Triggers can be empowering

At certain stages of trauma healing, there is a real need to reduce or avoid exposing ourselves to triggers - stimuli that awaken survival reflexes stored in the nervous system. As we clear the energy of trauma from our system (an ongoing process) and develop resiliency, we begin to be able to relate to triggers differently. Through the practice of Yoga as discipline-self study-surrender (ref Patanajali’s Yoga Sutras 2:1), triggers can become a source of empowerment.

Self-observation reveals that triggering is happening more often than not. I witness complex psychosomatic responses to the daily influx of stimuli. Every stimulus is triggering some response, whether harmonious or disharmonious.

When faced with things I don’t like, it is easy to get carried away in mental-emotional reaction. “Away” from the flow of prana, life force, that is present in this moment. The further I deviate from awareness that it’s all energy, and I get to choose how I perceive and respond to this energy…the more I tend to get distracted from my intended way of being, pulled into a vibration that has nothing to do with the truth of who I am.

Conflict is alluring and familiar. It moves with the momentum of millenia of human experience. We are taught to feel justified in our outrage, justified in being upset about whatever horrible thing is going on “out there,” while we momentarily (or for extended periods of time) lose awareness that the horror is being reflected within us, instantaneously and ongoingly, as internal turmoil.

As I resonate with this frequency of turmoil, it ripples through every layer of me, generating sensations, thoughts, and actions. I end up reacting rather than responding. Reactive choices, no matter how well justified, propel me further from what my heart truly desires to experience and embody in this one precious life that is only, always happening NOW.

Reaction is a deeply ingrained habit. We are offered an opportunity to shift that habit in each new moment. As I reflect on “what is to be done” about chaos arising internally or externally, it becomes apparent to me that the work is ever the same:

Yogas chitta vrtti nirodhah.

Yoga is mastering / restraining / ceasing the movement of the mind-stuff.

- Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras 1:2

Reaction is an awakening. It is re-activation of energy stored in the past. When reaction happens, that stored energy is “up.” It’s in this moment that our opportunity to shift our relationship with the energy is presented. This opportunity becomes available when we have developed the discernment (viveka-kyati in Yoga) to differentiate between thought, attention, and awareness. If you are curious about developing this capacity, Yoga Nidra is one of the most powerful and effective tools I’ve come across.

Thought is the object moving through the mind space. Attention is the focus of awareness. Awareness is pure being, who we truly are beyond body and mind. Thoughts are like clouds. Attention is like the sun that illuminates the clouds. Awareness is like the sky.

When I know that I am not my thoughts; I am the awareness that is aware of the thoughts, then I get to choose how/to what extent I “entertain” the thoughts by giving them attention.

Entertain no thought that in any way will create disturbance in your mind, and all the energy that you disengage form the mind will flow more freely through your body. – Yogi Amrit Desai

It’s implied here that through the practice of liberating energy from reactive patterns, our physiology changes. As our physiology changes, our experience of ourselves changes. As our experience changes, our belief about who we are and the world changes. And the stimuli coming from the world land differently in our system. It’s a positive, self-reinforcing cycle.

What if it’s not about “getting rid of” the reaction OR THE TRIGGER? Gurudev would often say, “don’t try to get rid of the button pusher; instead, dissolve your button.” What if we don’t even need to “dissolve the button,” but instead simply be aware of the button: that is, be aware of the mind’s tendency to get triggered and choose to observe rather than react? Watch the cloud develop, shift, and dissolve back into sky.

Use the awareness of reaction as a prompt to redirect our attention. Where? Back to reality. I.e. the NOW. Breath, body sensation, and using intention to anchor the mind, pointing attention towards that which we truly desire to embody and experience now. This practice is not a denial or avoidance of what’s here. It’s claiming my power an an autonomous being to direct my own attention. Note that in order to be successful with this, we need to practice of being able to bear the discomfort of the passing cloud (be it in the form of conflict-creating thoughts, emotions, or uncomfortable body sensations) without losing track of ourselves.

The more I look around today’s world, the more I see the power to direct my own attention as the most valuable capacity I possess.

Don’t fight with the mind; simply redirect your attention. - Yogi Amrit Desai

In this way, the whole process of reaction, including that which serves as a trigger, the reaction itself, and all the energy it mobilizes within the bodymind system becomes a catalyst to illuminate intention through contrast, to ignite Self remembering, and to spur creative, responsive action.

Establish a whole new relationship with reality, regardless of how it begins to show up externally. – from the Integrative Amrit Method Yoga Nidra practice by Yogi Amrit Desai

This statement articulates the power to enter the presence - the awareness of I AM - in any given moment, regardless of whether what is in front of me is something I like or not, whether what is unfolding out in the world is something I can control or not. Going beyond what the mind can see or understand in a given moment requires trust. It helps to have a foundation of practice.

In practice we can encounter our triggers consciously and deliberately, experimenting with shifting our relationship to the energy that comes up. We learn how to relax into the intensity, breathe with it, and even keep the mind anchored in intention during the experience of being challenged or triggered. As we ride the wave of intensity through its peak, we train our mind to immerse fully into the experience of released energy, carrying us beyond all limitations into the bliss of presence. With repetition we develop inner knowing that this is the way energy moves. We develop trust to allow resolution of sticky situations through the same process of deliberate focus and deliberate action (and/or nonaction) in more and more areas of life.

To whatever extent we let go of reaction and move into response, we enter the unbounded territory of the unknown: pure creativity. In the freedom of being, we are empowered to invoke and embody the frequency of that which we truly desire to see, feel, hear, and know. Resonating with this frequency, we can attune our mind to grasp and follow expressions that align with our heart’s deeper desire. We become the conscious creators of our experience.

you have a wisdom warrior
within you
that needs no weapon
only creativity
to weave the new world dawning

- excerpt Lena Moon, WeMoon 2025