help them better their mental health just as much as they better their digestive symptoms during our time together.

Bloat doesn’t just affect you physically. I see many of my clients mentally struggle with it, too. One of the first things I tell them is that self-compassion is part of healing!

It’s easy to get caught in the cycle of feeling like you did something to deserve the bloat and constipation that you are experiencing or start resenting your body for not responding to food in the way you want it to.

Trust me, I get it and have been there before. I felt like I was doing everything “right” and the harder I tried, the more constipated and bloated I felt. Maybe you feel this way too. Part of my journey towards finding relief from my digestive symptoms included learning how to have self-compassion.

When you’re trying to get rid of your bloat, it can feel like you’re fighting against your body. You try to control as many things as you can, in the hopes that something will click and your bloat will be fixed. The more you control, the more out of control you can feel.

Mentally this is HARD! You live in fear of your symptoms, often feeling discouraged or embarrassed.

Here’s the secret:⁣ a huge part of the healing process involves working WITH your body, not against it. It’s about learning to understand your body’s cues, instead of trying to control every little thing. ⁣When you are bloated and constipated your body is giving you signs that it needs a little extra TLC (like nourishment, rest or hydration), not more shame, anger or disconnection.

Working on mindset shifts, or thought reframing, is super helpful when improving your relationship with your body. Here’s an example of a reframe you can apply the next time you find yourself battling the bloat:

Your mindset can either hold you back or propel you forward on your gut journey. Being able to reframe thoughts about your physical symptoms and tuning into the cues your body is giving you requires work, but also allows you to start to learn to work WITH your body instead of against it.

When you are feeling stressed or discouraged about your symptoms start with one of these simple tips:

1. Write down your thoughts and practice reframing them: writing down your thoughts allows you to get the thoughts out of your head and on to paper. Remember, just because you have a thought does not make it true.
2. Start your day by writing down 3 things you are grateful for. Gratitude can quickly shift your mindset and this simple exercise can have a huge impact on your symptoms.
3. Write a letter to your body thanking it for all of the things it DOES for you. This mindset shift is powerful!

Mindset work is a part of my proven framework for gut health, and we work on this in my gutTogether program. I show you how to navigate the gut healing process physically AND emotionally, to improve your symptoms while addressing the underlying issues. If you’re ready for support and guidance, click below to secure a spot in the program!

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