TRIGGERS! It’s how you grow. Personally, it’s how I know I’m on the right path.

BUT how could they be helpful, if they FEEL SO UNCOMFORTABLE!?

If you’ve been on my newsletter, you’ll have come across this tip I use of feeling a “yes” or “no” in your body by using a joyful vs. unhappy circumstance.

Let me clear something up: Please remember, not only do I change this based on the person, but more importantly, even if something FEELS yucky, it DOES NOT mean it’s “bad.” There’s always more than meets the eye – even with triggers.

So what are triggers? It’s that person/place or thing that just makes your skin crawl, your chest constrict, or your belly do a flip flop. Ew! You probably get your back up, ready for a fight.

But here’s a plot twist:

Triggers are to be CELEBRATED because if someone or something is triggering you – it’s shining a light on that which you could not see (and on some level, you’re ready for it).

So what to do when facing a trigger?

• Take a deep breath (this helps deactivate your flight/fight/freeze response)

• Go into gratitude (say a silent prayer or mantra at the time if you can – eg. “Wow- thank you for this trigger. I know it’s not comfortable, but I’m grateful for this opportunity to make a shift around this that has the potential to change my life for the better”).

• Respond Consciously: If you “need” to respond to the person or situation immediately you can use these phrases as a guide: “Wow, I never thought of it that way. Thanks for sharing your opinion with me.” Or “That’s an interesting perspective…” You can choose to leave it at that or say “I’ll need to think about this, and I’ll get back to you after I’ve had time to process that.” 

• If it’s not something that needs a response and you’re just sitting at home getting all huffy puffy, then give yourself a “time in.” It’s time to go inside yourself and check out WHERE is that trigger sitting? Is it felt in a certain part of the body? Is there an emotion that you sense? Is there a visual to it? Come at it with curiosity and compassion.

• Forgiveness: Where there’s a trigger, there’s a need to forgive. It could be you. It could be someone else. It could be a situation. I often create personalized forgiveness releases when they’re needed. I also have a standard one which I’ve gifted to Joyful Body Method clients. Whatever method works for you, do it!

• Move your Body: Sometimes just adding a bit of movement, like walking, or jumping jacks, or yoga poses/stretching/Qi gong (or even shifting the body’s position in space) can shift a trigger.

• Get some energy balancing: I’ve been doing SO MUCH MORE of this in my programs lately. Not really sure what happened, I just followed what people needed, and BOOM my gifts expanded! I love the immediate “that feels lighter” feedback and it’s sometimes just a little bit of a shift energetically to help remove the final remnants of some triggering patterns.

• REPEAT: It’s a trigger because it’s energetically pulling on a deeper wound, and that usually doesn’t unwind in one shot (unless you’re really at the final test to release this past imprint).

Please also note: This can be tricky business! You may need to reach out to a certified therapist (of which I am not). Also, know that your body is SO WISE! eg. Anger could be hiding deep grief or despair. You don’t want to be poking a sleeping bear without some back-up (especially if you haven’t been doing this work often). Please reach out to someone who can help, if it feels a bit too much.

Know, at some point, you may be ready to embrace the triggers, but until then, you can use the steps above to make it a little less ouch-y 🙂

Let me know: Have you been triggered lately? How did you handle it? Can you see yourself going through these steps to see triggers in a new light? I’m always curious to hear.

And if I ever triggered you, let me just say… you’re welcome 😉