The Gut Wellness Course

Do you want to be in love with your body again?

On any given day, do you wonder if you will feel well, or if you will feel fatigued, bloated, and irritable?

Are you literally aching to reclaim your health, feel more connected to your true self, and go forward in health and relationships with joy, no matter what age you are?

Do you feel betrayed by your body?

Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed and reactive when you are with loved ones and friends?

Is it hard to know what to eat, or have the energy to exercise, or even look in the mirror?

We all grew up without learning how to care for our bodies or understand what it means to be in deep communication with it. We’ve been taught to not trust our judgement when it comes to health or medicine, and that we need to depend upon experts.

To get out of pain, we look for the quick fix and external solutions; that spot-on diagnosis, that one right pill, exotic herb, or new supplement, or that ever elusive secret practice or protocol.

Any of those efforts might be good for you, at least for a while. Or they might not be good for you.

We also offer students of The Gut Wellness Course discounts on online coaching sessions.

Each module includes:

• A demonstration video for each breathing exercise and touch technique.
  
• An audio recording for each step that you can listen to after watching and learning the breathing and touch technique videos. These audios are meditation-like body explorations that guide you deeper into a healing state.
  
• A brief worksheet PDF that will help you focus on questions or issues that arise and motivate you to create your own Action Plan for Gut Health, in preparation for interacting with me and other healthcare practitioners.
  
• A brief video with additional comments.
• A recording of a group coaching call from our initial launch. These include questions and answers, in depth discussion, and I lead you through a breathing practice.

Start Today!

New students are always welcome! Become familiar with the course curriculum in my Quick Start Guide and by watching my Welcome Video. Study at your own pace and begin to relax and discover inherent health immediately.

In this first module you will learn the First Steps in Unwinding. This will be a gentle invitation to being at ease with the feel of your belly and to once again enjoy your whole, living, breathing body!

• Belly Breathing. We present a natural way to breathe, the way that we were born with. This begins the process of unwinding any unhealthy patterns that we sometimes develop in our busy world of activity and chronic stimulation, and it will feel like you’ve just begun to get the deep rest you sorely need.
  
• Unwinding the Navel. This is a profoundly relaxing and powerful touch technique that contacts the bridge that once existed between you and your mother. You can still use this bridge as a pathway to get rid of waste, and imbibe nurturing, healing energy.
  
• Exploring the Abdominal Surface. Here we learn the cat’s paws touch. This is the yummy way a cat kneads you when he is purring and happy. With this touch technique, you familiarize yourself with the general terrain of the entire belly. You will find out where you are having difficulty breathing and feeling, where there is tension, and the quality of that tension.
  
• Lymph Pumping. Your belly contains a web of lymph tissue that filters waste from the blood. Again, we use the cat’s paws technique in two specific areas to stimulate movement toward the nodes of lymph tissue that are deep within the belly.
  
• An audio recording of the same techniques you learned above, but presented at a more relaxed pace, giving you the opportunity for an enriched learning experience.
  
• A worksheet that will help you focus on questions or issues that arise.
• An audio recording of group coaching call #1, from the initial launch of the course, that focuses on questions and offers supportive discussion related to Module 1. We also guide you through a breathing and body-awareness practice.

In Module Two we continue to explore deeper into the belly and expand our breathing capacity. We will begin to reach our breath into areas that are frozen in most people, to allow space for blood and oxygen to feed the organs and the fascia and other connective tissues, tendons, and ligaments. We will then encourage healthy movement in the large intestine (colon.)

• Lateral Breathing. The diaphragm, your major breathing muscle, is attached to the inside surface of your rib cage, and it begs to be loosened and enlivened. Here you begin to tap into the full power of your breath, and to feed and support the organs that are protected by the rib cage. We also begin to unwind old patterns of tension (and possibly, forgotten traumatic events that often cause us to suddenly be awash in feelings that we don’t understand.) Lateral breathing can help bring you into the present moment, and allow these patterns of tension to relax, and the energy to move through and release from the physical and emotional body structures.
• Connecting the Large Intestine. It seems everyone has some kind of challenge with their large intestine—as a result of diet, a microbial imbalance, food allergies, chemical sensitivities, and so much more. Here is a gentle touch technique to encourage movement and healthy elimination. This will also allow you to develop a mindful relationship with the vital functions of the intensely sensitive colon, and to connect with it on a daily basis.
• An audio recording of the same techniques you learned above, but presented at a more relaxed pace, giving you the opportunity for an enriched learning experience.
• A worksheet that will help you focus on questions or issues that arise.
• An audio recording of group coaching call #2, from the initial launch of the course, that focuses on questions and offers supportive discussion related to Module 2. We also guide you through a breathing and body-awareness practice.

Module Three takes us deeper into the organs that the rib cage protects and that work so very hard for us on a daily basis. Here we deepen our connection between our deep center and the sides of our body, explore the state of health in our digestive organs, and relieve congestion and deep tension.

• Expanded Lateral Breathing. Although we cannot palpate the digestive organs directly, we can learn to connect with them through the movement of our diaphragm and the presence created by deep and easeful breathing.
• Stimulating The Digestive Organs. With this step we are encouraging delivery of oxygen-rich blood and expanding the space in which the organs live. Waste, tension, or emotional charge can be carried off, making room for supportive nutrients to be carried in by the oxygen-rich blood. The enhanced exchange of blood stimulates the digestive and immune functions within your body.
• An audio recording of the same techniques you learned above, but presented at a more relaxed pace, giving you the opportunity for an enriched learning experience.
• A worksheet that will help you focus on questions or issues that arise.
• An audio recording of group coaching call #3, from the initial launch of the course, that focuses on questions and offers supportive discussion related to Module 3. We also guide you through a breathing and body-awareness practice.

This is an opportunity for you to breathe and work with an area you most likely have never contacted without the help of a physical or massage therapist—your back and two sets of vital organs that help keep you alive and vital.

• Three-dimensional Breathing.Three-dimensional Breathing. Three-dimensional Breathing. Here you have an opportunity to first direct the breath into the deep center behind your navel, and then fill out in all directions. This assists the kidneys and adrenals to do their important work, and it frees up your movement! The volition to move emanates from deep within your belly, and the psoas muscles, which assist you to walk and run, travel deep through your center to connect to the diaphragm. By contacting this entire area with relaxed breath, you integrate the belly with the back, and this provides you with more options in flexible and creative movement.
• Stimulating the Back. Closely related to the phenomenon of the smooth transfer from breath to movement is the proper function of the adrenal glands, which sit on top of the kidneys. Here the impetus to fight or flee manifests whenever we perceive that we are under attack, or whenever we happen to be in situations that require quick action. When we are relaxed and when our adrenals are functioning well, we can distinguish between real threats and mere stress. The adrenals are weakened with the constant stimulation that is part of today’s world, and integrating the back with three dimensional breathing and gentle touch will help you reduce chronic stress, ease back pain, and give your body new options in more positive and pleasurable movement.
• An audio recording of the same techniques you learned above, but presented at a more relaxed pace, giving you the opportunity for an enriched learning experience.
• A worksheet that will help you focus on questions or issues that arise.
• An audio recording of group coaching call #4, from the initial launch of the course, that focuses on questions and offers supportive discussion related to Module 4. We also guide you through a breathing and body-awareness practice.

This final module brings it all together by connecting the center to the upper and lower body, and by integrating the physical, emotional, and mental aspects of your whole being. Here we learn the complete breathing that releases stress, moves toxicity and waste, enlivens your organs and connective tissues, and, with practice, creates profound relaxation and an easeful experience with living. We also allow time and space for the freedom of an Inner Voice that arises by virtue of inspire-ation and full exhalation, giving expression to your heart’s desires.

• Complete Breathing. In addition to profound relaxation, connecting deep breathing with the upper body allows the viscera, lungs, and heart to function in harmony. It also connects the instinctual center to your emotional life. Here we marry the lower and upper body, becoming open to all the positive experiences that living in a three-dimensional body can offer!
• The Intercostals. This technique can help unwind any tension, constriction, or emotional armoring that have formed unhealthy patterns around the lungs and the heart. A stiff, immobile upper rib cage inhibits breathing and flexible movement of both the upper body and pelvis. We all tend to carry a lot of emotional energy here, and this technique can help gently and safely unwind it.
• The Lower Abdomen. Contacting the lower abdomen can soften any outdated patterns of constriction held in the pelvis, and it can gently acknowledge and smooth out any unresolved emotion connected with that constriction. The pelvic area or bowl houses the reproductive and generative organs and the small intestine (the organ that is primarily responsible for food digestion and where microbial balance is maintained. It is also where gut-brain communication takes place! This final technique can help transform what might be either a lackluster procession or a rigid march through life—into a pleasurable dance!
• An audio recording of the same techniques you learned above, but presented at a more relaxed pace, giving you the opportunity for an enriched learning experience.
• A worksheet that will help you focus on questions or issues that arise.
• An audio recording of group coaching call #5, from the initial launch of the course, that focuses on questions and offers supportive discussion related to Module 5. We also guide you through a breathing and body-awareness practice..

• An inspiring chapter from my new book, The Gut Wellness Guide—The Power of Breath, Touch, and Awareness to Reduce Stress, Aid Digestion, and Reclaim Whole-Body Health. This chapter, Your Belly Leading the Way, explains the three main, motivating reasons why attending to the belly and the gut are so important.
• Mapping The Breath and Mapping Touch, two interviews with Allison on The 15-Minute Matrix Podcast.
• An advanced body-exploration audio recording. Along with the audio that is part of each module, you’ll receive Pause and Rest, a more advanced exploration in breathwork. This recording offers you the opportunity to slow down your breath and bring your nervous system into restorative mode. Stress often puts us into a fight or flight state, causing feelings of overwhelm or can even create a chronic state of subtle panic. Our Pause and Rest relaxation audio will help you to breathe with full capacity and your body to relax and create health in any moment you choose.