Let’s talk stress and digestion. Tune into the podcast for the Ayurvedic perspective and to learn about doshic imbalances in the GI tract.

What you’ll get out of tuning in:

• Why stress causes GI problems.
• How to identify dosha imbalances in your gut.

Links Mentioned in Episode:

• Order Cate Stillman’s new book “Master of You”
• Have a conversation

Show Highlights:

• Cate asks listeners to squeeze their anus.
• Cate explains the three phases of digestion.
• Cate gets to the root cause of stress.

Timestamps: 

• 6:04 The art of the sigh.
• 11:32 Parts of the G.I tract and their corresponding doshas.
• 15:54 Vata imbalance and pain due to lack of upana vayu.
• 16:40 Pitta imbalance and pain due to hyperacidity.
• 20:02 Stress and the koshas.
• 23:37 Excess kapha in the gastrointestinal tract.

Favorite Quotes:

• “When we start to think of the digestive tract as more of a snake, whose tongue is our tongue, and whose anus is our anus, and that that great carrying channel, that Maha Vaha Srotas, is responsible for what becomes us and what supports us, and what is no longer needed. And so the choice maker, the awareness as choice maker, about what even enters in the five senses, if that choice maker is not relaxed, intuitively attuned, what will happen are bad choices. And bad choice dull down the intelligence of this snake.” – Cate Stillman
• “If we’re asking the question about stress and digestion we have to get to the root of stress. We already know that stress causes us to make bad choices. Like, good choices, smart choices for the very very short term are usually anti-choices for the long term. Against our long term desires. So with stress we want to look at why we are out of rhythm. What do we really want? That questions of what do we really want to eat, what do we really want to taste, what do we really want to digest, what do we really want to absorb. What do we most deeply want to know in this life? And if our day-to-day schedule isn’t aligned to that, to the who we want to be next, to the what we want to become next, like in real action, in real day to day shifting, evolving, how we use our time, more and more in alignment with what we want, we’re going to have stress. Because we’re living against our intuition.” – Cate Stillman
• “The rhythm of life is the rhythm of communication.” – Cate Stillman
• “Our intuition is lead by what feels good. It’s lead by desire. Because more good on the deepest level, is not superficial good. It’s not chocolate cake all the time.” – Cate Stillman