Have you been told to take it easy, relax more, or meditate?
Easier said then done!
Many of our beloved thyroid patients arrive at the clinic with a stress disorder that is so set in, they don’t know what ‘normal stress’ is anymore. This is termed sympathetic dominance, and it keeps the nervous system switched on ALL THE TIME! The body runs on cascade after cascade of hormones, interrupting sleep, causing extreme fatigue, creating a raft of mood swings, and totally throws out your hormones.
Today I have some different techniques to reverse this – and it’s NOT meditation.
Read on!
Enjoy Daily SILENCE
This sounds too simple doesn’t it? However, setting aside some time every day without noises can be a powerful tool to calm the nervous system – resulting in YOU feeling more mentally balanced. This can be as easy as switching off the TV, silencing your phone, and sitting in silence.
Even better, walk in nature in silence. Nature walks have been shown to decreased depression, improve mental health, and lower perceived stress.
Read a book
If you feel wired, mentally agitated, or flustered, pick up a book. In a recent survey, health sciences students reported leisure reading as providing both personal and professional benefits.
“This is more than merely a distraction but an active engaging of the imagination as the words on the printed page stimulate your creativity and cause you to enter what is essentially an altered state of consciousness,” neuropsychologist Dr. David Lewis.
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“Came in feeling about absolutely exhausted with no energy or motivation. After taking supplements for a few months, my energy levels and motivation returned and kept improving. I also noticed my goiter reduced in size with the iodine supplements.” – L.S.
Breathe
Deep abdominal breathing encourages full oxygen exchange, and it can slow the heartbeat and lower or stabilise blood pressure.
You can do more formal breathing techniques – called pranayama – which give a wide variety of therapeutic outcomes, some of them occurring immediately.
Journaling
Freewriting is the practice of continuously penning your thoughts for a set period of time, without paying attention to spelling, grammar, or topic. You don’t have to structure paragraphs or worry about adhering to writing convention; the point of this exercise is to encourage a stream of consciousness, where your inner monolog flows freely onto the page. Most people set a time of 15 minutes, but there is no strict rules around time.
Studies suggest free writing has excellent mental health benefits. Research published in the British Journal of Health Psychology found that positive emotional writing reduced anxiety.
Binaural Beats
Binaural beats are two tones, one in each ear, that are slightly different in frequency. Your brain processes a beat at the difference of the frequencies.
Binaural beats are claimed to induce the same mental state associated with a meditation practice, but much more quickly. Binaural beats between 1 and 30 Hz create the same brainwave pattern that one would experience during meditation. When you listen to a sound with a certain frequency, your brain waves will synchronize with that frequency. The theory is that binaural beats can help create the frequency needed for your brain to create the same waves commonly experienced during a meditation practice. It is a very clever way to gain the benefits of meditation without the mental discipline.
Fast track your peace with herbal medicine
There are many wonderful herbs that assist us to reclaim balance in body and mind. Some favourites are Zizyphus spinosa, Passiflora, Valeriana officinalis and Eleutherococcus senticosus.
Working with a naturopath ensures that nutritional deficiencies are corrected, diet is individually modified, and herbal medicine is offered to help you get to your health goals in the fastest time.
Book a free 15 minute consultation to discuss our approach to wellness, and how we are different from other health providers.
