Triggered? This Simple Practice Will Help You Regulate

In this session, we share a simple process that will help you to regulate from being triggered. Begin by reminding yourself, "I am here, now," and, "This moment is safe." From there, begin to slow the breath, relax the muscles, and bring to mind things to be grateful for.

Transcript

So there's a simple process that I use to maintain grounding and keep myself safe from the impact of triggers or panic attacks or other symptomology that will take me out of the self and into a state where I don't feel happy or safe or comfortable. The first step is to remind myself of the following four words, I am here now. And I just repeat that to myself. If I find myself drifting into those symptomology, Into triggers, Into panic, I am here now. I'm not in some future state. I'm not in the past. I'm here now. You can sort of add to that a little refrain, And this moment is safe. I am here now. And this moment is safe. So I get my mind going on that loop. I'm affecting the cognitive part of the mind. Then I add a couple of more things, A couple more interventions. I slow down the breath. I allow myself to breathe out. Then I breathe in deeply through the nose. And then I add a sighing out breath. There's something about the slow deep sighing out breath, The resonance of the voice, That helps to sort of just ground you but also release a little bit. So you breathe out, And you breathe in. I am here now. This moment is safe. Slow deep sighing breath. Relaxing of the muscles of the body. And then I begin to focus on the sensations, What I can see, Hear and feel in this moment. I am here now. This moment is safe. And what is happening in this moment. I can see those things. I can hear these things. I can feel these things. These are the sensations. These are the things. This is the breath that is happening in this moment. I am here now. And this moment is safe. We combined all of these things together. It's quite grounding. It checks you into the moment. It slows down the breath and relaxes the muscles of the body. That's a biological or physiological rather response. And then we add one more thing into this mix. We add a sensation of gratitude. So you picture a person, Pet, Plant or place you're grateful for. And you foster those feelings of gratitude, Why you are happy that those things are in your life. And that hits all aspects of the CBT triangle, Thoughts, Feelings and behaviors. You hit it all at once. It grounds you, That helps you to settle. So the summary is if you're feeling triggered, Activated, Going through a panic attack, Try this. I am here now. This moment is safe. Slowing down the breath with the sighing out breath. Relaxing the muscles in the body. Focusing on what you can see, Hear and feel right now. Identifying that these are the sensations of this moment. And fostering a feeling of gratitude. And you repeat that. Repeat that for five to ten minutes. And you typically find that strong feelings come in a wave and then they dissipate. Like cravings, Like high emotions, Like triggers. You do all of that and of course you make sure that you follow the advice of the professionals, You reach out for support and all of the other acts of self-care that you're doing.