Reprogramming our thoughts with embodied practice

Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “Why do I keep doing this?”

Maybe it’s talking down to yourself, avoiding difficult conversations, eating when you’re not hungry, or endlessly scrolling when you know you need sleep. Rationally, you know these habits aren’t helping… but emotionally? Physically? Something keeps pulling you back into the same old cycle.

You are definitely not alone. There’s actually a good reason why change feels so hard.

Carl Jung stated, " Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate" I love that quote.

Our Nervous System Thinks Familiar = Safe

Our nervous system is ancient. It was designed to keep us alive—not to make us happy, successful, or emotionally fulfilled.

In the eyes of your nervous system, anything unfamiliar can feel like a threat, even if it’s a positive change. How does it know whether the rustling in the trees is a friend coming to see us or an animal thinking we are its dinner? Therefore, it needs to be on hypervigilant alert to keep us alive- fear first.

So if you grew up in an environment where love was inconsistent, criticism was common, or emotions were shut down, your nervous system might now associate things like self-compassion, calm connection, or being visible with danger—because they weren’t familiar.

Unfamiliar = unsafe. Safe = what we know. Even if what we know is painful.

Why Do We Get Stuck in Painful Patterns?

Let’s take a few common examples:

• Harsh inner voice – We think being self-critical will keep us motivated.

• Overthinking and anxiety – We’re trying to stay one step ahead of potential danger.

• Saying yes when we mean no – We fear rejection or conflict.

• Emotional eating – It’s comfort, a coping mechanism that has helped us survive.

• Procrastination – A form of self-protection against failure or judgment.

  
  

Each of these patterns may be uncomfortable, but they’ve kept us alive. To your nervous system, that means they’re “working.” It doesn’t matter to our nervous system the impact it may be having on all areas of our lives. Our nervous system is not interested in joy and meaningful relationships, just survival.

So when we try to change—maybe by setting better boundaries, eating nourishing meals, or choosing rest instead of busyness—our brain and body resist. Not because we’re doing something wrong, but because it’s unfamiliar.

And unfamiliar feels unsafe.

So How Do We Actually Change?

Not just by thinking positively. Not by bingeing self-help content on YouTube or reading yet another book (tempting though that may be) and often my habit, or even by reading this blog! We change through embodied practice.

What’s Embodied Practice?

It’s when we physically and emotionally rehearse a new pattern, until it begins to feel safe and familiar.

Let’s break that down:

• Our brain doesn’t fully distinguish between imagination and reality.

• That means when we visualise ourselves handling a situation with calm, strength, or joy, our brain and nervous system actually start to lay down new neuropathways.

• This is how we reprogram old patterns—bit by bit.

  
  

I’ve spoken in previous posts about the mind/body connection in anxiety. By using different forms of embodied practice alongside other techniques, we create new patterns that change our relationship to all areas of our lives.

Example:

Let’s say you’re dreading a work presentation.

Old Pattern: You freeze, panic, or over-prepare out of fear of getting it wrong, or you procrastinate and do not prepare, therefore making mistakes and reinforcing the pattern.

Embodied Practice:

• Visualise yourself standing confidently.

• Feel the air in your lungs, your feet on the floor.

• Imagine speaking with ease, making eye contact, even enjoying yourself.

• If fear arises, don’t push it away. Stay present with it. Breathe through it.

• Repeat this until your nervous system starts to feel safe in that imagined moment.

Practice this over time in different situations, and the next time the real moment comes, your body will recognise this situation and feeling, it won’t feel so alien. You have rehearsed calm. You’ve taught your body that “this is okay.

You still need to prepare for the presentation or whatever the fearful situation is and give yourself the best chance of it working out well, but the embodied practice will provide you with a starting point of safety.

More Everyday Embodied Practices to Try

As with anything from learning a language to playing the guitar, regular practice is key. Here are a few simple ways to build new, safer patterns into daily life:

• Set Micro-Boundaries

  Start small. Practice saying “Let me get back to you” instead of immediately saying yes. This helps your nervous system adjust to honouring your needs. Think of specific examples; start where it feels easiest, perhaps with a friend rather than your boss.

• Embodied Breathwork

  Try a 3-minute grounding breath: Inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 6. Feel your body supported by the chair or the ground. This helps signal safety to your system. Learning how to self soothe is key to moving from the fear response.

• Rehearse Joy

  Visualise yourself laughing with friends, feeling loved, or finishing a task with pride. Let yourself feel it in your body.

• Mirror Talk

  Each morning, look in the mirror and say something kind to yourself. At first, it may feel weird or even cringey. That’s okay. Keep going. You're rewiringyour brain.

• Notice your body

  Move your body regularly, and also be aware of areas of tension, notice where you feel stressed in your body. Acknowledge the tension and use breathing or movement to help it release.

  
  

Final Thoughts

This work isn’t about “fixing” yourself. You are not broken. Our brains have not evolved to modern-day society, so we are often stuck in hypervigilant alert and feel stress and fear.

Teaching your body and nervous system that it’s safe to experience more joy, ease, and freedom through these practices will change your relationship with your mind and body.

Start small. Repeat often. Celebrate progress. You’re not just thinking differently—you’re becoming different, from the inside out.

Reprogramming your thoughts starts with reprogramming your body’s experience of safety.

It’s slow, subtle work. But it’s transformational. You don’t need to be perfect. Just present. Just practising.

✨ Have you experienced this kind of shift before? I’d love to hear what’s helped you break an old pattern

Read more of my blogs on mental health and wellbeing here