Beneath Every Trigger Lies a Wounded Inner Child

How to Feel and Heal, So You’re No Longer Living on the Edge

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Living with triggers lurking in our bodies creates a constant state of stress.

It’s living on the edge, waiting for the next thing that you must defend yourself against. Anxiety is an understatement.

A highly triggered person lives under the guise that everything must happen a certain way, or their entire day will be thrown off by their own nervous system.

Having triggers does not mean you have failed. It’s part of being human.

 Most of society is there or has been there. It is almost impossible to make it through childhood completely unscathed. We are here as souls to embark on a human experience that includes all the things – suffering, joy, worry, guilt, shame, trauma, bliss, anger – all of it.

 If you are like me, you may have learned to be on edge from a parent or caregiver that was constantly on edge. Traumatized people, traumatize people.

You may have been exposed to situations that were confusing to your child self.

 Any moments that provoked feelings like fear, anger, guilt, or shame for our child self, in which we weren’t properly supported in processing, are the root of our triggers. These moments create little energetic imprints that define how we move through our lives.

 The good news is that it is possible to heal those childhood wounds that created your triggers. It starts with being aware that the reactions you are feeling in your body, are yours and yours only.

Nobody else is to blame for what you are feeling inside your body, in this moment in time. I know that may be hard to hear, but it’s also quite empowering. It means that nobody else can determine how your day is going to go, but you.

 When you feel a trigger coming on – ask yourself…

Where is my reaction coming from?

What has this situation caused me to feel in my body at this moment?

Is it fear? Is it shame? Is it anger? Is it guilt?

Then comes the work so many strive to avoid. Sitting with the discomfort of the feeling, rather than allowing the mind to point a finger outward to determine the cause.

Feeling the feelings is our path to healing.

If we ignore our feelings and let our reaction lead the way, the feelings get pushed down and ignored, just like our child selves were ignored in the moment we first experienced the trauma.

What we want to do is be present with our feelings. If we had a child sitting in front of us, feeling intense feelings they didn’t understand, the way to help them is to validate them and support them by allowing them to feel their feelings. This is what we must do for ourselves.

Being the observer of the feelings in your body when you are triggered, is the first step in healing and freeing this energy from your body forever.

If there is fear, being triggered and reactive, causes that fear to hunker down deeper. The fear is coming from your own inner child wound in the moment in time it was created, which is still an active energy in your body.

For example, f you have a child that feels shame, you’re not going to help them by telling them to hide, because they should feel ashamed. You are going to offer them a loving, supportive space in which to feel what they are feeling. So their feelings can be processed.

This is what you must do for yourself. Allow the feelings. 

Triggered energy in the body needs a safe space to process and release.

To heal the wounds inside of you that caused you to be triggered, it takes being present with the discomfort, instead of pointing a finger outward. Blaming others for how you feel inside, keeps the feelings compacted in your body.

It also makes your peace and healing dependent upon the actions of others – which is not realistic.

We can’t wait for people and circumstances around us to change to make us feel better. It will never happen. It was never destined to happen that way. We are all destined to learn from and heal from our own wounds.

I have healed many of my own triggers born from inner child wounds and have helped others heal theirs. It is amazing the difference in the body, when our buried feelings are finally able to surface and release!

The first time I encountered an old trigger and felt nothing in my body, is when I realized the power of inner child work.

Imagine a life when you no longer feel the fear rising in your chest in reaction to the same old thing. A life where your anxiety is non-existent. A life where it is easy to let go of the addictions that are merely there to help you cover up the feelings you’ve been afraid to feel.

When the energy from a childhood wound has lifted, you feel like a new person. You can finally be the person you were always meant to be.

Instead of trying to merely survive, you can thrive.

We come into being as perfect little people, yet we are born into situations and life experiences that create energetic imprints of trauma. Our unprocessed experiences cause this energy in our body to be ready, contracted, and reactive to whatever may provoke them.

Now as adults, that energy needs you to be the parent it never had for those moments they couldn’t understand. All it takes is being present with, and feeling the feelings in your body. When you take the time to do this, often a memory dislodges that may cause emotions to flow.

Let them.

Emotions are energy in motion – they just need to be released.

Journaling is an excellent tool for this work. Getting out every bit of the memory and feelings associated with the trauma may be necessary.

Yes, it can be scary and vulnerable. It isn’t easy.

But it is the pathway to freedom.

It’s your choice in this one life. You could be a sealed bottle that gets shaken up often and is ready to blow at any moment. Or, you can take your power back by loosening the lid, feeling the feelings, and releasing the tension forever.

If you need some help, I am a coach and an energy healer. And I’ve been in the trenches enough to be a guide to others. Contact Kris@healthytothesoul.com