Mini Series by Kat - Episode #2 - What Does Being Triggered Mean?
This article is written by guest contributing writer Katiuscia Gray (A.K.A. Kat).
You may recognize this beautiful human as this is her second episode of her own mini series with us! Also she was on our Yoga to Cope podcast back in October. Kat combines the world of psychology with yoga in her practice and approach to mental and physical health. This is accomplished by integrating talk therapy with body work practices in the form of yoga to create a truly meaningful and impactful therapy for her clients.
We are honoured to have her back on our blog especially with this timely piece that coincides with the up and coming holidays. This time of year can be quite triggering for some. This blog post explores what being triggered actually means and what this physiological/psychological response entails. Meanwhile Kat provides a strategy to help come back from being triggered, using a very Yoga to Cope approach to hijacking back the nervous system by incorporating breath.
What Does Being Triggered Mean?
We hear so much about the word triggered we hear it in songs people say it so frequently but what does it actually mean? The definition of triggered is experiencing a strong emotional or reaction of fear, anger or worry, especially because you are made to remember something bad that has happened in your past (Cambridge dictionary 2019). In layman’s terms it brings you back to your place of trauma or pain or fear, it sets you off.
I constantly explain to my patients in my practice that our mind is connected to our bodies. But how is that is what I am often asked? Did you know there is a nerve stem in your brain that is the longest nerve in entire body? That stem is called the vagus nerve. It connects from the back of the brain to the heart, lungs, digestive tract and all other important parts of the body. It sends a signal from the brain to all other areas in the body (brain cut connection).
So when we are triggered the amygdala which is the brain's emotional computer alarm system and our internal fire alarm, it’s also responsible for turning on the stress response and the fear center of the brain), the hippocampus (holds memories in the brain) the insula (connects to your physical sensations in your body) all gets activated. An example can be walking into a room. Maybe you see someone that looks like your abuser. Maybe a smell or a sound brings you back to that trauma/ fear/anxiety, you become overwhelmed anxious, you get a flashback you lose track of your surroundings your brain becomes off line, your body and brain betrays you to what is going on in the present moment.
Cortisone secretion is then released, which activates the stress response it sounds an alarm off in the mind and body, which says DANGER DANGER, even when you are actually not in danger. You experience what Dan Siegel calls flipping your brain lid. Where no logic forms during this state, you’re in what I call being on 100. And if anyone (including myself) has ever been on 100 it’s hard to come down to calm when you are in that state.
How do we come back from being triggered? By letting our brain and body know that we are not in danger.
The most important tool is breathing.
Think of being triggered as driving a Lamborghini at 100 miles an hour, and breathing is slowly pressing on the breaks. Slow deep breaths sends a signal to the brain and activities the PNS (para-sympathetic nervous system) which is the bodies rest and digest. It lets the brain and body know we are ok we can relax we are not in danger.
My go to breathing exercise is a simple controlled breathing called 4, 2, 6 breathing. Inhale for 1,2,3,4, hold the breath for 1,2,3 breath out slowly for 1,2,3,4,5,6. Do that 5 more times and notice how much calmer you feel.
Katiuscia Gray is the owner of Mind Meets Movement Counseling Services, PLLC in Valley Stream, NY. She is a LCSW-R (licensed clinical social worker) and CYT-200hr (certified yoga teacher) and a certified anxiety specialist (CCATP) She specializes in working with children, adolescents, young adults and adults. Katiuscia and her team utilizes alternative ways to heal, linking mind and body.
Stay tuned for more from Kat, episode 3 of her mini series is set to come in 2021!