Healing the Nervous System

The Role of Familiar Patterns

Our nervous system, brain, emotions, and behaviours are often wired into familiar cycles, even if those cycles no longer serve us. These patterns may include:

• Emotional highs and lows: Feeling imbalanced or reactive to situations.

• Seeking safety in the familiar: Staying in a known emotional state, even if it’s painful, because it feels safer than the unknown.

• Fear of emptiness: Letting go of old patterns can create a temporary void, which can feel unsettling.

Key Insight

When we hold onto detrimental thoughts, we create our own suffering. This suffering often stems from a longing for happiness but feeling unable to step into it fully.

Practical Steps for Rewiring

1. Conscious Effort to Change

At first, rewiring old patterns may feel more difficult than staying in the familiar. Change requires active engagement, and the process can feel worse before it feels better. Recognise this as a natural part of the journey.

2. Observing Emotions

Emotions like anger, guilt, or sadness are not inherently negative. Allowing yourself to fully feel and process these emotions can transform them into a force for change.

3. Letting Go

To create space for new ways of being, you may need to let go of detrimental thoughts or behaviours. For a time, this may feel like stepping into emptiness. However, this space is where new possibilities emerge.

4. Finding Your Baseline

Ask yourself:

• Where am I starting from today?

• Who do I want to be in two years?

Our physical bodies regenerate every two years, but mental and emotional changes require conscious effort. Use the lessons of the past to create a future aligned with your heart’s desires.