5 Ways to Train Your Brain to Stop Prioritizing Symptoms

By Jenny Peterson

Today, I’m breaking down one of the most common things keeping people stuck in chronic symptoms: focusing on them.

I get it—you're probably thinking, “But shouldn’t I be paying attention to what my body is doing?”

Hang tight. We're about to shift the entire way you view your symptoms… and most importantly, how you relate to them.

Let’s start with a bold truth: If focusing on your symptoms actually solved them, you wouldn’t be here reading this.

Read that again.

Why Focusing on Symptoms Keeps You Stuck

Focusing on your symptoms isn’t healing—it’s a survival response. Your brain isn’t wired to help you thrive; it’s wired to keep you alive. That means it’s constantly scanning for danger—especially if it’s been trained to believe that your symptoms are a threat.

So if you’ve been told something is chronic… If you’ve been through medical trauma or failed healing attempts… Your system is on high alert.

Even something neutral—a little tightness, a flutter, a twinge—gets flagged as a five-alarm fire.

And here’s the kicker: Every time you respond to that sensation with fear or obsessive focus, you’re training your brain to keep scanning for it. You’re confirming, “Yes, this is dangerous. Keep looking for it.”

How This Becomes a Loop

• You wake up.

• You scan your body.

• You ask, “Is the pain there? Better or worse than yesterday?”

That right there? It’s a loop. And even the smallest version of this is watering the wrong seed.

You’re reinforcing the brain’s belief that the symptom is the most important thing to focus on. And your body? It follows your brain’s lead.

But It’s Not Just the Body… It’s the Belief Behind It

Here’s what’s often hiding under that symptom obsession:

• “If I don’t monitor this, I might miss something serious.”

• “If I stop paying attention, I won’t know if I’m getting better or worse.”

• “If I’m not focused on this, I’m not taking healing seriously.”

Sound familiar?

But what if the opposite is true?

What if focusing on symptoms is actually keeping you from healing?

You cannot heal from a place of fear. And symptom focus—no matter how logical it feels—is rooted in fear.

Fear of something being wrong. Fear of losing control. Fear that your body isn’t doing what it’s supposed to.

Real responsibility in healing doesn’t look like micromanaging your symptoms. It looks like training your brain to feel safe even when the symptoms are still there.

Because real safety says:

“I trust my body, even when the symptom is here. I don’t need to analyze it to heal.”

Reflection: What Are You Afraid Will Happen?

Take a moment to ask yourself:

👉 What do I believe will happen if I stop focusing on my symptoms? 

Write it down.

Whatever you uncover is the belief you need to start shifting.

So What Do You Do Instead?

Redirection is the antidote. Not avoidance. Not pretending your symptoms don’t exist.

Redirection is about actively choosing to stop feeding the fear-based pattern that’s been keeping those symptoms center stage.

Let’s use this metaphor: Your subconscious is like a dog that barks every time the mail truck shows up. You’ve trained it that “mail truck = danger.” You can yell at it to stop barking… or you can retrain it. Redirection is how you retrain it.

You teach your brain that this signal is not dangerous by shifting your focus toward safety, joy, or future alignment.

Let’s break down how.

5 Rebellious Ways to Stop Focusing on Your Symptoms

These tools aren’t meant to be perfect or done all at once. Pick one. Use it consistently. The goal is to interrupt the fear loop and redirect the brain toward safety.

1. Smile (Yes, even if you have to fake it)

Smile for 10 seconds the moment you notice yourself spiraling into symptom focus. It sends a signal to your brain: “I’m safe.”

It feels weird. It feels forced. Do it anyway. This isn’t about being fake—it’s about interrupting the loop.

2. Visualize Your Future Self

Who is the version of you that no longer obsesses over symptoms? What does she believe? How does she move through the day?

Close your eyes and step into her. Your brain doesn’t know the difference between real and imagined. So give it something powerful to imagine.

3. Get Into Movement

Your body gets stuck when your thoughts do. So move it.

• Dance

• Shake

• Walk outside

• Roll your shoulders

This helps break the freeze/fear response and brings you into flow.

4. Anchor Into Joy or Gratitude

Not the “I’m grateful for my house” kind.

We’re talking real, heart-bursting, can’t-help-but-smile joy.

• A laugh with a friend

• A sunset that stopped you in your tracks

• That one song that makes you dance every time

Hold that moment. Let it flood your body. That’s nervous system medicine.

5. Speak Safety to Your Body Out Loud

Use your voice. Out loud.

• “This is just a signal, not a threat.”

• “My body is always on my side.”

• “My body is healing, even if I don’t feel it yet.”

This tells your subconscious a new story. You’re replacing panic with power.

But What If the Thoughts Keep Coming Back?

They probably will. That doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.

This isn’t about perfection—it’s about repetition.

Every single redirection, no matter how small, is a step toward rewiring.

And no—these 5 tools aren’t the deep subconscious work that rewires your symptoms for good.

But they are the foundation that makes that deeper work effective.

Because if you can’t redirect your focus, symptom work won’t stick.

Recap: Your 5 Tools to T-Bone Symptom Focus

Next time your brain starts scanning for a symptom…

Interrupt it with one of these:

• Smile

• Visualize your 2.0 self

• Get into movement

• Anchor into joy or gratitude

• Speak safety to your body

Choose one. Or rotate them. Doesn’t matter. What matters is that you stop feeding the fear.

Because if focusing on your symptoms worked… they’d be gone by now.

Your brain is doing what it’s been trained to do. But now—you’re retraining it.

One moment, one smile, one redirect at a time.

You’ve got this. And if this resonated with you, share it with someone who needs it and subscribe to The Rebellious Healer Podcast so you never miss an episode.

This is just the beginning of reclaiming your power.

Jenny Peterson is a Chronic Illness Expert, the Founder of MBR (Mind Body Rewire), and the host of The Rebellious Healer Podcast. She helps those struggling with multiple chronic symptoms reclaim their health and freedom—without diets, detoxes, or pills.

For 10 years, Jenny worked as a holistic practitioner, relying on supplements, diet, and detox protocols to support healing. But when she faced her own chronic health struggles, those methods failed her.

When Jenny was on her healing journey, she struggled to find a protocol that provided the structure needed to rewire the subconscious. So she created her own process to heal—and that process became the foundation of the Heal & Thrive Framework, a structured, step-by-step method that helps clients identify the subconscious patterns behind their symptoms and rewire them for lasting relief.

Using this exact process, Jenny fully resolved Lyme disease, digestive issues, panic attacks, skin conditions, cystitis, and more. Her own transformation ignited a mission: to help others break free from chronic symptoms and take back control of their health.

At Mind Body Rewire, we have an unwavering belief that healing chronic health issues doesn’t have to be complicated when the focus is on the root cause: the subconscious. We believe every person is fully capable of creating the health and life they desire when they unlock the subconscious programs influencing it.

Ready to say good-bye to symptoms and hello to freedom?  START HERE