Everyday Practices
When the Past Touches the Present
For When You’re Triggered
US$6 4 practices · 7 tracks · listen or download
Get the pack · US$6Sometimes something small hits us much harder than it should. A tone of voice, or a look. Before we know it we’re flooded, and not quite ourselves. Afterwards we might wonder what’s wrong with us.
This is very human. A trigger is the past touching the present. A part of us remembers something painful and fires up to protect us, in the only way it knows. This is Protection Mode, doing its job even when the danger has passed.
These practices help you get to know that part of you, and meet it with care. There are notes to self and affirmations for when you’re activated, and a short practice for right after a trigger.
Most tracks come in a full and a shorter version, for when time is tight.
What’s inside
I Know This Part of Me
2 versions
Full version · 12 minShorter version · 8 min
Notes to self for the part of you that gets activated. You hear that this part is ‘a valid response’, rooted in something difficult and trying to keep you safe: ‘Be careful. Remember what happened before.’ Then two steps to come back to, notice and nurture, with a pause, a half smile and some Validating Self-Talk. ‘I am bigger than my thoughts. I am bigger than my feelings.’ The shorter version leaves out the part about the inner critic and the ups and downs of healing, and ends sooner.
When I’m Triggered
2 versions
Full version · 7 minShorter version · 5 min
Affirmations for when you’re activated. ‘I am coming to know more and more that my triggers are here to protect me.’ They’re about stepping back to notice this part of you, trusting yourself like a dear friend, and letting difficult feelings be a sign that you need self-care. The full version ends with gratitude for resilience and small moments of meaningful connection. The shorter version ends instead on ‘I am bigger than my thoughts. I am bigger than my feelings.’
I Am Feeling Safe Again
7 min
For when you want to feel safe in yourself again. You don’t need to believe every word. The affirmations can land ‘like soft rain on grass’. ‘I am safe in this moment.’ ‘I am allowed to feel what I feel and still be safe.’ Partway through, you come back to the safety of your breath, and it ends where it began: ‘I am here for me. I am here with me.’
After a Trigger
2 versions
Full version · 4:25Straight to the words · 3:47
For when something hits you harder than you expected. A trigger is the past touching the present. It doesn’t mean you’re going backwards. It means something old got stirred. With slow breaths, we find a few words of Validating Self-Talk: ‘I am here for me. I am not this activation.’ It ends by giving the body permission to let the leftover feelings be there, until they go in their own time. The shorter version skips the opening and the hand on the chest, and goes straight to the words.