A surprising side effect of speaking may be the effect it has on the health of your thyroid.  For years, I have treated thyroid problems with lymphatic drainage of the throat area and massage to relax the tissue around the thyroid.  I have recommended loose collars, removal of neckties and staying away from tight turtlenecks. 

But the years of my mother's profession as a classical voice professor always stayed in the back of my mind and recently have become an inherent part of thyroid treatment.  When you speak, sing, shout or hum, you are creating vibrations throughout the area of the throat from the larynx or voice box.  The thyroid is directly affected by this vibration and it causes the thyroid to fill with thyroid hormone.  This is then released into the blood stream, leading to the conclusion that vibration of the thyroid is a stimulus to thyroid hormonal release.

In this way, nature has developed a way in which the amount we use our voice affects our energy, our metabolism and our growth.  So when we are excited and we yell, we create more energy which matches our need metabolic need.  When we are quiet and restful, we don't use our voice at such a high volume, if at all, and so our metabolism reduces. 

What does our modern life do to support this link?  Nothing.  We site mute in front of computers, we e-mail, watch movies at home, we live alone and in fact, there are millions of people that may go an entire week without speaking at all because there is no one to talk to.  At the same time, people who are stressed may raise their voice, talk all the time and even yell.  This could overstimulate the thyroid and lead to hyperthyroidism over time. 

Even Wilhelm Reich had his patients scream, yell and cry... all to release stress and to break through years of isolation and body armoring.  This would have woken up the thyroid, powered up metabolism and really changed the energy level of the person.  So there might have been much more to his therapy than just emotional release. 

Therefore suggesting singing, speaking, reciting or even humming may do wonders to help an underactive thyroid... while getting someone that is stressed and has an overactive thyroid to turn down the volume may save their thyroid from radioactive iodine or removal. 

So perhaps I should reconsider my mother's other lifetime practice... talking to my plants!