The Belly You Learned to Hold In
When was the last time you let your belly fully relax?
I'm asking because I see it a lot. When I start a Chi Nei Tsang session, I often notice how much tension people carry in their belly, like they're holding it in without even realising. And the breath is usually up in the chest, rarely going down to the belly.
Why do we hold it in?
There are so many reasons, and most of them we pick up very early:
sitting for hours at a desk
pushing through busy days
not wanting to take up too much space
protecting ourselves when we don't feel safe
None of these are wrong. It's the body adapting to what we ask from it. The thing is, after some time, holding the belly stops being something we do and just becomes our normal. We don't even notice it anymore.
What happens with the breath
When the belly is tight, it can't move much, so the breath stays up in the chest, short and shallow. And this type of breathing is usually linked to the body being on alert.
In Chi Nei Tsang, the belly and the breath are very connected. Gilles Marin writes that how fully we breathe is related to how much we allow ourselves to feel. I find this idea really interesting... if the breath doesn't reach a certain area, we might also not be aware of what's kept in there.
The belly also digests emotions
We usually think about the belly as the place where food is digested. In the Chi Nei Tsang tradition, it's also seen as the place where emotions we didn't process get stored. That worry you put aside so you could finish a project, the sadness you didn't have time to feel, the frustration you swallowed during a meeting...
The gut has its own large network of nerves (sometimes called the second brain), and it's constantly exchanging information with the brain and the nervous system. So maybe it's not a coincidence that stress so often shows up in the belly as:
bloating
a knot in the stomach
digestion slowing down or speeding up
feeling heavy
Of course, not every stomach ache is an emotion. The body is way more complex than that. But I think it's interesting to keep this in mind.
For many women, the belly is also where we feel our cycle the most: cramps, bloating, heaviness before the period etc. Learning to look at this area with more kindness and less frustration is also a big part of what I share in my Women's Cycle Education workshops.
My support for you...
Chi Nei Tsang is an abdominal massage that comes from the Taoist tradition. The touch is slow and gentle, working with the belly, the organs and the breath.
The idea is not to force anything out. It's about helping the body feel safe enough to let go of the tension. When that happens, the breath can go deeper and whatever was stored there can start moving.
Some people feel lighter after a session, others feel emotional, and some simply feel they can breathe better. All of it is welcome :)
If your belly is asking for some love, come for a Chi Nei Tsang session with me.
Book it easily here.
with love,
Tarsila.