your body speaks | Holistic Healing, Listening to Your Body, Women’s Health Over 40, Christian Health Podcast, Faith-Based Wellness

Ep17: When Your Gut Goes Quiet: Decoding Constipation, Bloating & Digestive Shutdown

• Dr. Brook Sheehan • Season 2 • Episode 5

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This one’s for the moments you feel stuck—physically, emotionally, spiritually.
 In today’s episode of your body speaks, Dr. Brook Sheehan dives into the not-so-glamorous but incredibly common experience of gut silence: constipation, bloating, and digestive shutdown.

You’ll hear the story of “Sarah,” a high-achieving woman doing all the right things—and still feeling backed up, bloated, and emotionally heavy. Through the lens of the bodyOS™ framework (physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental), we uncover what your gut might actually be trying to say when it stops moving.

Because your body is not broken.
 It’s speaking.
 Even when it’s quiet.

💡 In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • The top physical drivers of constipation and bloating (dehydration, low stomach acid, dysbiosis, poor motility, and more)
  • Solutions that support rather than override your gut’s wisdom—like magnesium, warm lemon water, belly massage, and reflex points
  • Why emotional weight, grief, shame, and control patterns often get stored in the gut
  • The role of discernment and truth in the spiritual dimension of digestion
  • How to use the Pause. Connect. Ask. Adjust. method to listen and respond with compassion
  • Why your gut might be asking for more than a fiber supplement

🛠️ Tools & Resources:

🎧 Stay Connected + Explore More Support:

If today’s episode spoke to something deeper in you, there’s so much more waiting for you inside my world.

💬 Start meaningful conversations with your body using the Talk to Me, Body affirmation card deck. Each card is written from your body’s perspective to help you shift from fear to faith in your healing.

📔 Track what your body is whispering with the My Body’s Whispers Journal, a gentle guide to help you connect physical symptoms with spiritual, emotional, mental, and lifestyle insights.

🌿 Want to deepen your listening practice and explore real-time body wisdom with others? Join the waitlist for the bodyOS™ membership, where we learn to decode the body’s signals together.

🌐 For more tools, free downloads, and upcoming course releases, visit drbrooksheehan.com

📲 And come say hi on Instagram: @drbrooksheehan

⭐️ If you loved this episode, would you take a moment to leave a five-star review on Apple or Spotify. It helps more women learn to listen, trust, and transform their health.

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[00:18.3] It's because so many of us, it's because it's about something so many of us experience, but we rarely talk about it with true honesty. [00:35.0] And that is when your gut goes quiet. I don't mean quiet in the peaceful way. I mean quiet in the way that feels stuck, backed up, sluggish and heavy. I'm talking about constipation, bloating, and digestive shutdowns. [00:53.7] Not the glamorous stuff, but the real stuff, the body stuff. And if that's something you've struggled with or are struggling with right now, you are not alone. Let me start today's episode with a story. It's a story of a woman, and I'll call her Sarah, though her name really isn't the point. [01:14.6] Sarah was a high performing mom and an executive. Always juggling a million things. Can you relate? Always doing all of the right things. She drank the right. [01:31.9] Always juggling a million things. Can you relate? She did all the right things. She drank the green smoothies, took the magnesium. She moved her body every single day. And yet every single week, she felt like something was off her gut. [01:49.6] Silent. No bowel movements for days. Bloating that made her feel six months. Bloating that made her feel six months pregnant by the evening. And an emotional heaviness that kept creeping in. [02:05.7] She kept asking herself, what am I doing wrong? But here's what her body revealed once we began listening and dialoguing more closely through the lens of the body OS framework. [02:23.2] But here's what her body revealed once we began listening more closely through the lens of the body OS framework, it wasn't just a physical issue. It was also emotional, spiritual and mental. All four pillars were out of alignment. [02:40.5] So we're going to unpack all of that today because if you've ever wondered why, why can't I go? Or you felt like your gut just shut down, there's a message underneath this, that there's a message underneath all of this. [02:58.9] And we're going to decode it together in real time on this episode. So part one is going to be the physical whispers of the gut. First things first. You. Your digestive system is arithmetic. Masterpiece is designed to move, to process, to eliminate. [03:18.5] And when it doesn't, something has interrupted the flow. So in starting with those Four pillars. We're starting with the physical. [03:33.2] First things first. Your digestive system is arithmetic masterpiece. It's designed to move, to process, to eliminate. When it doesn't, something has interrupted the flow. So we're going to start with the physical layer. [03:49.9] Here are a few common physical drivers of gut shutdown. First, one, dehydration. You're not drinking enough water. Especially structured water like lemon water, cucumber water, water with trace minerals. [04:06.2] This is not something you have to do every single day, but you but something that you need to be incorporating on a weekly basis. Your gut needs lubrication to move waste through the colon. Low fiber intake or too much of the wrong kind of fiber can also be another issue. [04:25.2] Not all fiber is created equal. Too much raw. Too much raw roughage like salads or protein bars. Too much raw roughage like salads or protein bars packed with fiber isolates can actually back you up if your gut is sluggish. [04:44.9] Go figure. Another one, dysbiosis or poor gut motility. Imbalances in the gut. Bacteria slow down the nervous system's response that tell your bowels to move. This often happens after antibiotic use, stress or high sugar diets. [05:04.7] Another one, low stomach acid. Many people with constipation also have weak digestion from the start. When stomach acid is low, the whole system becomes sluggish. Another thing can be delayed, gastric emptying. [05:24.9] Another thing could be delayed gastric empty emptying. If food sits in your stomach for too long, it sends less signal to the intestines. This can create bloating pain and that often brick in your belly feeling where it's really hard to even take a deep breath. [05:44.5] Pelvic floor dysfunction. Also, if the muscles in your pelvic floor are tight or weak, your body may have trouble eliminating even if your gut wants to go. Now I know I laid out a lot of the areas of dysfunction, but I do want to talk about some of the solutions for this physical layer so you know exactly what you need to be doing. [06:07.8] First things first, warm lemon water. Upon awakening. This stimulates your liver gallbladder which triggers peristalstick activity which is that wave like motion that moves food, food along. That can be helpful. As I mentioned earlier just a few times a week, even just to get things going. [06:28.2] Magnesium citrate or glycinate. Now you know Dr. Brooke is not a huge proponent of just willy nilly supplementation. But if you're having issues getting things moving through your gut, supplementing short term with magnesium citrate or glycinate can help support smoking, smooth muscle relaxation and draw water into the colon. [06:51.7] I do want you to to note do this not castor oil packs. They're gentle but powerful ways to get blood flow and detox support to the gut. [07:13.3] Now I want to talk solutions for the physical layer, but before I get there, I want to give a precautionary statement because if you know me, you know I talk a lot about how we need to do things that honor our bodies and not do things because a health guru or somebody told you to. [07:30.8] So I really want you to check in with your body with each of these things that I'm going to mention and find out if it's truly seeking and find out if it's truly seeking assistance with this particular modality. [07:46.0] First things first, warm lemon water upon awakening. This helps stimulate your liver, your gallbladder, which triggers peristalsic activity, the wave like motion that moves your food along. Another thing would be magnesium citrate or glycinate. [08:03.1] Now anything with supplementation. You know I'm not a big huge proponent of supplementation. When done willy nilly. I do believe that the body needs supplements to help support imbalances or dysregulation in other areas. [08:19.1] However, we don't want to just be supplementing long term with no changes. Magnesium citrate and glycinate support smooth muscle relaxation and draw water into the colon. So it can be very helpful short term to get things going. [08:36.7] Another thing to check in with your body about castor oil packs. They're gentle but powerful ways to get blood flow and detox support to the gut. I do want to mention, as I always like do with any of these things, and I said this earlier, with any of these things, check in with your body. [08:55.5] Do not get in and do not get in a habit of doing them over and over and over with no switch up. Body loves diversity. We need to give it changes and shifts. So any one of these things can be done, on different days of the week. [09:13.0] Another one is your small intestine reflex and your large intestine reflex point stimulation. So I will link both of the tutorial videos on this. To get your small intestine and your large intestine moving, reflex points that you can rub on your body to help get this going. [09:33.6] Another thing, belly massage in a clockwork, another thing, belly massage in a clockwise motion, trace the path of your colon gently. The very start of your colon is on the right side. [09:51.6] The end of your colon is on your left. That's why it's got to be clockwise motions. Your body loves to be guided, [10:07.2] and I think it's perfect to talk about it here, if you don't already have it. Download your free copy of my, body's whisper journal. It will help you track your rhythms and identify the quiet spells before they become bigger symptoms. [10:23.3] And I will link that in the show notes as I always do. [10:31.4] All right, so I want to zoom in on the emotional side of this. Now, you've probably heard the phrase gut feeling before. Your gut is deeply connected to your emotional life. It's one of the first places your body registers threat, fear, anger, or grief. [10:51.3] So what happens when you ignore these feelings? They get held in your gut. And we don't want any emotion that we feel getting held into our body. We want those emotional pieces moving through our body. And here are some common emotional contributors to constipation and bloating. [11:12.3] Unprocessed grief, a fear of letting go. Literally and symbolically, any kind of shame or embarrassment, perfectionism or control patterns. Have you ever noticed how your body tenses when you're overwhelmed? [11:30.5] The diaphragm stops moving. You clench your jaw, you hold your breath, you brace your belly. That bracing is your emotional armor. And your gut, it's taking the hit. [11:47.3] And your gut, it's taking the hit. So here's the question I want to ask you today. What truth are you holding in that needs to move? What emotion are you suppressing because it feels like too much? [12:03.3] What conversation have you avoided because it's uncomfortable? What boundary do you need to step set? What boundary do you need to set but haven't. Your gut is often the storage closet of all of these things you didn't feel safe to say? [12:21.1] We need to look into that emotional layer. I want to talk about the spiritual and mental aspects of the gut. Right now. Your gut is an. Your gut is a discernment center. It's not just about digestion. [12:36.2] It's about truth. What sits right with you, what doesn't, what needs to be released, what needs to be nourished. Sometimes constipation is your body's way of saying you're holding on too tightly. [12:53.5] Maybe a belief that no longer serves you, maybe to a version of yourself that you've outgrown, maybe to a fear that needs to be surrendered. [13:07.7] If you're a person of faith, this is a beautiful place to invite God into the conversation and ask him, is there something that I'm holding on to? Is there something that I'm holding on to that you Want to help me release? [13:24.2] What truth am I not facing? Where do I need to trust you more? And mentally, your thoughts matter. When your inner world is spinning with stress, hyper vigilance, or constantly doing, your gut often shuts down in protest. [13:43.6] It's asking for rest, for safety, for stillness. So if your gut has gone quiet. So if your gut has gone quiet, what needs to be quieted in your mind too? Let's bring it all together with the pause, Connect, ask and adjust method. [14:06.2] So we're going to pause the next time you notice bloating or constipation pause. Don't rush to fix it, just notice. Then put a hand on your lower belly and breathe deep. Ask where am I holding tension or emotion here? [14:27.5] Use your Mybody's Whispers journal to write it out. You can answer questions like what did I eat today? What am I feeling? But not expressing what thought or truth needs to move through me. Another resource that is available to you is the Talk to Me Body Affirmation Card Deck. [14:48.4] They are alphabetically organized in a way where it will be quick for you to find the cards that you need. The gut is there. The stomach is there. The liver is there. The gallbladder is there. All of the organs that make up your gastrointestinal tract are there. [15:04.7] Pull one of those cards and read that truth over your body, knowing that your body is not working against you, but instead working for you to keep everything moving. And this is one way you can help support it. As you are finishing. [15:21.8] As you finish asking those questions, choose one gentle next step to adjust. Could be that belly massage I mentioned. Could be a warm drink. Could be an honest conversation. Could be time spent in journaling. Could be time spent in prayer. [15:38.9] Could be a pause from rushing around like a crazy person. This isn't about fixing your gut. It's about listening to it. It's about trusting that it speaks in silence and and honoring the cues when they come. [15:59.2] So friend, if your gut has gone quiet, don't panic, don't judge it. Don't push through or try to force things to happen. Instead, get curious, get still and get honest. Your body was designed with the greatest technology within and that includes your gut. [16:19.6] Every single piece of knows how to digest not just food, but life. Let's stop overriding that wisdom. Let in let's stop overriding that wisdom and trying to hack it. [16:39.0] Instead of chasing symptom fixes, let's partner with your body's brilliant design. If this episode spoke to you, I'd love for you to forward it to a friend who's been feeling off, bloated or emotionally backed up. And don't forget to grab your free copy of the Bodies Whispers Journal, which the link will be in the show notes below. [17:01.4] Also, I know I mentioned them earlier, but if you haven't seen them yet, the Talk to Me Body Affirmation cards are now available. 63 cards written from the voice of your body, paired with scripture to help you trust your health journey in a whole new way. [17:19.3] They're beautiful, faith rooted and designed to help you listen in. You'll find the link in the show notes for those thanks for being here, thanks for listening, and until next time, listen, trust and transform. [17:34.9] Stay kind to your body and keep listening.