How Yoga And Mindfulness Helped My Thyroid

I never thought twice about the butterfly-shaped gland in my neck until it went haywire on me. By the time I was diagnosed with Graves disease at the age of 43, I had been in distress for a number of years. Before my diagnosis, I had a chronically racing heart, sweating, nausea, shakiness, brain fog, diarrhea, stomach pain, vertigo, light-headedness, and insomnia. Fertility issues plagued me and so did chronic pain. Every doctor I encountered told me it was anxiety.

What I didn’t realize at the time is a thyroid issue will affect 1 out of every 8 women. And unfortunately women are afflicted by another serious medical issue—40% of women who are later found to have a serious autoimmune disorder are misdiagnosed. Luckily I ended up listening to my body instead of doctors who dismissed me. Yet, by the time I found one who took me seriously I had a list of 19 chronic symptoms. Unfortunately that’s just the start of the story. Taking medication to regulate my thyroid worked for just a few years. And that’s when things really went south.

I suffered symptoms on and off throughout my life, but the one constant was that whenever I practiced yoga and mindfulness regularly, my symptoms virtually vanished. Still I didn’t correlate the two. The busyness of working or motherhood prevented me from holding a regular practice. Sometimes I found the time to practice twice a week and sometimes I’d let months or even years go by. Things finally clicked for me during the worst of my health decline. Medications that initially helped stopped working. Western medicine could only take me so far. I realized I had to meet myself halfway, with a return to the yoga and mindfulness that had helped me in the past. I began a regular practice in earnest, and have learned that even though I have confounding glitches, there’s nothing more comforting than knowing that I also have solutions. I hope I can support you to find more comfort and ease in your body and mind through yoga and mindfulness.