Last Updated on December 16, 2021 by
The nerves in the stomach are a symptom of a state of anxiety produced by some external situation. You are nervous, you feel an annoying pain in the pit of the stomach and you have the sensation that you have all your nerves lodged in that zone of the body, causing you a high discomfort that does not disappear.
However, due to the discomfort they cause it is important to know how to manage and calm them properly when they appear in a habitual and repetitive way, since the nerves in the stomach can become very unpleasant and affect our well-being.
Nerves in the stomach
Features and symptoms of the nerves in the stomach
Nerves in the stomach are a peculiar symptom of a state of anxiety, agitation or nervousness.
The anxiety, as you know, is a mental or psychological state in which you feel especially active, restless and uneasy, so the nervousness arises in our minds and in our thoughts.
Nervous thoughts usually manifest as worries or restlessness. Our brain focuses solely and exclusively on them, and these become the center of our mind.
However, a thought never appears in vain, that is, when we have an unpleasant thought, it never stands still in our mind and begins to perform a series of actions.
The first action that a thought of nervousness makes is the emotional reaction. That is to say: when we have an anxiety thought, this automatically produces a series of sensations in our body.
It is right here when the duality between mind and body disappears. In the mind there is an activity (a thought of anxiety), which directly access to our body (feelings and emotions of anxiety).
When nervousness and restless thoughts are transformed into emotions, they begin to produce a series of physical symptoms, such as discomfort in the stomach.
These discomforts are caused by our anxiety state and are usually interpreted as a nervous and unpleasant sensation that causes discomfort.
However, this is not all, because in the same way that the nerves have passed from our mind to our body, these can return to make the way in reverse.
That is, when we are nervous we feel feelings of discomfort in the stomach, but these feelings of discomfort are again interpreted by our brain, a fact that makes our nervousness increase even more.
By increasing our thoughts of nervousness, these are again transcended our body with greater symptoms of discomfort in our stomach.
Thus the state of nervousness becomes a mind-body loop, which, if not managed properly, can increase our anxiety and discomfort to ever higher levels.
In addition, anxiety can totally take over us, so our behavior and behavior will not be free from being conditioned by the nervousness we harbor within us.
When does it appear?
This feeling of nerves in the stomach can appear in multiple situations.
When it appears solely and exclusively in response to a particular stimulus, it is considered a normal response of our organism, however, when the nerves in the stomach appear recurrently, it is important to do something to manage it.
For example: during the minutes or hours prior to a very important examination, a meeting that will dictate the future of your business or a conference before hundreds of people, it is normal for you to feel nervous in the stomach.
At that time, what your body is doing is to activate properly to respond appropriately to that situation, but these symptoms will disappear when the stressful stimulus is no longer present.
However, if your anxiety state is chronic and the nerves in the stomach are permanently, the activation of your body will no longer be adequate and your feelings of discomfort will not disappear if you do nothing.
8 Tips to treat the nerves in the stomach
- Analyze your thoughts
As we have said, the nerves in the stomach are a symptom that has its origin in a state of anxiety, originated mainly in the recurrent thoughts lodged in the mind.
That is why if you suffer recurrent nerves in the stomach, the first thing to do is to @nalyze what thoughts you have and which of them may be triggering the feelings of anxiety.
To do this, you should stop for a moment whenever you have nerves in the stomach and write down in a notebook what thoughts you have.
When @nalyzing your thoughts you must be the maximum possible retailer. Therefore, if you feel that you are nervous about having an unstable work situation; it would not be enough to note: “I am worried about my job”.
Rise a little more in your thoughts and detect what you think in more detail. For example:
- “My financial reward is bad and this gives me problems to cope with my expenses.”
- “In the company are reducing staff and maybe I’m fired to my”
- “I do not know if I will be able to render properly and deal with all the work I have.”
- “If I get fired I do not know what I’m going to do and I will have many economic problems.”
These four sentences are examples of more detailed thoughts that may have a person who is nervous about their work situation.
The goal is to be able to do the same with your problem or those thoughts that cause you anxiety, so that you can then work to try to modify them.
- Try to change them
Once you have the thoughts that can cause your nervousness registered and well @nalyzed, we can start working to modify them.
The goal of this second step is to be able to contrast your thoughts in a rational and equitable way, and to prevent your @nalysis of your thoughts from being influenced by your anxiety state.
To do this, you have to submit your thoughts to a series of questions so that your own response allows you to approach the situation in a different way.
Following the example above, you could ask the following questions:
- Your economic reward is bad but to date you have managed to pull forward, is there any evidence to assure you that you will not be able to do so?
- Are you reducing your workforce in your company means that they are going to fire you? What evidence do you have about what is going to happen?
- What things limit you so that you cannot deal with all your work in a proper way if you strive and imply yourself in a proper way?
- Do you have other mechanisms to find solutions to your situation? Can you look for another job that improves your current situation? Do you have the support of people who could help you in difficult times? Have you managed to manage other difficult times in your life?
As in the previous point, these four sentences are just an example of the kind of questions that could be asked to @nalyze the thoughts well and acquire a more neutral and less anxious point of view.
The questions to be asked in each case will be different, the objective is to pause to reflect on each of your concerns and be able to @nalyze them in an appropriate way.
This does not mean that you have to get completely unconcerned, since if you are worried about it will be for some reason.
However, you must be able to turn your anxious thoughts into more neutral thoughts, so that you are able to approach in a less damaging way to your situation and manage to reduce your state of nervousness.
- Avoid stress
Another fundamental aspect to prevent your nervous thoughts from growing more and more, in turn, increase your physical sensations and your nerves in the stomach, is to be able to lead a quiet life and to avoid the stress as much as possible.
If you are nervous and stressed you will have little time to stop thinking and to pay attention to your nerves, so that these will manifest without any type of filter and will increase irretrievably.
Analyze your agenda, your activities, what you should do yes or yes and what things are secondary and you can eliminate them to be calmer.
Get organized and make sure your schedule does not exceed your abilities, find free time to do things you like, to get away, and to find the calm and relaxation you need.
- Breathe well
Once you have managed to have some control over your thoughts and you are able to @nalyze them correctly without providing them directly, we can begin to focus on physical aspects.
The nerves feel in the stomach, so not only must you focus on the variables of your mind but you will have to provide states to your body that will allow you to reduce the nerves that you feel in the stomach.
One of the most important body aspects is breathing, so always try to breathe properly.
People with stress usually breathe with clavicles or ribs, which causes a bad entry and exit of air to the body, and usually increases states of nerves.
So, try to breathe always with the gut, from the navel down. This breathing will allow you to oxygenate the blood and brain, so if you practice it on a regular basis it will be much easier for you to relax.
To better breathe you can practice these relaxation techniques.
- Relax
Another fundamental aspect is that you can find the time to use it to practice relaxation in a much more direct way.
Investing a few moments a day to relax will allow you to be much less tense during the day and reduce your nerves in the stomach.
The relaxation the can practice by yourself at home performing these steps, as long as you possess a calm and quiet atmosphere.
- Wear comfortable clothes and if you like relaxing background music. Then lie on a surface where you feel comfortable, such as a sofa, a lounger or the like.
- Place your body face up, legs slightly ajar, arms outstretched and eyelids closed. Try to avoid the movements.
- Perform a breathing exercise. Try to breathe (as discussed above) for 8 seconds, keep breathing for 8 more seconds and exhale for 8 seconds. Perform this sequence for about 20-25 minutes.
- As you hold your breath try to keep your attention and your thoughts only in your body. Pay attention to your muscles and notice how they relax more and more.
Broaden your posture
Nervous and stressed people often close and tighten their bodies, a fact that contributes to increased body stiffness and nervousness.
A very useful exercise is to widen the posture, pulling the shoulders back, pulling the chest forward and slightly pulling the neck towards the back.
This practice improves the condition of the spine, the cervical and allows acquiring a more relaxed state.
- Control the diet
One of the first organs to be affected with stress and anxiety is the digestive tract, so it is important to provide a balanced diet to your body so that these do not aggravate the symptoms of nervousness.
Also Read: Gynophobia: Symptoms, Causes and Treatments
Try to eat a balanced diet, do not make very high or very calorific intake, avoid eating carbohydrates excessively, and eliminate the consumption of coffee, alcohol, tobacco and chocolate.
This way, your stomach will have less work and will be less affected by nervous symptoms.
- Hydrate well
Finally, another thing that is very good for dealing with the nerves in the stomach is to perform a good hydration and give your body a good amount of water.
Likewise, it can sometimes help to take infusions with soothing properties. Chamomile, Melissa, ginger root decoction or the infusion of green anise and mint can relieve spasms of the stomach and relax our body.
