Meditation for Healing: Thyroid and Anxiety

If you have a thyroid disorder, such as hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, or Grave’s Disease, you’re likely familiar with the connection between thyroid and anxiety. Autoimmune thyroid takes anxiety to a whole new level. If you were a car, it might feel like you wake up in the morning going 90 miles an hour stuck in first gear. People who struggle with anxiety disorder are often troubled by their thoughts that lead to anxious feelings, whereas people with autoimmune thyroid anxiety often feel revved up for no apparent reason. 

If you have thyroid and anxiety concerns, you may find mindfulness meditation helpful for reducing the anxiety and for coping better with it. There’s the pain of thyroid anxiety, and then there’s the suffering of our reactivity to it. Mindfulness meditation can help you to be less reactive to and focused on the anxiety and therefore more able to effectively cope with it. 

Thyroid related anxiety is not all in your head, and you’re not crazy. It’s a real thing that I often see in my clients with thyroid disorders. Physicians often refer their patients to me for mindfulness and meditation training, because they understand how powerful this practice can be to reduce anxiety and help patients to feel more empowered in managing their health and wellbeing. 

5 Ways Mindfulness Meditation Can Help Thyroid Anxiety

1. Mindfulness meditation is effective in reducing stress and anxiety. Research has shown that there is a link between stress and autoimmune disease. It is estimated that 90% of illness is stress related, and reducing stress can often reduce symptoms of stress related illness.
   
2. Mindfulness meditation can help you to learn how to spend less time focusing your attention on what’s wrong with your body and more time focusing on what’s right with you. Just for today, try it. Try noticing when your mind goes to what’s wrong with you, and every time you become aware of this habit, try naming five things that are right with you and/or five things that are going well in your life. 
   
3. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to increase feelings of peace, happiness, and wellbeing. Practicing meditation helps you to spend more time in the present moment and less time ruminating about the past or worrying about the future. It can also help you to be less reactive to difficult sensations, feelings, and thoughts. 
   
4. Research on happiness shows that it’s possible to increase your happiness set point, even if you have a chronic illness. Research shows you can increase your happiness set point with intentional activity, including mindfulness meditation. Yes, it’s possible to feel happy, even though you struggle with thyroid and anxiety. 
   
5. Mindfulness meditation can help you to sleep better, reduce pain, and cope better with residual pain.  

If you would like to learn how to practice mindfulness and meditation, sign up for Jen’s 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction MBSR online course.

Contact Jen if you prefer 1:1 mindfulness coaching services.