12/10/2025
Most of us try to get rid of painful thoughts:
âI shouldnât feel this way.â
âStop overthinking.â
âJust move on.â
But hereâs what neuroscience shows usâ
the more you fight a thought, the louder your brain makes it.
Thatâs because your amygdala interprets that inner struggle as danger, and your prefrontal cortexâthe part that helps you regulateâtemporarily shuts down.
So instead of calming your mind, you end up reliving the same emotional loop.
Those thoughts that keep looping arenât random.
Many were formed in moments when your brain was trying to protect you.
Thatâs why healing isnât about forcing positive thoughtsâitâs about changing how you relate to what arises inside you. When you meet a thought with curiosity instead of judgment, you send a powerful signal to your body: âIâm safe now.â
Your body doesnât know the difference between an external threat and an internal one. So if you meet your thoughts with fear or frustration, your brain reads that as dangerâ and your amygdala, the part that scans for threat, amplifies the sense of threat.
But when you pause, breathe, and simply notice whatâs happeningâwithout trying to fix or silence itâyour nervous system receives a different message.
The amygdala quiets.
The prefrontal cortexâresponsible for reasoning, reflection, and choiceâcomes back online.
And thatâs where neuroplasticity begins.
Your brain starts building new connections that link awareness with safety instead of threat. Over time, that repetition teaches your mind:
âI can think and feel difficult things without being in danger.â
Thatâs what true rewiring looks likeânot controlling your thoughts, but creating safety inside your relationship with them.
So the next time an old thought shows upâ âyouâre not enough,â âsomething bad will happen,â âtheyâll leaveââ pause. Notice it. Soften your response.
You donât have to believe it or banish it. You can simply get curious about itâmaybe even listen to what itâs trying to protect.
Thatâs where healing begins.