The Case:  In the last episode, we met Liana and heard all about her issues with fatigue, digestion, hair loss, joint pain, and lack of concentration. As a person living with Hashimoto’s, she knows many of these symptoms are related but was struggling to stick to the healthy routines that could make a difference.  That’s why I decided to discuss her case with Hypnotherapy expert, Grace Smith.  In episode 139 of Health Mysteries Solved: Thyroid and Hashimoto’s Revealed, Grace busted the misconceptions surrounding hypnotherapy and explained so clearly how it works. I encourage you to jump back and listen to that episode before proceeding to learn how hypnotherapy can specifically help those with Hashimoto’s and how it helped Liana with her issues. Stress as a Trigger for Hashimoto’s There are four main triggers for Hashimoto’s: Food Infection  Toxins (environmental and food) Stress   Of these, stress is so often overlooked. And one of the causes of stress that is easy to overlook because we may not be fully aware of is past trauma. This is where hypnosis can play a big role.  Sometimes it could be big T trauma (a specific event that is easily identifiable as the source of trauma), but for others, it could even be smaller things. For example, it could be that they may have been rejected from something, or that they struggle with self-worth because of their upbringing. There's also a really big connection between shame and Hashimoto’s and inflammation in general. These small t traumas or limiting beliefs can be the stress trigger for Hashimoto’s without people realizing it. Grace explains that many of these issues develop in the subconscious before the age of 7. What’s significant about this is that the brain has not yet started to produce beta waves. And so, from seven and under, we're almost completely in the hypnotic state. This is why kids learn so quickly - our brains can easily absorb new information and make new neural pathways in the hypnotic state. However, those neural pathways and ideas we are taught at an early age, tend to stick. This is why it can be hard to change our way of thinking - especially if our brains are stuck in a beta brain state.  Rewriting Childhood Neural Pathways Since many of our beliefs (limiting and otherwise) are created before the age of 7, hypnosis can help to take us back to that time and allow us to understand where these ideas come from and rewrite those neural pathways.  Grace shares a great example of this in our conversation where she’s talking about a kindergarten teacher picking on someone’s drawing and how that can lead to them feeling shame, unworthiness, or even fear of being the center of attention.  As kids, we have a reaction to that and it’s hard to believe that a single event can affect us years later but Grace says it can be the cause. The good news, she says, is that through hypnosis, you can go back and rewrite that script. And, by doing that, you shift those long-held beliefs and feelings.  Subconscious Self-Sabotage When we looked at Liana’s case, we discovered that she had this subconscious belief that she was not worthy of good health. As a result, she couldn’t trust that feeling good would last or that it was really how she felt. That’s why she couldn’t stick with a routine - she never believed it would work, and when it started to, she couldn’t believe it would last. She didn’t think she deserved to be healthy.  Grace says this is so common and something that can absolutely be addressed through hypnosis. She shares a great story about a grandmother in her late 70s who was dealing with chronic pain. Doctors and their tests could find no cause. Through hypnosis, Grace was able to get the patient into the theta brainwave state and have a conversation with the woman’s subconscious. It was here that the real cause of the pain was revealed - the woman was afraid to heal because she believed that her family visited her only because she was sick and that if she was healthy,