Triggers and how you feel

What Are Your Triggers And How Do You Deal With Them?

A trigger is a psychological stimulus that prompts recall of a previous traumatic experience and the stimulus may be only indirectly reminiscent of an earlier traumatic incident.

The way you talk to yourself dictates how you think and feel. You may have past experiences of rejection or may have overheard family members that spoke badly of themselves as you were growing up which felt normal and you followed the same path.

Whatever your trigger is, it is important to understand and acknowledge it, in order to be able to move on. You need to understand that you are not your past, nor are you the emotion that you attach it to. Experiences offer us a lesson to learn and will always teach you HOW you want to live the rest of your life. You cannot control external factors, only control the emotion that you attach to it!

Here are 4 steps to understand and release your emotional triggers

1. Learn your Triggers – The most important step is to understand when you are being triggered. Listen to your thoughts and feel the current feelings that you have. Ask the question, what past experience has made me feel this way? Label your trigger without judgement. Say this affirmation aloud “I am not my past, I choose to let this go”.

2. Breath – Triggers will cause stress. This includes tightness of chest, anxiousness, feeling hot, sweaty and feeling tense. When you feel these, breathe! Inhale deeply through the nose, hold for 2 seconds and then slowly release the breath through the mouth. Once you have calmed your breathing, this will help calm the mind.

3. Do not give in to Avoidance – Avoiding the situation will make it worse. Ignoring your triggers, does not cure the situation, it makes it worse. Each time you avoid, it will become a bigger issue next time. It is important that you deal with your triggers. If you don’t feel you can do this alone, seek help from a professional

4. Understand How You Want To Feel – Look at your end goal. Where do you want to be in 6 months? How do you want to think and feel? Write a letter as if you are you in 6 months’ time. Imagine you have acknowledged and released your triggers. Imagine you have forgiven everything in your past. How does that feel? What does that look like? Tell your today self what you will think and feel after reaching this goal. Once you have written your letter, pin it somewhere and read it every single day.

If you would like further assistance with dealing with emotional triggers, please contact me: dione@dionelockyermindsetmentor.com

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