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The Ovarian Adrenal Thyroid Symphony

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Putting the Pieces Together: The Ovarian – Adrenal – Thyroid (OAT) Symphony
Before we reach the nether regions of the endocrine system, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about a very important concept called the Ovarian-Adrenal-Thyroid (OAT) axis. The goal is to live in hormonal harmony within our own body, and that can get tricky pretty quickly when you have a bad conductor directing a personal symphony 🎻🎺🎷🥁🎼orchestra.
A typical symphony orchestra🎻🎺🎷🥁🎼 has more than forty musicians and is an ensemble composed of wind, string, brass and percussion instruments. There are very few great conductors in the world simply because such a job requires charisma, deep knowledge of both music and musical instruments, and major people skills. A stellar conductor must also know the style and history of music and excel in anticipating and then cueing each musician at exactly the right moment. Some of the more extraordinary conductors I’ve seen also appear to have a playfulness within them to balance the exacting attention to detail that must be required to execute a flawless concert.
The endocrine system is much like a symphony🎻🎺🎷🥁🎼, often with “the conductor” being the level of stress we unwittingly allow ourselves to live with. Remember, stress on the body isn’t only caused by meeting deadlines or trying to achieve a long “to do” list. Stress on the body will look different for each person, and may be emotional or physiological… It doesn’t matter the type or combination thereof!
  • Chronic busyness to the point of exhaustion
  • Chronic physical pain
  • Chronic infection or illness
  • Toxin load
  • Heavy metal load
  • Emotional stress
  • Chronic sleep deprivation
  • Too much exercise
  • Nutrient deficiencies due to poor eating habits, medications causing depletions, a physiological inability to absorb certain nutrients properly, or even relying on poorly made supplements for nutrition
Stress always affects the adrenal glands first, and then thyroid and ovaries will begin to suffer.
Conductor: “A little less cowbell please!”
By the time a woman reaches her mid 30’s/ early 40’s (unless she has incorporated solid stress mediation tools into daily life ), there is a high probability that the excessive “cowbell” coming from the adrenal glands has begun to successfully drown out the harmonizing ovaries and thyroid. Because we’ve already fairly thoroughly discussed the adrenal glands and thyroid (reread those sections for a refresher!) I want to focus on how ovarian function is impacted by chronic stress.
In a state of chronic stress, the adrenals cannot keep up with the demand for cortisol production, and in doing so, they begin “stealing” from progesterone production to have the building blocks to make more cortisol.
Conductor: “Add in a little more saxophone.”
As progesterone production drops, estrogen dominance makes its debut.
Conductor: “Decrescendo piccolos!”
Estrogen dominance (which can occur even when ovaries have been removed, thanks to estrogen production elsewhere in the body and xenoestrogen exposure) then begins impeding the conversion of (inactive) T4 into (active) T3 which translates to less active thyroid hormone for the body to have access to. This leads to feelings of sluggishness, fatigue, and all the symptoms related to hypothyroidism. Too much estrogen also interferes with the communication between the brain and the adrenal glands. As time goes on in a state of estrogen dominance, fat begins accumulating around the abdomen. Have you heard the term “muffin top”? It’s a clue, my sleuthing friend! Muffin tops, excessive PMS, infertility or miscarriages, low libido, bloating or water retention, fibrocystic breasts, premenstrual headaches, thyroid dysfunction, irritability or depression, hair loss, thyroid dysfunction, foggy thinking, memory loss, and insomnia are all major clues with the conductor’s baton pointing towards estrogen dominance.
Conductor: “Crescendo violins!”
Estrogen dominance has also been linked to worsening allergies, autoimmune disorders, ovarian cysts, breast and uterine cancers, and is associated with an accelerated aging process. I’ll talk more about estrogen dominance later…. The goal here is to show the snowballing impact of stress on the endocrine system and ultimately the entire body.
Unfortunately, Westernized medicine is usually quick to add to the toxic soup already existing within a body by applying chemical bandaids. Ironically, antidepressants, thyroid replacement medications, and hormone replacement therapies often worsen the OAT imbalance IF addressing adrenal gland health is not part of the health and wellness recovery plan. Understanding the importance of and utilizing stress management tools daily will be a game changer, if you have been identifying with these clues!
Let’s not leave the men out of this discussion. There is a male version of the OAT axis. Abnormal cortisol levels in men cause testosterone levels to drop. Treating low testosterone with a synthetic testosterone replacement while ignoring the adrenal connection does come with risks. Side effects of synthetic testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) may include polycythemia, peripheral edema, aggression, diminished testicular size and fertility, exacerbation of sleep apnea, and cardiovascular and liver dysfunction. TRT is another chemical bandaid which fails to address the root cause (another “to be covered later” topic).
Without question, life has the potential to be stress filled, and we must use the tools easily available to us to mediate its harmful effects.
  • Belonging to a supportive like minded community
  • Prayer and meditation
  • Exercise, especially yoga
  • Spending time outdoors or with a pet daily
  • Practicing self care daily
  • Laughter
  • Minimize phone use and screen time
  • Healthy diet
  • Practicing deep purposeful breathing
  • B Vitamins (have you tried YL’s Super B?)
  • Elimination of toxins especially xenoestrogens commonly found in mainstream skincare lines. Utilize Young Living’s safe ART, Bloom, or Balance skin care lines for safe xenoestrogen free products!). Xenoestrogens are also found in plastics (ie water bottles), red dye #3, BHA (a food preservative, many insecticides, and birth control pills that contain ethinylestradiol.
  • Young Living’s Cortistop
  • Utilize scents that you find relaxing. Many studies suggest that aromatherapy is beneficial for relaxing and decreasing stressful moments. Scents known to promote stress reduction include lavender, rose, vetiver, bergamot, Roman chamomile, neroli, frankincense, sandalwood, ylang-ylang, orange, and geranium. Young Living oil blends designed for just such a purpose include StressAway, Peace & Calming, Valor, RutaVala, or Tranquil.
  • Setting healthy boundaries in all areas of life
  • Using adaptogens to help mediate stress response. An adaptogen is any substance that increases the body’s resistance to a negative stress response. These have been around (and studied) since World War II… so it’s not a new concept! Known adaptogens include:
  1. American and Asian ginseng (found in FemiGen)
  2. Ashwagandha (found in EndoGize and PowerGize)
  3. Reishi mushroom (found in NingXia Greens and Immupro)
  4. Turmeric (found in Golden Turmeric)
  • Reduce caffeine intake. Consider daily NingXia Red, NingXia Nitro, NingXia Zyng, and/or our new NingXia Greens or an adaptogenic “coffee” substitute instead. You may also consider diffusing essential oil blends En-R-Gee or Longevity or Peppermint, Rosemary, or Lemon for an aromatic pick-me-up!
Every body’s symphony🎻🎺🎷🥁🎼 will sound and feel slightly different. We each have the responsibility of constantly “tuning the instruments”, harmonizing within ourselves and among ourselves, and ensuring that “the conductor” (ie: your individual stress load) is neither a taskmaster or curmudgeon!
After all, the goal is an endocrine system which feels like a well played Beethoven’s 5th!
xoxo~ liz
#sharingiscaring
#OATaxis
#chronicstressisthecornerstoneofillness
#theapplicationofknowledgeispower
#goodmedicine
#BYOHD
#becomingyourownhealthdetective
#ThanksYL
May be an image of 2 people and text that says 'Becoming your Own Health Petective Putting the Pieces Together: The Ovarian -Adrenal -Thyroid Symphony "Have you seen a symphony orchestra? There is a person at the back carrying a triangle. now and again the conductor will pont to him or her and that person will play ting That might seem insignificant, but... something irreplaceable would be lost to the total beauty of the symphony if that ting didn't happen. -Desmond Jutu www.goodmedicine.info'
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Endocrine System – part 2

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Have you ever:
  • Been given medication without thorough labwork?
  • Been told you are “fine” by a healthcare professional, but you don’t feel fine?
  • Felt like you’ve been doing “all the things” to care for your struggling thyroid, but still felt unwell?
If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these questions, the next series of clues might just be for you.
We’ve covered the northern endocrine family members (hypothalamus, pituitary, pineal, and thyroid).  I’m hopeful that you’ve been piecing clues🔎 together. Remember, cluster clues, including your personal “life experience” history, both physical and emotional, are where your answers most likely reside. Only you, and perhaps your parents if some events predate your memories, know these VIP clues. Keeping a journal 📓is often a key component to uncovering the root cause of a health situation.
 
There are more interesting members within the endocrine system family tree. Just south of the thyroid is a gland called the thymus. The thymus sits right behind the sternum (breastbone) in front of the heart, and is the “bootcamp” for the immune system’s T-cells, where they mature and turn into specialized agents of protection against bacteria, viruses, and cancer. The thymus is strongest and most active in children and teens. There is chronological aging as well as biological aging. Interestingly, if severe or chronic stress is part of a body’s environment, the thymus will rapidly “age” and begin shrinking, ultimately turning into a pocket of fat (literally!). Clues indicating🔎 a “tired” thymus include being easily fatigued, lack of motivation, susceptibility to catching colds or flu, persistent chronic illness despite “doing all the things”, slow wound healing, and outward signs of an accelerated aging process.
 
As you may guess, thymus deterioration affects lifetime immune system function, so keeping this hidden gem healthy is a good idea! Supportive measures include:
  • Keeping toxin load low
  • Learning techniques to mediate physical and emotional stress. Imagine the health benefits if this was learned at a young age!
  • Eating nourishing foods that are high in micronutrient content
  • Restorative sleep
  • Exercise daily for improved blood flow throughout the body (cleansing and nourishing the thymus). Yoga is particularly beneficial for supporting thymus function.
  • Thymus thumping/tapping. Thump or tap gently (with either the tips of your fingers or the palm of hand) on your sternum for 30-60 seconds a couple times a day to stimulate the thymus.
  • Olive Leaf (YL’s Olive Essentials)
  • Melatonin – A 2003 study🤓 found a correlation between melatonin supplementation and a notable increase in thymus weight (size) and function. Additional studies🤓 have found that even when melatonin supplementation begins late in life, age related thymus “decay” is reversible and immune system function often improves. A 2006 study🤓 in the Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine found that supplementing melatonin during times of acutely severe or chronic stress prevented atrophy of the thymus. I am an enormous fan of Young Living’s Immupro for a good night’s sleep, and this is an additional reason to keep several bottles of this melatonin containing supplement on hand! (Great news for those of us who know and love it already…. It is scheduled to be back in stock later this month!). Sleep Essence is another night time product that also contains melatonin.
Further south, the twin adrenal glands show up in the endocrine family. These are two smallish quesadilla shaped glands that sit atop each kidney. God designed us masterfully well. These two glands sit remarkably close to the abdominal aorta (our major artery) and vena cava (our major vein). This close proximity allows for a quick dump of influential chemicals that facilitate acting quickly 🏃‍♂️🏃🏃‍♀️ when the need arises. I call this “running from the lion”🏃‍♀️🐅 time. These two glands produce a very precise mixture of adrenaline, cortisol and other steroid hormones (DHEA, pregnenolone, estrogens, testosterones) and aldosterone (a steroid hormone that regulates potassium, sodium and fluid volume in the body). The mixture is uniquely compounded according to the event at hand. When a person feels any amount of stress, whether that be a mile long “to do” list or narrowly escaping being eaten by a lion, the hypothalmus and pituitary work together to signal the adrenal glands. The mind🧠doesn’t differentiate between a too long “to do” list and a lion in terms of stress, and stress becomes the squeaky wheel. Other mechanisms in the body slow down so that the squeaky wheel can be addressed.
  • Thyroid hormone production slows down
  • Reduced conversion of T4 (inactive) to T3 (active) thyroid hormone occurs
  • Thyroid receptors become less receptive to receiving thyroid hormones. This is important because even if you happen to be on thyroid medication, it won’t be utilized properly during a stress response. Recall that thyroid receptors are located throughout the body and must function properly in order that we may function optimally day to day. (Go back and read the section on thyroid and the gallbladder for a refresher!)
 
Chronic stress puts the adrenals on overdrive, flooding the body with cortisol, until the adrenals can no longer keep up, and adrenal fatigue (adrenal dysregulation) develops. Cortistop is another one of my very favorite Young Living supplements. It is designed to address the way women’s bodies react to the cortisol produced when under stress. When too much cortisol is released regularly, it can have some hefty health consequences which include feeling deep fatigue and often the addition of abdominal fat that seems to defy losing. Recall that those are also two very common symptoms of thyroid disorder. Odds are high that clues like these may have more than one culprit, and both will need to be addressed if that’s the case.
 
Cortistop is not designed to be taken continuously (Suggested use is 8 weeks on, 2-4 weeks off). Although the directions state to take two capsules in the morning before breakfast, my body responds favorably to one capsule a day. And although Cortistop is formulated for women, I do know some manly men who have found this particular supplement to be quite helpful during times of stress too. PRO TIP: I also recommend making a plan so that your Cortistop“off “ times do not correspond to anticipated times of high stress (such as tax season or project due dates!).
 
Interestingly, the vast majority of western healthcare practitioners do not recognize adrenal fatigue. While there is currently no black and white way to test for adrenal fatigue in a laboratory, there are many clues that point towards this very real condition that you, the discerning sleuther 🔎, may uncover on your own or with the help of a health professional who does understand adrenal fatigue.
Next up…. A solid list of clues🔎 useful for identifying adrenal fatigue, and ways to support the adrenal glands!
 
xoxo~ liz
 
#sharingiscaring
#adrenalfatigueisreal
#theapplicationofknowledgeispower
#goodmedicine
#BYOHD
#becomingyourownhealthdetective
#ThanksYL

Thyroid – part 6: Recap & Strategies

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Perhaps by now you are thinking, “Lordy….is this information on the thyroid ever going to end?” The trail of clues (and ah-ha moments for each individual) touches pretty much every aspect of the body, and there are many wonderful books and resources that go much deeper than I am here. Please, go research! You are worthy and capable of more than you may think. My goal here is to ignite the “ah-ha”, and spur you towards digging deeper on your own, and perhaps that may even need to include finding the right health professional who will partner (key word there!) with you in your personal wellness journey.
 
Recall that the thyroid has a symbiotic and synergistic relationship with many organs and glands in the body. (We haven’t even covered the adrenal glands and sex hormones yet!😁🤓). There is a math phrase, “The whole equals the sum of the parts.” This applies in biology as well: Our body cannot work wholly unless each part is well maintained and works!
 
Before we head further southward in the endocrine system, let’s take a look at a cliff notes version of supportive measures designed to keep your thyroid healthy and happy:
 
🔎Food has the power to heal or kill. Choose wisely and know your sources! Nutrients are best received by the body if in natural form, and if supplementation is needed (often the case in our imperfect world! 😕), choose naturally sourced supplements! Synthetically derived supplements are unfortunately the most common ones found in the marketplace and do not do the job well. This is what makes having our naturally sourced Young Living supplements a beautiful, safe and effective one stop shopping experience!
 
🔎The thyroid needs very specific nutrients to produce sufficient levels of thyroid hormones:
 
🌿Vitamins B2 (riboflavin),B3 ( niacin) , and B6 (pyridoxine): found in YL’s Super B, Master Formula, MightyVites and Balance Complete
 
🌿Iodine: found in YL’s Multigreens, Master Formula, Thyromin,
Balance Complete, NingXia Nitro and Slique Shakes). Recall that it may be a good idea to have an iodine loading test done to see if your body needs more than it is currently getting in your diet and current supplementation.
 
 
 
 
 
🌿Tyrosine: found in Thyromin and Multigreens
 
Additional ways to support and love on that beautiful 🦋butterfly within your throat include:
🔎Keeping the toxin☠️ load to a minimum! Thank goodness we have the entire Thieves Household Cleaner to keep our homes, cars, ourselves, and our pets spiffy, clean, and healthy! Butterflies (and your thyroid!) are so very sensitive to their environment. Recall that toxins include toxic emotions and unresolved drama and trauma. Toxins also may include gluten in susceptible individuals.
 
🔎Be alert for chronic low grade infections that create systemic low grade inflammation, and mediate accordingly. Common sites for these to occur may be within joint replacements, root canals and other dental infections, sinus cavities, breast implants, and parasitic🐉🦠 infections (usually undiagnosed!…. I personally do a parasite cleanse at least twice a year using Parafree along with major liver support)
 
🔎Support your toxin clearing organs so that they may do their job efficiently and effectively…. Pay close attention to how well your liver and kidneys work! If you have an MTHFR gene variance, you’ll want to support your liver function on the regular. The liver has to work that much harder to remove toxins from the body! Studies have shown that carriers of a MTHFR gene variance have a higher risk of developing hypothyroidism if left unmanaged. Conversely, if you have a sluggish thyroid and a normally robust MTHFR pathway, the sluggish thyroid will eventually affect the MTHFR (methylation pathway) that is needed to clear toxins (and fighting inflammation) efficiently from the body.
 
🔎Strive to live as medication free as possible. While it may not always be possible, make it a goal to aim for. You’ll never succeed in something if you don’t create a plan and work towards a goal!
 
🔎Thyroids love exercise! Incorporate an appropriate exercise routine into your daily habits.
 
🔎Remove all possible sources of fluoride and chlorine saboteurs from your world. Check your local water source for fluoride content and filter your water. Remember that Thieves Toothpaste and Mouthwash is your thyroid’s friend!
 
🔎Address Autoimmune Diseases holistically and reduce chronic systemic inflammation in the process.
 
🔎Chronic stress is among the gang of enemies hellbent on destroying the thyroid. Protect your thyroid as you would a small child👩‍👧…… seriously. Use your skills we’ve talked about and work on improving your stress quotient.
 
🔎Protect your Gallbladder! Recall the synergy between those two unlikely organs. If you’ve lost yours, make sure you are supplementing with digestive enzymes such as EssentialZyme or EssentialZymes-4 to help break down the fats needed to assist in the conversion of inactive T4 to active T3.
 
🔎Sleep! 7-9 hours a night to allow the body to reset and heal.
Use supportive essential oils: YL Endoflex, Brain Power, and Clarity blends all have properties which are beneficial thyroid health as does Spearmint, Ledum, Myrtle, Peppermint, and Myrrh.
 
🔎Ashwaghandha: Although not a nutrient, it is an adaptogenic herb that has strong scientific credibility as a supportive measure for thyroid function. This herb is found in EndoGize and PowerGize.
 
Supporting and managing thyroid health isn’t just for those with altered thyroid function. It’s for everyone. We protect what we love, right? We are each a work in progress, and our work is never done because our personal life’s circumstances change daily. We tend to live in one of two ways. God has given us free will to choose throughout our lives, and we can choose to actively live or passively die. I’ve known people who (even despite dying) chose to proactively live. It’s a beautiful thing to see, and their lives have glorified God. Our body is a temple created to serve and worship Him. Treat yourself as though you are a precious gift🎁 worth fighting for.
 
xoxo~ liz
 
(link for purchase of Volume I, BYOHD: https://goodmedicine.info/my-book/ )
 
🔎
 
 
 
 

Thyroid Clues Part 5-Medicine Cabinet Culprits

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Remember the fable about the Princess💃 and the pea🟢? You may recall that the true princess felt the effects of a pea beneath twenty mattresses and had a terrible night’s sleep because of it. After all we’ve discussed, you well understand that the thyroid🦋 is the discerning princess in the body……it feels everything!
 
It’s hard to pin down exactly how many people use medication chronically in the USA, but a rough estimate in 2017 was 66%. (I believe that number has risen significantly since 2020, but to date, official data has not yet been released).
 
I will forever and always say that there is a time and a place for medication, but that it should be used as a last resort whenever possible. Pharmaceuticals by very definition are a toxin to the body. While they may be performing their “FDA approved task” within the body, behind the scenes they are likely setting up trip wires, snares, and grenades elsewhere. Many commonly prescribed medications are quietly sabotaging thyroid hormone function as they outwardly “play nice” in their appointed tasks of lowering cholesterol, quelling aches and pains, placating gastric reflux symptoms, smoothing out moody days, etc.
 
Certain medications have the ability to affect thyroid hormones in at least four ways:
1. Some may alter the actual production of thyroid hormones.
2. Some may affect the release of of thyroid hormones from the thyroid gland.
3. Some may affect how well thyroid hormone attaches to (or utilized) at receptor sites.
4. Some may interfere with the conversion of inactive T4 into active T3 in the liver
Who are the thyroid accosting culprits?🕵️ As I hinted above, the gang is quite diverse. Nearly ⅓ of this gang of thieves bears a similar “tattoo”…….. They contain fluoride within their chemical structure. You’ll recall (hopefully!) that fluoride (and chlorine, another “tattoo” found in many medications) blocks iodine from its job helping the thyroid produce thyroid hormones. These small doses add up over time with chronic use medications.
 
Medications known to inhibit healthy thyroid function (in one of these four ways) with chronic use include:
💊Lipitor, Crestor, Vytorin, Zetia (cholesterol meds)
💊 Prevacid (stomach acid / GERD)
💊 Betamethasone, Clobetasol, Dexamethasone, Fluocinolone, Fluticasone (topical, oral or inhaled steroids)
💊Celebrex, Ibuprofen, Naproxen (NSAID pain)
💊 Lexapro, Prozac, Celexa, Paxil, Zoloft (mood stabilizers)
💊 Haldol, Risperdal, Lithium (mood stabilizers)
💊 Levaquin, Cipro (antibiotics)
💊 Synthetic hormone replacement therapies, birth control pills
💊 Amiodarone (treats ventricular heart arrhythmia)
💊Fluconazole (antifungal)
💊 Interferon Alfa, Sutent, Sorafenib (chemotherapy agents)
💊 Pramipexole, Ropinirole (for Parkinson’s)
💊 Metformin (Type II Diabetes)
💊 Furosemide (diuretic)
💊 Phenytoin and Carbamazepine (for seizures)
💊 Excessive Niacin (Vit B3) intake
 
(Note that this is a short representation of a very long list of medications!)
I am in no way inferring that you should stop taking medication that you may be currently on because it may be affecting your thyroid function. That is a conversation between you and your trusted health professional. According to an article by the Natural Health Research Institute, almost 75% of chronic illness can be improved or cured with improved lifestyle choices. Has your health professional talked to you about this as part of your treatment protocol?
 
Statistics like this are meant to empower you. Chronic disorders are generally where chronic medication use comes into play, and changing lifestyle habits can have a huge impact on health outcomes and on pharmaceutical needs.
 
Five significant ways your choices can impact your health include:
1. Reduce exposure to toxins (thank goodness for our YL Thieves Household Cleaner, essential oils that do “all the things” in a natural gentle way, Savvy Minerals cosmetics and the ART, Bloom, and Orange Blossom skin care lines!)
 
2. Making better food choices (and ditching the toxic processed foods)
 
3. Exercise. There is an exercise program / type out there that will work no matter what health situation you may be living with! (NingXia Nitro or Zyng 15-20 minutes prior to workouts elevates my gym workout routine!)
 
4. Sleep….Make sleep a priority. Improve your sleep hygiene habits! Some of my favorite sleep aids are YL’s Tranquil or RutaVala Roll-on…. Give ‘em a try and load your bedtime diffuser with oils like Cedarwood, Lavender, Peace & Calming, Frankincense, Orange )
 
5. Manage stress. Recall that chronic stress is as dangerous as a regular cigarette habit to the body. Even simply working on the four previous suggestions will have a profound impact on better management of stress.
 
In addition to making healthier lifestyle choices that lead to a healthier version of you (and protecting your thyroid🦋 in the process), here’s an added bonus: Annually, direct health care costs average $6032 out of pocket💰 for an individual with one chronic disease (that number goes up with each additional disorder). Indirectly, chronic disorders also have a profound impact on education, occupation opportunities, income, and social interaction. If your health professional has not offered up these five recommendations as part of protocols for any chronic disorder you may have, they are working as a dis-ease maintenance advocate instead of that as a healer. Ultimately though, it’s our personal responsibility to be our own advocates and in doing so, choosing whether to live in a space of dis-ease maintenance or healing. Care for that thyroid “princess” within your personal kingdom friends! It’s often the first organ in the body to recognize that something is amiss.
 
xoxo~ liz
 
 

How Do My Feelings Affect My Thyroid? – part 4

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Thyroid Clues Part IV: Emotions, Feelings, and the Thyroid
 
Mind🧠, body💪 and spirit🙏 are so deeply interconnected that it is impossible to be robustly healthy if this triad is out of balance in any way. The “spirit” of what makes us ….”us” is a composite of beliefs, life experiences, relationships, and memories. Outwardly, this clue set may be exhibited to some small degree by our personality. Frankly though, an individual’s personality is the tip of the iceberg. What lies beneath the surface (feelings) always play a leading role in both sickness and health. No one holds the knowledge of your “submerged iceberg self” better than you, which is yet another reason why being your own CEO and chief health detective🕵️ is so utterly important.
 
Surely you’ve heard of people who have died of a broken 💔heart. This phenomenon has been closely studied and acknowledged by science. Interestingly, we (as a society) tend to lean more into accepting the role of emotions and feelings in a death than we do the role personal belief and hope plays in an abundant life, and we certainly tend to overlook them (emotions and feelings) as responsible parties in health and wellness in day to day living.
 
How does this fit into the puzzle🧩 of thyroid health? Quite well actually! Every organ and part of the body is affected at a cellular level by emotions, feelings, and memories, and learning to let go of that which doesn’t serve us is profoundly important in wellness and healing. The thyroid is, as you may recall, highly sensitive to changes in its environment. The “frequency” in which we “bathe” ourselves daily affects the health and performance of the thyroid. Frequency is not voodoo. It’s biology and physics. Everything (including our cells) is in a constant state of vibration, and any disease process will be evident as a disturbance in the structure and function of these frequencies. Positive emotions and feelings drive frequencies upwards (healthy), while negative emotions and feelings drive frequencies downwards (unhealthy).
 
Emotions and feelings tend to get blended together, yet they are not interchangeable.
 
Emotions:
🤨They may manifest either consciously or subconsciously, and are a physical state or reaction to an event.
🤨They keep us alive! They are a primal response, and are deeply coded into our genetic being!
🤨They happen before feelings evolve about the event that occurred.
🤨They can be measured by facial expressions , body language, blood flow, racing heart, tightening of muscles, skin response, pupil dilation (etc)
🤨They generally last anywhere from a few seconds to an hour. Once the emotion has passed, the body returns to balance ( homeostasis).
 
Feelings are quite different.
 
🤨They are experienced consciously.
🤨They are a reaction (caused by emotions), and often influenced by personal experience, beliefs, and memories
🤨Feelings originate in the neocortical region of the brain (the home of conscious thought and separate from the limbic system which houses emotions ).
🤨Feelings form when your brain assigns a meaning to the emotional experience, and are mental interpretations of a situation.
🤨Feelings don’t drift off after an hour (like emotions do). They hang around because of a vast network of personal experiences, belief systems, and memories we hold individually.
🤨Ultimately, feelings are psychological responses while emotions are biological actions.
 
The thyroid is the on location storage facility for some pretty hefty feelings. Some of these include:
 
🦋Conflict between the conscious and subconscious
🦋Feeling limited or stuck
🦋Struggling with love of self or feeling unable to speak up for oneself
🦋Feeling a need to be in total control or feeling out of control
🦋Feelings of humiliation
🦋Feeling fearful of self expression
🦋Feeling a deep sense of frustration
🦋Feeling chronically fearful of anxious
 
Pairing the storage site (thyroid) with the lower vibrational frequency of harboring any of these negative feelings long term, and you may unearth a clue that has tremendous value in your thyroid health journey.
 
Now, what to do with this clue? There are a couple of valuable resources I’d like to point you towards:
Who Switched off my Brain? Controlling toxic thoughts and emotions by Dr. Caroline Leaf
And…..
The Pathway to Emotional Healing by Jen McCraw
 
These two books are extraordinarily valuable resources for healing the damage that stored negative feelings can inflict on the body. Doing “all the other things” (avoiding gluten, managing your iodine and other micronutrients, exercise, sleep hygiene etc etc etc) will never be enough if your spirit is not at peace.
 
Some of the essential oils you may consider when working towards healthy feelings (and subsequently, a healthy thyroid) as you nurture your spirit might include:
💧Endoflex: supportive of mind, body (endocrine system) and spirit
💧Transformation: supports feelings of positivity and self awareness
💧Valor: supports feelings of courage and confidence
💧Envision: supports feelings of creativity and resourcefulness
💧Surrender: supports the desire to let go of either too much control or uncontrollable behaviors
💧Highest Potential or Awaken: supports an awareness of limitless potential!
💧Peace & Calming: supports a positive peaceful atmosphere and mindset
💧Sacred Mountain: supports feelings of strength and empowerment
💧Believe: supports and encourages feelings of faith and inner strength
💧Release: helps facilitate the ability to let go of anything that no longer serves you
💧Cardamom, Pine, Myrtle, Frankincense, and Lavender are additional oils that are helpful in supporting healthy (thyroid affective) feelings and letting go of those which do not serve.
 
Oils are not🚫 🧙magic friends. They are tools🛠 just as are the two books I’ve mentioned above. Neither the oils or the books will be helpful if they are bought and put on a shelf unused. The tools🛠 are there for the healer to use. YOU have the capability to be your own healer. It’s within you to do this. It’s hard work and it’s heart work, and you are worth the effort!
 
“Each patient carries his own doctor inside of him [or her!]. They come to us not knowing the truth. We are at our best when we give the doctor who resides within each patient a chance to go to work.” ~ Dr. Albert Einstein
 
xoxo~ liz
 

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