How To Work With Internal Triggers on the Spiritual Path

Contributing writer for Wake Up World

There’s no doubt about it, no way of avoiding it, when you step onto the spiritual path you’re going to get triggered by events, circumstances and other people around you. Your buttons will get pushed! The question is not if this will happen, but what to do it about it when it does. It’s also understandable you might want to suppress and deny distorted behaviour, but really this becomes counterproductive and derailing.

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So what might be the best approach to dealing with such triggers when they arise?

First we need to understand exactly what a trigger is in order to effectively work with them.

What Exactly is a Trigger?

A trigger may be defined as an internal unconscious reaction to an event or circumstance in your life. Something in the external pushes an internal button and there’s an immediate reaction, which at the time you’re unable to control or manage. It creates anger, frustration, which often then comes with some kind of unpleasant projection or else there’s contraction by suppression, which leads to a building unease that can lead to resentment.

I put it to you that what’s happening here is where the soul is not yet fully self-realised in those circumstances, or we detach from authentic soul expression. The soul is unable to mediate through. This can lead to fragmentation of soul and the building of karmic identity around the situation, thus leading to the subconscious trigger.

You’ll know the trigger when it activates because it causes dissonance in the outer and disharmony on the inner felt as internal tightness.

These triggers often result in unpleasant external projection, such as judgment, resentment, jealousy, envy, anger and rage. It’s been long recognised in the spiritual mainstream that these are not behaviourisms to aspire to – the idea is we’re meant to be loving, non-judgmental, accepting, forgiving and peaceful. And so I often witness these triggers being suppressed or else plastered over with some more acceptable, spiritual, behaviourism. This is going to be highly counteractive and derailing, because it simply creates another layer of spiritual identity. It’s another barrier to full self-realisation.

It’s Essential to Expose the Trigger

What we need to realise is that the trigger is created by an unrealised expression of self – a misaligned one. However, it is misaligned truth. And therefore rather than simply ditch the distortion, we need to work with it, get inside the loop of activity, and break it open, so as to explore deep within.

The trigger will contain an aspect of soul which is not yet able to express in an aligned way in these densities. This is the very learning/evolving/forging/integrating that the soul came here to fulfill. It’s why you’re here!

Therefore when something gets triggered in you, it’s essential to explore into it. As soon as possible after it has happened, the recommendation is to regress into it through meditation: see the images of what happened, replay the experience and most importantly, feel internally the tightness of the trigger. Often these will be centred around a particular chakra – the sacral where it’s an emotional trigger for example; the solar plexus where it’s a mental one; the throat where you’re not expressing your higher truth; the heart where past life karma might be arising.

Explore in, feel through, express and animate outwards – this helps you see the causality of the trigger. What were you attached to in the situation? How did you need it to go a particular way? What did you think you needed of the person involved? What outcome could you not accept? What were you really being invited to do but were afraid to? If you’re unsure, ask the Universe, “Show me”, and it will reveal the distortion and the possible gift of soul to come through.

Use this Chakra Attunement Meditation to Bring Light into the Situation

The essential thing is that even though you might be tempted to suppress and bury the behaviour or situation is to do the exact opposite – blow it up and express outwards, although this is initially best in your own immediate environment, a safe and favoured room for example, so as to contain the expression without causing any external damage or harm. You might consider dancing strongly to music, beating a pillow, shouting and making sound. All of this will help animate into the trigger so you can expose the attachment.

In this way you start to expose and break down the attachment which has created the trigger.

The Revelation of Soul

Exposing the trigger is only a part of the story, of the full opportunity. A new aspect of soul is wanting to come through. Where the original distortion might have been anger, the soul might now want to come through willfully and strong, but without the extra energy. It might combine with another aspect – humour for example. And now the willful energy carries, but without the projection and is therefore much more likely to have an uplifting beneficial effect in the situation.

To give an example…

I was at a crossroads in my car and didn’t know whether to go left or right. Behind me a guy started peeping and as I looked in the mirror, I could see him angry and projectional. Before I knew it, I was opening the door to confront the guy. This was an authentic expression for me, my catalytic nature tends to engage such circumstances – I could feel a strong and willful energy coming through. But as I made my way across to his car, I could feel a more inquiring energy coming through. I sensed how this could all quite easily go pear-shaped, especially as he looked angry and was now winding his window down. In the moment I’m inquiring, “show me!” as in, “show me aligned response”. As I bent down to confront him, a softer energy came through which although still confrontational, was also empathic, “Have you ever been lost mate?” To which all the energy of the situation dissolved. “Yes mate”, was his response, “where do you need to get to?”

Simply avoiding such circumstances would negate the possibility of soul growth both for yourself and the other. Hence ultimately, in some way, we all need to confront what triggers us so as to unpack and realign them.

Coming into Your Full Empowerment

Ultimately, we need to be able to unravel and express in the moment they are happening. So by regressing into them, you will get to the buried karma (try this 9 step approach from Openhand). But what you then need to do is break down the neural pathways and emotional/mental filters that obscure right action. We need to open a space so that authentic behaviour can come through. In the example I quoted above, I recall that as I opened a space in the moment I was walking across to the car, it seemed to stretch into eternity – I’d opened into the infinite potential of the moment. Hence the spontaneity of the soul can come through. Now you shape and express new behaviourisms that are authentic to your true self.

So this is an approach to dealing with internal triggers I felt to reflect to you for contemplation. It’s essential to get inside the derailing loops and break them open for something more authentic to come through. It leads to a tremendous sense of openness, self acceptance, freedom and empowerment.

And if you resonate with what I’ve shared, do explore the Openhand Approach further and consider getting involved in a future Openhand Event where we help people embody soul in daily life.

In loving support

Open

Originally published at www.openhandweb.org and reproduced here with permission.

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About the author:

Openhand is a unique approach to spiritual evolution: integrating enlightened wisdom of spiritual masters through the ages, it is a way of tapping into the Benevolent Guiding Consciousness of the Universe and aligning with it in your life. It helps you unveil your True Self, remove karmic blockages and unfold your Divine Destiny. It leads to authentic, resilient and truly successful living.

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