A client of mine took on my 14-Day Ocean Breeze™ Challenge for one reason - her anxiety. It worked. But she told me something I didn't expect: "I do have IBS-D, and that too has improved since I've been doing my morning breathing exercises. For the first time in a very long time, I am regaining control of my body." Something similar happened to me. I'd always thought I was breathing to calm my nerves, turns out my gut was getting the memo as well.

Ten Years of Everything Except This

For over a decade I dealt with the fallout of haemorrhoids and constipation, the kind of thing you don't bring up at dinner. I tried fibre, magnesium, stretches, massage devices, HIIT, trail running, the lot. Most mornings involved furious belly rubbing and some genuinely strange loo exercises, perched, feet up, running through my mental checklist, confirming "Houston, we are good to go"... and then NOTHING. I know exactly what Dr Jones would say, I should've just reached for the Milk of Magnesia. Something was still missing.

What I Actually Found

"Slow is smooth, smooth is fast," that old Navy SEAL line, turned out to be oddly good advice when it came to my gut. After 10 years of medical professionals treating the symptom and not the cause, I was frustrated enough to properly dig into my own physiology and the science behind the gut. That's when I stumbled across it, the secret of breathwork and your diaphragm.

Your lungs are wired straight to your vagus nerve, the main cable of one of your 2 operating modes, your parasympathetic nervous system, otherwise known as your rest and digest mode. Breathing the right way flips the switch and gets your system into rest and digest mode.

But that's not all. Your diaphragm is one of the most powerful muscles in your body, and when you breathe correctly, it exerts mechanical pressure on your internal organs, importantly your large intestine or colon. So your diaphragm is not just a breathing muscle, it massages your gut, stimulates your vagus nerve, and activates your rest and digest mode, all at once.

The breakthrough that ended 10 years of constipation wasn't a diet, a pill, or a procedure. It was a breath. Getting there took deciding to be the CEO of my own health, no longer outsourcing the solution to doctors, and training with world champion freedivers like Stig Severinsen to properly understand my own physiology and uncover the secret that lies behind your breath, including breath-holds.

It's Bigger Than You Think

Dr J. Wesley Jones, MD, FACP, AGAF, gastroenterologist and one of the endorsements behind my book, puts it plainly: constipation is the problem underlying most gastrointestinal issues. Most of us just never realise it, because nobody names it as the cause. The scale backs him up: the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons puts it at up to 80% of people experiencing constipation at some point in their life, the NHS says around 1 in 7 UK adults live with it, and that rises to nearly half of everyone over 50. Some medical professionals will still tell you anywhere from 3 times a day to once every 3 days is normal, "everyone's different." I've said it before and I'll say it again, that's complete nonsense. Don't believe me? Explain the Gastrocolic Reflex, or why some gas could clear Wembley Stadium. Food overstaying its welcome in a gut that's just one long tube, mouth to back passage, explains both.

Even if you think your gut health is fine, which is what most people tell me, here's my actual challenge: what about your gut microbiome? More than 90% of your body's serotonin lives in your gut, along with about half your dopamine, 2 chemicals doing more for your mood than anything in your medicine cabinet. There's something for everyone here.

The "U" in GUTWISE

I built my approach to gut health into an acronym, GUTWISE, 7 letters. But there's one letter that changed everything for me: U, Unleash Diaphragmatic Power. I go into far more detail in my book, GUTWISE - The Secret to Healing That Pain in the Arse, this is the short version.

I map my approach to overall wellness against 7 pillars of health: physical activity, nutrition, sleep, mental wellbeing, breathing, elimination, and spiritual wellbeing. Most people know the first 3. Almost nobody talks about breathing or elimination, and they're your 2 most natural, most powerful levers. Elimination is the pillar that started my journey. Breathing is the one nobody ever taught you. This article sits right at the overlap of both.

If reading suits you, GUTWISE: The Secret to Healing That Pain in the Arse covers it properly. If video's easier, the GUTWISE Course walks through the same thing. And if you're as intrigued as I am about breathwork, the Ocean Breathing Course is where I actually teach it.