Nothing about who or what we think we are is set in stone.

Neuroplasticity and epigenetics proves that.

If, as children, we learned to think that we are ‘less than’; or that it’s our job to look after others; that our emotions are a problem; that our needs are a problem; or that caring for ourselves doesn’t seem to be important; then we have learned ‘untruths’.

Thoughts, feelings, and ‘data’ from our senses are all ‘wired in’ with every experience. Outside our conscious awareness, our lovely jellylike brains take it all in, sifts out what is important to keep (usually during our sleep) and uses it to predict what will happen in future experiences.

If any of the ideas presented above have been wired into our circuitry, our brains will sift out information from experiences to the contrary. Over time, these erroneous thoughts (connected to feelings and sensory data) become our default operating system.

Many of us are living from an untrue operating system that resides in our unconscious and alters our mind body threat system – we become overly sensitized to certain stressors including our feelings!

But we can wake up and change it. Sensory feelings in our bodies are the first ‘tool’ for change. Rewiring the lie that our emotional feelings are a problem is the key that unlocks neuroplasticity. And insights are the neural experiences that change our operating system – and who we are.

Notice what you are experiencing in your body as you go about your day. Write about it. Reflect and write about its link to childhood or adolescent experiences. Something will surface from the subconscious. Trust it. Write your truth about how you felt back then and how you feel now. Don’t be afraid. That afraid feeling is just your learned neural circuitry that says feelings are dangerous. Be the adult and assure yourself they are not.

Truth about feelings gives your brain real data to resolve. Trust that it will. Trust that something different will infiltrate your consciousness and shift the sensory feeling in your body. Endless thinking does nothing to change the psychological dynamics of what has been wired in. Speaking and writing truth about our feelings does. Don’t be afraid of noticing what’s really going on inside you. David Schechter M.D. in his book The MindBody Workbook, #1, refers to these moments as ‘psychologically interesting’. Get curious about how psychologically interesting you really are!