Abdominal fat is endemic—we see it everywhere. And while diet plays a major role—pasta, bread, refined sugar, fried foods, sweetened beverages, meats full of fillers, preservatives, and other additives, dairy-heavy meals, and other highly processed or chemically laden foods—there’s often much more going on beneath the surface.

Most people are carrying a backlog of unprocessed stress and emotion in their bodies—especially in the gut. In many cases, the abdomen becomes hard, distended, and holds onto a substantial amount of additional weight. They’re carrying an enormous burden in their belly. Some avoid, dissociate from, or even reject this part of their body—often feeling a deep sense of shame or discomfort.

Our gut—this entire abdominal region—isn’t just about digestion. It’s one of the primary places we store unprocessed emotion, trauma, and stress. When we’ve gone through difficult or overwhelming experiences—especially ones we didn’t have the support or capacity to fully feel at the time—much of the stress and emotion we weren’t able to “digest” ends up accumulating in the gut. For some, it becomes a kind of toxic waste dump.

When the abdomen becomes hard, tense, or heavy, it’s often a reflection of everything we’ve been carrying—emotionally and energetically. The gut is the foundation of your being. It’s deeply connected to your sense of safety, instinct, boundaries, and presence. And when this area is shut down or off-limits, it becomes much harder to feel grounded in your body—or to let go of what’s keeping you stuck.

What many fail to understand is that what they’re holding in their abdomen is significant—not just physically, but emotionally and energetically. Yet for those willing to explore this part of themselves, it can open the door to transformation—accelerating healing while increasing awareness and presence.

The Gut as a Second Brain

Modern science is now catching up to what many traditional cultures have known all along—the gut functions as a second brain. Ancient healing systems like Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine have long understood the link between gut health, emotional balance, and overall well-being. Even Hippocrates, often referred to as the father of Western medicine, is said to have claimed that “all disease begins in the gut.”

The gut contains over 100 million neurons—more than the spinal cord—and plays a crucial role in regulating mood, immune response, hormone production, and inflammation. When the gut becomes stagnant or overloaded, it begins to impact every major system in the body.

What Gut Stagnation Looks Like

When someone holds a large amount of unprocessed emotion and physical toxicity in the gut, we often see:

• Chronic tension in the abdominal wall—especially in muscles like the psoas, diaphragm, and transverse abdominis.
• Reduced motility, slowing digestion and peristalsis—the muscular waves that move food and waste through the intestines.
• Lymphatic congestion around the small intestine, leading to an accumulation of toxins and waste.
• A hard, distended abdomen, often resulting from inflammation, poor elimination, visceral fat, and energetic holding patterns.

How It Harms the Body

When digestion slows, food sits in the gut for longer periods of time, leading to fermentation, bloating, and gas. This stagnant environment becomes a breeding ground for harmful bacteria, candida, and parasites—many of which release toxins into the bloodstream. These toxins irritate and inflame the gut lining, eventually causing increased intestinal permeability, or what many refer to as “leaky gut.” Undigested proteins and microbial toxins begin to seep into the bloodstream, triggering immune overactivation and a host of other symptoms—food sensitivities, joint pain, skin issues, and brain fog among them.

The liver, already burdened by the demands of modern life, becomes overwhelmed trying to filter the toxic blood returning from the gut. And when it can’t keep up, these toxins recirculate—impacting brain function, clarity, and mood. It becomes a toxic loop: gut to liver to brain.

Abdominal weight gain isn’t always just fat—it’s often visceral fat, which is metabolically active. This fat secretes inflammatory cytokines that wreak havoc on the endocrine system, contributing to insulin resistance, estrogen dominance, and a sluggish thyroid.

When the gut is stagnant, it also disrupts the vagus nerve—the primary communication pathway between the gut and the brain. As vagal tone weakens, the nervous system becomes dysregulated. This impacts everything from mood and sleep to our ability to manage stress or return to a state of calm and balance.

The Deeper Energetic Cost

• Beyond the physical, when the gut is shut down, a person may:
• Struggle to feel or digest their emotions.
• Remain stuck in survival states—fight, flight, or freeze.
• Experience chronic fatigue or emotional flatness.

Feel disconnected from instinct, intuition, and inner truth—because the gut is one of the primary channels through which the inner voice speaks.

Why Cultivating Gut Health Matters

Clearing stagnation and restoring vitality to our gut can lead to dramatic changes in every aspect of our lives.

It often feels as if a fog has lifted, as the toxic burden on our brain begins to ease. We start to experience greater mental clarity and focus. Our thoughts become sharper, decisions come more easily, and we feel a renewed sense of engagement with other people and the world around us.

Our energy levels begin to rise, and with that comes a deeper sense of vitality and emotional resilience. As our gut heals and our body regains access to its life force, we often find ourselves better able to handle stress without becoming overwhelmed or depleted.

As our immune and digestive systems become more vital, our body no longer has to fight off the constant assault of toxins leaking from the gut. Digestion becomes more efficient. Nutrients are more readily absorbed, and symptoms like food sensitivities, bloating, or discomfort begin to fade.

As inflammation decreases and our endocrine system begins to stabilize, we start to shed excess visceral fat. We find it easier to lose weight, experience fewer cravings, and notice that our energy stays more steady throughout the day.

And perhaps most importantly, clearing our gut makes it easier for us to feel and digest the imprints of our lived experiences—and the emotions attached to them—that have been stored within our body. We become more grounded, more self-aware, and begin to feel a deeper sense of presence and well-being.

Activating Your Abdominal-Based Healing Intelligence

While diet plays an important role in cultivating gut health, it’s only one piece of the equation. There are also a number of body-based practices and therapeutic interventions that are critical to addressing the underlying stagnation—especially when it comes to processing stored emotion and trauma.

One of the most essential practices is learning to center your awareness in the middle of your intestines. Begin by becoming aware of any physical sensations or feelings that arise in this region. Then immerse yourself in what you’re feeling—breathing from the depths of the sensation. Stay with it. Follow the progression of feeling and sensation as it evolves. These are the deeper currents that need to be acknowledged and digested.

While meditation apps and social media have popularized ten, fifteen, or twenty-minute practices—which are certainly better than nothing—the reality is that the depth of healing most of us need requires something more. We’re contending with ever shortening attention spans and chronic emotional avoidance. But consistent, focused practice of an hour or more will take us much deeper and deliver far more powerful results.

Orenda for the Digestive Tract and Other Visceral Organs

Having trained with a traditional Native American doctor (medicine man) from the Kiowa Tribe, I work as a conduit—as Indigenous healers have done for thousands of years—allowing an extraordinarily powerful presence to move through me to heal the mind and body. During the individual sessions, this presence facilitates the healing of conditions such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and other forms of digestive distress.

The undigested residue—traumas and sensory impressions of other lived experiences, and the emotions tied to them that have been stored in the gut—are transformed so they can be thoroughly digested and utilized as fuel for growth. Further cleansing takes place as physical toxins—such as those resulting from poor dietary choices, medications, and other environmental exposures—are also cleared from the system.

As the digestive tract and other visceral organs awaken, becoming more vital, you experience a deepening self-awareness—along with a greater aliveness, emotional resilience, and felt sense of presence that begins to permeate every aspect of your life.

©Copyright 2025 Ben Oofana. All Rights Reserved.

Message me directly or call (332) 333-5155 if you feel called to work together on improving your gut and overall health.