Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - A New Path of Learning and Discovery - Part 3

[2]

Continued from Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - A New Path of Learning and Discovery - Part 2

Understanding the Mind - Body - Brain connection in Hashimoto’s within a 2 phases and 8 milestones approach [1]

4. Stress Triggers

Stress - daily life stressors and those that impact on us are wide and varied. Stress can turn on genetic mutations, and stress itself, whether emotional or physical, increases the likelihood of autoimmunity. [10]

a) Traumatic times in our life, the things that happen to us, the things we saw and heard, things we decided were about us, comments and actions from others, and many social norms we learnt as young children, are all stress triggers. Depending on our perception at the time, they affect the actions and decisions we make on a daily basis and usually we are totally unaware how much they affect our lives.

From a mind - body - brain perspective, the root cause of Hashimoto’s is an unexpected, dramatic, and isolating traumatic event in our life around our self-worth of not being able to cope or trust, plus a recurring powerlessness / fear struggle and / or, of a being too slow, not fast enough conflict issue. [1] [4] [11]

Rock Robbins, [12] writes of some common themes seen in women with Hashimoto’s - ultra productive, caring and dynamic individuals who make life happen within their family and community. He also writes that many have had some sort of abuse, neglect or injury in their childhood and “because of that old baggage, they’ve got their own internal mental circus going on – and one of the main issues they deal with is performing for their worth. That means they’ll bypass their inner signals to ‘stop in the name of health’ and keep going so that she can keep being worthy of love”. He also writes of women with Hashimoto’s dealing with “issues of trust, self-rejection, fear, perfectionism, control, and guilt that sticks like glue. They’re almost always ‘on’ – taking care of everybody”.

As we have established, our body does not attack itself. The cells of the thyroid gland are purely responding and adapting to the circumstances they are in. Within a loving and supportive environment such as with an experienced practitioner, we need to ask ourself: how, when and why was I not true to myself, and / or when did I allow others to influence me, denying my own self worth, thoughts or feelings. [13]

b) Toxins and the environment we are exposed to, overload, overwhelm and stress our body, destroy our gut and body microbiome essential to life, and lower our vitality (life force). In managing Hashimoto’s we need to become aware of toxins and our environment and step by step address what we eat, drink, breathe, put on and into our body, clean our homes with, how we move, and our interaction with others. [3] [7] [14] [15] [16]

Adopt a detective perspective and ask, is this substance safe for my body? As Dr Voidani [14] states, detect your biomarkers of autoimmunity and environmental triggers. Remove the triggers and make changes to halt your body’s immune response. And use all available ways to repair your immune system. 

5. Beliefs

What we believe dictates the reality we experience and the actions we take. What we choose to eat, our lifestyle, our values, our responses, all depend on our beliefs.

Where did the beliefs we act on come from and do they actually serve us? Are they based on truth or on a distorted view down loaded to and by us when we were young? Exploring our experiences and learning what beliefs are running our subconscious mind (our subconscious programme) can provide new meaning in our Hashimoto’s healing journey.

When we experience a traumatic event, we create a belief about what happened, to protect us in case we experience it again in the future. If we are repeatedly re-triggered, that belief is constantly reinforced.

In his presentation at the 2016 Matrix Reimprinting Convention, Dr Bruce Lipton explains that “your belief carries more power than your reality”, [17] and that you can change the images in your subconscious in order to create new empowering beliefs. “Change your belief system and you will change your life. You will change your genetics. You will change every characteristic of your life. You are not a victim of anything more than the belief you were programmed with”. Powerful words from Dr Lipton. [17] [18]

Our empowerment is in our ability to reframe previous beliefs and change how our mind, brain and body responds.

6. Social

As humans we are social beings and need love and connection with others to survive and to reach our greatest potential of health. In exploring stress triggers of Hashimoto’s we identified issues around our self worth and not being able to cope or trust. An essential component of this milestone of healing is to learn to deeply love and accept ourselves. And to be the loving friend to yourself, non judgemental or critical, you would expect and choose from any other. The opposite of what led us down the path of autoimmunity. Loving ourselves and sharing that love and connection with others brings so much joy, gratitude and happiness. Learn to connect with, to listen to and love your inner child at every stage of his / her life.

Surround yourself with energy that is positive for you so you feel less vulnerable. Spend time with those who support you in your healing journey - loved ones, family, friends, support groups, someone you can talk to, who will listen, acknowledge, love, cry, laugh with you. Those you feel safe with, who care and understand and can guide you through your fluctuating and changing experiences.

When we have a traumatic shock, part of what makes it traumatic is feeling isolated from others. When we perceive we are alone, without our clan, an evolutionary biological process involving the kidney is activated and water is retained in the body. My years of caring for patients, as a nurse in intensive care, repeatedly demonstrated their mind, brain, body response to feeling alone and abandoned, ‘a fish out of water’ in an evolutionary sense, and the resultant water retention that occurred. Positive supportive energy and connection with loved ones helps us on our healing journey when we are ill and lessens feelings of isolation.

As you regain your energy and understand your fears, you may feel safe and ready to reach out a little further to wider social experiences. Learning to cope, trust and restore your self worth step by step.

Do what you need to connect with higher powers, the universe, or whatever your source of inspiration is on waking each day and whenever you feel the need for more love flowing through you. Find what you need to feel safe, secure, nurtured and loved - the state of being integral to the Nurturing Naturally NZ website.

In Part 4 we will explore Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis within the final two Meta-Health 8 milestones, those of Lifestyle and Life Goals. All references are provided with Part 4