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Yoga for Thyroid Health
Your thyroid is active in multiple areas of your body. It maintains balance in your growth and influences the functions of the heart, the brain, liver, kidney, and skin. The thyroid, an innocent-looking butterfly-shaped glad, might be inconspicuously located at the base of your neck, but it can wreak havoc if it’s functioning is disturbed. If you have been diagnosed by hyper or hypothyroidism, you may be experiencing symptoms that upset the flow of your daily activities, such as stubborn weight gain or inability to lose weight, hair thinning, constipation, chronic fatigue, and even depression and anxiety.
These everyday symptoms may grow into something much more serious. Thyroid dysfunction creates a higher risk of thyroid antibodies production, which lead to autoimmune thyroid diseases such as Hashimoto’s or Graves’ disease. These also have the potential to turn into thyroid cancer. The thyroid is important beyond its size and measure, and everyday inconveniences caused by fluctuating levels of hormones it produces can lead to life-threatening consequences. Whatever the state your thyroid is in right now, you need to make it better.
You can research thyroid-friendly diets that take you more to the farmer’s market and less to the grocery store and included more cruciferous vegetables, fatty fish, and gluten-free foods. You can add nutrients such as selenium and magnesium and you can swear off soy. These are all good places to start because the most important step in remedying a problem is identifying and accepting it.
However, your mind and body work in tandem. For a holistic approach to taking care of your thyroid, it is also important to move your body in a way that promotes thyroid health. Engage in mindfulness and refresh your system with this Kundalini breathing exercise that works towards refreshing your digestive system, cleansing your blood, and flushing toxins from your kidney. Kundalini is a form of yoga that is centered on releasing energy from within. This exercise supports the liver, spleen, and kidney and, because all glandular systems work in harmony, this will also stimulate an underactive thyroid.
Start this three-minute exercise by placing your right palm facing your left palm, at the level of your throat, with your fingers intertwined and creating tension between the palms as if they were being pulled apart.
As you inhale, twist your torso to the left. Each turn to the left will send blood flow and circulation to the heart, which is centered on the left side of the body.
When you exhale or breathe out, turn your torso to the right. The liver is on the right side of your body, and each twist to the right will detoxify the liver.
As you twist your torso, make sure that you are fixed on the ground and your spine remains tall so there is enough space around your internal organs to broaden and flush your glandular system.
Make sure your palms remain at the level of your throat to send energy to your thyroid, which is located at the base of your neck, as you release the tension within your lower organs with each twist.
After three minutes, focus on your breathing by keeping your eyes closed and breathing deeply. Focus on the effect it has on your body and on your mind.
This is an effective exercise to perform every morning to stimulate digestion, reduce belly bloating, and stimulate an under-active thyroid.
Fiona is a Degree accredited Naturopath practicing online worldwide and in clinic at Dynamic Health Kensington Park South Australia.