Everybody knows unforeseen, sudden shifts in their emotions. Something happens and from one moment to the other a sense of wellbeing can change to a lasting state of tension or stress.
There are things we do, words we say, sounds we hear, smells we breath in, tones of voice, experiences, places, THINGS that happen in our lives that are TRIGGERS for us to experience emotions.
The human brain attaches emotions to events and those emotions have the potential to stay with us the rest of our lives. This is all well and good if the emotions are positive but if they’re overwhelmingly negative and there are a lot of them, life can feel pretty heavy.
They affect our body equally as our mind and can have strong effects on to our nervous system and organs. More than sixty percent of all illnesses have their root cause in repetitive negative thought structures.
It doesn’t need to stay that way. In self- inquiry we can gain awareness of what triggers strong emotional reactions.
Experiencing ‘triggers’ is like pushing your finger into your own open wounds, ‘they will always hurt’. The neural pathways in the brain that cause the negative reaction are continually being fired off.
Look at what words you say and think of things you see in everyday life that trigger strong emotions. For example: In your head you might say ‘I am fat and ugly, I don’t know why he stays with me’ every time you look in the mirror, or maybe you are saying: ‘I am just not capable at doing something’. These self- affirmations cause every time a specific emotional resonance.
Here is a simple method of how to identify your triggers:
- Remember that it is you, who has the power to control your emotional responses.
- List the Trigger events/words/smells/sounds/voices/
- Think back when you first in your life experienced something similar. (Often it began in early childhood.)
- Now write down the emotions that arise i.e. feeling insignificant, anxious, angry etc.
- Make a decision whether you want to continue feeling always the same strong emotion by this trigger.
- Once you made up your mind write the trigger and the emotion down, sign and date it.
- Lay down and finish with a short relaxation, progressively relaxing all muscles in your body.
In going through these seven steps you are taking charge of overwhelming emotions caused by trigger situations.
Now treat yourself to something nice to reward your effort.