Everything Is Connected: How I’m Unwinding Years of Subtle Dysfunction in My Body

For years, I lived with a handful of symptoms that never seemed “serious enough” to deal with—until I started listening more closely. What I thought were isolated issues—like neck tightness or belly bloating—were actually signals of deeper systemic stagnation. Once I started exploring the connections between digestion, circulation, lymphatic flow, vagus nerve tone, and stored emotion, things have been starting to shift.

This is the story of that unraveling—what I’ve learned about my body, and the simple, effective things I’m doing to support healing.

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Symptoms I Noticed (Sometimes for Years):

• Chronic neck tension after breastfeeding three babies

• Head pressure during flip turns in the pool or handstands—like my head might explode

• Tightness near Eustachian tubes, but ENT found nothing

• Daily, unchanging pressure in the head/ear region

• Pressure between my eyebrows, worsened by illness or screen time

• Sweaty, clammy sleep, especially before or during my period

• Digestive bloating, stuck gas bubbles that feel like they float around (only since birth of 3rd child)

• Low appetite, sluggish digestion, frequent burping (only since birth of 3rd child)

• Muscle tension when lying in bed, especially hip flexors firing randomly

• Tearless in daily life, but crying uncontrollably to orchestral music

• Teeth chattering/shivering when talking about something I care deeply about (so annoying and embarrassing)

• Deep grief tied to giving up violin (when I was 18), a core part of my identity

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How It’s All Connected (maybe, probably)

1. Lymphatic Congestion & Sinus Drainage Dysfunction

All my head and neck pressure, sweating, and flip-turn discomfort? Likely due to stagnant lymph and venous blood flow from the head and face.
Blocked drainage = pressure buildup in sinuses, Eustachian tubes, and even venous sinuses.

2. Vagus Nerve Dysregulation

The vagus nerve influences digestion, emotional processing, and nervous system tone.
Mine was likely under-functioning, contributing to:

• Poor digestion

• Freeze response (no crying, teeth chattering during passion)

• Difficulty “letting down” or relaxing (free time = work time for me)

3. Fascia + Stored Tension

Years of breastfeeding posture, motherhood, and stress created tight fascia, especially in my:

• Belly (stuck, unable to suck in lower stomach post-baby #3)

• Neck

• Hip flexors

• Chest

This tightness restricted digestion, lymph movement, and emotional release.

4. Hormonal Cycles + Detox Overload

The sweaty, clammy sleep before my period showed how my liver/lymph couldn’t keep up with hormone clearance—leading to fluid retention, bloating, and pressure headaches.

 

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What’s Helping (and How I Use Each Tool)

Daily Practices

• Simple fried eggs for breakfast with lots of salt (easy digestion)

• Morning sun exposure through an open windowMagnesium glycinate+taurate at night (helps sleep, relaxes nervous system + muscles)

• Potassium/sodium pill in the morning (supports energy, hydration, and nerve signaling)

Sinus & Lymphatic Drainage

• Facial + collarbone massage

  • Behind ears, down neck, over chest

• Gentle jumping or heel drops

  • Stimulates lymph drainage from face/head

• Castor oil packs

  • Over belly, chest, or neck to soften fascia + encourage drainage

• Neck + collarbone breathing

  • Opens the thoracic outlet and invites release

Nervous System Resets

• Butterfly pose + psoas release before bed

• Melting my face into my hands for 30 sec = nervous system magic and anytime I start to get major tensions between eyes from too much computer time

• Slow, rhythmic humming or OM to tone vagus nerve

• Gentle shaking/bouncing for emotional or physical discharge

Digestion Support

• TUDCA (occasional) before a fatty meal—helps bile flow and relieves bloating (after a year off supplements, I have been trying this every few days before a meal if it feels like the previous meal hasn't moved yet. It noticibly encourages digestion).

• Cooked/warm foods over cold/raw (been diligent about keeping homemade broth in the fridge and it's a great snack)

• Light belly massage in clockwise circles to move gas + stimulate gut motility (usually in bed at night)

Eye + Face Reset (Mid-Screen-Day Magic)

• Eye mobility: circles, diagonals, up/down

• Warm hand “palming” over closed eyes

• Face massage + collarbone drainage strokes

• Optional: gentle hum or sigh
  (3 minutes, feels like a reboot)

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What I’m Learning

My symptoms weren’t random—they were messages from a body that had held on for too long.
The head pressure, the shivering, the bloating, the grief over violin—they were all connected by one simple truth:

I had paused full expression. My body paused with me.

Now I’m learning to feel again. To move gently. To cry when music breaks me open. To release the stuck tension—not all at once, but in layers.

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In addition to all this, I wanted to start incorporating some pelvic floor work to regain the connection to those muscles. I have worked with pelvic floor therapists before, but as with any practitioner, there's only so much they can do for you in a one-hour appointment, and I knew that all the work had to be me doing exercises every day by myself. This is the gentle plan I've worked out for myself.

Step 1: Rebuild the Breath-Core-Pelvic Connection

Diaphragmatic Breath + Gentle Core Activation (5 breaths)

1. Sit or lie on my back with knees bent.

2. Inhale slowly through my nose, letting my belly and pelvic floor gently expand.

3. Exhale through my mouth as if blowing through a straw, and feel my pelvic floor and lower belly draw inward.

   • Don’t “suck in”—just allow a natural upward/lifting feeling from pelvic floor to low belly

4. Repeat slowly for 5 breaths

This is my core pressure reset. I try to do it daily to retrain that connection.

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Step 2: Add Gentle Movement

Heel Slides (5–10 each leg)

• Lie down, knees bent, core gently engaged (same breath as above)

• Slide one heel out, keeping belly gently drawn in

• Return, switch legs

This gently trains lower abdominals + pelvic stability without strain

Pelvic Tilts (10 reps)

• Lie on back, knees bent

• Gently tilt pelvis so low back presses into floor, then return

• Engage my lower belly on the exhale

Start to feel what “sucking in” used to feel like—without force

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Step 3: Fascia + Belly Work

My fascia around the lower belly may also be stuck, especially if belly felt “disconnected” after 3rd last baby.

• Use castor oil or a balm and do soft, clockwise belly massage

• Focus especially on the low belly, above the pubic bone

• Breathe and feel what’s moving underneath

This can help soften the “grip” that’s preventing engagement.

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Step 4: Optional Supports

• Magnesium + hydration = supports muscular relaxation + nerve signaling

• Warm compress over lower belly or hips = helps fascia soften before breathwork

• Pelvic floor therapist (if accessible) = can identify overactive vs. underactive zones if things feel really stuck (saving this one for a rainy day).

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How I'll Know It’s Working

• My lower belly starts responding again—not forcefully, but gently drawing in (starting to feel this already moving in the right direction)

• Feel more centered and held in your core when moving or walking

• Psoas stops bracing, and the hips feel less twitchy at night (happens occasionally, but as soon as I do butterfly pose for a bit it relaxes)

• Feel less bloated and more upright (major improvements here already)

 

*I had also gone to an osteopath, from whom I learned there are both aerial sinuses and venous sinuses, and we determined that it's my venous ones (the blood/lymph) ones that are the issue. I like my osteo but taking the time to go is a pain, so I'm trying to work on all these things as much as possible before going to him again. I look forward to having him do more work on my head/jaw etc.