We often consider functional gastrointestinal disorders or irritable bowel syndrome in patients with long-term, recurrent chronic abdominal pain, diarrhea or bloating and constipation who have undergone many tests and have not been found to have inflammation or tumors in the intestine that could explain their symptoms. In terms of treatment, in addition to instructions to avoid foods or drugs that stimulate the stomach and intestines too much, we will recommend patients to take some sedative or anti-anxiety depression drugs, about which some patients do not understand very well. In fact, there are two brains, one located in our head and one in our stomach and intestines. The brain located in the head is the higher nerve center, which governs all activities within our consciousness. The brain located in the stomach and intestines is a lower level brain. Through the head brain, we can govern our autonomous behavior and perceive our feelings at the conscious level, but we cannot fully dominate the vegetative nervous system, which is governed by the gastrointestinal brain. The gastrointestinal brain has its own separate functions and sensations. Within the walls of the stomach, small intestine and colon there are two layers of pink tissue, which are muscles. Between these muscles there are a large number of nucleated lymphocytes, which penetrate the entire layer of muscle and enter the submucosa, forming the largest immune and nervous system of the body, protecting our body. If our gastrointestinal mucosa is stretched out, it is 40 meters long, the length of a tennis court. If all the folds were smoothed out, the surface area would be 400 square meters. The brain, the gastrointestinal, is managing all the work of digestion and absorption, including mobilizing the gastrointestinal muscles to move, secrete digestive enzymes, protect the mucosal surface, and ultimately digest and absorb our food. If we were to give a more specific understanding, this independent and autonomous brain, with 500 million nerve cells and 100 million neurons – which is almost the brain of a cat, so we have a kitten sleeping in our stomach – is calculating there itself, how to maximize the use of the food that is digested. It has 20 different kinds of neurons. That’s as many neurons as you can find in a pig’s brain, which has 100 billion neurons. It has spontaneously composed microcircuits, and all kinds of programs running. It senses food and knows what to do. It senses food chemically and more importantly mechanically because it has to move that food and it has to stir together all the different elements that we need for digestion and absorption. The control of the muscles is very, very important because, to know that there is a reflex action here. If you don’t like a certain type of food, especially when you are a child, you will vomit. It is this brain that makes you do this reflex. The gastrointestinal brain also controls the molecular structure of the secretion and the actual digestion of our food. The brain in the head controls the autonomic nerves, i.e. you can be aware of some situations; while the gastrointestinal center is not controlled by our autonomic nerves, we cannot order how our stomach and intestines work, but our emotions and subconscious states can influence the functional state of the stomach and intestines; we have people with big personalities who are carefree, and these people are generally generous; there are always some sentimental sisters like Lin Daiyu. Weak stomach and intestines can not eat anything to grow fat, but also always complained of abdominal discomfort. Our brain will be depressed and anxious, will be insomnia, melancholy; our stomach and intestines will also be sentimental, will be excited. Chinese people are generally more subtle, so sometimes they will suppress their emotions. But the repressed emotions sometimes involuntarily manifest themselves through gastrointestinal discomfort, i.e., the somatization of emotions. At this time, it is too limited to consider and treat only the gastrointestinal pathology itself. Therefore, if we exclude organic tumors or inflammation, we need to consider “functional” problems of the stomach and intestines. That is, just like the brain of the head can be nervous and anxious, the brain of the stomach and intestines also has emotions and temper, and needs to be calmed! Therefore, the medication must not be used to treat the headache, but to lower the neurological threshold of the body as a whole to relieve tension and anxiety. In addition to drugs, behavioral therapy can also be considered. Our ancestral medicine of qigong and taiji is no less than the imported product – yoga. In these days when life is getting faster and more stressful, it is important to slow down. Both of our brains need a slightly soothing rhythm and regularity.