Digestive Health and Vitality

Body & Health

Jun 25

Your energy, vitality, and health are linked to what you take in each day. If your digestion isn’t functioning well, this can affect your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

Many people have questions about their digestive health. And while a healthy digestion is important for you to function optimally, there isn’t only one ‘ideal’ diet or lifestyle—but you can take steps to discover what works best for you. Sometimes people need extra support with this; there are tests that can analyze the microbiome, as well as diet changes, herbs, or protocols that can support detoxification and ensure daily elimination.

Your digestion is also affected by your stress levels, social interactions, and media exposure. These contribute to tension in the abdomen, disturb the nervous and digestive systems, and impact energy, memory, and mood.

When you are present, you can see how stress affects your body, mind, and feelings. After a Breema session, patients will often remark how busy the mind was initially, or that there was tension in the body they hadn’t even known was there until it released—and that the nonjudgmental atmosphere of the session supported them to let it go. We are living our lives in tension, but we are so busy that we don’t notice.

Breema’s Nine Principles of Harmony support you to be present throughout your day. When you are doing the dishes, folding laundry, or gardening, you can work with the principles of No Hurry/No Pause, Full Participation, or Single Moment/Single Activity. When you bring the mind to the activity of the body, you become present. In the present, body, mind, and feelings can function harmoniously. Tension in the abdomen, digestive, and nervous systems dissolves. The effect of this balances the emotions, increases vital energy, and supports you to be nourished by the simple activities in life.

Healthy digestion is more than just metabolizing the food you eat—it encompasses everything you experience each day, including social media, news, and interactions. By practicing being present, you can develop the tools to ‘digest life,’ and relate to the world more harmoniously, with vitality, presence, and balance.

Alexandra Johnson, MD practices integrative, functional family medicine and is a Breema bodywork practitioner and instructor. She finds this approach invaluable for supporting mental, physical and emotional health. She also has extensive experience working with other professionals, including health professionals, to alleviate burnout, chronic fatigue, and compassion fatigue. She has clinic locations and teaches workshops in Santa Cruz, Oakland, and internationally.
Alexandra Johnson, MD practices integrative family medicine and Breema bodywork. She finds this approach invaluable for supporting mental, physical and emotional health. She has clinic locations and teaches workshops in Santa Cruz and Oakland.