Triggers 101

Triggers 101

Hey beautiful people! I’m Bridget. And today we’re going to talk about triggers… Oh the dreaded trigger. Lol  But don’t worry. I’m going to tell you what their purpose is and how to use them… Because triggers are actually a good thing!

At a certain level of self awareness you can start to recognize and utilize aspects of your reality for your own spiritual advancement and expansion. Triggers are a great place to begin. And paying attention to them allows you to kick-off the incorporation of your shadow sides (which is a topic for another day).

From an expanded viewpoint, triggers are gifts from the Universe. They are designed to bring aspects that no longer serve you to the surface to be recognized, loved, healed or transmuted, and released. They are part of your self healing mechanism. And they are a vital part of your growth at this moment in time.

What are triggers?

Ever have a day filled with things that people do which have you annoyed, irritated, pissed off, and angry? Well, those days are perfect examples of an overload of triggers.

Hint: You’ve received so many opportunities leading up to a day like this to address these issues. Basically, you’ve been given many a chance to handle them before they became an “in your face” experience. And after learning about this, you can choose to be aware enough to notice them. And let me tell you… Following my advice on triggers will help you alleviate so much tension, stress, and drama in you life.

But here’s the deal:  Triggers do not always include other people. Often they begin small, with situations that are simple and a part of your daily experiences. For instance, having a day where you drop things… everything, or just the right amount of things… to bring your attention to an annoyed state of mind. This often happens to illuminate a need for a particular aspect to be release, healed or transmuted. And it’s by giving attention to these small triggers that you will alleviate the larger scale trigger days.

How do you recognize triggers that do not include other people?

They feel like you are out of alignment. Things just aren’t going your way. Things are more difficult than they need to be. They are designed to bring about large, or sparked, lower emotions. They are created to draw your attention towards things that no longer serve you.

Once you are aware, what do you do?

That’s easy! Bring your attention to these moments as they occur. Ask yourself: What am I supposed to learn from this? What aspects am I ready to release? What are these experiences trying to show me? How can I move past this?

And above all else, relax. Stop fighting these moments. See if you can find humor in their magnification. By doing theses things you will release tension and resistance. And as we all know, resistance is not the plan when we’re trying to get out of a situation. Continuing to be in resistance perpetuates the triggers of that particular expression. So snap yourself out of the mode by bringing the light of your attention and sense of humor to these instances. Then follow the feeling or memory, feel it, look into why it exists, and heal and release any deep emotional responses it brings up in you.

Because at this point, running with the initial emotions brought up by the trigger (anger, frustration, irritation) is distracting and counter productive in most cases. The initial triggered emotional response exists to attract your attention to a deeper issue. It shows you what you need to release and provides details about that aspect. Once that has occurred, we are supposed to release said trigger emotion - regardless of what we’ve been taught. lol  Magnifying the initial trigger emotion, dwelling in it, and spewing it on others is simply a series of bad habits that have no real benefit in this particular instance. Basically, we’re addicted to these behaviors. Releasing them brings clarity and empowerment.

I find that I release the trigger emotions instantly after bringing my attention to the issue when I say to myself, “This frustration is unnecessary. What am I supposed to see from this experience?” Your system is designed to help you “see”. And you will always receive the answers to your questions once they are asked. The idea is to look into what the trigger is pointing out, not to live in the initial triggered emotion. Once you see that it’s pointing to a behavior or belief that reminds you of a trauma from an earlier part of your life - you heal and release that trauma and anything related. Because that’s truly what triggers are designed to do. They draw your attention to your vibrationally low hanging fruit that you are otherwise unable to see. Triggers are the great illuminators.They shine a light of focus on aspects that you carry around, of which you are unaware. And they do this for you to become aware of what you’ve incorporated into your being that no longer serves you, and release them.

What about the triggered situations that involve other people? What do I need to know?

I find these take on three forms which I have termed: instigations, reflections, and mirrors (projections).

Instigation:  Another person’s indirect behavior or verbal expression elicits a triggered response in you. These instances are not happening directly to you, but are still bringing up a response in you.

Ex: FB, watching others behave and interact brings out the rage. Perhaps you’re viewing them and their expressions through a judgmental lens? My suggestion is to release that judgment and look for the root within yourself. What is the underlying belief or opinion within you that is being triggered? Once you determine what your trigger is about, you can heal, release, or transmute that issue. This is where you can shine your light and love.

Reflection:  Your aspects are being reflected in another person.

Ex:  What they are doing while in direct contact with you is annoying the crap out of you. But what you haven’t realized is it is truly only irritating because it is actually your behavior being reflected through them and their actions. Basically, you both share this false belief, behavior, thought pattern, or emotional pattern that needs to be released. Meaning, their behavior is a match for something within you that it is time to release and rise beyond. In this case, I generally excuse myself from the moment and find a quiet spot to work through whatever is happening. There’s no time like the present to manage your triggers. Waiting too long often means you will forget about them and they will be on the list to repeat.

Mirror (projection):  Someone else is using you to reflect for themselves. The mirror is tricky though. Often you aren’t even expressing these aspects. But the other person is, and is using you to reflect it back to themselves.

This can leave you (the recipient) confused, often hurt, and offended. Mainly because most people are not yet self aware enough to recognize their behaviors - much less the purpose of mirroring themselves onto another.

Ex:  This particular trigger type can often arrive in the form of an accusatory attack. It helps when on the receiving end of one of these to remember that this situation isn’t as much about you as it is them. Often the part that is about you involves compassion, serves as a reminder of their trigger to see if you have anything remaining to release and heal, or as a simple reminder to remember who you are and that you have a choice regarding your response. Take the high road, it’s always easier. And regardless of how misguided their approach is, you are simply providing a service to them at that moment. (This is where all the time you’ve spent getting to truly know yourself, your intentions, and methods will be beneficial. lol) So remain in a neutral, loving space and allow them to realize that this is not about you. Hold your vibration. There is no need to meet them in theirs.

It is important to point out that you too can mirror your aspects onto another person. So, I suggest that you try to avoid doing this as it isn’t fun for anyone. It’s also unnecessary if you are paying attention to your triggers as they arise.

We receive signs and queues constantly to assist us in moving through our collection of traumas, false beliefs, and anything we’re holding within us that no longer serves us. So let’s use these reminders, nudges, and knowledge to actively walk the world in awareness. Because in all actuality, they are gifts to help us exist in healthy and balanced states of being.

So that’s it for this post on triggers. I love interaction, so… Put your comments, questions, and curiosities below!

Thank you so much for reading. So much love to you and I’ll see you next post!

Infinite Love.