Tame Your Triggers
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Tame Your Triggers www.catherineshefski.com
Transcript of Tame Your Triggers
Are you easily provoked? Do you snap out at friends or family members forwhat seem like innocent comments? Do you find yourself getting angry whenyou watch the news? Or read Facebook posts and comments? Does thisfeeling stay with you for hours, while you ruminate over some perceived hurtwhile everyone else seems to go on as if nothing happened? We call this being “triggered.” According to Psych Central, a trigger is something that sets off amemory transporting the person back to the event of her/his originaltrauma. The first step to Taming Your Triggers is to recognize them. Once we recognize our patterns, we can start digging deeper to find our corebelief that is being challenged. We can start to see how our perspective isinfluencing our judgement. For example, if we believe that By changing our perspective (and understanding other people's perspectives)we can begin to soften our reactions -- and gradually learn how to reducethese spikes of anger that seem to come out of nowhere. Let's begin a simple set of questions to use for self-examination as you beginyour work to become trigger-free.
Tame Your Triggers: a step-by-step guide by Catherine Shefski
Begin by listing five times you were triggered into anger this week and howeach trigger made you feel.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
After we recognize our triggers and acknowledge the emotion that comes up forus, the next step is to ask ourselves WHY we were triggered. We usually find the root of our triggers in our childhood. (i.e. those momentswhen our parents, our teachers, or childhood friends put us in situations thatmade us feel shame, or hurt, or powerlessness.) The more we understand the underlying reasons why certain situations make usangry or send us into a state of panic or a shame spiral, the more powerful webecome in our ability to shift our gaze to what's really happening in the moment. The next step is to list the emotions that came up with your five recent triggersand go back in time to remember the first situation in your life that evoked thatemotion. This is the deep inner child work that we all need to do.
1. I felt ____________________ when ____________________________.The first time I felt this way was when ______________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________. 2. I felt ____________________ when ____________________________.The first time I felt this way was when ______________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________. 3. I felt ____________________ when ____________________________.The first time I felt this way was when ______________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________. 4. I felt ____________________ when ____________________________.The first time I felt this way was when ______________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________.
Remember your innocence and console your young self through journalingor speaking to that inner child. Treat yourself kindly by doing something you love. Express yourself througha creative project, go for a walk in nature, meditate, anything that calms youand grounds you in the present. Begin to shift your perspective. Try to see the situation from all points ofview - including the point of view of the person who may have triggered you. Understand that you are "older and wiser" and you have many more tools tonavigate uncomfortable situations than you did as a child. You can stand upfor yourself. You can remove yourself from the situation. Or you can chooseto make a mental note that this is a familiar trigger and you can simply let itgo. Ground yourself in the present moment to realize that you are safe NOW. Agreat way to do this is to look around you and identify five things you cantouch, four things you see, three sounds you hear two things you can smelland (if you can) one thing you can taste. By living in the moment, you can stop thinking that anything should bedifferent. You have everything you need right NOW. These triggers arecoming from memories of the past and they don't have power over you inthe present moment. Once this sinks in, you might just find that youwelcome your triggers - as they can become opportunities that lead toenlightenment.
After you've taken the deep dive into your childhood to find the source ofyour triggers, you can start the healing process.
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About me: I've been studying the metaphysical since the early 1980s when my motherintroduced me to Unity. Since then I’ve studied The Course in Miracles alongwith the works of Shakti Gawain, Catherine Ponder, Esther Hicks, Neale DonaldWalsch and many more. I’ve also studied Shamanic Sound Healing and Reiki. Amusician and writer, I’ve been a teacher all of my life. I love to help womenmake big shifts in their lives, unleash their creativity and become powerfullyconfident. For an introductory conversation about my personalized coaching programs,please contact me at [email protected].
www.catherineshefski.com
