Instead of Changing Your Mindset, Change Your Nervous System State (A Somatic Meditation for Real Change)
Instead of Changing Your Mindset, Try Changing Your Nervous System
A gentle, somatic approach to creating real and lasting change
We hear it everywhere: change your mindset, change your life.
Think better thoughts. Stay positive. Reframe the story.
And for a while, it might even feel like it’s working. We try to interrupt the negative loops, we try to “focus on the good,” we try to push away anything that feels heavy or inconvenient.
But eventually, many of us hit a wall.
No matter how much we analyze, understand, or reframe, the same patterns keep reappearing. The same reactions rise up in our bodies. The same emotions move through us, uninvited and insistent.
It can feel confusing, frustrating, or even shameful.
And yet… nothing is wrong with you.
You haven’t failed at mindset work.
Your brain isn’t broken.
You’ve simply been taught the wrong path to transformation.
What most of us have never been told is this:
Your thoughts are not the beginning of the story.
They are the outcome of something deeper.
They’re shaped by your body, your nervous system, your history, and the subconscious patterns that live beneath the surface of awareness.
Once you understand this, everything begins to make sense.
The Fallacy of "Changing Your Mindset"
So often, we are told to “just change our mindset,” or to “think positive,” as if that is the key to healing. And yet, when we try to force ourselves into positive thinking, we run into resistance. Why?
Because the paradigm of trying to "change your mindset" or only think positively is fundamentally one of control and suppression. It’s a paradigm that suggests that by sheer willpower, we can push our minds into alignment with what we think we should be feeling.
This approach is deeply rooted in the linear, conscious mind, which values logic, rationality, and control. But we are so much more than this. Our bodies, psyches, and nervous systems are complex, interconnected, and nuanced, and they don’t respond well to being controlled or suppressed.
This is where the somatic healing paradigm offers something different:
Instead of forcing a mindset shift, we shift things at the roots. We begin by supporting the nervous system in ways that are compassionate, whole-body centered, and much more aligned with our innate healing wisdom.
Shifting From Control to Support
In the somatic approach, we don’t try to fight our thoughts or suppress the emotions that come with them. Instead, we focus on giving our bodies more support. We bring in compassionate regulation, embodiment practices, and nervous system tools that allow us to feel more grounded, safe, and present.
When we cultivate safety and regulation in the body, the mind begins to follow. The body offers us the space to soften, to shift into a place where new thoughts and more aligned perspectives can naturally arise.
And this compassionate, integrative approach does end up creating real change in our mindset and our thoughts. By bringing more safety and integration into our systems, our inner world becomes more aligned with who we truly are. And then the mindset follows. Our thoughts change naturally as we cultivate more safety, connection and compassion within.
Why Your Thoughts Aren’t the Problem
One of the most liberating truths in somatic healing is realizing that your thoughts are rarely the real issue. We’re taught to treat them as the beginning of everything, as if our inner world starts with whatever sentences happen to appear in our minds. But thoughts don’t just float in out of nowhere. They come from something. They arise out of the felt experience of our bodies, our past conditioning, the emotional residue we haven’t yet processed, and the nervous system states we find ourselves in.
And once we see that, we begin to understand something important:
our thoughts are symptoms, not roots.
They’re signals of what’s stirring underneath the surface. They show us when a deeper layer is activated, when an old wound has been touched, or when the nervous system feels overwhelmed or unsafe.
This doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you when your thoughts feel anxious or harsh. It simply means that your system is communicating. It’s offering information about what needs support, what hasn’t yet been tended to, or what part of you is needing care.
When we recognize thoughts as symptoms rather than the source of the issue, something softens inside. We stop fighting them. We stop assuming we need to control or replace them. Instead, we become curious about what they point toward. And as we begin to work gently with the body and those deeper emotional layers, the thoughts themselves naturally begin to shift. They lose their intensity. They become less sticky. They loosen their grip, because the roots that were driving them are finally being held with compassion.
State Precedes Story
There’s a phrase in polyvagal theory that captures so much of this truth: “state precedes story.” It means that the stories your mind tells (your interpretations, your fears, your expectations) are shaped by the state of your nervous system long before they become words in your head.
When your system is in a state of activation, it’s incredibly hard to think calm, expansive thoughts. The world feels faster, sharper, more dangerous. Your mind tries to make sense of that internal intensity, and the story reflects it.
If your system moves into shutdown, your thoughts may turn quiet or heavy. Hope feels far away. Even simple tasks can feel impossible. Again, nothing is wrong with your mindset. Your body is simply doing what it knows to do in order to cope.
And when your system comes into a more regulated place, something shifts. The world feels less threatening. Emotion feels more manageable. You’re able to see options, possibilities, and support that were invisible when your body was braced for danger. The stories your mind tells begin to widen and soften, not because you forced them to, but because your physiology is no longer sounding the alarm.
This is why mindset work alone can feel like pushing a boulder uphill. You can try to change the story, but if the state underneath is overwhelmed or dysregulated, the old narrative will keep pulling you back. When we start with the body, when we offer the nervous system more safety and connection, the story often rewrites itself without needing to be pushed.
A Somatic Meditation for Real Change
If all of this is resonating with you, you’re not alone. So many people reach a point where they’re tired of trying to wrestle their thoughts into submission, tired of feeling like they know why they’re struggling but still can’t shift the pattern. It can be deeply discouraging when insight doesn’t translate into change. But this is exactly where somatic healing offers another path forward.
Today’s somatic meditation is designed to help you explore that path from the inside out. Instead of trying to change your thoughts directly, we’ll work with the body, the subconscious, and the emotional roots underneath the mindset pattern you’ve been struggling with.
In the first part of the meditation, you’ll be guided into a state of safety and regulation, so your system can settle enough to listen. And from that more grounded place, we’ll use a gentle Regenerating Images in Memory® process, allowing your body and subconscious to show you what lives beneath the thought or belief that’s been looping. RIM® creates a kind of inner spaciousness, helping old emotional material move, helping protective patterns soften, and helping you come into deeper connection with the part of you that’s ready to experience something new.
This isn’t about forcing a shift or convincing yourself to think differently. It’s about meeting the real roots of the pattern with compassion, curiosity, and support, so that something inside you can reorganize naturally.
So if you’re ready to explore a deeper layer of your healing, join me for this Somatic Meditation for Real Change. It’s an invitation to stop fighting with your thoughts and begin to tend to what’s underneath them, to create the kind of inner shift that feels steadier, more authentic, and more aligned with who you truly are.
Try the Somatic Meditation for Real Change now!
Episode timing:
00:00 - The Fallacy of "Changing Your Mindset"
06:15 - Somatic Meditation for Real Change (using Regenerating Images in Memory)
33:20 - Conclusion
NOW ENROLLING!
Applications are now open for Rooted + Resilient, my six-month small-group program for deep somatic healing.
If you’ve spent years trying to change your patterns through mindset work or therapy but still feel stuck in the same emotional loops, this is the space where things finally shift.
Rooted + Resilient is the best way to work with me because we go to the level that truly matters: the subconscious and somatic roots that shape everything you feel, fear, and believe. As those layers dissolve, you naturally begin to move through life with more confidence, ease, and inner steadiness.
If you’re longing for real change, the kind that your body can actually feel, I’d love for you to apply.
Enrollment is open for a limited time. You can learn more and apply now.
How was that Somatic Meditation for Real Change for you?
What shifted within? And what do you understand now that you didn’t understand before?
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And please join me every Friday on this beautiful journey out of your head, and into your more embodied and authentic self. 🩷🩷🩷
Thanks so much for joining me today!
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Enjoy more like this: RIM® Exercises, Parts Work, Get to the roots
About me
Hey, I’m Karena!
I’m a somatic emotional healing coach here to help you quickly identify and heal the subconscious blocks, old emotional wounds and self-sabotaging core beliefs that are holding you back!
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