The Science Behind Self-Love
In my client practice (and my personal experience), self-love isn’t just a “feel-good woo-woo” concept—it’s a science-backed tool for healing. Most women struggling with thyroid imbalances, gut issues, and hormone dysregulation often fall into the same archetype: you push yourself to exhaustion, prioritizing others over your own well-being. You view busyness and stress as a badge of honor, proof that you’re finally “enough”. You can’t accept help from anyone because it won’t be done “right” or you don’t want to bother anyone. And at the core of all this high achieving? A feeling of self-loathing and an inability to sit with yourself and just be.
I know you may roll your eyes when we talk about self-love practices (even though deep down beneath your armor you wish you could feel like you love yourself). Self-love practices aren’t fluffy silly things- they’re oftentimes more difficult than that rigid diet or waking up at 5am- because they require you to explore yourself instead of constantly doing and externalizing. These practices can significantly impact physical health by reducing stress, improving immune function, and supporting overall hormonal balance…so worth a shot, right?
The Mind-Body Connection: Your Body Hears Your Thoughts
Self-love isn’t about indulgence; it’s about creating an internal environment where your body can thrive. I’ll say it again: taking time to love yourself is not lazy! It’s one of the most powerful things we can do in a world that constantly demands more from us. When we experience chronic stress—whether from emotional strain, work pressures, or feeling disconnected from ourselves—our bodies get stuck in a state of fight-or-flight. But what does that actually mean? You know how it feels- like you can’t turn off your brain no matter how exhausted your body is, you feel burnt out or “fried”. This is because behind the scenes, your body is working overtime to pump out cortisol to help you fend off the threat that has you in survival mode. Frustratingly, your body also interprets your frantic anxious thoughts as stress and reacts accordingly. When chronically elevated, cortisol can:
Disrupt thyroid function, slowing metabolism and leading to fatigue - hello, unexplained weight gain and feeling like you woke up in a 90 year old’s body!
Impair gut health by increasing inflammation and altering the microbiome - aka “leaky gut”, painful bloating, and poor nutrient absorption
Cause hormonal imbalances, contributing to irregular cycles, PMS, and fertility issues - if you feel completely out of control of your rage or tears, read on
Self-love practices are a way into the eye of the stress hurricane- they help show the body that you are safe. These regulating exercises allow safety to become the baseline, the default mode (as it should be!), and this is where real healing can occur. Your body will not heal when it’s in fight or flight (sympathetic nervous system dominance)- its priority is keeping you alive then. We have to get into the “rest and digest” state (parasympathetic mode) in order to support our hormones, gut, and overall happiness.
The Science-Backed Benefits of Self-Love
Research in psychoneuroimmunology—a field studying how thoughts and emotions interact with the immune and endocrine systems —shows that self-love and self-compassion reduce stress-related inflammation. Because while other common sources of inflammation include processed sugary foods, alcohol, and environmental toxins, stress as an inflammatory factor in and of itself is underrated. Stress-induced inflammation is common among my clients who are “doing all the right things” with their diet and exercise…but they’re still so caught up in perfectionism and achieving, and that stress is cycling back into the very problems they’re trying to fix! Some of the key ways self-love directly impact health outcomes include:
Lowered Cortisol Levels: Studies show that self-compassion reduces cortisol and increases oxytocin, the “love hormone” that promotes relaxation and connection. (Remember, shifting out of threat survival and into love!)
Thriving Thyroid Function: When cortisol levels are kept under control, they no longer inhibit thyroid hormone production and conversion. This means you’ll get your energy back, brain fog clears, and be able to sustainably lose weight!
Improved Gut Health: Self-care practices like mindfulness and gratitude can improve gut function by supporting the vagus nerve, a superhighway that sends messages directly from your gut to your brain and back. Targeting the vagus nerve not only improves digestion but overall feelings of wellbeing and ease.
Balanced Hormones: Self-love rituals like setting boundaries and prioritizing rest can stabilize reproductive hormones, reducing symptoms like painful periods, mood swings, and fatigue.
Self-Love Practices to Support Thyroid, Gut, and Hormone Health
For the women I work with, integrating self-love practices into daily life isn’t just about feeling better emotionally—it’s about creating the conditions for deep physical healing. When we continually show up for ourselves in loving ways, it habituates our brain to expect good things and healing instead of stress and overwhelm. Here are some simple yet powerful practices:
Nervous System Regulation
Your nervous system isn’t actually doing anything wrong. You heard me: your nervous system is functioning perfectly…for several hundred years ago! It’s constantly trying to keep you alive and out of danger, but it can’t distinguish between a famine and your friends going to brunch without you- between a tiger or your email notification dinging. Nervous system regulation practices allow us to override your primal instincts to survive and instead coax your body into a sense of safety and relaxation.
Daily breathwork or meditation: these practices are just like a muscle, they will be weak at the beginning. You have to keep showing up to the daily practice and eventually your brain will calm and clear faster, allowing you to float on the waves of stress instead of drown and flail.
Gentle movement: Practices like yin yoga and long walks aren’t inherently designed to be “exercise”- they are meant to support circulation and lymphatic flow. This is important not only for removing environmental toxins, but because your brain literally cleans itself overnight and dumps the waste in the morning! If you want to feel clearheaded and in control, gentle movement will help release all that chemical (and emotional) stagnation.
Journaling: I can already hear you saying “but I don’t know what to write!” or “I just can’t focus!” and I get that. But…you can absolutely unload your stress on a friend who is going to nod along instead of pointing out your limiting beliefs and negative self-talk. Journaling it out slows down your thoughts and allows you to actually re-read your internal dialogue.
Rest as a Healing Tool
Prioritize sleep! Women need on average an extra hour of sleep more than men to support adrenal function and thyroid health. Again, this feeds into feelings of safety because when you aren’t sleeping enough or getting quality sleep, your body dives into its energy reserves (even when they’ve already been depleted).
The Joy of Missing Out (JOMO > FOMO) Say no to overcommitment to conserve energy and prevent burnout. If you’re only attending something because you “should” or because you care what others think instead of actually wanting to go, consider giving yourself permission to skip every once in a while. The world will not end, I promise.
Bedtime Ritual: Restful sleep starts about an hour before your head hits the pillow. Create a luxurious ritual like mindfully applying your skincare after a hot shower instead of doom scrolling on your phone. Not only does the blue light inhibit melatonin production but the constant overstimulation of scrolling keeps your brain wired…and all your racing thoughts will keep you awake hours after you try to go to bed.
Intentional Nourishment
Nourishing yourself instead of dieting will have vastly different outcomes because the motivation and intention behind each is SO different. You diet to “get your body under control” through restriction and vigilance. You nourish your body because you love and honor her.
Eat balanced meals with roughly 30g of quality protein, healthy fats like avocado, and fiber to stabilize blood sugar. Eating actual proper meals every 3-4 hours instead of snacking all day (or chugging more coffee) will set your body and mind up for success
Avoid inflammatory foods that contribute to gut and hormone imbalances- processed and refined foods, caffeine, sugar, and alcohol are all common culprits of inflammation. Give yourself grace with cravings- chronically elevated cortisol literally drives you to crave sugar, salt, and fat! Choose more nourishing options that won’t crash your energy.
Practice mindful eating to enhance digestion and absorption- get off your phone and actually TASTE your food. Take a few deep breaths before eating and chew thoroughly. This signals to your body that it’s time to digest and enjoy, not react to notifications with stress!
Emotional Self-Care & Boundaries
Cultivating self-compassion instead of negative self-talk: this goes hand in hand with meditation and journaling because you have to identify where you’re mentally beating yourself up in order to change it! Instead of just saying “no” to the negative thoughts, they need to be replaced with kind, compassionate ones.
Surrounding yourself with relationships that nourish rather than deplete: fellow people pleasers, I see you. You rarely think about what YOU are getting from a relationship, it’s just give give give…until you end up burnt out and resentful. Prioritize spending time with people that light you up and genuinely care about you (not just what you do for them)
Engaging in hobbies that bring joy and help regulate the nervous system: one of the biggest things I invite my clients to do? PLAY! We become so serious and task-oriented as adults, but that’s not what we were put on this planet to do. Explore hobbies from childhood or new interests and actually schedule time to enjoy them. Show some love to little you.
Self-Love as a Path to Healing
You might feel like you have to earn rest or self-care, but the truth is, these practices are essential for sustainable healing. If you’ve been struggling with fatigue, bloating, hormonal swings, or a sense of disconnection from your body, self-love isn’t an optional luxury—it’s the foundation of your healing journey. If you're ready to explore how deeper self-care can support your thyroid, gut, and hormone health, let’s connect. My holistic coaching program is designed to help you integrate these healing principles in a way that feels natural and nourishing, so you can truly thrive.
