Medically reviewed by
Dr. Minako Abe, M.D., Board-certified emergency medicine physician researching the relationship between lifestyle and disease onset in relation to the immune system and cancer, Japan
Meditation is a great way to promote your mental well-being. Here are some mindful morning meditation tips to boost your mental and thyroid health.
Your thyroid condition and mental health are closely related and are closely interconnected. Taking care of your overall health means balancing your physical health with your mental well-being.
One excellent way to promote positive mental health is to practice mindful meditation. By incorporating it into your morning routine, you can start each day on the right foot.
This article will discuss the following topics:
What is Mindful Meditation?
Mindful meditation is the process of intentionally centering your attention in the present moment and practicing awareness of your emotional and mental state. This is a helpful practice for identifying stress or negative thoughts you may be experiencing as well as calming yourself down.
Having a thyroid condition can be very stressful with mood disruptions from hormone imbalances, and tracking symptoms and ensuring a healthy lifestyle can be time-consuming and may potentially distract from mental and social wellness.
By partaking in meditative practices, stress reduction is possible through the identification of how you may better support yourself and fill your cup. Meditation promotes mind and body awareness, and enables you to recognize the parts of your being that you may not ordinarily consider.
General elements of meditation include:
- Focus
- Deep or rhythmic breathing
- A calm and quiet environment
- Physical stillness
- Being in the present moment
How Does Meditation Affect Your Health?
By allowing you to identify negative thoughts and emotions that may be weighing you down, meditation can help to reduce your stress. Taking a moment to focus on your breathing can help slow down your heart rate as well as provide a sense of calm and peace.
By reducing stress and regulating your breathing, meditation can help improve sleep quality and restfulness.
- Reduced inflammation
A number of studies suggest that meditation contributes to lowered inflammation along with its promotion of sleep, stress reduction, breathing regulation and heart rate modulation.
Tips For Mindful Morning Meditation
Schedule some time
- Set an alarm or reminder: To make the most of your morning routine, set an alarm as a reminder to meditate for around 20 minutes after you wake up.
- Use a timer: By setting a timer, you can allow yourself to immerse yourself in your meditative state and focus solely on your breathing and relaxation.
- Track your meditation: A simple way to keep yourself accountable is to note whether or not you have taken a meditative moment daily. This can be done in a journal, using a spreadsheet, an agenda or on a mobile health app.
Find a calm space
Designating a clean and organized space can help you provide an environment conducive to meditation.
- Turn off your phone notifications: Make sure to remove any potential distractions in your surroundings. Turning off your phone notifications, turning off the television and closing windows if you live in a noisy area for the duration of the meditation.
- Use essential oils: While this is by no means a requirement, using a diffuser with calming essential oils like lemongrass and peppermint can be relaxing and conducive to focus.
Identify the type of meditation that works for you
There is no prescriptive form of meditation that works for everyone. Take some time to figure out what works best for you. Here are a few examples:
- Mantra meditation: Pick a word, phrase or idea that you repeat to yourself for a period of meditation or throughout the day. This is a great way to practice positive affirmation and self-care through encouraging words.
- Imagery meditation: Imagine yourself in a place or experiencing a sensation that you find calming, like sitting in a meadow or walking on the beach. If it helps, recreate parts of the atmosphere in your home. Examples include a bowl of sand for tactile stimulation, a heater to simulate a warm environment, or natural noises like rain to recreate the sensation of the outdoors.
- Physical meditation: If you enjoy being physically active, you can turn exercise into a meditative moment by focusing on your body and movement. This can be doing exercises at home, going to the gym, doing yoga or even going for a walk.
- Mindful meditation: Typically, mindful meditation involves focusing on one’s surroundings at any point in time, and living in the present moment.
- Body scan meditation: This form of meditation entails sitting or lying down still and slowly analyzing the sensations in your body from head to toe.
Key Takeaways
- Your thyroid condition and mental health are closely related and closely interconnected. Taking care of your overall health means balancing your physical symptoms with your mental well-being.
- Mindful meditation is the process of intentionally deliberately centering your attention on the present moment and practicing awareness of analyzing your emotional and mental state.
- By partaking in meditative practices, it is possible to identify how to better support yourself
- Meditation can improve your mental health and thyroid health by reducing stress, improving your sleep and reducing inflammation.
- Some tips for mindful morning meditation include scheduling a set time, establishing a calm space and choosing a type of meditation practice that works best for you.
You can find more information on thyroid health, healthy recipes as well as lifestyle advice on the ThyForLife website, and track how lifestyle changes affect your thyroid-related symptoms using the ThyForLife app.
