Allowing yourself to feel both positive and negative emotions is healthy. Dr. Dan Siegel’s research on ‘Name it to tame it’ was groundbreaking in its use of fMRI images showing the disengagement of the brain’s amygdala when emotions are labeled and talked about. Now new research with nearly 1,700 participants over a five year period also showed healthy psychological outcomes for those who allow both negative and positive emotions to be felt and experienced.

Whether you call it ruminating, intrusive thoughts, perseverating or just plain “I can’t turn my brain off”, repetitive thoughts that bring discomfort show up quite regularly. Applying polyvagal theory connects repetitive thoughts to a sympathetic nervous system state.    Five tips to calm racing thoughts and disengage from sympathetic nervous system.