The Case:
- Amanda has Hashimoto’s and does not feel well.
- She is tired, experiences brain fog, and feels like she is just inflamed all over.
- She’s tried special diets and various supplements but nothing seems to work.
When I first met Amanda I saw how much work she’d already put in but I know that many of the approaches were too general. We were going to need to dig a little deeper and look at the mind-body connection to solve her health mystery.
Inflammation Markers for Hashimoto’s and Autoimmunity
Whenever I see the body is not responding to good, healthy changes, I immediately think of the work that Dr. Mario Martinez is doing. He is a psycho-immunologist who studies the relationship between the mind and the immune system. He is also the bestselling author of “The Mind-Body Code” and “How the Mind Wounds and Heals”. He’s a good friend of the show (this is his 4th appearance!) and I know that he was the right person to talk to about this health mystery. Check out the other episodes featuring Dr. Martinez: 007, 051, 114.
Anyone with autoimmunity or Hashimoto’s knows that inflammation plays a big role in optimizing thyroid health and managing autoimmune conditions which greatly impact how we feel. Dr. Martinez explains that there are different markers to look for when assessing acute inflammation such as tumor necrosis factor, interleukins, and C-reactive proteins. He goes on to explain that there is something called glycogen, which is a sugar protein that is present in all cells, especially in the IGG antibody which fights pathogens. The glycan marker helps to track the amount of inflammation in the body and shows the level of glycation. Glycation is caused by glucose molecules reacting with proteins and fats leading to damage on a cellular level. If left unchecked, it can increase inflammation throughout the body. Understanding glycation on a deeper level is an essential part of understanding autoimmune-related issues and identifying underlying causes before embarking on any type of treatment plan.
Could Shame be Causing Autoimmune and Hashimoto’s Flare-Ups?
Dr. Martinez has done a lot of research into the relationship between autoimmune diseases and shame. He found that states of shame can cause systemic high levels of inflammation making people more prone to autoimmune diseases. Interestingly, guilt does not have the same effect since guilt is about taking the blame for something (which allows them to feel empowered) versus the helplessness that comes with shame. He further explains that this can lead people to look for environments that continually shame (because they are familiar with it) or they turn to shaming others unknowingly which results in inflammation and can lead to or exacerbate autoimmune illnesses like Hashimoto’s disease or arthritis.
In this episode, we also talk about the connection between the fifth chakra, free self-expression, and shame. Dr. Martinez shares some techniques for identifying patterns of shame in your life that may be contributing to symptoms related to Hashimoto’s or other autoimmune diseases.
Shame also has a connection to increasing your biological age (beyond your chronologic age) which is also related to the overall amount of inflammation in the body.
How to Use Centenarian Consciousness to Decrease Inflammation and Early Aging
Dr. Martinez believes that you can address chronic inflammation by using a mind-body approach known as centenarian consciousness. This is a mindset that requires a shift in your perspective of time. So many of us feel the pressures of time. We are always (and even rewarding ourselves for) multitasking, rushing, and micromanaging. However, Dr. Martinez says that this can lead to increased levels of stress hormones like cortisol which can contribute to inflammation.
To counteract this, Dr. Martinez suggests practicing taking more time with tasks by engaging in slow activities such as Zen walking or setting projections for how long something will take even if it could be done faster than expected. This allows the brain’s neuropsychological projection system to adjust accordingly rather than expecting too much out of an inadequate amount of space/time given. This may feel counterintuitive or, for some of us busy moms, impossible.
Dr. Mario Martinez suggests that people who feel chronically rushed try delegating tasks and practice various stress reduction techniques. He also recommends having fun with tasks, being aware of how much time is needed for each task, and looking at what resources can be used to make things easier.
Banning Busy-ness for Your Health
It’s also helpful to look at where our perceptions of busyness come from. Dr. Martinez says cultural components can lead to feeling overwhelmed, such as the belief that idle time is bad or one must work hard in order to succeed – which may have been passed down from generations before us through stories and mannerisms rather than direct comments about laziness or lack of productivity.
Getting beyond this cultural conditioning or learned beliefs may require you to create your own model by going into a meditative state and affirming yourself while providing evidence of being a good person throughout the week. This practice will shift your neuro map, which, over time, will change your beliefs and allow you to let go of your belief that being busy is good.
Joy as an Antidote to Inflammation?
There is a counterbalance to the stress that causes inflammation and its joy. This is another mind-body solution that Dr. Martinez champions. He suggests that while we are dealing with issues related to Hashimoto’s or autoimmunity, we do not think of ourselves as fighting them but rather overserve them and try to reduce their intensity. He says the best way to do this is to find joy while repairing yourself. This can be done by creating a semantic differential space. To do this, feel the space where the pain exists. Give it a size, a color, a pain rating – anything that will help you visualize the space. Then, go to a part of the body that is not in pain and do the same. Switch back and forth between these two spaces in your mind. This creates confusion in the brain and neural maps causing the pain to decrease.
In addition to using this semantic space differential technique, Dr. Martinez offered these tips for allowing joy in while repairing:
- Learn to experience joy under good conditions so that it is accessible to you in difficult situations.
- Use the mind-body code to assess and relax.
- Go into the specific feelings and sensations associated with the problem, such as tiredness or pain. Pay attention to these feelings as if watching a film.
- Have a positive attitude towards healing and avoid maintaining a sense of victimhood.
Can Curiosity Lower Inflammation?
He also discusses how curiosity plays an important role in elongating time in our minds; when we are curious about something, it feels like time passes more slowly because our brains pay attention to what excites us. This is part of the centenarian consciousness, which in turn is an approach to decreasing inflammation. Curiosity also plays into how we deal with determining what our body needs to heal. Instead of focusing on the pain, we get curious about it and tap into our intuition. Curiosity keeps us in the present moment which is also a piece of the centenarian consciousness because wise centenarians view the past, including mistakes as part of the information needed to navigate the present with curiosity. All of this results in less stress which can help decrease inflammation.
Conclusion
Chronic inflammation plays a huge role in Hashimoto’s and our overall health. I knew this was what was going on with Amanda. So, we started out by supporting her thyroid (based on her thyroid type) to get her thyroid hormones into the optimal range. Then we focused on calming the inflammation and balancing her immune system to decrease the attacks on her thyroid.
After dealing with a few other triggers (infections and parasites) we started to address stress as a trigger. This included really looking at her life and seeing how she can find more joy. We looked at how she could reframe and re-phrase to see the world through a more positive lens. Then we had to address some long-held limiting beliefs around time scarcity and her sense of not deserving perfect health. We used various coaching techniques, hypnosis, and some regression work to tackle these limiting beliefs. This approach was a bit of a surprise to her but by incorporating the mind-body pieces (and not just focusing on supplements) we were able to get the results she was looking for.
Happy Ending
After 3 months, Amanda felt a huge shift! She reported that everything just seemed easier; things were flowing more and she didn’t feel like she was struggling every minute of the day.
Not only did her energy and brain fog get better, but she also had less pain. This improvement in how she felt helped her to take on another job in a different industry which brought her way more joy – setting her up for future success in keeping Hashimoto’s symptoms (and inflammation) in check. Working on her Hashimoto’s ended up bringing her so much more than better health.
Eliminating Health Mysteries
For Amanda, we were able to find that missing piece of the health puzzle and help her regain her health. Could this be the missing clue for you or someone in your life?
Links:
Resources mentioned
Thanks to my guest Dr. Mario Martinez. For more on our discussion, check out his book The MindBody Code. You can connect with him on his website or follow him on Facebook.
Related Podcast Episodes:
Unconventional Ways to Boost Immunity & Fight Coronavirus Fears w/ Dr. Mario Martinez The Case of the Teacher Who Was Always Sick w/ Dr. Mario Martinez How to Support your Thyroid and Immune System Through AuthenticityThanks for Listening
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