Got Writers Block? Take a Dump.

I know, sounds a bit distasteful and vulgar of me, but hang in here. It’s a taboo subject, but we all do it. I think you will be able to relate…

Ever feel like you have done everything right. Set yourself up for a good day. You’re ready to write and create amazing things. You sit at your chair, and nothing comes out, or at least nothing of any value. This is often referred to as Writers Block.

The successful author James Altucher recommends having a bowel-emptying dump if you are stuck with your writing. Self-optimisation leader Aubrey Marcus, masterful at owning the day and creating successful game-changing businesses, equally agrees that sometimes it’s what’s in your large intestine that’s getting in the way of creativity.

You Are Literally A Different Person After Emptying Your Bowels

This may surprise you, but poop is mostly bacteria – not old food. It has some old food, old cells and tissue etc. However, 50 to 80 percent of your poop (excluding water) is actually bacteria that had been living in your intestines and was then ejected as food passed through. Many of the bacteria in poop are still alive, but some are dead — carcasses of species that bloomed as they fed on the indigestible plant matter you consumed, then died shortly afterward.

What this means is that after going to the toilet, the balance of cells, bacteria, and microorganisms that reside in your body shifts by billions! You are literally a different person, with a huge shift in microbial genes.

And scientists are discovering almost daily the profound effect our microbiome is having on our health, metabolism, immunity, vitality, mood, disease risk, exercise capacity and even the ability to turn on or off characteristics of our human genes. That’s because the Guts Genome (microbiome) outnumbers the Human Genome by at least 50:1 – 23,000 Human Genes vs 1M+ Microbial Genes! Fascinating stuff. Every heard of gut instinct? Go with your gut? Mood changes when full/starving/upset tummy? Maybe there’s more here than we realised…

Writers Block May Be Sitting In Your Large Intestine

Remove the the blockage, and the words may well start to flow.

From personal experience, this has been so true. And not just about writing, but almost anything that requires attention and commitment. Such as working out, face to face communication, exams etc. The difference in mood can be like night and day after taking a crap, and it’s not just because you’re carrying around a little less weight.

Wellness and Mindfulness experts describe the process of going to the toilet as the removal of yesterdays negativity, and that you should do everything you can to not contaminate today with carrying around the negativity from yesterday. Taking that further, if we haven’t released yesterday’s waste, some say we shouldn’t even talk with anybody. We are not our best selves, somewhat contaminated and will transmit negativity immediately. Their digestion issue is the reason why a lot of people are grumpy in the mornings.

I’ve found that after taking a bowel-emptying dump:

1. It clears my mind, allowing me to focus
2. I have clarity AND calmness
3. There is a greater sense of positivity to my mood
4. I feel I have pressed the reset button. Especially in the morning

Surely you’ve felt the difference too? The calmness and lightness that follows. You’ve removed the distraction and let out the garbage. Clear desk, clear mind…. but replace desk for gut! 😉

When Is Best To Take Care Of Business?

It’s considered optimal if you are regular, going once or even twice a day. Again, it goes back to the idea of following your body clock and eliminating the bad stuff daily, freeing up capacity to to consume and produce good things.

If you are going to the toilet only a couple times a week, it’s encouraged to look at your diet and stress levels, as this is going to back you up and you will feel the distress in terms of low energy, distraction, poor mood and potentially gut-related health issues.

From a timing perspective, the ideal rhythm to get into is to follow your circadian rhythm, which means eliminating first thing in the morning. You need to train your bowels to do this, as there is only so much crap it can get through in a day. Excuse the pun. So, making a concerted effort to adjust your timing to first thing in the morning will then become habitual without you thinking about it after a while.

Many people will need a little helping hand from food versus being able to go first thing from awakening. That’s cool – take a look at the below tips to encourage things to start flowing, ideally before 7am.

Top Tips To Get Things Moving

General Dietary Guidance

As a general dietary recommendation, the more indigestible plant fibre volume you can consume the better. This feeds your good bacteria in your gut, but also provides the volume to produce healthy ‘logs’. Take a look at AdapNation’s Food Diary meal ideas as almost all of the meals come with a healthy portion of plant-based indigestible fibre.

Another tip, which seems quite obvious, is to consume enough water. Much of your stools are made of water, and it’s essential to keep things hydrated to prevent being constipated.

First-Thing-In-The-Morning Tactics

That said, I have some tactics that can work wonders for general morning energy, with a nice byproduct of promoting toilet time:

1. Salt & Lemon Water – This is the first thing I drink. Restores electrolytes and hydrates after all the water I lost whilst sleeping. Drinking lemon juice first thing in the morning helps loosen and flush out the toxins that fill your digestive tract. It will also help you with your morning bowel movements, infusing your stool with water, while hydrating your colon and stimulating your bile production. More benefits of Lemon Water can be read in this Micro-Blog. 1-2g of Sea Salt, quarter of a fresh lemon mixed in with 250ml of water.
2. Coconut Oil or Ghee – Literally, when you take either of these, you are greasing the skids. There a number of health benefits to consuming healthy fats (and not carbs/sugars) first thing in the morning – mostly to do with the smoother energy burn and lack of insulin spiking. This works for me every time. In terms of how I consume these, see below…
3.  Fat Coffee – Commonly referred to as Bulletproof Coffee – this combo is amazing for energy, productivity, metabolism… and crapping. Brilliant way to start the day, especially if combined with an Intermittent Fast approach. The caffeine ramps up adrenaline that gets the bowels moving, combined with the healthy fats that help things go on their merry way. What’s cool when you mix coffee and fat is that the fat slows down the release and use of the coffee, allowing for a smoother ramp up and a longer stimulating effect. Read more about Bulletproof Coffee and Intermittent Fasting here.
4. Fat-Coffee-Protein Shake – I’ll share the recipe shortly, but I accidentally created a delicious easy protein shake that combines veggie protein powder, coconut oil and coffee together in almond milk. Hot, filling, stimulating and dump inducing.
5. Rebounding – Jumping on a Rebounder / Trampoline for a few minutes first thing in the morning is recommended by scientists and some huge uber-productive people, such as life-coach Tony Robbins. Due to the G-force created from gravitational unloading, it stimulates the lymph system which is key to a healthy immune system. Plus, it helps shake off the cobwebs from sleep by bouncing around like Tigger for a few minutes. Moreover, it helps promote the bowels to move, due to the changes in direction and vibrations.
6. Deep-Breathing & Mindfulness Exercises – When you’re stressed and uptight, the poop ain’t going to loosen up and go anywhere. Our digestive tract is ruled by the sympathetic nervous system — and that means we need to be at rest to digest, absorb, and eliminate our food. Taking 5-10mins out every morning to meditate, do mindfulness practice, or simply take a couple dozen deep diaphragmatic breathes can do wonders for clearing your mind, bringing calm, and helping your digestive tract kick into gear.

Few Things Feel As Satisfying as a Big Crap

It’s true. Admit it! 😉

I hope this article, whilst unavoidably a little gross, helps connect the dots between productivity. mood and having a calm and emptied bowel. If you ever find yourself with writers block, just staring at the screen and keyboard, unable to get the creative juices flowing, then consider removing the blockage from down below and see what happens.