What To Do When Your Trauma Is Triggered

Processing your past and healing your mind-body-spirit is an on going practice. But what about when you are right in the thick of things? How do you best care for yourself in the aftermath of a trauma trigger?

I have some tips for you below! 

First, how can we tell if we have been triggered? There are some obvious indicators of when our trauma or past wounding has been triggered within us:

The emotional activation - an emotional reaction that doesn't quite fit with the occurrence indicates a past trauma has been activated. 

The body activation - your nervous system is responding to something and telling you there is danger ahead. 

The mind activation- ruminating thoughts in overdrive, shadow feelings coming through, feelings of being not enough. 

If you notice these symptoms happening after an incident then your trauma has been activated and your body is responding to past cues. 

Here is what you can do to calm the body down and re center in the heat of the moment: 

• Do 10 conscious breaths 
• Do 20 inhale and exhales - calming your body and nervous system down is CRUCIAL to managing thoughts
• Use self-talk to soothe yourself: "Ok my trauma is activated right now. I am safe and I know what I can do to ground myself."
• Do grounding and self-care throughout this day. 
• Do something that immediately switches your emotion (laugh for 5 minutes, yes I mean do some fake ha-ha-ing until you are feeling joy. Science says this works!) 
• Walk away, excuse yourself, and/or communicate about what you are experiencing. "Hey what just happened really activated a past wound of mine. This isn't about you but I need to take care of myself right now."
• For later: take your journal or notes app out and process what you experienced: what was the trigger? what did it remind me of? how did I respond to it? 

This most important thing you can do with a trauma activation is to create safety. Focus on creating a safe space for your mind and on calming the body. 

It is natural for the body to respond in this way- it wants to keep you safe. But this trigger is not the danger your mind/body remember it as. 

If you are in need of support then please reach out to me to schedule a 1:1. Having a safe place and person to share with in these moments makes a huge difference. 
 With love, 
Roxana

Learn more about the Heal Your Inner Child course and how you can move toward more authentic living with 8 weeks of psycho-education and healing.