Latest / Health with Hashimoto’s - Thyroid or Immune Education for Autoimmune Thyroid Disease / 159 // Daily Journaling Unlocks Better Health with Hashimoto’s [Hashimoto’s Health Lab]

Transcript

159 // Daily Journaling Unlocks Better Health with Hashimoto’s [Hashimoto’s Health Lab] · Health with Hashimoto’s - Thyroid or Immune Education for Autoimmune Thyroid Disease

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  Today, we're talking about a tool that is nearly free. It can help you identify
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  patterns and symptoms. It can help you figure out your triggers,
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  promotes mindfulness, reduces stress, does so many things.
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  Today, we are talking about using a simple paper journal.
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  Welcome to the Health with Hashimoto's podcast. Our summer series is the Hashimoto's Health Lab.
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  This series is going to be 10-minute episodes. Every week, we'll talk about
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  a specific tool or practice.
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  We're going to cover everything from environmental detox to stress reduction,
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  energy boosters, biohacks, and all of it is going to be designed to give you
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  tools for better health with Hashimoto's.
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  I'm your host, Esther Yunkin. I'm a registered nurse helping women uncover their
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  root causes and regain energy.
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  So these episodes are going to be short. If you are ready for a deeper transformation,
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  check out the Holistic Hashimoto's course.
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  It will help you identify your unique triggers and root causes so that you can
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  focus your own energy on what really matters for your health.
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  Are you ready to explore a new strategy for thriving with Hashimoto's?
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  Let's dive in. This is the Hashimoto's Health Lab.
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  So after last week, we need a normal tool, right? Last week was a lot.
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  Come over to our school community. It's Health with Hashimoto's.
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  That's the name of our community.
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  And the website is school, S-K-O-O-L dot com.
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  You can find our community discussion where you could talk about last week's
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  episode and you can also find the classroom over there where you can find the
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  mini course to figure out your root causes and the full holistic Hashimoto's program.
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  But today let's talk about something very normal, something that you probably can start tonight.
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  You don't have to go to the store, you don't have to go on Amazon,
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  you can just start it tonight and that is using a paper journal.
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  And I am specifying that it's a paper journal this time because electronics
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  just don't do as much in your brain when you're using it for journal.
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  Now I'm not saying that electronic journals and
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  different apps are not useful because they are but if you want the most out
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  of a journal then actually writing is the most beneficial unless maybe you have
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  dysgraphia which is kind of like dyslexia except it's writing instead of reading
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  or something else that makes it really difficult to write.
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  And then you have more stress when you're using a paper journal.
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  But for most of us, we are going to get more benefits out of using a paper journal
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  than using an electronic substitute.
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  So why are we talking about a paper journal in our Hashimoto's Health Lab? Great question.
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  Well, number one, it's simple. And what is simple, we can sustain.
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  So we always want to look for things that are simple because then you can keep on doing it.
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  It's also a tangible tool, and there's just something about holding it in your
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  hands that helps it feel, I don't know, more real, which I guess is, you know, tangible.
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  But a paper journal is some place or some thing that you can use to monitor your health.
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  You can monitor your gratitudes. You can keep track of your symptoms.
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  You can keep track of your triggers. It can be very, very useful.
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  And also a journal is a fantastic place to write down what you are grateful for each day.
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  And when you're writing down at least three things that you're grateful for,
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  that decreases your stress.
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  It actually works in your brain so that your brain starts looking for more good
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  things in the day. your brain is trying to find things to be grateful about
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  instead of things that are stressful.
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  Now are the stressful things still going to happen? Yes.
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  Keeping a gratitude journal is not going to change the environment and the people around you.
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  It is going to change how you interact with those things and how your brain observes life.
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  So keeping a paper journal can be very beneficial for stress And of course,
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  stress is a root cause of Hashimoto's.
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  It is one of the biggest triggers. And if you have gone through the Holistic
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  Hashimoto's program, or if you've gone through the mini course,
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  which is the Hashimoto's root causes revealed, that is of course in the school classroom.
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  Then you have heard me talk about stress.
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  I mean, we've talked about it a lot on the podcast as well, because it is such a big trigger.
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  So it's very, very simple to use a paper journal. You can log your symptoms.
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  So track every day your symptoms. What are your biggest symptoms or what bothers
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  you the most? Is it fatigue?
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  Is it brain fog? Is it joint pain?
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  What is it for you.
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  Log those symptoms every day. When you are keeping track of different things,
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  it helps you figure out triggers and it helps you figure out what is impacting those.
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  For example, when you are going through the Holistic Hashimoto's program,
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  on the week when we're looking at gut health, I ask you to do at least 72 hours
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  of writing down what you eat because this is going to help you figure out how
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  those foods make you feel and how they affect you.
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  Same thing with all of your symptoms. You might notice trends and that is what we want.
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  When you notice what's going on, you can take action and you can notice,
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  okay, when I do this, this happens.
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  That is empowerment. That is figuring out how you can advocate,
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  even with your own self, about better health.
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  So you can track your symptoms with a journal.
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  Like I said earlier, you could also write down your gratitudes.
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  When you write down three things, at least three things that you are grateful,
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  they could be big or small, it shifts your focus.
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  It shifts it from focusing on things that are stressful, that things are hard.
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  There are stressful and hard things, absolutely, but it shifts what your brain
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  is looking for and that can lower your cortisol levels.
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  It can lower your chronic stress. many studies
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  show that gratitude practices improve your
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  mental health and improve your resilience how to start doing this just take
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  out that journal every evening and write down write down your symptoms write
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  down what you're tracking and write down your gratitudes or pick one of those
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  things just pick you know gratitudes for this month and then.
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  Move on from there. You can build up. It's always best to start simple because
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  what is simple is sustainable.
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  Another practical tip for success with this practice is to have a consistent time.
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  So maybe for you, you're like evenings, it's not going to happen.
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  So maybe for you, you do it right before breakfast or you have it on the counter
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  next to your coffee maker or your teapot.
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  And then while you're waiting for your morning brew, you can write down your
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  gratitudes at that time.
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  It's fine as long as you are consistent.
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  The more consistent you are, the more power it's going to have.
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  So keep it accessible in the time and place that you're going to use it.
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  And don't over complicate it. Make it as simple as possible.
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  You can go online or you can use AI and get some prompts like what went well
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  today or what felt challenging.
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  But I encourage you to start with just that simple, what are three things that I am grateful for?
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  It's so simple and it changes your brain. It is so powerful.
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  So right now, I was at Walmart the other day and all of the back to school stuff is out.
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  Of course it is. I don't know how long it's out.
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  It starts, you know, mid-summer and wraps up probably late August.
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  So right now you can go get some really cute notebooks.
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  You don't have to have a fancy journal. You can just use, you know,
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  a pad of paper. This does not have to be fancy.
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  I prefer a nice smooth pen and I'm always finding a new favorite pen.
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  Right now my favorite pen is a, I just got it at Walmart in the,
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  you know, back to school.
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  It is a sharpie s gel it writes
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  so smoothly i love it but sometimes
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  i really prefer a ballpoint sometimes i prefer different colors and it's totally
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  fine sometimes i prefer a nice sharpened pencil whatever fits your mood whatever
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  is going to help you do this on a regular basis do that there's no right or wrong way.
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  Try it and do it consistently. So using a paper journal, super simple,
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  super impactful, and you can use it to track your symptoms, to change your stress levels.
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  And like I said, this week we're doing something pretty normal.
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  And that is a relief after last week's episode.
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  Come over to the Health with Hashimoto's community over on school and let's
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  chat about all of these tools that I have talked about so far in the Hashimoto's Health Lab.
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  And we're not done yet. I still have another couple episodes with tools for you.
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  This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only.
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  Please discuss any changes with your trusted healthcare provider.
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  To take your next step, join our school community and explore the courses available
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  there. You do not have to figure your health out alone.
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  So that is school, S-K-O-O-L.com, and it is the Health with Hashimoto's community.
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  I'll see you next time on the Health with Hashimoto's.