I talk about this a lot to myself and to clients and random people I meet at gatherings. We have to do weird stuff to get better. When we are working with the body, it’s the unusual things that get us moving towards change. If what we were doing everyday was working, we wouldn’t have to be doing this bodywork healing thing.
I’m going to talk about a weird thing you can do to support yourself in your own time. But first, I have to talk about our guts, and how the respond to overwhelm.
The viscera and safety
Our bodies work in a multitude of ways to keep us functioning through all kinds of circumstances. They are noticing, responding, interconnected organisms, doing what they can to keep us going. When life is supportive and nourishing, we can generally count on our bodies to hum along at a nice pace. We digest, breathe, circulate blood and fluids well within ranges that support our well-being.
When there is a sense of threat of any sort, our internal organs begin to function less efficiently in their given processes. They begin conserving energy, but this means they are less efficient at fully performing the functions they were designed for, e.g., digestion or bile production or peristalsis.
The body’s plan is to resume full function of its tasks after events that drive it into conservation mode. Life, though, will sometimes present us with ongoing challenges that do not allow this plan to be followed. That’s when messages get confusing and the rhythm from conservation to full function is disturbed.
We want to get going, get on with things, but the systems deep within have not caught up to the new situation of safety that has arrived after threat. They stay shut down and low-functioning. We don’t even consciously know this until symptoms start showing up—things like constipation, heart palpitations, chest tightness, a sense of not getting enough oxygen.*
*AND!! You should have any symptoms checked out by a medical professional to assess for other possibilities.
Things that can shut down the viscera:
Accidents
Traumatic events
Illness/viruses
Ongoing overwhelming stress
Doing the VOO, a request to be weird
One thing I have learned over time is that these bodies require us to do some weird things in order to heal. We think we are full of decorum and correctness in our stillness. Our movements bound by social rules. Our sounds contained by similar guidelines.
In times of need, engaging in movement and sound outside the social rules of correctness and decorum will come to our aid.
With that I introduce to you the VOO. This is a sound initiated at the front of the mouth with a “vvv” and backed up with an “oooo” sound that you take as deep into your belly as you can. At first it may not go very far. It might rattle around in your throat. With a bit of warming up, it can begin to travel down the center of the body and seem to resonate throughout your torso.
Release concern for what others might think—even if there are no others immediately around—and the voo will deepen, lengthen and resound.
Voo is specifically meant to resonate with the viscera. It stimulates receptive nerve endings, including the vagus nerve. This stimulation introduces new information and interrupts the impulses that have been telling your body to conserve its energy. By engaging the voo sound you are creating a neural pathway to present moment awareness and input. This allows your system to reset and begin movement out of conservation and in coordination with healthy function.
Suggestions for vooing
- How to voo
- Inhale easily
- Exhale gently while starting with “V” sound
- Move to the “oo” sound and continue comfortably until out of breathe
- Repeat 3 times
- When to voo
- In the shower
- While driving
- As part of morning meditation practice
- While doing chores
- Whenever you want!
- To try
- Play with location of sound, e.g., back of throat, front of mouth, into the belly
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