For many people, going through modern life day-to-day is like swimming in stress soup.
In fact, sometimes it seems like people are playing a game, one-upping each other on who is more stressed!
But that’s a game you can’t win. In fact, stress is one of the key players in thyroid disease, and one that is often overlooked.
When it comes to thyroid problems and your adrenal glands — the organs responsible for pumping out stress hormones — the two are inextricably linked.
In Coaching Session #2, we talked about how leaky gut syndrome can lead to and exacerbate your thyroid problems, and adrenal fatigue is another one of our three pillars of thyroid health.
Your adrenal glands are two walnut-shaped glands that sit on top of your kidneys and regulate the hormones that control your stress response: cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine.
They react when you’re in stressful situations like traffic jams, heavy responsibilities at work, confrontations with family and friends, money problems, and major life events like job loss, moving, or divorce.
But they also react to more subtle biological stressors including blood sugar swings, leaky gut problems, food allergies and intolerances (especially gluten), chronic infections, environmental toxins, autoimmune issues, and inflammation.
All that stress on your adrenals causes a host of problems that also affect your thyroid. The constant release of stress hormones can cause blood sugar swings, disrupts normal hormone function, reduces conversion of T4 hormone to T3, weakens the immune system, promotes autoimmune problems, and causes thyroid hormone resistance.
So, fixing your adrenals is a key part of healing your thyroid!
Working on healing your leaky gut, as we discussed in Session 2, is a great way to start taking some of the burden off your exhausted adrenals. But another, often overlooked way to support your adrenals is to take a hard look at the stressors in your life — and kick them to the curb!
Easier said than done? Maybe.
But I find that implementing even just a few de-stressing techniques into your daily and weekly routine promotes healing much more quickly than trying to heal without.
Try some (or all!) of these techniques to help you heal your adrenals:
1. The Energy Blueprint by Ari Whitten
I loved this FREE MasterClass because I learned…
-The REAL Cause of Fatigue and How to Fix It
-How to Build REAL Energy at the Cellular Level
-How to Supercharge My Sleep
-How To Regenerate Damaged Cells That Cause Fatigue and
-How to Re-Wire My Brain into “High Energy Mode”
I am so grateful I found this website and program. Not only does the website give you loads of free help, their actual adrenal fatigue program works! My husband went from completely run down and worn out to full of energy really quickly after following their affordable step-by-step program. And, it pulled me out of the fatigue of just being a mom (not to mention one with a thyroid condition)
3. Meditation
Many studies have described the link between even a few minutes of mindfulness meditation each day and a reduce in stress. Start with 5 minutes of guided meditation each day. I like these free ones from the UCLA school of health.
4. Journaling
Expressing your emotions and pent-up thoughts can also help you destress. A study published in Psychotherapy Research found that patients who expressed their emotions through journal writing experienced less anxiety and depressive symptoms when compared to a control group.
5. Kundalini Yoga
This yoga DVD is my favorite and when I’m pinched for time, I do the first 25 minutes of the DVD to set my adrenals and mind up for a stress-free day. Yoga is like moving meditation, and has many of the same benefits, with the added physical benefit of moving your body. This yoga DVD in particular addresses the adrenals, kidneys, parathyroid, pituitary gland, hypothalmus and thyroid.
6. Tapping
Jon Gabriel offers a great tapping program for melting stress and extra weight away. Both great for reducing stress on the adrenals…allowing the body to heal. Check out his FREE tapping program here.
7. Sauna
Find a gym or spa facility with a sauna to help sweat out your stress (quite literally!). Or, I found it more cost effective to buy a small one for the home. We use it all the time now and our per use cost is less than your Starbucks coffee — which you’re giving up anyway, right? We chose HealthMate Saunas and their Enrich Full Spectrum Series because they emit the lowest EMFs, have built-in chromotherapy, use an advanced heating technology, use 100% toxic free, real Cedar Wood, and have been a leader in the industry for over 40 years. We chose one of the basic models that could accommodate 2 people. It’s just perfect and is housed on our patio…you can also put these in your garage or home if you have the space.
8. Dry Brushing
Dry brushing is not only a wonderful way to stimulate your lymphatic system and help detox every day, it’s also an invigorating pick-me-up to do first thing in the morning. For me, I think it’s even better at waking me up than my old cup of coffee — for real!
Take action and choose at least one of these to try this week — today, if possible! Make space in your life to unwind and de-stress, and you will make space in your life for healing. Trying out these simple methods can have a huge impact.
9. Epsom Salt Bath
Put 2 cups of Epsom Salts with 3-5 drops of lavender essential oil. The warm bath will help your body and adrenals relax (and detoxify!) and the lavender is a wonderful aromatherapy scent for relaxation.
By following the and/or the tips above, you’ll be buzzing around with tons of energy and having solid sleep in no time!
Warmly,
Jen