Dr. Michael Gershon has spent his career studying the gut. He calls the bowel the "second brain." Your core, your physiological center, the heart of your being holds as many nerve endings as that organ that sits on top of your neck--your brain. The two brains, the one at the top of your body and the one at the center, must work together if we're to live well. If they don't, well . . . you know what kind of misery and mess come your way when your gut is out of whack.

What's true physiologically is also true spiritually. If we live in our heads we neglect our hearts, our core, our center . . . the second brain. And the result is, well, you know . . . a miserable mess.

Most Americans experience some kind of gut trouble each day, and half of all Americans say their digestive problems affect their daily lives.

The basic point is this: take care of your gut, honor your second brain . . . or suffer. Too many people choose to suffer. We don't eat well. We don't relax well. We let our thoughts drive us relentlessly as if they command the helm of our lives.

It's little wonder, then, that our spiritual lives are out of whack.

The road to recovery runs through the center of us, and it'll take some real guts.

The first step is simply to acknowledge that you seek peace deep in the bowels of your being.