Stomach pain: spiritual meaning and emotional causes

What stomach pain is

Stomach pain, or abdominal pain, is pain anywhere between the ribs and the pelvis. It can be a dull ache, cramps, a burning feeling, or a sharp or stabbing pain, and it can stay in one spot or move around.

Most stomach aches are short-lived and harmless. Common causes are indigestion, trapped wind and bloating, constipation, a stomach bug, period pain, food intolerance and irritable bowel syndrome. Burning pain in the upper tummy can come from gastritis, acid reflux or a stomach ulcer. Some causes need urgent care, such as appendicitis, gallstones, a blocked bowel, an ectopic pregnancy or, more rarely, a heart problem felt in the upper tummy. Anxiety and stress can also cause real stomach pain, especially in children.

A doctor looks at where the pain is, how it started and what comes with it, and may arrange blood tests, a urine test or a scan. Treatment depends on the cause: rest, fluids, a change of diet, medicines to reduce acid or ease cramps, antibiotics, or sometimes surgery.

The emotional meaning of stomach pain

Spiritually, the stomach is where you digest, absorb and take in the events of your life, not only your meals. It is linked to your "daily bread": the material, practical side of life, and the nurturing, maternal side too. Stomach pain is read as a sign that your daily reality is in conflict with your wishes and your needs, most often in your family, among friends or at work.

What sits on your stomach

In French, someone left speechless by a shock is "stomached", and something you cannot get over "stays on your stomach". The question stomach pain asks is simple: what is the situation in my life that I cannot digest? It is usually something recent, a setback in the family, at work, with friends or neighbours, in which you played an active part. Money worries and trouble at work are frequent triggers.

Digestion is hard, in thoughts as well as in feelings, when you stay attached to the past and find it difficult to forgive yourself or others. If you hide things, do not communicate, or feel uneasy with your conscience, the stomach is read as reacting.

Cramps and insecurity

Stomach cramps are linked to a deep sense of insecurity about a particular situation. You may feel lost and resigned, as if there were no way out. A nervous, fragile stomach is read as a sign of strong fears and of worry fed by low self-confidence, which makes it harder to accept your own emotions.

Hunger for love

Pulling, gnawing feelings in the stomach are often connected to a need for love, for "emotional food". Food stands for affection, safety, reward and survival. When there is an emptiness in your life, especially after a separation, a death, a loss or a shortage of money, you may want to fill it with food, or use food to ease material and financial tension.

Emotions that ferment

Fermentation in the stomach is read as emotions you set aside instead of facing them. They do not go away. They pile up and "ferment" under a sour, "acid" attitude. You keep going back over the same old situations without saying anything, which avoids conflict but leaves everything sitting there. Irritation that is never expressed, and anger that rumbles but is pushed back down, sit, spiritually, with heartburn and ulcers. (Most stomach ulcers are caused by a bacterium, H. pylori, or by anti-inflammatory painkillers, and they need medical treatment.) A negative, acid reaction to your reality is linked with indigestion and nausea.

Situations you find repugnant

Some situations feel so distasteful that the stomach seems to refuse them. Who or what would you like to see disappear from your life? Or is it a part of yourself, a way of living that feels too artificial or rigid, that you want to change? Feeling misunderstood or treated ungratefully belongs here too.

Slow digestion

A tense, rigid stomach digests slowly, and is read as resisting change. Discomfort after meals (dyspepsia) is linked to inactivity and indecision: are you also slow and passive in life, holding back from putting things forward because you feel insecure?

Tummy ache in children and adults

For a child as for an adult, a tummy ache is read as a sign of feeling abandoned or alone. Something outside affects you and you cannot put it into words, and this stirs up a quiet revolt. In children, a tummy ache is often a way of getting someone to take care of them, and may reflect a fear of not being listened to.

In adults, it can come with anguish about all your possibilities and doubts about your decisions: did I choose well? Am I "doing it right"? You may feel constantly watched, with very high stress and a fear of suffering. Reassuring yourself, and talking to the people around you, is the way through.

A child's tummy ache always deserves a medical check when it is severe, lasting or unusual. Listening to the child is part of the care, never a replacement for it.

A gentler way to hold it

Stomach pain needs to be looked at medically first. Alongside that, the emotional perspective asks what you have been swallowing without digesting.

• Name what you cannot digest. Pick the one recent situation that comes to mind first, and say it plainly.
• Let it be said. Truth and openness tame deep emotions. Share what you feel with the person concerned, or with someone you trust.
• See events as experience. Accepting that a situation is there to help you grow can turn pressure into something you have learnt.
• Look at forgiveness. Ask whether there is someone, perhaps yourself, you are still unable to forgive, and what one step towards reconciliation would look like.
• Feed yourself with care. Notice when you reach for food to fill an emptiness, and what kind of comfort you are really looking for.
• Reassure yourself. Speak to yourself kindly, and let love flow to the people around you. Trust that life can carry you.